UPDATE: April Fools.

I think we all saw this one coming the way the NY Times has been harping on and on about the demise of professional photography, “For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path.” I’m a little shocked they went straight for the istock dollar bin and didn’t even bother to remove the watermarks. Seriously, you guys can’t even pay the flippin’ one credit? See it for yourself (here).

NY_NYT

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35 Comments

  1. Lordy…….I should have been more on guard……for a split second I almost bought this!! Clever! LOVE the Kodak announcement!

  2. LOL. Careful, this one might be more prophetic than you think.

  3. Weird of you to post an obviously true story on April Fool’s Day, Rob….

    ; )

  4. istock gets no love….

  6. That’s too bad! They will miss out on Aromatography :)
    Now that the NYTs is no longer commissioning work, what will the entire industry do for work?

  7. I took off for a weekend last month
    Just to try and recall the whole year
    All of the faces and all of the places
    Wonderin’ where they all disappeared
    I didn’t ponder the question too long
    I was hungry and went out for a bite
    Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum
    And we wound up drinkin’ all night

    Its these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
    Nothing remains quite the same
    With all of our running and all of our cunning
    If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane

  8. This is all part of the “new model” of photography. Don’t fight it, embrace it. Think of all the additional revenue that can be made by the stock photography industry and the incredible exposure they get. I feel so energized by all the opportunities for Getty and others to enhance their revenues and build market share. The new paradigm for photographers to share their creative work for free is just so awesome.

  9. Well they would have known to get rid of the watermarks but they laid off the photoediting and art direction staffs on the last day of last month and farm the work out to a Bangalore graphics company now. All they have to do is choose one of the 12 templates the design staff created and plug in a picture. If the editors don’t like it they don’t have to pay.

  10. Ok, I’ll admit it, I fell for it! Thanks for the Laugh!

  11. I heard that there’s a special EMP bomb that targets all digital cameras and when set of will render them USELESS?! Film makes a dramatic comeback, wars end and people will smile until the end of days….*sigh* one can only dream, LOL!

  13. And Edgar Martins was just named the new NYT Chief Photo Editor. How could you have missed that part of the announcement?

  14. Shock, disbelief, laughter. The gamut of emotions in under a minute. Nice one.

  15. Ah… haha. That one was good. I’m a little dozy today, but no excuses. I fell for it hook line and sinker. Got played by my family earlier this morning too, to my chagrin. Congrats Rob, it’s been a long time since I fell for an online April Fools joke that completely.

  16. Now if only you’d announce that your Pastor post was a day early…

  17. They used my photo!! Cool!

    I wonder what I’ll do with that extra 35 cents of revenue coming my way…

  18. what is true is their contract sucks! work for hire nonsense.

  19. Wooo Hooo just got a couple contracts in the mail one from Ghetty and the other from Istock. I’ve been waiting for months and finally today of all days.

    Gotta Love the fact they’re gonna start giving me credit and pay me for the photos they approriated last year. Finally got a check for a hundred bucks for the 332 photos they used.

    It’s not a surprise that the NY Times is going to all stock photography, they can use guys like me that give it aways for pennies on the dollar.

    I am just waiting for LA Times to do the same. I can sell more photos and make $50 a month off of them.

    Hmm my backruptcy lawer is calling. Wonder what he wants……

  20. Booooooooo………..!

  21. What the $%^& Who are they to work above the law? God seat is already taken about 17 times. Editer or CEO must be Gen X or Y

  23. Very good Rob. Thanks for the foolishness!

    I completed my own trick on at least one fool today. And they remain fooled. Ha ha!

    By the way the other story in the New York Times, “The image of the shrinking path” was sooo depressing I did not link to it or pass it on or anything. It is dead to me.;-)

    I suspect that throughout the history of photography there has been a similar niche. It’s actually pretty interesting that it’s Getty fulfilling it now. They are digging their own graves, those guys. Nice going Getty Images.

    Maybe GI can figure out a way to just regurgitate stock through a robust algorithm and do away with dealing with photographers altogether.

  24. I’m gonna assume you paid for those iStock photos rather than just stealing the comps yourself…

  26. A 21st Century robber/baron. Please Ghetty find me on flickr and give me some cash.

    And they’re tryin to get the trash out of Key West. Hummm

  28. hey… that’s a picture of my grandparents.

    … but my mom told me they were dead.
    what sort of black magic is this?!

    rocksteady,
    danno~

  29. No mercy, Rob.

  30. A bit too true to be an April Fools — although it might be good in a way, since the NYtimes must still think of this scenario as surreal vision.

  31. There would be no joke here without some bearing on reality.
    Here’s another take on the state of the industry:

    http://www.photomediaonline.com/?p=1707
    (5th column down)

    PHOTOGRAPHERS FARE POORLY IN JOBS REPORT
    ”
    Between “waiter/waitress” and “ad salesperson” at No. 126 — that’s where a career as photographer will land you in the rankings of 200 best and worst jobs of 2009, a list compiled by CareerCast.com. Even lower down the totem pole, photojournalist came in at No. 189, between “firefighter” and “butcher.” Looking for a slightly better photo job? Photo processor came in at No. 90.”

    Further down in this column is mention of the PDN survey which apparently assesses the “median” salary of advertising and corporate photographers.

    However, do median values describe the marketplace/career well? How has “median” been calculated in this survey. How many in this industry have not been counted/included in the statistical analysis? How many reading this blog participated?

  32. Interesting article although I think it would be useful if it could be updated. Thanks for this very informative post

  33. what is true is their contract sucks! work for hire nonsense.

  34. The question should be – is Photography dead? I can not stand that people think that there is a field of “Professional Photography”. Sounds like all the people who got a Pharm. D, and call themselves doctors. Well at least that is a professional degree, but not a doctorate. Too many people pick up a camera and automatically become the best thing since Ansel Adams. What a JOKE! My kid can take pictures and get paid for stock photos.

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