I recently came across this webcast on foto8.com.
For the better part of college, the thought of being part of an iconic agency like Magnum or VII had been something that I dreamt of. While in my first semester I discovered the work of photographers such as Josef Koudelka, Paolo Pellegrin, Jonas Bendiksen and Christopher Morris. I spent the better part of most lectures scrolling through the multimedia essays on Magnum’s In Motion page, fixated and constantly inspired.
But what is the roll of agencies such as these in today’s climate? The webcast linked to above, discusses, in part, the roll of agencies today, and the pressure on photographers to adapt to new ways of self promotion and funding, i.e. Kickstarter and emphas.is.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think it would be cool to be a part of one of these agencies, but more for nostalgic reasons than anything. There are more important things to do than dream about a century past.
