Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/05/07

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Subject: The state of PJ Today - was: BD's Re: [Leica] So for... -
From: images at InfoAve.Net (Tina Manley)
Date: Sun May 7 20:15:17 2006
References: <6.2.3.4.2.20060507185618.02af53e8@mail.rhtc.net> <C0840A2C.104A9%bdcolen@comcast.net>

B.D.   I agree with everything you say.  Every time I'm asked to 
speak at a school about photography as a profession, I tell them 
exactly what you are saying.  But many young kids still see 
photojournalism as a glamorous profession where you get paid to 
travel and do what you love.  That photographer who busts her hump on 
a story might get more photos seen if enough people go to a gallery 
or web site, but she doesn't get paid any more and the recognition 
doesn't put food on the table, buy memory cards, or pay her health 
insurance.  I advise the kids to only go into photography if they 
absolutely can't do anything else and live.

Tina

At 08:33 PM 5/7/2006, you wrote:
>And there's nothing new, Tina, about the fact that photographers - and
>reporters - are not paid extra for the work they do as paid employees when
>that work is reused. Yes, there's a lot of work out there for which people
>don't get paid - there always has been. Do you think that Eugene Richards
>makes squat doing his documentary work? If you do, you're living in fantasy
>land; he makes his money doing advertising work and other commissioned work
>to support his real work - same with almost any documentary photographer you
>can name, and it's essentially always been that way. The thing that has
>definitely changed is that there are far, far fewer staff photo jobs these
>days, particularly at magazines. But many papers do have slide shows, photo
>galleries, displaying work - and in the past that outlet didn't exist. A
>photographer could bust her hump on a story, over a period of months, and
>end up with, if she was really lucky, a half-dozen photos in the paper. Now
>she can have those photos in the paper, and have a gallery, perhaps with
>sound, on line.
>
>Being a photographer - if we're talking about freelancers - has always been
>a really tough way to make a living, and teaching, or having some other way
>to supplement the photo income has always been a smart idea.
>
>
>On 5/7/06 7:07 PM, "Tina Manley" <images@InfoAve.Net> wrote:
>
> > At 05:28 PM 5/7/2006, you wrote:
> >> Actually, I'd like to suggest that the advent of the web has caused a
> >> blossoming of PJ work, and has given photographers at virtually every 
> >> size
> >> newspaper opportunities they really never had before to do 
> interesting work.
> >>
> >> B. D.
> >
> > And they are being paid a living wage to post on the internet?  Who
> > is paying them?  Do they retain the rights to their photos? There are
> > thousands of blogs - some of them have wonderful photos from great
> > photographers who are posting them at their own costs with the hope
> > that someone will see them.  How long can they continue to do that
> > without pay?  There are also web sites for most newspapers, which
> > many times post the articles but no photos.  If there are photos, are
> > they copyrighted by the photographer?  It's an exception if they
> > are.  It has become accepted practice that photojournalists are not
> > paid extra for web use.  Ask any newspaper photographer.  There are
> > more photos out there than ever before, but nobody is getting paid
> > for them.  The microstock agencies are proliferating like fleas and
> > selling all rights to all photos for pennies.  It's not a good time
> > to be photographer unless you have another source of income like 
> > teaching.
> >
> > Tina
> >
> > Tina Manley, ASMP, NPPA
> > http://www.tinamanley.com
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Leica Users Group.
>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information


Replies: Reply from s.dimitrov at charter.net (Slobodan Dimitrov) (The state of PJ Today - was: BD's Re: [Leica] So for... -)
In reply to: Message from images at InfoAve.Net (Tina Manley) (The state of PJ Today - was: BD's Re: [Leica] So for... -)
Message from bdcolen at comcast.net (B. D. Colen) (The state of PJ Today - was: BD's Re: [Leica] So for... -)