Micro ethics

Promoting the Felix Features archive in the middle of a financial crisis has been interesting. And I have learned a few things about some of our potential clients that has surprised me. I would expect price to be very important these days. But I am surprised to find it is the only criteria, even for organisations and publications who you'd expect to find in the "fair trade" side of the table. Even the Norwegian journalist union's own newspaper "Journalisten" uses microstock images, so as not to have to pay anything close to union tariffs for the material they use!

A breif introduction to microstock : Picture agencies who largely rely on selling large volumes of pictures for a very low price, sometimes as low as 1 - one - US dollar. I think it is safe to assume vast majority of contributors are white middle class western men, with time and pictures to spare. They have photography as a hobby and the digital revolution has given them the opportunity to share their work with the world. While some hope to earn some money ( and there are examples of those who make a lot of money) , most are not likely to earn more than a few dollars and a byline.

Picture buyers love it. However, it doesn't take a degree in economics to understand what this sort of pricing does to the market, and subsequently to photographers trying to make a living from photography.

One source Journalisten uses for such images is Crestock, where contributors make a whooping 25 cents (US) for an image sold to a client with subscription. That said, to get any money whatsoever the photographer has to make a minimum of 50 USD first ( or up to 200 downloads) before he or she can request any payment. So about 20 percent of money from sales go to some white guy with photography as a hobby. The remaining 80 percent ends up at Crestock (in the worlds 4th richest country). Would you believe this unfair trade project got financial support from the Norwegian government?

I am sure there are some that would argue that is is a the result of the free market, such business practices will benefit the consumer and society in general. Well, see where the free market got us...

One client complained about our price, saying an Iraqi (!) freelancer would charge less. Are you serious? Of course he would, he doesn't live in the world's most expensive country does he?
This from the editor of a magazine that regularly focuses on "social dumping" and union busting tactics in other trades.

In a financial crisis it would seem your ethics follow your wallet whereever it takes you, Mr. Editor.