So, this is like Hogwarts?

I'm thinking this can only be bad for all of us

I'm thinking this can only be bad for all of us

Why so? Yuri's is a numbers game, formulaic and repetitive. He can increase his output astronomically, and it won't be much of a threat to anyone focused on creativity.

It's also anything but guaranteed this initiative will run its course. He's basically saying he wants 10-15 new interns for 3 years - a tall order. I wonder what the drop out rate will be out of this non-accredited 'school'. Not that it will matter much I guess. He most likely keeps the copyright, people can drop out when they like.

The only mystery left to Yuri is how he doesn't go mad, churning out the same over and over. I guess the money keeps him sane! :-D

...but it's enough of a possibility to worry me in an already saturated industry.

Think about the numbers. Even if all 15 'students' were to able to produce a massive 1000 new images per month each, for all of the supposed 36 months of the exercise, it would still only amount to about 500K in total. That's not much in the greater scheme of things over 3 years. How much would that all cost in terms of models, sets, etc? Far more realistic would be 100 new images per month per student in which case it is only 50K images over 3 years. That's no real threat at all unless they happen to compete directly with your own subject matter.

Quote from: SNP on September 22, 2011, 18:29

...but it's enough of a possibility to worry me in an already saturated industry.

Think about the numbers. Even if all 15 'students' were to able to produce a massive 1000 new images per month each, for all of the supposed 36 months of the exercise, it would still only amount to about 500K in total. That's not much in the greater scheme of things over 3 years. How much would that all cost in terms of models, sets, etc? Far more realistic would be 100 new images per month per student in which case it is only 50K images over 3 years. That's no real threat at all unless they happen to compete directly with your own subject matter.

maybe.

I wouldn't scoff too much at the "no photography experience required" bit...just go back four or five years and look at the earliest files from some of the biggest microstock shooters. people can and do learn very quickly.

Quote from: Sadstock on September 22, 2011, 06:48

Very little photography knowledge is needed

I can't stop looking at this!

Look at the bottom of the first page of the flyer : http://www.arcurs.com/wp-content/uploads/Become-a-Photographer.pdf

"NO PHOTOGRAPHY BACKGROUND IS REQUIRED!"

This doesn't seem serious at all.. at least for me.

But isn't that how Yuri started?  I thought he tried the micro thing to get through college.

Or do I have my rock stars mixed up?

You were joking, right?

[....] I'm guessing Yuri is moving into editorial stock, for which the only real skill you need is being able to be somewhere with a camera, [....]

I still can't see a reality TV show about stock photography being on a big channel.  Wont it be on one of the digital channels that don't get many viewers?  And it doesn't look definite, it's only potentially going to happen.  Perhaps they want to film a bit and then decide?  It might be on a channel that none of us can get, so we have to buy the DVD.

It would be of interest to most stock photographers but I'm not sure it would be watched by many of the general public.

[....] I'm guessing Yuri is moving into editorial stock, for which the only real skill you need is being able to be somewhere with a camera, [....]

You were joking, right?

No I wasn't joking - His advert mentions they'll be travelling around the world. There's a lot of money to be made from editorial stock, just read the Alamy forums there's one guy who's got 65k images and a look into his portfolio reveals he has no photographic skills whatsoever, seriously he walks down the street somehwhere with the thing on motor drive and submits the lot, and he's not alone, there's loads of folks there who have portfolios full of nothing more than snap shots, if you read their posts you'd think they were some of the worlds best photographers but they've no talent at all, yet each month they post how much they've made. So my guess is that Yuri's seen the potential to send these 'students' off on their travels, then hook them up with some models and you've got 10-15 people shooting model released editorial travel shots with Yuris compositional training (and he's very good at composition) and Seans photographic training, get them to sign away the copyright and he's onto a winner IMO - good for him.

Like I say that's my guess, oh and I wasn't trying to insult editorial photographers as a whole, quality always shines through just as in commercial stock.

I think the reality TV thing is just a spin off, Yuri is a master in the art of selling himself and I expect he's sold the idea to a TV company after he came up with the student thing, not the other way round.

Whatever your personal opinion of Yuri and his work nobody can deny the guy is certainly the worlds most successful 'self promoter' even when he doesn't deliberately self promote, and I admire him for that, I wish I had half the marketing skills he has.

Firstly. Please show a good tone in this thread. I know this is a forum, but don't drag this thread down to the lowest level. You may feel this is a threat or that somebody is getting chances you never got, but again.... How many educational programs for young people offer them three years of photography education, traveling the world and to get paid while doing it...? This is unique and it deserves to be acknowledged.
Travel expenses will be paid fully - all three years. The idea is that the candidates we choose will be able to pay 50% for the education through work with real clients and on real shoots. This will off cause not be the case at first where we will have a lot of expenses on this (first year or so). In my eyes, the best practice is in doing. In my opinion, schools have a tendency to become very distant to the real world practice of the subject they are teaching. I spent five years studying psychology and found that i knew nothing of what it meant to be a good psychologist. In this program we try to break with this.

I will address some questions.
Q. Will I be Offered a job after graduation? After graduation of the boot camp or after graduation of the three years? Is the �job� paid?
A. There are two questions here. Yes and yes. The education program is set up in such a way that if you pass the bootcamp you get offered a student position which will be paid (very low). We can pay you because you quite fast will have to work with real clients and real projects.

Q. Is there a specific place we have to stay while we�re in Cape Town?
A. You can stay anywhere in Cape Town. You must just be able to show up at our headquarter every day for classes. The headquarter is located at 79 Roeland Street.

Q. I�d be totally cool with traveling for half the year, but how would the six months be divided? Would it allow for us to have a part-time job for the time we�re not traveling?
A. At LEAST half a year. And those six months you might be in Denmark for three of them, in Australia for two, in Japan for one, etc. But you will be all over the place and must be able to do this.

Q. How many people do you expect to sign up for the boot camp?! 10 or 100? Is there a cap on how many you will let into the boot camp?
A. We expect about 500 applications and will select 100 for bootcamp. Out of those we expect 10-20 to pass for the class. This is elite. Only the best of the best, but don�t let this stop you. The adventure of the bootcamp will be a thing in itself.

Q. It's a 3 years course with no dates defined? Being one semester of classes per year all in random events?
A. This is full time. About 4 weeks of vacation each year. Classes and exams are not ordered in semesters. Some take four weeks, some take a year..some require you to be in another country and do a project.

Q. Will we be shooting stock photography only?
A. Absolutely not. You will be shooting for clients and work on other projects when you are ready.

sounds like it should be called an internship or something like that.

Firstly. Please show a good tone in this thread. I know this is a forum, but don't drag this thread down to the lowest level. You may feel this is a threat or that somebody is getting chances you never got, but again.... How many educational programs for young people offer them three years of photography education, traveling the world and to get paid while doing it...? This is unique and it deserves to be acknowledged.
Travel expenses will be paid fully - all three years. The idea is that the candidates we choose will be able to pay 50% for the education through work with real clients and on real shoots. This will off cause not be the case at first where we will have a lot of expenses on this (first year or so). In my eyes, the best practice is in doing. In my opinion, schools have a tendency to become very distant to the real world practice of the subject they are teaching. I spent five years studying psychology and found that i knew nothing of what it meant to be a good psychologist. In this program we try to break with this.

I will address some questions.
Q. Will I be Offered a job after graduation? After graduation of the boot camp or after graduation of the three years? Is the �job� paid?
A. There are two questions here. Yes and yes. The education program is set up in such a way that if you pass the bootcamp you get offered a student position which will be paid (very low). We can pay you because you quite fast will have to work with real clients and real projects.

Q. Is there a specific place we have to stay while we�re in Cape Town?
A. You can stay anywhere in Cape Town. You must just be able to show up at our headquarter every day for classes. The headquarter is located at 79 Roeland Street.

Q. I�d be totally cool with traveling for half the year, but how would the six months be divided? Would it allow for us to have a part-time job for the time we�re not traveling?
A. At LEAST half a year. And those six months you might be in Denmark for three of them, in Australia for two, in Japan for one, etc. But you will be all over the place and must be able to do this.

Q. How many people do you expect to sign up for the boot camp?! 10 or 100? Is there a cap on how many you will let into the boot camp?
A. We expect about 500 applications and will select 100 for bootcamp. Out of those we expect 10-20 to pass for the class. This is elite. Only the best of the best, but don�t let this stop you. The adventure of the bootcamp will be a thing in itself.

Q. It's a 3 years course with no dates defined? Being one semester of classes per year all in random events?
A. This is full time. About 4 weeks of vacation each year. Classes and exams are not ordered in semesters. Some take four weeks, some take a year..some require you to be in another country and do a project.

Q. Will we be shooting stock photography only?
A. Absolutely not. You will be shooting for clients and work on other projects when you are ready.

So you are reasonably charitable person, and one who thinks running a business should come with a sense of social responsibility, that besides making profit, you should be part of building to a long - term upholdable society?