Yesterday there was two peak organisations representing Australian professional photographers, and today there is only one.
In a joint announcement made today, the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers (AIPP) and the Australian Commercial and Media Photographers (ACMP) have revealed plans to ‘join forces’. But the decision had been on the cards for some time, AIPP executive officer, Peter Myers explains.
‘It was mainly about (working out) how we could work together for the benefit of commercial photographers,’ he told Pro Counter. ‘That was the real issue – how would a structure work best that would give more weight and credibility to commercial photographers.’
All ACMP members are invited to become AIPP members for the remainder of the year at no additional cost. Once the year is up they can evaluate whether they’d like to continue as AIPP members.
‘The main thing is about combining the two organisations to one, so now that Australia is in the fortunate position of having just one pre-eminent membership organisation for all the genres of professional photography,’ Myers said.
The ACMP will continue as the ‘Accredited Commercial and Media Photographers’ division of the AIPP. The ACMP board will remain in operation, as well as the ACMP acronym, logo and brand.
‘Anybody who wants to specialise in commercial and media advertising photography will be eligible to use that logo in addition (to the AIPP logo). So it will be like a supplementary logo,’ Myers said. ‘To protect that logo some form of validation process will be put in place, so they’ll (AIPP members) have to demonstrate through the validation that they’re commercial photographers, rather than a portrait photographer who has done a few commercial shoots.’
The AIPP says that industry suppliers, partners, and sponsors can now better streamline engagement with Australian professional photographers. But the benefits don’t stop there.
Source: AIPP/Jade Schofield
Myers says all professional photographers operating under the one peak body – the AIPP – will fall under the same accreditation process. This will give the organisation, the logo, and those using the logo greater credibility.
‘The other thing is that there’s been a perception for years that the AIPP is predominately a wedding and portrait association,’ Myers said. ‘That’s not the case – but by bringing more commercial photographers into the organisation we will hopefully eradicate that perception.’
And it’s no secret that the ACMP has become fairly stagnant over the past few years. This can be partly attributed to dwindling membership numbers resulting in fewer resources to efficiently run the organisation.
‘It’s really difficult to professionally and effectively run a membership organisation, and to cover the cost of management and administration when you’ve got a small membership base,’ Myers said. ‘From the ACMP’s perspective it made absolute sense for them because they have a significantly smaller membership base than us.’
One of the spin-off benefits for the ACMP, Myers says, is that the board will no longer be tasked with running an organisation and will be able to concentrate on ‘working out how to improve standards, skills, and recognition of commercial photographers in Australia’.
The ACMP website will eventually be redirected to the AIPP.
‘This union is in the best interests of the industry and all our members’, ACMP president, Richard Weinstein, said. ‘We encourage all professional photographers nationwide to belong to the organisation that represents them.’
Myers says the transition will take many months to take full effect. So stay tuned!
Well this has been a long time for the ACMP to return to the fold, over 20 years in fact. But it’s a return at a time when unity and professional standards have never been more important. In its early years the ACMP, largely through the efforts of Nancy Cohen and several other activist commercial photographers, did incredibly valuable work on copyright. Everyone in the industry benefited. The ACMP Collection gathered in an annual book, crafted by the likes of Peter Adams, Milton Wordley and Rob Imhoff, showed a creative standard in media and commercial photography unmatched in other countries. The Barossa weekends at the dawn of the digital era enabled informed commercial transitions, without which many more photographers would have seen hard times. So let those significant milestones and events not be forgotten, but let’s all rejoice that the current AIPP, in its enlarged form, will be able to fully represent the whole profession, bringing educational standards and accreditation to new levels. Differentiating professionals from amateurs and ensuring the value of the IP created benefits client and photographer alike will be easier and more credible,
The hard work now begins. Good luck to all and congratulations to Messers Eason and Weinstein for making this happen.
As a key player in the formation of F.A.C.E. in the early 90’s, later to be renamed ACMP, I can’t help feeling a trifle sad at its passing. Reading these articles I was a bit shocked to realise how much memories become distorted with time. Much of the up-speak about the recent union of AIPP and ACMP (properly read as take-over) belittles the motivations and hard work behind the formation of the organisation over 20 years ago. It’s foundation, independent from the AIPP, was an important milestone that filled an industry hole the AIPP of the day was culturally unable to achieve. The ACMP was extremely important and respected industry body during the 1990s, before the grip of the internet and digital took hold and changed the landscape forever. Looking back it was a bountiful time when the dark arts of photography were held in high regard and old fashioned advertising still meant something. With the Copyright victory in ’98 the ACMP’s sting in its tail was gone. But in truth, its relevance really started to wane when The Collection began to stutter. And to correct the record John, it was myself and a band of chosen cohorts that crafted the Collection, not those you mentioned (see Chairman’s report, volume one). More importantly, The Collection was not a book. The Collection was a celebration, an exhibition and an archive. Above all it helped cultivate a wonderful cultural identity for Australia’s advertising, commercial and media photographers. The book, as a handsome and treasured a addition, was both a triumph and unfortunately an embarrassment, as you yourself personally experienced. All that aside, my guess is this union is probably half a dozen years late. Wedding photographers dominate the game today and only a handful of true advertising and media shooters still remain. For those not chasing the veil on Saturdays, the future must seem more than a little scary now. RIP ACMP (F.A.C.E.)
Thanks, North for taking the time to share those observations. When preparing this story we had one key question to people we spoke to: ‘Would this “union” have taken place if the ACMP wasn’t broke and bleeding members badly?’ Which though not admitted by anyone, is no secret. The response we mostly got was, ‘Don’t go there.’ Which is disappointing if you have an intolerance for spin and embrace transparency. There seems to be almost universal goodwill towards the two groups getting together. Would it have been any less if members of the trade associations were given a full insight into the catalyst for the decision? Hell, they might even have been asked if they thought it was a good idea! Think it’s called democracy.
I would just like to acknowledge the great effort that you put into the ACMP in its beginings, you and those that worked tirelessly to bring together a unique organization that became the pinnacle of the finest work equal to any international standards, the end of a golden age before the onslaught of the digital age. There is no blame to the demise of the staying power of the organization but a shift , and to see that it has still maintained its presence just shows how its presence is imbued with the hard work by the members and its committee. The new so called takeover to me is a good thing as it will reform into a new and relevant format from which its members can benefit from and share the opportunities that comes with being a member of an organization which has its foundations founded on dedication and sacrifice with a high standard for all to aspire too.
North I can’t agree more. This is a rather sad day to see it going that way . For me this is more or less a bail out.
I’ll just leave this here, shall I? RIP ACMP. There was a reason you existed in the first place, and despite the spin, the realities still exist! https://procounter.com.au/2015/06/03/bridal-mag-calls-for-free-photo-spreads/