[Klaus]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/may...aphy-staff


It was inevitable. The world has an oversupply of images as sad as it may be.

[mst]

There are a few German magazines, where I have the impression they made this step already several years ago...

 

-- Markus

[miro]

and just the next consequence is "Sun-Times reporters begin mandatory training today on "iPhone photography

basics"

 

". ;-)



 

National geographic move their activity from full professional to mixed amateur+ professional.



 

On the other side the average person cannot see the difference between amateur and professional photographer too. E.g Yahoo CEO made the following statement



 

"There's no such thing

as Flickr Pro because today, with cameras as pervasive as they are, there's no

such thing, really, as professional photographers when there's everything

that's professional photographers. Certainly there's varying levels of skills

but we didn't want to have a Flickr Pro anymore. We wanted everyone to have

professional quality photo space and sharing."



 

 



I really wonder how the professional

photographer will look like next decay.




 

[borisbg]

To make a basic picture of people or building it's not a craft anymore... Klaus is right it's been coming for awhile now. I don't know how is the rest of the world, but here in LA the local news show (and encourange) cell phone footage all the time. Before that was done for something very important for which there was no video." No minimum quallity" is required anymore.

[nandadevieast]

While everyone made a big deal out of it, Yahoo CEO wasn't wrong actually. There's no such thing as a professional photographer today when it comes to photo-journalism. It takes lots of money to dispatch photographers to the places where news is being made. While you can't expect a photo-journalist to be everywhere at the same time, you will find someone with a mobile phone having taken the very same picture where the fire broke Media is increasingly using pictures clicked by the common citizen and its not without a reason. Most professional journo's aren't expected to create any art, most aren't creating anyway...they just happen to be there where the action is. 

If you look at Flickr, its got so many super-fantastic portfolio's that a professional photographer with a big P just can't match. These people have been the product of digital age...a housewife taking pictures of her baby, someone clicking flowers, someone else documenting his town...some of these people are very very talented. 

On the other hand, not all professional photographers are rockstars. Most of them, in fact, are not. In film era, 'pro' was a vocation...it was some sort of secret art which common people couldn't figure out. But the digital age has taken the secret ingredient out and made it public. No mystery now. Every one is a potential artist. I think the change is good. We need more artists. Similar things, at a smaller scale though, will happen to the video and film making. 

If you are good, you create art. Who cares who took the picture of a news event?

[soLong]

While everyone made a big deal out of it, Yahoo CEO wasn't wrong actually. There's no such thing as a professional photographer today when it comes to photo-journalism.......If you are good, you create art. Who cares who took the picture of a news event?

 

<p style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica;">….yes, however one might hope that a news paper/news site worth reading or looking at might actually hire reporters and photographers who write creatively and photograph with an artistic eye - and might therefore be worth a read - 

<p style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica;"> 

<p style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica;">- a well known local rag down here has been in deep doggy doo financially and is attempting to do the on-line news site thing to boost sales, and yet does appear to have kept on staff their best photographers - which is a plus for me 'cause i like seeing their shots -

<p style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica;"> 

<p style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica;">….. on the other hand 'pro' photographers at events who object to the riff-raff also taking photos on their nice dslr's or camera phones and who therefore might not sell their 'pro' shots, are a pain in the arse (just a personal opinion….and i could be wrong :-)....but if such a protog is looking away when the best shots are happening…..) 

[Klaus]

I reckon you pointed to the problem - money.

The business isn't quite the same as it was 1-2 decades ago.

Truth is that most news are just filtered articles from Reuters and the likes.

Quality journalism is a rare find these days. Which is not a good thing.