Spotting a disreputable photographer society can be tricky!

With current sensitivities, for schools, prom and event photographers, it has never been more important to choose a reputable photographer society. And — just as importantly — to avoid disreputable ones.

Disreputable societies

A disreputable society is one so lax that it attracts disreputable members — anonymous or black-economy workers seeking a society logo to put on their website and a listing that can make them appear qualified or even CRB checked. Disreputable members infiltrate by exploiting the eagerness of amateurish organizations to accept new members, and the lack of checking they do on applicants’ identity and good standing.

“It’s frankly irresponsible for crank individuals to start rogue groups like this, when the kind of photography involved includes schools and prom work.”

This isn’t the kind of membership a schools and event photographer, or anyone shooting youth sports, can afford to be associated with, and it’s a trap for the unwary. In fact, it’s frankly irresponsible for crank individuals to start rogue groups like this, when the kind of photography involved includes schools and prom work. Groups like this can also become places bigger players use to exploit a supply of cheap assistants and second-shooters; or to sell unprofitable jobs to naieve ‘subs’.

['subs' = (loosely), 'sub-contractors': togs who 'buy' jobs from a bigger photographer who originally got the booking]

Getting sucked in

In fact, the importance of job-trading to the newbie jobbing photographer, and their need to plug-in to job-trading networks, is often what sucks in the unwary. An initial period of free membership may be followed by a charge just to continue to access the group’s Internet forum. Then the newbie finds that more established members require them to upgrade to paid membership before they will trade jobs and other benefits with them. These members, who may not have much more experience themselves, typically market ‘workshops’ and ‘training’ to new joiners.

How do they blag it?

So how do photographers get taken in by this? Well, like so many other frauds on the Internet, these groups are often nothing more than just a good-looking and convincing website. The people who set them up have spent more time teaching themselves web design than learning the camera. They can be backed by unscrupulous or hard-squeezed photographic suppliers, who use them as a sales and marketing tool to identify naieve photographers just starting out, and as a discrete channel through which to sell unbranded, grey market, generic or counterfeit supplies.

Are they legal?

Are they legal? Not really. Groups that lure you into paying to join, by falsely claiming to have substantial membership, are practising a deception and perpetrating a fraud. They’re doing the same when they try to hustle sponsorship. They rarely have more than fifty members at any one time. Many of those haven’t had to pay a fee, because they’re involved as fee-charging ‘trainers’ themselves. You should be able to leave these groups, and ask for your money back, at any time, by asking them to disclose how many paid members they actually had at the time you joined, and telling them you were deceived.

How to avoid them

How do you avoid them? Don’t use pay-sites and stick to the well known societies. By far the largest organization for school, prom and event photographers in the UK is SISEP, the SWPP’s school and event photographer society. At least 75% of UK schools and event photographers belong to it. Larger school photography concerns, particularly those who do their own printing, may want to check out the Professional Schools Photographers’ Association. In the UK this is a small but respectable group under the umbrella of the Photo Marketing Association. And deserving of an honourable mention is Kevin Cheesman’s SchoolPhotoPRO, another small group which some independent schools photographers find suits them. Of course, you may not need to join a specialist schools or event photographer society, in which case membership of the MPA or BIPP may be just as good for you.

So, keep your eyes open, and be careful out there!

—NewPhotoDigest