Recently I had the good fortune of being interviewed by two top-notch photographers who have very forward-looking blogs: Ibarionex Perello, The Candid Frame; and Matt Brandon, The Digital Trekker.
The interviews took place months apart but they happened to be published days apart. This is not the first time I’ve been interviewed on a podcast, but it made me pause and think about The New World Order for photographers.
The Candid Frame #80 – Nevada Wier
Depth of Field: Nevada Wier Part I
Depth of Field: Nevada Wier Part II
(You can also find these podcasts on iTunes)
There has been a steady, gradual shift in the business of photography over the past few years, but I really see a major tectonic shift this summer.
When I started out it was all about magazines. I wanted to be published in magazines; whenever I was interviewed it was in magazines. Editors were The Great Barrier Reef that all photographers had to penetrate.
Magazines are still around but they are not the only forums for photographers, and they have less and less circulation and influence. Conversely, there is an increasing abundance of alternative venues for photo stories (with and without audio), single images, and videos. It is quite exciting, overwhelming, and much more democratic.
But, I can’t help but wonder …who will be paying for it? How will professional editorial (current event, travel, nature, etc.) photographers survive in this New World Order? And, it seems so much more work to me than writing proposals and figuring out to crack into specific magazines.
Plus there is no way to funnel the photographers who rise to the top through talent and hard work into central showcases. Magazines used to be that funnel leading to recognition known throughout out the general public, not just photographers. Now there seems to be a myriad of cells (through Twitter, Facebook, Flicker, Internet forums, etc.) providing platforms for enthusiastic photographers. This is a great boon to a wide range of photographers, but none have a wide range of followers. So it is A Wonderful New World Order for avid photographers and an increasingly stressing one for professionals. But I don’t think this is such a bad thing (ha! fooled you…no, I’m not bemoaning the situation).
I think it is time for a change. The day rate in magazines has not changed in over twenty-five years (I can’t think of any other profession where a pay rate hasn’t increased.) So pros can moan and groan, but it can be very exciting to reinvent one self. And, eventually, I think there will be a new conduit for the world at large to see the creme de la creme of photographers. And will there be will be a new God of Visual Judgment after the demise of magazine editors? (Do you think the median is the best judge of an art form? I don’t.)
I don’t have any answers; it’s exciting and thought provoking (as well as often frustrating) to be at the cusp of such a change.
As Helen Keller said, “Life is either a great adventure or nothing.”
So I watch, marvel and try to ride the surf on top of the wave! Whether I get crunched … I don’t know.
© nevada wier Myanmar. Inle Lake.
Nevada Wier Photography 
31 comments
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September 11, 2009 at 10:52 am
Rob J
There’s an aspect of the New World Order that bears some consideration. With the internet, the sheer number of people who are exposed to travel photographs has increased exponentially. Heretofore unvisited places are reaping the benefits of tourist dollars because of exposure on the internet. In some senses, it is sad to see untouched places now touched by tourism but it is also haughty and short-sighted to begrudge exotic places the economic benefits of tourism simply because we want them left in their pristine states.
As travel journalists, we have extraordinary power to bring the world to people who might otherwise never appreciate and understand its beauty and the internet increases that power. And while pay may be diminishing, altruism isn’t such a bad trait.
September 11, 2009 at 10:03 am
John Blackford
You’ve stirred up thoughtful comments, but this reminds me of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, where resourceful 10-year-old Kit tries to sell an article to the Cincinnati Register. The hard-bitten editor says “not bad” but “not good enough.” Then he adds, “Try again. We pay a penny a word.”
Kit is excited. “Wow, I could get $5 for an article.”
We’re headed in that direction!
I agree a new conduit is likely to emerge, but remember Van Gogh’s brother was an art dealer, for all the good that did him, and the Paris Salon rejected the Impressionists in 1863. So, it may be up to history to decide who is worthy…
Maybe we need a slogan: “Willing to starve for art!”
September 11, 2009 at 8:25 am
cathy scholl
p.s. I found the Chris Rainier piece posted on the wonderful Travel Photographer blog this morning.
http://thetravelphotographer.blogspot.com/index.html
September 11, 2009 at 8:14 am
cathy scholl
A very timely posting today on the RESOLVE blog.
First of all…here’s their statement of intent:
“A collaborative online community that brings together photographers and photo industry professionals of every kind to find ways to keep photography relevant, respected, and profitable.”
Listen to Chris Rainier talk about the combination of ancient tradition and new technology in New Guinea and how it’s an analogy for what we are discussing.
http://blog.livebooks.com/tag/meetings-with-remarkable-people/
p.s. let’s see if we can find a way for those who post on blogs to earn a living from it :))
September 11, 2009 at 8:04 am
Jeffrey Chapman
Magazines decided to let the finance people make the decisions, and the result is turning out to be a form of publishing suicide. It’s clear that when Time purchases a cover image for $30 that everything has changed. On the surface, it would appear that professionals are now losing out to amateurs. However, I don’t think that’s the case (or at least that it must be the case). What it has done is change the market. Amateurs and semi-pros are discovering that they can sometimes not only compete against the pros but win work away from them. Then they realize that they can’t do it consistently. So they invest in knowledge acquisition and turn to the pros for help. Some of that they get for free via social media, but increasingly they’re willing to pay (for books, workshops, etc.). Pros, as they lose a traditional market to $1 stock images, embrace this new market and spend more time teaching and publishing (increasingly self-publishing as the traditional publishing market throws itself on a sword). A photographer who can self-publish (and sell) is suddenly less interested in magazines.
I think that the magazines that survive this process will be the ones who are still turning to professionals (including the new professionals who will be those currently investing in their knowledge). I can’t see National Geographic buying microstock images for stories. The magazine that survive are going to be those who are letting the editorial teams make decisions instead of the finance people. And if they don’t, then I say let them die. We don’t need them. We never needed them. They needed us. I don’t have to sell images to make a living (but yes, it’s better than working at McDonalds), but a magazine can’t sell with only blank pages. We shouldn’t forget that. They pretend that we need them, but it’s the reverse. They’re just not smart enough to realize it yet.
September 11, 2009 at 1:54 am
Matt Oldfield
Interesting post. I have been doing a lot of reading the last few months as I am at a real crossroads. I have worked as an underwater photographer for many years, as one part of a company that focused mainly on filming. It worked very well but I made the decision to go freelance last year and have struggled ever since. I have made so little and the costs of travel/diving etc etc so big, it is not working out… On top of that I have had a complete shift in what I want to be focusing on, and recently decided to concentrate on shooting for development agencies/NGOs/charities that I care about – if I can cover my costs by doing so.
I think the way forward is not video, or to be a writer/photographer, but a combination of all three. We need to be digital media generalists, able to put together a piece using all our skills at story-telling. Mashups of video interviews, stills images, audio and writing will become the norm.
And I think sharing – of skills, knowledge, advice, locations etc – will ultimately be a good thing and quite necessary at the start of this big transition. I see communities of like-minded ‘digitalographers’ coming together to share and combine their images, footage etc, to sell as communal pieces of work.
I am working on a community at the moment – not quite as above, but a place where media professionals can offer their services to the 3rd sector for free/reduced rate. It will be free and open to all, and won’t make me any money, but it could potentially lead to paid work, partnerships with other media professionals, and I think will be a very worthwhile project – if we are suffering, just think about how charities that rely on donations are suffering at the moment?!
Anyway, a bit of a ramble. I love photography and would happily spend the rest of life wandering with a camera. But times are definitely changing, and I know I will have to do so as well in order to do what I love.
September 11, 2009 at 12:17 am
Matt Brandon
Sitting in Singapore waiting for my connecting flight and ran across this Chase Jarvis video lecture. It nails what we are talking about. In a nutshell: Create->Share-> Sustain. Check it out, well worth the time. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=56239863&id=260355719
September 10, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Craig Ferguson (@cfimages)
On the topic of e-books, I’ve recently bought a couple (David DuChemin and Mitchell Kaneshkevitch). The purchases were as much to support their efforts as they were for my inspiration. At $5-10 a pop, it’s a small way we can help our colleagues.
For me, in this new world order, I’m finding that shooting a few weddings and corporate jobs here in my expat world is often enough to finance (at least partially) the travel and music photography I do. Add some photography teaching and workshops to that plus a bit of writing and I can make a pretty good living. Also finally starting to use the video on the 5DII – it’s only taken me 9 months to get around to it 🙂
Change is good and the past year or so has probably seen more doors open for me than have closed.
September 10, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Rob J
One of the economic chickens that is coming home to roost in American magazine publishing is the strict division between writing and photography and the bloated editorial structure that such a division creates. Magazines in other countries seem light years ahead of American publishing in terms of looking for “content providers”, i.e., individuals who are both photographers and writers. Being a good writer and a good photographer are not mutually exclusive, as America editors would have us believe… to the detriment of their failing magazines’ bottom lines.
Travel photographers are storytellers and so are travel writers and the camera and the keyboard are just two tools that can be used together to create a single, cohesive story created by a single individual. Photographers who can write and writers who can photograph are what travel magazines in other countries have been using for years and hopefully American magazines will see the light before it is too late.
And needless to say, in the new world order of travel journalism on the internet, “content providers” have a greater chance of survival than those albeit very talented individuals who only write or only photograph. Sad though it may be, it is simply Darwinian economics. So, Nevada, I applaud your charge to embrace the new world order. We really have no choice but to become better travel storytellers through providing all the content…words and pictures (and maybe video)… necessary to tell the story.
September 10, 2009 at 11:03 pm
nevada wier
Rob: At least ten years ago, I remember having dinner with Dirck Halstead (The Digital Journalist) in Washington, DC. He was expounded the virtues and necessity of a complete journalist.. moving beyond still images. He was WAY ahead of his time and look at him now.. still on the vanguard. It is harder for those of us who have been in the business awhile (i.e. me — older and more than a bit set in my ways) but it is still better than working at McDonalds (even if the pay is the same)!
And, kidding aside, I got into this business for the Love of Art. Yet, artists have to cope to business and not lose the love. Therein lies the rub, matey.
nv
September 11, 2009 at 4:00 am
Paul Dymond
Hi there Rob,
I’m a travel photographer/writer down here in Australia and, with the exception of a few magazines, the vast majority of our publications rely on their contributors to both write and photograph.
I think this is really a double edged sword. Yes there might be people who can do both – but should they have to? And at what cost? I find the process of writing a travel article and photographing a travel article completely different pursuits and when trying to do both (which is a lot of the time for many of us down here) I always feel I’m compromising on quality on one aspect or the other.
The majority of travel articles in Australia get published by writers on travel famils, and these famils are often set up for writers with little or no concern about photography. So you can’t expect to be at the best places during the best light. In fact when we photographers like to be out and about you’ll usually find a dinner with tourism people organised. Or a breakfast or something other than waiting for the light.
I’ve also found that as magazines expect their writers to come back with pictures they have lowered the standards of what they will accept. I have many travel writer friends who wouldn’t consider themselves photographers by any means (and some who resent having to do it) but they still get their images published even if they’re only snapshots taken during the middle of the day with a point-and-shoot. Hardly conducive to high quality travel imagery.
And if the travel writer can’t come back with ANYTHING publishable many publications are turning to the free image libraries of state and national tourism bodies. In fact pick up any Australian travel magazine or newspaper supplement and the vast majority of images will come from those sources.
Either that or magazines will now offer a ‘package price’ which must include pictures. The trick though is that the package price is the same as it was without pictures. So now you’re expected to take the pictures and not be compensated for them either.
So while I can see your argument that financially speaking it’s good for the publishers to get as much as they can from the one person, from a quality perspective I believe it’s much better to have an individual photographer go out on assignment to come back with exciting visuals to complement the exciting text.
September 10, 2009 at 4:33 pm
nevada wier
From Louise Porter:
“I love the feeling of those photographs. I am thinking marketing is so important to photographers right now. Finding a new niche. Sending out your info to decorators and Company buyers might sound strange but it might work. I would think the Hotels in Bangkok and really so many in all of Asia would love to make a deal on your Photography. I guess one might say a catalogue of your work would be what one might market. Good grief … on and on.” Louise
Thanks Louise! nevada
September 10, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Matt Brandon
I once did a whole hotel in Kashmir. The money wasn’t much (a mom and pop outfit) but the painful part is to go back years later and see the silverfish holes all over the now faded prints. But, as Steven Pressfield might say if he were here, “Get over it. It is business. You can’t make a living on warm feelings about your work.”
September 10, 2009 at 12:53 pm
cathy scholl
Since I brought up the ebook topic here (followed by Matt who together with his friends were the ones who introduced me to ebooks) let me make one more point…
If someone has an entire book worth of information I think it would be a shame to chop it up (by chapters) into several ebooks. A book is a BOOK. To have and to hold :)) Nothing compares to a book. The tube ride of the wave.
If there are other topics you don’t want to write an entire book about…such as technical stuff/how to…or how about reprinting the highlights of your previous book which most have not seen…then by all means do an ebook. To me it seems books and ebooks are entirely different animals.
September 10, 2009 at 12:57 pm
nevada wier
Excellent post Cathy!
September 10, 2009 at 11:09 am
nevada wier
Deigh Bates emailed me this:
This seemed so appropriate to me after listening to your DOF podcast laughs – got it from a friend who is a Sufi:
Since everything is but an apparition,
Perfect in being what it is,
Having nothing to do with good or bad,
Acceptance or rejection
You might as well burst out laughing! -LONGCHENPA
September 10, 2009 at 6:53 am
Ellen Clark
In an the ongoing quest to stay afloat in this changing world of professional travel photography, I recently took a video workshop with Gail Mooney and Tom Kelly. This successful photographic team sees video as the wave of the future. While the learning curve is daunting and the startup expensive nothing to sneeze at–where is that trust fund?–it is something to consider.
September 10, 2009 at 10:44 am
nevada wier
Ellen: I think you are right. The Internet is finally starting to MOVE. And, now even an ipod has a video camera! We continue to hemorrhage time and money at an alarming pace! nv
September 10, 2009 at 12:39 am
Matt Brandon
I make a living by working two jobs. But the catch is they complement each other. I work with NGOs to help them in their “knowledge management” and that gets me to the field, on their dime, while I am there I can shoot. Lately I have been pitching the idea of doing photographic workshop for the NGO’s while I am there , but at an extra fee; my daily rate. In this way, I am teaching their staff to gain better images and it gets me to to some great places I would not normally go AND I get paid. I blogged about it a few weeks back:http://www.thedigitaltrekker.com/blog/2009/08/teaching-others-to-fish/ This is slooow going bit there does seem to be some interest. I am doing it in Feb in Iraq. The point being is the two jobs feed each other. I would much rather be shooting for a magazine like you and Bob, but right now this seems to be my lot.
By the way, the ebook idea? Don’t sneeze at it. I know people making several THOUSAND dollars off of each ebook. People will easily pay $5 for a quality ‘chapter” that is meant to help them. They won’t pay it to see just pretty picture.
September 10, 2009 at 10:47 am
nevada wier
I absolutely agree about ebooks! I am writing one now. I was just thinking “hmmm $5 a chapter and I have 10 plus chapters in my book… Wow $50 a book!). Now, I know it is not that simple, however it is a point well taken. I have always said that one has to write as well as photograph. Now more than ever.
I used to segue my guiding with photography, in fact I still do leading leading photo tours
nv
September 10, 2009 at 12:00 am
Bob Krist
Nevada: I think the secret to the New World Order might be to come to professional travel photography as a second career…after a first career as an investment banker, NBA superstar, or bailed out banker. That way, you can fund your second career, until somebody figures out to how to monetize blogs, tweets, and twitters!
It might be too late for us “first career-ers” of a certain age, though!
It’s like the old joke: “How do you make a million dollars in travel photography?”
Start off with two million!
Great post and very thought provoking! Bob
September 10, 2009 at 10:53 am
nevada wier
Bob: I have always told photography students that they should go to law school or, at least, marrying an MBA marketing expert! Now, I believe it more than ever.
The digital world has brought in a lot of retired professionals (now that there is so much stuff to play with… computers, software, etc.) The good new is that there are plenty of students for our workshops… but, wow, so many workshops and tours now.
I’m off to career counseling….I wonder how much it will cost to buy a nice wine store so I can have lots of tastings?
nv
September 9, 2009 at 11:18 pm
john lund
Nevada,
Hard to imagine that with all of your skills you won’t rise to the top!
The answer might lie, at least in part, in we photographers taking on the role of publisher. In the magazine world the greater the circulation the greater the day rate. Now circulation is called traffic…
John
September 10, 2009 at 10:55 am
nevada wier
John: Yes, we are the publisher now (yet more work) but where is the money coming from? Ads on blogs and websites? E books? Webinars? Stock sales from website (if that working for you?) nv
September 9, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Paul Dymond
If you find that rich uncle ask him if we wants to adopt an Aussie son. 🙂
You’re so right, it has always required a bit of rat cunning to make a living in travel photography. The one thing I do really think is great about all these professionals blogging and sharing knowledge though is that they can help aspiring travel photographers find their way in the business. I think a lot of the problems we find ourselves in are partly due to the ‘closed shop’ nature of the industry.
The only real way a newbie photographer could find out how to turn this into a profession in the past was through photography business books (which go out of date pretty quickly in this day and age) or through rumour and guesswork.
Now we have professionals who tell the world how it’s done, how to value your own work and keep your self-respect and I think it’s fantastic. Don’t they say a rising tide floats all boats? I remain optimistic that all this sharing of information will help us all survive in the years to come. The magazines might be almost gone but I’m sure we’ll find somebody to pay us.
If not then I have some damn fine looking paperweights. 🙂
September 10, 2009 at 11:00 am
nevada wier
I’m keeping him all for myself if I find him!
But I’m happy to share info and thoughts!
I think a lot of the problem editorial photographers find themselves in is from a long list of factors … one being that we are notoriously bad business people (commercial photographers are a different breed) and because we knew that there was always someone willing to step up with a lower price. Magazine accountants held us hostages. Now we can redefine the market, but how and for how much? This is why it is so crazy, exciting and wild on top of the wave!
nv
September 9, 2009 at 9:45 pm
cathy scholl
You go Nevada! :)) No way you will get crunched.
An additional interesting development is ebooks. I haven’t purchased one yet but at $5 to $10 a pop they look like another great way to get (and give) information. The equivalent of a single book chapter.
September 9, 2009 at 9:48 pm
nevada wier
That’s an expensive book at $5-10 a chapter! Maybe I should publish my next book chapter by chapter…
Thanks Cathy, I always love your comments. nevada
September 9, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Paul Dymond
Hi Nevada,
I guess it’s a conversation that’s happening amongst professional travel photographers (and writers) all over the world. The Australian Society of Travel Writers just had their annual AGM and a big topic of conversation was about this very issue. With the stagnant pay rates, extensive rights grabs and collapsing magazine and newspaper world where is the professional editorial travel photographer/writer going to get an income from.
Although I have my blog, Facebook and Twitter (like many of us), unless you’re leading tours, doing workshops etc I see it more as a way of giving back to other people than avenues to an income.
As you mentioned in your interview with Ibarionex we have to constantly search for other sources of income in order to give us the financial freedom to continue to shoot the travel work that feeds our souls. For those of us who’ve been doing this since before the words face and book got used in the same sentence it’s a huge learning curve.
September 9, 2009 at 9:59 pm
nevada wier
Hey Paul
I think it MUST be a world-wide conversation at the moment. I love teaching and leading tours but this is a sideline to my self-worth (as limited or as vain as it may be) as a photographer. I like to see stories, projects, books, etc. in print (on paper or screen). Plus, EVERYONE is teaching now. It is the absolute best time to be an avid photographer who could care less about making a living as one.
However it has always been a profession for the tenacious and resourceful! (a trust fund wouldn’t hurt though… where is that long lost rich Uncle of mine…).
nv
September 9, 2009 at 10:33 pm
BobM
Astute observations, Nevada. I’ve been contemplating the same issues, even though I’m not striving to earn an income from my photographs. Still, I think good photography/good images have value…and should be valued…but I don’t know how this value will be returned to the photographer.
I’m following you and a few other photographers who not only capture/create incredible images but are thoughtful observers of the economics and business side–so please keep sharing your reflections.