Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/13

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: The Decisive Moment or...sounds like another of those God Damn commie photographers is on some sort of socialist tear again!;-)
From: Patricia Ternahan <ternahan@gentlelens.net>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 15:44:29 -0800

the San Jose Mercury paid $500 last year, so did the Sacramento Bee...

> From: "Tim Atherton" <tim@KairosPhoto.com>
> Reply-To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 15:58:01 -0700
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: The Decisive Moment or...sounds like another of those
> God Damn commie photographers is on some sort of socialist tear again!;-)
> 
> 
> 
>> Tim:
>> 
>>> They'd need it if the going rate was between $75.00 and $200.00 per job
>>> total
>> 
>> If money is such an important issue, then why would you *want* to try to
> win
>> a job that pays that in its entirety?
>> 
>> I'd think that if money were equated that closely with success, you'd be
>> better off working for yourself than somebody else.
>> 
>> What am I missing?
> 
> What you're missing is - there's not much point working for yourself as a
> photojournalist if you can't sell your work to a publication.$200 is the
> standard assignment rate from the NY Times. The photographers IS working for
> themselves as an Independent contractor - this is what the client pays - and
> that's now one of the higher rates. A rate that hasn't changed in oh - close
> to 20 years, when it was a decent rate.
> 
> This is why you will hear people on here who work in the industry crying woe
> about the death of photojournalism as we know it. Can you think of one
> really compelling image that came out of the 'war" in Afghanistan? I can't -
> why? Apart from US military censorship, virtually no publication will pay
> photographers for quality images. Rather, on the whole, you get a large
> flock of young, eager photographers willing to work for peanuts - and in the
> process, generally producing mediocre images.
> 
> I was looking at my new Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection and his long,
> incredible series of images covering the Spanish Civil War (and I am in no
> way comparing those two wars...). You would be unlikely to find anyone
> paying for a photographer of such caliber to cover any conflict in such
> depth today - with one or two possible exceptions.
> 
> My last few assignments for the NY Times have allowed me to negotiate my own
> fee - but recently I have turned down jobs at their $200.00 as they stick to
> it more an more (and that rate includes all the post-production work -
> scanning/editing/Photoshop work and transmitting - all at my expense). More
> and more photographers are refusing to accept such rates - which just means
> more mediocre images in the end.
> 
> Tim A
> 
> 
> 
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