Author Archives: Benjamin Reed

Benjamin absolutely loves his job. It was photography that transformed him from a financial dork into a creative being and allowed him to travel the world to interact with some of the most intriguing people around.

He has been shooting professionally since 2006 and has been recognized by some of the most prestigious members of the photographic community. His work has received numerous awards including the College Photographer of the Year, the National Press Photographers Association, Photographer of the Year and Atlana Photojournalism Seminar contests. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Benjamin’s work has appeared in the United States and abroad for a variety of clients, publications and exhibits including National Geographic Traveler, The Los Angeles Times and the Pingyao China International Photography Festival.

He provides his commercial and editorial clients with a consistent vision using elements of beauty and unconventional humor in the studio and on-location. He currently spends his time in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington watching hundreds of amazing undiscovered bands perform every year.

Digital Railroad Closing - Overpaid Execs?

October 29, 2008 – 2:42 pm

PDN has more on  Digital Railroad closing down.

“Last year, Digital Railroad boasted 1,300 individual photographers and 65 agencies as clients. Among them are editorial agencies like the UPI Newspictures archive, Redux Stock, Noor and VII Photo. Not all of the clients rely on Digital Railroad exclusively, but some do….

…On October 15, Digital Railroad laid off several staff and announced that it was seeking new backers. CEO Charles Mauzy and other executives were laid off and a firm called Diablo Management Group, which specializes in restructuring and liquidating troubled companies, took over.”

 

The rest of the story can be found here


Posted in Advertising Photographer, Commercial Photographer, Editorial Photographer | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Market Saturation

October 29, 2008 – 8:41 am

Quite a few recent posts touched on market saturation of photographers into the market place with the advent of digital cameras. Case in point.

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Not A Good Sign - Digital Railroad Shuts Down

October 28, 2008 – 4:20 pm

Bad news for stock and online archive holders. More on the story here.

Posted in Advertising Photographer, Commercial Photographer, Editorial Photographer | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

The Future of Licensing?

October 28, 2008 – 11:01 am

Artists in the digital age have struggled to figure out how to accurately track usage of their work but one company plans to change how licensing works online and is doing some serious out of the box thinking.

License Stream from Image Span is a product worth experimenting with. The online software gives you the tools to embed licensing with an image and publish it anywhere…Google, your blog, your site…effectively making you your own stock agency. They company says it is impossible to remove the tracking from image. Rob has more on it over at A Photo Editor.


Posted in Advertising Photographer, Commercial Photographer, Editorial Photographer | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Portland Monk’s Business Series Part 1: Writing A Business Plan

October 27, 2008 – 12:29 pm

” A guy shouldn’t have a family unless he is rich. If he comes into to this business with a wife and kids, and wants to be a serious photographer, the market is pretty bleak. If you’ve got no responsibility and don’t have to generate a certain amount of cash each month, and can live on a shoestring, and are ambitious enough then you might have a chance. You can be dedicated but that is no guarantee that you’ll make it.”

- Elliot Erwitt - 1974
______________________________________

So you’ve thought really hard about your future in photography and decided you want to go forward with it. You’ve talked with your family and friends, other photographers, asked all the right questions and you’re going to do it. You don’t necessarily want to work for an organization so you’ll go out on your own. Now what?

Take a vacation and clear your mind. You’re about to embark on one of the most difficult ventures of your life.

When you get home, get a job.

Seriously, find a job in something that will bring in cash. You’re going to need it. If you’re like most Americans and strapped to your ears in debt this makes even more sense for you. In my opinion, the best jobs out there are part-time with full benefits. Companies Like Starbuck’s and Trader Joe’s offer these up to employees. You work over 20 hours a week and get a health care plan just in case something happens.

There’s no shame in this, you do what you have to do. You won’t be making it overnight so you’ll need something to survive on, buy/rent equipment, spend on portfolios and marketing, etc.

Next write a business plan. This will force you to think like a business person and provide you with something tangible to go back to. It also helps in securing loans if you need some extra cash to get going.  A loan officer is going to want to see that you know what your’re doing and have a plan of action. Your business plan is your key. Although, in this market you might be better off opening a 0% interest credit card with no annual fee for the first year.

There’s one more interesting benefit to writing your plan down.

A Harvard study conducted in 1979 revealed the following: 10 years after graduation, students who had written down their goals, which was only 3% of the class, made 10 times more money than others who didn’t write them down.

It sounds ridiculous, but there are psychological mechanisms that make this work. When you write something down, you’re more likely to commit to it. Your brain subconsciously reminds you to keep thinking of your plan, your goals, how to achieve them. This is very important. Write it down. You’re more likely to accomplish your goals if you do.

The Business Plan

There are a plethora of books and software programs available out there on how to do this and what to include. Some programs will even interview you and populate the document for you. Here’s what you need to include:

  1. Executive Summary - A summary of your plan on one page and how you will achieve your goals.
  2. Objectives - Be specific. What do you want to accomplish as a business. List at least three.
  3. Mission - Why are you in business? Of course to make money. Of course to take pictures. But think of it in terms of what problems can you solve for your customers.
  4. Keys to Success - Specific action steps to achieve your objectives.
  5. Company Summary - What do you shoot? Portraits, Weddings, Humor, Lifestyle, Editorial…
  6. Start-up Summary - Who are you as an owner, how much capital (money) do you have? What are your start-up expenses, what equipment do you own, what do you need, how will you acquire it?
  7. Company Locations and Facilities - Where are you based, do you want to expand?
  8. Legal Considerations - Most of you will be registered as a sole-proprietorship or limited liability corporation. This is also a good section to discuss copyright issues and how you will communicate with outside entities on how you intend to handle copyrights to your images.
  9. Products and Services. Self Explanatory.
  10. Management Summary - It might just be you right now, but eventually you might need assistants Who’s on your team? Who will be on your team in the future?
  11. Competitive Research - Along with market analysis, this is arguably the most important part of your plan. You need to research and understand who you are competing with. Check out their sites, studios, request more information by calling and asking for brochures, talk to assistants that have worked with them. How do they do marketing? Who are their clients? What are they doing that you aren’t? What can you do better? What is your competitive advantage. Do your research!
  12. Market Analysis - Extremely important. In order to be successful you have to understand who your customers are and how to segment them so that you can track them. For many of you it will be Magazines, Non-Profits, Universities, Corporations and Ad Agencies. Take note of what’s available to you in your target area and start making a list of these potential clients and how you can solve problems for them, i.e. help them create a some promotional materials by taking portraits or creating images that will go on their promotional materials. Break these segments up into percentages on your list and even better if you can find out how much money they bring in. This information is usually publicly available except for the ad agencies because they operate privately. For example, magazines make up 10% of your market, Non-Profits 5%, etc.
  13. Market Needs - What will your market segments need and how can you provide this to them? You can find this by studying the promotional materials they distribute. Their customers should be in your pictures. Also try to quantify the need. For example, if you want to shoot advertisements research industry publications like Ad Age and you’ll find stuff like this: “According to the 2/11/08 issue of Ad Age, Eighty-four percent of agencies surveyed predicted growth of advertising revenues of 8% to 10% in 2008.” That’s great information to include in your plan because it shows you understand where your industry is going. If you belong to a public library, they can provide you access to these materials online through EBSCO Host.
  14. Implementation Summary -  How will you reach your audience and how will you execute your plan? This is essentially a summary of your marketing plan which I’ll write about in future posts.
  15. Sales Forecast - Essentially you’re going to predict how much money you will make for the next three years, for each year, for each segment. A good way of doing this is to make a table with years at the top of the columns and market segments down the rows. Specify how many jobs you plan to have for each segment. Also specify how much money you plan to make on each of these jobs. In the end you’ll have your predicted sales for each of your market segments for each year.
  16. Financial Plan - This is where photographers really struggle. But think of this in the most simple way possible. You will have revenues coming in and expenses going out of your account. The left over is your profit. This is your Profit and Loss Statement or P&L. Here is a sample. When you predict the next three years of profit and loss, it’s called a pro-forma statement. Create a pro-forma in addition to your sales forecast. It’s a great way to help you understand what you’re expenses will be and how this will eat into your income.
  17. Break Even Analysis - This is optional but I think it’s a good place to see where you stand. You can use a table similar as your sales forecast. List the next three years across the top of the table. List Total Revenue, Average Revenue per Job and Total Expenses you expect to have down the rows. Your goal is to determine how much you will average per job and how many jobs it will take to cover your total expenses. In other words, figure out what you’ll need to cover your marketing, equipment, business expenses to have an income of 0$.

Some plans also include a cash flow statement and balance sheet. I think these can be too confusing for a small business and people should hire accounts for this work, so I’ll leave them out of this discussion. I know this is like reading latin if you haven’t seen it before and we’re all visual people. So here’s a sample business plan from a company that has software which generates the plans for you. I don’t own the software or have anything to do with the company.

Good luck! - Monk


Posted in Commercial Photographer, Personal, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

The Future of (Newspaper) Photojournalism - Round 3 - Readers Respond, The Sequel

October 25, 2008 – 10:04 pm

Making pictures is a very simple act. There is no great secret in photography…schools are a bunch of crap. You just need practice and application of what you’ve learned.

My absolute conviction is that if you are working reasonably well the only important thing is to keep shooting…it doesn’t matter whether you are making money or not. Keep working, because as you go through the process of working things begin to happen.

-Elliot Erwitt

_______________________________________

It’s really great to have had the number of people find this post and email me or leave comments. I’ve heard from pros and students alike…people well known in the industry and some (rather feisty) newcomers. We’ll keep the thread going although I’ll have to cut back on posting every response and post only those that contribute to the discussion. Knox…you got a pass on this one.

I’d also like to clarify some points that I may have presented in a poor way in the original rant. I may have come across as preaching from the soapbox or talking down to those of you in photojournalism.

My apologies.

Let me be clear. I love photography, in all of its forms. I can honestly say I can’t imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life.

I was trained as a photojournalist and I’m proud to say that. I’ve experienced things I could have never imagine which have shaped my life and personality. (Not many fields grant you the opportunity to hang out with a pimp in Thailand). In fact, I still shoot editorially and would say I’m a hybrid commercial/editorial shooter.

So, if you can stomach the financial stress and you’re willing to sacrifice things that many others wouldn’t to make an impact. Godspeed. But please, I urge you to take the time and really think hard about where you’re headed. I would caution against being romanticized by the ideology of working at a newspaper and take a serious and practical assessment of what skills you can offer the marketplace.

My intention is to (1) share what (if any) knowledge I have gained from my experience as a businessperson with photographers (2) provide an honest opinion of where I personally believe the industry is headed based on market trends and forecasts, (3) inform our photography system on all sides of the spectrum that I believe we are failing our emerging shooters by sending them out in droves into this market without a basic understanding of business fundamentals and self-promotion.

Game on.

_______________

Reader M.D. -

I am a newspaper designer and copy editor… What I mainly wanted to say is, the Monk is right about pretty much everything he’s said about the future of journalism in general and the problems with journalism teaching. And even Knox is somewhat right about students being told not to expect jobs in journalism. I’ve seen it personally through friends struggling to find work or even getting laid off after only a short time in the work force. And unfortunately it is a wake-up call for many recent graduates, including myself. I had an inkling the industry was on the downturn when I graduated, but never did I imagine it getting to this point. Here’s another good site for tracking layoffs: http://graphicdesignr.net/papercuts/ More than 12,000 jobs so far this year…

So though I am currently a full-time employee at a daily newspaper with a 200,000+ circulation, I am still scared for my future and wish there were a lot of things school had taught me. I do believe that journalism as an idea will not die completely, and disagree with the Monk on some points, because everyone - including those in our age group - is still very much connected to getting news, just in a different way. And as we all know, newspaper have been disgustingly slow in catching up with that curve and thinking outside the box.

Some day I think I would like to work for myself is a commercial way, but I have no idea how I would go about doing that, so Monk’s advice is helpful. But I just hope that day isn’t forced on me too soon, as it very well could.

 

……….

It’s rough right now economically. Especially for newspapers. The advertising money that keeps newspapers afloat has gone to craigslist and other online services…and what’s left of it just got cut further in the economic downturn. The first thing that companies hold back in a rough economy is advertising. We’re hearing of more layoffs. My friends at the Los Angeles Times are waiting to see who will be staying and who will be cut for the second time this year. The newspaper will have roughly half of the staff it used to have…my feeling is that it will get worse.

That said, there were some good points brought up about too much complaining and not enough solution. No real beneficial information, just the same old doomsday scenario. In my next few posts I’ll have some things to say on how to construct a business plan, how to research your competitors and a regurgitation on effective marketing strategies from previous posts.

- Monk

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“The dirty little secret of journalism is that it really isn’t a profession, it’s a craft. All you need is a telephone and a conscience and you’re all set.”
-Andrew Sullivan

“Journalism is a kind of profession, or craft, or racket, for people who never wanted to grow up and go out into the real world.”
-Harry Reasoner

“I have spent half my life trying to get away from journalism, but I am still mired in it — a low trade and a habit worse than heroin, a strange seedy world full of misfits and drunkards and failures.”
-H.S.T.

- Reader Knox Harrington

I’ll start with a full-disclosure: I have a journalism degree from one of the top schools in our field. I am a middling journalist and an even worse photographer. I have a great job (that I happen to hate) at an international publication. My J-School didn’t teach me any of what I needed to know to help me get the job I have now. In fact, I had to skip class to teach myself how to write code and program databases.

I always find it ironic that the one area where journalists are not expected to apply their skepticism and challenge the status quo is their own field. In the interests of being less hyperbolic and more helpful I suggest that current photography and journalism students do the following:

  • Figure out how to do something nobody else in your class/office can do. For me that was a strange hybrid of computer science and film editing. I’m the only person at my publication who can do what I do. If I’m sick the job waits until tomorrow. That’s job security. If you are a staff writer, photog, designer or page editor and you get sick, the boss will just call somebody to fill in. That means you are replaceable.
  • Pursue a hobby that only you find interesting. Yes, photography is great—we all love it, I have been a mediocre (pro) photographer for years—but, you aren’t so good at it that anyone will notice if the credit lines change tomorrow. We all love photography because it is fun. You are out in the sun, meeting new people, working without a boss over your shoulder, traveling to foreign lands, etc., etc. That’s why there are so many of us got into it. Find something to do that is less popular. Learn how to bind books, for instance.
  • Don’t bow down to the altar of journalism. We all know you are doing god’s work. It is very noble. But, you aren’t opening anyone’s eyes with your expose on homelessness in America. Nobody cares about homeless people. That’s why they are homeless. Let me repeat that: NOBODY. CARES. You, along with lawyers and debt collectors, belong to one of the most hated professional groups in the world. Go do a story on something that makes people happy. Babies, puppies, pandas and that German polar bear cub are the most popular images on the web for a reason. Flocke the bear makes way more money than all of us combined. Before Flocke it was another bear cub that grew up and eventually attacked a zoo keeper—swear to god. They put that bear at the back of another zoo.
  • Your job isn’t supposed to be fun. Jobs rarely are. Work sucks. Thats why you get that shitty paycheck. Become a more complete person: get married, have kids, learn a language, play an instrument. Don’t look to work to fulfill you; you’ll only be disappointed.
  • Your job is to entertain people. Forget that BS they taught you in school. You are not at a newspaper to report the truth. A newspaper is a giant machine that is designed to sell keg-a-rators  and massage chairs to people who can’t afford them and will never need them. It is slowly being replaced by CraigstList because it can’t even do that efficiently.
  • “In case you haven’t already figured it out: By enrolling in j-school, you (perhaps unwittingly) picked the establishment. Any guesses as to what’s on the other side? Bloggers, for one. The debate about whether bloggers are journalists ultimately boils down to a struggle about whether the former should be granted the privileges and pay packages of the latter. Bloggers are outsiders seeking status the only way outsiders know how: by prying it away from those who currently have it. The mainstream media (now abbreviated “MSM,” if it hasn’t come up in class already) rejoins with debates about ethics (a j-school favorite) and other red herrings, but don’t be fooled.”- don’t know where it’s from but god-dammit, it is true.
  • Read this article from an editor of The New Republic:

 

………………

I don’t know how to respond, but it was an interesting read.

- Monk

Posted in Personal, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (2)

The Future of Photojournalism - Readers Respond

October 24, 2008 – 11:06 pm

Reader J.K. -

“This is a piece of shit. You are posting this knowing full and well that a large number of your readers are 2-3 even on their 4th year in school… and you are absolutely smashing their dreams. Sure- tell them it’s hard… tell them what they won’t hear in school…Complaining to your colleagues about how hard your field is won’t get you anywhere. You make it sound like you are failing- when we all know that you are one of the few who is managing to make it work. Did you view it as a failure when you said you were finished with journalism? Did any of us view YOU as a failure when you made that announcement? No. You made a career choice… one that you couldn’t have without your background in photojournalism… regardless of where you learned it. So instead of telling your valued readers that their degree is worth nothing- and that they are headed into a black hole…why not inform them on how to make it work?”

……….

Great discussion going here and well said. I like your energy. I do embrace my background in photojournalism. It gave me great training and I’m able to shoot a variety of situations commercially because of it and I still do shoot editorially because I enjoy it. On the other hand I feel the educational system that produces photographers could do a better job at educating them on the difficulties they will face in addition to developing a keen business sense. It feels as if students are pushed through without having a real sense of what they face. My goal with this blog is to inform photographers old and young of things I’ve learned along the way…what I wish I had learned before jumping in. There’s some good insight on previous posts on my marketing strategies and things I’ve found helpful thus far. Stay tuned.

- Monk

_________________

Reader R.R. -

“Hey. I was just reading your posts about newspapers. It’s why I was desperate to get out–I saw the train wreck that has been this year coming. When I took my staff gig I thought we’d be safe bc we were already down to a skeletal staff, but not so!”

_________________

Reader J.L. -

“I guess your recent blog activity is just trying to draw some attention and hits to your blog or business??  Because its certainly not a real examination or anything resembling such difficult questions… all coming from a somewhat recent Mizzou graduate, if I’m not mistaken (despite whatever business context your previous vocation involved)??

I’m all for rants and the like — but they should be rooted in the context and realities of this industry, and yours have not been.  Of course Mizzou, Ohio, WKU aren’t geared for the massive changes and depression of the photography industry… they are set up to get their students real jobs, and “freelance” isn’t a job.  What are they supposed to tell parents after their son/daughter has spent 4 years and 80k on their “education”?  Mr. Rees, what can you tell our kid now that they graduated?… “Good luck in Brooklyn?!”

Of course newspapers are DOA… Duh.  But photojournalism is independent of that, and its a lot more complicated to read its pulse.  You would think that nearly 20 years after it was called dead the last time, people would learn better.  And “our generation” whatever that means… does read the paper, they just don’t read it in printed form.

Lastly, trying to draw out comparisons between celebrity popular culture and other artistic endeavors is an empty gesture.  Get real… movies vs. Pulitzer.  Pop songs vs. NY Philharmonic.  Peanuts vs. poet laureates. What a joke.

Anyway — having a bag of bullet points doesn’t mean much if you don’t have anything new to say, or any solutions to offer — especially if you audience seems to largely be a bunch of kids in school during an extremely difficult time for photography.”

……….

Great response. There is certainly a distinction between photojournalism and newspapers jobs. My main focus in this post is on newspaper jobs, which naturally encompasses photojournalism. I think we can agree newspapers are done. Not for everyone, but many. Of course this is not new information to current practitioners but it is to some of those starting out.

I’ll go back to my fundamental argument. If we know the industry is suffering and the odds of making it are difficult, why not arm students with more than how to take photographs and tell stories? Why not teach them pertinent business skills in addition to capturing moments? Why not have the discussion (involving parents) with them that even though they might be the best, they still might not make it? This doesn’t happen enough, if at all.

Certainly there can be more resources directed towards enriching this part of the education. Freelance vs. having a job misses the point in my opinion. With over 50% (BLS) of photographers eventually working for themselves (a number higher than almost any other industry) it makes no sense why the economics are rarely discussed in the classroom. Thus, the extreme example of celebrities vs news photos. It’s extreme, of course as my preface noted, it does however illustrate where the economic value of images in our society lies…and it’s not in news in my opinion. Salaries and stock sales validate that.

What happens when they get laid off and that’s all they know? Wouldn’t it be good to have an understanding of business in photography? I can guarantee the solutions (no matter how scant they are) presented here on previous posts regarding marketing and business practices are more than students are given in their entire 4 years. And I think that’s a shame.

- Monk

_______________

Reader S.G. -

Have you noted that the two most successful photographers to come out of Mizzou recently were undergrads who majored in something else, like business?

_______________

Reader K.H. -

Since we’re being honest, let’s be real honest: journalism is a bullshit career to begin with. It’s where you end up if you don’t actually want to learn anything in school. It’s what you do if you need a job that you can be half drunk all day and nobody will notice a dip in your productivity.

What’s more bullshit as a career than writing about what people did yesterday? Taking pictures of what people did yesterday. You don’t even need to know how to spell.

Is it any wonder that so many people go into journalism? You don’t need to take calculus in college, or physics, or quantitative analysis or any other class that teaches you a skill. When you get on the job—if you get a job—you follow a few simple rules like: don’t coach the subject (the Brits I work with think this is the funniest thing that Americans ever came up with), get their names and don’t clone in images of soldiers. Other than that, nobody really knows the difference between a good shot and a bad shot. The reader certainly can’t tell.

Somebody needs to tell the next generation of kids not to expect jobs if they choose journalism as a career. Preach on Monk; preach on.

-Knox Harrington

If you want to change the world start a hedge fund.

…………

Wow. Well, it’s your point of view, but I’ll post it for the sake of discussion.

- Monk

_______________

Reader S.R.

…I did take calculus in college.  I even taught algebra. Glad your doing this “Monk”, it is good stuff.  Thanks for sharing your business insights with us.  Fully agree that it is shameful that they don’t teach a photography business course at MU.  Hope I can buy you all a drink sometime in the future.  I’ll be working double-shifts at Chilis though to finance my personal projects of course, but maybe we can fit it in somewhere.  Hope you all are well.

……….

Posted in Personal, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (3)

The Future of Photojournalism - Game Over ?

October 24, 2008 – 4:28 pm

It’s no secret photography is a career where only the very best will make it. I know a fair number of young photojournalists read this blog regularly so I want to be straight with those of you who might not have heard it yet.

Are you ready?

There’s no future as a newspaper photographer in the United States.

Let’s look at a few trends.

  • Newspaper circulation has been declining for over 20 years.
  • Newspaper photographer salaries had more worth in the 1960s than they do now.
  • Newspaper journalists in general show a decline in job satisfaction.


Now, I know there are some of you who are unshakable. Photojournalism is the only thing you can imagine doing for the rest of your life. It’s in your blood. When you’re bored, you’re looking at stories to shoot and going to workshops and entering contests. There’s a very strong and understanding community for you out there. They understand why you’re in it and what you hope to accomplish. You feel that you are doing some good in the world. That your images will make a difference in someone’s life and that’s worth it for you. You might even be willing to give up family life and friends to make that difference.

I won’t argue that the training is practical and can be used in a variety of visual fields. But it has little economic value when you’re on your own trying to make it. Newspapers may be a stable income now, but the future looks very gloomy…and freelance does as well. There’s really no ‘thriving’ market for your pictures out there with the number of shooters on the scene these days. Not enough to make a stellar living at least. You know it’s a crazy industry when former Photographers of the Year, Magnum photographers, National Geographic Photographers and A-game shooters still have to shoot weddings to make it. The average person doesn’t want to look at people dying, kids in wheel chairs, the homeless, the latest disease that everybody wants to enter in the contests (autism).

Take for example the picture of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s kids that sold for millions. It has value to our society, whether it makes sense or not.

I’ll give you an extreme example. Supply and demand is what sets the price in our society. As you’ve read in previous posts, the market is saturated with photographers and pictures. There are billions of images floating around out there.

The barriers to entry have never been lower. Anyone can buy a camera, anyone can sell images. We can safely assume there will be even more images in the market in the future. Yes, pictures will be in more demand but supply is outstripping demand and will continue to do so. Because of this massive supply, the pressure on prices will  continue to drop and your services will be less in need at their current prices.

Compare this to the demand of Brad and Angelina’s twins. One pair of famous people. One set of famous kids. One photographer has the pictures. How much will the market pay for that? Apparently $14 million.

An extreme example, of course. But it illustrates the point. Much of the world we live in operates on market principles. If you understand your market, you understand the demand for your products.

If you’re already making it you know that to stay afloat, you have to supply your customers with what they WANT not what you THINK they should see or what you LIKE shooting.

So, I want to caution you for getting too involved in the “I want to change the world people have to have their stories told argument,” because I don’t want you to live at home with your parents.

Try a few of these tests out to see if people care as much about photojournalism as they used to:

1. Ask 10 people, who don’t know a thing about photography or journalism, to name one Pulitzer winner in the last 10 years.

2. Ask that same group if they can name a picture that won a Pulitzer in the last 10 years…20 years? What about one Oscar winner in the past 10 years? See my point?

3. Compare fictional movies about social issues to photo stories about social issues and, be honest, ask yourself which has more impact on generating a social dialogue.

(Remember that movie Blood Diamond? Photo stories have been done for years on that topic. Nobody cared. Then the movie came out and it’s all over CNN for a week and jewelry stores started putting up signs, “We Don’t Sell Conflict Diamonds.”

4. Compare the shelf life of a newspaper image (1 day) with an advertising picture (weeks and months) or an image in a book (forever). What has more value?

Make sense? Supply and Demand. Newspapers have dwindling demand. Images have increasing supply. Prices are going DOWN!

I’m not saying (photo)journalism is dead. I’m saying there’s no economic future in it for most people. It will always be around. It’s part of the fabric of this country.

What I am saying is don’t worry so much about complicated layering, impressing your peers and producing difficult images but focus rather on your business sense. Work on your lighting skills, portraiture, business acumen, marketing, video production. Understand what has demand in the marketplace and provide it.

If you still want to be a photojournalist, you should. If it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. But really think hard about it. I think a viable option might be to move to a European country like Denmark or an Asian country like India. Their newspaper industry is still thriving…you’ll probably make a better living because of unionization and higher demand for print.

Your Friend,

The Monk

Update 10/24/2008: New Jersey Star-Ledger Cuts Staff in Half


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The Business Of Photography Unexplained - A Rant Against Photography Programs

October 21, 2008 – 10:47 pm

“If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies…”

- Albert Einstein
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I received another call this month. Another cry for help. Making the average now about once per month since the beginning of the year. Calls from from recent graduates and emerging photographers trying to figure out how to make it as a photographer, how to market themselves, how to understand the business of photography.

Rather than regurgitate my conversations, I’d like to take the time to call out a few of the photography programs out there (including my Alma Mater) that don’t require their curriculum to include a business in photography course. I’d like to scold you for allowing students to graduate without an understanding of how the real world works, while instead instilling a glorified ideological viewpoint from the ivory tower.

A quick look at the curriculum in some of the best photojournalism programs (Ohio, Missouri, Western Kentucky) shows few if any courses related to business practices. None are required. Art and technology programs (RIT, RISD, Art Institute of Chicago), same story. If the courses are offered, graduates often say they are boring, impractical and not worth attending. Instructors urge students to assist and learn business practices from established photographers and place emphasis for learning after graduation. I recently spoke to a graduate of RIT who said it was one of the least helpful classes they attended at the school.

So let me get this straight. Most photographers would agree that photography is a business. To make it, you need to understand how to run a business and market yourself. Yet, many of the best schools out there are not emphasizing the importance of this in their education and telling students to learn it from people who don’t know it very well?

We are working in a field where istockphoto is the most popular stock agency in terms of web traffic. We are negotiating with Art Buyers who are increasingly asking us to own the full copyrights to our images. Newspapers are laying photographers off…again. Ad revenues are in decline with the recent economic downturn. The line between amateur and pro is diminishing because of lower barriers to entry into the field…and schools are saturating the market full of photographers who don’t understand their own businesses?

You should be ashamed.

You should be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.

You are hurting this field and endangering your students by ignoring this essential part of their education.

You are making my phone bills higher.

Come on! It’s not that hard. Why not require them to leave school with a business plan AND marketing plan in hand along with a portfolio?

Photography is sink or swim. You’re not even giving them floaties.

The Monk


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Time To Revist?

October 19, 2008 – 7:59 pm

Nearly two years ago, PDN presented it’s salary survey of players in the  advertising photography world. I wonder how the numbers hold up today with changes in digital imaging and advances in online advertising. It would be interesting to say the least. In any case, here is the old survey.

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