Aperture at Sixty – Classic Covers Volume 2

A collection of classic Aperture magazine covers, looking at the magazine’s conception and evolution as a forum for photography.

Aperture Magazine - October 10, 2012

Aperture turns sixty this year, and in the weeks leading up to Aperture Foundation’s Sixtieth Anniversary Gala Dinner and Photography Auction, and in anticipation of the soon-to-be-published Aperture Magazine Anthology: The Minor White Years, 1952–1976, we’re sharing a collection of classic Aperture magazine covers, giving a glimpse into the magazine’s conception and evolution as a forum for photography. Last week we posted Part 1 of this series.

This slideshow features covers of Volumes 5–8 of Aperture magazine, from 1957–1960. Over these years, the magazine continued to build what it had established in its early years, publishing essays, reviews, and portfolios by masters and up-and-coming photographers alike. It increasingly embodied Minor White’s spiritual and educational interests, including texts on how to read and experience photos, and how photos might express inner emotions. Its design also changed from year to year, with different typography and layouts, and shifted to a wider, slightly shorter shape in 1959 to better accommodate both horizontal and vertical images. In this period, Aperture also published its first monographic issue (on Edward Weston), a format that would become an important part of the magazine’s identity and lead to the start of its book program.