Aperture is a quarterly photography magazine based in New York, USA. The magazine also publishes books on fine art photography.

Inspired by the unrivaled production-quality of Alfred Stieglitz's then defunct Camerawork, Aperture magazine was founded by Minor White, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, Nancy Newhall & Beaumont Newhall, Melton Ferris and Dody Warren. Photographer Minor White edited the magazine, from its first issue in 1952 until 1975. White died in 1976.

Both Aperture magazine and its book publishing arm are now run by the not-for-profit arts institution the Aperture Foundation. In 2003 the Foundation instituted the first Aperture/Michael E. Hoffman Award, in memory of Michael E. Hoffman (d. 2001), who was Aperture's Publisher for thirty-seven years.

The magazine was forced to close in 1964, owing $25,000 in debts. Hoffman, a close friend of then editor Minor White, later restored the magazine, adopting a quarterly format.

Aperture's book publication program began a year later in 1965, with Edward Weston: The Flame of Recognition.

The magazine helped publish a catalogue by photographer Diane Arbus. MoMA curator John Szarkowski was organising a Arbus retrospective in 1972, but the catalogue but had been rejected by all the major publishing houses in the United States and Europe. Aperture agreed to publish Arbus' catalogue and it was released in time for the show.

In 1984, Aperture also published The Golden Age of British Photography, 1839-1900, which featured restored, British Victorian era photography.

The magazine now sponsors limited edition portfolios, lectures, conferences and touring gallery exhibitions. In 2005, it opened a gallery for fine art photography in New York. It has a strong anti-censorship stance and supports photographers who create pictures that risk legal prosecution.

External links

• Aperture Foundation

American photography | United States magazines | Art magazines | Photography magazines | Quarterly magazines