Who Pays Photographers And How Much (Or How Little) They Pay Out

The blog, Who Pays Photographers, has been around for a little while, but a link to the site recently popped up over on Reddit, reminding me of what a great resource it can be. The blog, which is a spin off of the popular Who Pays Writers, describes itself as “A space to list how much — and how little — magazines, newspapers, websites, NGOs and corporations pay photographers.” The posts on the website, which are all anonymously submitted from photographers around the world, contain a brief summary of the photographers experience on a particular job. The details include the type of job, the pay rate, and how quickly the photographers were paid after they completed the assignment. 

The blogs About page warns that the website is intended to be used as “an exercise in sharing, rather than shaming”, but thoughtfully prepared statements about deadbeat companies are encouraged to serve as a heads up for other photographers. Who Pays Photographers also makes note of the fact that different photographers will have had different experiences with certain companies. The blog asks it’s users to submit a rate and review if they come across a previous post from a photographer with a conflicting experience. They also invite companies to submit rates, or at least their side of the story, should they find themselves falsely accused of something. I personally find this aspect of the website to be crucial, as it helps to serve as a means of checks and balances.

There are plenty of good reviews along with an inevitable handful of horror stories. I also found this to be refreshing, as reading 20 pages of negative reviews would be entirely too discouraging. Definitely worth taking a look at if you sell your images or even just thinking about it.

You can visit the Who Pays Photographers website here. Meanwhile, scroll down to the comments below and let us know your thoughts on whether or not a service such as WPP is beneficial or detrimental to the industry, as I have a suspicion there are some mixed opinions on the matter!

[ via Reddit ]