Better Photography launched in Hindi

The magazine is targeted at readers in the Hindi-speaking belt including Lucknow, Jammu, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Delhi

Better Photography, the super-specialised magazine for photography enthusiasts, has now been launched in Hindi. Targeted at the Hindi speaking markets, the magazine was launched on November 29, 2011, and is the first nationally circulated Hindi photography magazine in India.

The Hindi version of the magazine will bear a cover price of Rs 60 as opposed to the English edition, which has a cover price of Rs 150. The December (its first issue), January and February issues, as an introductory offer, will carry separate Hindi pocket guides on people photography, wedding photography, and nature photography.

The initial print run of the magazine will be 50,000 copies for the first three issues, and depending on the response, the company will decide the final print run of the new variant. The inaugural issue will have 96 pages in the main issue.

The monthly title will reach out to the potential Hindi speaking market, especially in the northern and central belt of the country. The reader profile of the latest version will be similar to that of the English title, serious photography enthusiasts and amateurs, except for the fact that it will cater to the population that is more comfortable with Hindi.

The content of Better Photography Hindi will not be a replica of the English edition, though. However, for the initial few issues, the Hindi version will use 80-85 per cent of the content from the English title. For the Hindi issue, the focus will be on techniques, buying advice and tests, tips and tricks, interviews from all over the world, and the latest news.

The group plans to promote the new magazine across Network18, which includes television channels such as IBN7, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC TV18, CNN IBN, Lokmat, Colors, MTV, and History TV18), Web 18, magazines, and other Hindi newspapers including Dainik Bhaskar and Hindustan, as well as outdoors, radio, and point-of-purchase promotions in major Hindi speaking cities such as Lucknow, Jammu, Chandigarh, Kanpur, and Delhi.

Better Photography is a 14-year-old magazine published in India and South Asia. Basic and advanced level techniques, and reviews of the latest cameras and photography gadgets, as well as interviews with reputed photographers from around the world form the core of Better Photography.

The Hindi variant of the magazine was unveiled by Pablo Bartholomew, photojournalist and two-times World Press Photo winner, Debatosh Sengupta, director, photo division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, Bandeep Singh, photo editor, Fortune India magazine, Neeraj Priyadarshi, photo editor, The Indian Express, Dr Alok Bharadwaj, senior vice-president, Canon India, Dr Alka Pandey, consultant, curator, art advisor, India Habitat Centre, Gurjender Singh Virdi, executive editor, Better Photography, K Madhavan Pillai, editor, Better Photography, and Sandeep Khosla, chief executive officer, publishing, Infomedia18.

"The decision to launch the Hindi magazine is based on constant feedback from across North India. The strategy is to have greater penetration into the Hindi-speaking cities," says Khosla.

Pillai, in an official communique says, "With so much emphasis placed on the English media, I am thrilled that we are the first to launch a significant, nationally circulated monthly magazine on photography in Hindi. With so many issues, socio-economic or otherwise, photography is the one language that breaks barriers of the spoken or written word. It helps people 'see' the truth for what it is. I am optimistic about the new Better Photography Hindi."

For the record, Infomedia18 is the printing and publishing arm of Network18 that publishes Overdrive English and Hindi, Chip, Better Photography, Entrepreneur, Aftermarket, Better Interiors, T3, AV Max, and Noise Factory, among others.