Freebie F/Os II
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Great White North eh!
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Freebie F/Os II
For the myopic among us: this from the NY "Everyday Ethics: - Randy Cohen. .. .An amateur photographer, I occasionally offer my photos to. . a small professional journal. I enjoy seeing them in print. . and don't care that I'm not paid. A friend, a professional. . photographer, argues that I shouldn't provide free photos. . because I unfairly take jobs from professionals who depend. . on payment for their livelihoods. Should I ask to be paid?. . *******(poster's deletion, Boston . .. . You have the right to offer your work at any price you. . choose. You could, for example, walk a friend's dog,. . although there are professional dog walkers in the world.. . However, this question also concerns the effect of your. . actions on your friend. Were all amateurs to do as you do,. . there would be a race to the bottom, imperiling all. . professional photographers. . .. . If photographers compete on the quality of their work, a. . result will be better photographs -- happiness. If they compete. . by ruthlessly cutting their fees, a result will be impoverished. . photographers -- misery -- and, eventually, no professional. . photographers at all. . .. . Are the joys of publication sufficient to justify undermining. . your friend's ability to make a living? For me, the answer is. . no. Looked at this way, you should ask the journal to apply. . its own policies consistently and to treat you as it does other. . photographers -- that is, pay you. . .. . If the journal rejects your pictures unless it gets them for. . nothing, your self-esteem might be bruised -- a painful but. . rarely fatal injury -- but you'll discover the real value the. . journal places on your photos. That way, you can improve if. . need be and shed the sobriquets ''vanity press photographer''. . and ''treacherous ego-crazed so-called friend.'' . .. . Randy Cohen's book, ''The Good, the Bad & the Difference:. . How to Tell Right from Wrong in Everyday Situations,''. . based on this column, has just been published by. . Doubleday.
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: UK
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Doesn't matter what anybody has to say, I know, that includes me, but unfortunately there is something called "supply and demand" which these things tend to follow.. .. .Unless we are all convinced that its really bad, all start voting extreme communist and all work for next to nothing! Somehow that doesn't appeal to me either! . .Other option is to get somebody to make it illegal, changing laws, kewl, that could take a couple of years and will still never happen. . .Or get all inexperienced pilots to refuse, that won't work either. They, for some strange reason, wonna work, even if it means working for free for a few years.. .One more thing, inexperienced doesn’t make them bad. In the previous thread the words were almost used as synonyms. That is in my experience far from the truth!
Join Date: Apr 1999
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Very Constructive glider! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="rolleyes.gif" /> . .. .How about saying something useful? I think that most (apart for penny pinching employers) will agree that it is bad practise. I'm sure that even the f/o's that we are talking about, would rather take home a nice pay check. It's very easy and uncomplicated to just blame it on them. But you'll have to agree that that is not very fair. There's loads of them walking around unemployed and if you convince one guy to not take a job that he doesn't get paid for then there will be 6 in line to take his place. That will leave the first guy in that situation for the next bunch of years (unemployed) while the guys that did take the job by then are "experienced" and making money. I'm sorry but the f/o sitting at home unemployed because you told him so would be stupid and laughed at! Worse still, the guys that did take his place would now be in our shoes and agree with you and telling him that he should not take an unpaid job because it would spoil it for them! Why not try and blame the employers? They are the ones abusing the situation.
