“Unsplash is hurting photography” Really?

I feel compelled to respond to an article I read recently. It was written by a photographer, Ms A Boguslawska, and concerns a website called Unsplash.

Ms Boguslawska is a bit upset that Unsplash makes photos available for free download.

She has some valid points. She wants to have a choice to delete her profile. She complains that she cannot withdraw her work. Fair enough; personal choice should be respected.

She goes on to explain why Unsplash is hurting photographers:

“…the more photos appear on Unsplash site, the less businesses will want to pay for photography, as they’ll get used to getting it for free…

…Every day I see Unsplash photos being used and abused literally everywhere.

Everyone, including the Unsplash founders themselves, seem to forget that all the value is contributed by photographers themselves. Not the Unsplash team, who just curate the submissions and reap the rewards…

…Unsplash, bloggers, magazines, publishers, companies and all others who use photos commercially, are actively hurting professional photography industry in the worst way possible: by undermining its relevancy. And doing this is the first step to harming the whole creative industry.”

(Read the full article at: http://petapixel.com/2015/01/08/unsplash-hurting-photographers)

This was the point where my fingers started to twitch and my mind kicked into overdrive, itching to respond.

“…photos being…abused literally everywhere.”

Really?

First, a little bit about Unsplash. If you are familiar with the Unsplash story, feel free to skip the next two paragraphs.

Unsplash is a website that stores photos which you can download for free. You can use the photos in any way you want. There is no charge, no conditions, and you are subject only to a limit of ten photos every ten days. Basically, the site is just a seemingly endless reel of photos. If you’re looking for free, quality photos, it’s pretty neat. Check it out: https://unsplash.com

It all started as a side project for a Canadian tech company called Crew. They had photos left over from a photoshoot that they had paid for. They weren’t going use these, so they decided to give them away. And Unsplash was born.

It quickly became a wildly popular site for people looking to download free photos. It also became a place for photographers to promote themselves. In exchange for giving away some of their work, they hoped to gain customers. Ms Boguslawska herself has used Unsplash to promote her work and her blog.

What Crew has done in creating Unsplash is just an example of technology changing life. Like it or not, you cannot stop it. Crew recognises this.

The opening line of their Manifesto reads:

“We are at the start of the most significant economic movement since the Industrial Revolution.”

And it’s not just photographers who are feeling the repercussions. Just ask anyone who used to work at Borders, the now-defunct bookseller. Anyone bought anything through Amazon lately? Because, arguably, they’re abusing booksellers and publishers. Amazon changed everything for these industries, and continues to do so.

News and media companies are also facing change. As are retailers, travel agencies, taxi drivers, and the list goes on.

Ms Boguslawska feels Unsplash is “…undermining… relevancy”. That seems a bit harsh.

But technology is changing the value of the work done by people. This is happening in countless industries, just as it is for Ms Boguslawska’s photographers.

And really, blaming only Unsplash for devaluing photography is a bit unfair. You would need to blame the internet for making Unsplash possible. And all those companies that deliver the internet as we know it.

You would also have to blame companies like Nikon and Canon. They make super-easy-to-use cameras that take great photographs. (Even in the hands of amateurs like me. Seriously, you should see some of the great photos I’ve taken of my son.) Don’t forget to blame Apple and Samsung for putting these wonderful cameras into mobile phones. And phone companies for subsidising sales of these phones.

Everyone’s a photographer these days. And if they choose to, there are lots of channels where it’s easy to publish their work. You have to admit, these days, photography doesn’t exactly have high barriers to entry.

You could argue that the sheer abundance of photos devalues photography. Even though the vast majority of photos aren’t great, it makes for more competition. Getting noticed becomes that much harder for photographers. Marketing becomes a major issue. (And not just for photographers; getting noticed for anything is getting tougher and tougher.)

To succeed, you not only have to be good at what you do, you need to know how to market your work too. And here, I have a top tip for Ms Boguslawska. It’s not a bad thing to give away something of value. That is marketing. And it’s actually quite good marketing, if you do it right.

Ms Boguslawska could learn some things from the Unsplash story. When they created Unsplash, Crew were months from going bust. They were struggling “…just trying to keep the lights on”.

Creating Unsplash was the best bit of marketing Crew could have ever wished for. Within a day, Crew went from unknown tech startup to the creators of a website that attracted tens of thousands of visitors. Seriously, all in a single day.

And all because they decided to give away some spare photos.

As Crew puts it:

“To have customers and fans, you need to create value first… When you create value first, people pay attention.”

Technology is changing marketing. Like it or not, you cannot stop it.

Does Unsplash make things just that little bit tougher for Ms Boguslawska’s photographers? Maybe; maybe not. But if you are a photographer, it definitely offers a great avenue for promoting your work. And you can do this for free. Yes, you have to give some of your work away. But it’s almost certainly cheaper than paying to advertise in a magazine. Or distributing marketing leaflets.

And is it really devaluing photography? I would hazard a guess that a good photographer will still be able to win paying clients. Customised, exclusive photos will always have value worth paying for.

If you can afford to pay for exclusivity, chances are, you will. Why settle for a free photo that will almost definitely be used by someone, somewhere else?

For those who can’t afford a professional photographer, like myself, Unsplash is a godsend. My website no longer has to look amateurish just because I can’t take decent photos. (Except those of my son, of course. But splashing photos of him all over my website probably wouldn’t do.)

When I can afford to hire a photographer, I almost definitely will. Not an easy decision that, hiring a photographer. Her work will likely go a long way in defining the feel and tone of my website. Quite an important decision, really.

I will want to shortlist potential candidates. But first, I will need to see samples of work, compare different photographers. There are many different websites where you can do this quite easily. Some operate like agencies, others more like galleries.

But I think I might just start with Unsplash. Photographers there are willing to give away some of their work. So I’m guessing they’re likely to offer fair value for their fees. And I’ll wager I’m not the only one who thinks like that.