Dave Stevenson
With the inexorable rise of amateur snappers made possible by the digital revolution, it’s increasingly hard for pros to make a living from their art.
You don’t need me to tell you that the practice of professional photography is under threat. Partly that’s because you’re intelligent, practical and insightful, as demonstrated by the fact you’re reading this magazine. (Also: have you done something different with your hair?) But partly because it’s common sense. Just as the widespread availability of cheap DIY tools and laminate flooring has meant less income for professional decorators, so the ever-decreasing cost of DSLRs means less work for photojournalists, wedding photographers and fine art photographers.
This trend was demonstrated amply this week, when an acquaintance of an acquaintance on Twitter asked if anyone fancied shooting a live music event over the weekend. Inevitably, a barrage of interested queries thumped across the Internet, and it was only revealed 10 minutes later that the work would be unpaid. Cue fairly well-deserved derision, and the comment from one professional that one wouldn’t expect a plumber to give up time for free. The photographer apologised the same afternoon: ‘Touched a raw nerve these days,’ he explained.
What’s interesting about this is that the idea of appealing for a photographer to work for free isn’t even that unusual these days. As photographers, we like what we do; therefore, goes the thinking, we should be happy to do it for free. And many people are, which is why professionals – who simply can’t be everywhere at once – are being outsold by an army of amateurs.
The suspicion that professionals are an endangered species was brought home last month when the British Journal of Photography reported a survey by the British Photographic Council. The news was bad. Of around 1700 professional photographers asked, only 9% had staff jobs in photography. Fewer than two-thirds of freelance photographers said they made all their income from photography.
Moreover, just 35% expected their turnover to rise in 2010; 65% thought it would stay the same or drop. And most photographers queried – three-quarters of them, in fact – said they viewed competition from amateur photographers a serious threat to their livelihoods.
Of equal interest is the bit where photographers were asked if they’d had any work stolen. Stealing work on the Internet, as anyone who follows the file-sharing debate is aware, is easy and rampant. Photographs – being small, frequently un-watermarked files – are perhaps the easiest thing of all to lift. Need an image for the church newsletter? Whack ‘daisies’ into Google Images and pinch whatever comes up first.
That photographers are losing work isn’t a surprise, but the fact that 59% said their copyright had been infringed in the past three years is. Examples of flagrant copyright violation are everywhere. Even respected political blogger Iain Dale accidentally used a copyrighted image on his blog after an unnamed user emailed it to him. As Dale pointed out once his mistake was spotted, comprehensively checking for copyright on images online is virtually impossible.
That doesn’t mean every one of that 59% of photographers have had work actively stolen, though. Another thing that comes out of this survey is that very few people – photographers, clients and editors included – have an adequate grasp of copyright. One photographer’s client expected copyright to come with the images he had commissioned: the photographer had to threaten legal action.
Interestingly, while digital technology – both in terms of the Internet and camera hardware – has been a massive boon to photographers, it’s also largely responsible for the conundrum in which professionals currently find themselves. If we force ourselves to imagine a world in which photo sharing websites exist, yet only for those who developed their prints from film and scanned them, it’s difficult to imagine Flickr being the success it is. Being able to instantly preview and re-take an image is responsible for the vastly increased quality of images that amateurs are capable of.
So what are professional photographers supposed to do? ‘Take better photos’ doesn’t cut it. Even the most ham-fisted amateur is likely to fire off a decent frame every few thousand shots, and with millions of amateurs out there – many of them very talented – high-quality imagery from enthusiasts is something professionals will have to learn to live with.
Moreover, the spread of amateurs across the UK is far better than the spread of photojournalists, with the result that the first, and therefore most valuable, images of a newsworthy event will almost always be taken by an amateur with a cameraphone.
It’s likely that professionals need to take their images more seriously. The British Photographic Council’s survey reports that freelance photographers who keep the copyright on their images earn an average of 33.2% more than photographers who don’t, which makes deals in which clients can use images multiple times, in multiple formats, look like bad business.
There’s also the undeniable truth that photographers with shaky business instincts are also headed for the plunge. That doesn’t necessarily mean cutting rates, but it does mean marketing and networking have all become significantly more important. To see what I mean, head to chasejarvis.com to see a photographic professional and marketing whiz kid at work.
The bright spot in the BPC’s otherwise decidedly depressing survey is for amateurs who want to break into professional photography. The barrier to making money is no longer technical ability. I read an interview with top German wildlife photographer Michael Poliza a few months ago, in which he quite seriously explained that he rarely used anything other than the semi-automatic Program mode on his top-end DSLR. With modern technology so reliable and, frequently, better at determining how to expose an image than the human eye, he argued, why not use it?
Better yet, amateurs have the ability to scale their businesses, while some professionals are forced to downscale their operations and open up new streams of revenue to stay afloat. In the meantime, professionals need to make sure their images are making money every time they’re used.
I leave you with one of my favourite quotes gathered by the surveyors, which underscores the importance of quality in professional work, as well as the importance of underlining that quality to clients – professionals can be more certain than ever that, without it, their days are numbered. ‘With everyone owning a camera of some sorts, most people do not recognise the skill required in producing a good picture. I can see photography as a profession slowly dying – apart from a few customers who do appreciate quality and are prepared to pay for it.’
