Dan Gillmor says professional photojournalism is on decline.
I think he’s missing the forest for the tree that’s getting cut down.
I know a photographer who is making $2,000 per month from advertising on his blog. That “job” didn’t exist a year ago.
I look at Flickr and see that tons of photojournalism is being done — and being done better than most of the “pros” I used to know did it. Some of those “Flickr-fabulous” photographers are building sizeable brands and are going to soon be sponsorable properties all by themselves. My Photowalking series is the most talked about videos on the ScobleShow.
I heard last week that Canon and Nikon are reporting that digital SLR sales are higher than they were expecting.
Speaking of all this. We’re going to have an open Photowalking. December 27th. 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. At Sacramento’s Train Museum.
I’m getting Seagate to give us some prizes and goodies (more on that later) and we’ll have a lot of fun. Thomas Hawk will be there. We’re inviting a few other “Flickr-fabulous” photographers too.
Why do this? Cause neither Thomas nor Heather Champ (one of the co-founders of JPG magazine) had ever been to the train museum, which is the largest in the world (and offers TONS of great photo opportunities).
First tip? Bring a tripod. It’s dark in many places in the museum.
Speaking of JPG magazine. Have you seen it yet? It’s freaking awesome. That’s another thing that didn’t exist for photographers two years ago.
So, yes, Dan Gillmor is right. A tree in the forest is going away. Getting cut down. But, watch for new trees sprouting up thanks to good digital SLRs and a new kind of “pro” photographer who is using photography to build new kinds of photojournalism businesses.
