Avpics Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 3 minutes ago, losdemas said: That's my last political comment (though I'm sorely tempted). I'll too only make one more, in that it scares me at the attitude towards the media in having the temerity to ask difficult questions, instead of against those not willing to answer 😞 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 3 hours ago, Michael Ventura said: We can obviously on speculate on the future of anything right now. While some say stock is needed more right now since assignment shoots are not happening, I see publications holding issues from publishing from lack of advertisers and relevant content (not talking about news publications but more like city magazines and lifestyle magazines). If we thought that textbooks were dying, this may be the death nail. So much more learning content will be online and we know how those fees are going. Will stock be worth it? Who knows. For a real source of income, probably not so much...it was barely worth it pre pandemic. Stock photos are like the value of oil right now.....too much of it and not enough places needing it. Michael, I agree with you 100% and I see "most" stock images licensed for online use, which we have already seen happening. Your comparison of stock photos to oil is painful, but true. I do believe that there will always be a demand for historically important images. Chuck 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, IanDavidson said: I was in London/Downing Street/Westminster today. Not you presumably, I expect you know them though (top thread) https://twitter.com/sourcephoto/status/1252624294775054336 Edited April 21, 2020 by Harry Harrison 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanDavidson Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 12 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said: Not you presumably, I expect you know them though (top thread) https://twitter.com/sourcephoto/status/1252624294775054336 Yes indeed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Just heard that a picture is now only worth a hundred words...once was a thousand 🤪 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 4 hours ago, Michael Ventura said: Just heard that a picture is now only worth a hundred words...once was a thousand 🤪 They might be worth only 40 words after the commission is subtracted. 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colblimp Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I can see myself just shooting news going forward, although that will mean travelling, as where I live, there is no news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyrsis Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 11 hours ago, losdemas said: If we were to believe all that comes out of #10, we'll have a vaccine coming out of Oxford within months. I'll be accused by some of being negative if I say that I doubt that. That's my last political comment (though I'm sorely tempted). Trials in Oxford start tomorrow so fingers crossed for a good result. One expert has suggested a vaccine could be available as soon as September.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyn Llun Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Chuck said "I do believe that there will always be a demand for historically important images." He's absolutely right of course in terms of what we are defining as traditional 'stock' a la Alamy, 'G' etc. and what I did as a reasonably large part of my 'commercial' work back in the 80's with another well-known picture library. It provided a chunk of my income. Not huge, but important. I'm fortunate that, for many years, I made what I term 'personal' work alongside of my 'commercial' photographic life and being quite successful in exhibiting this stuff worldwide. In many ways, I did the 'commercial' stuff to subsidise my real interest in photography which has always been the images and bodies of work that I made primarily for myself. I have been selling original prints of this work both privately and through galleries for over forty years and sales - and prices, have increased. Because I have been around and doing this for a long time and having gained a bit of a reputation, my prints are well regarded by collectors. My older work still sells but I am constantly embarking on new projects and making new work and these are in demand too. This means that I am relatively unaffected by the falloff in commissions and stock licence fees. Of course for this strategy to work for an individual photographer a few things are needed. A history of making work that might be considered relevant but outside of traditional 'stock' or 'commercial' photography. Also having your work exhibited widely in significant galleries and the accumulation of some sort of a reputation among print collectors for this work. The ability to make fine prints, in my case archival silver / gelatin B&W prints and for some of my work, platinum prints. For many years, my concentrating on this work probably meant that my income from what we might call traditional commissioned 'commercial' work was less as I ploughed income from that into partly subsidising my 'personal' projects. I am reaping the benefits now as we see less commissioned work and the decline in fees for stock. I feel for those many photographers for whom stock has been a major part of their income and investment in time and I am not going to try and predict what the future may see. However, I can't see it returning to its heydays. In addition to what Chuck noted, there is also always going to be an interest in the purchase of fine original prints of significant work. Admittedly, this is a smaller, very different and specialist market but open to those who are prepared to widen their photographic horizons and make, what is a considerable commitment to it. I understand that this is not for everyone and the commitment necessary is considerable. However, It's paid off for me in the longer term so it might for others in the future too. I only offer this as a suggestion that might interest a few here. In the meantime, do keep safe. Pete Davis https://www.pete-davis-photography.com/ http://peteslandscape.blogspot.com/ https://www.instagram.com/petedavisphoto/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanDavidson Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 4 hours ago, Colblimp said: I can see myself just shooting news going forward, although that will mean travelling, as where I live, there is no news! The problem, at the moment, is that there is very little news to shoot.... it will be interesting to see what news photography looks like in the “new normal”. Chuck is correct that there will be demand, but it is the shape, nature and price paid for this demand that is, perhaps, most interesting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Thyrsis said: Trials in Oxford start tomorrow so fingers crossed for a good result. One expert has suggested a vaccine could be available as soon as September.... I read the this article in The Telegraph. They are calling the one that might be ready by September a "candidate vaccine", and billions of doses would be needed if it does prove to be successful. However, this news does sound encouraging. Some more info here. Edited April 22, 2020 by John Mitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I remember somewhere on the forum a comment that all the travel pictures had been taken so there was no need for any more? The riposte was that travel pictures without a tourist taking a selfie were going to age pretty quick. Maybe there will be a market for socially distanced masked tourists? Stay safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 4 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said: I remember somewhere on the forum a comment that all the travel pictures had been taken so there was no need for any more? The riposte was that travel pictures without a tourist taking a selfie were going to age pretty quick. Maybe there will be a market for socially distanced masked tourists? Stay safe. A Vancouver newspaper ran a travel story on Polynesia yesterday, and the accompanying photos were of totally deserted beaches -- not a soul in sight. Empty landscapes, streets, plazas, etc. could also become a productive niche for travel photographers in the age of COVID-19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Mr Standfast said: I remember somewhere on the forum a comment that all the travel pictures had been taken so there was no need for any more? The riposte was that travel pictures without a tourist taking a selfie were going to age pretty quick. Maybe there will be a market for socially distanced masked tourists? Stay safe. Pandemic aside, I think travel photos need to be updated constantly....its more of a question of there being too many photos and not enough buyers. Places change, fashions change, how we capture images change, among other reasons to keep producing fresh travel images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecile Marion Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I’m all for that! Can’t wait to travel freely again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 hour ago, John Mitchell said: I read the this article in The Telegraph. They are calling the one that might be ready by September a "candidate vaccine", and billions of doses would be needed if it does prove to be successful. However, this news does sound encouraging. Some more info here. Be nice to believe it, despite my total lack of faith in anything that is published in that journal. However, this evening... "Prof Chris Whitty, the UK’s most senior medic, said it was important to be realistic that “highly disruptive” social distancing would need to be in place for “really quite a long period of time”. He said there was only an “incredibly small” chance of a vaccine or treatments being ready for use this year, and social distancing would have to stay in place to suppress outbreaks until then." The Guardian reporting on Chris Whitty's comments today 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 hour ago, losdemas said: Be nice to believe it, despite my total lack of faith in anything that is published in that journal. However, this evening... "Prof Chris Whitty, the UK’s most senior medic, said it was important to be realistic that “highly disruptive” social distancing would need to be in place for “really quite a long period of time”. He said there was only an “incredibly small” chance of a vaccine or treatments being ready for use this year, and social distancing would have to stay in place to suppress outbreaks until then." The Guardian reporting on Chris Whitty's comments today The CDC in the US is now saying that the second wave could be stronger than the first and be compounded by the winter flu season, so my guess is that physical distancing could easily become a way of life for a long time to come. The government here is suggesting at least a year. I could see it being for even longer than that if a vaccine isn't developed. But who knows at this point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: The CDC in the US is now saying that the second wave could be stronger than the first and be compounded by the winter flu season, so my guess is that physical distancing could easily become a way of life for a long time to come. The government here is suggesting at least a year. I could see it being for even longer than that if a vaccine isn't developed. But who knows at this point... Yes, I think that you're right: huge upheaval for us all. The fears of those in the tourism and hospitality industries mentioned in the article are all too real, too. Really makes stock photo problems so tiny as to be almost invisible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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