Selling Photography – Photography Today Is Killing Off the Dinosaurs

Summary: You want disagreement and yelling? Today we look at the people who are in the business of selling photography and are dragging their feet when it comes to change. But don't worry, it's a self-correcting problem. We start off right on  target until Tony asks a seemingly innocent question - does a store really need a traditional, trained sales staff? Then shit gets serious and we think Rick may have started crying. He didn't: turns out he was just speaking into a muted mic. But before we get onto the topic about selling photography, we need to bitch and moan about why Australia just wants to fuck with you and how a shark got it right in the 1960's. Tony also thinks a sting ray got one right a few years ago. Too soon, Tony, too soon. Selling Photography - Do We Even Need To? We actually intended this to be more photography-related than it ended up being, but the reason for this topic is because a large and well-established camera store in Chicago is closing its doors and the guys think it was their inability – or unwillingness – to adapt to the photography industry today. It certainly wasn't the skill level or experience of their staff as that has always been top-notch. But the store died the death of a thousand cuts. An online presence that was virtually non-existent, major retailer for Nikon and Canon but where were the other manufacturers, a lack of related tools (no audio gear, very little video support, no computers or software…) So what is more important when selling photography: a sales team or an educational team? Tony vehemently argues for the education, Rick passionately defends sales staff with photography experience, and Rob finds himself leaning toward Camp Tony where he'd usually be the first to call bullshit! What are your thoughts? Does selling photography today require sales staff or educators? Leave us a comment on the site, call in your thoughts, or Tweet your reaction. Our Fortnight Artists We even manage to have a heated argument about our photographer, Yousef Karsh. You may not know his name, but you sure as hell know his work. Famous for his portrait of Churchill (seen here), he shot a lot of historically famous and significant people - many of those shots are still the iconic image for those people.But really, who amongst us today can have such access to famous, important, and polar opposite figures? Probably no one. Maybe an era really is over. We don't have "an" artist today. Rather, Tony introduces us to an artists' collective, Papunya Tula (go ahead, sing their name to Hakuna Matata, you know you want to). This is a group of Aboriginal artists whose art is as much a form of communication as it is visual beauty. Their work reminds Rob of the folding lines found in Origami. Oh yeah, Welcome you ignorant masses!