Almost a year ago to date, Sports Illustrated cut all staff photographers from its payroll, opting instead to rely on freelancers for images—a move that naturally came with plenty of criticism.
Since then things have been mostly silent on the employment front, but the Time Inc. franchise is back at it again.
New reports say that Sports Illustrated Director of Photography Brad Smith and Photo Editors Clair Bourgeois and John Blackmar will be laid off as part of a larger restructuring plan.
There’s no specific information on when their tenure will end, but as pointed out by Photo Business News & Forum, one of the largest sporting events in the world is just around the corner—the Super Bowl.
Screenshot of Brad Smith’s Twitter account as it currently stands.
Combine the impending Superbowl with Time Inc’s latest contract debacle, which has left many talented photographers refusing to re-sign the contract until changes are made, and things could get extremely messy for the magazine that prides itself on being the go-to publication for sporting event coverage.
The 2016 Summer Olympics (Rio) also aren’t too far off in the realm of things, adding another element to the chaos.
It’ll be interesting to see how things pan out over the coming weeks and months.
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