Looking Good: British Journal of Photography Arrives on iPad [Review]

By

20110907-bjpipad.jpg

There’s a treat for photography fans this morning, with the launch of the British Journal of Photography‘s official iPad app.

Issue 1 is a free download – 400MB, space-saving fans – but you get a lot of stuff for your bandwidth. There’s a feature about photographers who’ve moved from still to moving images (which explains the rather jarring animated front cover photo of a model blinking, the sort of thing you expect to see on Tumblr but not in BJP).

There’s also an interview with Anton Corbijn, a moving set of images showing police interrogation techniques in the Ukraine, interviews with photographers who have adopted the iPad as a personal publishing platform, and reviews of some of the latest camera kit, such as the Olympus Pen EP-3, the Canon EOS 60D, and Final Cut Pro X.

It all adds up to a compelling and informative package. Mostly, performance is very slick (the mag is built using the Mag+ system used by many print magazine publishers), but I did find it occasionally sluggish, particularly when paging through lengthy chunks of text.

The BJP is traditionally a magazine for professionals, for those who are paid to take photos for a living. Although some of the reviews might be very technical, and some of the interviews full of references to other pro photographers you’ve never heard of, you shouldn’t allow that to put you off trying it out. It’s a magazine about the trade, but not like other trade magazines. So if you have a keen interest in the art, practice, and business of photography, this first free issue is well worth your time. And perhaps future paid-for ones will entice you too. (I’ve asked the BJP how much each one is likely to cost, but they’ve not provided an answer yet. If and when I get one, I’ll update this post.)

UPDATE: Tom Royal from the BJP got in touch to say: “Pricing for future issues of BJP iPad isn’t yet set. We’re keen to listen to feedback from this issue before deciding.” So there you have it.

[xrr rating=90%]

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.