Photojournalism today
The world of photojournalism is in a state of flux. In recent times, two of the industry's most respected agencies have run into trouble. Last week, the financial problems at the Gamma photo agency in Paris came to light and another one-time giant of the industry, Sygma, also closed its doors to new photographers a few years ago following its acquisition by Corbis.
The Sygma collection did not die, and in May, Corbis opened the Sygma Preservation and Access Facility, the culmination of four years' work to ensure that the archive's 50 million objects from the second half of the 20th Century are preserved.
This is of course good news for the many photographers whose work is now being made available, which indeed is being archived, and which will help future generations to understand the period. But the big issue is, of course: how to make it pay? And what of photojournalism today?
I put a series of questions to a number of people in the industry. They are:
• Anil Ramchand, Director of News, Sports & Entertainment at Corbis, one of the big players in the market
• John Harris, who runs Report Digital, an independent UK-based agency that covers both breaking news and features
• multi-award winning photographer Jeff Moore, who is currently the Chairman of the British Press Photographers Association (BPPA)
• Daniel Cuthbert, a freelance photographer based in South Africa who is studying for an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication (LCC)
What is the state of the photojournalism market?
Anil Ramchand (Corbis):
"The photojournalism market remains relatively healthy, particularly if you include celebrity imagery. While newspapers and magazine circulations are in decline, mass media in general are becoming increasingly visual. Photos are playing a bigger role in newspapers, magazines and particularly online, where news sites frequently feature extensive galleries of imagery.
"Prices for news and archival imagery are coming down in general, but volumes are increasing significantly with more photo use online.
"While prices for creative imagery - used for advertising and marketing - are declining quite a bit because of a flood in supply from semi-professionals using new digital technology, the prices for editorial imagery are more stable.
"This is because it generally requires travelling to where the news is, having special access to a location, or finding the imagery in an archive. Therefore, it's more difficult or impossible for amateurs or semi-professionals to reproduce quality editorial imagery."
John Harris (Report Digital):
"While there are still some stunning pictures being made, the business model undermines the content."
Jeff Moore (Photographer):
"I don't think there is any real market any more. If I want to shoot a project, I have to do it as a personal one and hope over time I may cover my expenses."Recently a good friend who is pretty well-known in the business went around to various magazines with an idea for a news story. Most of them liked it, but lost interest when they found out there weren't any celebs involved."
Daniel Cuthbert (Photographer):
"For me, it's really tough. Going out and producing work that publications want to purchase and publish is proving harder. Just yesterday, I was told that a very large newspaper here in South Africa didn't really think a story about ongoing abuses in Burma was newsworthy. The cost of going out to shoot stories, be it locally or internationally versus the remuneration from publications isn't making it any easier."This does affect how I choose stories. Yes, the romantic idea of going somewhere amazing and producing a story for the love of it still comes to mind, but in reality you need to look at surviving and supporting yourself and family."
What is the future of photo agencies in general?
John Harris (Report Digital):
"The difficulty is that the increasing monopolisation by acquisition or aggregating content [means] that the competition for market share is leading to unsustainably low prices and low earnings for the photographers who have been unable to resist, so far, the devaluation of their work."Looked at from a customer point of view, this will lead to a lack of choice and depth. It will also continue the trend of loss making for these mega agencies and libraries."
Anil Ramchand (Corbis):
"Photo agencies are following the rest of the world and the media industry, in particular to the web. It is at the same time coping with a massive rise in supply that is depressing prices in some segments. The future of the agencies will depend on great imagery being available quickly, simply and at the right price to customers online. Prized pictures will still be rewarded, but increasingly the focus is on volume of images that media can provide their readers simply and quickly."
Jeff Moore (Photographer):
"I think we are going to lose a lot of them over next few years as no-one pays any money anymore."
What is the future of independent photo agencies?
Anil Ramchand (Corbis):
"Large media companies are increasingly consolidating their business with photo libraries that can meet all of their image needs. This will make it more challenging for all but the most innovative independent photo agencies."
Jeff Moore (Photographer):
"It's a real shame as I think lots of small local agencies are going to go bust, and we are going to get less and less news that's not from PR handouts. I've noticed a massive upsurge in soft features: dogs dressed up, bubble blowing, all that sort of thing, and less real news or photojournalism."
How have these developments affected young, up-and-coming photojournalists breaking into the business?
Daniel Cuthbert: (Photographer):
"I think you need to have more of a business head than ever before in order to be a photojournalist today. With dwindling day rates and overall money in the business, unless you have a secure financial foundation, breaking into photojournalism is as hard as ever. Everyone I speak to, seasoned photojournalists with years of experience, are all struggling to find work. These factors play against anyone that's new, so they end up taking risks and sometimes getting into trouble doing so."While that might mean that times are harder, it also means you have to produce work that really sets you apart from others. Gone are the easy days, which isn't a bad thing in my mind. Picture editors are faced with dilemmas about paying a photographer X-amount-per-day-plus-expenses over using a cheaper image from the wire or agency.
"For me, studying my MA in Photojournalism and Documentary photography at the LCC has been a big help. You are surrounded by experienced people who are there to guide you in making this a career path. That information and experience is hopefully making me a better photojournalist, one that will be able to weather this current storm."
Anil Ramchand (Corbis):
"There still are a lot of young people wanting to craft a career in photojournalism. The enthusiasm is still there. It has never been easier for these individuals to remain independent and secure assignments on their own rather than rely on an agency for work. Journalism is being consumed in a variety of ways that are easily accessible to both the producer and the consumer. For the journalist, it has become pretty necessary to be aware of developments in technology, and it's useful to acquire multimedia skill sets."
Jeff Moore (Photographer):
"Photojournalism - or press photography, as I prefer to call it - is still very important and many young people are trying to break in to the industry. This tends to mean they take underpaid jobs to start with, then realise there's no way of moving up the ladder."Colleges are turning out hundreds of students every year for very few, or no jobs. It's very sad. I think the industry as a whole should act together right now to try and save itself before there's nothing left."
John Harris (Report Digital):
"I feel really sorry for anybody wanting to find a career as a photographer in these circumstances."
Who takes the hard news photos now?
Anil Ramchand (Corbis):
"The majority of hard news photos are now taken by breaking news agencies including Reuters, AP, and EPA. Corbis partners with Reuters and EPA to provide clients with the latest current events photos. There are several small photo agencies that are still relevant and sometimes have the freedom to develop longer lead stories."
John Harris (Report Digital):
"Much is made of the amateur input that digital technology has enabled.
While this will produce an occasional important image this is more to do with people like the BBC getting content for free - and of course there are ethical issues with that and other aspects of this use."We can look forward to most photojournalism being supplied as part of a subscription service by the big two or three. As this becomes increasingly unsatisfactory, opportunities will arise for independent producers and those who actually have something to say!"
Jeff Moore (Photographer):
"I think it is pretty much the same photo agencies that always have done. Of course citizen journalism now plays a big part, mainly due to the fact that the media are denied access to most big news stories and 7/7 is very good example of this. But I genuinely believe there is no better way to tell a story than a well-crafted photograph by a good news photographer."People do not remember TV footage, or grainy grabs off CCTV cameras, but a great photograph stays with us, and becomes part of our collective memory and helps truly define real events."
Lots to think about. I'll be exploring some of these issues in future posts and I'm keen to know your views - as ever, please use the comment box below.
I'm 
© 2012~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~41~RS~)
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Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin on this from a fine art point of view:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/past_exhns/stepping/broomberg3/index.html
I dont buy what they are about but its a view that many readers on here
would probably not be aware of. They produced a book called Fig which is worth a view.
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Very interesting! As a magazine photo editor I'm always dismayed by the reluctance of editorial staff to considered photo journalism as a source for editorial content. We don't have the tradition of photojournalism that they do on the continent, we've no Paris Match or Stern to give quality photojournalism mass market appeal. None of the major magazine publishers will even consider a similar launch in the UK (and believe me I've tried) they don't believe the UK market is right for it. On the other hand I also think photojournalists have forgotten what a good story is and too often submit beautiful images with no sense of visual narrative or appreciation for the editorial tone of the publication. As such I think photojournalism has to separate itself from the world of publishing and strike out on its own, establishing it's own place in the world of reporting, the internet offers the perfect opportunity for this, and as it is the medium of the next generation will get younger people used to seeing and appreciating visual news coverage. It will also democratise the medium, removing the malign influence of the large photo agencies.
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Clayton M. Christensen's book The Innovator's Dilemma describes how companies producing superior products can be destroyed by companies making inferior products at the point when the "inferior" becomes good enough to satisfy the market's demand. (Journalists should read this as well as photographers).
Here's a concrete example: http://vimeo.com/5989754 This shows the process of producing the image for the front cover of MacWorld Magazine. It's an inspiring demonstration of the use of skill, experience and technology to produce an image of the highest quality. Any serious amateur who has followed http://strobist.blogspot.com/ knows it's possible to produce an image which is >95% as good as that one using a prosumer SLR, some speedlights and a couple of sheets of paper. Run both through Photoshop and a professional will be able to tell the the difference, print it on the cover of a magazine and I doubt that anybody will be able to tell the difference. The capital investment required to produce the first image is easily two orders of magnitude greater than that needed to produce the second. put the print magazine under commercial pressure and how long do you think they will be able to pay the premium?
I think that well crafted photographs are a joy and they are an excellent way of telling a story, or at least, some stories. However the grainy CCTV shots told James Bulger's story better than any finely crafted images could. The energy and impact of the mobile phone shots from the G20 demonstrations provide the definitive documentation of that event.
I'm certain professional photojournalism will survive but I'm equally certain that it won't be in its present form.
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This is a very depressing read but nevertheless a realistic one. Sadly, as circulations fall, ad revenues plunge and budgets are repeatedly cut the money to employ professional journalists dwindles year by year. I retire this month after sixteen years as a magazine editor and I am paying exactly the same amount for pictures as I paid on the day I started.I bellieve another budget cut is in the pipeline.
It is immoral for colleges to encourage studetns to take expensive journalism courses, running up large debts when there are next to no jobs available and even fewer that pay a living wage.
Citizen Journalism is all very well in its place but it is no substitute for a well-funded professional news operation, staffed by trained and experieinced journalists. And that costs money. Lots of it.
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I'm in the midst of a BA Philosophy at the minute and thinking of photojournalism after university. I knew it was going to be different, and when I say "thinking of photojournalism," more accurately I meant freelance journalism with a particular focus on photography as it is what I've found myself drawn to creatively so far. Ultimately though my plan is to set myself up as a freelance journalist abroad, somewhere with a medium to long-term interest factor which I'll be able to settle into, and filing video, photo and written reports, as well as audio if possible. To the editors out there or to people within news agencies, does this sound viable?
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So Anil Ramchand of Corbis believes that the photojournalism market
is "relatively healthy" and editorial image prices remain "stable".
Presumably that's a different Corbis from the agency that has failed
to turn a profit in 15 years trading and survives on subsidies from
the world's richest man. A different Corbis from the one that's laid
off some 20% of its staff in the last 12 months or so. And obviously
a different Corbis from the one that closed its photo assignment
division - its photojournalism dept - a couple of years back because
it was losing money hand over fist.
Nah...can't be the same Corbis. Can I have some of what Anil's having please?
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Are the issue challenging photojournalism here the difference between citizen photojournalism and professional photojournalism, or the type of camera that was used to take a news image?
I don't think so - and I'm not actually sure that professional photojournalism is suffering solely because of difficult financial times.
Shareholders profits in the newspaper/editorial market are not shrinking, and I know that budgets will be found for even the most mundane 'B', 'C' or even 'D' list celebrity imagery.
Publishers, and then editors make decisions on content based upon what they think will sell and not what they consider to be important news. Our entire newspaper/editorial industry is predominantly driven by profit for greedy shareholders - and there sits the problem.
I also think that attempts by organisation - like the BBC - to encourage the uploading and publication of free content to be hugely damaging to the profession of journalism. If they want to publish it they should pay for it - regardless of where it came from.
I agree with what everritsimon writes in relation to photojournalism striking out and cutting a new place for itself in this on-line world we are racing towards - BUT, and it's a huge BUT, unless photographers can find a financial model for work being used on-line it will be an even more disastrous state of affairs than the one we currently face.
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The decline of photojournalism (or journalism in general) is a symptom of the decline in the general population's attention span. But let's not mix up the issues here: news photography can be replaced adequately by citizen photography because it's all about immediacy. Beautifully composed shots of what happened after the event are nothing like as interesting to the consumer as technically poor shots of it as it occurs. We want to see the accident, not the wreckage and that's a human, visceral thing.
However, photojournalism has always, and rightly, been about finding and revealing a deeper meaning and significance in events. The problem for all journalists today is the person in the street won't put in the effort for answers and seek truths in context. People now like to be spoon fed their opinions in the way that they are spoon fed lifestyle choices. Look at the celebrity voiceover trend in advertising for evidence of this. If Dervla Kirwan can sell cook-chill, pre-packed meals made in a factory and tertiary brand cava for a supermarket at close to the cost of the real thing from a bistro then anything is possible. Big businesses now control more than photo agencies.
Until our education systems begin creating a general citizenry with enquiring minds and critical faculties then, journalism, art, politics - you name it - will find themselves defending an ever smaller piece of turf in our collective attention. This story is just a symptom of a much broader malaise in society and the more you look, the more symptoms you find.
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Photojournalism exists because of photography and people. The two come together because some photographers wish to document human stories and show them to others in the hope of bringing about some sort of change. Whether this is actually possible is another question entirely, but supposing for a moment it is....
...then maybe this 'crash' in photojournalism will return photographers to the crafts roots and really determine WHY they do what they do. And from those ashes something new, exciting and real will emerge. Sure it might not resemble the old model, but it might have a more progressive social consicence, rather than it simply being reduced to a money making venture, where stories of real human beings are ignored due to their story being "too expensive".
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