Design Assembly

We live in an age where we are able to view an almost endless amount of content (TV shows, films, images and more importantly user-generated content) whenever we choose through the internet. On demand is a phrase that is constantly being used in the media, and this week Channel 4 announced they were adding their back catalogue of over 10,000 titles to 4OD.

So how has the development of technology affected photography? It is true that technology has always played a part in bringing this activity to the masses, whether it was to meet the demand for portraiture from the middle classes during the Industrial Revolution, to the introduction of cameras in most mobile phones today. Photography is a passion of mine, and so perhaps it is no surprise that Flickr is also one of my favourite and most used websites. When I joined the site back in 2005, I wasn’t aware of the huge community element that it offers, members can join groups to see photos that will be of interest or can become a contact with people whose work they admire. In a time before Facebook and Twitter, the ability to share photos was extremely popular with bloggers, but the site has now become an important resource for learning about photography (through discussions, groups and feedback). It has also become a rare site that is monitored by the users themselves, which I find very interesting considering that in November 2008 it claims to host more than 3 billion images.

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Following the huge success of Flickr, I wasn’t surprised by the news that Getty Images had gone into partnership with the website, but I was quite shocked by the reaction from many of the members. As a graphic designer, I know first hand that design agencies and their clients use Flickr and other amateur photo-sharing websites as a way of obtaining images for very little cost. How many times has a client requested an image to be used but it has to be ‘cheap’. Is this a sign of the times we live in? Music and films can be downloaded illegally — so should any image be available to us for free too
In this respect, I think that Getty Images were very astute in realising the benefits a partnership with Flickr would hold, but is it good that Getty are saturating the market? There is an argument that no industry can thrive without competition and I think this is where many of the objections have stemmed from. If you are approached to add your photos to the Flickr collection on Getty, then you are able to choose to be included, you aren’t being forced to do so. However, the fee percentage is significantly lower than many stock agencies (20-30% compared to the usual 70%) which angers many members, but in my opinion it is great for amateurs as they get coverage and the money is a bonus if they work in another profession

Photographers used to make a good living out of stock photography (and indeed still can), but in the digital age, consumers expect more. One example of this is the person that captured the assassination of JFK on video. He was paid $150,000 at the time for content that would be readily available for free on either YouTube or Twitter today.

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Moving back to the 21st century and we see a President using Flickr in a very clever way. There is an official White House photostream that has gained a lot of popularity with members as it provides a real insight into the beginning of Barack Obama’s time in office. Pete Souza is the official White House photographer and he has been documenting the President from a different perspective to what we see in the media. I think this is very forward thinking from a regime that want to be seen as modern and with the times (in a successful way rather than Gordon Brown on YouTube). There will always be an audience that uses the comment areas to talk about policies and President Obama in a negative way, but if you can see past these the photojournalism is exceptional and worth taking a look at.

So it may seem a bad time to be a stock photographer, but photojournalists are encountering problems with the new ‘Stop and Search’ legislation powers and the Terrorism Act 2000. The National Union of Journalists has expressed it’s serious concerns about police behaviour towards journalists in recent years, and there have been serious allegations of brutality at the G20 and Tamil protests. Photographers have been repeatedly assaulted while covering the demonstrations for the Associated Press and in my opinion the issue of police brutality needs to be addressed.

On top of this, Guardian News & Media has recently announced it is to cut photographers’ fees as the media organisation is looking to save £10m in editorial costs before the end of the year. A spokesperson for The Guardian told the British Journal of Photography that ‘in the mist of this recession, we are looking at the most effective way we can use photographers. We know that we have the reputation of being the best newspaper in terms of photography and the way we deal with photographers and we intend on maintaining that reputation.’

However, in reality it means that The Guardian newspaper is introducing a new contract that demands extended use rights, but fails to provide any compensation. This is a bit disappointing from a publication that has been renowned for some of the best journalism photography recently.

Unfortunately this has become a necessity due to the current economic climate and it seems that the camera manufacturers are also trying to beat the global recession by releasing new models (in the DSLR market) every 9 months instead of the usual 18-24 months. At the moment, the latest must-have feature is HD video, which has been met with mixed feelings from photographers as the majority will rarely use it. When the ability to upload video was added to Flickr in April 2008, it was met with great opposition with people thinking that it wasn’t neccessary when sites like YouTube and Vimeo offered it. A year on and it hasn’t had much of an impact, photographs still take priority and I can’t see that changing in the near future.

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Last year, Canon launched the 5D Mark II (around £2000) which was the fist model that featured the ability to shoot HD video. Interestingly, branding specialists DixonBaxi used it (pre-launch) to film the Idents for the recent re-brand of Five USA. Filmed over 2 weeks in the states “The camera allowed us to get up close, personal and at the heart of the action. We want the viewer to feel like they are there. A first person point of view”. I think these Idents are extrememley well done and could prove that having the HD video functionality on a DSLR could ultimately get more photographers interested in using their compositional eye for things like this in the future.

Sadly, it seems the retailers have been unable to prevent the economic downturn affecting them and Jessops reported a larger-than-expected loss in the first half of 2009 (£5.9m before tax). Unfortunately, due to the challenging retail environment and historic level of debt, this might be the same story for the rest of the year. An even worse example is that Polaroid UK has entered administration. This is a brand that many people hold close to their hearts thanks to the ‘instant’ photograph that was an exciting and different aspect of photography when growing up. Much of the instant camera’s consumer appeal has been transferred to digital cameras. and this has rapidly decreased the revenues of the company, until they could no longer compete.

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In my mind, with camera manufacturers continually increasing their prices (due to currency fluctuations), more cheap stock sites emerging and the continued need for clients to reduce their budgets on projects, Getty Images may have made a very intelligent business decision by going into partnership with Flickr, and it is that forward thinking that might have prevented Polaroid or Jessops from the situations that they find themselves in.

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Image credits

Main Image

http://www.flickr.com/photos/piterart/

Barack Obama

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/

Five USA

http://www.dixonbaxi.com/rebrand/fiveusa.html

Polaroid Camera

http://www.flickr.com/photos/galessa/