If you are an American photographer, it is important to stay on top of your field, as it is in any area. Although it is possible to study photography quite successfully with no regard for the traditions or conventions of your time, getting a subscription to at least one American photo magazine can really help. I know. I am a professional photographer myself, and like many in my field, I like to think of myself as an artist first, and a professional second. I do do photography of weddings and other events to pay the bills, however I thought that since I do not intend to spend my whole career as a commercial photographer, I could get by on what I knew as an artist. But once I subscribed to my first American photo magazine, I was quite surprised. I did not really realize how much I was missing out on in terms of professional development until I first thumbed through my American photo magazine, and saw that I was falling seriously behind in my chosen profession.

There is not much for non photographers in American photo magazines, but some of them do have fascinating pictures which you can look at and enjoy for their artistic merit. My wife reads my American photo magazine all of the time, even though she has no interest in pictures except for their aesthetic quality. She can pick up a copy of my American photo magazine and thumb through it for hours just looking at the high quality, glossy prints and marveling at the talents of the artists inside. There is nothing like looking at an American photo magazine to really give you a new way of seeing the world around you. Whether there are pictures of nature or of humans, the images in an American photo magazine will allow you the benefits of looking at the world with an artists eye, and those benefits are substantial. Anything that gives you a new perspective on the world is, in my opinion, invaluable, and so if you get the chance to open up your eyes wider through looking at art, you should really take that opportunity. For this reason, I do not only read my American photo magazine, but also read trade magazines of writers, musicians, and cinematographers, since the input of creative people of any field can be a great asset to all of us.