Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: iPhone Available in China?


Hello.

It appears that, according to a wide variety of news sources, that China Unicom and China Mobile are set to being selling the Apple iPhone in the world's largest mobile phone market. Why has it taken so long and what will be the outcome?

It has taken so long because the revenue sharing model that Apple hammered out with it's US and European partners just wouldn't fly in China. And why would it? Reports suggest that Apple will sell some 3 million iPhones in China during the first 12 months of the launch, perhaps a revenue sharing deal was a bit too greedy. Apple, and the iPhone are popular in China. There have been a lot of fakes produced and smuggled phone's from the US and Hong Kong can be found at any computer market throughout the country.

But don't think all will be free and fare. The iPhone's sold in China will be stripped of their wireless (wifi) capabilities. My guess is that is to generate more fee's for China's massive mobile phone companies. Wouldn't it be nice just to see China adopt a product or a service as is? Instead of tinkering and making things painful and inefficient. Painful to watch some days.

ps. The image above is from a story I did with the NYT a few years back out Chinese folks getting their iPhones from the US and "unlocking" them in China. So really, the iPhone has already been in China for at least 2 years.

LINK: WSJ Story Please Click Here

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: China's Steel Town


Hello,

I wanted to write and make you aware of some recent work I've completed. I recently visited Baotou city, home to Bao Steel - China's seventh largest steel producer, for several reasons. The first reason was to look at how China was, after the Olympics, back to it's old polluting ways. Upon my visit to Baotou it was business as usual, even though they had been hurt by the financial crisis the mill was still full steam ahead with China's stimulus package focused on infrastructure local steel mills have increased production year on year. Now with Chinese steel companies bargaining hard, perhaps too hard, for iron ore prices; it might be an interesting time to actually take a look at what one of these steel mills, and the town surrounding it actually look like.

LINK: Ryan Pyle Archive

Summary:
Baotou is an excellent example of being a one-industry town, and that industry is steel. Baotou is also notorious as a big polluter mostly from the large Bao Steel factory. With Baotou sitting directly west of Beijing much of Beijing's notorious smog and haze comes from cities such as Baotou. With the economic stimulus package that was just earmarked for infrastructure and housing you can bet China's environmental goals have been put on hold for the foreseeable future, my guess is that the residents of Baotou may not mind too much; after all social stability is key.

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Monday, September 21, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Ba Ling Bridge


Hello.

I recently had the opportunity to visit a region of China that has often been overlooked during China's sprint towards modernity, and that region is the province of Guizhou. Guizhou is landlocked and mountainous, meaning it has missed out on China's industrial expansion, export manufacturing and farming innovations. The province is one of China's poorest and has been considered a lost hinterland for centuries. With that being said, the central government is now sprinkling money throughout many of China's rural backwaters in an effort to increase transportation links and re-connect this massive country; as well as help out areas of depressed growth. The Ba Ling River Bridge is one of the most visually telling examples of Beijing's efforts to "bridge the gap" between China's wealthier and poorer regions. The bridge is set to connect the capital city of Guizhou province, Guiyang, with the capital of Yunnan province, Kunming; one of the most mountainous and transport defunct regions of China as deep river gorges and mountain ranges are scattered along the route. I recently visited the bridge and was granted unprecedented access, but for only about an hour as the construction boss was on a long lunch. I even had time to climb the 40+ story suspension tower, which was a treat in high wind. Please follow the link below to view the work:

LINK: Click Here for Gallery

Summary:
The Ba Ling River Bridge, due to be completed in early 2010, is one of China's longest suspension bridges. Measuring 1.4 miles (2.25km) the project is a marvel of Chinese engineering that looks wholly out of place among rural Guizhou provinces farms and rice fields. The Ba Ling River Bridge, soaring a quarter of a mile (400m) above the Ba Ling River, is an example of large-scale infrastructure projects that are being built throughout China in an effort to modernize China's vast western hinterland.

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Friday, September 18, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Grazia Neri Closing

Hello.

I try not to post to many news-ish items on my blog, mainly because there are other sites that accomplish this task much more effectively than I do. But today when I woke up I had an email in my inbox that both shocked and saddened me, and I felt compelled to blog.

You see Grazia Neri is not just another agency in Italy. They are "the" agency in Italy. And they have been a leading light in Italian photography for 42 years and my experiences with Grazia Neri have always been great. Their sales and assignment people have always been warm and welcoming.

I have been represented by Grazia Neri, as an assignment photographer, since 2005; just shortly after Corbis scrapped its assignment photography division. At first I think I was just the only person they knew in China and wanted to fill that gap, but over time our relationship grew and we had the chance to collaborate on several exciting projects.

I want to thank all the people I've worked with at Grazia Neri, over the last few years, for their passion for photography and their professionalism. The Italian photography industry lost a key player in progressing photography, all eyes will be watching to see what attempts to step in and fill that void. A sad Friday indeed.

____________________________
Official Press Release - English
- Some financial information has been removed from this post.

After 42 years of excellence and integrity in the world of italian and international Photography and Photojournalism, Grazia Neri Agency is now compelled to enter into liquidation (voluntary winding up). The extreme editorial and advertising crisis that has started in the second half of 2008 and has exploded in 2009 has brought the Agency to a severe financial crisis. All of this in a very short time. The crisis of the italian editorial market is such as not to leave hope for a recover in short or medium time.

We have made all efforts to cut the Agency costs and in the last months and to the last moment we have looked for a suitable strategic partner but with no success.

In this situation, with a huge grief for our history, for the employees, the sales team, the international and italian photographers, agents and friends, for all the splendid human experiences of years, regretting the loss of an important cultural role, Grazia Neri Agency has decided to terminate its activities.

In the next months the Agency will continue its operations only to accomplish ongoing projects, tasks and activities which are necessary to the liquidation.

Thank you for your extraordinary work, creativity, friendship and help that have highly contributed in writing this beautiful collective story of more than forty years.


Michele Neri
Milano, September 17th 2009
____________________________

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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Annenberg Slide Show Night

Hello.

For anyone in the LA area tonight there is a Slide Show Night hosted by the Annenberg Space for Photography. Some of my Chinese Turkistan work has been included. The details are below:

LINK: Annenberg Slide Show Night

TEXT:
Slide Show Night
Following the great success of the Slide Show Night hosted by the Annenberg Space for Photography, during the L8S ANG3LES exhibit last April, the Photo Space is pleased offer an evening dedicated to the talents of international photojournalists. On September 17, 2009 the screens of the Photo Space will display a new array of exciting images which both compliment the mission of Annenberg Foundation, as well as the current exhibition.

This Slide Show night is inspired by Pictures Of Year, International (POYi), which focuses on photojournalism and documentary photography. The images gathered for this presentation have been culled from the work of 30 photographers, covering current subjects as varied as addiction, Native American socio-economic issues, International Affairs, Migrant Fishing in the Bering Sea, the fervor of Michael Jackson Fans, the cultures of Chinese Turkistan and Ethiopian Jews.

The program is a non-seated event. Complimentary food and beverage will be provided to registered guests.

Date: September 17th, 2009
This event is fully booked.
Time: 7:00-9:00pm
Location: 2000 Ave of the Stars #10
Los Angeles, CA. 90067
Free Event
Parking: $1.00 with validation in visitors parking lot
For more parking information visit this page.
Participating Photographers:

Cory Arnold
Nina Berman
Larry Brownstein
David Butow
Philippe Engelhorn
Deanne Fitzmaurice
Yves Gellie
Masaru Goto
Katja Heinemann
Ryan Heffernan
Lisa Hogben
Aaron Huey
Kenneth Jarecke
Ann Johansson
Irene Fertik
Catherine Karnow
Ed Kashi
Brenda Ann Kenneally
Rita Leister
Gary Dwight Miller
Mike O’Meally
Darcy Padilla
Ryan Pyle
Benjamin Rasmussen
Espen Rasmussen
David Rochkind
Joseph Rodriguez
Marissa Roth
Q. Sakamaki
Lourdes Segade

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Reflection on my Exhibition


Hello.

A few weeks back I had another post on the Resolve Blog. Please read below:

I recently had an exhibition on my work from Chinese Turkistan, or Xinjiang, China, in Toronto, Canada a few weeks back. And for those readers who aren’t familiar with the process of putting on a gallery show, it can be a very trying experience for any photographer, emerging or established.

The first thing that comes to mind when someone says gallery exhibitions is money. Cash, and cash flow, dominate our lives and setting aside a significant portion of money to research, produce, print, mount and frame is not an easy task by any means. But I’ve found a way, and this is my experience.

In the early days of my time in China I realized that I had a strong connection to the province of Xinjiang, the mainly Muslim region in northwest China. I had traveled there often and felt an immediate passion to tell the story of the people who lived there. But while this passion existed for sometime it didn’t translate in to actually making images there for some years later. In fact it wasn’t until I visited the region on assignment in 2005 that I was able to jump-start my motivation again. That year I visited Xinjiang 4 times, and the following years was much the same. I felt determined not to let this moment slip by, but what moment am I referring to?

The Chinese portion of the Silk Road, once known as Chinese Turkistan, is changing before our very eyes. Old mud brick homes and labyrinth-like old towns are being torn down in the name of “progress”. It’s not an easy thing to stomach, watching a culture and a way of life change month in and month out. My conviction is strong. I am dedicated to the region for the long term.

But once the images are made, what then? Well they need to be developed and then edited, which is something I can manage easily enough. Scans should be made so that you can pitch around your story ideas and perhaps introduce your work to new editors and gallery owners. And if a gallery owner bites and is interested in a show, you need to be ready to actually produce a show; but what does that actually mean?

In my case it means editing my work to a specific set of guidelines usually created by the gallery curator and myself. Then my Kodak TriX 400 negatives are picked up in Toronto and sent over to my printer who hand prints the show in a wet dark room, yes; just like back in the old days. The results, from my printer Bob Carnie, are magical. What Bob can do with a 35mm negative is remarkable and inspiring. Once the print is dried and flattened then it’s mounted, signed and framed. Seems like a simple process but choosing sizes, mounts, frames; as well as watching your costs, and collaborating with the gallery on a guest list is enough to make you want to scream out: “I just want to take pictures, and not deal with all of this other crap!”

As the emotional upheaval reaches it’s darkest hour, then comes the opening. You put on your suit, try to remember to shave, and engage with a captive audience by expressing the passion you carry for your work and your dedication to documentary photography. Because my work is from a remote land and often a misunderstood place, I try always try to give a 20-30 minute lecture prior to each show for those who are interested in coming a bit early for some background to the region and some details of my own past.

I was very touched during this most recent show when a couple, both Uygur refugee’s living in Toronto, attended and thanked me for caring and educating people about their homeland. It was an incredibly touching moment given that the couple had not been in touch with both their parents and two teenage children who are still in Urumqi, the city which experienced ethnic riots in early July.

My photography may not be for everyone, and it may not be very suitable for people to purchase and hang in their homes or offices, but it has a place in this world, it has to. The region of Xinjiang, with its rich Silk Road history and unique culture, is being drowned out by Chinese development and “progress at any cost”. The future for the region is bleak; my only hope is that I can make enough trips out there and continue this journey I’ve set myself on. I hope you enjoy viewing the images.

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Monday, September 14, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: New Digital Journalist Posting

Hello.

I just wanted to write and let you know of a new article I've written for The Digital Journalist entitled: "Social Unrest and the 60th Anniversary of the PRC". It talks a bit about some of the trial and tribulations China has been through in the last 18 months and discusses what it might be light trying to cover the 60th Anniversary celebrations in Beijing on October 1st. Article and link are posted below.

LINK: Click Here

TEXT:
Social Unrest and the 60th Anniversary of the PRC
September 2009
by Ryan Pyle

With three weeks to go until China's 60th birthday party on Oct. 1, many of us Middle Kingdom watchers are wondering if China is splitting at its seams prior to its anniversary.

Look back to last March when a group of Tibetans rose up and torched Lhasa, laying waste to shops and killing innocent Chinese migrants from eastern China. The government's response was mass jailing, closing the province to outside observers and journalists and dealing with this "splitist" problem under a veil of secrecy.

Past examples of government control: During the Olympics, big screen television in a small public square posts a message telling people that they will not show the opening ceremonies and that people should not gather in this public space, Aug. 8, 2008. Many watched on their own televisions. The Olympics had caused much fanfare since 2001 when Beijing was officially awarded the games. The city went through many transformations before it was considered ready to host the games.

Just this past July a native Uigur-led protest in Urumqi saw over a thousand protesters ransack businesses and, yet again, kill innocent Chinese migrants from eastern China. The government's response, although there were large numbers of protesters tossed into jails, was much more open. As international photojournalists rushed onto the scene authorities seemed to give them an unusually free hand to report. Will photojournalists now have an easier time working in the country? Had anything changed in the year between the protests to change the government's response? No, in fact, "change" is the wrong vocabulary altogether.
After the two massive riots in regions that cover almost one-third of China's physical territory in which majority Han Chinese migrants were killed, one might think that a change regarding race relations or minority rights would be in order for government officials in Beijing. But alas, all that seems to be on anyone's mind is "social stability" ahead of the 60th anniversary of the PRC.

While China rushes to short-term fixes – the virtual marshal law in Xinjiang and Tibet as well as blocking social networking sites – the government refuses to admit that they have a problem brewing. With a deaf ear on problems "out west," preparations for a momentous military parade, a full-length feature film (on the founding of the PRC) and Olympic-style security are full steam ahead for the Oct. 1 celebrations.

What might one expect in the run-up to the Oct. 1 anniversary? Forget about Facebook, YouTube and Twitter – they have ceased to exist. Visas for everyone, including photojournalists, will be nearly impossible to obtain in September and residents of Beijing will be subject to document checks, police registration and restrictions on movement that were synonymous with the Olympics last August. And, it won't stop there.
Xinjiang has seen a complete Internet blackout. Hotels, residences and even universities have had their access cut; mobile phone text messages have also been blocked in an effort to keep groups from organizing and causing any resemblance of social unrest. The region has been thrown back into the dark ages in order to celebrate 60 years of progress: this is just deeply ironic.

But it is important that you don't walk away from this dispatch thinking that China just has a problem with its minority peoples. In fact, problems run much deeper than that and as China turns 60 it is not taking any chances with issues like freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of information. All this will continue to mean that working freely as a journalist in China will still be difficult.

Will there be an easing of government pressure after the Oct. 1 holiday passes? Most likely, yes. But after watching Iran implode after elections this summer and, more importantly, how Iranians organized themselves online, the Chinese government is more fearful of technology now than it ever has been. The bottom line is that instead of much needed political and legal reforms, what we'll see from the Chinese government after the anniversary is more of the same that will, in turn, lead to more frustration and alienation. And so the vicious circle continues.

Ryan Pyle, an award-winning photojournalist, graduated with a degree in International Politics from the University of Toronto in 2001. He realized a lifelong dream and traveled to China on an exploratory mission. In 2002 Pyle moved to China permanently and began taking freelance assignments in 2004. The next year Pyle, based in Shanghai, became a regular contributor to The New York Times covering China. More recently he has branched out into mostly magazine work for Time, Newsweek, Outside Magazine, Sunday Times Magazine, Fortune and Der Spiegel.

To see more of Ryan Pyle's images and his blog: http://www.ryanpyle.com

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Another Group Beating

Hello.

There has been a bit of a worrying trend over the last few years of group beatings in China that have led to someone being killed, often women or students. What worries me about this particular story is that technology was avoided, security camera's, and the law was taken in to the hands of a group of store security guards.

Now, for five un-educated security guards (whom are seen as just a step above farmers on the social ladder) seem to have felt that they needed to solve this "suspected robbery" on their own. And that is scary. Even if this woman did shop-lift, which is possible, it makes no sense that punishment for that infraction is death by beating. Where are the police? Where is the law? More importantly where is the respect for the law?

Will this incident just slip in to the past or will there be a proper investigation. In China there are a confusing number of security guards and semi-police officers almost everywhere in China. This confusion comes from basically a "make work" project to keep bored men, often uneducated and from the farm, employed and somewhat happy. But they are not respected and my guess is that they accused this woman of shoplifting and she "talked down to the them" and they beat her to death.

______________________________________
Copywrite: BBC News
Click Here for Story Link
Arrests over China Wal-Mart death

Two Wal-Mart employees have been arrested in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen, in connection with the death of a customer, local police say.

Reports say Yu Xiaochun was intercepted and badly beaten by five Wal-Mart security guards who suspected her of shoplifting.

She died in hospital three days after the 30 August beating.

Wal-Mart has confirmed the incident and said it was fully co-operating with the relevant authorities.
Horrific scene

An eyewitness said she saw four or five young men beating the woman a few hundred yards away from the Wal-Mart store, and she had even gone over to tell them off. She said the scene was horrific.
The dead woman's husband told the media that he had found a shopping receipt in his wife's pocket after he got to the scene.

The victim was 37 years old and had a young son.
The police say they are doing all they can to prevent any public anger from fomenting into a so-called 'mass incident'.
______________________________________

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Monday, September 07, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Corbis is Blocked in China

Hello.

This is not exactly breaking news but it appears that Corbis, the global photographic agency, is blocked in China. Now this is a little disturbing on several fronts. First of all Corbis manage my stock archive, and they have done so for about the last 6 years. And because of that I constantly view their website to see how my editor edits the stories I submit and how many images of mine are currently being managed by Corbis; at the moment it is hovering around 1200 images.

My archive and financial well being aside, it is interesting to note that Getty Images, Magnum, VII Photo and just about every other photography agency and collective is not blocked in China. So why Corbis? And whom did they piss off?

It's a confusing game trying to understand why some sites in China are blocked and other are not, but it's a bit concerning that the company that manages my archive is blocked in the world's most populous country, a place where magazine advertising is flourishing and one of the few places in the world that is bucking the downward spiral of the publishing industry.

I don't have much else to say on the issue. I just hope the situation is cleared up at some stage in the future. Maybe China is having a dispute with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who owns Corbis. Does anyone out there have any information to share?

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Friday, September 04, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: The Death of Photojournalism

Hello.

In a bleak article posted in the New York Times a few weeks back, it appears that photojournalism as we know it is dead.....or at least in some form of cardiac arrest.

The story focuses on Gamma a French photojournalism agency that has a long and proud tradition of having photographers in the front lines of many of the world's conflict zones over the last 50 years. While Gamma has now filed for bankruptcy protection it seems that they are as much on their knees from the overall photo market - which is on a sharp decline - and the French labor laws, the latter of which seems to have induced the death blow.

We still live in a visual world and pictures are needed, but spending thousands of dollars sending photographers around the world to shoot in film is quickly becoming a distant memory. Budding photographers, like myself, have opted to base ourselves in interesting parts of the world; in an effort to attract magazines and newspapers to use skilled, and responsible, locally based photographers who have an intimate knowledge of what things are like on the ground. Thereby helping cut the costs, but maintaining the high quality, of producing a photo story. But even this is not enough.

Day rates for image makers, like myself, continue to fall and magazines continually ask me to cut back on my expenses where I can. I oblige where I can but I hope that things can turn around soon, or eventually we'll be working for US$100 per day including expenses; which doesn't exactly fund my already cheap lifestyle.

Some photographers have begun to question the business practices of the magazines and newspapers that are losing money, are they editor heavy? Have they built up a system of salaries and expenses that were funded by printed real estate adverts and personals? Now that this business has migrated online things will have to change, but freelance content producers like myself continue to get squeezed. It's true editors, and loads of full time staff, are being cut and jobs are being lost across the board, a single solution there is not. Even the New York Times, perhaps the most storied newspaper, forced a pay cut across the board and had to fire staff and close overseas bureaus.

We are in the midst of crisis and original reporting and in depth photographic work is suffering. It will be interesting to see how Gamma restructures itself and emerges from bankruptcy protection; but there could be more business failures in the coming months. Maybe my father was right, I should have gone in to banking. It's soulless, but Goldman's second quarter profits where US$3 billion. I can't believe I just said that :). New York Times story is below:
_______________________________
Link to Story: CLICK HERE
Copy Write: New York Times
August 10, 2009
Lament for a Dying Field: Photojournalism

By DAVID JOLLY
PARIS — When photojournalists and their admirers gather in southern France at the end of August for Visa pour l’Image, the annual celebration of their craft, many practitioners may well be wondering how much longer they can scrape by.

Newspapers and magazines are cutting back sharply on picture budgets or going out of business altogether, and television stations have cut back on news coverage in favor of less-costly fare. Pictures and video snapped by amateurs on cellphones are posted to Web sites minutes after events have occurred. Photographers trying to make a living from shooting the news call it a crisis.

In the latest sign of distress, the company that owns the photo agency Gamma sought protection from creditors on July 28 after a loss of €3 million, or $4.2 million, in the first half of the year as sales fell by nearly a third.

Gamma was founded in 1966 by the photographers Raymond Depardon and Gilles Caron. With Sygma, Sipa and, earlier, Magnum, it was one of the independent agencies that helped make Paris a world capital for photojournalism, attracting some of the best photographers the field has produced.

A Paris commercial court gave Gamma’s owner, Eyedea Presse, six months to reorganize itself. The company employs 56 people in its Paris headquarters, 14 of them photographers.

Olivia Riant, a spokeswoman for Eyedea, said there would “inevitably” be job cuts to make the agency viable.

“The business model is not working today,” she said. “So without some changes, it won’t work tomorrow.”

“The problem is that news photography is finished,” Ms. Riant said. “Gamma wants to go back to magazines and newsmagazines. We will stop covering daily news events to more deeply cover issues.”

Gamma’s history shows how the market has changed. The agency was acquired in 1999 by Hachette Filipacchi Médias, a unit of Lagardère S.C.A., which bundled it with others to provide photos for its magazine empire. But the business did not prosper, and it was sold in 2007 to Green Recovery, an investment fund that buys and overhauls distressed companies.

Gamma’s rivals have fared little better: Sygma was acquired by Corbis in 1999, and Sipa by Sud Communication in 2001.

Photojournalism, often said to have begun with the American Civil War photographer Mathew Brady, experienced a golden age lasting from before World War II through the 1970s. Magazines like Time, Life and Paris Match — and virtually all of the world’s major newspapers — had the budgets to put legions of shooters on the ground in competition for the best pictures.

Today, from the point of view of the news image buyer in a magazine or newspaper, it comes down to a calculation for the photo editor: At a time of shrinking advertising revenue and layoffs, can I afford to send a photographer at a cost of $250 a day or more plus expenses? If not, I may be able to illustrate the story adequately with a “live” photo from one of the newswires or with an archival photo, both options available for a fixed monthly subscription.

“This is not a new trend; it’s the continuation of an old one,” said John G. Morris, a former photo editor whose résumé includes years at The New York Times (which publishes the International Herald Tribune), Life magazine and The Washington Post. “I’m 92 years old, and I’ve survived a lot of crises in photojournalism,” he said. “I find the present situation depressing, but I’m crazy enough to be hopeful. There have never been more images out there, and we need more help in sorting out all the information.”

Eyedea Presse said its problems were compounded by a provision of French labor law that requires agencies take on photographers full-time after using a certain amount of their work, a serious competitive disadvantage when the competition overseas employs a much greater percentage of freelancers.

“We held out as long as we could, but this business model just isn’t viable anymore,” Stéphane Ledoux, the Eyedea chief executive, said after the court hearing. “They’ve killed French photojournalism by requiring the agencies to make salaried employees of the freelancers.”

French photographers acknowledge the problem, but they say agency managers exaggerate it to justify job cuts.

The major newswires — The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, along with regional powerhouses like Kyodo in Japan and Xinhua in China — dominate news photography. But the business of marketing and selling digitized pictures is led by two global companies: Getty Images, founded in 1995, and Corbis, founded in 1989 by the Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. The stock photo companies rose to prominence by buying up hundreds of image archives and making them available for sale online. While they do continue to sponsor photojournalism — Getty Images employs 130 photographers around the world — the companies are, in effect, services for managing digital property rights.

If Eyedea Presse were to be liquidated, its archives of nearly 33 million images, including those from Gamma, Rapho and Keystone, would be a valuable addition to any of the major players.

At Getty, 70 percent of revenue is generated by the sale of stock images, its chief executive, Jonathan Klein, said by telephone. With the addition of resources it calls on through a partnership with Agence France-Presse, Mr. Klein said the agency was gaining market share at the expense of the newswires.

“Photojournalism means the photographers can tell the story themselves in pictures, and there were places where they could publish those photos,” Mr. Klein said. “In the print world, many, if not most, of those places have since disappeared.”

Still, he said, there are reasons to be optimistic, because “thanks to the Web, there are now billions of pages for photographers to show their work,” he added. “That’s led to more photos being used, but at a lower price point.”

Jean-François Leroy, organizer of the Visa pour l’Image photojournalism festival, which runs in Perpignan for two weeks beginning Aug. 29, pointed to a declining emphasis in the media on serious subjects — what he called the “disease of the press” — as another problem.

“Photographers are producing plenty of great stuff, but now the media seem interested only in celebrities,” he said. When Michael Jackson died, it wasn’t part of the news, it was the news. How many photographs of his funeral did we really need?”

Mr. Leroy said he would advise budding photojournalists to think very carefully about their commitment to the calling. Twenty years ago, a photojournalist made enough money to live on, he said. “I’m not pretending you would get rich, but you were able to live decently,” he said. “That is not the case now.”

Lorenzo Virgili, a veteran photographer in Paris, said the average salary of a freelance photographer was about €1,700 a month, and that unpaid postproduction work on the computer was taking up ever more time.

Some photographers have taken to working for nongovernmental organizations, large institutions or companies to continue doing what they love, Mr. Virgili said. But that arrangement is ultimately unsatisfactory, he said, because “as a journalist you have a professional ethic, and by working for them you risk compromising your neutrality, you lose your independence.”

Ten years ago, Dirck Halstead, who spent 29 years as a White House photographer for Time magazine, wrote in Digital Journalist: “When I speak of photojournalism as being dead, I am talking only about the concept of capturing a single image on a nitrate film plane, for publication in mass media.” Visual storytelling has itself been around since the Stone Age, he noted, and “will only be enhanced” by the changes now taking place.

Revisiting that column last month, Mr. Halstead wrote that, if anything, conditions today were worse than he had predicted. To be a photojournalist today, he wrote, “You have to be crazy.”

“Those people who will do anything to come back with a story will be out there shooting for a long time,” he concluded.
_______________________________

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Outside Magazine "Toughest Shot"


Hello.

I just wanted to write and say that I'm very honored to be included in this years: Outside Magazine "Toughest Shot Issue". While I am not exactly sure that my work was as "tough" as some of the other photographers images, I am excited to be included on their list. And just so you know, Christopher Anderson almost drowned on a boat full of Hatian immigrants to get his shot, I only had to walk for a couple of days at altitude; seems I'm on the soft side of the list. :)

LINK: Click Here

Other notable photographers included are:
Paolo Marchesi | Nicky Bonne | Camille Seaman | Jason Florio | Jeff Hutchens | Ryan Pyle | John Huet | Philipp Engelhorn | Christopher LaMarca | Joshua Paul | Matthieu Paley | Mark Fisher | Chris Anderson | Antonin Kratochvil

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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Ryan Pyle Blog: Social Unrest & The 60th Anniversary of the PRC


Hello.

With four weeks to go until China’s 60th birthday party many of us Middle Kingdom watchers are wondering if China is splitting at its seams prior to its 60th anniversary party?

Looking back to last March when a group of Tibetans rose up and torched Lhasa, laying waste to shops and killing innocent Chinese migrants from eastern China. The government’s response was mass jailings, close the province to outside observers and deal with this “splitist’” problem under a veil of secrecy.

Just this past July a Uygur led protest in Urumqi saw over a thousand protesters ransack businesses and, yet again, kill innocent Chinese migrants from eastern China. The government’s response, although there were large numbers tossed in jails, was much more open as international observers rushed on to the scene authorities seemed to give them an unusually free hand to report. Had anything changed in the year between the protests to change the government’s response? No. In fact, change is the wrong vocabulary all together.

After two massive riots, in which majority Han Chinese migrants were killed, in regions that cover almost 1/3 of China’s physical territory, one might think that a change regarding race relations or minority rights would be in order for government officials in Beijing. But alas, all that seems to be on anyone’s mind is “social stability” ahead of the 60th Anniversary of the PRC.

While China rushes to short-term fixes: the virtual marshal law in Xinjiang and Tibet as well as blocking social networking sites, the government refuses to admit that they have a problem brewing. And with a deaf ear on problems “out west”, preparations are full steam ahead for a momentous military parade, a full-length feature film (on the founding of the PRC) and Olympic style security is already in full swing for the October 1st celebrations.

What might one expect in the run up to the October 1st anniversary? Forget about Facebook, Youtube and Twitter; they cease to exist. Visas will be near impossible to obtain in September and residents of Beijing will be subject to document checks, police registration and restrictions on movement that were synonymous with the Olympics last August. And it won’t stop there.

Xinjiang has seen a complete Internet blackout. Hotels, residences and even universities have had their access cut; mobile phone text messages have also been blocked in an effort to keep groups from organizing and causing any resemblance of social unrest. The region has been thrown back in to the dark ages in order to celebrate sixty years of progress; that just smacks of irony.

But it is important that you don’t walk away from this editorial thinking that China just has a problem with its minority peoples. In fact, problems run much deeper than that, and as China turns sixty it is not taking any chances with issues like freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of information. Human rights doesn’t seem to be an area of tolerance either as painfully indicated by the arrest of a human rights lawyer, Xu Zhiyong, on trumped up tax evasion charges for which he is likely to receive a seven year jail term.

Will there be an easing of government pressure after the October 1st holiday passes? Most likely yes. But after watching Iran implode after elections in summer, and more importantly how Iranians organized themselves online, the Chinese government is more fearful of technology now than it ever has been. The bottom line is that instead of much needed political and legal reforms, what we’ll see from the Chinese government after the anniversary is more of the same; which will in turn lead to more frustration and alienation. And so the vicious circle continues.

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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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