The week in photos

Jason,

I personally found the site to be allright (quite overloaded though).

But there is not any interesting outfit that is going to make a difference from the other “news handling” photography sites or small level agencies.

Also, is not clear what exactly are you willing to achieve by running this one.
I can see that your approach is to attract and promote civilian journalism, but I can´t realize what is your prime target by doing this and which is the charachter of the entire effort.

I mean, o.k., I can see some nice “medium-interest” photo essays there, some borrowed(?) from AP photographers. And?

Thanks for taking the time to respond Jonnek! WeSay is devoted to all things photography, but primarily for amateur photographers. We hope it becomes a place for all those photographers who don’t necessary do it for a living, but are talented none-the-less. We offer them an opportunity to have their photographs featured and hopefully noticed by people from all around the world. Best yet, no one surrenders ANY rights to the images posted at WeSay.

Members can sign up for a free profile page where they upload their images. If their work is selected, we feature it on the homepage. Eventually, we would like for our community to consist of thousands of photographers from around the world who will comment, discuss and vote on the photos uploaded.

Obviously, there is a huge pool of people who now possess cameras and we believe we can create a viable outlet for those people to congregate, share and have their work promoted and published in a sort of way comparable to what professionals enjoy.

“..We hope it becomes a place for all those photographers who don’t necessary do it for a living, but are talented none-the-less..”

Without willing to be annoying, I still can´t understand WHY are you doing this.

Just for the sake of news-documentary photography and its values, or something else..?

Thanks for the comments, Jonnek. You’re not annoying at all.

Why are we doing it? Because we feel there is value in the millions of photographs taken by millions of people around the globe every day. We are providing a platform for photos that most likely would not be noticed if not for a place to share them and help display them.

Is there not value in seeing what is going on around us all?

We look at it as a developing community of people who enjoy photography, want to share their work and learn from others along the way. Our members and visitors are encouraged to get involved. They can ask questions. Submit tips, or ask for photo advice from WeSay staff or other members. It’s a work in progress, but something we think can develop into a useful and fun outlet for all those budding photographers out there.

Just one or two questions more and I am gone, I promise you.

Are you planing, via this platform, to be able to sell to various media this work that the amateurs will contribute to your site?
If yes, is there any percentage profit for the contributor who´s photos get sold?

“Is there not value in seeing what is going on around us all?”

Of course. But it depends on which value exactly you are refering to.

If you are talking about the value of the importance for the global news to be immidiately, widely and accurately known, I must say that a lot professionals have already that under arrangement through several official organizations and agencies.
This is their job and they get money for doing it.
But you must know that for sure..

Νοw, if you are talking about the value of earning money by providing material to various media services (something that I find totally casual), you must then be more specific and clear through your pages when you approach people, talented or not, proposing them to grant their photos or anything else.

In case that I didn´t noticed that you explain all these somewhere, then please forgive my intruding curiosity.

Jonnek,
WeSay does not and will not sell anyone’s images. ALL rights remain with the photographer and we will not sell or redistribute the images for profit.

The site is designed with AMATEUR photographers in mind. Not professionals, although we certainly would not exclude them. This site is simply devoted to people who love photography, but don’t necessarily make a living at it. It is not intended to serve photographers in a way to directly make money, although that is perfectly possible if they so choose.

Think of WeSay as a photo site for photographers in a “Facebook” sort of way. It’s a way to get your work featured, share the news and images around you, see the work of other amateur photographers, network, discuss, learn and more.