A Photo Editor – Page 311 – Former Photography Director Rob Haggart

Skip to content

The Beginning

The beginning saw existence of a chosen dream
But then came pain …
Hold on to the love

– Seal

Previous
1
...
310
311

aphotoeditor

aPhotoEditor is sponsored by PhotoFolio, the best website software in the world for Professional Photographers:

I’m dreaming of a different world. Google it if yo

I’m dreaming of a different world. Google it if you want to learn more. I love the argument. Typos by me 😁

Pricing & Negotiating: Photographer Lose $259k Pho

@yourvisualcolleagues new story in @columbiajourn

@yourvisualcolleagues new story in @columbiajournalismreviewFreelance photographers are organizing against a new contract at the Wall Street Journal that they say opens their work up to AI training.https://www.cjr.org/analysis/exposure-to-risk-freelance-photographers-wall-street-journal-new-contract-ai-training-standard-agreement-your-visual-colleagues-nppa-news-corp-openai.php

Loving the new podcast Continuous Agitation @jayfr

Loving the new podcast Continuous Agitation @jayfram and @sawalich started as it covers the topics we are all rolling around in our heads and yes… I’m also continually agitated about the photography industry and the never ending threats we face. So, give it a listen, I think you’ll love it too.

Let’s have some fun, imma get crazy 🤡

Let’s have some fun, imma get crazy 🤡

Ask us anything! Photography agent of 30+ years an

Ask us anything! Photography agent of 30+ years and Head of Photography at @barepsldn, Beth Wightman is teaming up with @aphotoeditor to answer your questions about the photography industry, from the state of the market to AI, clients, and everything in between.
Leave your questions in the comments and catch Beth’s answers on the @bareps YouTube channel next week. 🎥If anyone wants to ask a question anonymously just DM me and I will relay it to Beth.

@eryksiemianowicz 👍👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟

@eryksiemianowicz 👍👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟

@ollyburn promo 😍🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥👏👏👏

@ollyburn promo 😍🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥👏👏👏

@tonyfouhse the middle of nowhere book. Love it 🌟🌟

@tonyfouhse the middle of nowhere book. Love it 🌟🌟🌟👏👏👏

@samdearden perfect promo 🤌🤌🤌😍👏👏👏 love the work

@samdearden perfect promo 🤌🤌🤌😍👏👏👏 love the work

Deadline is Monday to send the FCC comments on the

Deadline is Monday to send the FCC comments on the DJI drone ban. Go here: https://droneadvocacyalliance.com/fcc-take-action/

@grahamimages year in photos 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

@grahamimages year in photos 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

@adamstanzak promo 🔥🔥🔥⚡️⚡️⚡️🌟🌟🌟

@adamstanzak promo 🔥🔥🔥⚡️⚡️⚡️🌟🌟🌟

@markomcinnis beautiful promo 😍🔥🔥🔥⚡️⚡️⚡️

@markomcinnis beautiful promo 😍🔥🔥🔥⚡️⚡️⚡️

@acmebrooklyn always the best promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥🤌

@acmebrooklyn always the best promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥🤌

@aquerida promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥Epic 👏👏👏👏

@aquerida promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥Epic 👏👏👏👏

@kylegibson.jpeg promo 🌟🌟🌟 sweet ⚡️⚡️⚡️

@kylegibson.jpeg promo 🌟🌟🌟 sweet ⚡️⚡️⚡️

Instagram post 18011119988889029

Instagram post 18011119988889029

@claycookphoto promo 👏👏👏 awesome project 🌟🌟🌟

@claycookphoto promo 👏👏👏 awesome project 🌟🌟🌟

@zoealicelonergan promo 😍love it 👏👏👏

@zoealicelonergan promo 😍love it 👏👏👏

@barbaradonninelli promo ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

@barbaradonninelli promo ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

@aaronmckenziefraser promo ⚡️⚡️⚡️👏👏👏👏

@aaronmckenziefraser promo ⚡️⚡️⚡️👏👏👏👏

@turbevillestudios and @jackierepresents promo is

@turbevillestudios and @jackierepresents promo is super fun 😍😍😍and cool 👏👏👏👏

@marknewtonphotos promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

@marknewtonphotos promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

@marknewtonphotos promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

@marknewtonphotos promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

@marciabrickerphoto 👍👍👍👍👍

@marciabrickerphoto 👍👍👍👍👍

This is a fight photographers can win. Here’s whe

This is a fight photographers can win.Here’s where to start.Before you sign anything – whether it’s a publication contract or a commercial client agreement – look for these terms:— “Work Made for Hire”
— “Unlimited sublicensing rights”
— No AI carve-out or opt-out provisionAny one of these is a red flag. All three together make the current WSJ contract.You have the right to ask questions, push back, strike clauses from a contract, and negotiate.Add an AI clause to your own contracts now. This is the single most effective thing you can do immediately to protect your work from AI training use.“Client agrees not to use any Work Product created by Photographer in connection with artificial intelligence or machine learning systems, including for training, generating, or manipulating visual content. This restriction applies in perpetuity.”Copy this language. Use it.Know what’s being fought for at the industry level:@ourppa is running a nationwide “No Unlicensed AI Training” campaign pushing Congress to require mandatory licensing for AI training data.@asmpnational is backing the Visual Artists Copyright Reform Act and offering AI-ready contracts to members.Full links on the Resources page on @yourvisualcolleague’s site.CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

Work Made for Hire wasn’t designed with AI in mind

Work Made for Hire wasn’t designed with AI in mind.But it’s the perfect instrument for it.Here’s how it works:
WMFH makes the publication the legal author of your photographs. Combined with unlimited sublicensing rights — standard in many new contracts — the publication can license your work to any third party, for any purpose, without your consent and without sharing revenue.That includes AI training.This isn’t theoretical. News Corp — parent company of the Wall Street Journal — has signed a $250 million deal with OpenAI and a $50 million annual deal with Meta to license editorial content, including for AI training.Photographs were excluded from the OpenAI deal — in part because the previous WSJ freelance contract didn’t permit it.The new contract makes photographs fair game for AI training.Publications introducing WMFH contracts will tell you it’s necessary to protect their archives — to prevent photographers from reclaiming decades of content after 35 years.This is a legal fiction. Joint copyright achieves archival protection without stripping authorship. WMFH is a choice — and it’s one that also happens to enable unlimited AI licensing with no obligation to notify you, compensate you, or ask.The joint copyright model the NYT uses isn’t just better for termination rights. It may be functioning as a meaningful barrier to AI training today — in ways that WMFH cannot provide.The legal specifics are still being tested. But the distinction between joint copyright and Work Made for Hire matters right now, not just in 35 years
Your images documented history. They told stories that mattered. They were made with access built on trust — often with people in their most vulnerable moments, in communities that depend on photographers to protect them.CONTINUES IN COMMENTS

“Work Made for Hire” sounds simple – but it can de

“Work Made for Hire” sounds simple – but it can determine the future of your career.Here’s what it actually means.Under U.S. copyright law, the author of a photograph is its creator — the person who pressed the shutter. That authorship comes with rights: to license your work, to control how it’s used, and to terminate any grant of rights after 35 years under Section 203 of the Copyright Act – reclaiming full control of how your work is licensed and used.Work Made for Hire eliminates all of that. When your contract includes WMFH language, the publication or client becomes the legal author. Not you.The 35-year termination right is a reset button built into the law – a recognition that creators shouldn’t be locked into agreements permanently.After 35 years, you can take back full control of your archive: how it’s licensed, how it’s used, and who profits from it. It exists specifically to protect creators from signing away their work forever.WMFH removes that reset button entirely. Work you made on assignment in 2025 cannot be reclaimed in 2060.The archive you’ve spent your career building belongs to someone else. Permanently.Publications will tell you WMFH is necessary to protect their archives — to prevent photographers from wiping decades of content.This is false. Many publications achieve archival protections without WMFH – through perpetual licenses, joint copyright models, and other arrangements that don’t strip photographers of authorship.WMFH is a choice. It’s being made deliberately, and at your expense.What does the alternative look like?The gold standard is full photographer copyright with a specific-use license to the client. The NYT uses a joint copyright model that doesn’t go that far – but it preserves authorship, protects termination rights, and requires revenue sharing on sublicensing.In the current landscape, that should be the floor. The bare minimum. Not the ceiling.You don’t have to navigate this alone. Find resources, sign on, and stay informed via the links in @yourvisualcolleagues’s bio: bit.ly/yourvisualcolleagues and bit.ly/yvcjoin

AI is changing photography. So are the contracts

AI is changing photography.So are the contracts that determine who owns an image.
Across the industry, photographers are receiving contracts that classify our work as “Work Made for Hire.” It sounds like legal boilerplate. It isn’t.Work Made for Hire means the publication — not you — is the legal author of your photographs.This matters for four reasons:You lose your copyright.
You lose your archive.
You lose control of how your work is used — including for AI training.
And you lose the ability to protect the people you photograph.For photographers working in vulnerable communities, that last point isn’t secondary. Using editorial images to train AI can fuel surveillance tools that put sources and entire communities at risk. WMFH removes your ability to prevent this exploitation.
This impacts all photographers. Photojournalists and commercial photographers face parallel risks – through stock agreements, client contracts, and sublicensing terms that increasingly permit AI training use without consent or compensation.We’ve already seen AI ad campaigns by major companies including Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Skechers. It’s not hard to imagine a future in which AI takes the place of photographers, models, stylists, creative directors, and designers.This isn’t hypothetical. The Wall Street Journal recently introduced exactly this kind of contract to its freelance photographers — while its parent company negotiated a $50 million a year deal to license editorial content to Meta for AI training.The more photographers who know about this, the harder it becomes to ignore. Follow the links in @yourvisualcolleagues’s bio or go to bit.ly/yourvisualcolleagues to take action.

AI is changing photography. Not someday. Right now

AI is changing photography. Not someday. Right now.News organizations are claiming the right to use your images to train AI. Brands are replacing photographers with generated content. Deepfakes are eroding trust in documentary work.This isn’t a distant threat. It’s already happening.But AI’s destructive force isn’t inevitable. The rules around it are still being written – by lawmakers, corporations, and us.Photographers have the right to shape how this technology intersects with our work and our industry.Beyond our industry, AI causes harm: misinformation, nonconsensual imagery, and environmental damage from data centers that consume enormous amounts of water, electricity, and rare earth minerals.AI can help with keywording, transcription, research, and administrative work. New tools deserve honest evaluation. Some artists even create bodies of work through AI, though not without controversy.But the benefits don’t cancel out the harm.Photography is built on things AI can’t replicate: human creativity, the lessons learned through making art, and genuine connection with our sources.If we don’t protect those things, no one will.The connection between AI and photography runs through your contract.Over the next few days, we’ll look into Work Made For Hire contracts and AI. WMFH has always been a bad deal for photographers, but now such rights-grabbing clauses quietly open the door to AI training without consent or compensation.
Join us in our efforts. Start now by following the links in @yourvisualcolleagues’s bio: bit.ly/yourvisualcolleagues for resources about these issues and bit.ly/yvcjoin to get on our mailing list

@pratik.parulekar promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟 awesome ✨✨✨✨⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

@pratik.parulekar promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟 awesome ✨✨✨✨⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

@liznemethphoto promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟super⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

@liznemethphoto promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟super⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

@atedge promo 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

@atedge promo 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

@lucassaugen promo is super good 👏👏👏👏🌟🌟🌟🌟

@lucassaugen promo is super good 👏👏👏👏🌟🌟🌟🌟

@caitiemccabestudio promo girlhood 💯👏👏👏

@caitiemccabestudio promo girlhood 💯👏👏👏

Question from a reader. Opening the discussion, le

Question from a reader. Opening the discussion, let them know what you think.

Pricing & Negotiating: Motion Content Bid For A Ho

February 10th | 11AM PT / 2PM ET The AI Conversat

February 10th | 11AM PT / 2PM ETThe AI Conversation: From Terms to Real-World ImpactRights, risk, and real questions from our community. Join the conversationBring your scenarios.
Share what you’re seeing.
Learn how others are navigating it.Hosted by
Heather Elder, Heather Elder Represents
Jen Jenkins, Giant Artists
Kelly Montez, ApostropheAMA Members + Partners: Free
Non-Members: $50 per person�If you are not a member/partner, please email Jenn for more information - info@artistmanagementassociation.orgEvent registration closes at 11AM ET on February 10th

@heypeterross 🔥🔥🔥🔥 excellent 👏👏👏👏

@heypeterross 🔥🔥🔥🔥 excellent 👏👏👏👏

@christinakernohan_photo promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥 super 🌟🌟🌟🌟

@christinakernohan_photo promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥 super 🌟🌟🌟🌟

@caseysteffens promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥 amazing work 👏👏👏😃 love i

@caseysteffens promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥 amazing work 👏👏👏😃 love it 😍😍😍

The Daily Edit by @heidivolpe Pierre Lavie @just1

The Daily Edit
by @heidivolpePierre Lavie @just1dudewithacamera : Bearing witness and creating a record in MinneapolisHeidi: How did your HEFAT training influence the way you approached the Minneapolis scene — both in terms of keeping yourself safe and in how you mentally and emotionally navigated the tension of the protest? Pierre: Being situationally aware is crucial, and that’s something Global Journalism Security really drove home during their 3-day HEFAT course I took last August in D.C. Like many photojournalists, I have a family/loved-ones to get home to, so I want to be as safe as possible. To me, being safe in a hostile environment means being prepared and preparedness is achieved by learning how to conduct yourself in such an environment. It’s not magic. It takes time and practice. GJS provides the opportunity to learn and practice skills that might come in handy, like navigating a mob or splinting a leg. I can’t recommend GJS enough — they’re a top-notch outfit, I learned a lot, and honestly enjoyed every minute of it. My only regret is not having done it when I first started.Can you describe the moments before this photo was taken, and your relationship to John? As the police lined up to press the protestors, everyone knew what was coming. I put on my gas mask and helmet and waited with everyone else for them to make their move. I didn’t know John at all before this happened, but we’re texting just about daily now. He’s a great guy and I expect we’ll keep in touch.What were the visual and emotional cues that made you decide to press the shutter at that exact split-second? I noticed John getting swarmed by the police. As he went down, he managed to get into a prone position…instead of sprawling out flat as most seem to do, to me…while the officers piled on top of him. I moved around to face him, thinking he might look up — and he did. We saw each other. Click. He prepared to throw his camera — click — then actually tossed it — click — and then tossed his phone — click.CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

@pauldimalanta promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥🔥

@pauldimalanta promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥🔥

@byjulienjames promo 😍 fantastic 🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥😁

@byjulienjames promo 😍 fantastic 🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥😁

@action_jackson5 promo 😍 love it 👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥✨✨✨

@action_jackson5 promo 😍 love it 👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥✨✨✨

@benlindbloom promo 😍 really great Ben 👏👏👏🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥

@benlindbloom promo 😍 really great Ben 👏👏👏🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥

An update from Your Visual Colleagues (stateofphot $An update from Your Visual Colleagues (stateofphotojournalism@gmail.com) who have organized a letter to Dow Jones, rejecting its new contract for freelance photographers. Sign here: http://bit.ly/WSJresponseletterAs of this morning, 512 photographers have signed the letter. Every name adds pressure toward a resolution.WSJ leadership promised a “substantive response” last week. They missed that deadline. Their inaction suggests they are struggling to figure out how to handle a unified front.We are already seeing the financial impact of our collective action. Freelancers in different cities are banding together to say no.This has led to the WSJ flying photographers into Minneapolis to cover the recent ICE shooting. Flying photographers costs exponentially more than simply paying a fair day rate to locals. When we say “no,” it costs them more money than a fair contract would.And here’s the thing: the math don’t math.Unlike with The New York Times, where a freelancer might make $5k–$60k a year due to the higher day rate and volume of assignments, the WSJ’s assignment volume is low. For most of us, the WSJ represents only $500 to $3,000 in income per year.This gives us a unique advantage. We are not risking our livelihoods by pausing work for the WSJ. We are risking a relatively small fraction of income to fix a broken industry standard.We have the power to demand change here specifically because they don’t hold total sway over our financial survival.Reach out to Your Visual Colleagues at stateofphotojournalism@gmail.com to learn more, and share the letter with anyone who hasn’t signed: http://bit.ly/WSJresponseletter$

2025 GFY! More positive posts going forward.

2025 GFY! More positive posts going forward.

@guiducci is the 🐐

@guiducci is the 🐐

@trippeters and ben_coppola with the assist!

@trippeters and ben_coppola with the assist!

Image by Joel Sternfeld, American Prospects, McLea

Image by Joel Sternfeld, American Prospects, McLean, VA 1978

NOTE: I received this from an anonymous source. B

NOTE: I received this from an anonymous source.By now, many of you have received the new Freelance Photographer Contributor Agreement from Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal. While the effective date is 2026, they are asking for signatures now.After legal review and discussion, it is clear that this contract represents a significant step backward for freelancers. It introduces a “Work Made for Hire” clause and allows WSJ to sublicense our work to third parties for profit. They have said that they will increase the rate to $600, but we feel that is not given how much they gain from this contract as well as the increased demands for video and long hours.Many of us have already sent individual responses, but there is power in numbers. We have drafted a collective letter to Lucy Gilmore and WSJ leadership asking them to pause the rollout and rewrite the contract with actual freelancer input.Please read the letter below and share it widely with freelance colleagues. If you agree, please add your name to the list LINK IN BIO by midnight PST on December 23rd, 2025.We value our relationship with the WSJ, but we need to stand together to ensure it remains sustainable.

Wake up photographers Christmas came early!

Wake up photographers Christmas came early!

Let’s give everyone the tools they need for a succ

Let’s give everyone the tools they need for a successful 2026 🔥🔥🔥 DM me.

@suebarr promo 😍awesome 👏👏👏🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥

@suebarr promo 😍awesome 👏👏👏🌟🌟🌟🔥🔥🔥

@ulikaufmann86 promo 🔥🔥🔥 super 🌟🌟🌟😍

@ulikaufmann86 promo 🔥🔥🔥 super 🌟🌟🌟😍

@ryanpavlovich promo 🌟🌟🌟 awesome 👏👏👏

@ryanpavlovich promo 🌟🌟🌟 awesome 👏👏👏

@wawawomp promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

@wawawomp promo 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

@utagleiser_photography promo 🔥🔥🔥🌟🌟🌟excellent 😍

@utagleiser_photography promo 🔥🔥🔥🌟🌟🌟excellent 😍

@willdeshazer great promo 😍🔥🔥🔥👏👏👏

@willdeshazer great promo 😍🔥🔥🔥👏👏👏

@sitzmann promo 👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

@sitzmann promo 👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

@lizkuball promo 👍👍👍👍😍👏👏👏

@lizkuball promo 👍👍👍👍😍👏👏👏

@acmebrooklyn promo is always amazing 👏👏👏👏😍😍😍😍

@acmebrooklyn promo is always amazing 👏👏👏👏😍😍😍😍

@heykatrinahi promo 🔥🔥🔥 fantastic 😍😍😍

@heykatrinahi promo 🔥🔥🔥 fantastic 😍😍😍

@charlie_neuenschwander promo 🔥🔥🔥 looking good 🌟🌟🌟

@charlie_neuenschwander promo 🔥🔥🔥 looking good 🌟🌟🌟

@leonfoggitt promo 🔥🔥🔥 looks great ✨✨✨

@leonfoggitt promo 🔥🔥🔥 looks great ✨✨✨

@tadd_myers promo 🔥🔥👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️

@tadd_myers promo 🔥🔥👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️

@lisapavlova promo 👍👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟

@lisapavlova promo 👍👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟

@cedricterrell prom 😍😍😍 fantastic 👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥

@cedricterrell prom 😍😍😍 fantastic 👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥

@glp1979 #urbanpoetry 👏👏👏😍😍😍

@glp1979 #urbanpoetry 👏👏👏😍😍😍

@jdnphotography #slurpeewaves promo 👀👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥

@jdnphotography #slurpeewaves promo 👀👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥

@photosills_official promo super fun👏👏👏😁😁😁

@photosills_official promo super fun👏👏👏😁😁😁

@photosills_official promo 👏👏👏excellent

@photosills_official promo 👏👏👏excellent

@jeffhehlen promo ⭐️⭐️⭐️cool👍👍👍

@jeffhehlen promo ⭐️⭐️⭐️cool👍👍👍

@perrettiphoto promo 👍👍👍

@perrettiphoto promo 👍👍👍

@karlherberphoto promo awesome 👏👏👏

@karlherberphoto promo awesome 👏👏👏

#frankcotham #frankcothamcartoonist @newyorkermag

#frankcotham #frankcothamcartoonist @newyorkermag

Follow on Instagram

Resources

➧ The Agent List

➧ Promo Printer List

➧ Photography & Architecture

➧ Photography Consultant List

About

A Photo Editor (APE) is edited by Rob Haggart, the former Director of Photography for Men's Journal and Outside Magazine. Contributors include fine art photographer Jonathan Blaustein (@jblauphoto), Creative Director Heidi Volpe, photography consultant Suzanne Sease and Producers at Wonderful Machine.

Email Me

rob(at)aphotoeditor(dot)com
All emails are confidential. I may answer your question on the blog but will not reveal your identity.

Archives

Categories

SUBSCRIBE

Signup to have our daily posts emailed to you:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

© 2026 - A Photo Editor. All rights reserved.