"no such thing as pro photographers"

entropic remnants

Hall of Famer
Name
John Griggs
Now, I'm not a pro photographer, but consider this statement by the Yahoo CEO as quoted by Thom Hogan on his site:

CEO Marissa Mayer, in announcing the changes said "There's no such thing as Flickr Pro today because...there's really no such thing as professional photographers anymore."

Do you think Marissa has a clue about the real world? There are NO pro photographers any more? I personally know several so what universe is flickr living in?

MAYBE she might be right about there won't be any using their service, if any even are now.
 
Do you think Marissa has a clue about the real world? There are NO pro photographers any more? I personally know several so what universe is flickr living in?

She made an unlucky statement which is being quoted completely out of context again and again all over the internet. That's just one more example how easy it is to become the target of hate and stupidity in the internet.
 
well, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if we found out that her "quote taken out of context" was entirely orchestrated so that flickr would get tons of free ink about their new 1TB of free storage. Because really the old adage is true.....even bad publicity is still publicity. How many people will read about her statement and think, "boy, she really put her foot in her mouth" and then followed shortly after by "wow...... a whole Terabyte.....for free!"
 
She made an unlucky statement which is being quoted completely out of context again and again all over the internet. That's just one more example how easy it is to become the target of hate and stupidity in the internet.

Oh so? Thom's not so susceptible to such things. Please provide a link to "context". That's a pretty clear statement she made.

Unlucky? I think you have used the words "unlucky" and "stupid" completely backwards, lol! :D The stuipidity appears to be entirely hers -- do you have stock in Yahoo?...

I think you should definitely provide some backing up of your statement that I am being "hateful" and "stupid" in quoting her. That was pretty offensive to me what you just said.
 
Oh so? Thom's not so susceptible to such things. Please provide a link to "context". That's a pretty clear statement she made.

Unlucky? I think you have used the words "unlucky" and "stupid" completely backwards, lol! :D The stuipidity appears to be entirely hers -- do you have stock in Yahoo?...

I think you should definitely provide some backing up of your statement that I am being "hateful" and "stupid" in quoting her. That was pretty offensive to me what you just said.

I can imagine sentences following such a statement that could really change how that came across by itself, but they'd involve a LOT of back-pedaling and a complete 180. And I'd be imagining.
 
I would venture to say that Mayer was trying to appeal to the general public in saying, albeit rather poorly, that anyone can photograph, display and store their images, that flickr is people friendly. That is if I look at it positively. I can look at it negatively too. I didn't see the full of what she was saying and really I don't care. Technology and the drive to deliver the best will dictate where photography and photographers end up, not Mayer. She won't drive the future, the people will.

As for me, Flickr was never more than temporary storage, I just didn't like how it looked. 500px, 1x [It has changed], Fotoblur, they are all nice for portfolio type stuff but not general storage. I thought Zenfolio was better than Smugmug but not overly impressed with either and they too are better for portfolio work given how they are set up. I've had DeviantArt for a decade or more, again it is more for display and not exclusively photography. Then some use blogger or wordpress etc. which is nice because you can blog as well. Maybe if you are doing more than photo storage, the best answer is your own site. You can be a member to several of these sites or just pay for a modest web site of your own. I have been leaning toward the latter but have told myself not until I am shooting more again, to justify it.
 
I agree with Isoterica. WRT Marissa's "pro" comments, I think it is less a matter of context than the fact is, she simply misspoke. You know how sometimes you have multiple thought in your head, but when you try to articulate them quickly it comes out a bit jumbled? I believe that's what happened.

IMO the larger travesty is the new interface. I used Flickr for the first time since the redesign, and I feel it's just terrible. Time to re-scope my Photobucket account...
 
We win! Pro accounts that is. See here: There's no such thing as 'pro' photographers: More details: Connect

So flickr now allows pro accounts to extend indefinitely at the old rate. Re-up for recurring 2 years (which I just did) and you save even more. The "old pro users" are now grandfathered. Thanks, Marissa! If you hadn't said that dumb thing, this might never have happened.

In the article I linked from DPReview, I love this quote at the bottom from protog Jim Colton, who wrote:

"This is perhaps one of the stupidest comments I have ever heard, it is also an insult to all the professional photographers throughout history who have sacrificed everything to their craft … including their lives."
 
That's her statement in context:

[video=youtube;WgoaMDfhxOw]

"Part of the thought experiment that gave rise to this new product, the new interface, the terabyte, was a decision that we would not have Flickr Pro anymore. There's no such thing as Flickr Pro because today with cameras as pervasive as they are, there's no such thing really as professional photographers ... certainly there's varying levels of skills but we didn't want a Flickr Pro anymore, we wanted everyone to have professional quality photo space and sharing."

This was said during an question & answer session. She was talking not very well, to say it nicely, and it was not very thoughtful, but there is nothing which could justify all those hateful reactions all over the internet.
 
My guess is that she was saying everyone should have the same options, regardless of need or skill level. Not being a pro, this does not concern me a whole lot, but I can see feather being ruffled.

This is a rime example of the Internet in use. What you say or type, never goes away and can be seen around the world very quickly.
 
Just because Mayer said something ... well ... IMO, stupid, doesn't mean it is true ... or intelligent. But on the flip side, nor does my opinion that the statement was stupid or unintelligent render's the statement stupid or unintelligent.

I do not use Flickr, (pulled out), because of the Yahoo's willingness to reveal the identity of Chinese dissidents to Chinese authorities which resulted in imprisonment for those journalists and dissidents Yahoo pointed out. I also shut down my Yahoo email account. I recognize that Yahoo probably doesn't care, but at least I did something. (Attention Mods- These are statement of facts, not a political commentary or opinion.)

My opinion is that I am not surprised that such a selfish and senseless statement is made by a company that is willing to identify Chines dissidents to the Chinese authorities. (Again, a non-political opinion and a statement of fact.)

Selfish because all Yahoo seems to care about is themselves, just because Yahoo doesn't see any point or reason for professional photographers to exist in their world, therefore there they no longer exist. Senseless stands on its own merit.

Gary
 
Just because Mayer said something ... well ... IMO, stupid, doesn't mean it is true ... or intelligent. But on the flip side, nor does my opinion that the statement was stupid or unintelligent render's the statement stupid or unintelligent.

I do not use Flickr, (pulled out), because of the Yahoo's willingness to reveal the identity of Chinese dissidents to Chinese authorities which resulted in imprisonment for those journalists and dissidents Yahoo pointed out. I also shut down my Yahoo email account. I recognize that Yahoo probably doesn't care, but at least I did something. (Attention Mods- These are statement of facts, not a political commentary or opinion.)

My opinion is that I am not surprised that such a selfish and senseless statement is made by a company that is willing to identify Chines dissidents to the Chinese authorities. (Again, a non-political opinion and a statement of fact.)

Selfish because all Yahoo seems to care about is themselves, just because Yahoo doesn't see any point or reason for professional photographers to exist in their world, therefore there they no longer exist. Senseless stands on its own merit.

Gary

I had forgotten all about the Chinese dissident brouhaha. Good on you for making decisions based on your personal ethics. Respect.
 
Just because Mayer said something ... well ... IMO, stupid, doesn't mean it is true ... or intelligent. But on the flip side, nor does my opinion that the statement was stupid or unintelligent render's the statement stupid or unintelligent.

I do not use Flickr, (pulled out), because of the Yahoo's willingness to reveal the identity of Chinese dissidents to Chinese authorities which resulted in imprisonment for those journalists and dissidents Yahoo pointed out. I also shut down my Yahoo email account. I recognize that Yahoo probably doesn't care, but at least I did something. (Attention Mods- These are statement of facts, not a political commentary or opinion.)

My opinion is that I am not surprised that such a selfish and senseless statement is made by a company that is willing to identify Chines dissidents to the Chinese authorities. (Again, a non-political opinion and a statement of fact.)

Selfish because all Yahoo seems to care about is themselves, just because Yahoo doesn't see any point or reason for professional photographers to exist in their world, therefore there they no longer exist. Senseless stands on its own merit.

Gary

Gary, I appreciate and respect your decision. I guess the problem arises, where do we draw the line? WRT corporate ethics the "incident" with China occurred long before MM came on board, so I'm not going to hold her responsible... in fact, I believe that most of the Yahoo execs at that time are no longer with the company. There are so many companies that engage in "anti-person" practices, that who can we turn to in confidence? Google strikes a deal with the Chinese gov't to allow censorship, Google mines personal data, G+ shatters privacy, M$ & Apple have a long list of what many of us would consider to be sins of ethics and morality, many tech companies are partially owned by - or have major investors from - countries where it's OK to oppress and murder people (especially women) in the name of their culture... Sony deliberately infected millions of CDs with malware... the US gov't...

Ugh, I'm getting myself depressed just thinking about it all!
 
Carol Bartz would have just told professional photographers to f_ off. I guess Yahoo has made some improvements in the CEO hiring department but after seeing the new flickr they still have a long way to go.....
 
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