Photography in the Age of the Internet

I’m thrilled that Jay Colton, former Special Projects Photo Editor of TIME Magazine and Photo Editor of TIME.com, accepted our invitation to write a piece especially for The F STOP blog about the future of photography and how photographers can weather the storm. Thank you Gabriela Herman for getting in touch with Jay for this piece.

By Jay Colton

Ok let’s face it the paradigm has shifted and we are in a new reality. The way we gather and process information is not only changing it has changed. The first half of the 20th century was the age of magazines and radio, the middle of the century (and arguably continuing today) is the age of television. In the short few 15 or so years the Internet has changed everything, even the way we view television. As photographers almost everyone uses digital cameras (something that even 10 years ago was unthinkable) and the way we process visual information has changed. The pixel is the paradigm and the processor governs the way we produce images. The twenty first Century is the age of the Internet; though even saying it seems hackneyed and trite now, because everyone recognizes it. The amazing thing, however, is no one (very few really) have really understood how to make it work commercially. Newspapers, because they cannot adapt, have been dying like dinosaurs in the cometary aftermath. Magazines struggle to stay afloat, and the habits of the world are changing. No one reads anymore; they browse and the real estate photography counted on for impact is reduced to a 640×480 box. So what is happening to photography? We need to understand the context, the environment that is shaping the evolution of photography to gain insight into the question.

The half-life of news -yesterdays cold potatoes.

News is, and has always been a commodity. Financial news still has, an outside the internet box, value as except for real time quotes, it’s inside baseball and strategy. But for the rest of the news the paradigm has certainly shifted. It shifted from the age of magazines to television and now on every phone, you can get the latest updates on everything from Iraq to American Idol. The news is now “pushed” and tailored to each customer’s wants and needs. But more on the failure of Newspapers and magazines to adapt to the new landscape later. Right now I want to talk to the king and as every businessman knows the customer is king. Ah yes the almighty customer.

If they get the milk free, why would they buy the cow?

We must remember to know our market, since nobody really reads the news anymore (and since they can get it free from so many sources) what do you have to offer? The newspaper as we know it is disappearing like the dodo (more on what might still happen in that marketplace later, and how they missed the opportunity/dropped the ball).  We are what we eat, and primarily we are a fast food nation (sure there are gourmet goods on demand and some part of the net services them too).  Everything has quickened. The pace has accelerated for everything we consume.  In the new reality, ads don’t offer the critical support they used to; this is due primarily to the fact that advertising, too, is going through a catharsis. Ads, although flirting with the web, have not fully comprehended the way to channel its power. Smart ads and track-able (meaning ads that lead directly to purchase) ads are still in their infancy, and the industry is enthralled with viral marketing and the idea that trendsetters (a few special people) govern the fashions of the times. Personally I think both of the latter two ideas have salient points but are over weighted in the understanding of the market. Getting back to the point, however, if advertising is sorting itself out, where is the revenue stream? Sure the few stars of our art and commerce will still make a good living but for the rest of us; we will need to think differently. It is here I would like to introduce some new fundamentals at work in the marketplace. (click link below to continue reading)

The outside of the box is bigger than the inside

The reality is we are in a global economy and the fundamental agent of communication in the world is the web; where distance is just another number. It is necessary to extend our reach and sell directly to the consumer but first we have to answer WHAT is it we are selling. In photography we are selling goods and services just like any other business, and like any other business we need to create new and desirable products for our times. Remember the cell phone, hi def digital TV, and the Internet have created a host of new products geared specifically for that. The products that the new digital age has ushered in, have created opportunities to sell our images, and ourselves, in many new ways. I wont go into them all but will give you a few examples with the caveat that IF you think creatively there are many more that have not even begun to be thought about. Digital picture frames have yielded a new way to sell photos (family, pets, relatives, loved ones, homes, vacations etc.), as well as services (scanning and restoring photos of grandma and grandpa for instance, or editing and scanning scrapbooks, wedding photos. graduation pix, etc). E-mail has created a new arena to sell e-postcard images (especially humorous ones if you make them laugh the money falls out of their pockets the saying goes). Every wedding or family event has become ubiquitous and rife with photos but most of them still are pretty bad. You can sell lessons via podcasts, CDs, PDFs of how to take better wedding, portrait, family, group, travel photos etc. You can also offer your services. Like any normal business keep a database of your customers if they like your work they will probably buy again, and if you are smart, you can begin to develop a relationship where you can sell, and tailor your goods and services to their needs. For example you shot their engagement announcement. Keep in touch -you may do their wedding, their baby’s birth announcement, Christmas card, even when the baby graduates etc. You get the idea. Granted this is a specific example but it holds true in art photography and photojournalism too. You get references from your clients and develop a relationship with them if you want more work.  There are specific marketing and business practices that the Internet has not changed. The same strategies are applicable slightly modified on a different playing field. Finally getting back to the global marketplace, I want to add a caveat that seems to turn everything on its head.

All Politics is Local  (so is your business)

Let’s go back to the example of a wedding photographer (you can similarly extrapolate other models)
Remembering the maxim to think outside the box, if we examine the supply chain, (all those vendors involved in a wedding; from the bakers of the cake, to the caterers for the food, to the wedding planners, printers for the invitation, wedding gowns and maids of honor anyone?) they are all possible  customers. Do they need photography? a website? Is there a way to develop a revenue referral system? As I said, we all need to keep in mind that we no longer can think the same way about photography, but that does not mean we cannot apply tried and true business strategies for expanding our business, as well as thinking creatively about new ways – phone apps anyone?

The Missing Link The Supply Chain

Now back to missed opportunity by newspapers and also things you as the photographer can do. Newspapers forgot their mission. In the fledgling days of newspapers  (I am talking about the Tombstone Gazette days) newspapers serviced the local populace, and their news and ads serviced the neighborhood. As cities expanded and the world took its first steps into global consciousness this was lost, piece by piece. First the national brands, finally Craigslist driving a stake into the last lucrative cling hold of the newspaper – the classifieds. What they failed to do was adapt without abandoning their roots. In the infancy of the internet, they should have been developing local web sites for their advertisers and consumers. They could have cultivated a community mall of virtual consumers paying revenue for directed purchases, interweaving everything from restaurants and day care, to dry cleaning and maid service, with their website as the locus. The heart of the neighborhood. This would work in small towns and big cities. The point is all along the watchtower (I mean supply chain) your customers lie waiting. True for newspapers and true too for all photographers. How many big name photographers get paid or get free equipment from their suppliers?  Even if you are only the local wedding photographer the supply chain is rife with potential customers. In addition each of them can share in a referral revenue share. Let’s make a deal I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.  Certainly most of them have poor photography and that is what you provide photography-
You can say, “You are not doing your product justice – I can make it look nicer than that. Let’s make more money together”.

Diversity: There are more way to skin a cat

The New HD world, the growth of hi-res video creates a market for content not available before. There are multimedia products like slideshows. Photo-essays, and even video photographic hybrids designed specifically for HD displays. Everybody has or is getting a wide screen HD digital TV. Now that’s a marketplace. In addition, the Internet and e-mail has also created a marketplace. Photographers can sell postcards, screensavers, podcasts (especially tutorials or an analysis of an amazing photograph or even their philosophy or strategy). Think of a compelling subject with a catchy title (How I shot the president) or an exclusive look at a phenomenon – Behind the scenes at a Star Trek convention) There are a lot of stories and photographs that would make great television; even if they are only stills (though any additional assets and a craftsmanship will help/ think audio –video- graphics.) Travel too holds a wealth of possibilities, if you remember to keep your consumer in mind, from breathtaking beautiful photography to a resource rich guide; you can ask Where do you want to go today? And have the answer purely as a virtual photographic experience or as a guide. You can even make the experience real and actually take them there (Remember the supply chain/ Nat Geo and others already do this and make good money doing so). Learn how to commoditize many different aspects of yourself and the things that make your experience unique and make them all viable and for purchase. If people have ever asked you – how did you do that?  That is a tutorial you can sell. The fundamental thing is to sell something people want and you can provide. Create a market for yourself.  Remember the old joke “Got a picture of your wife nude? Wanna buy one? “

Micropayments; Chess squares and ring tones

Many years ago in India a bored king asked a wise mathematician to develop a game that would hold his interest. The creative inventor created the game of Chess and it so delighted the king that he asked what payment he would like. The king brought in ten bags of gold coins, concubines, and the keys to a small palace. May I offer you these for the wonderful game? The mathematician, too clever for his own good, said  “No dear King I only ask for a few grains of rice, on the first square please one grain, on the second two, and on the third four, the fifth sixteen, and so on. The king agreed, but the mathematician smiled and slunk away. After much calculation it was discovered that to fulfill this request would need more rice than the entire world produced in ten years. The king beheaded the too clever mathematician for his arrogance. The lesson though is in the numbers.  Micro-payments in a global economy can be extremely lucrative think Phone Apps and ring tones.

Mohamed Yunus created a system of micro-loans that empowered a population of women who had been excluded from the marketplace. Recently Walter Isaacson – one of the great Managing Editors in Time magazine’s history suggested in an article that concerned the death of Newspapers, that micro-payment might provide a valuable asset that along with other strategies may save newspapers. Micro-payments exist in a global marketplace so you have billions of customers not just the hundreds in your local town. If you carefully tailor the information so it becomes desirable all over the world you can make a substantial sum.

People may not pay $5 for a magazine like TIME  -but for one section they may pay 25 cents or a dime for a particular author (say Joe Klein at TIME). If they can choose and select from what they like, the magazine too, can tailor itself to be viable in the marketplace, and the micro-payment will allow them entry to browse the rest the rest of the magazine and web site (through a précis or synopsis of each article, with the ability to purchase it for a one time fee say a quarter and subscribe for a dime a week). That seems to make sense to me and it would to a lot of people as well. One day Kindle and the Sony reader will be able to display color photos and that can be a choice too. But this brings us to the crucial and fundamental question -What are you selling?

How much is that doggy in the window?
In a real way you are selling yourself. Your services and your products are reflections of who you are. The hardest thing to do is to establish a value for yourself. Don’t worry about that, the market will do that for you. The more important thing is to create a manifold and compelling vehicle to sell yourself – one that will be effective in the virtual marketplace. Be creative, and remember the caveat -taste it, test it, sell it only if you would buy it. Be objective; ask your closest friends, but remember to ask strangers for a real objective viewpoint of your products. Finally as Polonius said to Laertes “And this above all to thine own self be true.” You should not compromise whom you really are in order to sell; it should be at the core of what you sell, as it is the thing that makes you different from everyone else. No one in the world has had your exact experience. Your personal perspective is unique, you think differently
so be different, be the one of a kind, and have the products, services, and the vehicle you sell them in, reflect that. When you develop your strategy remember the old baseball adage “Hit ‘em where they aint”. Working on a crowded field underlines the importance of separating yourself from the rest of the field, offering something few if any can. In being true to yourself, and being honest with yourself you should also remember the biblical saying “Render unto Caesar what is Caesars” which is a way of saying; don’t confuse art and business and remain true to each but in their own way.

Marketing the return of P.T. Barnum

Yes there’s a sucker born every minute but you have 10 seconds to capture your audience. If you don’t have ‘em hooked in the first 10 seconds they will click away. Where is everybody going and why am I not with them? Probably somewhere that has better bait. If your site takes too long to load or to find what they are looking for they will just move on and I don’t mean .org. You must remember everybody is impatient. No one has the time to watch the paint dry especially when there is no paint. So, if you have ‘em hooked, and they can find what they are looking for faster than a speeding bullet, and your site is more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall building in a single mouse click then you are ready to move on to marketing.

Today you don’t have to hire a powerful marketing firm to get your product out there, but you do have to understand the new tools and the new environment. You have, at your disposal, the very tools that are giving the advertising agencies fits. You got connections because you are connected! Examine all the people you may know. How many friends on facebook? Too many tweets? Too many groups on flickr? No such thing- they are your primary communications network and you can reach millions of people with their help. Publicity, publicity, publicity- it’s who you know and I bet you know more people now than you ever did before because of the tools that exist. (tools like twitter, myspace, facebook, flickr, email, instant messaging buddies, Friendster, etc.) Remember the friend on each of them have friends of friends etc.  Social Networking allows you to reach hundreds and thousands of people who think like you, like the same things you do, and buy the stuff you like: including you and your goods and services. And each of them knows how many people!!?  As the saying goes…and so on, and so on…you have an ability to reach farther than your grasp. So what you need to do is to get their attention and make them love what you are offering. Make it an event, make it spectacular, make them talk about it; send their friends a link to your web site. So just how do you do that?

“When you got ‘em by the balls they will follow you anywhere” -Richard M. Nixon

There are some tips in storytelling, and that is what you do as photographers (you just use images not words). First
make sure the cover to your ”book “ is compelling and makes people want to peruse your site. Sure, you can’t tell a book by its cover but a lot of people wont turn the page unless they like the cover. It’s like a newsstand with a hundred other covers (except in the web there are hundreds of millions) and you have to get their attention. Remember you will never have a second chance to make a first impression. Know your market and yourself, and know what you are selling. A few strategies that are tried and true – make it compelling, engender caring, make em laugh, make ‘em cry then you can pass the hat. Make them think, make them care then you can pass the hat. Make them want to own it, share it, show it off and be a part of it. Make them feel good and have the desire to possess it, and by sharing it make them own it too. Create your own tribe, your own private club of cognoscenti and make the message interesting. So to paraphrase Nixon when you got ‘em by their hearts and minds they will listen.

Wow so I got to the end of my spiel and I really just touched on multi media – Brian Storm would be mad at me. Honestly though, I have to say you need to know yourself and do what is right for you. In my opinion multimedia is already changing the way we perceive news and photography. I personally have drunk the kool aid and advocate the use of video, sound, 3D, interactivity, blogging, and social networking input on all photography.  but I also think this is a personal choice and still see the merit of gum bichromate and daguerreotype. New technologies do not cancel old ones they merely provide a choice.  It is not Either/Or as Kierkegaard proposed; it is not a choice between ethical and aesthetic: you can have both. So if you, like me, believe in the future of multimedia the world is changing with you. Yet if you like me believe in the beauty of a silver print the world still has places for you. That is the mystery and wonder of the Internet – as weird as you think you are (and believe me there are some pretty weird people out there) there are other kindred spirits in the world in the world that think just like you. Just be sincere and use your maximum effort to hone your personal vision. Find a way to reach your audience in the way you feel is most effective and is best for you.

BEING THERE: the sequel

The old maxim in photojournalism was f8 and be there. Now being there is all the difference, and people with cell phone and digital cameras are almost always there. The evolution of citizen journalism has changed the playing field. Its impact from the cell phone pix of the London subway bombs, to the Macacca videotapes, or Michael Richards’s outburst, has permanently altered the environment. When stuff happens someone will have a camera or videotape or merely a cell phone that has both. So it will become almost impossible for photographers to compete in this scenario for spot news. The ubiquitous camera has been a perfect storm in our business (why do you think so many have become paparazzi where the pay is better, the technology, via long lenses and high ASA, helps and, you live by your cojones).

Finally, however, I want to recount what we did at TIME magazine during Katrina. The first week, when all hell was breaking loose we made a deal with The Dallas Morning News (with their helicopters and whole staff in the field) and also recouped from whatever good photographers were on the scene; we got good coverage and we spent a fortune! The second week we sent in Thomas Dvorzak of Magnum who won awards for his creative coverage. The first week we were hamstrung by events; you take whatever you can from who ever is there. The second week when you have the chance you select the talent you want; you choose! You want someone who will see what others don’t; a unique vision and a perspective that allows you to stand apart from your competitors. I wanted to close with that anecdote because we are living in the Internet hurricane and it has tossed the world we used to know into a dynamic chaos. When you are in the middle of it you take what you can from what is there; but you must think on your feet, and plan for the future, because after the storms is over the creative ones will win.