Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/21

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 11:36:59 -0500
From: Tina Manley <images@InfoAve.Net>
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 22:58:03 -0500

At 08:37 AM 2/19/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Luggers,
>
>please check out this URL : www.peaceprojects.org, and read the message
>below. I met with Tannen a few days ago, and the concept is very
>interesting. Who of us can help, and how?
>
>
>Tina - what do you think?
>
>Alistair Stewart
>

Hi, Alistair -

Sorry to be late answering this but it took me awhile to digest it all :-)

	I'm trying to figure out how the photographers can donate their time, pay
for their expenses, and still stay in business.  I'm all for providing
images to NGO's whose work I support under the same conditions as everyone
else at the NGO.  If everyone else volunteers their time and energy, I'm
happy to pitch in and help.  If the staff is receiving a salary, then the
photographer should, too.  I am able to donate photos to some of the NGO's
I work with because I receive a salary from the Presbyterian Church.  The
way I read the website, the only people whose expenses are paid are the
leaders of the tours.  Everyone else is expected to pay their own way,
their photographic expenses, and donate the use of the photographs.  
	I get so many phone calls from non-profit agencies saying,  "We would like
to use your photographs but we can't pay you anything."  My response to the
caller is, "Do you receive a salary?  If so, why do you expect me to work
for nothing."   If I responded to every NGO that offered to pay my expenses
but expected me to donate my time, I would be out of business in no time
and not able to help anyone.   The photographers who take these trips and
donate their photographs will be taking business away from stock and
assignment photographers who already get very marginal profits from the
editorial markets available for this kind of photography.  When those
photographers are out of business, the editorial markets will have to
depend entirely on donated photographs which may or may not be available or
of professional quality.
	If I've read the website wrong, please let me know, but for now I see this
as a threat to professional photographers.

Leically,

Tina


Tina Manley, ASMP

http://www.charweb.org/arts/open/tinamanley
http://www.photogs.com/manley/index.html
http://www.pomegranates.com/frame/manley/index.html