Do you read LensWork? If you’re a photographer, you should. Shoot, if you like black and white photography at all, you should.

I’m not shilling for them, mind you. This is just my opionion: there’s no better publication for B&W art-style photography. Even if the photographs inside aren’t to my taste, I’ll happily say: at least the layout is dependable and you’re not constantly crushed by ads (all advertisements are in the beginning & end of each issue, but not between pages like a typical magazine).

I’m only mentioning this because I’m having a hard time focusing on content in magazines these days. In fact, I’m dumping my Professional Photographer and American Photo subscriptions altogether, and just skimming all others.

Here’s the problem: I’ll start reading an article, then I get interrupted. I have to skip a page where some loud advertisement is telling me that their shiny tool will make my life better. What was I reading? Oh yeah, skip a page. Read a bit more. Get distracted by sidebars, the smaller ads, ads on the opposite page, etc. Find a “article ends on page whatever” & skip to the end. Search through two or three endings to articles, find mine. What was I reading again?

The disconnects in the middle of reading are killing me.

I suppose this is how they’re doing things – and I suppose this is what they’re used to getting away with. But in the internet age, I don’t have to wade through that mess to get content, so I’m opting out.