[Leica] Stock Photography Today

[Tina Manley]

PESO:

This is a pretty good analysis of the state of stock photography today.  I
would never recommend that anybody try to make a living at it these days.
It's pretty depressing:

Posted on 11/30/2018 by Jim Pickerell
<http://www.selling-stock.com/Author/jim-pickerell>

After 28 years of publishing Selling Stock, in 2019 I will begin to wind
down my regular daily coverage of the stock photo industry. The site (
www.selling-stock.com ) with all its archives will continue to be available
to readers, indefinitely.

In 2019, I will continue to publish occasional stories on a random basis
when I stumble on a topic of particular interest to me. But, I will no
longer attempt to provide daily coverage of changing industry developments.

I will no longer ask readers to subscribe to the service, but instead ask
them to pay on a story-by-story basis whenever they want to read one of my
articles. Every current subscriber and recipient of the Weekly Digest will
receive an email notification whenever I post a new story. Anyone
interested in receiving these FREE notifications can sign up on the website.

In the last two years, revenue generated by the newsletter has declined
53%. For the professional photographer the industry has changed and
declined dramatically in the last decade. Fewer and fewer people need, or
are interested in reading what I have to say. The amateurs don’t need to be
told how to maximize revenue from the images they create because they don’t
expect to earn much from their images anyway. More and more former
subscribers are getting out of the business and moving on to other
activities. It’s time for me to so the same.

At one time, stock photography was an exciting way for many photographers
to earn a comfortable and enjoyable living. Now, it is a bad-paying hobby.
And it is on a path that seems likely to get even worse, and more
depressing for most of those who hope to earn real money from the images
they produce.

My goal in publishing Selling Stock has always been to help those still
photographers trying to earn a portion of their living by licensing usage
rights to the images they produce. Looking ahead images are likely to be
created by robots and file sharing and piracy will continue to be on the
upswing.

In the Internet environment most people think all information and
photographs should be FREE. They’ve been raised in the Walmart and Amazon
economy where everything can be shopped down to prices so low no one can
make a living.

An ever increasing percentage of the images being created are produced by
part timers who view their earnings as a “supplement” to another major
source of income, not a serious income source. This trend will not be
reversed, although there still may be a question as to whether amateurs
will eventually produce everything professional image users want for the
products they design.

There may still be some opportunities for video producers, but I have never
produced video myself and have trouble understanding all that is involved
in meeting the needs of video users. Given video production costs there is
still a big question as to whether a significant number of videographers
will be able to profit from their efforts.

I’m 82 and have been in the stock photo industry for more than 55 years (
http://www.jimpickerell.com/About.aspx), first as a photographer and more
recently as the editor of Selling Stock. I’ve seen the industry at its
peaks and current lows. All in all, it has been a very satisfying career.
But, I was born at the right time to have a career in photography. People
in their 20s and 30s need to explore other career paths. The need for
professionally produced images will never be the same. For me, now it is
time to explore the next stage of my life.


Tina

-- 
Tina Manley
www.tinamanley.com
tina-manley.artistwebsites.com
http://www.pbase.com/tinamanley
<http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography/3B49552F-90A0-4D0A-A11D-2175C937AA91/Tina+Manley.html>