''Source'' is a quarterly

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. It is distributed throughout Ireland, Great Britain and internationally.

History

''Source'' was first published in 1992 as a newsletter of the organisation Photo Works North. This organisation had been set up the previous year to promote photography in Northern Ireland. The first editor was the photographer

Paul Seawright Paul Seawright (born 1965) is a Northern Irish artist. He is the professor of photography and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (previously Executive Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Belfast School of Art) at Ulster University in Belfa ...

. From 1995 ''Source'' expanded its remit to include review coverage of exhibitions across Ireland and the UK. Since 2002 it has also included extensive reviews of photographic publishing. In 2007 ''Source'' published its 50th issue and was relaunched in a new format with additional columns and more review coverage.

Coverage

''Source'' is primarily concerned with social, historical or

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

uses of photography rather than technical or

amateur photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed i ...

. The magazine deals largely with art photography, in exhibition or book reviews, essays or in the portfolios of photographs it publishes. These portfolios are selected from submissions, including those from photographers who have attended the regular portfolio daysExample of an invitation for a Source portfolio day
the magazine has run at venues around Ireland and the UK since 1997. However, as well as art photography the magazine is also concerned with other non-artistic uses of the medium and has in the past published essays on subjects such as police photography,

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

, satellite photographs, children's book illustration,

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

, photography and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, and the history of photography. This approach is typified by two columns that have run since the magazine's relaunch in 2007, discussing photography in relation to 'advertising' and 'law'.

Source website

''Source'' has had a website since 1997. Since 2002 this has included a growing archive of all the back issue content of the magazine. Additionally it contains two projects that are specific to the website: oral history interviews and graduate photography online.News story about graduate photography online
The Source oral history archive consists of lengthy interviews with photographers, curators and writers about their lives and involvement in photography. These are gradually being made available as indexed audio files sometimes up to three hours in length. Graduate photography online, running since 2007 is a large gallery of the work of graduating photography students in Ireland and the UK with each student represented by a selection of their work indexed by the universities they have attended. Notable contributors have included: Photographers

Willie Doherty Willie Doherty (born 1959) is an artist from Northern Ireland, who has mainly worked in photography and video. He has twice been a Turner Prize nominee. Life and work Doherty was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and from 1978 to 1981 studied a ...

, John Hilliard,

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

, Hannah Collins,

Victor Sloan Victor Sloan Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 1945) is a Northern Irish photographer and artist. Life and work Sloan was born in 1945 in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He studied at the Royal Sch ...

, Hannah Starkey

Denis Masi Denis Masi, (born 1942) is a British artist known for his experimental work which spans a broad range of media including assemblage, sculpture, installation, film, video, performance, photography, print, drawing and painting. Masi’s work is uniq ...

Writers Geoffrey Batchen,

Fintan O'Toole Fintan O'Toole (born 16 February 1958) is a polemicist, literary editor, journalist and drama critic for ''The Irish Times'', for which he has written since 1988. O'Toole was drama critic for the ''New York Daily News'' from 1997 to 2001 and is ...

, John Taylor,

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

, David Bate, Ian Walker, Lucy Soutter, Will Self,

Tom Paulin Thomas Neilson Paulin (born 25 January 1949 in Leeds, England) is a Northern Irish poet and critic of film, music and literature. He lives in England, where he was the G. M. Young Lecturer in English Literature at Hertford College, Oxford. Earl ...

and Daniel Jewesbury.

References

External links

''Source'' website
{{Authority control 1992 establishments in the United Kingdom Visual arts magazines published in the United Kingdom Quarterly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1992 Magazines published in Northern Ireland Mass media in Belfast Photography in Northern Ireland Photography magazines