© Hunter Freeman – http://www.hunterfreeman.com
An hysterical post by A Photo Editor. It is nice to know that we can all see the humor in what we do!
” What started as friendly banter when photography agent Heather Elder wrote an open letter to art buyers with several responding back and
everyone agreeing and asking for open and honest dialogue between the two, has suddenly taken a turn for the worse this morning when a
senior art buyer at DHPH-NY/LA declared “I’m tired of this shit, you people work for me” then announced a new policy called the “silent bid
off.” Now up to 20 photographers will be asked to submit silent bids on all jobs. The job will be awarded to the lowest bid or picked based
on “arbitrary rules we’ve made that you have no idea about.” Additionally, an a la carte menu will allow agents to purchase more
information about a job (e.g. budget, creative call, who you’re bidding against) that may or may not give you an edge in the bid off
and could potentially mean you’re paying them if you win.
Senior agent David Chartikoff from Creative Photographers Agency fired back with new surcharges that will be added to all jobs. Photographers will have at their discretion the ability to charge thousands of
dollars in “dealing with agency/client buffoon charges.” The DWACB charges include additional surcharges for people trying to eat and
drink the expense budget in a single evening and people standing around set acting like they’re on “spring break” instead of working.
He hinted at some type of hangover fine but was initially unsure if that might backfire on some of his well known photographers who “work
better” when everything is a bit blurry in the morning.
Another art buyer jumped into the fray and instituted a new portfolio show policy inspired by the pac-man video game. Agents must schlep 400 lbs of portfolios, snacks and drinks throughout the agency and try to
find as many creatives as they can in an allotted time limit. Each creative you find gives you a small time bonus that you can use to
show a portfolio or go find another creative. When found you can ply them with snacks and drinks, but if it’s not something they like (e.g.
they’re allergic to an item) they get to smear frosting on the prints of the book you were trying to show them. Once time runs out all the
creatives convene in a conference room for a meeting and you must exit the building immediately. Obstacles placed throughout the building
(e.g. life size sponge bob squarepants) will prevent agents from using any mechanical aids in this new pac-agent challenge.
Finally the Agents Association of America made a surprise announcement and revealed a new email marketing tool they’ve been working on called the “Email Blast Master.” The EBM is capable of locking up a computer and rendering it useless until the email is read and the link to the website clicked on. In addition to locking up the computer anyone not expressing enthusiasm at the invitation to “check out new work” will immediately have their personal email blasted to all flickr users with the headline “Looking For Fresh New Photographers To Work With.”
This was all happening in a secret forum where agents and art buyers discuss jobs, so “untouchables” (photographers without agents) cannot
land them, but someone broke in and opened the thing up to the pubic.Go check it out (here [1]) before they close it again.”
OMG…screen wipe please.