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Author Topic: Yuri Arcurs First Public Statement  (Read 144740 times)

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Donvanstaden

« Reply #250 on: July 26, 2013, 02:47 »
+4
Unfortunately it was overnight for me so missed the chance to join this conversation - an opportunity to question Yuri about his predictions for the future is not to be missed whether you agree with him or not!


He was questioned about the future but his answers were focused on marketing his new projects... The guy is pissing on our backs and telling us it's raining.... we need to move on, he has.


Ron

« Reply #251 on: July 26, 2013, 02:47 »
-2

Seeing a great image, controlling light and being in position are pro photographer skills that are never going to go away, irrespective of the camera used and I for one would be grateful if I didn't have to carry 7kg of kit up Himalayan peaks any more!
You havent had to for years, point and shoot has been around forever. Whats the difference with a camera phone?

« Reply #252 on: July 26, 2013, 02:48 »
+13
I checked one of tasks on Scoopshot few days ago - "Was your baby born yesterday, just like the Royal Baby Boy? Please record a short VIDEO clip of your newborn and tell us a bit about him or her - name, birth place and date, height and weight and, perhaps, a few details about the birth"
There was lot of PHOTOS - full page of babies and children - 1, 3, 5, 10, 12 years old, cats, dogs, parrots. I didn't check all photos but at first sight I haven't seen ANY VIDEO with newborn baby as described in brief.
Being client I doubt I would come back to Scoopshot again.
Crowdsourcing is basically good idea but let's face it - crowd includes many idiots.

« Reply #253 on: July 26, 2013, 02:50 »
+1

Seeing a great image, controlling light and being in position are pro photographer skills that are never going to go away, irrespective of the camera used and I for one would be grateful if I didn't have to carry 7kg of kit up Himalayan peaks any more!
You havent had to for years, point and shoot has been around forever. Whats the difference with a camera phone?

Sorry, I meant a small camera with DSLR-like quality, not necessarily a phone. I've experimented with various stupidly expensive compact cameras and they're not quite ready yet I don't think, but they will be soon I'm sure.

« Reply #254 on: July 26, 2013, 02:52 »
+6

Unfortunately I cannot place the trust in Getty that Yuri has done, even though they are my agent. Their actions towards their exclusive photographers have never been positive since they bought iStock, from the Vetta royalty rate cut, the RC system that's designed to limit the number of artists receiving semi-reasonable royalties, destruction of the referral system, flooding the library with wholly owned content and making new uploads worthless by skewing best match.

I guess Yuri may have negotiated a deal that overcomes some of these obstacles to success there, so good luck to him.

The real problem in this industry is low royalty percentages, they should be up at the 70-80% mark as they are in the Apple App Store to make a sustainable, healthy business and profits for everyone, agencies and copyright owners alike.


I am puzzled as well. The way he speaks of getty/istock is like he is talking about a completly different company than the one we experienced first hand. He reminds me how excited Bruce was in 2006 when he made the deal with Getty. He came on the forums reassuring us that Getty "gets it" and really understands his vision for istockphoto. Yet the only vision they understood was how to kill the place off as quickly as possible as soon as Bruce was gone.

Maybe Getty is a rite of passage for him. A step in the industry he has to pass through, before he moves back out and grows peopleimages.com to its full potential.

If he really could drag Getty into the 21 century and make them the professional company he suggests they are, this would be good for everyone as well. But I sincerely doubt it will happen. The companies DNA is not based on the internet, technology or online transparent community leadership skills. And this is what it takes these days...

If the Apple store would open its doors to artists and allow us to sell at 70%, this would be the best thing that has ever happened to the industry. It would bring immediate balance in favor of the artist. If anyone understands what it feels like to have their ideas stolen and see others profit from their hard creative work it is Apple.

Doesnt anyone here have the telephone number of Tim Cook?

Ron

« Reply #255 on: July 26, 2013, 02:52 »
+3
It's very confronting, isn't it, to be told what we all dread... 
I dread nothing. His factory became unsustainable, I am not a factory, I am a one man operation, I am very sustainable.

Ron

« Reply #256 on: July 26, 2013, 02:54 »
0

Seeing a great image, controlling light and being in position are pro photographer skills that are never going to go away, irrespective of the camera used and I for one would be grateful if I didn't have to carry 7kg of kit up Himalayan peaks any more!
You havent had to for years, point and shoot has been around forever. Whats the difference with a camera phone?

Sorry, I meant a small camera with DSLR-like quality, not necessarily a phone. I've experimented with various stupidly expensive compact cameras and they're not quite ready yet I don't think, but they will be soon I'm sure.
Ok, that makes sense.  :)

gillian vann

  • *Gillian*
« Reply #257 on: July 26, 2013, 02:57 »
+3
oh, maybe he's going to take them down, from the inside :D

Donvanstaden

« Reply #258 on: July 26, 2013, 02:57 »
+2
DSLR image of a cell phone used to state that DSLR will be killed by cell phones... kikikiki


XPTO

« Reply #259 on: July 26, 2013, 03:02 »
+43
Yuri works for Yuri... and that's all! He doesn't give a f*** about any of us

Honestly all I've read in Yuri's page and the few pages of this topic leave with one single thought: Yuri's rants are nothing but BS and a marketing gimmick!

If he really wanted to make a dent in this industry and make himself heard by the agencies CEO he could have done countless times in the past.

All it would take was to set up an agency himself, with the help from a few others in a similar position, like independent Black Diamonds in IS or the Fotolia Emeralds. In fact, nothing that hasn't been asked to him and others like him many, many times.

The money and time he spent on all those flights to wine and dine with the micro agencies CEO's, the setup of his own site and now the scoopshot.com adventure would be enough to create a game-changing agency! A few years back if Yuri had setup an agency with a decent royalty split I'm sure the vast, vast, vast majority of photographers would follow him withdrawing 70 or 80% of the salable images from all the agencies dragging the prices down, and shamelessly exploiting the contributors. I even believe that he could have some kind of an exclusive program and many people would accept it.

No one like him, in this industry, was in the position to accomplish to create a major earthquake in favor of the contributors. He had the knowledge of the business, the contacts with other successful photographers and even the funding to do it. With his high-profile (anything he said was repeated in all forums and debated to death) the word would spread like a wild-fire between contributors and clients.

But he always chose not to do it. As I said he only looks after himself and we're nothing but pawns in his game. Time to wake up guys and start ignoring him. Nothing good for us will come from him.

Yuri is not our saviour. He had so many chances in the past to be it and always took the step back. Yuri is nothing more than a businessman trying to earn as much as he can and using us as mere pawns in his marketing strategy.

Lets' stop creating all this hype around him.

Ron

« Reply #260 on: July 26, 2013, 03:16 »
+5
Yuri works for Yuri... and that's all! He doesn't give a f*** about any of us

Honestly all I've read in Yuri's page and the few pages of this topic leave with one single thought: Yuri's rants are nothing but BS and a marketing gimmick!

If he really wanted to make a dent in this industry and make himself heard by the agencies CEO he could have done countless times in the past.

All it would take was to set up an agency himself, with the help from a few others in a similar position, like independent Black Diamonds in IS or the Fotolia Emeralds. In fact, nothing that hasn't been asked to him and others like him many, many times.

The money and time he spent on all those flights to wine and dine with the micro agencies CEO's, the setup of his own site and now the scoopshot.com adventure would be enough to create a game-changing agency! A few years back if Yuri had setup an agency with a decent royalty split I'm sure the vast, vast, vast majority of photographers would follow him withdrawing 70 or 80% of the salable images from all the agencies dragging the prices down, and shamelessly exploiting the contributors. I even believe that he could have some kind of an exclusive program and many people would accept it.

No one like him, in this industry, was in the position to accomplish to create a major earthquake in favor of the contributors. He had the knowledge of the business, the contacts with other successful photographers and even the funding to do it. With his high-profile (anything he said was repeated in all forums and debated to death) the word would spread like a wild-fire between contributors and clients.

But he always chose not to do it. As I said he only looks after himself and we're nothing but pawns in his game. Time to wake up guys and start ignoring him. Nothing good for us will come from him.

Yuri is not our saviour. He had so many chances in the past to be it and always took the step back. Yuri is nothing more than a businessman trying to earn as much as he can and using us as mere pawns in his marketing strategy.

Lets' stop creating all this hype around him.
Best post ever

« Reply #261 on: July 26, 2013, 03:19 »
+3
I checked one of tasks on Scoopshot few days ago - "Was your baby born yesterday, just like the Royal Baby Boy? Please record a short VIDEO clip of your newborn and tell us a bit about him or her - name, birth place and date, height and weight and, perhaps, a few details about the birth"
There was lot of PHOTOS - full page of babies and children - 1, 3, 5, 10, 12 years old, cats, dogs, parrots. I didn't check all photos but at first sight I haven't seen ANY VIDEO with newborn baby as described in brief.
Being client I doubt I would come back to Scoopshot again.
Crowdsourcing is basically good idea but let's face it - crowd includes many idiots.
It is not crowdsourcing, but trollsourcing :D and we all know, how many of them are on the net :D

« Reply #262 on: July 26, 2013, 03:28 »
0
DSLR image of a cell phone used to state that DSLR will be killed by cell phones... kikikiki



Yeah I noticed that too :D

« Reply #263 on: July 26, 2013, 03:31 »
+1
Scoopshot is a startup for photos on demand. It means that smb. needs an image(s) and all stupid (sorry) persons over the world or some location trying to create image on request. A contributor will get 2, 5 USD. Scoopshot will get an another 2, 5 USD.
Now let`s think. How this 2,5 dollars are sustainable. Transport to asked-demanded location needs some expenses too.
It is not traditional microstock at this moment. It is not selling a volume. Yes, an agency owners will receive some money. And Yuri is on the side of owners.
Maybe Scoopshot owners trying to sell this startup after one year to Getty. With big profit. This is a question.
Maybe an owners turn a Scoopshoot into camera phone images stock agency too. But there is a Foap already.
Mobile phone camere never will catch a quality of dslr or even a good pocket camera. More glass and bigger sensor is a key for technical quality. Apps and filters helps a lot, but cameraphone is ok in good light. In editorial photo business a light conditions are very often bad.
Sorry about my English.

http://www.jaaknilson.ee

Donvanstaden

« Reply #264 on: July 26, 2013, 03:40 »
0
Yuri works for Yuri... and that's all! He doesn't give a f*** about any of us

Honestly all I've read in Yuri's page and the few pages of this topic leave with one single thought: Yuri's rants are nothing but BS and a marketing gimmick!

If he really wanted to make a dent in this industry and make himself heard by the agencies CEO he could have done countless times in the past.

All it would take was to set up an agency himself, with the help from a few others in a similar position, like independent Black Diamonds in IS or the Fotolia Emeralds. In fact, nothing that hasn't been asked to him and others like him many, many times.

The money and time he spent on all those flights to wine and dine with the micro agencies CEO's, the setup of his own site and now the scoopshot.com adventure would be enough to create a game-changing agency! A few years back if Yuri had setup an agency with a decent royalty split I'm sure the vast, vast, vast majority of photographers would follow him withdrawing 70 or 80% of the salable images from all the agencies dragging the prices down, and shamelessly exploiting the contributors. I even believe that he could have some kind of an exclusive program and many people would accept it.

No one like him, in this industry, was in the position to accomplish to create a major earthquake in favor of the contributors. He had the knowledge of the business, the contacts with other successful photographers and even the funding to do it. With his high-profile (anything he said was repeated in all forums and debated to death) the word would spread like a wild-fire between contributors and clients.

But he always chose not to do it. As I said he only looks after himself and we're nothing but pawns in his game. Time to wake up guys and start ignoring him. Nothing good for us will come from him.

Yuri is not our saviour. He had so many chances in the past to be it and always took the step back. Yuri is nothing more than a businessman trying to earn as much as he can and using us as mere pawns in his marketing strategy.

Lets' stop creating all this hype around him.
Best post ever
+1

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #265 on: July 26, 2013, 03:51 »
+1
oh, maybe he's going to take them down, from the inside :D


Three minutes before to read your post I was thinking exactly the same.
Maybe he acts as a Trojan Horse, to better destroyed his main enemy from the inside :D

(I refer to the Story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Horse not to the virus  :P )
« Last Edit: July 26, 2013, 03:56 by Beppe Grillo »

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #266 on: July 26, 2013, 03:55 »
0
removed


« Reply #267 on: July 26, 2013, 04:35 »
0
... but let's face it - crowd includes many idiots.

'bout 95%

« Reply #268 on: July 26, 2013, 04:47 »
+1
If newspapers are firing photographers for iPhones it's just a matter of time. The question is how big the impact will be and how best to make money from it.

When firms eliminate jobs, it doesn't mean there is a way to "make money from it." It simply means that the owners or shareholders of that business get to keep more money because there are fewer employees to pay. A few people that were already doing quite well make a bit extra and lots of people that needed regular jobs to make ends meet are in a tougher situation.

It was this way for bank tellers, check out cashiers, farm labor, and now some of the higher skilled positions such as staff photo journalists. In the latter case, you can bet the firms aren't anxious to compensate the crowd sourced replacement, they just want cheap or free labor that's "good enough."

that's exactly what the Huffington Post and AOL are doing with unpaid bloggers and they also get some free images from readers.

shudderstok

« Reply #269 on: July 26, 2013, 04:52 »
0
Yuri works for Yuri... and that's all! He doesn't give a f*** about any of us

Honestly all I've read in Yuri's page and the few pages of this topic leave with one single thought: Yuri's rants are nothing but BS and a marketing gimmick!

If he really wanted to make a dent in this industry and make himself heard by the agencies CEO he could have done countless times in the past.

All it would take was to set up an agency himself, with the help from a few others in a similar position, like independent Black Diamonds in IS or the Fotolia Emeralds. In fact, nothing that hasn't been asked to him and others like him many, many times.

The money and time he spent on all those flights to wine and dine with the micro agencies CEO's, the setup of his own site and now the scoopshot.com adventure would be enough to create a game-changing agency! A few years back if Yuri had setup an agency with a decent royalty split I'm sure the vast, vast, vast majority of photographers would follow him withdrawing 70 or 80% of the salable images from all the agencies dragging the prices down, and shamelessly exploiting the contributors. I even believe that he could have some kind of an exclusive program and many people would accept it.

No one like him, in this industry, was in the position to accomplish to create a major earthquake in favor of the contributors. He had the knowledge of the business, the contacts with other successful photographers and even the funding to do it. With his high-profile (anything he said was repeated in all forums and debated to death) the word would spread like a wild-fire between contributors and clients.

But he always chose not to do it. As I said he only looks after himself and we're nothing but pawns in his game. Time to wake up guys and start ignoring him. Nothing good for us will come from him.

Yuri is not our saviour. He had so many chances in the past to be it and always took the step back. Yuri is nothing more than a businessman trying to earn as much as he can and using us as mere pawns in his marketing strategy.

Lets' stop creating all this hype around him.
Best post ever
+1

+1

that said, who was foolish enough to think he did give a flying f!ck about anyone but himself? or bruce of IS fame for that matter?

it's always been about business, and power to them! they succeeded and cashed in, nothing wrong with that.




« Reply #270 on: July 26, 2013, 04:56 »
0
As opposed to getty, a nice friendly and fair company loved so dearly by photographers :)

ok, but remember that agencies like Getty owe us nothing.
if many here have been refused by Getty they can only blame their portfolios.

and tell me one good reason why Getty should open the doors to any random amateurs, they've already istock and thinkstock for that.


« Reply #271 on: July 26, 2013, 04:57 »
0
sort of like 'over clocking' the cpu's in the old days and telling folks that you have a 1 GHz when your chip is a 550 MHz

Good points. And digital will never replace film. The quality just sucks! No professional will ever use digital... ;)

well !!!

digital cameras have been toys for many years, they were also costing an arm and a leg while with a nikon F4 and a good lens you could get amazing prints, and if that wasnt enough you still had medium format cameras and some of them are still smoking the D800E hands down in 2013.

yeah i remember articles about prototypes of 100MP sensors already 10 yrs ago but it look like an eternity, all you had in stores where 4MP and 6MP expensive toys, paired with slow computers, slow printers, slow internet, slow everything.

you can't blame pros for sticking to film until the launch of the canon 1Ds and nikon D3 ... that's when the digital market finally got serious and gave good reasons to pros to embrace digital.


« Reply #272 on: July 26, 2013, 05:02 »
+1
It's very confronting, isn't it, to be told what we all dread...  I had lunch with a journo friend today who moaned about bloggers ruining her industry, and how she refuses to turn up to cover events that bloggers have been invited to. "they take rubbish photos and have poor writing skills, and they get their stories up almost instantly" was the gist of it. I couldn't help but think: yeah, so you have to outdo them or find something else to do. I realised that she might well say the same to me if I whinged about microstock.

Things are changing and we need to find a way to make it work. Yuri is doing that for himself. Congrats.

she's right.
bloggers indeed take rubbish photos and can't write properly.

the problem is, readers as well are getting rougher and less sophisticated, they're more than ok with the rubbish they read on blogs and they also expect everything to be free.

it will be funny to see how this scenario will develop soon when nobody will go to cover events as they can't pay for the production costs and bloggers will start begging for money or stopping blogging altogether.

« Reply #273 on: July 26, 2013, 05:09 »
0
I'm not as sceptical as some of you about phone cameras. If tech-change over the past decade has shown us anything it's that disruption and amazing advances can and do happen. Who'd of thought I'd be shooting with a 36mp D800 a few years ago?

me !

there was already Hasselblad doing digital medium formats, and many rumours about sony's 12 and 24MP sensors in the works.

but if we talk about mobile phones sorry it's a lost battle.
sensor will get better and better but the LENS in phones will never have enough space to perform decently, let alone the autofocus and the lack of a real zoom etc

on the other side, small compacts like Sony NEX could maybe reach the quality of an entry level DSLR before or later, but they're still toys.

besides, the innovation in lenses in the last 10-20 yrs has been minimal.

suffice to say a Leica Noctilux F1.0 from the '70s is still producing sharper images than any canon or nikon lens sold today !


« Reply #274 on: July 26, 2013, 05:16 »
0
Scoopshot is a startup for photos on demand. It means that smb. needs an image(s) and all stupid (sorry) persons over the world or some location trying to create image on request. A contributor will get 2, 5 USD. Scoopshot will get an another 2, 5 USD.
Now let`s think. How this 2,5 dollars are sustainable. Transport to asked-demanded location needs some expenses too.
It is not traditional microstock at this moment. It is not selling a volume. Yes, an agency owners will receive some money. And Yuri is on the side of owners.
Maybe Scoopshot owners trying to sell this startup after one year to Getty. With big profit. This is a question.
Maybe an owners turn a Scoopshoot into camera phone images stock agency too. But there is a Foap already.
Mobile phone camere never will catch a quality of dslr or even a good pocket camera. More glass and bigger sensor is a key for technical quality. Apps and filters helps a lot, but cameraphone is ok in good light. In editorial photo business a light conditions are very often bad.
Sorry about my English.

http://www.jaaknilson.ee


Just the calories you burn thinking about it cost more  than 2,5$


 

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