Photography Matters

Hopefully, by now you will all be aware of the 2nd NUJ Photographers Conference taking place in London at the Institute of Education on 18th May.


As many of you know, I missed the first conference, despite being involved a bit in the organisation as I was unexpectedly carted off to hospital the week it was taking place. However, it was reported to me by the scores of people who contacted me afterwards as being the best conference the NUJ had ever had. Personally, I am looking forward to the 2009 conference being much of the same.


I know many of you will already have booked, but quite a few won't have, and are probably wondering why you should? What do I get for my £10 I hear you ask? Life is difficult enough as it is, with clients closing down, publications unilaterally deciding to cut rates - rates that haven't in most cases increased in 15 years, why should I spend all that time and effort to come to London. What's in it for me?


Well I kind of understand that too. Myself, I am a photographer and have been all my working life, it's all I really know, and the photographers who represent us in the Photographers sub-committee are very much the same too. So in conjunction with the Freelance Organisers John Toner and Pamela Morton we have tried to put together a programme of talks and discussions that will be of the greatest benefit to the greatest number of photographers.


This is a series of seminars and discussions aimed at helping as many members as possible improve their lot in today’s difficult financial climate.


So this is what I reckon you will get for your £10:


9.30am - Registration/Tea & Coffee
Time to have a chat, network, and perhaps recover from your journey. Also the chance perhaps to talk to some of the professional concerns attending the conference to see if there is any way they can help you with their particular professional services

10.00am - Welcome to the conference - John Toner, Freelance Organiser, NUJ
John is the organiser (along with Pamela Morton) who in most cases deal with photographer issues and represents us in a number of ways with the Police, at newspaper and publisher meets, the IPO etc. Just how many ways does the NUJ work on your behalf without you even realising it?

10.15am - 11.30am: Choice of:
• The Business of Photography including: Expanding your horizons; Photographers and their websites; Stock photography.

Paul Herrmann, Director of Redeye, Paul is known by many for his work in and around Manchester, working for a wide range of clients.

Nick McGowan-Lowe www.nml.uk.com/ is another well-known photographer and one who understands websites and their benefits to photographers; amongst his portfolio he is the web editor of EPUK. How can photographers use websites to further their marketing and better their businesses?

David Hoffman www.hoffmanphotos.com/ has specialised in social issues photography for more than 30 years. Resolutely independent, he primarily shoots stock for his own photo library, rather than working to commissions. Well known to many photographers for his no nonsense approach. Whilst a good stock library was seen at one time to be the photographer’s pension, this is clearly no longer the case, but in these difficult times how can we make the most of stock?

Jenny Lennox – chair (NUJ Assistant Organiser North of England)


• Video and the photojournalist. Video is seen by many publications as being the next step, and already many national and regional newspapers see video as a necessity.

Antonio Olmos. www.antonioolmos.com Former Miami Herald staffer and based in London since 1993, Antonio travels the world and is a regular for the Observer. Newspapers have grasped video with a passion so it seems, Antonio can tell us more.
George Chin. http://www.georgechin.com George is another veteran, and who has been working in the music industry for a long time. So just how does a stills photographer find himself doing online video?

Pete Jenkins www.petejenkins.co.uk – chair. A veteran photographer starting off with black and white dunk tanks in Fleet Street, now working in Nottingham. Pete is the Vice-chair of the NUJs Photographers Sub-Committee.

11.45am - 1.30pm: Choice of:
• Copyright and Intellectual Property including: Economic & moral rights; Orphan works, European dimension.

Kate Fox, the Thompsons copyright specialist is in a good position to help photographers understand their economic and moral rights. In a climate where publishers think they can ride roughshod over individuals how much can they actually get away with? Kate can help you know when to say NO.

Linda Royles, former Chief Executive at the British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies puts Linda in a prime position to understand the Orphan rights issue. It may have gone quiet for a moment, but there is every chance that it could come back. How does it affect us, and what should we do about it?

Pamela Morinière is the authors' rights officer at International Federation of Journalists. Did you know that in Germany author’s rights always remain with the created work?

Pamela Morton – chair. Pamela is the NUJs Assistant Freelance Organiser


• The Dangers of the Trade Highlighting some of the problems photographers might well face when working, particularly abroad, and why it is so important that Photojournalists are able to continue working.

Penny Tweedie, www.pennytweedie.co.uk has worked in more than 70 different countries working for a wide range of clients covering subjects as disparate as child gunmen and women in sport

Guy Smallman, www.guysmallman.com is known for his work both at home and abroad and has had some harrowing experiences, some of them life threatening.
Julio Etchart www.julioetchart.com – Chair. After studying Documentary Photography at Newport Art College, Julio has travelled round the world for the international media.


1.30pm - 2.30pm: Lunch also a Q&A session on Colour Management with Neil Barstow, with Michael Walker

Neil Barstow http://www.colourmanagement.net is acknowledged by many as being the foremost colour expert in the UK, and is available to answer questions during a Q&A session.

Michael Walker is the digital editor of Photo Pro Magazine and is the author of numerous books.

Pete Jenkins - chair. A veteran photographer, beginning with black and white dunk tanks in Fleet Street, now working in Nottingham. Pete is the Vice-chair of the NUJs Photographers Sub-Committee.

Also possibly time to have a chat, network, and perhaps compare notes on the morning sessions. Perhaps the chance perhaps to talk again to some of the professional concerns attending the conference to see if there is any way they can help you with their particular professional services


2.30pm - 4.30pm: Photography in Public Spaces. What are the many problems facing photographers in the streets of Britain? Over zealous policing, confusion over privacy, and a general public that assumes so much?

Jeff Moore (chair of the BPPA) and Paul Stewart (National Association of Press Agencies) will open with a slide show illustrating many of the problems that photographers are facing in todays politically charged environment.

Rupert Grey a consultant with Swan Turton who specialises in libel and copyright law, in addition has been involved in many leading cases in the field of media law. He has wide experience of pre-publication advice to national and provincial papers as well as dealing with claims: his clients include educational and other national institutions, as well as well-known private individuals. He advises photographers and syndication agencies on all aspects of copyright law, and regularly lectures and gives seminars in the UK and overseas on aspects of media law.

There will be a solicitor to talk about PACE & the Terrorism legislation TBA

Commander Bob Broadhurst is known to many journalists, was appointed Commander of Public Order and Pan London Operational Support in July 2006.and is the policeperson in charge of operational planning for the 2012 Olympics. He has almost twenty years experience of commanding public order events, including the 2009 Gaza protests in London

Dave Rotchelle – Chair. Dave is well known to members of the London freelance branch of the NUJ, as he is the chair of LFB as well as the chair of the Photographers Sub Committee


4.30pm-5.00pm: Break, coffee

More time to have a chat and network. Yet another chance to talk to some of the professional concerns attending the conference to see if there is any way they can help you with their particular professional services
5pm-6pm: Photography Matters: Keynote address by Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, and Michelle Stanistreet, Deputy General Secretary, NUJ, and John Toner, Freelance Organiser.

Sponsors include Sigma, Thompsons Solicitors, TradeClips and Imaging Insurance

As well as learning more about some of the issues we have to deal with in todays 21st century, I am also looking forward to meeting many of the people which whom I correspond and deal with over the year. Meeting people face to face is important.


And don’t forget the tenner (for NUJ members’) gets you lunch as well!


For non-NUJ members I believe that the conference is also great value, after all £40 for a day (including lunch) of informative seminars and the opportunity to ask questions from a number of acknowledged experts is money well spent.


The conference (which includes lunch) will take place at the Institute of Education, Bedford Way, London, WC1, just off Russell Square.

It costs £10 for NUJ members and £40 for non-members.
For details of how to register go to:
http://www.photography-matters.com/


Or contact the NUJ Freelance Office on freelanceoffice@nuj.org.uk


Pete Jenkins
www.petejenkins.co.uk
www.onlinepictureproof.com/petejenkins
www.photographerspro.eu/pete_jenkins/
www.petejenkinsphotothoughts.blogspot.com/

Member of: The National Union of Journalists

Regional Newspapers - Why?

House of Commons Lobby, 25th March 2009

http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1175

Since being based in Nottingham (it’s ten years since I moved up here) I haven’t spend much time in London just going down for the occasional meeting, seminar or suchlike, perhaps twice a month.

The last visit I made was to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) lobby of parliament in support of an early day motion http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=37995&SESSION=899 requesting support of local journalism.

Parliament is very different from my last visit (last century), Police with guns, security fences and an anti-war protest camp right outside the front gates!

I was first to arrive, and was able to see the room reserved for us fill to capacity. It really was packed, literally standing room only by 2.30 (it started at 2.00pm), and I certainly got the feeling that the MPs present, there must have been nearly fifty, maybe more by the end, were taking the matter very seriously.

Hard though the NUJ is working on this, here is no guarantee that this work will help us, but it is good to see that others outside our industry are beginning to understand the ramifications of what is happening. This isn’t just a matter of jobs and redundancies, although of course for those who are working local papers, these are the very real issues.

Local journalism has changed from being the backbone of our communities to something that has twisted and changed, and simply become unrecognisable.

I have been a journalist, in my case a photojournalist, all my life; it is all I have ever really done. For much of my career I have been a supplier of material to the regional press - local newspapers, all over the UK. Indeed, like many, my first ‘proper’ photo sale was to a local newspaper, in my case the Advertiser and Gazette in Uxbridge, in the mid seventies and I received the, (to me at the time), princely sum of £5.

In those early days, local newspapers were often owned by local companies who actually provided a service to local communities. They employed a number of specialists who produced the publications, and supplied work to numerous freelances. The community was advised of what the local authority was doing, because council meetings were reported properly rather than just having the councils PR office churn out Press Releases used (often) verbatim. Local courts were actually properly reported, so that those in the community knew who was amongst them. Today many of our local papers report only the most ‘gory’ of cases, or those upon which a press release has been received. Gone are the days of the ‘court reporter’.

Ever since the Wapping dispute of 1986, there has been a gradual erosion of quality in local journalism, as newspapers are taken over by larger organisations whose aims and goals, are not servicing the community, despite what many papers proclaim on their mastheads, but simply to make good profit for their new owners. We have had a situation where fat has been trimmed, and trimmed again, until of course it is not fat being trimmed but simply the people who do specific work are dispensed with. Court reporting as already mentioned has become a thing of the past, as has many of the specialist positions once boasted by regional newspapers.

In my own field of photography, we have seen picture desks serviced by numbers of photographers and an equal or larger number of freelances squeezed, so that in many instances there are now one or two or even no photographers working where once there were a dozen, or a score or even more.

A recent example of this is the Manchester Evening News whose photographic output has been heralded for a hundred years and even today the paper proudly puts on exhibitions, yet in 2007 all their photographers were made redundant, in one fell swoop.

Post redundancy, the papers management, very generously offered to give these professionals all formerly on £27,000 + equipment + cars + pensions + expenses etc work at £120 per day all in – a drop in pay of more than £10,000 per annum (a photographers overheads are in the region of £90.00 per day). And the management are still scratching their heads and trying to work out why they cannot get these same guys back to work for the paper on a freelance basis!

The NUJ believes that more than 2,000 jobs have been lost in regional journalism in the past year, newspapers, radio and television, and the threat is for a lot more to go.

Here in the East Midlands, Northcliffe has announced another potential 50 jobs to go at the local Northcliffe titles and another 66 to go at the sister group Harmsworth Press. http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/090223subbing.shtml

I believe that it is clear now that Regional journalism in this country is undergoing a dramatic change, a change that started with the Wapping dispute, and has been accelerating ever since. Newspapers have become something that they never were, and were not particularly intended to be, and that is a profit-making machine, and in a climate where profit is king, content suffers, and when there is a recession, in order to keep up profit, people are dispensable. Once worker (journalists) are going, content suffers, as content suffers readership goes down and advertising follows, so more people are made redundant, and content suffers. Advertising is more difficult to get, so to keep up profit more jobs go, and it becomes an unbreakable chain of events.

In 2001 I predicted that there would be no full-time freelance photojournalists working solely in regional media by 2010. We have already reached this point.

It is clear that without a reversal of this cycle, newspapers are doomed, certainly in their current form, and local news at Radio, and TV stations will suffer as well. We have already seen jobs go at both the BBC and Carlton here in Nottingham, and more will surely follow.

Most likely the best that can be achieved is that better terms are obtained for those being made redundant. It is not going to be an easy ride and many more people will find themselves as out of work or redundant journalists before it gets better.

Already many local authorities are producing their own newspapers, at the moment to churn out their own propaganda, but it is possible that new publications will come from these somewhat narrow viewpoint ones. Will new publications and magazine programmes arise from the ashes like some kind of news phoenix? It is possible. The rise of the Internet which is still very much in its infancy has not yet established itself in a stable form, and as and when appropriate subscription and advertising models settle in place, we may well find that the new local news information sources will be found here.

Pete Jenkins
www.petejenkins.co.uk
www.onlinepictureproof.com/petejenkins
www.photographerspro.eu/pete_jenkins/

Member of: The National Union of Journalists

Alamy and the subscription feed...

Alamy Contributor blog http://www.alamy.com/blog/contributor/default.aspx

UK newspaper revenue declining rapidly

http://www.alamy.com/Blog/contributor/archive/2009/03/18/4426.aspx

UK newspapers - message 2

http://www.alamy.com/Blog/contributor/archive/2009/03/19/4540.aspx

Clarification regarding RM images and UK newspapers

http://www.alamy.com/Blog/contributor/archive/2009/03/20/4611.aspx

The management of the Alamy portal have been busy this week again, and regrettably once again demonstrated that they are not as in touch with their contributing photographers s they would like to be.

James West the youthful and go getting CEO of the portal made an announcement at the end of the working day on the 18^th March telling his suppliers (the contributing photographers),

“We have seen some dramatic declines with some of our newspaper customers this quarter, ranging from 30% to 70% down year on year. I would like to share some thoughts with you on how we can reverse this trend.”

As it turns out (as one reads on) not so much sharing thoughts as advising that Alamy are now going to supply newspapers via a subscription feed:

“Broadly speaking any subscription offering needs to be priced at or below the total expenditure for the previous year for an unlimited number of downloads. Wherever possible we will allocate revenue to contributors based on usage, but in some cases we may have to divide up the revenue based on downloads. It is hard to judge in advance what impact this will have on the average price per image for this market. At one end of the scale prices will remain at or slightly below 2008 prices, whereas at the other end prices might fall by up to 50% or perhaps even more. My expectation is that we will see a mixture of both.”

As can be imagined the contributing photographers to the Alamy portal were less than impressed. What James did not make clear was that the subscription model is great for the newspaper – fixed costs and cheap imagery – a front page splash cost the same as a 1” square headshot on page 34, and the more they use the cheaper theses pics become. Alamy is doing this so James tells us:

“Alamy is the only large supplier of imagery not offering a subscription scheme to newspapers and we are being squeezed out of this market by offerings from our largest competitors.”

What James omits is the affect on photographer returns. Some of the larger agencies already run these feeds to newspapers, and the returns to photographers are as low as pence per use. These are the competitors that James wants Alamy to run against head to head, and match their pricing presumably.

Photographer Homer Sykes says on the Alamy Blog.

“At Getty when they were selling my work on subscription (without my permission) I was getting as little as $2.57 per image. I have now removed my images and or had them ring fenced in their so-called Premium Archive. Getty still sell images from those ring fenced premium archives to UK newspapers, and no longer am I receiving MicroPayments. UK newspapers will pay for quality. And if they don't, then just forget them. Its an insult to be paid so little for so much.”

Perhaps it would help if we looked at how we got here?

Alamy came out of nowhere at the turn of the century, and has filled a gap in the agency/photolibrary market which has proven very useful for the average editorial professional photographer.

The digital revolution has affected photography both professional and amateur in many ways – some good - some perhaps less so.

In the late 1990s it was clear to many photojournalists where the market was going. Digital imaging was here to stay and was rapidly becoming the new standard, and although there was a transition period when scanned negative material was superior to digital sourced work, cameras were gradually getting better and better.

Many professionals, myself included, were waiting for the affordable camera that would combine the apparent ease and convenience of digital working (the speed with which we could get single images to our newspaper clients was impressive), with the quality that we needed for our non-newspaper client. You can get away with a lot in a black and white 72 dpi image only taking up two or three columns that simply wouldn’t wash with a double page spread in a

glossy magazine.

The first camera that really showed the way was the Nikon D1 (2.7 mega-pixels – 7MB file size). Almost laughable by todays standards, but just about acceptable for most of us back then. By 2003 we were seeing cameras with 6 mega-pixels as standard - 18Mb file size, and these were perfectly capable of servicing the most demanding standard editorial requirements. 6 Mega-pixels was the same standard that the Kodak RFS 2035 film scanner had that cost something like £7,000 in the early 1990s. (I still have one – totally useless to me now of course.

Libraries were in a real quandary. The writing was on the wall. Some saw the future and started scanning their best images like crazy, to build up a quality digital library, others felt that the quality was not there (it wasn’t in 1999), so steadfastly refused to change or adapt, believing that the ultimate quality of transparency film stock would win out.

Well we now know who was right don’t we? Many great agency names of the past simply don’t exist. They either withered away and died, or were bought up by larger concerns, many of those in turn bought up by the giants – Corbis, Getty, Reuters and the Press Association (PA)

Many of the specialists have gone. When I was working as a sports photographer, running my own agency in the 80s and 90s my main competitors within my own speciality of rugby union were seen to be Allsport, Empics and to a lesser degree Action Images. All much bigger concerns than mine, but within my chosen niche our businesses were closer than overall

turnover and number of employees would have suggested. All these agencies have now gone, including my own. Getty bought Allsport, PA - Empics, and Reuters - Action Images. Smaller agencies all over the UK of which there were a great many have simply disappeared.

There are still a few specialists around, mostly dealing with niche subjects, and keen hardworking photographers are still supplying them. However, newspapers as clients have been on a downward spiral ever since the 1980s. As both employers of photographers and users of imagery they have been contracting. Newspapers that boasted 50 (some even more) staffers in 1985, as well as a similar number or more contract freelances, and probably double these

combined figures of allied freelances, now have work for less than 20 regulars, of whom, maybe five will be staff and slightly more on contract.

The work that these many photographers were supplying in the eighties is now, where images are still required, taken from the PA subscription feed, and to a lesser extent from Getty and Reuters feeds as well. These subscriptions feed are basically a fixed price service, where the paper takes whatever it needs from what is made available. Great for the newspaper – known and fixed relatively low price. Great for the Agency, as there is a guaranteed income. Flip side is those freelances caught in supplying the feeds get virtually nothing for images that before the feeds were paying minimums of £50 or £60 and much more for larger sizes and important subject matter.

As pagination decreases, quality declines, the advertising revenue falls away. With less advertising revenue, the cycle continues with pagination dropping, quality falling through the floor, more staff made redundant, fewer freelance contributions required, and lower prices paid, which leads to even lower quality products, which means less adverting…

It is in this climate that Alamy find their income from Newspapers under threat, and falling away, as James intimates monthly.

So what can Alamy do, what should photographers do?

Alamys knee-jerk reaction answer is to attempt to compete with the others already firmly entrenched in providing a subscription feed such as Getty. That is to say the newspaper client pays an agreed fee per period to the agency (Alamy) for a set number of downloads, even unlimited, depending on the agreement. The images are supposed to be taken for immediate use, shouldn’t be stored for any long period and will be available for use in the agreed products. The agreed fee is set, usually low, but means the publication gets cheap imagery for a known fee, and the agency at least knows that it has a guaranteed income. So what is wrong with subscriptions if two of the three parties involved get an acceptable deal?

As is often the case these days it is the original supplier, the creator, the photographer, who loses out. Unique material that may have taken a lot of time and effort to produce is sold for a pittance. A 100 square inch picture on a front cover sells for exactly the same as a one-column headshot on page 34.

Photographers supplying the agencies that Alamy is pitting itself against, who already get sales through the newspaper subscription feed, are reporting extremely poor rates, as little as 54 pence per use.

This is a sample of what one photographer showed me from a recent statement – all these are newspaper subscription payments:

What possible incentive is there for any photographer, who sees his or her work that should be selling for a £60.00 minimum, virtually given away? Many micro sites would pay better than this!

Alamy need to remember what their USP is.

James told us this week:

“most of our customers want us to succeed because they like the speed, simplicity, and choice on Alamy”

“Alamy has a better selection to offer than our competitors.”

“Alamy is already one of the leading suppliers of stock imagery to the UK newspaper market. Alamy’s share of overall usage will likely increase if we do some deals, but not by a huge amount.”

“Most newspapers are reducing the number of pages they print and are moderating their online ambitions due to budget constraints. I don’t envisage that picture usage volumes in UK newspapers will increase significantly over the next couple of years. If anything, they will reduce.”

Chasing reducing returns is plain daft, and does not make economic sense. If the market is reducing, to chase reducing revenues, revenues that you know are getting smaller, by reducing your price is clearly insane. Alamy need to hold its ground. Be the leading supplier. Emphasise and build on the speed, simplicity, and choice on Alamy. Foremost though don’t try and prop up businesses you know are failing. Look for new markets to replace the ones you know you have already lost.

On a positive note, with Alamy introducing a subscription feed, for those who choose to opt out of the scheme, (that will be everyone who understands the math), this could prove to be a boost in income. The newspapers already buy from Alamy because it has material they can’t get easily elsewhere, despite the fact that some agencies supply by subscription feed. So if a newspaper really wants an image they will not be able to get on the subscription feed, they will be forced to either purchase it properly from Alamy as they do now, or better still, have to source the image direct from the photographer and pay the proper rate, as set by the creator.

One sale at a realistic rate could well be worth more than a hundred sales at 54 pence!

(c) 2009 Pete Jenkins

Jessops what are you doing?

When I was a wee bairn still at school and first getting the photography bug, there were three Photographic dealers that I used, and gave all my pennies to. There was a local dealer in Ruislip where I lived with my parents, Euro Foto Centre a large warehouse type concern in Cowley/Uxbridge, North West London, and Jessops of Leicester.

The local dealer, like most others, has gone to the wall, Euro Foto Centre, has metamorphosed into a carpet warehouse (apparently), of the three, only Jessops still exists, but for how much longer?

Ever since the private equity firm ABN Amro Capital bought Jessops for £116m in 2002, the camera superstore chain seems to have lost its way. And if the reports from the British Journal of photography and Amateur Photographer are to be believed, has become totally baffled in the process.

81 shops were closed (out of 315) in 2007, after the business declared a thumping loss of £8.5 Million. The big flagship Leicester store closed last year, much to everyone’s surprise, and since then things just haven’t improved, with the announcement recently that sales for the 14 weeks to 5 January were down 5.6%. Not just that but as Retail Week published on Feb 6th, the losses were up to £19.1 Million from £9.3 Million the previous year.

Jessops is now on a thinly disguised dash to get cash.

So what went wrong?

Whilst Jessops were a family firm, (from 1935 –1996), the business was always getting better and held in high regard. It was a business run by people who believed in what they did and the staff had a passion for their work. After the management buyout in 1996 with more stores being bought, it might be felt by many that the firm started to lose its focus.

After the ABN buyout, all pretence that Jessops was your local camera store, or the experts in Leicester ceased. The focus on the business stopped being service, but became just about the money.

For more than fifty years, Jessops provided a service for the amateur photographer, and indeed 'Amateur Photographer' readers were the company's natural clients. In the 21st Century the business seems to have lost sight of its natural client base – keen amateur photographers. Like many involved in photography, Jessops seem to have been put well off their stride by the digital age. Let’s face it, it didn’t just happen overnight, it crept up stealthily upon us all during the nineties, and by 2002 digital was just here. But what has digital changed? Well to be honest not a lot. The cameras all function much the same way – an EOS 5MKII is very similar to an EOS 1 of 1990 vintage. The lenses too – much the same. We have professional kit, and serious amateur kit, high functioning compacts, and happy snaps – much the same as Frank Jessops dealt with back in 1935.

The only change is in the processing. The mystique of the darkroom has changed for the joy of the computer :-)

Had the business evolved along with the equipment it was trying to sell, one can only imagine that Jessops would have at least maintained its strong easily identifiable client base. As the equipment changed, as the processing changed, the amateur photographer, keen, as ever to keep up with the latest piece of kit, needed new toys. Along with new paraphernalia the amateur photographic spender also needed advice, help and tuition (and still does). Jessops simply failed to fill this gap.

With Jessops failing to provide expertise, and instead concentrating on making price its unique selling point, even with the 315 shops acquired by 2007, the business did not have the buying power to be able to compete with the likes of Boots, Tesco, Sainsburys, all of whom had identified the gains to be made in the low end of the digital photographic market. Clearly, none of these outlets had the digital expertise either, but with this missing from Jessops, there was no longer any attraction in the ailing giant. If you need a cheap camera and just want it cheap, why go to Jessops?

With the business obviously being in trouble for more then two years, (presumably the signs have been there longer if one had been a Jessops Director), it is surprising that the business seems to have been doing nothing to recapture its natural client base.

Jessops sends me e-mails every week, as I am sure it does to hundreds of thousands of potential clients, but with the same lame offers. A SanDisc Ultra II SDHC card, at a cut price, wonderful, until you check the details and find that everyone else is selling SanDisc III units much faster, much better, and much the same price. Canon 450D camera and 18-55 lens for £529 - £468 from Warehouse Express, £469 from Argos, so not even the cheapest then.

So why should an amateur photographer buy from Jessops?

Nope, I can’t think of a reason either…

Now, if I wanted to run a successful camera store, I would find out what the chaps (and Chapettes) at local camera clubs were doing. What Amateur Photographer readers are interested in? I would be catering for their needs. Putting on seminars, going to the clubs, providing education in digital imaging (by experts not shop assistants). Having camera club nights where local clubs could come in (on an invite only basis) and get advice and kit (how about a 10% discount on club nights), have some professional photographers on hand to answer questions.

Printing experts who can talk knowledgeably, but not ‘down’ to the customer. Staff whose motivation is not just making the sale but making the customer happy. Happy customers come back, and keen amateur photographers generally buy a lot of kit, and with digital imaging, that gives a dealership a lot of scope.

What is the point of selling a keen photographer a decent camera and telling him/her to go elsewhere to buy his/her computer, and his/her software, and to find out how to use his/her new toys? It isn’t rocket science, and it will work, but to succeed it will require a lot of effort and a huge change in the company’s way of dealing with photographers.

© 2009 Pete Jenkins

Alamy warn contributors!

The Alamy portal, means by which some 15, 000 or so photographers make available their work to potential clients, has finally put its foot down on contributors who continually fail to meet the specifications Alamy has set.

Some contributors don’t have the equipment, or the knowledge or the ability to pass QC, or simply do not understand the requirements.

Other contributors are frustrated because Alamy's standards appear arbitrary and seem to have no relationship with actual picture quality or the production of a saleable image.

Many photographers who have spent their careers producing images to be used by the national or regional press are simply lost when instead of basic news pictures they are being asked to produce images that will fulfil the requirements of a glossy magazine double page spread, and then see their images being used by newspapers, often at less than a ¼ page and for agency rates anyway.

Some photographers have lost sight of the fact that Alamy is a successful business, and despite the contrariness of their requirements, and the refusal to accept clearly saleable images, because they do not reach an arbitrary ideal, Alamy does work. It makes many photographers who play the Alamy game a significant contribution to their income. Nobody forces photographers to contribute. No one has a gun to his or her head. It’s Alamy’s rules, Alamys pitch, Alamy’s ball, and Alamy’s game. Photographers either play the game and take a slice of the pie, or they don’t!

Serious Professionals will use Alamy for some of their editorial work, and (probably) put their specialist work with more appropriate agencies, whether they are news, music, gardening or whatever.

I asked Alan Capel, Alamy’s Head of Content how bad it was and he said:


“It's not an epidemic and we genuinely want people to get it right but some are just wasting everyone's' time including their own.”


And how many rejections Alamy were getting:


“Rejection rate wise. It fluctuates around the 20 - 25% of images level, so we do pass more than we fail. Number of submissions again fluctuates between 400-600 a day”





© 2009 Pete Jenkins

Copyright Policy Consultation

Although I mentioned this briefly a couple of weeks ago, and was expecting photographers (and other creators) all around the country to be talking about the IPO consultation on copyright, things appear to be very quiet.

So I apologise to everyone for banging on about this now, but it simply is too important an issue not to stand on rooftops and shout about it

This is a Government consultation, which I first learned of in the middle of December via the NUJ. The response in writing from creators is required by 6^th February. The National Union of Journalists, the Association of Photogrpahers, British Association of Picture libraries and Agencies are all putting in submissions, and I am sure many of the other organisations that represent photographers will also be working hard.

So what is this consultation about?

It amounts to nothing less than the opportunity to completely rewrite our laws on Copyright. Well, more to the point as we are in Europe we are being given the opportunity to revise our current copyright laws, lose some of the nonsense such as magazine and newspapers not having to provide a credit, and to acquire extra rights such as in Germany where Copyright is an unalienable right under law, and the holy grail of having our rights as creators upheld by law, and getting laws introduced that allow us to chase copyright infringers and charge penalties for misuse, and to make this affordable for sole traders.

This is probably one of the most important issues we will have to deal with for some time, and it has been overshadowed somewhat by the current economic situation. I have prepared my own submission to the consultation, and I am aware that a number of others have too.

John Toner at the NUJ has been to several meetings with representatives of the IPO and it seems clear that this is an excellent opportunity to improve the copyright law hugely. But this will only happen if it is made clear how important copyright is to us as creators. If we just sit back and let our organisations do all the work for us, good job though they will all do, it will not have as much impact as if thousands of creators also write and reinforce what they say. Each of us has individual experiences, all of which will help make our case.

This is an opportunity to get our rights to be recognised as the authors of our work enshrined in law - which will go a long way towards preventing payment avoidance and orphan works.

This is equally an opportunity to get legal backing to prevent stealing of our images and giving us the affordable means of obtaining not just payment but reparations for theft and misuse.

Also there is the possibility of raising the bar in the UK and introducing concepts that are current in several European Countries (particularly Germany) where copyright is an unalienable right, which publishers simply cannot take.

The IPO are asking us to tell them about instances where our copyright and moral rights are abused, they wanton see some of the simply foul contracts that are rolled out by some of the biggest Publishers in the land. If we do not make it clear that we are unhappy with these bad practices it will be assumed by implication that we do not object. This is simply the best opportunity we will ever get to establish some fairness in the area of copyright and the way we work.

My own submission is far from all encompassing, but I am willing to share it with any who are interested (e-mail me petej@petejenkins.co.uk)

The BJP has taken up the baton on our behalf, and we, as individuals need to support this and other initiaves and make it clear that we do care about copyright and not let this opportunity slip.

Ideally, every creator, especially photographers should make their opinions known. Enough of moaning around pub tables now is the time we can actually make a difference for photographers.

© 2009 Pete Jenkins

Regional Newspapers RIP...

What is it about some shopkeepers, themselves small business people, that makes them think that surly unfriendly behaviour to their customers is acceptable? In these difficult days of 2009, with a credit crunched economy, and everyone careful of their pounds and pennies, it would seem even more important that ever before for small business people to provide quality service, even if they cannot compete with the rock bottom prices of the giant corporations, who just want to shift units and for whom customer care doesn’t even register on the radar.

I took back 50 incorrectly supplied CD-ROMs to the little local computer store that I have keenly supported since they opened. Incorrectly supplied in that they were DVDs not CD-ROMs and I have enough DVDs, but currently no CDs.

Instead of a “sorry sir, please let me exchange those for you, and please accept my apologies for inconveniencing you”, I got a tirade of unnecessarily brusque abuse, and it was made clear that not only was it not the shopkeepers fault for supplying the wrong goods, (despite being correctly requested), but it had to be my fault as the customer, for allowing, myself to be fobbed off with the wrong goods. Did I not understand what an imbecile I had been?

Although eventually I got the required CDs, they were not the printable types I actually wanted, and of course the experience has entirely put me off dealing with these jokers again. Supporting your local business has always been one of my mantras, but not if it means I have to take bad tempered abuse. A shopping experience like this really is enough to send people to shopping malls (perish the thought).

Those small companies and one-man businesses need to remember that customers are there to be cherished and nourished. Customers are difficult to acquire, and oh to easy to lose.

***

On Saturday, I was fortunate enough to attend the National Union of Journalists Job Summit in London. The main speaker was one Nick Davies, author of the book ‘Flat earth News’, which caused a sensation amongst journalists as it stated quite clearly, what many of us have known for some time, that regional Journalism is on its deathbed, and that National journalism is on its knees. The unfortunate state of the industry being brought about by greed, and the business practise of using newspapers and other publications as cash cows.

Nick Davies pic by Pete Jenkins

For years Publishers have been maintaining profit margins for the benefit of shareholders by cutting back on journalists, and the rates paid to their staff and freelance contributors. There are examples of regional Newspapers paying £85.00 for a freelance shift in 1994, and paying the same in 2009, in many case actually less. Expenses freely paid in the early nineties are now argued over penny by penny, and in most cases mileage rates remain much the same, even though the price of petrol and running a car have rocketed in the fifteen years since.

Every year there seem to be fewer staff journalists, and the fees paid to freelances appear static, and more is expected for less. Photographers frequently have publishers trying it on; demanding all rights for no extra pay, publishing on the web as well as print editions, and expecting to use freelance content for free, telling creators that they must give up the right to be credited. At the same time as this there are Publishers syndicating freelance work and taking all the revenue from these sales themselves.

Whilst these practises are going on the Publishers are declaring good profits, but the quality of the publications is in many cases declining. Journalists and suppliers are put under greater pressure.

For photographers, the regional press is dead and there is little point in trying to work in that arena, those that do will increasingly become frustrated, find themselves sunder greater and greater stress, and soon without work. Even the nationals do not hold forth a long-term future for professionals, and increasingly newspaper work will become less and less attractive to full time visual creators as they are forced to look for more reasonable outlets for their work.

© 2009 Pete Jenkins