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.

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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
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Ryan Pyle Blog: Ami Vitale : Video Photography w/ Nikon D300S

Hello.

Over the years I've had a lot of friends, and even some clients, ask me when I was going to make the switch to video. I usually replied with a stubborn "NEVER"!

But this Recent Video shot by Ami Vitale, an accomplished stills photographer, using the new Nikon DSLR D300S has left me wondering if there can really be a future for someone like me in the video world.

Let me first say that the video is stunning. Ami is a wonderful image maker and her composition and work with the video function are lovely. The Nikon D300S seems to be very capable of producing some very high quality video, whether it is better than the 5D MII is up to someone else to judge. I've had my MII's for more than half a year now and I've never even attempted to use the video function, which leads me to wonder...

Obviously Ami is sponsored by Nikon and they put up some big money to produce this 5m22s video. Not only did Ami most likely spend a few weeks shooting in India, some of the video was staged and the content that Ami produced was masterfully edited. Without being an expert in video, I can't even begin to imagine how many hours all that content took to review, edit and sync to music; can any videographers leave comments with just a hint or how long that might take, assuming you are already a master with software like Final Cut?

The point is that it is true, highly motivated, highly skilled photographers can make great video when they have the resources behind them and people to assist; especially for the very timely editing process. But is video really the future of our industry? Are magazines printed on paper really doomed?

While I don't really know the answers to any of the questions I've posed in this blog, all I can say is that I'm happily moving in the opposite direction. I'm shooting more film than ever before and producing more Black and White fine art and I have 3 gallery shows lined up for next year already. I think there is still a lot of power and emotion in the still image; and while the masters who came before us documented much, I still think there is a place for me to carve out a unique niche for myself.

And while I stand strongly behind my personal opinion, please don't assume that I take anything away from the wonderful video that Ami shot. She produced a video that was visually stunning; a cracking effort and a clear example of what is possible with resources at hand.

LINK to Ami's Video

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

Hello,

For a moment I would like to stop and reflect back to last year at this time, spirits were high and I was running like a mad man around China on assignment for various magazines and newspapers. Which is to say that I was kept busy by other people, it was a wonderful time.

Today I am chillin' out in front of my computer in jogging pants and sipping my tea wondering where it all went wrong. So far this year I've had just a handful of assignments, and almost no corporate work to speak of. With budgets being slashed and staff employees being made redunent, the publishing industry is in a real tailspin at the moment.

Surely the situation is not helped by the fact that the advertising industry is also in a bit of a bind, huge spenders like General Motors and Nike have made significant cutbacks to their spending budgets - affecting magazine and newspapers revenues; hence the chopping of employees and reductions in the use of freelancers.

While I pray that this kind of industry gloom doesn't last too much longer, the long term prospects for magazines and newspapers still seem bleak. But without getting too far ahead of myself, how does a freelance photographer make it through a recession?

First off, I don't pretend to be in possession of an expert opinion; but a few observations I have might be of interest. While assignments may be in a bit of a lull at the moment with budget restraints, magazines and newspapers still need to publish; so my guess is they are buying a boat load of stock. In my business my stock sales have increased significantly over last year at this time, partially because I have more images but also perhaps because of these restricted budgets. A magazine can put together a feature for a couple hundred dollars worth of stock pictures, where assigning a photographer for original images might cost thousands. It's true the impact of the stock images might not be as powerful as original images but during a belt tightening time, belts need to be tightened and money needs to be saved.

So what can freelance photographs do to ride out the storm? Well, the same as most companies - use the cash you've saved up to continue doing business. I have a small savings account I keep just for freelancing assignments on my own, which I then turn around and pitch to magazines and newspapers as work I've done on spec. At the end of the day a strong picture is a strong picture is a strong picture, and whether you take that image on an assignment on street shooting on your own time - it'll still have a chance at publication. When it is all said and done we are image makers, and if too many days go by without making images then it'll negatively affect us. Now of course I don't mean just running around with your head cut off and shooting anything you see, but taking the time and organizing a well thought out story or feature on your own can be a incredibly rewarding experience; and if it has a chance at being published than that's all the better. If not then those same images can be used as entries for competitions or part of a larger portfolio of work.

Getting out and shooting is never a waste of time, sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring is. There are a billion stories out there to be told, I say keep shooting no matter what. Well that's my two cents.

If anyone has an interesting story or observation about how the economic slowdown might be affecting their business I would love to hear it, either privately or publicly in the comments of this blog. I just read recently that even some of the photographers winning major awards this year haven't had a 2009 assignment. Difficult times indeed.

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Cheers,

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