The first College publication devoted solely to photography released its first issue yesterday, filling what its founders say is a long-held seed for a forum on student photographers' work.

The 40-page first issue of the Harvard Photography Journal contains about 30 student photographs, culled from about 100 submission magazine co-founder and co-editor Jennifer A. Luterman '95 said yesterday.

The appearance of such a publication was ling overdue, said the magazine's other co-founder and co-editor Hannah B. Yang '95.

"We thought that photography needed its own forum," Yang said. "We wanted to harness the enormous resource in the VES [Visual and Environmental Studies] department and fine arts classes here."

The college has often neglected the talents of its student photographers, Luterman said.

"The Advocate only publishes three or four photos per semester," Luterman said. "We wanted to have a magazine that used photographs as a means of communication, to give pictures a greater voice."

The College has not always realized the importance of the visual media, said Barbara Norfleet, a senior lecturer in the VES department and faculty advisor to the new publication.

"I don't think Harvard has recognized in past years the extent to which images have driven policy," Norfleet said.

"We live in an image-driven world," she added. "They are much more than art. Pictures are a terribly important source of communication and information."

The photographs selected for the publication were not chosen just for attractiveness but for the message they conveyed, Luterman said.

"We wanted to choose photographs that were not only beautiful visually," she said, "but also had a second element--a critical outlook on a situation.

The magazine will publish one issue per semester, beginning next fall.

"We would like to actively solicit people to contribute so that we may publish two issues per year," Luterman said.

Luterman and Yang said they hope the journal will become a permanent fixture among Harvard's publications.

"What I care about most is that this will go on after I graduate," Yang said.

The journal celebrated its first issue with a party last night.

A number of the contributors to the journal were present at last night's reception, some of them signing their published work.

Contributors agreed that the new magazine fills a longstanding need for an outlet for student work.

"I think photography is a popular means of expression among Harvard students," said Daniel B. Lee '95, a contributor. "There's just been no outlet."

"[Photography] is something everyone can relate to," Lee said. "Everyone's taken a picture. Hanging on the walls of everyone's bedrooms are photographs. They're like a slice of the present--or at least the near past."