In another blow to the ever-depleting market, UK-based photography magazine N-Photo has published its final issue after 168 editions. Launched back in October 2011 by Future Publishing and billed as the “100% Independent” magazine for Nikon users, the closure is another nail in the coffin for the once-vibrant photography magazine industry and print media in general.
As explained to readers in the final issue, subscribers to N-Photo have automatically had their subscription transferred across to Digital Camera World (re-titled from Digital Camera in July 2023), which is one of the brand’s sister titles, although Future has also offered to supply a refund should the customer prefer that option. The closure means that Future Publishing now has only three photography publications in its stable: the aforementioned Digital Camera World, Digital Photographer, and the Canon-centric Photo Plus which are all published in print on a monthly basis.
As a Nikon-specific magazine, N-Photo published camera and gear reviews of Nikon equipment along with interviews with professional Nikon photographers, reader-generated portfolio galleries, technique tutorials, camera craft features, and reader-interaction content that often paired aspiring newcomers with professional photographers to improve their skills.
Along with being available in print, N-Photo could be found on paid-for digital magazine platforms and also grew a sizable Facebook community, with the regularly-updated N-Photo page showing 257,000 followers when news broke of the print title’s closure. N-Photo didn’t have a dedicated website as the online home for Future’s photography content is Digital Camera World. As reported by Press Gazette, N-Photo was among a number of Future-owned magazines across multiple genres to be closed although the publisher was unable to share the number of titles shuttered due to potential redundancies and an ongoing consultation process.
In recent years, UK photographers have been forced to say goodbye to multiple publications, including Digital Photo, Practical Photography, and Digital SLR Photography, although a handful of titles such as Amateur Photographer and Outdoor Photography remain. While photographers can access content easily online in the shape of podcasts, YouTube videos, and more short-form media on platforms like TikTok or Instagram, those of a certain age will lament the slow passing of print titles — there is and will always be something special about holding pages of beautiful images in hand.
Image credits: N-Photo
