[Leica] Stock Photography Today WOW Dr Ted

[Mark Kronquist]

George Eastman did the you push the button, we do the rest bit first…yes technology has improved and like all things rooted in technology, the price has come down and availability and access to that tech has increased (I still painfully recall buying a Mac Plus kit in college at the student discount with 4MB RAM and a Rodine 20GB SCSI HD for something like $2500 (like $7000 today)

The days of traveling photographers taking their buggy and darkroom tent from town to town passed and the art of photography didn’t die.

Oskar Barnack vastly simplifying photography with a camera 1/3 the size of a Kodak folder and, gasp, 36 exposures, a rangefinder and soon, interchangeable lenses did not kill photography

The way people access media and what they pay to access media has changed. Look at newspaper or magazine circulation. The death of traditional ad agencies. Books publishers etc. Those are the folk who paid for stock. Who paid day rates.

Personally I love the light leaks and lomo folk, as they enabled film, probably my preferred medium to survive until it became hip again. Ignore their images if you wish, instead, concentrate on 

Look at the work folk like Zeb Andrews or Don Ferguson and a hundred others and keep shooting and creating that record of the ever changing world around us

https://www.zebandrews.photos

http://www.shadowsmithphotographics.com







> On Dec 7, 2018, at 12:49 PM, Ted Grant via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi TINA, JIM & CREW!
> Well my friends being an independent freelance photog for 65 years with published books, assignments about the world, lecturing LEICA SEMINAR's for over 20 years in Cape Cod, USA. It was a magnificent life while unfortunately watching it become nothing better than a "RATS NEST" of photog free-be-ittes, or exposurittes? 
> Who give their images away for a name under the so called photo???? not worrying about any income as many true photographers & photojournalists have too?
> It isn't the wonderful joys of years gone by today.
> The so called  "cameras of today" heaven knows
> what they can't do and the "user?" Doesn't require one iota of photographic skills whatsoever. Yet they openly call themselves "photographer's?" 
> In reality they're merely button pushers as the camera completely sets every frame of light/exposure/ etc.
> Ask them about shooting from the "shadow-side or Rembrandt lighting?" and they're clueless.
> Sorry I'm beginning to sound like I'm bitching?
> While in reality, the disaster in the photo world of today has merely been created by changes in the photographic business world due to much of the wonderful equipment advances and simplistic art of taking exposures.
> However? I believe those of us who've come through the past century or more capturing images of interest, beauty and yes some crap and garbage? 
> We have shot  a damn fine set of photos illustrating life on the Planet for the future to appreciate life on Planet Earth during our-times.
> cheers,
> Dr.ted grant O.C.  
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information