Tuesday 22 March 2011

Zero photo noms

Sun Media came up empty in the 2010 News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC) nominations announced recently, but there are several familiar ex-Sun names on the list.

Former Sun media photogs nominated include Jason Franson, Blair Gable and Darryl Dyck

NPAC says more than 1,400 images and projects from across Canada were entered in the competition. Again, we wonder how many Sun Media applications were submitted.

It is difficult to accept that none of the 2010 photos snapped by employees of Canada's largest newspaper chain is worthy of a nomination. 

Winners will be announced May 28 during NPAC's National Pictures of the Year Gala in Winnipeg.

5 comments:

  1. Nobody got nominated because you have be a member! Why would Sunmedia want to lay out a whole $60 CAN to boost the moral of their photo staff. They killed paying for professional memberships years ago. God forbid that somebody might win and management might be asked to cover the cost of a flight or a hotel room in Winnipeg in order to collect the award.

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  2. Its actually proof positive that SunMedia is losing all their talent and replacing their good photographers with un-talented yes men and women. Really, who is going to stick around a major market daily for 40K/year and a $400 month car allowance?

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  3. As a former SUN freelancer I think it has more to do with being creatively stifled by management. Many great photographers came out of SUN Media including the ones named above and they pushed themselves in spite of a lack of support from management. The SUN papers prefer a really boring cookie-cutter style photo and photographers would get in trouble for trying to be creative. It was a daily battle when I was there. Many photogs just give up and produce the shit they are told to produce.

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  4. This could be one of the reasons

    http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/geagi/isnt_this_a_pic_a_redditor_took_my_newspaper_is/

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  5. @ 12:15 pm and @ 9:36 am.

    You both nailed it. I am one of the ones nominated and It was a constant battle, day in and day out. I took so much shit for trying to be creative and give them something interesting and different.

    I was pulled into the M.E.'s office and told my photos were shit, this was a year after being runner up Canadian Photojournalist of the Year.

    Leaving that place was the best move I ever made. The Sun will kill a good photographer if they buy into their shit and give them the easy, cookie cutter tight and bright crap. I progressed and got better out of spite and by not giving in or selling out.

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