Fotograaf Jim Pickerell heeft zo zijn ideeën over de toekomst van zijn beroepsgroep. De tijden van avontuurlijk op pad, bijzondere momenten vastleggen en de foto's daarvan later verkopen, is voorbij. Er is in het digitale tijdperk geen respect meer voor het intellectueel eigendom van de fotograaf en dus moeten fotografen op zoek naar een nieuw businessmodel. Jim ziet het meeste heil in het businessmodel uit de tijd van Michelangelo: werken onder een mecenas of op basis van commissie. 

"Frankly, I think many people, and particularly those who grew up with the Internet, believe that all creative work should be immediately placed in the public domain for the benefit of all. What’s a photographer to do? Given the changes in society’s mores, what kind of jobs will there be for professional photographers in the future? I really think that those interested in taking pictures as a career may need to focus entirely on commissioned work. Some companies will need someone who is always on call to produce certain images the organization needs. Such staff jobs, though limited in number, will continue to be available. For the self-employed photographer, there will be weddings, family or business portraits, event coverage, contractors who need progress photographs of new buildings, fashion, and so forth. There will also be some news coverage — although in the future a lot of that is likely to be supplied by amateurs. The idea of taking pictures on speculation and showing them to potential customers, or trying to resell second rights to images created on a commissioned job, is becoming a thing of the past. Producing pictures in expectation that the costs of production will be covered by many users, each paying a small share of the cost, is becoming an unworkable model. So, photographers, I suggest you focus on work where your price for the project is agreed upon up front, and an advance paid. When your work is delivered, the customer will receive all rights to do whatever he wants with it — except control its use. No one apparently has that right anymore."

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Wat vinden jullie van Jim's toekomstvisie?