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 tearagain!;-)
From: "Tim Atherton" <tim@KairosPhoto.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 19:05:04 -0700

Ahh - the good old Bee - they are known as one of the best newspaper
employers in the country and long may the continue to be so! And a damn good
paper too - valuing their employees shows in the product. Something many
others in the business have forgotten.(Can you believe there is a thread on
the NPPA list right now about newspapers that require their staff
photographers to buy, maintain and insure their own equipment - and we are
talking Nikon D1's etc...)

They have always paid above average rates for stock too on the few occasions
they have bought some from us.

tim

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Patricia
> Ternahan
> Sent: February 13, 2002 4:44 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: The Decisive Moment or...sounds like another
> ofthose God Damn commie photographers is on some sort of socialist
> tearagain!;-)
>
>
> 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
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
> >
>
> --
> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

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