Ripped off

[CameraOp]

Well I'm "sort of" glad I found this forum but what really had me feeling really angry is the threads about the IFPO and the press credentials that they issue. I joined the IFPO a few years ago and have been getting photos published in magazines but not enough to make a living but over the past couple of years I've been given work and produced the IFPO card (in the UK) and nobody has batted an eyelid. Now I find out that the cards they issue are not worth the paper they are printed on and their organisation is just a scam. I was living in the US when I first heard of them and applied to join as being a competent photographer really wanted to network with other photographers and looked upon it as a way of doing it. They came the offer for press credentials and the standard "it will open doors for you" speech. I've been back in the UK for a few years now and have kept up my subscriptions and now I find this out and feel as though I've been conned. Has anyone ever reported them to the authorities as a fraud? Their website quite clearly says:

"Universal Press Credentials issued by A.I.N.S. meet the requirements of most press officials and law enforcement around the world. Securing the extremely important issuing information protects A.I.N.S. Correspondents from identity theft. It also keeps the successful design and content of the A.I.N.S. credentials safer from the "wanna be upstarts" who plan to succeed by copying our highly reputable program. The new Universal Credentials are the result of 21 years of development using vital input from our experienced press photographers in the field."

If this is not the case then surely this is false pretences and misrepresentation.

Hmmmmmm.

Maybe I should have had a much closer look at them before I took this out.

[M. Valdemar]

If you care to send me £250 I'll send you a marvelous set of press credentials, beautifully printed, laminated, and issued by the "Valdemar Freelance Surety Press Corporation".

Feel free to brandish them wherever finer people congregate.

[CameraOp]

If you care to send me £250 I'll send you a marvelous set of press credentials, beautifully printed, laminated, and issued by the "Valdemar Freelance Surety Press Corporation".

Feel free to brandish them wherever finer people congregate.

Yea, I hear what you're saying. :( :(

[NB23]

I don't understand the whole issue. It's not clear to me.

[M. Valdemar]

There are numerous companies which will sell you impressively printed Press credentials, from non-existent organizations, for a large fee.

The OP apparently purchased a set of these expensive Press Passes with high hopes at some point and now in the sober light of day, feels he was cheated and misused by said shysters.

Anyone, in fact, can print out anything they like.

I don't understand the whole issue. It's not clear to me.

[NB23]

I thought he bought the press and shot happily for 2 years, and even got regularly published. No?

I understood the whole idea behind the post but I thought he was getting work. Bah, don't mind me,. I'll go re-read the post more carefully.

[nikonhswebmaster]

Well it is a scam in a sense. But then so is an ID from the Associated Press or Magnum. None of these IDs are going to give you any official press access anywhere. They just identify you as being a member of a group, and that may or may not get you some respect.

Press access is controlled by the security of the location. So for instance, a press pass in NYC is issued by the Police, not by the organization the photographer works for.

When I shot photos on the floor of the Democratic Convention in NYC, I had to share a press pass with others who had access to that particular PBS pass. A New York City Press pass would not have gotten me anywhere. And the Democratic convention is not somewhere you can just walk into and look professional. (although amazingly they let George into the Republican convention!)

There is no such thing as a universal press pass. You need one for each location.

Certainly having a Magnum ID is great, as having a CBS ID is great, and sometimes it will get you in. But there is no guarantee. The cards you mention may be useful in opening some doors. That is all you can expect from any ID card.

By the way some reporters find a Press Pass in some situations puts them in a pen with other press photographers, and you would be better off as a private photographer.

Identification cards are not to be confused with a press pass, they are two different animals.

[M. Valdemar]

I look like a complete dork.

Camera bags, zoom lenses, 5D's, Nikon FTN's, Leicas, it doesn't matter, I'm still thrown out.

I think I'd better order those IFPO press passes immediately.

[FallisPhoto]

"Universal Press Credentials ...

Uh... that would be a big red flag for me right there. There's no such thing as a universal press crediential. If you are acredited, it will be with a specific news agency.

[endustry]

This site (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/badge.php) allows you to create a Flickr Badge designed to look like a press pass. I also know people who have used one to successfully gain access to places that are normally verboten to hacks like us.

[endustry]

Uh... that would be a big red flag for me right there. There's no such thing as a universal press crediential. If you are acredited, it will be with a specific news agency.

Yes but the rent-a-cops most places hire to filter the media are not paid enough to know the difference. Sure, I presume that government events and truly important press conferences are strict, but I bet any one of these fakeys would get you in the door at a nightclub, non-professional sporting events, etc.

[FallisPhoto]

This site (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/badge.php) allows you to create a Flickr Badge designed to look like a press pass. I also know people who have used one to successfully gain access to places that are normally verboten to hacks like us.

It would probably work just as well as the IFPO pass.

[FallisPhoto]

I don't understand the whole issue. It's not clear to me.

The pass he bought is not valid, since the oprganization that issued it isn't a news organization. It's worth about as much as something he could have whipped up on his computer at home. It works only in that it gives you something to flash at the guards as you bluff your way into an event. They charged him $100 for it. http://www.fzippererphoto.com/gldpress.html

[Pitxu]

Here in France "press passes" are issued by the state and are highly controlled. In order to get one you have to prove that you earn more than 50% of your annual income from press work, and they need to be renewed every 2 years. Once you've got it though, it is "official", and stamped with the governments red white and blue official mark.

[charjohncarter]

A friend of mine got a big press card that was to be displayed on the dash of a car. He just asked the press guy if he could have it for his collection. It is expired but he uses it for up front parking and any event on the Monterey Peninsula. He has never been challenged. Maybe RFF could send out for a nominal fee 'press photographer cards' to all of us.

Actually, I feel sorry that you were conned, but at least you are in good company. We all have been conned.

[John Camp]

I agree with Sitemistic -- I was a reporter for the best part of 25 years, and the only times I *really* needed a press pass was at the national political conventions, in which the passes are arranged by your news organization. In Minnesota, we got them from the cops until a few years ago, when they stopped issuing them; now reporters and photographers are treated pretty much like the public, except the cops won't beat you up, even if they feel like it. Usually.

[Andrew Sowerby]

Here in France "press passes" are issued by the state and are highly controlled. In order to get one you have to prove that you earn more than 50% of your annual income from press work, and they need to be renewed every 2 years.

Interesting ... how does one earn income from press work to qualify for the initial pass? :)

[Pitxu]

Interesting ... how does one earn income from press work to qualify for the initial pass? :)


You don't need a pass to get in everywhere!

I worked press here for some time for French and Basque papers but never needed one. As sitemistic pointed out, if you look the part, with confidence you can go just about anywhere, and you get to be known on the circuit. A good friend of mine in the pack had one and used to show it with great pride everywhere he went. It never got him anywhere I couldn't get.

[itf]

You can buy a press pass on the main backpacker strip here in Bangkok! Which makes a lot of sense; every backpacker here is zooming in and out with their brand-new digital SLR's. Now all you have to do is buy the camera, come to Bangkok, buy the pass, and suddenly you're in Nat Geo territory with the gear and credentials!

[M. Valdemar]

Nicely laminated ones on Khao San road for 500 baht.

[itf]

Nicely laminated ones on Khao San road for 500 baht.

They're the ones. I wonder if anyone has shown one while 'gaining access' to a tribal village (which was probably set up for tourists to begin with).

[Robert Price]

Back when I was in school, 1995 i bought the same credientials from the IFPO. Believe it or not they have served me well. I knew it was all BS back then, but I bought it anyway. Still to this day it has worked for me in a lot of situations. es it really is kind of a scam and will not work all the time. Especially for "high security" situations, but to gain access to concerts and the occasional venue where no cameras are allowed it has worked to my advantage.

But like everyone has said additude is everything, If you act like you belong there then you will be treated like you belong there.

[FallisPhoto]

Back when I was in school, 1995 i bought the same credientials from the IFPO. Believe it or not they have served me well. I knew it was all BS back then, but I bought it anyway. Still to this day it has worked for me in a lot of situations. es it really is kind of a scam and will not work all the time. Especially for "high security" situations, but to gain access to concerts and the occasional venue where no cameras are allowed it has worked to my advantage.


I have no doubt that it allowed you to bluff your way into some places where you ordinarily wouldn't have been allowed. The point is that something I can whip up on my home computer and laminate, at a total cost of about $3, will work just as well.