Photo District News
Encyclopedia
Photo District News is an American monthly trade publication
for professional photographers. PDN was first published in 1980. The publication takes its name from New York City's photo district, an area of photo businesses that was once located in Flatiron District.
Originally named New York Photo District News, PDN was founded by Carl Pugh, who was working as a photographer’s assistant and sought more freelance work. He inquired as to the best way to advertise his services and was told to post a note on the community bulletin boards found at local businesses frequented by professional photographers. This sparked the idea to create a newsletter for the loose-knit community of professional photographers who populated the inexpensive loft spaces along lower Fifth Avenue (the “Photo District”).
The first issue (May 1980) cost $800 to print and carried $2,000 in advertising, yielding a tidy profit. It was distributed free in stores in the Photo District. PDN was an instant success. In time pros coming to Manhattan on assignment from elsewhere in the country picked up a copy and requested a subscription (initially $6 per year), which in turn was seen by other pros back home. In this manner PDN quickly grew into a national publication.
Pugh said, “Our secret to success was in our editorial focus. Unlike all the other photography magazines, we did not tell our readers how to take better pictures. They all went to school for that. What they needed were the skills to turn their talent into a successful business. We focused on the business and people of professional photography. Our articles were about things like self-promotion, studio management and stock photography. We also profiled those who were making it, revealing their own secrets to success.”
In 1983 PDN launched Photo Expo, a trade show for the same market, which remains the leading US show for pro shooters (since renamed PHOTOPLUS). Pugh sold PDN and the show to ADWEEK in 1984.
PDN is owned by Nielsen Business Media and headquartered in New York.
Trade journal
A trade magazine, also called a professional magazine, is a magazine published with the intention of target marketing to a specific industry or type of trade. The collective term for this area of publishing is the trade press....
for professional photographers. PDN was first published in 1980. The publication takes its name from New York City's photo district, an area of photo businesses that was once located in Flatiron District.
Originally named New York Photo District News, PDN was founded by Carl Pugh, who was working as a photographer’s assistant and sought more freelance work. He inquired as to the best way to advertise his services and was told to post a note on the community bulletin boards found at local businesses frequented by professional photographers. This sparked the idea to create a newsletter for the loose-knit community of professional photographers who populated the inexpensive loft spaces along lower Fifth Avenue (the “Photo District”).
The first issue (May 1980) cost $800 to print and carried $2,000 in advertising, yielding a tidy profit. It was distributed free in stores in the Photo District. PDN was an instant success. In time pros coming to Manhattan on assignment from elsewhere in the country picked up a copy and requested a subscription (initially $6 per year), which in turn was seen by other pros back home. In this manner PDN quickly grew into a national publication.
Pugh said, “Our secret to success was in our editorial focus. Unlike all the other photography magazines, we did not tell our readers how to take better pictures. They all went to school for that. What they needed were the skills to turn their talent into a successful business. We focused on the business and people of professional photography. Our articles were about things like self-promotion, studio management and stock photography. We also profiled those who were making it, revealing their own secrets to success.”
In 1983 PDN launched Photo Expo, a trade show for the same market, which remains the leading US show for pro shooters (since renamed PHOTOPLUS). Pugh sold PDN and the show to ADWEEK in 1984.
PDN is owned by Nielsen Business Media and headquartered in New York.