About Wild Places
Descent and us
Wild Places Publishing specialises in caving-related publications and was formed with book publication in mind. Its growth has, however, been closely linked with perhaps the best known of its publications,
Descent magazine.
Descent was launched as a small-format magazine in January 1969, price 2/6 (12.5p). Its first editor and publisher was Bruce Bedford – you can read the story of those early years in
Descent (210) – under various publishing names: Descent Publications, The Mendip Press and eventually Mendip Publishing. The magazine gained its ISSN of 0046-0036 with issue (35) in 1977 and moved to an A4 format with issue (40) in 1979.
CONWAY â In this day and age of cellphones, a long-running joke in the newsroom between award-winning Conway Daily Sun photographer Jamie Gemmiti and the reporting staff has been, âHey, Jamie â talentâs one thing, but anyone can take a picture, right?â
Not really. There are photos â and then there are works of art.
And day in and week out, that is what has separated Gemmitiâs work from the photographic pack.
He has worked at the Sun for nearly 20 years, first from 1996-2000, then returning after Bruce Bedfordâs tenure ended in 2007 and all the years since, covering everything from house fires to accidents; major crime stories, such as the Dittmeyer murder and Hernandez kidnapping, to sports, town meetings and voting; and of local life, whether it be the school dance recital or concert, always getting not just the shot but capturing something of the soul as well.