Hackneyed

American Photo began as a magazine devoted more to photography than to gear, as an alternative to the gear obsessed magazines like Pop Photo and Photographic. It has evolved into a magazine that divides its pages between equipment obsession and cheesy "glamour" photography that tries for art and delivers soft core porn. No stars.

Arrives Tattered and Torn

I wish they would concentrate more on the art and reportage aspect of photography rather than spending so many pages on fashion-related fluff. It probably has a lot to do with who gives them the most income. I can't recommend subscribing, because each and every issue I ever got arrived tattered and torn as if someone used it to line the bottom of a hamster cage. It's no fluke; Popular Photography arrives in my mailbox in pristine condition, so why not American Photo? And forget about calling customer service to get a replacement issue. This publication is all too busy making the big bucks to listen to the little people.

Glam and Gear: Unexciting

The magazine is mostly glamour photography and gear reviews.

Even if glamour photography is what you're interested in, however, the articles are generally biographical, not instructional, in nature.

The gear reviews are typical of magazine reviews in that the reviewers don't want to bite the hand that feeds them. Consequently, virtually all reviews will be very positive, which renders them fairly useless if you want an honest feature by feature analysis and comparison to the competition. If that is what you want, find a good website (like dpreview).

If what you want is to lust after all the almost-latest gear (without actually knowing what's best) and fashion photography that you can't do (because the magazine doesn't teach you), this is your mag. Otherwise, get your gear reviews online and your fashion photography and portraiture from pro mags dedicated to those topics.