Morning Coffee Special Edition: Ailsa McWhinnie Joins TOP

Ailsa with Walt, her ex-racing greyhound

I’m hugely pleased to announce that Ailsa McWhinnie, of Brighton, UK, has agreed in principle to join the staff of The Online Photographer part-time in 2015, with the goal of eventually becoming full-time.

Ailsa was the founding Editor of the UK’s Black & White Photography magazine, over which she presided for more than 100 issues. She was my editor for some 80 columns I wrote for that magazine. Although we haven’t yet met in person, we always worked together extremely well and got along famously, becoming very good e-friends during that time, emailing often and talking and Skyping occasionally.

For me, Ailsa is to the concept of “assistant” what “Ferrari” is to sports cars or “Annika Sorenstam” is to women golfers. I’d actually actively daydreamed about one day having her help as Managing Editor of TOP, always believing it was just plain out of reach.

Although we both think it’s feasible now, the transition is going to be rocky. She keeps very busy with freelance work for various publishers in London, with varying commitment requirements. For my part, when a company with 350 employees or 35,000 employees hires one more, they are only increasing their workforce by a tiny percentage. For me to do it requires doubling the number of employees…currently just one, me...which a company of any size would have problems doing. I cannot begin to afford to pay her a full-time salary right away; we will need to work up to that. Can TOP’s earnings support it? Very much remains to be seen.

The hope, of course, is that Ailsa’s participation will turbocharge the site and help make it much better (and help it earn more, which in turn will help pay her). She is great at all the things I’m not good at, and having her help will free me to do two things: do more (and better!) writing (and actually keep more of the promises I make), and do more of the things I need to do to have something to write about: namely, shooting, printing, seeing shows, meeting photographers, using lenses, reading photography books, and all the other photographic activities that would make excellent grist for my daily mill. (She will also do a little writing, effectively as editor-at-large for the UK.)

We hope to begin working together part-time in November and to have a more formal announcement (with press release) at the beginning of 2015.

TOP turns 10 later next year—and I hope won’t be standing still!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Terry Letton: "Excellent. Black & White Photography was and is my favorite magazine. I still buy the print edition every month. It was a big change though when Ailsa left, but it still is the type of thing I like to read, lots of great pictures. Welcome Ailsa."

Geoff Wittig: "That precise issue of Black & White Photography magazine is my all-time favorite. Catnip for landscape photographers. Dang it, now I'm going to have to dig it out of my 'stacks' and re-read it. Shouldn't take me more than a week to find it. Congratulations, and looking forward to seeing more of Ms. McWhinnie's excellent work."

Christine Bogan: "It's a joy to read about her. I was a subscriber to Black & White Photography for several years. I remember when she bought her Mamiya 6 and was so excited about it. Still have all my issues. It was that good in those days. Later it lost quality after Ailsa went away for other tasks. I'm very happy you have the chance to work together with her at TOP. Congratulations. And welcome to Ailsa!"

Comments

[John Seidel]

Sounds good. This should be fascinating.

Wishing you both a remarkably successful collaboration. I like that TOP is evolving in a multi-talented direction. Ailsa is certain to add to the richness that is TOP and contribute mightily to the TOP's ever-present goal of world domination!

[Dennis Mook]

Ailsa,

Welcome! Being a reader of most of the 100 issues of your magazine, I look forward to, again, reading your words and considering your thoughts. I look forward to a long and interesting relationship with TOP.

I fully enjoyed and admired your previous work and anxiously await for you to bring us up to date with your life, work and thoughts.

Again, welcome!

And...Mike thanks for bringing her into the fold. What a wonderful addition to an already terrific place for pensive contemplation on all things photographic.

[Trecento]

Huzzah! Huzzah! Great news Mike! Welcome Ailsa!

[Sarge]

Not that you've been gone. . . TOP's back!

May you go onward from strength to strength!

[Thingo]

Excellent news. Now we know that the world-leading TOP development team has made use of the worm-hole between two very specific spots in Waukesha & Brighton. That explains the ruse of the apparent single desk in the TOP(W) HQ.

[V. Roma]

Excellent news. Congrats to both!

[Carson Harding]

That is excellent news! Two of my favourite fixtures from my old favourite photo magazine, together now on my favourite photo site.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

This sounds great. And seems likely to bring a LOT more to TOP than an "intern" or low-level assistant would. I look forward to seeing things as they develop!

[darr]

Wonderful news! Although I only briefly subscribed to the UK’s Black & White Photography magazine, I am familiar with who Ailsa McWhinnie is, and it was through reading your articles in that magazine I was first introduced to your writing.

I have been feeling a bit disinterested with photo forums lately after coming to the conclusion most are so male dominated that there is about zero attention paid to the female contribution to the art. After watching a number of videos through a paid subscription on one of the forums it only added fuel to my disappointment. The videos include recordings of guest photographers, tutorials, and photo industry people and not one of the videos I saw had a female photographer/industry expert in it! It was quite disappointing and eye opening at the same time. Kudos to you Mike for bringing Ailsa onboard.

[Barry Reid]

Good news, and just in time for a despatch from the Brighton Photo Biennial!

[Steve Smith]

Excellent. Black & White Photography was and is my favorite magazine.

It was mine (not is). This coincided with Ailsa editing it.

[DaveP]

Welcome Ailsa.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Excellent news!

[G:]

Dang! I read B&W just as I got into photography, as a young undergrad twelve years ago, and have very fond memories of it. This is gonna be exciting!

[Alfonso]

That's wonderful. About 50% of what I liked from Black & White Photography are together again.

[CarstenW]

Fantastic!

B&W Photo is one of only two magazines I subscribe to, and the only print magazine (the other is the iPad version of the BJP). My subscription is expiring though, and I am unsure of whether to continue. It has moved from an eccentric and quirky, but interesting, magazine, to something which has two or three beginner's how-to articles per month, and a camera review, but hardly any of the quirky stuff I loved so much. Sad.

[Roger Bradbury]

Excellent. I still have many copies of Black and White Photography from those days. Welcome, Ailsa.

Onwards and upwards!

[Robert Johnston]

Great news. How nice it is to get Ailsa back as it were. I have a problem with Black and White Photography magazine. My house is festooned with piles of magazines - and they are all B&W P. They are just too good to throw out.

[Peter Williams]

Congratulations both of you. This should be good :-)

[John Brewton]

Terrific news. Black & White really changed when Ailsa left and imo, the void has never been filled. Good things ahead!

[Richard Parkin]

You have completely upstaged Apple's big event later today! Great news!

[Larry Gebhardt]

Great news. Those first 100 issues of Black & White Photography were very good (well 89 - I started buying them at #11). Enough to keep me subscribing even at the high rate we had to pay in the US. I do miss them. I think much of that quality was due to Ailsa McWhinnie's stewardship.

I'd love to see you bring some of the ideas from the magazine over to TOP. I got a lot out of "The printer's art" and the "Master printers" series (and I'm sure I forgetting many others). I imagine some regular series on art and technique would be interesting to a lot of us. I still go back and reread those sections of the magazines. Series like that could generate page views long past when it's first published, if my experience in rereading old magazines is any indication.

[dan]

Very exciting news. Some issues of Black and White Photography were nothing short of epic. I was thrilled and inspired.

[Eric Rose]

The best of the best. I look forward to her contributions both visible and behind the scenes.

[Simon Conner]

Absolutely wonderful to have Ailsa joining TOP. I particularly loved BW magazine in the hay day of her editorship. And having a fellow Brit on the team is of course the right thing to do. Can't wait.

Simon, Norfolk, UK

[Rex Kersley]

That's fantastic news. I used to subscribe to Black+White Photography, but when Ailsa left it went down hill. I am looking forward to her input.

[Michael Ward]

What a great choice! It was in Black and white where I discovered your writing and looked forward to it arriving three months after publication in this land far away down under... Many congratulations.

[almostinfamous]

Many congratulations to both, and I can only see what my favourite photography website grows into :)

[Martin D]

Fantastic news. Ailsa McWhinnie, the one person who as editor of a print magazine succeeded in allowing her readers to become her companions on a shared journey of discovery, joins forces with Mike Johnston, the one blogger who is doing the same with his blogsite. I still have all my old copies of "B&W Photography", stacked up ready for perusal on my bookshelves, starting with issue 1 and ending sometime shortly after McWhinnie left and the magazine lost its charme. Congrats and good luck to you both.

[Andrea Ingram]

Yay! Best writer you could get!