Acknowledging Our Passion to Find Strength for the Future

As a student, I spent many hours in the stacks of the university library studying the photographs of the accomplished masters. It was in this manner that I discovered the work of Roy DeCarava, an American photographer who has photographed his life in New York for over fifty years. I remember being immediately grabbed by his images and then being simultaneously puzzled by their power. In particular an image titled Man in Window, 1978, which shows a shirtless man sitting solemnly inside an apartment framed perfectly by the window, remained with me. The image, taken presumably at night, is slightly soft and printed with a zone V gray as its lightest tone. This photograph broke every rule I was being taught in my photo classes, yet it would not let go of me. It was the most powerful image I had encountered.

As ASMP president, I have been replaying this 22 year-old memory in my mind. For me this experience symbolizes where we are as an industry and it gives me the strength to move forward. We must revisit the importance of our images and simultaneously push ourselves to look beyond the status quo of owning a photography business.

Images are so abundant in our current culture that we often become numb to them. We need to empower ourselves by acknowledging the value of what we create. A well-seen photograph is, as it has always been, the most powerful communication tool

available. The stagnation of our fees appears to be a contradiction to this claim. But ask yourself if photographs did not have value long into the future, why would all of these publications, corporations and archives be scrambling to grab our rights to those very same images.

In the face of forces telling us otherwise, we need to support each other, to recognize that quality still counts and that the value of our work still exists. Change is never easy and professional photographers have endured a large dose of it in recent years. A part of me longs for the days of delivering film. My post-production time was minimal, my camera did not require replacement every three years and I spent more time in coffee shops with a book than at my computer. Nostalgia for our past, however, will not help us solve the problems we face today as independent publication photographers.

Most of us are photographers because we are passionate about making pictures. If we want to remain photographers, ASMP and its members must think unconventionally about this business. We must inspire ourselves to think beyond the prevailing norms. We must, as DeCarava did, see the final image in our mind and advance past accepted standards to reach that goal.

This year marks ASMP's sixtieth anniversary. We are honoring that history in this issue of the Bulletin and through various events at this year's PhotoPlus Expo in New York City. We have tried to strike a balance in these commemorations that will also serve as a guide for our future as an association - celebrating the power of photography while simultaneously providing a foundation of information, services and skills to enable our members to thrive.

As founding member, John Adam Knight, poignantly stated in 1950, “It is only with spirit and unity that ASMP will be able to continue on the road it has taken and make it lead the entire profession of magazine photography to the place where it has the dignity and commands the respect and wages that ASMP’ers believe it should. There are going to be spots in the road that are rough and tortuous. We all expect that and we would be surprised if the contrary proves true.”

If we believe in the value of the work we create and the value of ASMP, we can move confidently together to build a stronger future for all of us.