2024 04 26
Abandoned house. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how time slowly eats away at things. This tree on our block has been slowly losing limbs. This house, behind the tree, has been sitting abandoned for years now, exposed to the elements, the wood surely rotting away and losing its strength. It’s a decision we can make, to hold on and keep gripping. But after enough storms, even the strongest among us eventually choose to allow nature to take its course.
Without death, life is not possible.
Eventually, the for sale sign goes up, and if luck plays any part, new life is breathed in and a new start can begin. The train depot becomes a hotel. The hotel becomes apartments. The cobbler becomes a scarf shop, then a music studio. Time is a flat circle, you hear on television show, a line the writers lifted from a book, which was stolen from a spoken tale. With luck, your circle will be one filled with joy and adventure.
-Clayton
2025 01 07
This morning, I woke up to the news that Getty Images was merging with Shutterstock. I then logged onto Threads and saw outrage from a photographer about how the companies now have a monopoly and that we photographers should not allow this to happen!
Fast forward to the end of the day. Out of curiosity, I checked the stock prices to see what the market thinks of this soon-to-be photography monopoly. Well, at first they loved it! Prices of both companies soared. Then, the market took a moment to think about why these two companies that dominate the photography world decided to merge into one mega company, and the frantic buying turned into frantic selling.
Getty was up an impressive 89% (!) in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 17%.
Shutterstock was up 48% in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 14%.
My immediate takeaway this morning was not that this newly-created mega company was going to kill the photography industry but that it was a necessary hail mary by two companies that see the writing on the wall. If they don’t do something, they will die. If they do do something, they will still probably die. Ai is inevitable and it’s depressing, to say the least, as someone who makes a living from making photos.
All this said, I don’t think photography is done. Hell, there will still even be quite a few people making a dang good living from photography for years to come. But the industry as a whole is in for a rough time and companies with market caps in the billions will no soon longer exist if their entire business depends on selling photography.
Good night, and good luck.
Now… back to the webinar I’m currently taking (along with three dozen other people!) on how to print photo zines. Yes, there is likely more demand than ever for making photos, which is cool! It’s the getting paid for making photos that will continue to get more challenging.
-Clayton
A town without people. Old Shawneetown, Illinois. April, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This morning, I woke up to the news that Getty Images was merging with Shutterstock. I then logged onto Threads and saw outrage from a photographer about how the companies now have a monopoly and that we photographers should not allow this to happen!
Fast forward to the end of the day. Out of curiosity, I checked the stock prices to see what the market thinks of this soon-to-be photography monopoly. Well, at first they loved it! Prices of both companies soared. Then, the market took a moment to think about why these two companies that dominate the photography world decided to merge into one mega company, and the frantic buying turned into frantic selling.
Getty was up an impressive 89% (!) in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 17%.
Shutterstock was up 48% in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 14%.
My immediate takeaway this morning was not that this newly-created mega company was going to kill the photography industry but that it was a necessary hail mary by two companies that see the writing on the wall. If they don’t do something, they will die. If they do do something, they will still probably die. Ai is inevitable and it’s depressing, to say the least, as someone who makes a living from making photos.
All this said, I don’t think photography is done. Hell, there will still even be quite a few people making a dang good living from photography for years to come. But the industry as a whole is in for a rough time and companies with market caps in the billions will no soon longer exist if their entire business depends on selling photography.
Good night, and good luck.
Now… back to the webinar I’m currently taking (along with three dozen other people!) on how to print photo zines. Yes, there is likely more demand than ever for making photos, which is cool! It’s the getting paid for making photos that will continue to get more challenging.
-Clayton