Sony wants more female photographers for its Alpha Female ambassador program, with grants for projects which offer $5,000, a full frame Sony camera and lens, and more.
The diversity of brand ambassadors for major camera brands has been a hot topic for a while. Most recently, Nikon South Africa came under fire — and for good reason — for announcing seven new affiliated influencers, only one of whom is Black, despite more than three-quarters of South Africa being Black.
Sony have started a female specific movement to address any imbalance, and now they are calling for more to apply.
If you're a female photographer or videographer with an idea for a project, you could secure $5,000 in grants, a full frame Sony camera and lens, a year long Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, one year of Sony PRO Support membership, and the chance to be featured across Sony's many channels.
Well .... you could start by telling me which lives don't matter. Or which lives matter, but not as much as other lives. That would be a good start.
Well .... you could start by telling me which lives don't matter. Or which lives matter, but not as much as other lives. That would be a good start.
Why is it so hard for people to grasp the most basic of concepts?
1) Highlighting an issue in an effort to bring about change doesn't minimize anything or anyone else.
2) Pretending women and minorities aren't discriminated against and dismissing their experiences is the epitome of privilege.
Irene, I admire your work and followed you in YT for some time now.
I know more female photographers than male. I follow more female photographers than males.
Your world view is restricted to your own world and it is a very slim piece of the whole.
Fortunately for you I don't base where I spend my time and money on race or gender, only quality of work and yours is very good. But as a male (not white, but whatever) I will say that I have been pushed back for a female because of gender as far back as 2010.
I hope you see that trading "white male" privilege for "diversity" privilege is the worst outcome. The best is no privilege at all and each one be judged by their own merits.
Your own experience is an anecdote and as a male photographer you obviously never experienced prejudiced just because of your gender, so i get why you simply can't "get it"
Unless you are able to prove your statements just shut-up please.
Irene, I just look at your photography work. You are very good. But why are your photos all woman and none of men? Just curious.
I have photographed many men before, but it's not my preference and has nothing to so with this discussion.
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Male photographers rail against other male photographers continuously. Most guys quietly suck it up and move on. It's important to recognize that men have no problem denying access to other men. Targets of derision aren't usually specifically gendered. It's more likely the degree of risk that a competitor presents.
If you're getting knocked down a peg in the industry from time to time it's possibly because you're a legitimate threat to someone else's livelihood, or just aren't what the person doing the hiring is looking for. We're all fiercely competitive.
I tend to think women are a safer hire in photography right now. They also tend to be better at quickly establishing interpersonal relationships with subjects than most men. If I were an agency I would deviate toward hiring capable female photographers also because a generalized trust of women afford them more access to sensitive subjects.
One thing I will say, and this is going to get me blasted, women use their physical privilege in ways guys can't.
Boobs and booty get clicks. Right or wrong, everyone knows it and many women exploit it. It's a foundation concept in Western marketing. It's a smart and potentially lucrative move if you're willing to put yourself on display. But let's call a spade a spade. No average male photographer could get away with this. Maybe a ripped dude with a very specific personality type. He's still likely to be construed as tacky, if not downright pervy.
Male shooters on a beach are expected to at least wear shorts and a shirt of some kind and maintain a subjective standard of professionalism, both in dress and they way they interact with the subject. Beach business casual, if there is such a thing, and don't be creepy.
The ability to monetize ones own chest and/or backside is almost exclusively a female privilege.
The ability to be insulated from criticism for doing so is also a female privilege. You're not going to make friends by commenting on a female photographer's attire, inappropriate or not.
Example, Irene rocking the bikini on the video linked below.
Maybe Matt Granger, Tony Northup & Fro are out there burning up the beach in speedos crawling up their butts that I haven't seen yet.
It's reasonable to say Irene is exploiting a privilege that her male counterparts cannot, although I'd love to see the men try (okay, maybe not).
Boys in bikinis challenge anyone?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyjRGRgQ2RA&feature=youtu.be&t=55
I know you said booties and boobs get clicks, but I see no booty here. Perhaps it's a great image.
I see plenty of booties and wet-tshirt boobs. Woman know it sells and exploit it to their advantage. Something Sony will look forward to. You know it, I know it, they know it, everybody knows it. And who's complaining.
looooool i am wearing a bikini on a beach, should i be wearing a burka? Just shows your very dated views about women, grow up!
Also thanks for putting the link to my video in the comments, more views for me :)
"Male photographers rail against other male photographers continuously." That is very true. Just look at the crowd over at DPReview. Or any other male oriented forum. Women can hardly listen to the kind of sharp criticism us men hurl at each other all the time. That is what makes us stronger, and better.
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You need to be better than your male counter parts. Let your work speak for you that's where you get respect.
As a male professional photographer for the past 15 years, I think that females have the edge in many areas of photography, and also have a huge edge when it comes to things like street photography (in that people feel more comfortable having a young woman take their photo than a strange man), boudoir and portrait photography. I know Brooke Shaden has acknowledged this a few times.
Men are just more aggressive at promoting themselves than women are (testosterone and such, which isn't necessarily a good thing) and use this to their advantage, especially when it comes to things like sport photography... though sometimes I think that has more to do with the fact men (on average) watch/enjoy sports more than women. I feel women also have the edge in photography as women generally are better artistically than men: you are a much better photographer than any of the hyper aggressive current Sony Ambassadors which are almost all male. You are also much more modest and don't get caught up in the "my camera is better than yours" game that seems to sell and get views on Youtube (Manny Ortiz is even getting caught up in that game and I've lost a lot of respect for him after he was one of my fav photographers for many years). Women (on average) care more about the final image than shouting out specs of their camera (like many men do maybe to make up for other shortcomings? LOL)
With that said, Sony hypes their products more than any company in the photo game (to the point of being annoying). Something like this is good PR and will sell cameras.
Confirmation Bias is a strong one.
I also get treated like shit. Has it got something to do with my skin being browner than blue eyed blondes? I don’t think so. This is my theory, for the most part:
People are vile.
I’m not suggesting that you could be experiencing disadvantages - or maybe you are more privileged than I am. How can I tell. How can you tell?
Irene, your portfolio and work is full of images that look more artificial and plastic than those produced by Chinese apps on the go. I'd be surprised if you were never criticized. There are indeed substantially better and more daring photographers than you.
Why are male sports photographers more valuable? Maybe because men understand what other men seek in sports - they don't just seek a super high resolution image. They seek thrill, blitz, combat, climax, challenge - an entire story. How can whiny white females who don't even play those sports ever exceed men in their grasp of the subject? They can't.
This attempt by Sony is another event in the long list of actions that seek to transfer wealth from men to women, offering zero benefits or returns for men. Maybe if white female had their own children, they'd stop running around childless, whining like a child, and men wouldn't have to spend thousands of dollars to pat them on their heads for their little efforts.
Men create cameras. They build 90% of the intelligence engineered in the camera. If women can't even grasp the remaining 10%, it is not a male privilege issue. Maybe if women were humble, they might actually learn to value what men create.
I'm sure this initiative will only benefit white women. It's likely there won't even be any Japanese woman, much less anyone else, in the final list of winners. Will white women fight for discrimination against Asian women by Sony?
Wow!!!! just wow, what a bunch of BS with a nice heavy hand of misogyny. Goof job at just proving my point my dude
And women don't play sports? Understand the feeling or how to tell a story from it? I was raised with several brothers and also have played on football and Gaelic teams. I know the rush of the game and can capture those moments telling the story the emotion. You don't need a penis to empathise with a sport or capture that moment and id say the same the other way around. The truth is this is a male dominated field and a chance to boost a female voice and some representation should be welcomed not pushed back against.
" raised with several brothers" you admit the positive male influence yourselves. "You don't need a penis to empathize..." why do women keep deluding themselves in this regard? Male organ is responsible for specific psyche and energy that no female can ever achieve. You cannot change biology. Men bond over sports - they even invent sports when left to themselves. Have you ever invented a combative sport with other girls? I have invented over a dozen in childhood when we were short of space or equipments.
"The truth is this is a male dominated field..." Its been a hundred years since women are educated, and half a century since everybody is working. Can't women already create an economy of their own and kindly leave men alone? Men are happy to be left alone in their own preoccupations and have never needed any woman.
I'd be happy if a group of women were funding women only competitions. I just hate seeing men fund things they'd get nothing out of. As much as a woman can deny any man butting into her life, men too are not interested in throwing money at random women. Are not men free to have their own preferences and not share it with anyone they do not wish to? All this is institutionalized leeching.
"a chance to boost a female voice..." this ain't the 1800s and it is not the job of men to boost your voice, or even listen to your voice. Can't you already fund your own voices?
Lol I hope this is satire!
Yeah i had brothers, i played with them and also played with girls and fought physically with them in combative games. limiting people to these specific roles and ideas and saying that they couldnt understand universal feelings of bonding and team building and comradeship is frankly outdated and bullshit. I think the assumption here of knowing someones place in genre based on gender has a place in history, in the past. Women have created their own niches and have also helped the economy, women's education and expectations have completely evolved within the last 50 years let alone 100 as has marketing. The world has changed and companies like sony who do employ 100s of thousands of people. Have female employees and are worth billions. these companies can afford 5 grand and a chance to become a brand ambassador marketed to women. I personally fund my own projects through my commercial works, selling prints and working in many different and diverse means and genres. I have many men women and non binary people to thank for that . To finish off, i hope your models and female clients don't find this and how you cant get over the fact that companies aren't marketing exclusively to u and want to use their massive platform to encourage diversity in the field. Thank you, next.
It all depends on many factors but I agree with Irene, males usually get faster spotlight in most cases. At least in my field of photography cosplay and nudity. I almost got instantly sponsored and got many contracts, and I know only one or two females in the same photography type. It's only a marketing tactic and it's refreshing from Sony to do this. I work with 90% females mostly and even tho few of them would like to get a opportunity but they don't get it.
Sony may feel that there are not enough women buying their cameras, so they want to use the Alpha program as a platform to show that they are interested in selling more stuff to the woman photographer market.
Many marketing studies show that people like, trust and often want to buy from people they can relate to,. Older white guys like me may prefer to buy from older white guys, cuz we don't trust the young kid knowitalls.
Theoretically the sales pie is getting bigger with each addition of a neglected group of buyers.
This is not a zero sum game...
Sure it's a smart move from them for advertising purposes , but in the end it benefits both parties.
Yes, it's a symbiotic relationship.
Everything should be judged without knowing who submitted. There should also be a popular vote by their followers. If everything really is about the quality of the work, why does no one let that be whats doing the talking then?
Teresa - you contradict your first sentence with the second. Judged without knowing then voted on by their followers makes no sense...
It's not 100% about the quality of work. Art is pretty subjective. Commerce is less subjective but when a company supports a photographer, race car driver, pro lumberjack, etc they want a person skilled at their craft who can promote the company's position. That's it. If the company want to get more women buying cameras, a woman is a good choice to sponsor.
Sony (and all other companies who work with influencers) is not trying to find the "Bestest Photographer in the World" for their marketing program(s). Best what kind of photographer? Portrait, food, glamour, fashion, documentary, editorial, product, location, travel, sports, newborn, wedding, bugs birds and bears?
They just want a good photographer who can help them sell stuff.
How did i contradict myself? A popular vote from the followers can still be blind. It simply means which photos the follwers vote for more. Thats not a contradiction at all.
You say its not about the quality of work but, thats not 100% true really. Look at everyones debating comments. The issus is that there a men who feel as though this is discrimination against their gender, and that "Their work should speak for itself". The women are saying that their work is never given equall and fair opportunities, or even looked at as professional.
So I fail to see how 100% anonymous submissions and voiting blind would not help figure this out.
They also dont just want a good photographer, they want someone who hustles and knows the social media game.
Popular vote from what followers? Photographers? Sony?
I said the quality of work is not the only thing, the prospective photographers should all be equally great in whatever genre they shoot as a given. The second part of hiring /sponsoring/supporting a photographer spokesperson is how well they work the media game, do they have lots of followers, can they do a good interview about a new lens or camera. I have seen this with a program a car company did with young race drivers, the fastest was not always chosen to get the $100,000 sponsor check, the winner was fast but could sell the product too.
My corner of the photo world used to be a good old boys network of mostly white guys who all knew each other and most worked for each other at some time, very tight network. about 50 dudes , 2 women and 1 or 2 people of color... that was in Detroit. When I moved to LA there was a very different demographic
It is not a photo contest where someone gets a blue ribbon from the voting of random self selected voters. So a blind vote wouldn't be the goal of Sony. It is for marketing. Corporations have marketing departments to decide how to market...not mob rule
They want people to buy their products.
Blind voting by their judges, and their followers or open the public would put more emphasis back onto the photos and less of who took it. So when you and companies start thinking along the lines of
"do they have lots of followers, can they do a good interview about a new lens or camera."
You start taking away from the photo itself. A photographer shouldnt actually have to worry about all that, the company should. They should be able to search high and low for photos that simple captivate people.
Look at it like singing. Popstars are all about their personas and how they carry themselves. Hence why they started pushing their political stand points. They can seldomly actually sing. This causes a lot of people over the age of 15 to stray from pop music. Because they feel there is a lack of actual talent or that spark. They want more than "What sells" Thats exactly what it is like when anything photographery related puts more importance on potential outreach as aposed to just the imagery.
The "what sells" thinking drastically needs a reevaluation.
There are times it should matter who the photographer is. Like practicing culture appropriation.
Why can't it be both? That's the prize the companies are looking for. It's commerce not art.
A skilled photographer AND a good self marketer who can promote the product. That's the secret sauce.
Like it or not companies are lazy and want the talent to do half the work for them.
Today photographers of certain genres need to be performers as well as good photogs.
Love the Alpha Female competition! Had a few of their past alumni on the podcast and they do amazing work. It's great to see their work being pushed forward.
Also to all the angry people in the comments if you're a male just leave the debate and go shoot - we have no experience of what being a female is and never will so why pretend?
We need more work from female photographer being shared! Why? Because it benefits everyone's creativity and doesn't take away anything from anyone. This is not a zero sum game.
So by your argument, Black skinned people should not get offended by this Chinese ad below that converts an African into a Chinese, because as a Black skinned person, by your own definition, you are too biased to judge.
Sorry bigotry just is bigotry and SONY is playing the same game.
Imagine if they had an ALPHA MALE competition. Ridiculous!
Made an account just to post here. I know that the majority feels that "back in the day" everyone was hired based on their qualifications. However, you've been bamboozled. All you have to do is change the name on your job application from a 'majority' sounding name to a 'minority' sounding name and see how many calls you get back with each application (all other things being the same). Do you truly believe that there were NO other qualified people to be President other than 'majority race' males...for the last 300 years? Do you truly believe that ONLY people of majority race works hard, and everyone else gets handouts? Do you truly believe that ONLY criminals get stopped by police, so if someone is stopped by the police he/she must be doing something wrong? If all lives matter to you, why have you not questioned this? How many men are passed over for promotions in place of a woman? How many men get sideways (demeaning, misogynist, racist, etc.) comments said to them on the job? How many men make a statement at work and get talked over, or worse, their words stolen, by women? Why have you not questioned the lack of diversity in your workplace? Or do you feel that because you have a city mouse and country mouse working in cubicles next to each other, you're diverse? I'm in countless photography forums. The majority of posters are male. The majority of contests are led by males. The majority of winners are...MALE. Finally Sony says, "hey, let's get some more women in here...here's a contest with a tiny-a$$ budget for a camera and a project." Men: bUt wHaT aBouT uS??? Wait, what? What happened to all lives matter? You're two-faced if you feel that you believe that all lives matter, and yet you're complaining about one contest with meager winnings--TAXED. Sooo, please just stop it. The population is 50/50 or 51/49 men/women, and yet men are the most qualified in almost all these areas? No.
"The majority of posters are male. The majority of contests are led by males. The majority of winners are...MALE. "
Maybe because men invented the camera, and drive all the innovations. Has anybody ever stopped any woman from buying a camera or making her own website/forum? Don't blame men if they are not interested in female oriented work, and don't want to hire them. Who will hire a female photographer companion to go shoot in remote places in today's MeToo world?
Stop ranting on men and create your own independent economy(if you can...). Men are not born to spend their life providing resources or jobs to women. This ain't the 1800s.
Maths: if the majority of posters are male, then a male winning a competition is pretty normal, don’t you think?
Just give it a try - all numbers from 1 to 8 are males and 9, 10 are females. See how often males win:
http://www.randomnumbergenerator.com/
Now you can argue that women don’t want to be photographers because they think they cannot win, the latest is: they don’t have role models to look up to.
Really?
Plenty of successful females to look up to. Also isn’t that a bit, how should I say, bigoted (?), if all you care is for someone to look like you for that person to be a role model?
How about other jobs/professions/arts then?
Is it possible that perhaps males are just more interested in the domain and in this particular field?
So many questions.
And just one simple answer: Quotas.
Not so fast cowgirl (or cowboy), two wrongs don’t make a right! Goals don’t justify ends! And so on!
I mean, I shouldn't be surprised at the male photographers who instantly get taken seriously within the industry (often despite lack of experience, ability or training) whining about how this grant program is excluding them, but the thing itself explains why it exists:
"The visual creator industry needs diverse voices to thrive and reach new heights. We're on a mission to support the growth of underrepresented voices in photography, videography, and filmmaking, and provide a platform for creators across the artistic spectrum furthering this mission with their work."
How is this hard to understand? Women's vision and voice in photography is hugely underrepresented because of all the unconscious bias (and sometimes conscious bias) which exists. We live in a world where everyone assumes a male photographer knows what he's doing and is super talented (and male photographers don't seem to suffer the same self-doubt and lack of confidence that many female photographers do), where their vision is assumed to be the only relevant vision primarily because the audience is male, and yet we expect female photographers to push out huge bodies of work and prove themselves before we take them seriously. It's tiresome. It's sad that men can't see this, but completely understandable. You don't experience it.
Good subject to discuss as long as we all learn something and don't take things too personally. Man and woman certainly see things differently. And that is a good thing. And we both have been in the photography business for well over 100 years.
Okay, here is the difference I found through research. When a man takes a picture he does so through the eyes of a man. The same is with a woman, which is why there are more bridal photos taken by woman. I think Sony wants to sell more cameras to woman. And Sony thinks the best way to achieve more sales to woman is through the eyes of another woman. Unfortunately, Sony didn't say that. In fact, the title of the article was, "Apply for 'Alpha Female Plus' Grant Program". Which is an entirely different meaning. Therefore the whole discussion was about why exclude men from a "Grant Program".
And no, woman don't work harder than man which is why woman usually outlive men (statistics).
You just prove what I always suspected; that this victimisation conversation is supported by mainly one thing:
A confirmation bias narrative.
I don’t know how else to tell you this, petal, but real life has lttle to do with Instagram and it’s a struggle, a challenge and generally hard ... and no... not “even” the males get “instant success”.
Did you really think that men are just successful by walking into a room like John Wayne?
That’s just Hollywood darl!
Deleted User David Pavlich There would be no need for affirmative action if the playing field was equal, fair. But it’s not, now is it? It’s sad that someone has to be told to give someone a chance that is just as good or maybe better because they’ve been kept out due to race, gender, or religion. So then what might that say about all of the jobs that you’ve gotten so far? Maybe because of your race, gender, religion - because society said it was the right one. I’m just going to leave that there. Everyone should have a opportunity to participate but they haven’t because of things like race. Affirmative action is just an opportunity- it’s not actually the job.
I already said is shouldn't be about age, race, gender, or religion. So I guess affirmative action is just an excuse for sad losers and lazy people who can't except defeat gracefully.
If someone makes a conscious effort to discriminate for just about any reason, it's wrong. I'm guilty of discriminating, but I 'discriminated' on an ability basis. In other words, if a prospective employee didn't fit my needs, that person didn't become an employee of mine. The best I could find was my guiding principle.