POINT of View: The outgoing Paul Curtis

As executive director of the Photo Imaging Council of Australia, Paul Curtis has played a central role in the development and direction of the local photo industry over the past two decades. He shares some thoughts with Photo & Imaging News on his retirement from that role.

Do you leave PICA “in good shape”?

No, the last few months wrapping things up have kept me so deskbound I’ve rolled another tyre around my middle. I am beginning to look like a Mack truck! But with less work to do, I should get back to the gym more often! – Oh, you mean PICA’s shape? Couldn’t be healthier! Essentially, the organisation has got money in the bank to do things, a new management team that can do things, a vital committed industry/retailer base that can do things and new imaging business opportunities to do things coming at it from all directions. And if you enjoy challenges, it’s got absolute bucketloads of them too! I don’t believe PICA needs to hold heaps of meetings. Tackled properly, a well-managed agenda will appeal to all the key decision makers in the distribution of imaging products. If you can get the right people in the room at the one time and then really settle down to create an action plan for both a year ahead and two years ahead, success becomes a simpler process.

However, the main goal for PICA is the same as I set it when I took on the role 20 years ago: “What is it that a group of imaging importers in fierce competition with each other can do together to improve the business for all?” Over the years we identified numerous issues, moved on them and, in the main, achieved good results.

Regrets about campaigns or issues which haven’t been as successful as you would have liked?

Gosh, have you got the space! Where do we begin? I guess the key word in your question is “Regrets”. I see the main point of an industry body as helping to grow business. Outside of trade education, government legislation and statistical gathering, you have to think PR, promotion and advertising. And active PR for TV, radio and press is all about getting something you can hang your hat on.

Without the hook, the job becomes very difficult. So immediately springing to mind, in rough order of the sins committed, I would mention the loss of the impetus generated by the National Photography week campaigns, which I got Prime Minister Hawke to declare in the 1980s.

This was due to a simple administration error (beyond our control I hasten to add). Back then, one of our main problems was to get consumers to even face the idea of being seen with a camera. Rather than being young and trendy, taking photos was considered rather “naff”. Such campaigns, along with Celebrity Photographer of the Year, helped promote the idea that picture taking was fun and for everybody.

In the digital age, my later attempt to resurrect something similar was “National Print It Day”. The appeal to general TV, radio and the press was to remind everyone to print all their images each February before they fell victim to a hard drive crash. It went gangbusters with all media, but suffered from a lack of campaign awareness at pointof- sale. This, coupled with the fact we had many in the industry in “digital shock” led to a lack of support from distributors.

On the lobbying front, I regret the heap of industry money paid to professional lobbyists and Access Economics to have professionals go into bat for us in Canberra to try and address the issue of mail order and internet cameras coming into the country GST-free. We would have fared just as well without them. I hope the industry does not forget this lesson! We also failed to galvanise everyone into a concerted campaign. Many retailers did not see it as a problem. Also, a lot of the heat has gone out of the issue since the Aussie dollar dived from nearing US dollar parity to being worth a handful of beads. That’s one way of taking the gloss off buying overseas!

However, the rise in internet trading is continuing. In Britain this year, internet trading increased by over 38 percent. So no one can pretend internet purchasing is not a potential problem. Other countries have moved to correct this situation, but I don’t see any signs of action here.

Another way to tackle this issue would be to take-up Mark Alderson’s (Foto Reisel) call for world parity pricing. A lone call from Australia for manufacturers to adopt world parity pricing will have little impact as we only represent roughly two percent of world sales. But you would think it would be easier to talk to our own suppliers than government. Let’s face it, some manufacturers, such as Apple, have little price differences between countries, while a popular brand of laptop recently released in both the USA and Australia on the same day, was nearly double the price here.

Grey marketing thrives where manufacturers prefer to work on a system of charging what the market will stand in each country. However, this model is coming increasingly under pressure from major retailers. They argue that if the manufacturer really wants a dealer network to sell their goods, then they have to protect the retailer from the impact of grey marketing and online ordering from overseas retailers. In the US, where retailers have more muscle, they used to rely on persuading manufacturers to use different model numbers and names for the same products. But today’s consumers are a more savvy lot and not so easily fooled as in the pre-web days when countries mainly traded in ignorance of each other.

While it can’t be denied that manufacturers do face different distribution and tax costs in each country, one thing the financial crisis has clearly demonstrated is that we have truly moved closer to a global economy. So the cries for world parity pricing can only expect to be increased. In these days of rapidly growing internet-based purchasing, manufacturers that truly want proper retailerbased distribution for their products should listen carefully.

So, as you can see, it is not a case of singing, “I have regrets, but too few to mention”! But, without trying to sound like too much of the smart-arse, hindsight pundit, I prefer to think of “regrets” as a part of the learning process that can lay the foundations to doing things better in the future.

How involved were you in the decision for PICA to move away from an executive director role to the PIC/PMC model?

Very much so, in fact it was my recommendation. I think rolling the show and conferences together under the PMA umbrella proved that when all sides of the industry are working together, have a say in the decision making process and agree on the whole objective, then awareness and communication problems are eliminated and greater success is assured. Starker proof of this than the contrasting difference in retailer attendance between the Sydney 2006 show and the Melbourne 2009 show couldn’t exist. So, my reasoning was, why not apply the same logic to all industry activities?

The professional segment’s funds allocation group, the PMC, seems to have made a flying start, while the consumer segment’s PIC hasn’t been so quick off the mark. What’s made the difference?

What we did with the PMC was first pick out around 20 of the best like-minded people in professional photography, regardless of which state they were in. Then by individual interviews and emails, we identified the key issues which needed to be addressed. Eventually we had an agreed agenda that all delegates could prepare for.

We then set a meeting day which everyone could commit to. We chose a good venue and gave ourselves the entire day to resolve the issues on the agenda and formulate a plan for each item. It’s a much longer and more complicated process than simply calling a meeting, but it does get results.

What are the achievements in the executive director’s role about which you feel most satisfied?

Over the years, I have succeeded in getting together a bunch of top senior industry executives from competing companies to consider industry-wide issues. Together, we made good progress on doing away with the old “us versus them” attitude that used to exist between supplier, retailer and professional user. We moved into a new era of openness. We took our industry research and statistics out of the secrecy of the darkest closet and posted it on the web free for all to see and use. We even moved away from closed meetings and books to sharing all information with industry colleagues.

We created the strongest possible links with PMA, AIPP and ACMP, and this has lead to a situation where those organisations are stronger.

The PMA is incredible. I sometimes have trouble explaining to other industry body representatives just what we have got going for us in the photo industry. I tell them we have our largest retailers, such as Richard Robertson, John Paxton, Alan and Peter Michael, etc, sitting down together working out ways that help their smaller retailer competitors! They are incredulous! Then I explain that PMA achieves the same thing in other countries as well. In the US, they have created a situation where people, such as Dave Ritz with his hundreds and hundreds of stores, is willing to come over here and discuss problems and experiences in retailing. Cultures take time to change, but PICA has actively sought to help the other trade organisations with what we consider are its vital educational programs.

When digital first started to appear, PICA took a group of managing directors of the major suppliers on two tours right round Australia where anyone could come along for free and listen and discuss with our leaders the coming implications of digital photography. We went everywhere, even to Cairns and Townsville, to afford everyone in the business that opportunity. I would like to think that this early and prompt action was a contributing reason that Australia had one of the fastest take-up rates of printing digital images in the world.

Under Dave Marshall’s presidency, we also engaged in an intensive PR campaign for consumers. We had columns on digital photography appearing in over 100 newspapers around Australia, we were notching up 80 television segments and more than 130 radio station interviews a year. I would like to think our “Print It or Lose It” campaign also helped to increase both trade and consumer awareness.

Ironically, the effect of all this pales into insignificance when we consider the impact of the mass advertising of cheap digital prints by key companies in our business such as Harvey Norman. The argument about whether this was the death knell or the saviour of many small photo businesses still rages, but it cannot be denied that it had a huge impact on growing consumer awareness of the benefits of printing digital images. Lastly, I have to mention the long, record-breaking run of photo shows. Not all our exhibitors understood what it was all about. Some just thought it was an opportunity to show their gear, collect a few orders and nick off back home. But the vast majority realised that the shows are really all about education: education for suppliers, retailers, professionals and consumers. It is education that drives our industry and I like to think that the total educational experience of our shows has greatly contributed to Australia’s acknowledged position as being among the world leaders in photography.

What you would like to see within the industry in the next five years?

Just about everyone now has a digital camera so continued product development in all areas is essential to maintain business growth. Without the ability to meet the basic human desire to have something new, we are absolutely stymied. Fortunately, our manufacturers seem up to the challenge.

I continue to dream of a day when the industry recognises that the average consumer cannot guess the value of a camera with a certain set of features within $90 until they approach their first photo shop. I would also like to see margins increase sufficiently to allow retailers to have more time to explain product benefits. This would be very much in the interests of the consumers and help grow the market for both cameras and print making.

Lastly and most importantly, we need to pay more attention to promoting the sizzle of creative photography as an art form, self-expression and the major role it plays in recording our histories. Dedicated camera sales will loose out to multipurpose devices unless we can show consumers just how much they can achieve with good photography.

Any technology changes you tip as significant in the future?

Well, first off, forget all that crap still being bandied around in some quarters of the industry that the pixel race is won and over. Rubbish! And please don’t listen to the stories of limited storage space and card writing speeds. Talk about King Canute! The challenge that will come from the everincreasing quality of imaging sensors and indeed, the whole recording process, is that it will lessen the need for zoom lenses. The digital zoom could move from a con to a practical reality.

We will see cameras move more and more towards having the latitude and recording capabilities of the human eye. (This might even help eliminate the trend towards making cameras “simpler” to operate by offering 20 different exposure modes! The only things effecting exposure are sensor speed, aperture and shutter speed. How do you really simplify that process by adding 20 odd modes on a camera! I can understand manual, auto, aperture-priority and shutter-priority, but after that, forget it!)

What do you think business will be like this year?

Of course it’s going to be an absolutely bloody terrible! In the first week of this year, the TV programs are saying so, the newspapers are saying so, radio broadcasters are saying so, politicians are saying so, and photo industry pundits are saying so. Oh the power of self-fulfilling prophecies! In the face of so much utter bloody negativity how can it be anything else! That’s one of the key reasons I feel I have to get out! Is there no one left with any balls to stand up and say, “Hey, things could be fun, spend a little dime with me!”

I blame the accountants that seem to be running things everywhere! The trouble with these guys is that they only keep the score. They don’t get out there; face up to some stiff bowling and score a century.

Their idea of the game is to play safe, take no risks and block everything. Business used to be run by entrepreneurs. They build and create. Put them back in charge, have the accountants running sound sensible support and kick the stock market financial whizzes off the field altogether and it could be a whole new ball game!

Is there a place for a photo specialist channel in modern retailing?

My oath there is. And I love your use of the words photo channel! I am fed up with hearing about the CE channel! It is the photo channel we are all talking about! The only trouble is the definition of a specialist photo channel. To me, it is any outlet that is actively engaged in selling enthusiast cameras and services. So that includes any store offering sophisticated cameras and SLRs, or offering large format printing and framing services. The total range of imaging products has expanded and to be a specialist you have to be showing the full range. In actual fact, we have more of these outlets in Australia than ever before. But, as always, some are more successful than others!

There has always been change in the photo specialist channel. Many of our photo retailer pioneers came from the optical industry. After the war, a firm of opticians called CT Lorenz was the dominate force. They considered cameras to be a part of their business and got quite upset when pharmacy said it was actually theirs because it was a chemical process.

Out of the confusion, a few specialist photo stores started, mostly by people with pharmacy or optical backgrounds. At first the new specialty photo stores found themselves under threat from pharmacy groups such as Soul Pattinsons. Then came the mass merchandisers, Myers and David Jones. The ‘70s saw the big discounters, such as Sydney Wide and we all said the industry would never be the same again! And we were right, because next came the minilabs. Now they weren’t real photo stores, were they? That was certainly the prevailing attitude of the time.

In essence I don’t think this game has changed that much. The essentials are constant. We were attracted to this industry because of a love of dealing in high tech products: products that are new and exciting and have the mystery of creating potentially dynamic images. The specifications printed on the side of the box that we are trying to push across the counter may have changed, but, in cold fact, the spirit and sizzle of the box has remained constant. The challenge, and the fun bit, is to get as many people both buying and using what is in the box while still making a reasonable profit.

However, I cannot deny the difficulty of dealing with what are undeniable faster technology changes. The real truth about the brave new world of digital imaging was finally brought home to me around four years ago by the great photographic journalist Dave Miller. Now Dave has a few years on even me. In fact, in my schoolboy years, I was an avid reader of his wise writings in Modern Photography. We eventually met at a Photokina around 30 years ago and after I had lavished hero worship, I was delighted to discover him to be unassuming to a degree of almost painful modesty. He also has an extremely droll and finely-honed sense of humour which makes him a wonderful friend.

Now decades on, we are walking companionably the aisles of the PMA Las Vegas Show when he turns and says, “Do you realise Paul, that between us there would be few in the world that know more about photography?”

Well, that Dave Miller could even think of including my name in a league of experts was a shock. But even while demurring, my chest was uncontrollably puffing up with pride!

“Think about it,” he insisted, “You’ve coated glass plates haven’t you, lived with Amidol stains on your fingers, know the works of Margaret Cameron and Cartier- Bresson, been round the factories of the major camera and film companies, know the thread of P60 and P100 flashbulbs, handled a Speed Graphic and even worked with printing-out paper haven’t you?”

This much I conceded.

But Dave was still in full pursuit: “And you also know about farmer’s reducer, selenium toning, multigrades, loading roll film into wet wire spirals, feeling the emulsion side of cut film in total darkness to load them into sheet film holders and know how to quick-dry press prints with methylated spirits?”

I did! I was now six inches taller and my chest had swollen further, to aisle blocking dimensions!

“Well my friend”, said Dave putting his arm around my shoulders in an avuncular way, “Do you realise that, if you put together the sum total of our amazingly wide, profound, vast and extensive knowledge of photography, it is all now totally and utterly....useless!”  

Paul Curtis – cruise ships to cameras 

Born 1943 in Cornwall, United Kingdom, Paul Curtis has had a lifelong involvement with photography. He was given his first camera at seven and begun contributing photos to newspapers while still at school.

In his later teens, he combined photography with his other great love: sailing. He quickly established himself as a yachting photographer and covered major meets for leading boating magazines around the world. Before he turned 20, Curtis left England for a job taking photos on cruise ships. During this time he abandoned his camera for the microphone and worked as the entertainment officer aboard the original Queen Mary.

After the Queen Mary was withdrawn from service, Curtis worked briefly with a photo studio in New York before moving on to Australia and opening a camera shop in Sydney. Within 10 years the business had grown to include two camera shops, one with a major hi-fi department.

Later he went on to edit photo and hi-fi magazines before establishing his own publishing company in 1979. In 1989, Curtis accepted an offer from a major publishing group for the full range of company titles, including Australian Camera and Pro Photogaphy. Curtis then became a publishing consultant and boutique publisher of corporate publications under the name of Rose Publishing Co. The traditional office setup was abandoned for a mobile phone and a laptop on a yacht and Floating Ideas was born as a division of the company. Curtis offers consultancy services in the field of public relations, marketing, advertising and sales promotion.

His main client has been PICA, where as executive director he has handled the role of industry and consumer affairs spokesman in addition to directing the organisation’s activities. He retired from this role in December, 2008.

In 1995, Curtis launched the first annual Photo Imaging Show which is now the largest event of its type in the Southern Hemisphere and the second largest annual event of its type in the world.