IGI features
Ken Dubrowski: stock illustration issues
Jul, 27, 2001The issue of stock illustration and photography is one that is raging in the US and although it directly affects us living in Europe, the reaction has been less energetic. Ken Dubrowski, illustrator, editor of Illustrators’ News and founder member of the Illustrators’ Partnership of America writes about the need to educate artists away from supplying stock agencies and start controlling their own volume of past work.
Who is doing whom a favor?
In a recent article, Bart Forbes stated that artist have become “willing victims of a variety of entities that profess to help their careers” I completely agree, and we have done so for an assortment of mind-numbing reasons. From signing work for hire contracts and exclusivity deals in stocks houses that allow these companies freedom to sell work for pennies, to throwing piles of money at source books and self-involved agents who leave artists after going belly-up, we have shown a common singularity. We are entrusting others to decide the value of our work, while we have no idea of its value.
Illustrators do not see their work as others seemingly do. Why would Getty or Corbis be so interested in illustration if they do not see financial opportunities there? We are to blame for not questioning further those that offer new “dynamic opportunities” to help illustrators. For whatever reason, we accept their claims that they have our best interests in mind. We will keep spinning our wheels until we stop seeing ourselves as helpless victims or understand we control our product. For example, recently an “advertising spokesman” for a stock house stated that he was a target in the stock controversy solely because of his financial success. In fact it was his failure to not understand the larger issue at stake that first created the controversy and our failure for not realizing sooner that he was just another spokesman for a stock house.
Artists must learn how to negotiate deals. We must also wise up to every spokesman that offers us their services and to be sure that we know if it is “us” they are helping or “themselves”. More and more people are trying to sell illustrators on the idea that they are out to help illustrators, when in fact the opposite is true. Listen carefully and you will start to hear language being used that we first created to bring many of these issues to light. Apparently people now see a new opportunity to use our arguments as sales pitches to sell their product. Be smart. Illustrators must be sure not to become participants to the next generation of get rich schemes.
Stock houses are now pitching their services to artists as the “only way” to keep illustrators in business because of “new changes in the industry”. Source books tell artists that the best investment is to continue to pay out $4,000 a page because we have to stand up to those evil stock houses. Agents say that by giving them-selves more of a percentage, we could compete against stock-houses and sourcebooks. On and on it goes. We have to decide what to do on our own and we have to do so more intelligently than ever before. We have to stop listening to people who offer bumper sticker philosophy or suggest some type of “Peter Pan” solutions to all our problems. Instead the time has come to move beyond the victim mentality that seems to be popular and get some real answers. If we are to truly get beyond this situation it is not going to be by following those that trot out old, tired ideas. Our need to face challenges is much clearer than ever before.
We need to be responsible and question everything as clear and as intelligent as possible. It’s time that illustrators learn the business of illustration and speak up. We should not stand back and wait for some white knight to ride the wave of artist1s frustration to come and rescue us. We must do it on our own, and do it wisely.
Ken Dubrowski is an illustrator in Boston MA and the editor of the Illustrator’s News, a grassroots newsletter funded by the Illustrator’s Partnership of America and the Illustration Conference Committee.
To receive back issues of the Illustrator’s News please go to the Illustrator’s Partnership web site illustratorspartnership.org
