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In a May 27th, 2009 online article that appeared on The British Journal of Photography website, Jean-Francois Leroy, founder and director of Visa pour l'Image, an annual festival held in France dedicated to contemporary photojournalism, attacked photo agencies for "digging the profession's grave" by offering the media heavily discounted subscription schemes.
An arch-critic of newspapers' reluctance to publish or commission journalistic photo-essays, he claims discounting is only making the situation worse for photographers, who he says are finding the industry increasingly unsustainable. "Many agencies now have flat-rate schemes offering attractive prospects for magazines and newspapers run by people whose only goal is profit," says Leroy.
"By offering these subscription schemes, they are digging this profession's tomb. We scarcely need to cite the case of picture desks of magazines with the same profit-driven management demands, and which use amateur photo websites, paying one or two euros a shot."
These different practices, says Leroy, are becoming more widespread, and as a result, photojournalists are finding it almost impossible to fund more demanding, investigative stories. "This year, I can count less than a dozen photographers who have gone on a magazine assignment to do a real news report, allowing the photographer to make a living from his work and pay his bills at the end of the month," says Leroy.
The scarcity of such work has made it difficult to prepare his year's festival exhibitions, he says - the first time he's had such a problem in 21 years. Last week he unveiled the preliminary line-up, announcing 11 of the 30 exhibitions he has planned to stage at the end-of-summer event in Perpignan in southern France.
These shows include In Whose Name? by Magnum photographer Abbas - a seven-year project presenting contact sheets, work prints, mock-up layouts and covers of the Iranian's work shot around Islamic countries after 9/11.
Alexandra Avakian of Contact Press Images also focuses on the Muslim world. She spent eight weeks with Hezbollah, cheated death in Somalia and lived for two years in Gaza as part of her two-decade Windows of the Soul venture.
And away from the headlines, Agence Vu photographer Miquel Dewerer-Plana has spent months covering 'the other war' in Guatemala. In 2008, 6292 people were murdered in the Central American country, making it one of the most violent in the world.
Jerome Sessini, an Oeil Public photographer on assignment for Le Monde 2 and Le Figaro magazine, will show his "So far from God, too close to the USA" project, which looks at the violent gang war that is being waged a few miles away from US borders. The photographer spent three months in Culiacan, Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, reporting on what the Mexicans call the 'narco insurrection'.
The festival will also host multimedia projects for the first time. 'We're not doing it because it's fashionable, but because it's about photographers' survival,' says Leroy.
Visa pour l'Image will present a series of evening shows dedicated to the past year's main news events. Professional Week runs 31 August to 6 September. For more details, visit Visa pour l'Image.
Of course, photojournalists know Jean-Francois Leroy's statements are more than "claims". Here's what another of the photo industry's good guys Allen Murabayashi, of Photoshelter, had to say about subscription programs: "Buyers desire more diversity, but convenience (aka subscription deals) triumphs this desire. The largest consumers of stock photography are often locked into subscription deals, which make it very difficult for them to consider alternate sources. Subscription deals are very bad for photographers, but great for business."
"…….but because it's about photographers' survival" says Leroy.
While people such as kidnapped Canadian photojournalist Amanda Lindhout fight for survival in Somalia, photo business executives eat fancy lunches on her dime. Welcome to the "War on Photojournalists" folks. It's being waged on several fronts.
VIDEO: David McGuffin talks to Amanda Lindhout's translator and former fellow hostage. (Runs 2:26)
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photography
My Photoshelter Photography Archive Homepage
In a May 27th, 2009 online article that appeared on The British Journal of Photography website, Jean-Francois Leroy, founder and director of Visa pour l'Image, an annual festival held in France dedicated to contemporary photojournalism, attacked photo agencies for "digging the profession's grave" by offering the media heavily discounted subscription schemes.
An arch-critic of newspapers' reluctance to publish or commission journalistic photo-essays, he claims discounting is only making the situation worse for photographers, who he says are finding the industry increasingly unsustainable. "Many agencies now have flat-rate schemes offering attractive prospects for magazines and newspapers run by people whose only goal is profit," says Leroy.
"By offering these subscription schemes, they are digging this profession's tomb. We scarcely need to cite the case of picture desks of magazines with the same profit-driven management demands, and which use amateur photo websites, paying one or two euros a shot."
These different practices, says Leroy, are becoming more widespread, and as a result, photojournalists are finding it almost impossible to fund more demanding, investigative stories. "This year, I can count less than a dozen photographers who have gone on a magazine assignment to do a real news report, allowing the photographer to make a living from his work and pay his bills at the end of the month," says Leroy.
The scarcity of such work has made it difficult to prepare his year's festival exhibitions, he says - the first time he's had such a problem in 21 years. Last week he unveiled the preliminary line-up, announcing 11 of the 30 exhibitions he has planned to stage at the end-of-summer event in Perpignan in southern France.
These shows include In Whose Name? by Magnum photographer Abbas - a seven-year project presenting contact sheets, work prints, mock-up layouts and covers of the Iranian's work shot around Islamic countries after 9/11.
Alexandra Avakian of Contact Press Images also focuses on the Muslim world. She spent eight weeks with Hezbollah, cheated death in Somalia and lived for two years in Gaza as part of her two-decade Windows of the Soul venture.
And away from the headlines, Agence Vu photographer Miquel Dewerer-Plana has spent months covering 'the other war' in Guatemala. In 2008, 6292 people were murdered in the Central American country, making it one of the most violent in the world.
Jerome Sessini, an Oeil Public photographer on assignment for Le Monde 2 and Le Figaro magazine, will show his "So far from God, too close to the USA" project, which looks at the violent gang war that is being waged a few miles away from US borders. The photographer spent three months in Culiacan, Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, reporting on what the Mexicans call the 'narco insurrection'.
The festival will also host multimedia projects for the first time. 'We're not doing it because it's fashionable, but because it's about photographers' survival,' says Leroy.
Visa pour l'Image will present a series of evening shows dedicated to the past year's main news events. Professional Week runs 31 August to 6 September. For more details, visit Visa pour l'Image.
Of course, photojournalists know Jean-Francois Leroy's statements are more than "claims". Here's what another of the photo industry's good guys Allen Murabayashi, of Photoshelter, had to say about subscription programs: "Buyers desire more diversity, but convenience (aka subscription deals) triumphs this desire. The largest consumers of stock photography are often locked into subscription deals, which make it very difficult for them to consider alternate sources. Subscription deals are very bad for photographers, but great for business."
"…….but because it's about photographers' survival" says Leroy.
While people such as kidnapped Canadian photojournalist Amanda Lindhout fight for survival in Somalia, photo business executives eat fancy lunches on her dime. Welcome to the "War on Photojournalists" folks. It's being waged on several fronts.
VIDEO: David McGuffin talks to Amanda Lindhout's translator and former fellow hostage. (Runs 2:26)
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photography
My Photoshelter Photography Archive Homepage
