Tough at the Top

Annie Leibovitz

A freelance photographer's life is not an easy one. Uncertainty is a constant factor that has to be dealt with. You need nerves of steel at times, but the rewards of the job can be immense including meeting a lot of very nice people. You also meet some not so nice ones too. However, at the end of it all, we are in photography to make a living - you can't live on air alone.

The financial concerns of a photographer can be complex, and most of us would LOVE to become the next big name, earning obscene truckloads of cash. We all would like to be recognised as a photographic master, but the following article on Annie Leibovitz might make you stop and think for a moment. I will let you, dear reader, judge the story and you can draw your own conclusions.

How Could This Happen to Annie Leibovitz?

Photojournalism vs Future

Are online multimedia presentations the future outlets for photojournalism?

Photojournalism has reached a crossroads. For years, the state of the industry has been in decline, but it's only recently that photojournalists have REALLY started to get concerned. The reasons for the decline in photojournalism have been ongoing for over 40 years. Although conflicts like Vietnam created the modern persona of what we now regard as the photojournalist, the fall in interest for photo stories goes back to the late 1950's, when demand for human interest stories fell and celebrity orientated stories started to replace them.

Many of the newspapers that used to cover news stories in their weekend magazines, now cover lifestyle and celebrity stories instead. The main reason why Don McCullin ended up leaving The Sunday Times was purely because of a that change in the U.K newspaper industry during the early 1980's. Wars were out and lifestyle was in. Some would later claim that it was a much needed modernising of the newspaper industry. It is therefore ironic that less that 30 years later, many of the very same newspapers are fighting for their very survival. Some may go. In the United States newspapers, like The Rocky Mountain News, have already gone. Others like the Los Angeles Times remain in a precarious financial situation. To a large extent, the future of photojournalism is entwined with the future of the 'newspaper' industry and both need to change drastically to adapt to this new media world. For photojournalism, the choices are simple - photojournalists need to change the stories they shoot. Far too many of the same types of images and stories are being shot. Maybe we need fewer photojournalists. Yes, we need images of war and famine, but there are plenty of stories to be covered outside of those areas. We need variety in our images. We need photography that covers a huge swathe of stories, and i think we are starting to see the beginning of that change. Just look at the vast range of superb images that The Big Picture and Wall Street Journal photoblogs regularly post.

As for the newspapers, the choices are less clear. Many are finding the current business landscape a tough one to work in. The newspapers have been hit hard by the Internet. Only last week, Rupert Murdoch announced that the websites for The Times, The Sun and News of the World newspapers would charge for access to new stories. In a world where most online news content is free, it is hard to see how Murdoch's pay-per-view websites will work. Other newspapers, however, seem to be embracing the Internet and all it can offer. The best by far is The New York Times which has one of the best photoblogs on the web. The multimedia audio/visual presentations are very, very impressive, both visually and as story telling tools. Several pro cameras now come with video capabilities so that photographers can capture moving images alongside stills. A growing number of photographers now shoot both. Maybe multimedia is the future for photojournalism. Maybe photojournalism's future lies online rather than on the printed page. Who really knows? What is certain is that 21st century photojournalism faces it's toughest challenge, and it really needs to change and adapt fast to this new multimedia world.

Twin Paths

Reading around the various photography blogs this week, one topic seems to appear again and again - the state of photojournalism today. It's no secret that the photo story is under threat due to financial constraints and changing markets. Put simply, photojournalism is often no longer a viable option for newspapers and agencies that are under financial strain anyway. Celebrity sells and images of dying kids in Africa don't, so you go where the money is. It's that simple.

I studied documentary photography at college and I LOVE photojournalism, but even i had to take a step back to see how i was going to make a living. In the last post i talked about Elliott Erwitt, a Magnum photographer who is regarded as one of the best documentary photographers of the 20th century. Erwitt has been a big influence on my artistic understanding of photography, but he has also been a massive influence on my understanding of the business of photography for Elliott Erwitt is a successful commercial photographer too. He combines the income of commercial work with the passion for photojournalism, which enables him to live his life as he wishes. I choose that commercial/photojournalism balanced business model too. I compromised.

I admire immensely those photographers who are loyal to their photojournalism roots. Maybe i sold out. I don't know, but what i do know is photography is a real bitch to make money out of. Trying to make a good living from photojournalism is bordering on impossible. Even the best photojournalists earn surprising low amounts of money, and these are award winning, top of their game types. Being a photojournalist is for many akin to a religion - there is no financial reward but you are following a calling. It's all about passion and faith... in photography. Photojournalism isn't going to die out but it is going through immense change. Many outlets for images are under threat, and tomorrow, I'll post about how photojournalism might change in the years ahead.

A Touch of Erwitt

Dogs waiting for a haircut, Stoke On Trent - 1996

That would be Elliott Erwitt, a Magnum photographer who has become best known for his quirky and often funny photographs of dogs. I purchased an excellent book of Erwitt's work called Snaps while i was in Norfolk this year, which i thoroughly enjoyed looking through and regard as one of the best photography books you can buy. Not many photographers manage to combine thoughtful humour and documentary image making, but Erwitt does it with style.

I came across the above photograph, one weekend in Stoke on Trent as i was going into town. It's the only photograph that really comes to mind if I'm asked about carrying a camera at all times. This scene, when i saw it, instantly made me think of Elliott Erwitt and fortunately i had my camera with me. It's not as clever as his images tend to be, but it does have at least some humour in it.

Does it pay to carry a camera at all times? Sometimes it does.

Portrait of Andy

Portrait of Andy - 1992

Last week, i started adding some of my old college photos to my Facebook page. I took loads of photographs of friends/classmates including the one above of Andy, a Geordie who was my housemate, a good friend and a great jazz photographer. I used the camera as a sort of visual notebook. In many respects, photographing my college years was like a big ongoing photography project, running alongside the normal college work. To say I'm glad i did it is an understatement, although i had no idea at the time what i would use them for. The internet and websites like Facebook have provided that answer. These photographs now have a home.

As I've been going through these photographs, I've had mixed emotions. They've made me laugh, but I've also felt sad. As my friend Matt said ' If i could go back, it would be back to those days'. Sadly we can't return and all we have are these photographs to remind us. It's a bittersweet feeling. Another question that remains unanswered is do photographs actually help keep memories of events and people fresh? I don't know if they do, although maybe it depends on the person, place or event. I can't help but think of a girl i knew (and loved) whenever i smell a certain specific perfume on someone in the street, so it's not just the visual that can take us back.

I'm going to continue to put my collection of college images up on Facebook. They were taken with no real purpose in mind, but now they have a function. A role. Besides, it is better to have the photographs on show, making people laugh or smile, than to have them hidden away in a draw somewhere. Photography and emotional attachment have always gone together. They are often strongly bound together in the form of a family album or a portrait of a friend, so take as many pictures as you can, because once that moment in time has gone... it's gone for good.

Google it

Over the last few months, I've been adding Richard Flint Photography to a number of social networks, the most recent of which is Facebook. The main reason for developing these sites is to gain publicity for my work. They are adverts that may, or may not, create commissions and get new clients. Best of all these sites are free to set up, so for any photographer setting up a business there really is no excuse to not have some sort of online presence.

This week i added Google ads to that list of online promotion. I have to admit that the only reason i did so was because of a Google voucher that entitled me to £50 of free advertising. The only cost i have to bare is a £5.00 set up fee. For an advertising cost that's a pretty good deal. Will it work? Well, it's hard to say at the moment but judging from previous experiences I've had, I'm not too optimistic. You can have a million people view your website, but if no one hires you what exactly have you gained apart from a million people viewing your work. A bit of publicity and that's about it.

I'll be keeping my eye on this over the coming weeks to see if the website viewing statistics change drastically.... if at all.

Stonewall Still-life II

Stone wall still-life II, North Wales - July 2003.

This image, and the one in the previous post, were both taken from the rather large archive of negatives that I'm attempting to file properly. It's not an easy task, in fact it's pretty daunting, but it needs to be done. Dates, times and places all need to be added and logged, like i should have done in the first place. I started doing this a couple of years ago, so it's a kind of work in progress thing really. One day I'm sure to come to the end of it. Maybe.

If i stopped taking photographs tomorrow, i would still have a healthy supply of images to accompany the blog text. I wouldn't like to calculate the number of shots held in those negative binders, but i suppose it could be as high as 20,000. Maybe more. It's great revisiting old pre-blog photographs like this one. The light was wonderful the evening i took this. The rain clouds had just cleared and a golden orange sunlight shone down onto the wall, so i quickly grabbed the camera and spent twenty minutes or so shooting this stonewall before the light went. There are some wonderful colour images too that I'll post later this month.

Stonewall Still-life

Stone wall still-life taken on a farm near Bangor, North Wales - July 2003.