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What proved to be an exceptional and quite possibly game-changing week on PI began innocuously enough with the posting of a job opportunity - 'Photographing Artwork Anyone?' and a problem with a bleached image display in PS CS5. Responses to both came in quickly and a brief heads up about the Rankin fronted TV documentary on Life Magazine photographers continued the calm start to the week.
Then, the floodgates opened. In a great display of the open nature of the forum, a posting looking for suggestions on how to attract young photographers to the group soon morphed into a wide-ranging debate on the future direction of PI. The list moderators actively encouraged input from as many members as possible and the response - both in terms of numbers and range - was remarkable. For the whole week both complimentary and contradictory ideas and arguments were aired with barely a feather ruffled, despite that fact that some of the subjects aired could result in fundamental changes to PI. The conversation is still ongoing - while much is left to be finalised, there is little doubt that this weeks debate, directed and inspired by the members, will have a significant impact the future of PI, both in terms of it's membership and direction.
In the meantime, more typical business of the PI list continued. The question of which is the best 'Compact/pocket everywhere camera' is one of the lists most recurrent, a fact that illustrates the incredible pace of technological change. On this occasion, the soon-to-be-released Canon S100, successor to the S95, received the biggest thumbs up.
The use of Facebook for business is another popular topic with a distinct split between those that do and value it's impact and those that don't and doubt that it is worth the time and effort. One member wanted to give it a go and asked for advice on the best steps to take when starting out. Within 20 minutes a detailed response from an experienced Facebook user revealed some essential Facebook-rookie dos and don'ts.
Towards the end of the week, the wide-ranging discussion on the future direction of PI turned to the difficult conditions faced by press photographers today. One member summed up the situation succinctly with a posting describing how over the last decade the growing ubiquitousness of digital cameras and the surge in numbers and notoriety of paparazzi-style celebrity hunters has led to bonafide press photographers being the target for open public abuse - in another posting one press photographer spoke of being described as 'vile' and threatened with physical abuse while out following a legitimate new story. An American member's observation that he had seen US press teams ignoring law enforcement, creating safety issues and generally behaving in an unprofessional manner in their quest for 'the image' led to more conversation on the issue, with one list member noting that in the States the situation is exacerbated by the absence of a national official press card scheme and that in general, it is far easier in the US than the UK to get a Press or Media card.
At the end of a busy and important week in PI's history, the list's debates reflect that some things remain absolutely certain: that for as long as it exists, PI will remain a group dedicated to fighting for the protection of Intellectual Property rights, the good health of the photography industry in general and will provide a forum where, through little more than the click of a button, professional photographers can call upon the support of their peers, 24/7." contributed by Andrew Brackenbury - www.abrackenbury.com |
