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TANNENBAUM LEAVES CORBIS
September 7, 2000
While most photographers seem to have issues with Corbis relative to their new
contract, many Sygma photographers are finding the situation untenable. Longtime
Sygma photographer, Allan Tannenbaum, has sent the following letter to his
colleagues.
Dear Colleagues;
After 20 years as a Sygma photographer I told Corbis Sygma this week that I would be
moving on. I had already asked for the return of my most valuable archives,
containing some of the last photos of John Lennon and other significant subjects. I
feel that this is the best career decision I have made in my life.
You may be negotiating in good faith, but Corbis is not. Over the past year since our
acquisition, they have acted dishonestly and ineptly, breaking promises and
arrogantly telling photographers who built the agency to take a hike if they didn't
trust Corbis. We thought Corbis wanted to restore Sygma to its former glory - instead
they went on a search and destroy mission. The instances and examples have been amply
documented.
Corbis wants your pictures, but they don't want you. I told Steve Davis many months
ago that prior to Sygma, Corbis bought collections, but now they had acquired lives.
He didn't care. Look how they treated Jean-Pierre Laffont who was one of the founders
of Sygma in the early 70's. At Corbis you will be just a number. The Sygma accountant
used to write 125 photographer's checks per month - now he writes 400 for Corbis
Sygma photographers.
Les Stone, Andrew Lichtenstein, and I are award winning Sygma photojournalists who
have all had exhibits at Perpignan. We are all revolted by the Corbis way, which had
destroyed Sygma, debased photojournalism, devalued our archives, and disrespected us
as human beings. We have left the agency as has Ted Soqui in L.A. and others
following soon. It is profoundly cynical and hypocritical for Corbis to co-sponsor
the photojournalism festival at Perpignan while treating their own photojournalists
with such contempt. That's Corbis: all P.R. and spin. For someone in a field where
honesty and integrity are paramount, it's insupportable.
You can avoid the disillusionment and frustration that the Sygma photographers have
experienced by getting out now. Solidarity is perfect if everybody just pulls out of
the deal. Corbis is playing hardball, so it's time for us to play hardball too. But
not by their rules, for we shall surely lose against the deep pockets of Bill Gates.
The day after I resigned, I got a call from a Corbis exec asking me to participate in
a panel with Corbis to find out what the photographers were unhappy about!!! I
patiently reminded him of our lunches, the contract meetings, a meeting I had with
Steve Davis, a lunch with Peter Howe, and a lunch with Leora Kahn. He had the PBP
(point by point) already. I told him that I thought they were a day late and a dollar
short.
The time and money you will waste trying to reform Corbis will be much better spent
transforming your career. America is wonderful - we have freedom of choice and the
entrepreneurial spirit. If you were looking for an agency, you would never choose
Corbis, which lost $50 million last year, has a bumbling bureaucracy, no real plan, a
lousy website, and is, as a high level Corbis exec admitted to me, "incompetent".
This is not a time to try to appear neutral, or courteous, or unemotional, or timid.
We are photographers because of a passion for the medium, and what Corbis has done to
Sygma and what they will do to you is criminal. In a message to Eliane Laffont which
she onpassed to the Corbis honchos, I compared Corbis to the Titanic, and the Corbis
execs to the captain and designer of the ship, filled with hubris and pride at the
size and speed of their ship. The biggest iceberg is us, followed by the US DOJ et.
al. Would you have boarded the Titanic if you knew her fate? Do you want to be
fiddling on the deck while she sinks?
I feel very liberated by my decision and positive things are happening already. I
will not contribute photos, I have my most valuable archives back, my other originals
will be returned from Paris, and whether I leave the remainder of my archives with
Corbis depends on changes that I will continue to fight for. Our open and bright
office is being Corbisized, and my instincts tell me that before long there won't be
many people I know there. It's time to find our collective cojones and walk away from
a very, very, very bad situation. You are all bright and talented people and should
not forget that we have the upper hand, not Corbis, because we have what they want.
Don't give it to them!
As Woodie Guthrie sang, "Some will rob you with a six-gun, some with a fountain pen."
Courage!
Allan Tannenbaum
ex Sygma photographer