OutreachEP - Photographers Mentoring Photographers
Photographers Mentoring PhotographersAs the editorial marketplace becomes increasingly consolidated, editorial freelancers in all disciplines are facing tremendous pressure from many publishers. The terms under which photographers are being asked to work by most publications will soon lead to the demise of freelance editorial photography as a viable career. With freelancers unable to prosper, their content will soon no longer be available to the thousands of magazines and newspapers who rely on us as a cheaper, more flexible alternative to staff photographers. We believe that these publishers' current policies are shortsighted and will soon do permanent damage to the businesses of both the photographers and the publishers. As the educational arm of Editorial Photographers, OutreachEP was created in an effort to reach out to our photographer and illustrator colleagues and inform them of these pressures and their eventual consequences before it's too late.
At OutreachEP, our goal is to educate working freelance photographers about business issues and in the process to raise the level of business practices in the profession. We are advocating contracts from publishers that provide win/win working relationships for both freelancers and publishers and that therefore guarantee the viability, and profitability, of both. We are urging photographers to understand the consequences, and question the wisdom, of working for terms that do not benefit both parties. We currently have a brief, targeted educational seminar covering the basics of overhead, profit, licensing, and copyright being used by nearly 50 trained volunteer Presenters across the country, but we need even more exposure.
Beginning on January 1, 2002, OutreachEP is mounting a coordinated year-long campaign to educate working photographers, photo students, assistants, and serious amateurs as to the issues before us. Our slogan is "Photographers Mentoring Photographers" and our goal by December 31, 2002 is to have presented this information to 6000 shooters at all career levels. To reach this goal, we are partnering with as many of the photographer organizations as possible, as we feel it is the message that is most important here, not the messenger. It is on behalf of all independent photographers, illustrators, and students that we are attempting to stem this tide. In an effort to reach our goal, we have a plan in place that includes speaking in photo and art school classrooms, at targeted seminars, and at hosted public events around the country. For more information on an event near you, or if you would like to schedule an event for your professional or amateur photography group, your class, or your school, please contact us.
And please, if you are a working photographer or photo student, plan to attend one of our events in the coming year -- our collective professional future may depend on it.