February 26, 2010 by pmelcher.

So, the big Kahouna himself, founder and CEO of the photo destroying company Getty, Mr Klein is on a visit to check on his troops in Vancouver, while they snap away at Olympic hopefuls. During his visit in Vancouver, he is snapped away by CNBC investigative team for what they call a “Power Lunch”.

While they sit down and eat nothing, the conversation immediately jumps into some of the toughest question the poor man has had to answer, like how difficult it must be to run a company that has turned private. The Klein manages to escape the potential trap by explaining that it is, O so hard to go from screaming shareholders to a lonely, but rich, sole owner. But then, in a stroke of never seen journalistic boldness, one of the journalist questions the CEO about Getty’s role in the now famous Tiger Wood image released two days before his press conference. Pap’ agencies allegedly “lost” a potential 1 million revenue because of that practically free image. Here’s what Johnathan answered:

“Over a long period of time, Getty Images has established itself as the gold standard in terms of not only the image quality, but the way we behave. As a result of that, we don’t do paparazzi images and as a result of that, we often get a called in either for a non-profit basis like we do all the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie photos entirely non-profit…We were approached and Tiger happened to know the photographer (Sam Greenwood) and has known him for a long time.”

Yes, you read it right : “we don’t do paparazzi images”. Well, let’s take a look at your website and check :

From yesterday:

Right, Getty doesn’t call that Paparazzi, they call it : Candids. Like they are just doing something quite harmless and innocent.  “me officer ? No, I am not a paparazzi, I am a candid photographer”. Do they also eat candies while taking candid pictures ?

During the same response, the Klein also notes on Getty’s such wonderful friendship with the likes of Angelina Jolie and hubby Brad Pitt. Again, let’s check on his site :

O ya. That is PR approved portrait studio in all it’s splendor, isn’t it ? I am sure Jolie is happy with that shot and the many other “candid” images of Jolie on the Getty site.

Getty, no paparazzi ? Right !! Like Corbis is making a profit. We beleive you, Mr Klein.

More of the Pulitzer prize quality interview by two top notch heavy duty CNBC reporters a this link.

While you that, I am going to take my 300 mm and find a nice bush from behind which i can hide and take beautiful Candid photography for my portfolio …

Posted in No sense, celebrity, magazine, lens, wire service, finance, corbis, news, editorial, transaction, getty | Print | 1 Comment »

January 19, 2010 by pmelcher.

So you would think that with all the problems that online publications are causing to the print magazine industry, they would fight back in some manner. The print paper world would be all gang ho in trying to secure its predominance as the primary source of news and information so that the crowds would rush to purchase copies. But no.

It’s a complete lethargy. Well, at least in the USA. Take editorial photography. As much as they care if an image has been used in a competing publication, they completely ignore anything online.  They seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that they come out sometimes with the same image that has been seen previously for more than a week on numerous websites. As if no one paid attention. However, with some URL’s drawing millions of visitors , and most, the same people they also try to attract, it should be hard to ignore.

Yet, they continue to ignore the reasons for their decline. Partly to save money ( as if it is going to help) , partly because a completely blindness to the forces that are shaping their market. If I have seen an image numerous times, for free, online, I am going to be a bit upset if I see it, again, days, weeks later, in a print publication I had to pay for. If it happens once, I could ignore it. If it happens issue after issues, I would want my money back.

No other industry has this approach to its consumer. Movies only show trailers, music have just snippets ( of  course, I am not mentioning stolen material) and you pay to hear/see the full version. If all was available online  a week before they could be purchased, it is doubtful that a lot of people would pay for them.

Magazines, in some sort of oblivious superiority,  continue to publish , week after weeks, month after months the same images already seen online more than once. Maybe they think that if they ignore it, the problem might disappear. Maybe they think that by the time they come out, readers will have forgotten what they had seen just hours ago on a website. Maybe they just think that their support is so superior than the digital, no one will notice.

The second issue with this, a bit more hidden, is that photogrpahers and photo agencies provide website with a free first right  at a lesser fee than  what a print publication would pay. In other words, website get to use the same image, much sooner than print for 10% of the price that a magazine pays to use it a week later. Does it make any sense ?

In France, for example, no magazine would ever publish an image that has been used on a website previously. None. Photo agencies or photographers do not have a problem with that since website pay so little, it is not even funny. Thus, readers can be sure that will discover new image in every issue. And with just cause, they paid for that, and other privilege. They paid to purchase a  product that do not consider them like fools. They pay for originality. They pay for what they value.

In the upcoming or ongoing debate about online pay walls, how many of the newspapers, magazines and others will take the step to guarantee original photography ? Because if it is to see another slideshow made of pictures from the trilogy (Getty, AP, Reuters ) that you can see anywhere else, I doubt people will be happy. And if they are not happy, well, they won’t pay. A pay wall will only work if people want to get in. And people will want to get in if the content inside is not something seen elsewhere for free.

The war between original content ( expensive) and  cost cutting  (cheap) is raging with  cost-cutting seemingly winning most battles these days. However, creating something for cheap that no one wants to pay for is not at all a guarantee of success. Once the CFO’s and their bosses finish destroying the very nature of what made their companies successful in a rarely seen slaughterhouse of talent, there will be only a few standing. And those will not be the ones that are the cheapest to operate but those who have found the zen like balance between originality, quality, cost and timeliness.

Photography will always be here to offer  all of this and much, much more. We know it, we are just waiting for them to understand it.

Posted in license, newspaper, celebrity, magazine, Newsweek, TIME, photojournalism, editorial, transaction, finance, wire service, france | Print | No Comments »

September 11, 2009 by pmelcher.

LEADING MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT PHOTOGRAPHER,
FRANK MICELOTTA, LAUNCHES PICTUREGROUP AND ANNOUNCES  DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MTV, BET, Comedy Central, FOX, MySpace, Columbia Records, Jive Label Group and EMI Sign On as Charter Clients of Digital Media Production Company

PictureGroup Offers Leading Entertainment Brands Complete
Photo Solutions Including Production, Distribution, Licensing, Archiving, Integrated Content Marketing & Event Management

LOS ANGELES, CA, September 10, 2009 – Leading music and entertainment photographer, Frank Micelotta, announced today the launch of PictureGroup, a unique digital media production company poised to provide top entertainment companies with an integrated solution for producing, distributing, licensing, archiving, marketing and managing their photo needs and assets.  Based on years of experience and in response to his high-profile clients’ input and feedback, Micelotta has developed a unique strategy to reduce costs, ensure a maximum return and exposure for clients’ visual content and manage entertainment brands’ photo and video assets.

PictureGroup also announced a strategic alliance with The Associated Press to license photos through the AP Images platform.  Under the arrangement, PictureGroup will distribute content through the AP Images Web site to more than 57,000 users worldwide.  At the same time, AP Images will offer premium content from PictureGroup to its online clients.  Furthermore, AP Images will be able to offer entertainment assignment services and the option of using PictureGroup photographers.

“I have recognized for some time that media companies have been grappling with the cost and complexity of producing and archiving their marketing visuals in-house and that there was a need for a full-service, very customer focused solution.  PictureGroup offers the perfect combination of cost-reduction and photo asset management, while at the same time creating a new revenue stream for the companies from the photography taken at their premiere industry events,” says Frank Micelotta, CEO and Chief Photographer.  “I am also thrilled to be partnering with the world’s largest and preeminent news organization, the Associated Press, and believe that this alliance allows PictureGroup to provide a unique offering to the entertainment industry.”

“We look forward to working with all of PictureGroup’s photographers to expand AP’s entertainment content, while furthering the evolution of AP Images into a dominant provider of commercial entertainment assignment services,” said Dan Becker, AP’s Director of Entertainment Content.

Numerous well-known companies and properties have already signed on as clients of PictureGroup including MTV, BET, Comedy Central, FOX, MySpace, Columbia Records, Jive Label Group, RCA Records and EMI.

“Frank is everything our business needs from a photographer — affable, flexible, service-oriented and relationship-driven,” said Carole Robinson, EVP, Communications, MTV Networks. “We’ve enjoyed working with Frank over the years, and we look forward to growing that relationship as many of our networks sign on for the enhanced service, capabilities and reach he’s delivering through PictureGroup.”

In addition to the A-list roster of clients, Micelotta also has incredibly strong relationships with the photo editors at all of the leading entertainment publications including People Magazine, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone, among others.

“Frank isn’t just a talented photographer. He seems to know everybody, seems to be everywhere, and seems to be one of the nicest guys in the industry. I will be watching PictureGroup with great interest,” commented Brittain Stone, US Weekly Photography Director.

Micelotta has been the man behind the lens as the official photographer for America’s preeminent music and entertainment events for more than 20 years, including the MTV Video Music Awards, the Grammy Awards, Live Aid, Nelson Mandela’s “46664:Give One minute of your life to Aids,” and Quincy Jones’ “We are the Future,” and has served as the tour photographer for Madonna, Jay-Z,  and the Rolling Stones, among others.  Micelotta has captured events, including Madonna kissing Britney at the MTV Video Music Awards, which appeared on the cover of US Weekly and became the biggest-selling issue in the magazine’s history.  He also shot behind the scenes with the Rolling Stones as they were getting ready to launch their 2005 tour.  In 1998, Micelotta co-founded ImageDirect with Kevin Fitzgerald, the first all digital entertainment agency, which revolutionized the entertainment photography business by creating a valuable digital archive that could be accessed immediately and globally.  In 2003, ImageDirect was acquired by Getty Images and Micelotta became Getty’s Director of Entertainment.  The result was an explosion of sales and distribution, transforming Getty into a leader in entertainment photography.

Micelotta will run PictureGroup with Paul Melcher, another veteran in the photo media business.  Melcher was most recently CEO of Rex USA and V.P of sales at DigitalRailroad, Inc. Prior to that he was Director of North American Operations and Sales for Hachette Filipacchi Photo Group (www.hachettephotos.com) where he doubled revenues for the U.S. market in less than a year and led integration initiatives for numerous prestigious agencies, such as Gamma, Rapho and TOP.  Melcher and Micelotta were also partners at ImageDirect where Melcher guided the development of the company’s online real-time distribution platform, streamlined workflow to enable better distribution of more images to key buyers, and managed relationships with corporate clients such as ABC, MTV, FOX, NBC, Atlantic Records, USA Today and the NFL.

Elyssia Stratton is also joining as Director of Editing and Workflow.  Elyssia Stratton is the former staff photo editor for NBC, and freelance editor for The Associated Press, USA Today and Getty Images as well as an original staff member of ImageDirect.  Elyssia’s extensive experience over 25 years has generated a high demand for her services as a photographer, photo editor, and retoucher.

PictureGroup will combine Micelotta’s existing photography business and archive with some of the most prolific and talented photographers working in the entertainment field.  Founding photographers will include:

Evan Agostini will be one of PictureGroup’s New York based photographers.  Agostini has been in the editorial photo business for 20 years, 13 as an entertainment event photographer and 7 years doing library and photo editing work at Liaison Agency, part of the Gamma-Liaison photo news network.  Agostini has been published in nearly every major magazine and newspaper around the world.

Scott Gries will be one of PictureGroup’s New York based photographers.  He specializes in advertising for publicity for television and film.  His clients have included MTV, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Pfizer, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sony, Pepsi, AOL, Virgin Records and Rolling Stone.

Los Angeles based Tammie Arroyo will be PictureGroup’s key West coast event photographer.  She has worked for Michaelson Photo Agency, Retna Ltd., Sygmy, IPOL, Ron Galella and Celebrity Photo Agency.  In 1994, she went out on her own, first as Tammie Arroyo Photography, and then in 2002 under the name American Foto Features.

One of the premiere and most experienced red carpet photographers in the world, Gregg DeGuire will be a PictureGroup photographer based in Los Angeles.  DeGuire is a 27 year veteran photographer who has shot all of the major celebrity “Hollywood” events including movie premieres, award shows and Hollywood parties.

One of New York’s best-known celebrity photographers, Marion Curtis has been in the industry for fourteen years.  He is the co-founder of StarPix Celebrity Images, whose clients include Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, HBO, and Sony.  His work can be seen daily in the NY Post, Condé Nast and Hearst magazines, People, Us, InStyle and OK, to name a few.

Based in London, MJ Kim’s professional life of photography began 1999 when he joined The Daily Telegraph to cover nation’s news stories. In 2001, he had joined news agency ‘Press Association’ and in 2004, he became a senior photographer at the world largest image group Getty Images. After three years at Getty, he started his own photography company Image Factory.  Over the last 10 years, MJ KIM has been the tour photographer for the Spice Girls and Paul McCartney, personal photographer for Victoria Beckham, and has traveled with TRH Charles and Camilla for their state visit to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India.  MJ also captured the very last official photo of Michael Jackson.

Other Contributing Photographers will include Brad Barket (New York), Todd Plitt (New York), Fernando Leon (New York), Ben Rose (Atlanta), Mark Davis (Los Angeles), Vince Bucci (Los Angeles), Amanda Edwards (Los Angeles) and Marc Deley (Boston).  Additional photographers and clients will be announced soon.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT FOR PICTUREGROUP:

Marnie Black
MB Public Relations
(917) 828-7308
marnieblack@yahoo.com

also a great interview of Frank Micelotta by John Harrington on his blog

Posted in celebrity, magazine, technology, wire service, transaction, news, editorial, getty | Print | No Comments »

July 22, 2009 by pmelcher.

When an  amateur astrologist discovers an impact on the planet Jupiter, no one screams the end of professional astrologists, so why is it that when an amateur gets an image that pros did not get, it is the end of professional photojournalism ?

The Universe is huge and not even the sum of all professionally managed telescope can monitor it entirely. The Earth is certainly not that big but it is still a big place and certainly cannot be monitored by the sum of all pro photographers. So yes, and this is no newsflash, amateurs have, and will always get pictures that pros don’t have.

So why the big deal ? Well, here and there, companies spur out, claiming loud and far, that they can help any amateur make a fortune by bypassing all the traditional photo agencies, because, after all, they are all crooks.

These “new” companies claim they are the only option for amateur to sell their news pictures. They try to position themselves as the crowd sourcing photo journalism. The thing is, if anyone has a great news image, and hands it over  to any of the top  news agencies, they will make great money and be published everywhere. Reuters, AP, Getty, Polaris, Sipa and so on will gladly accept a great news picture from anyone, as long as its relevant and truthful.

Furthermore, these new citizen journalist companies, also use traditional editorial photo agencies. Mostly because they have no client base of their own. So all they do is become brokers between the amateur photographer and the established photo agency .

Their business model is the same as microstock and well explained in the long tail theory : make money with the sum of the multitude and not the single bestseller. These “best sellers” are just “call items ” creating an initial appeal, allowing the company to widen its client base.

Green and misinformed pro-journalists seem to get really confused by all this and like a fly is attracted by bright lights,  get their little wings burned in the process. That is normal. Like a lot of other pros journalist, they got their degree in a school, not in the streets. The world they monitor is whatever appears on their company screens : If it is indexed by Google, then it must be real.

Pro and amateur photojournalism are not opposites . Its like saying there is a difference between women and men photo journalist. News does not care who took the picture, nor does the publication that wishes to use them. They are complementary, like amateur astrologists are extremely useful to the whole astrology community. Sure they will be a little annoyed that they didn’t get the picture, but that is mostly because they weren’t physically there.

So, please, lets stop getting excited every time an amateur gets an image published on the cover of the NY Times and proclaiming the end of pro photo journalism. It will happen, over and over again, like the sun rising every morning. Amateur photography brokers will continue to appear on a regular basis, playing on the general public ignorance’s of the market of photography and its real players. No big deal.

Posted in license, Search, Jupiter, magazine, technology, SIPA, google, editorial, news, transaction, wire service, photojournalism, getty | Print | No Comments »

May 20, 2009 by pmelcher.

“ITN’s shareholders have reportedly held detailed discussions to sell a majority stake in the News at Ten and Channel 4 News producer to Getty Images, the international picture agency.

Getty Images, founded by Mark Getty, grandson of J Paul Getty, and the former banker Jonathan Klein in 1995, “is an enthusiastic bidder for a majority stake in the commercial broadcaster”, according to a report by the former FT and Times media correspondent Ray Snoddy, published in the latest edition of the Royal Television Society’s monthly journal, Television. It is not clear if the talks are still ongoing.”

Read more here

Seems Getty is going all out video stock in order to escape the declining photo market.

Posted in technology, web 2.0, wire service, transaction, getty | Print | No Comments »

May 20, 2009 by pmelcher.

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 has become another example of how governments manage to  shield themselves from word opinion by blocking photographers to do their jobs. As the USA, along with other countries, continue to loose daily newspapers and reduce staff and cost, so goes the truth in information. It is slowly vanishing. Trust me, if a news outlet would offer $100,000 for any valid images coming out of Sri Lanka, there would have be hundreds of photographers. But why risk your life for $200? or less. Why bother getting arrested or wounded for your images to end up as a few frames in a bland daily wire feed ?

It is just not governments that have succeeded in hiding the truth. Corporations like Getty Images, by applying their “burned grounds” pricing policy, are they accomplices. They have rendered the job of photojournalist unsustainable for individuals. Thus, making it unrewarding to try and capture the images that make us learn.

Citizen photojournalisms, the buzz of  2008, cannot help here, as the victims cannot be observers in their own tragedy. And even if they did, they would have a hard case in getting those images out. Only a pro could have brought us back compelling images.

As McCullin writes, ” I am 74 now and I have been watching this conflict in Sri Lanka unfold with the same horror I felt 50 years ago. We cannot afford to be shielded from what people do to each other in war.”

Thanks Will !

Posted in photojournalism, newspaper, technology, wire service, finance, news, editorial, getty | Print | No Comments »

March 8, 2009 by pmelcher.

 ”We’re never going to get into the business of the long lens, hiding in the bushes, hunting people down. Our business is based around relationships with celebrities and publicists and publications. The way we shoot is we’re invited. Paparazzi business is getting more play, but that’s also a very cyclical business.” Mark Kuschner, Getty’s global VP of entertainment _In Variety Magazine, July 6, 2007_

Less than two years after making that statement, Getty is going all out Paparazzi. Through a back-door, unannounced deal, the mega million photo agency has partnered with newer “all paparazzi all the time” photo agency BuzzFoto. Here’s how it goes. Buzzfoto shoots celebrities at their worst moments, when they are unprepared and unwilling to be photographed and supllies Getty with the images to license them. In an effort to avoid being directly linked to those “dirty”  images, Getty is using its Filmagic brand, the perennial garbage brand of Mediavast.

However, the Buzzfoto images are all over the Getty site and can be found alongside photographs of events for which Getty was hired as the officials photographers. The cycle is now closed. Not only can you get images of celebrities at a party, nicely schmoozing and entertaining, but you can also get them passed out in their cars, as they attempt to get home. Publicists and celebrities will sure love that.

This has been an ongoing issue for Mediavast and Getty . As the celebrity market shifted its demand from party pictures to “candids”, the prices have followed. Red carpet images space rates are now at almost a quarter of what they were worth 4 years ago. (The irony of it all  is that Getty, along with Mediavast, is highly  responsible for this drop in price of party/red carpet images) . Paparazzi images, however, have not only gain a much wider audience, they also have been able to maintain a much higher price per image. And Getty wants a piece of that too.

But how do you combine being the official photographer for a premiere or party,  where you are hired to shoot the event and thus play along the publicists demands that all look nice, happy, and beautiful  to the needs of a marketplace that would much rather see the same group of people, drunk, sick, dirty and arrested ? Especially since you went through incredible efforts to shut out your competition from all these official events, forcing them to wait outside and thus get those unauthorized shots ?

Well, you make a deal with one of them to distribute their material. Like that, your hands remain clean while you grab a piece of the cake. Funny part is that BuzzFoto was created and is run by the same man who has already sold one agency to Getty, Online USA. Coincidence or signs of a deeper relationship ? As in, lets help this man launched his pap agency so we can later on distribute it but still pretend we have nothing to do with it ?

This distribution agreement, which has a lot of rumors flying, is a great deal for Buzzfoto. It now has a wider distribution than its main competitors, X17, Splashnews, Bauer- Griffin or INF with minimum effort and no investments. Hopefully the terms of the deals were not too bad. The question remains, will they also soon see images sold for less than a dollar to those mysterious “premium subscribers” ? Will it too join the ranks of disgruntled photographers and agencies who are currently suing the mega whale for breach of contract ?

Posted in magazine, Pacific coast news, celebrity, wire service, editorial, getty | Print | No Comments »

February 27, 2009 by pmelcher.

I know it has been said here that the World Press Awards 2009 was a nice selection, albeit maybe too much linked to the most important events of the year. Who is to say that a lesser known event might have had stronger images ? Regardless, ever since the results, new information has been brought to my attention that I would like to share.

<Disclaimer>  I am a big Obama fan and a huge admirer of Callie Shell’s work. This has nothing to do with either politics nor quality of work < End of Disclaimer>

This image of Obama, taken by photographer extraordinaire Callie Shell, was apparently a set up. Callie asked, or challenged, the then candidate Obama to do pull-ups while they were waiting backstage:

While it is  a great picture, it still bothers me highly that the photographer would have provoked the image. To me, a photojournalist should always remain a spectator and not an actor, and especially not a stage director. He/she is there to document an event, or a moment, without possibly affecting it. Of course, it is almost impossible because just having a photographer point a camera at an event will create some kind of  reaction. There has been many examples of images taken only because the participant in a news event saw the photographer and reacted accordingly. There not much anyone can do about this.

However, interacting with your subject should not be allowed, regardless of the situation. And it certainly should not be rewarded with a major journalistic award. This situation breaks my heart because I love this photograph, but just knowing that Obama did this knowing the photographer would create a sellable images just ruins it for me. Its almost like it was staged.

The second info I received was about those sports images:

Like you, I was very impressed with these images, considering the extremely brutal environment the sports photographers have while shooting the Olympics. These look like studio photographs that would have taken a lot of resources and time to set up. Amazing. Well, apparently, it so happened that these images did not travel like that when originally send to the EPA wire. Not at all. What you are seeing is heavily post production retouching of the original images. The background was much more visible and the drops almost impossible to see. That begs the questions : should participant of the World Press Award should submit their original images or should they be allowed to heavily retouch them ?

These images are still great, don’t take me wrong. It is just the ethics behind.

Finally, I don’t know what that is :

It got 3rd prize in the Portraits category. Is it because the Jury do not beleive the Chinese can’t do better photography than  imitating classics with puppet dolls? How does this series, that looks like a photography student Saturday afternoon exercise, win a prize ? its amusing, cute, indeed, but how is it photojournalism? Is it photojournalism on photojournalism ? Huh ?

The World Press should change the selection process a bit. For one thing, they should add multimedia. Now !!.

But also, I beleive they should have a 110  person jury that would judge images all year long as they come in, on some sort of sharing Facebook type site, where each one could add great pictures as they see them. This is the 3rd millennium and juries could easily use existing technology to post images as they see them. Other jury members could add their votes  and at year end, the votes would be tallied. Even the public could participate in one category. No need for mass CD or FTP submissions, for week-long exhausting viewings sessions of 10,000’s images in  dark rooms, or other antiquated selection process.. If they don’t do it , I will.

Posted in multimedia, magazine, technology, Aurora, web 2.0, photojournalism, editorial, slideshow, wire service, news | Print | 9 Comments »

February 13, 2009 by pmelcher.

No blurry Black and whites, No pictures taken with an Holga, No post dramatic moody images. The WPP 2009 is a real crop of hard core photojournalism. Indeed, there is a lot of squared shape color-enhanced images but, for some reason, they are not bothersome.

Its pure professionalism here, far, far away from the  citizen journalist snapshots and where experience is really obvious. From sports photos, always impressive in innovation and creativity, to issues the US has hardly ever mentioned, its a very balanced and informative year.

All the photographers mentioned should be proud, very proud of their work and the jury should be commended for its ability to avoid the traps of trendy pseudo psycho photojournalism. Although, it does seem that the winning image was principally chosen for the importance of the event that it represent rather then its pure photo journalistic qualities. As if the the jury had decided to reward the best images of the most importnat events of the year, rather than the best image.

Nevertheless, it;’s a great image.

We are still waiting for the multimedia award and the World Press Association to recognize it as a separate and viable entry.

see the winners here :

Posted in HOLGA, magazine, photojournalism, wire service, editorial, news | Print | No Comments »

January 22, 2009 by pmelcher.

AFP, AP and Reuters said no. Getty Images just went for it. As a new President enters the White House, a new photo policy seem to emerge. After the really bad images of him backstage watching the results of election night posted on Flickr, Obama, or his administration, has broken tradition by making the first images of him in the Oval Office a handout.

The major wire services boycotted these images saying that it has always been a tradition to let their own photographers shoot these images. Offering the same set of images taken by a White House photographer ( Peter Souza ?) is not acceptable.

While the White House, and maybe Obama himself sees this as more democratic, the journalistic world sees it as an attempt to manipulate and send out well managed propaganda images. If the Bush administration had done the same, the media would have been up in arms showing how the Republicans were trying to control the media and the message. Because Obama did it probably with the intent of being more democratic, it seems to pass.

Because these are White House images, it seems that more distribution channels ( read, photo agencies) had access to them then if had been a pool wire service photographer. In that, it is probably a good thing. However, since the image was taken by a staff photographer of the White House whose mission is to ehnace the message, there was no objectivity in the images. None of these images were taken to shown his first day at work in his new oval shaped office, but rather to make him look good.

Journalism is taken very seriously in the United States of America, and like the separation of Church and state, there is a clear separation of State and Media. One cannot control the other, regardless of the intent. Controlling what images come out of the White House is not a step forward in democracy. What would be more of a democracy move would be to let other photographic news outlet access to photograph the president’s work.

Posted in web 2.0, license, photojournalism, wire service, news, editorial, getty | Print | 6 Comments »