About ProfiFoto

ProfiFoto

ProfiFoto — "das Magazin für professionelle Fotografie" — is the German-language trade magazine for professional photography, published in Düsseldorf. Born in 1979 from the industry magazine Fachkontakt (first published 1969), it served for over four decades as the professional photographers' journal — from 1979 to 1991 the official organ of the Centralverband Deutscher Berufsphotographen, since 1991 a member magazine of the TIPA (Technical Image Press Association). Its focus from the start: the creative, technical, cultural and professional aspects of professional photography. In spring 2026 ProfiFoto discontinued its print magazine with issue 7–8; the brand continues digitally on profifoto.de — "Deutschlands Top-Medium für professionelle Fotografen" — with the newsletter (daily, weekly or monthly). The long-time editor-in-chief: Thomas Gerwers (DGPh) — TIPA board member since 1998, TIPA chairman since 2008.

Overview

ProfiFoto is a German-language trade magazine for professional photography from Düsseldorf — "Information & Inspiration für Fotografen". Its programme: the creative (the portfolios, the exhibitions), the technical (the cameras, the lenses, the digital imaging), the cultural (the photography's history and theory), the professional (the business, the law, the associations) aspects of professional photography. The readers: the professional photographers — the studio photographers, the advertising photographers, the photojournalists, the photography businesses. The studio photographers read the technical: the cameras, the lighting, the business. The advertising photographers read the creative: the portfolios, the inspiration. The photojournalists read the professional: the law, the associations. The businesses read the "Erfolg als Fotograf": the success column's business wisdom. The history: the Fachkontakt — first published in 1969 in the GFW Verlag Düsseldorf (Gesellschaft für Fachbücher und Werbedruck mbH) — renamed ProfiFoto with issue 1/1979, documenting the close connection with its readership. The frequency: six times a year until September 2005, then ten issues a year. The milestones: ProfiFoto Online (1996), the ProfiFoto Spezial "Heft im Heft" (1997), the first multimedia CD-ROM (2001), the ProfiFoto Interactive App for iPad (since 2010), the cross-platform e-paper (since 2012). In spring 2026 the print magazine was discontinued with issue 7–8; the digital brand continues on profifoto.de with the newsletter.

History

ProfiFoto's history begins in 1969 — the first Fachkontakt in the GFW Verlag Düsseldorf, with Ludwig Knülle as responsible editor (Volker Wachs succeeding in 1971, Rainer Schilling leading the editorial office 1976–1979). With issue 1/1979 the Fachkontakt was renamed ProfiFoto — the new title documenting the trade journal's close connection with its readership; from the start the creative, technical, cultural and professional aspects stood in the editorial focus. From 1979 to 1991 ProfiFoto was the official organ of the Centralverband Deutscher Berufsphotographen. The responsible editor was initially Jürgen G. Gumprich, who handed the editorial responsibility to Thomas Gerwers with the 6/1990 issue. The TIPA role: since 1991 ProfiFoto has been a member magazine of the TIPA (Technical Image Press Association); since 1998 ProfiFoto editor-in-chief Thomas Gerwers has held a TIPA board post, since 2008 as TIPA chairman. The TIPA membership — the international photo-press association — gave the magazine the European network: the awards, the exchanges. The Gerwers chairmanship — the German editor leading the international association since 2008 — is the title's prestige: the Düsseldorf journalist at the photo press's helm. Since 2002 ProfiFoto has appeared at the GFW PhotoPublishing GmbH in Düsseldorf; since 1996 the Redaktionsbüro GRG has provided the editorial care. In spring 2026 — after 47 years — the print magazine was discontinued with issue 7–8. The 2026 discontinuation's context — the print advertising's collapse, the photography industry's digitalisation, the professional press's consolidation — ended the print era: the 1979–2026 run closing. The digital continuation — the profifoto.de portal, the newsletter — preserves the brand: "Deutschlands Top-Medium für professionelle Fotografen" as the online promise. The transformation mirrors the industry's: the photographers' own medium going digital as the photography did.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's programme was the professional photographers' full world. The creative: the portfolios, the photo series, the inspiration. The technical: the cameras, the lenses, the lighting, the digital imaging — the tests, the comparisons. The cultural: the photography's exhibitions, books, history. The professional: the business — Silke Güldner's column "Erfolg als Fotograf" (readers reportedly buying the magazine for the column alone); the law, the associations, the education. The Güldner column — the success question answered — became the magazine's legend: the business wisdom the photographers craved. The ProfiFoto Spezial — the "Heft im Heft" on special topics since 1997 — deepened the themes. The Edition ProfiFoto — the book series with the mitp-Verlag ("made for professionals") — extended the brand into the professional literature: the digital photo technology and image editing. The series' concept — the ProfiFoto editors' and mitp's know-how bundled with practice authors — created the professionals' library: the complementary books to the magazine. The journalism is the photo trade press's: the visual, the technical, the business-minded — the professional photographers' "Information & Inspiration", from the 1979 first issue to the digital present.

Organization and Ownership

ProfiFoto was published by the PF Publishing GmbH (previously GFW PhotoPublishing GmbH), Mürmeln 83 B, 41363 Jüchen — the editorial office: Büro GRG at the same address. The editorial head (Redaktionsleitung): Thomas Gerwers, DGPh — the long-time editor-in-chief, TIPA chairman since 2008 — the Düsseldorf photo journalist's double role: the magazine's head and the international association's leader. The advertising: Michaela Dietrich (later Thomas Gerwers). The magazine's format: 235 mm × 306 mm, offset on wood-free white art paper, perfect binding. The commercial model was the B2B photo media's: the subscriptions, the photo industry's advertising (millimetre rates, classified ads), the books, the app, the e-paper. The subscriptions — the professionals' copies — reached the studios and agencies. The photo industry's advertising — the camera makers, the lighting firms, the labs — monetised the buyers: the professionals' purchasing power. The books — the Edition ProfiFoto with mitp — monetised the expertise: the "made for professionals" series. The app and e-paper — the digital editions — monetised the mobility: the iPad and cross-platform reading. Following the spring 2026 print discontinuation, the brand continues digitally; current organisational details are not publicly confirmed in the sources available — the Jüchen office's discretion.

Digital Presence

ProfiFoto's home is profifoto.de — "Deutschlands Top-Medium für professionelle Fotografen" — with the newsletter signup (daily, weekly or monthly frequency, via MailChimp): free information on all photography and photo-technology topics. The newsletter's promise — the free information, the reader-chosen frequency — is the digital brand's core product: the inbox's photo intelligence. The MailChimp platform — the marketing automation — professionalises the outreach: the GDPR-compliant subscriptions. The digital history: ProfiFoto Online since 1996, the iPad app since 2010, the cross-platform e-paper since 2012 — the early digital adopter's timeline: the web in the nineties, the tablet in the 2010s, the e-paper across platforms. The media data (2024) documented the print era's advertising business. In the German photo-press landscape ProfiFoto occupies the professional pole: the 1979-founded Düsseldorf title — the 47-year print run, the TIPA chairmanship, the spring 2026 digital transformation — on profifoto.de, the professional photographers' medium, Düsseldorf's photo voice since 1979, digital since 2026, professional forever, the photographers' companion through the digital age, from darkroom to digital, always professional, since Fachkontakt days, 1969 to today, the photo profession's chronicle, still being written, digitally now, photographically always. The professional positioning — the "Magazin für professionelle Fotografie" — distinguished it from the amateur titles: the working photographers' journal. The TIPA chairmanship — the international association's German leader — was the title's global standing. The 2026 digital transformation — the print's end, the portal's continuation — is the title's adaptation: the brand outliving the medium.