[Leica] Stock Photography Today

[Jim Nichols]

It's a sad fact, Tina, but times do change.  In the late 1940s, I paid 
my college expenses by working in a 15-piece dance band.  In 1950, we 
saw our jobs going to small combos that worked cheap. Despite our pleas 
to the American Federation of Musicians, they offered no help.  Where do 
you find 15-piece band these days? Here in town, on special occasions, 
they can assemble such a band from local business men and women, but all 
depend solely on their regular jobs for income.  Paying customers stream 
their music to their cell phones.

During these same years, my late father-in-law provided for his family 
with income from a small photography studio, doing portraits, school 
class photos, news photos for the Memphis papers and even some land 
survey photos, where he got a severe case of poison ivy.  But it was a 
struggle, and he eventually turned to local politics to find a job with 
a regular income.

I've been interested in photography for the past 65 years, and have 
taken a lot of images, but, to my knowledge, have never sold an image.  
I have a lot of respect for what you have done with your images over the 
years.  Your work will be around when the rest of us are nothing but 
memories.  But pixels are much cheaper than darkroom-produced images, 
and the world moves on.

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA

On 12/3/2018 7:44 AM, Tina Manley via LUG wrote:
> 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
>