While all the world is locked down, Wonderful Machine CEO Bill Cramer has been hosting a daily Open House via Zoom, to discuss photography and navigating the Coronavirus shutdowns. So far we’ve held four roundtables, and plan to continue daily for the foreseeable future. Members have tuned in from across the world (special mention to Australia-based photographer Ian Regnard, who apparently got up at 4 am to tune into our first open house), which provides a perspective beyond what’s happening in the U.S. and, potentially what we are in for here in the coming weeks.
Next week we will hold them at 11 am, eastern US time, to accommodate our European member photographers.
This week we discussed stock sales, cancellations, remote photo shoots, work permits — which we’ve learned in much of southern Europe are needed just to be outside your house — and the local-global dynamics of hiring. As you probably know, everyone is trying to maintain work (and income!), but being in isolation at home is leaving many photographers at somewhat loose ends. Most, if not all, shoots have been canceled. This affects not only the photographers but the clients as well, who still have a significant interest in creating content.
For example, one story shared concerned an agent getting calls from clients asking about setting up remote shoots. The demand is there, and digitally connecting with the client (Google Hangouts, Zoom, Facetime, etc.) is critical. What was particularly interesting in this case was that the clients were still looking to hire local photographers. It seems that even when a digital connection is our only option, proximity still plays a hand in the hiring process.
Another story told of a digital tech using the chat service Discord — originally designed for gamers — to continue working remotely. We are working on a separate blog post about this and would love to hear about any interesting stories you might have come across.
Quite a few discussions focused on stock requests, given that so many photoshoots have been canceled. Digging through that hard drive for an hour might make more sense than it had two weeks ago, when you were probably shooting. That being the case, the idea of setting up to do remote shoots seemed to reign over scrambling for stock — that is, if you can snag the gigs.
On Thursday, questions arose about the small business loans and other financial support. As you might expect, there is a fair amount of confusion about how to actually get a loan and who the approved lenders are. Many banks aren’t even sure if they’re approved lenders! Participants brought up conversations with landlords, insurance providers, phone companies, and, of course, Adobe, regarding either deferring payments or (in the case of Adobe) getting a few free months of the Creative Cloud. Word on the street is that mentioning COVID-19 in conversations with corporations is the key to their related benefits.
The questions at hand are not answered easily, which is why we are opening the floor to hear from photographers during each Open House. This also provides a platform for professional photographers to meet face-to-face with others, addressing the same issues around the world. Keep an eye out for our emails regarding times, which we plan to change each week to give everyone — no matter where they are located — a chance to drop in on the discussions.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us.