Tim,

The following is in regards to the malicious email you posted on Lightstalkers, one that initiated an a number of comments by people, as yourself, who have never held a copy of Private in their hand, let alone taken the time to see their back copies and/or spoken with the magazines founder and photo editor.

Regretfully, due to work constraints I was not able to reply earlier.

I have read Private for many years, have known and met Oriano (Founder/Director) and Veronique (Photo Editor) about six years ago & for the sake of full disclosure, I would also like to state here that I have collaborated with Private on a couple of issues.

Private exists because Oriano and Veronique have paying day jobs, which help fund the publication. It takes a great deal of imagination to think that the extremly rare single page advertisement on the inside back-cover can generate real revenue. Due to their day jobs, child and daily life grind (and of course lack of funds) Oriano & Veronique have not yet been able to focus on revenue driven initiatives which would keep them afloat and financially stable enough to bring in revenue which could translate into money for the photographers, translator, poets and writers who contribute.

Private has an international distribution, I do not know the details, and although I think it’s no one place to ask, knowing how transparent Oriano & Veronique are, if you ask, they might offer an answer. For the past year or two Private has had a US distributor, you might care to check out the bookstore on St. Marks Place for copies, if you do, please make sure it’s nicely displayed. Italian photography is granted a larger international public, foreign photographers are given a wonderful display in Italy, a very lucrative re-sales market.

Private is located in a small town, miles away from anything resembling a photo bookstore. Before Contrasto started a publishing house, very few foreign photography books were printed in Italian, fewer yet foreign publications were available in the 1 solitary bookstore in Rome which I know of. In contrast, New York, London & Paris offer an incredible amount of shows, lectures, museums collections, easily accessible public and private libraries and yes bookstore (as The Strand, St Marks, ICP and Dashwood books): access to a vast pool of photography-related material and events.

About soliciting material from photographers: although this course of action undoubtedly allows Private to have a unique voice that makes it stand out, which photographers are familiar with Italy enough to know about a black & white photography magazine being published in a small town outside of Bologna? Who might find him/her self passing by Bologna on a job and decide to take a train out to the town where Oriano and Veronique live?
Fortunately, the advent of Internet, and lower costs of bandwidth have diminished the frustrating isolation the magazine has experienced.
Having harassed them for years…last year was the first time Private could afford the cost of getting over to Visa Pour L’Image in Perpignan.

—Should I point out that relocation is not always a matter of choice and English is not a language everyone is comfortable with?—
A running joke Oriano & Veronique have is that their 4ish year old daughter will become the English-speaking editor on the team.

Despite its isolation and lack of funds, Private is a an original magazine with an insightful and overall interesting editorial approach; the issues are often -though not exclusively- monographic, on specific countries (China, Russia, Greece, Mexico, Iran), continents (Africa), territories (Eastern Europe) city’s (Paris), photography agencies (Magnum, Agence VU) and topics (Environment, Earth…).

As a obsessive/compulsive photo editor I can assure you that information on photographers in certain countries is extremely scarce, time consuming to come by and excruciatingly difficult to arrange. Oriano and Veronique’s labor of love (they often refer to the magazine as their “first child”.) is a blend of art and journalism-driven photography, their interesting edits and thoughtful layouts give the magazine a bold big-city style cover and sleek outlook. Private has an impact because of the quality of its content, its understanding of photography as a practice, and consequently, the insight into photographers’ backgrounds it never fails to provide.
The truth is that it will be hard for them to survive if they do not generate advertisement, a road which Oriano has resisted by nature, fearing he might have to give up the uninterrupted double-page opening flow of the photo essays. I wish them much luck and hope they will have buckets of paying advertisement, because I would miss the magazine dearly if it were to disappear.

They devoted an incredible amount of time to making a magazine which is unique in Italy. Oriano and Veronique are very respectful of the photographers, photography magazine as their own a vital vehicle through which to tell stories that newsmagazine will not give a proper space to or worse publish.

Photography magazines such as Private, Eight, Source, De l’Air, Gomma, Exit, Imago, Portfolio, Luna Cornea, Influence, Blind Spot, Aperture, OjodePez, Blueeyes, Fotografia – the funding for each is unique, private, part public, advertisement driven etc – generate visibility; they are read by photo editor, photo collectors and art buyers whose job it is to keep up with the large volume of essays being produced by photographers, and keep abreast of new talents. The role these underfunded magazine play in the field is, I am sure you will agree, both fundamental and generally given less recognition than they deserve.

Should the photographers be paid: yes
Can Private afford to pay them (at this point and time in their life): no.
Should you collaborate with Private: your choice.

In the future, please consider collecting some background info & perhaps doing a little fact checking before you issue a self-righteous, lesson-giving, statement based on assumptions: that is, not only incorrect but taints the good name of Oriano and Veronique, people you have never met and spoken to.

Endnote: all issues are visible on Private’s web site:
www.privatephotoreview.com
the magazine is available in bookstores in London, Paris, New York, Rome…etc
For a complete list, please contact Oriano Sportelli:
info@privatephotoreview.com

VERY sincerly,
Lucy Conticello