Fairfax's redudancies are tragic for Photographers

Photography requires skill. It's sad to see good Fairfax employees being let go

In an age when we are assaulted by a blizzard of imagery, you need dedicated professionals to lift your publication above the ordinary. Fairfax's redudancies are tragic for the industry

Mike Bowers

On 8 May 1911, Sydney Mail and Sydney Morning Herald photographer George Bell climbed aboard a flimsy Bristol biplane for a short ride from Ascot Racecourse (now the Qantas domestic terminal at Mascot) over the city to take some of the very first aerial photographs of Sydney.

It was a wild and terrifying ride, as his report the next day detailed

:"There is not much to hang on to around the seat, and although there are plenty of wires about they must not be touched. We were simply flying through a gale, the wind roared in my ears the whole time and my eyes began to water with the cold blast."

Many of us know how Bell felt; the Sydney Morning Herald photography department has had a wild ride for over a decade. And this morning, the paper announced 80 editorial redundancies, including 30 photographers.

When I left in 2008, there had already been three rounds of voluntary redundancies starting in 2004, when the internet had just started to erode what was thought to be at the time inexhaustible rivers of gold generated through classified advertising. There have been at least three more since my departure – this latest round, however, is the biggest shakeup for the photography department since Bell started in 1898.

The email sent to staff refers to the announcement as “discussions” and uses words like “proposal”. The law says that you have to do that, of course, but make no mistake: despite claims to the contrary, management would probably have a clear idea who they want to retain and who they want to see go.

I know the issue too well, since the icy blast from accountants used to make my eyes water in a tedious regular cyclic pattern that seemed to repeat every time new management rode into town. Why? Because photographic departments are expensive. Cars, petrol, photographic equipment, visual software, digital transmission costs, training and wages. Those costs would always land you in the accountancy crosshairs, with your bosses questioning the costs, and asking whether there was an alternative.

It really is quite simple: good photography takes good people who know what they are doing. For an industry going under, “quality” was not a word that had much sway with managers brought in to rescue a sinking ship. It was a fight that you had to have almost daily.

In many ways, Australian newspapers have swum against the tide for much longer than publications in the US and the UK, which shed their large photographic departments years ago. This means little of course to those who are about to lose their jobs, especially as I fear that some will be leaving the industry forever. Many will feel like the bottom has just dropped out of their world – a horrible ordeal that I would not wish on my worst enemy.

The email sent this morning talks about how staff photography will be replaced by an "award winning global provider, Getty images". Whether a large multinational photographic agency and the handful of staffers who remain will be able to deliver the visual quality and innovation Fairfax readers have come to expect over the years remains to be seen.

In an age when we are assaulted by a blizzard of imagery, you need skilful and dedicated professionals to lift your publication above the ordinary. The Herald's photographic coverage of the bushfires in the Blue mountains last year stands out as a recent example for me of what dedicated staff can achieve during a big news event.

This is a very tough time for all still working in newspapers in Australia. I don’t think anyone would disagree that there needed to be change – a cleaning out of the stables, if you will. This however feels like they are shooting all the horses. It’s a loss for the whole profession and the end of a long and proud history.

My heart goes out to all of them – I can feel the icy blast.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/07/photography-requires-skills-its-sad-to-see-fairfax-let-good-employees-go