Photography in 2008: A glance at the business, the technology and the images
Many people will likely remember 2008 for the economic battering it doled out to the world. The world of photography is no different: It was a tough year financially for both photography companies and for the photographers laid off from newsrooms around the country as newspaper revenue spiraled downward. The year will also be remembered, however, for some significant technological breakthroughs, namely the sudden appearance of HD video recording in two accessibly priced DSLRs.
Here’s a look at some of the technological and business happenings of 2008, as well as links to year in review galleries posted by major publications.
Technology Developments
The Canon 5D Mark II
This highly anticipated camera also incorporated movie mode, and excitement about the stunning images it can nab with its 21.1 megapixel sensor were dwarfed by the frenzy over the high-quality video, particularly after the release of Vincent Laforet’s “Reveire.”
It’s a short film without a ton of meaning to it, but it was significant because it looked as though it were shot with a camera worth untold thousands more than the $2,700 5D Mark II.
Read more about the Canon 5D Mark II here.
The Nikon D90
A barrage of rumors preceded the announcement of this breakthrough camera–the first DSLR to incorporate movie mode. The announcement was significant for the industry because it gave prosumer shooters the ability to record video using a system of interchangeable lenses. Previously, cameras that could pull that off were priced well beyond the reach of the hobbiest filmmaker.
The camera captivated the interest of the general public: David Pogue’s story about The D90 remained in The New York Times “Most Emailed” section for at least a week.
Continue reading about the Nikon D90 here.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds system camera–the Lumix DMC-G1–became the first digital camera with an interchangeable lens system that’s not a DSLR.
Continue reading about the Lumix DMC-G1 here.
The Leica S2
Leica’s S2 announcement constituted the release of another new breed of camera: Though about the size of a standard DSLR, the S2’s 37.5-megapixel sensor is nearly the size used in medium format cameras. Additionally, it’s fully weather sealed.
Read more about the Leica S2 here.
The Olympus Stylus SW/“Tough” series
Olympus introduced this year a series of compact cameras with a newfound level of toughness: The cameras can be dropped, kicked and sat on, and in addition to being waterproof up to six feet, most are also freezeproof.
The Olympus Stylus SW 1050 even incorporates “tap control,” allowing you to control the camera’s settings without using your fingertips–perfect for skiing and other cold-weather situations in which you don’t want to keep taking your gloves off.
Read more about the Stylus SW 1050 here.
The Sigma DP1
Though it’s a compact camera without a zoom lens, the Sigma DP1 (soon to be succeeded by the DP2) is significant for one reason: It packs a big sensor. The DP1 uses the 14-megapixel Foveon X3 sensor used in the company’s SD14 DSLR. While the camera’s other features aren’t shockingly better than other high-end point-and-shoots, that Sigma was able to cram it into such a small body marks an engineering accomplishment that could pave the way to other future developments.
Read more about the Sigma DP1 here.
The Red DSMC System
Red Digital Cinema announced the release of the Digital Stills and Motion Camera system, a modular system that allows you to build–and subsequently upgrade–your camera piece by piece. The DSMC system includes mind-boggling new sensors, including one that is 186 x 56 mm with 28,000 pixels, capable of snapping a 261-megapixel still image.
The centerpieces of the new system are two lines (and a total of five sizes) of sensor and electronics modules that Red terms the “brains” of the camera. From there, you can add on I/O modules, batteries, recording modules, monitoring modules, additional lens mounts and more.
Read more about Red’s new camera here.
Photography Business Stories
Newspapers Entered a Downward Spiral
This isn’t specific to photography, but it sure affected a whole lot of photographers: Newspapers had what most people agree was their worst year in decades. Newsroom jobs, including photographer positions, were hemorrhaged across the country.
Gannet released thousands of people. The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy Dec. 8 even after laying off hundreds of people at its flagship newspapers. The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun announced they would begin sharing content. The Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News announced they would cut jobs, reduce home delivery to just three days a week and focus their resources on the online delivery of their content. The Star-Ledger in New Jersey cut more than 150 staff positions, and then doubled the size of its internship program. Entire photography staffs at other papers were told they’d have to reapply for their jobs.
Many newspapers just flat went out of business.
Click here to read The Economist’s take on newspapers’ decline in 2008.
a21, SuperStock File for Bankruptcy
A year after announcing they were exploring “strategic alternatives,” the media company a21 and subsidiary SuperStock–which marketed itself as a higher-end stock photography outlet–announced they would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
SuperStock’s fee for licensing an image for one week of editorial use on a Web site could be $170.
Check out the full story on SuperStock’s bankruptcy here.
Digital Railroad Shuts Down
Photo management and microstock agency Digital Railroad fell into a precipitous decline, announcing staffing cuts on Oct. 15 and taking its site offline just weeks later, sending even its most prominent customers scrambling to keep their photo archives alive.
DRR had received $15 million in venture capital funding. They hosted images for folks like NCAA Photo and the National Press Photographers Association.
Nonetheless, they sank, and they sank quickly.
Check out our coverage on Digital Railroad’s collapse here.
Photoshelter Collection Shuts Down
PhotoShelter announced that it would close down the PhotoShelter Collection, its stock service that the budding company had hoped would make revolutionary steps in the microstock photography sales industry, after just a year in business.
“We knew that sales would be challenging, but we honestly underestimated the complexity of sale,” CEO Allen Murabayashi’s stated. “Licensing photography isn’t like selling a widget on eBay. It’s intellectual property fraught with clearance issues.”
Read the rest of the story here.
Adobe Cuts 600 Jobs
Citing “weaker-than-expected demand” for its new CS4 suite and the global economic crisis, Adobe Systems announced it would cut some 600 jobs, reducing its global workforce of more than 7,000 by about 8 percent.
Polaroid Files for Bankruptcy
Polaroid announced that an ongoing investigation into its parent company, Petters Group Worldwide, has “compromised the financial condition” of the camera and electronics company, and so it would begin Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
The bummer for these guys is that the company is still financially solvent–it’s just that because of a fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated by the CEO of Petters Group, the FBI froze Polaroid’s assets. Polaroid, by the way, is not implicated in the scenario.
National Geographic Cancels 2009 Photography Seminar
In what came as a shock to many, the magazine long known as a bastion of some of the world’s best photography canceled its annual Photography Seminar.
News Photographer Magazine reported that the seminar was canceled due to a contract dispute with contributing photographers who threatened to boycott the event.
“There are many factors influencing this tough decision, but overall the climate is not appropriate for such a gathering this year. We sincerely apologize for an undue burden this cancellation may cause you. We hope we will once again get together to celebrate great photography in January 2010,” Director of Photography David Griffin wrote in an e-mail to those who had been invited.
Check out the NPPA story on the situation here.
Life Posts Archive of Images on Google
Life Magazine has been known for more than a century as one of the world’s premeire photography outlets. But of the countless shots the magazine’s photographers nabbed over the decades, only 3 percent were ever published. This year, Time Inc., which owns the magazine, teamed up with Google to aggregate the other 97 percent of those photos to make them available online to the general public.
The move constitutes a significant almagamation of major print media and the trend toward free online access to everything.
Check out Life’s image archive here.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Baby Photos sell for $14 million
Bradd Pitt and Angeline Jolie–the Supermarket Aisle First Family–had a set of twins together, and the question of who would be able to take the first pictures of the newborns ballooned into a pretty big deal. Eventually it was revealed that Getty Images brokered a deal giving first rights to People magazine and Hello! of London. Those rights came with a price–a price in the neighborhood of $14 million. Thankfully, all of the money went to a charity the couple operates.
The name of the photographer who took the shots was never revealed.
Check out MSNBC’s brief story here.
Jill Greenberg and the John McCain Photo Debacle
Well-known photographer Jill Greenberg ensured she’ll never work for The Atlantic Monthly again after this year’s notorious portrait assignment with John McCain–Greenberg altered photos of the presidential candidate after the session to show him with blood dripping from his mouth, among other things.
Greenberg wasn’t paid for the assignment and subsequently left her agency. She pulled the photos from her blog, but you can still see them at Gawker.com here.
Barack Obama Shirtless Photo Frenzy
A couple of photos of Barack Obama exiting a gym without his shirt on made papers around the world, which really, really confused us.
Check out our take on that unwarranted bit of Obama-mania here.
AP Temporarily Bans Military Handout Photos after Receiving Doctored Images
The Associated Press put a temporary ban in November on photos submitted by the Department of Defense after receiving digitally altered images of the Army’s first female four-star general, which they said was the second altered photo they had received. The ban was lifted after the Pentagon promised to behave.
Read more about the AP’s temporary ban here.
2008 “Best of” Photo Galleries
The year was certainly a tumultuous and at times thrilling one internationally, and newspapers and magazines have compiled what they feel are the most significant images snapped by their photojournalists internationally. Here’s a medley of those galleries.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: Best of 2008
National Geographic International Photography Contest: 2008 Winners
Time Magazine’s Pictures of the Year 2008
Los Angeles Times Photos of the Year
Chicago Tribune Photos of the Year
The New York Times Photos of the Year
The Seattle Times Photos of the Year
The Washington Post Photos of the Year
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photos of the Year
Boston Globe Photos of the Year
Miami Herald Photos of the Year
Orlando Sentinel Photos of the Year
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