Michael Hoffman, director of the Aperture Foundation, which published notable photography books and Aperture magazine, died November 23 of complications from meningitis. He was 59. Hoffman took over the magazine's affairs from photographer Minor White in the mid-'60s and turned it into an operation that also involved traveling shows and books. Under his leadership, Aperture produced more than 300 photography books, including important monographs by Diane Arbus, Edward Weston, W. Eugene Smith and Dorothea Lange. He was also a friend of Paul Strand, and after Strand's death arranged major exhibitions and publications of the photographer's work.