Reuters sees windows of opportunity.

Thursday 6 September 2007

Paul Barker, news editor, and Ayperi Ecer, director of development of photography for Reuters were both in town for Visa pour l'Image, and insist that the so-called crisis in photojournalism has created many opportunities for creative photographers.

We caught up with them to find out why they come and how they see the industry changing. Ecer said: “Visa pour l’Image provides a very natural communication channel for us. We can meet people that we would otherwise need to make 20 or 30 trips around the world to meet. As the largest information agency in the world, we document the world on a second-by-second basis. We are not an organisation that sends British or French reporters to foreign countries, instead we have very big roots of local photographers.”

This year it is presenting two photographers, Ahmad Masood from Afghanistan and Akintunde Akinleye from Nigeria. Akintunde's image has been used as the main poster image for Visa pour l'Image this year.

As CPN spoke to Reuters on the second floor of the Palais des Congrès, a symposium was taking place downstairs on the “Crisis in Photojournalism”.

Asked about this, Barker said: “Clients are looking for different types of images. Previously they were looking for the standard wire service shot, now they’re looking for images they can use in different ways. More diversity is needed in the way they illustrate news stories.”

Ecer said: “We’re in the middle of two economic models. It’s a transition period from the print model to the online model. For Reuters it’s very positive. We’re online, in print and on TV. It’s a new generation that may hit some markets, but it is an image world. There are more and more images everywhere. The question is, how much people will pay for them.

“This 'crisis' is creative for us. It's meant we’re doing more - we were never as big in news markets as some others, which has made moving into the developing markets easier.” Barker added: “Photographers have an understanding now that they’re not just shooting for a newspaper, but also for slideshows, new media and online uses. We’re seeing a lot more creativity in the images.”

There has been a technological leap in photography recently and this has brought about a change in the way photographers have to work, said Reuters. Barker sees this as a help rather than a hindrance: “The good photographers love it. They are filing more and it’s easier for them to do their job. It has opened a whole new world on how we cover news. With the cameras and lenses being produced it just gets better and better.”