Aperture Foundation

Aperture, a not-for-profit foundation, connects the photo community and its audiences with the most inspiring work, the sharpest ideas, and with each other—in print, in person, and online.

Created in 1952 by photographers and writers as “common ground for the advancement of photography,” Aperture today is a multi-platform publisher and center for the photo community. See an interactive timeline which details the history of Aperture. From our base in New York, we produce, publish, and present a program of photography projects, locally and internationally:

• Four issues each year of Aperture magazine, the flagship of our commitment to the most inspiring photography and writing on photography.
• Between twelve and fifteen new photobooks, and books about photography, each year; our choice of the most exciting titles by classic, contemporary, and emerging photographers, and by the world’s best writers on photography.
• A growing digital publishing program, including e-books, apps, and a daily blog, as well as online features on our website.
• A regular program of exhibitions each year, at our gallery in New York and at partner venues, touring to museums and other photography centers nationally and internationally.
• Two issues each year of The PhotoBook Review, a newspaper and e-publication, cultivating the appreciation of the photobook.
• Approximately twenty-five print and other limited editions each year, many by emerging photographers, aimed at collectors and published to support our programs, and the photographers we work with.
• An annual Portfolio Prize, recognizing and promoting the most exciting emerging photographers internationally.
• With Paris Photo, an annual PhotoBook Award, with First Book and PhotoBook of the Year categories, recognizing the contribution of photographers’ books to the evolving narrative of photography.
• Talks, workshops, signings, and education events, connecting with our community and reaching out to new audiences, every week, at our New York gallery and bookstore, and at partner venues.
• Aperture is also responsible for the Paul Strand Archive, managing and promoting the rights and legacy of this key figure of twentieth-century photography, in partnership with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
• Aperture’s projects and programs are made possible by the support of our funders, patrons, sponsors, partners, and members, and by the tens of thousands of people who subscribe to our magazine, collect our limited editions, and buy our books.