Pictory Magazine was an online publication for big photos and small stories. It was founded in 2009 by Laura Brunow Miner, the former editor in chief of JPG Magazine, and ran through 2012. Readers submitted photographs and short first person captions to a monthly theme, and the editor curated them into large format photo essays inspired by The Boston Globe’s Big Picture. The magazine was covered by PetaPixel, Nieman Reports and 7×7, and its Local Legends showcase was produced together with NPR.
Pictorymag.com is now run by a new team, and the original magazine is no longer publishing. The original site stayed online as a static archive until late 2023, then went offline when the domain lapsed. We are not the original publishers, and we take no credit for this work. These pages exist to keep a record of the original showcases at their original addresses, so that the many articles and blogs that linked to them over the years still lead somewhere useful. Full snapshots of every showcase, including all photographs, are preserved by the Internet Archive and linked from each page.
All 37 Showcases (2009–2012)
- Overseas and Overwhelmed (2009) — Twenty-five visual tales of culture shock.
- San Francisco (2009) — Twenty-four photo stories, four quotes, and an infographic describing the city by the bay.
- Are You There, Dad? (2010) — Your relationship with the man or the mystery.
- Coming Home (2010) — Cozy up with twenty-five stories of simpler times.
- Danger (2010) — Lions, tides, and barrels: twenty-eight stories of energy and emergency.
- Everything’s Bigger in Texas (2010) — Texas beyond the stereotypes. Except for the really charming ones.
- In Deep (2010) — Bodies of water bring us comfort, euphoria, life.
- Just Like Heaven (2010) — Our happiest places, through the camera’s lens and the mind’s eye in Just Like Heaven.
- Life Before Your Eyes (2010) — Twenty-six intimate tales of growing up and growing old.
- Life Lessons (2010) — A collection of advice from those who’ve earned the wisdom.
- Local Flavor (2010) — Explore the Local Flavor of thirty-two spots around the globe.
- London (2010) — Fall in love with picturesque London, from the eyes of visitors and veterans.
- Neighborhood Treasure (2010) — View the hidden charms of thirty-one communities across the states and beyond.
- New York City (2010) — Celebrating a first-class city on this notable Pictory anniversary.
- Note to Self (2010) — End of the year reflections on the moments that have shaped our lives.
- Phoot Camp (2010) — Check out this real life, interactive Pictory project.
- School Days (2010) — Reflections on the joy and promise of youth.
- Secrets of Inspiring Women (2010) — Celebrating Pictory’s first anniversary with advice worth repeating: Secrets of Inspiring Women.
- Sorry, Mom! (2010) — Everything you couldn’t, didn’t want to, or never had the chance to say to mom in person.
- Spring Breakout (2010) — Catch spring fever from these twenty-three tales of wanderlust.
- Summer Jobless (2010) — Twenty tales of unemployment from Summer Jobless.
- The One Who Got Away (2010) — Stories of young love, true love, lost love.
- A Pictory Guide to New Zealand (2011) — A visual primer on this lush island nation: New Zealand.
- Beautiful People (2011) — What is it like, day-to-day, to be remarkably attractive?
- Eat at Your Own Risk (2011) — Brace yourself for this crazy culinary ride.
- For the Love of the Game (2011) — The moments that made sports important to us.
- Handmade (2011) — An appreciation of the art of craftsmanship.
- Infrastructure (2011) — The underpinnings that make civilization civilized.
- Local Legends (2011) — NPR and Pictory team up to share your stories of neighborhood heroes.
- Love without Language (2011) — Sweet stories of what we’ve learned from our animal friends.
- Phoot Camp 2011 Roster (2011) — Meet the allstar attendees of Pictory’s creative retreat for photographers.
- Platonic Love Stories (2011) — Sharing our affection for the people who make life worth living: Platonic Love Stories.
- Close Encounters of the Phoot Kind (2012) — The Story of Phoot Camp 2011: Close Encounters of the Phoot Kind.
- Phoot Camp 2012 Roster (2012) — 33 super creative self portraits submitted to Pictory’s annual creative retreat for photographers.
- Portrait of a Place: Paris (2012) — Longing for the City of Light.
- Something to Write Home About (2012) — Seventeen visual accounts of unexpected delight.
- The Best of Small Town America (2012) — Sixteen of the finest tiny towns in the United States.
Pictory also ran open calls under its themes pages, a featured contributors index and an editor’s blog. Those sections were not archived here; the Internet Archive’s record of pictorymag.com covers them.