In case you haven’t heard the news, the Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photography staff. The photography staff received no warning of the layoff; they were simply called into the office on May 30 and told that they no longer had jobs. This news hit me personally: I met John White years ago as a student at the Eddie Adams Workshop and he inspired me like no other. To learn more about the situation, our friends over at Photo Brigade produced a video podcast about the situation:
http://thephotobrigade.com/2013/06/photo-brigade-podcast-8-with-rob-hart-brian-powers/
Firing your entire publications photography staff is like cutting off the hand that feeds you. I have little doubt the executives who made this decision have mistakenly sealed that fate of their newspaper company.
Why we care
We care because, first and formost, we are creative professionals. We know the cold hard sting of rejection. We know how hard it can be to make a decent living creating images. We know the sweat and tears that go into gaining credibility and recognition. We’ve been there.
Before founding Graph Paper Press, I worked for newspapers (USA Today and Lawrence Journal-World) as a photographer and multimedia producer. Some of my closest friends are photographers. It’s a demanding, taxing and rewarding profession all at the same time. You are likely a creative professional yourself and it’s our mission to help people like you to succeed.
We’re here to help
To help these photographers land on their feet, we’re giving all laid off photographers from Chicago Sun-Times free forever plans and Sell Media extensions. Most of the older staffers never thought they’d need their own sites. We’re committed to helping them get rolling.
If you know anybody looking for experienced photojournalists or if you just want to give a word of encouragement or relate a a similar personal story leave it in the comments. Any little bit helps.