HARD TIMES HIT THE PHOTO BUSINESS
For nearly thirty years — from the immediate post-war era until the middle of the 1970s — the advertising and magazine photography business in New York City prospered mightily. Anyone who had talent and was more than halfway competent could earn a good living without breaking their back. I entered the trade in 1952 as an assistant to Richard Avedon and together with a partner opened a new studio in 1965. Once on our feet, we enjoyed an exciting, worry-free ride for the next ten years.
THEN THINGS BEGAN TO GO WRONG
Not just for us, but for nearly every other photographer in town. Mergers and acquisitions among many of our clients moved power away from the "creatives" and into the hands of accountants with their little green eyeshades. Save a nickel here and there. The first crisis happened when one of our oldest customers, a famous hair-products company, was bought out by a giant international pharmaceutical firm. Until then, we had charged them a flat rate of $2,000 a day (plus expenses) for 9-5 studio work, and they were happy to pay it! Then the bean counters struck. They wanted us to submit bids, an unheard-of practice in our business. Soon one of our competitors was actually bid down to $750 — on which he was surely losing money, what with studio overhead and salaries to pay.
WHAT TO DO?
As the malaise spread, I got a call from a friend who was also in the biz. He was an active member of the ASMP (American Society of Magazine Photographers), an organization which I had never joined because a) I'm not a joiner and b) I saw little value in it other than as a social club where colleagues get together to drink cheap wine. Now they were itching to finally do something.
They asked me, as an outsider, to join a small commitee that would meet with an anti-trust lawyer to determine what could legally be done to protect our interests. Competitors getting together to fix prices is, of course, highly illegal, so we had to find some creative way to accomplish our goals without breaking the law. Anyway, the lawyer suggested that we form a union and, in effect, become employees of our own clients. This was thinking outside the box!
Of course it was not to be called a "union," but a "guild." This sounded more professional. The guild would negotiate contracts with all of the major buyers, such as advertising agencies and magazines, and these contracts would set minimum prices — there was to be no upper limit, so this was not really price fixing. The photographers would be regarded as temporary employees of the buyers, even if only for a few hours.
THE NEXT STEP
Once the ASMP and the lawyers had worked out a plan, it was proposed at a meeting of all of the commercial photographers in New York City. This took place in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Roosevelt on Madison Avenue at 44th Street. My business partner and I went there with high hopes, as did the hundreds of other photographers.
When I looked at who was sitting on the stage, however, my heart sank. It sank even further as the plan was revealed. This professional "guild" was becoming more like the Teamsters Union, even before it began. As we and many in the crowd soon realized, the organizers were more interested in sharing the work among all than in protecting the interests of photographers who tried harder. The decision as to who got which jobs would likely be decided by guys who hung around the union headquarters.
Soon the better-known photographers began to walk out, and my partner and I joined them. That was the end of the "guild." It was never revived.
A SURVIVAL TACTIC
We then began to target those clients who still preferred to pay reasonable prices for top-quality work. Fortunately, there were enough of them to carry us through the lean times. Even so, by the end of the decade we had to cut both our staff and our own salaries. Then I left the business to embark on a new career.
Interested in photography? Check out my "Assisting Avedon" blog.
SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? Why, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.
CLICK HERE to continue with Part XIV, working on a movie set for TWA.
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