Getty Images Gives Me The Shaft

[Warren Faidley]

Was so excited to learn today that my agent Getty Images, is not accepting any editorial images of the Palisades Fire except from their own staff photographers in Los Angeles. All the imagery I've been posting on social media for the last few days is basically digital junk now.

Good thing my photojournalist ego faded years ago when the picture market collapsed. It's truly the end of news photography for profit unless you want to be a low-wage slob working for an outlet, and those outlets are turning to AI for illustrations and giving iPhones to their writers to take pictures instead of photographers. I'm seriously considering completely retiring as a photographer. Why spend thousands on equipment and waste so much time for nothing?

I think I'm going to burn my cameras at sunset. (Joke).

 

[Dan Robinson]

Sorry to hear, Warren. You had some excellent images of that. Have you tried contacting any of the ENG brokerages? They are mostly video-based, but have a lot of contacts in the business that they work with regularly. I rarely have newsworthy stills (only videos) but I have sold a couple through them.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Thanks Dan.

Getty is the world's largest and since they are absorbing Shutterstock soon, they will have a monopoly on world-wide stock photography. This might account for their sudden f-u attitude. I know all stock agencies are suffering from the AI virus as illustration photography is sinking quicker than whale shit.

As I've said before, I have to accept the good old days of making money from imagery is fading quickly. I'm glad I had the opportunity to enjoy it while it lasted.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Absolute fantastic story about disaster imagery and it's very short half life. I've trying to put this into words for years and this author nailed it.

A City on Fire Can’t Be Photographed

The images of a burning Los Angeles won’t last, simply because our ways of seeing are inadequate to our predicament.

www.newyorker.com

 

[Jamie H]

Thanks for sharing, Warren. It's an interesting juxtaposition that we live in such a visual age, yet have no appetite for longevity, nuance, or contemplation. It’s probably not the right kind of terminology to use, but there have been some incredible images coming out of LA, which will be forgotten and ignored when the next ‘exciting’ disaster strikes.

 

[William Monfredo]

We do get saturated & desensitized to the rampant, two-dimensional pictures & video. I recall how video night at ChaserCon diminished in attendance over time, and I thought to myself, wow...not too many people care. And viewing videos was one of the original reasons for the older gang to get together in the wintertime to get psyched up for the new storm season.
This morning I realized that other than being at a natural event or disaster personally, the next step towards something more memorable & visceral is the 3-D, Virtual Reality (VR) goggles w/ imbedded earphones. I don't know if any of you have ever tried them, regardless of brand, but when I saw a 1930s Dust Bowl production with a VR headset, I was...pardon the pun, blown away. Apple product shown here.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Here is a link to my photography from the fire.

 

[Mike Smith]

Warren, thanks for compiling and presenting.