Recently, a lot of chatter spread over the photo-related  internet regarding a cover of TIME magazine whose image was sold for $30. It is not the first time that this magazine used a microstock image for its cover, and certainly not the last. The tea cup storm was  a bitContinue Reading

There is a lot of talk these days that photography has become a commodity. According to Wikipedia, “A commodity is something for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market. It is a product that is the same no matter who produces it, suchContinue Reading

I was looking at this video of Clay Shirky presentation to TED TV today. It’s a little long ( 17 minutes) but very informative. especially the middle part. What made me thinking is  how he portrays the development of media. If you do not have the time to look atContinue Reading

There is only one certitude in the photography business : If you don’t spend money, you will not make money. Everything else is educated guess that some confuse with a lottery game. As much as we never know for sure if an image will sell, and how many times, asContinue Reading

It seems that these days, it is getting more important to be published than getting the appropriate compensation.  More and more we hear about obscene prices being applied to licensing rights. Fueled by the idea that photography is a commodity and thus should be priced accordingly, photo agencies worldwide areContinue Reading

well, not really…but amusing. Instead of waiting for someone, somewhere, to figure out how to price newspapers online,  The Newport Daily News ( In Rhode Island, USA)  just nailed it. Newport Daily News: Charging for news online from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo. More info at the Nieman LabContinue Reading

Here are a few of the most revolting persistent aspect of the photo Industry: – Blogs that get people fired – Blogs or magazines written by people that have never ever worked in the Photo Industry yet consider themselves experts on all it’s aspects. – Photo agencies that do notContinue Reading

Web 2.0 and beyond is all about empowering the consumer. It is no longer a viable business to make a product and sell it. These days, you have to let your customers act upon it to make it more personal. Technology allows this and as we have seen with NikeContinue Reading

Like a tree that falls in the forest and no one is present to hear it fall. Did it make any noise ? The war in Sri Lanka, is it even happening ? War photographer Don McCullin reflects in the Times ( UK) how the war in Sri Lanka hasContinue Reading

Who owns the news ? The ongoing debate between news outlets ( AP, NYTimes..) and mash ups ( Google news..)  has made this question surface. Is the first one reporting the news the owner of that news ? That used to be the accepted tradition. Now with Twitter, Facebook, imContinue Reading