Critically analyzing a piece of writing is a tough task, a duty that requires that one must gather all the information and most importantly understand that information to then pass down in an accurate manner to fellow personnel. Accurate analyzing of the material is crucial in order to relay the value and worthiness of the particular resource. I chose to review the online resource View Camera, a black and white magazine that is specifically aimed toward large format photographers, showcasing new stars, old gurus, and upcoming talent. View Camera is an online resource that follows a rather mind-numbing HTML format allowing their participants to examine the content in a very undemanding, unobtrusive manner. Although View Camera might be more engaging in print as a magazine, the website is in need of some serious overhauling.

This bi-monthly magazine appears to have a good amount of followers that enjoy the content it produces; however, I wouldn’t say the same for their website. Although the magazine offers many useful pieces of information such as in depth interviews with new and old photographers accompanied by their portfolios, the latest equipment reviews, workshop listings, and technical information- something no other publication offers- which allows the reader to expose themselves to the knowledge and understanding of the photography that lies in front of them, you wouldn’t be able to say the same for the online resource, although there are some good pieces to the site.

View Camera online is lacking vital material that is not just important but imperative to this magazines arrangement and reputation. Even though most of the online resource was outdated and unhelpful some of the material I found was useful and worthwhile. The submission information was detailed and informative, directing readers on how to submit photography to the magazine, indicating the rules and regulations on presenting work for publication. The View Camera forum is a useful page that has information on everything, from cameras to films, and tips for the large format photographer. Unfortunately these are the only links that I found to be constructive, the rest of the site needs serious attention and service.

There are multitudes of things the online resource leaves unfinished and incomplete, dead-ending, leaving you without any information and nowhere to go from there. I found primarily that the site was very outdated and seems almost as if it hasn’t been tended to for years. For instance the photo contest link brings you to a form that is dated for the year 2002, also the workshops link brings you to a coming soon page but yet by going through the directory of large format photographers, a link which is also outdated and insufficient, and by following the link at the bottom, “look at all the great workshops we have planned in 2003!” you are able to view the workshops, which once again brings you to a page of outdated information. I also found that the downloads link they provide are old and redundant, things like Internet Explorer and Netscape are not worth mentioning and are probably just taking up space on their server.

I would give this website a very poor rating and would not recommend looking into this site for any reason for the simple fact that there are much better sites to get information from. This online resource is very outdated and is in need of some serious design and information refurbishment, and in order to stay in touch with their online readers they must stay on top in this demanding online world we live in.

Submitted by Bryan Janeway