Vincent Laforet wrote a good piece about all the problems facing photographers today (here) but concludes that the possibilities are endless for photographers just getting started.
Vincent Laforet wrote a good piece about all the problems facing photographers today (here) but concludes that the possibilities are endless for photographers just getting started.
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How are the possibilities for photo editors today. Equally endless, naturally?
Well – that is depressing and invigorating at the same time. Specially coming from one of the photographers I like the most :D
RM
I agree fully with the essay from Vincent. What I would add is the shift to how we value photography in the realm of visual document. The growth of citizen journalism and their access to the technology necessary to share their experiences can only do good. Maybe the higher level media outlets might be broken, but the most honest and truthful information is and will be given by those carrying cellphones and not professional cameras. What I think will be enhanced in terms of value is the quality of documentary work, with in-depth coverage. Maybe this will come from the works of photo editors gathering images from thousands of contributors. It might just be easier to tell a story about Iraq from the eyes of local residents than sending a photographer who will have to follow strict military confinements. Kudos to Zana Briski and her work with Kids with Cameras. I believe that practice shall lead to a different way of looking at things, where photographers play a role as mentors to a group of people rather than being the one who sees it and interprets it.
Vincent misses one important point regarding his belief that video will take over from photos in the future.
Time.
An average user can look at a photo in a few seconds and get the gist of what’s going on. Even a 30 second video is a ten fold investment by the user.
With the Internet swiftly changing the way we consume media, read and shift our focus and attention on a plethora of applications simultaneously, the less time the person must invest the less risk they take on board and the more attractive a prospect that piece of content becomes.
Was Vincent being facetious about wedding photography?
On another note, I do agree that photography can be a more powerful communicator on the web than video because of time.
BUT I am fascinated by multimedia storytelling as well. The magazine piece that I have been thinking of writing to accompany a series of photographs I am completing might be better as a video-photo narrative which could be a print piece eventually, as well.
So Vincent does one annual report shoot for VSA and from one comment he concludes that the AR market is shot to hell. That rule has been on the books and people have responded. My AR work has increased because clients are no also shooting corporate responsibility books and the end use is still the same, printed pieces and pdf versions.
Folks, be very wary of “experts” who claim to know the future. None of us do, we can see trends and respond to them as we see best.
Vincent is no oracle. He is speaking from his experience. The article reads like a downer, than at the end he speaks of starting seminars and workshops to “help” other professionals. Anybody see that coming in the article. I did.
No to be cynical. But it is one persons opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.
The diversification message is an obvious one and it’s surprising that so few people “get” it. Just look at the VII Agency website sometime. They seem to spend an awful lot of time giving seminars and doing portfolio reviews as opposed to shooting assignments. I wonder how many Magnum photographers are paid to shoot on a regular basis. Truth is, work doesn’t come to us as easily as it once might have. We have to spend much more time chasing it. Or better yet, creating it for ourselves as Vincent has suggested.
#4. Roger: you’re exactly right. While at some times I like to watch a video, most of the time I’d rather take a quick look at a photo to tell the story. People are an impatient creature. We like things fast and we won’t always wait around to watch a video.
I don’t think he was being facetious about wedding photography at all.
This business, like nearly every other is a business of diversified revenue streams. In fact, part of what plagues the newspaper/magazine industry is a lack of diversified interests. All their money came from one or two very fickle streams.
Just as you (should) invest your retirement savings in various places, you should also ‘invest’ your business efforts into several areas. For a lot of people, going from news coverage to wedding coverage is easy enough if one area slows down.
Beyond that, we’re all going to have to get used to the fact that few, if any, of us are going to get away with being a photographer alone. We need to do other things that complement our pictures.
We’ll need to be photographers and writers. Or photographers and Web developers. Or photographers and videographers. We need to be in a position to do at least several of the other tasks that make our photos worth more to buyers. It’s already been demonstrated that, for the most part, buyers will take an ‘ok and cheap’ photo over an ‘expensive and impressive’ photo. Bottom line always dictates terms.
I’m amazed at a lot of the pros out there that probably make nearly as much money as they do shooting (if not more) by teaching workshops, selling $50 how-to books and operating tips-n-tricks sites for other photographers and amateurs. It’s a great time to make some money on the amateur or ‘professional amateur’ markets.
The photography industry has, once again, basically collapsed entirely. Those in the game today will have more influence over where the business goes tomorrow than almost at any other point in history.
Although revenues are down and the future is uncertain, now is a great time to come together to figure out the new path to success. Hell, if we’re all shooting less, it’ll give us something productive to do in the meantime.
I’m still much closer to the beginning of my career than retirement (I hope!), so on the one hand, it’s really pretty scary out there. On the other hand, it’s very exciting to watch and be part of another great reinvention.
Several things spring to mind. First, In a time of recession, marketing budgets usually go up in an effort to get people to spend more on products again. Though jobs may disappear, the bottom line remains the same. I used to work for a company involved in Film and TV. When hard times hit, they axed a huge percentage of their Film division to focus on advertising. Guess what – business boomed.
Secondly, it is not entirely up to the photographer to change the business model. Photographers are only part of the machine. It is the responsibility of Photo Editors and Creative Directors to push for quality photography, to financially reward those who produce it and to in the news industry, to push for high quality investigative photojournalism rather than using the cheapest image and option available. I can’t stress this enough. These people are the ones who get the work from the photographer to the consumer. Photographers have to realise this and stop moaning about not getting work or not getting paid enough. They don’t dictate this aspect of the industry. Editors can pick and choose. Ask yourself – why would they choose you?
Thirdly, multimedia is just TV on the web. Honestly, if you want to produce good ‘multimedia’ then invest in a team to produce it. I mean a videographer, a photographer, a journalist, researchers, editors, sound recordists etc. I have worked on film and in video and it is a lot of work with many elements. You can’t expect to stick a video camera and a dat recorder in someones hand and expect the result to be amazing (unless the person in question is incredibly talented. I have seen so many multimedia pieces that are badly made (and some have been lauded as genre defining!)
I agree that diversifying is good in todays market – if you can manage it. Specialization can also work. It is not about what you do but how you do it (as the old saying goes) and there are no hard and fast rules except one – work hard at what you do and pray luck is on your side.
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