FHM Bites the Dust in the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal has reported the U.K.'s Emap Group PLC, has "...closed the door on the bulk of its U.S. operations as it confirmed the suspension of FHM magazine in North America."

A spokesman for Emap Group PLC said, "...FHM's U.S. Web site would continue to be maintained, and the closure won't affect FHM's 30 other editions around the world."

What? No more FHM? Oh well. I don't think I'm gonna be Jonesing for an FHM fix anytime soon. The truth is, I might have picked up a total of one or two copies of the British-owned lad mag since it began distributing in the U.S., I believe, in the mid-to-late 90s.

Personally, FHM, as well as Time-Warner Inc.'s Loaded, and a few other rags of this ilk, always seemed like inferior knock-offs of privately-held Dennis Publishing's wildly successful Maxim magazine.

Maxim is often a fun read. It has an editorial personality that's easy to relate to: Between the covers of its issues there's everything from biting satire to out-and-out lampoons, gadget reviews, and serious investigative journalism. And there's also the babes.

I've spoken to plenty of models who aspire to grace the pages of Maxim. An equally large number of photographers also hope to have their glamour work featured in the magazine, myself included. (I'm not ashamed to admit.)

Maxim-style images have become an identifiable photographic style. What's interesting about this so-called Maxim-style is that it's not very difficult to shoot. I think most competent shooters can easily mimic Maxim's pretty girl pics. They're not like Playboy's style which is meticulous in its execution and requires greater skill and more lighting sources. A Maxim-style pretty girl image is attainable for many shooters. Of course, that doesn't mean you or I are going to end up with a Maxim tearsheet just because the images they publish aren't especially noteworthy from a purely photographic perspective. But, because they've lowered the bar on such images, hope will spring eternal for many models and shooters who aspire to a Maxim tear.


The un-Maxim-like and somewhat Sapphic images I posted along with this update are of Lorena and Selena getting chummy with each other. Shooting images like this, with multiple subjects, requires paying even more attention to details, e.g., be on the lookout for one model blocking the light and casting unwanted shadow on the other. Subtle highlights can be helpful in separating the subjects from each other, even when (maybe especially when) they're getting close to each other.