As many of you receiving this letter may be aware, I have for the last
year been considering leaving the sports end of the photographic
business...
Family problems earlier this year and the recent decision by the
Atlantic 10 to pursue new avenues for the supply of their basketball
tournament imagery this season helped make the decision, in the end, a
much easier one...
At one time, working in the sports-oriented end of the business was
enjoyable in its camaraderie and ever-changeable nature.... Many of the
individuals I have worked with, the sights I have seen, and the moments
I shared with others will be treasured always. However, the business,
as I have expressed to many of you, is changing in its nature... In a
way that I am not wholly comfortable with -- no, in a way that I am
increasingly unhappy with and frustrated by. The industry is becoming
less and less one dominated by good faith and a traditional sports ethic
as demonstrated for years by the giants of the biz at the SID's of
places like Nebraska, NotreDame, West Virginia, etc... Instead, the
business is fast becoming one dominated by ethical and collegial midgets
who worry only about TV, the bottom-line, and their own bureaucratic
capital. A spirit best typified by many of the new breed of SID
staffers who know nothing about the hospitality and congeniality which
were for so long trademarks of the sports business... They are
individuals whom, but for working in an allegedly sports oriented
enterprise, they might just as easily be found in any major corporate
environment. MaryJo Warner at George Washington University, Dave Diles
formerly of St Bonaventure, and Kristi Palmer, the new SID at
University of Alaska, Anchorage, seem to, for me personally, typify
this new modality, and a spirit wholly anathema to that which first made
me love this business...
Additionally, the hard, cold, reality is that the future of sports
photojournalism is becoming more and more circumscribed and restricted
by the expansive reach of television coverage and at the same time the
expansion of TV's technological capability to provide individual frames
of increasingly high quality.. My take on this is that the future of
traditional photography will move in a more artistic vein.
Accordingly, it is time for me to move on...
I have not had time for much other than actual photography over the last
two years and this has prevented me from pursuing issues that needed to
be resolved both personally and legally.
Now, I will have much to keep me busy without the sports imagery biz.
In the near term I will concern myself primarily with preparing both the
legal paperwork necessary to enforcing the Krebs v. Rutgers, 797 F.
Supp. 1246 (D.N.J., 1992) settlement decree, which Rutgers has of late
abrogated by unilateral fiat, and filing the necessary paperwork against
George Washington University and appropriate GWU administrators for
copyright violation, unlawful conversion, and tortious interference in
contract. The potential compensatory damages settlement from the GWU
issues alone will provide a nice foundation for my transition to
whatever career the future brings my way...
For those of you unaware of the issues and events of the Rutgers case.
If you might be interested, you can find more on it at the following
locations:
http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/legal.html#ferpa
http://www.msacroa.org/news/disclegal.html#top5
http://www.uncg.edu/cha/UNIVERSITY_COUNSEL/FAQ/SSN.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3969/giovanni8.html
As for those of you who are currently awaiting work from us, please be
assured, that we will honor our obligations, both contractual and
personal and get the appropriate imagery to you, or photograph
events/games/imagery which we have hitherto committed ourselves to...
However, we will be accepting no new work and the only work we
anticipate doing in future, other than that necessary to allow our
clients a smooth transition to using other sources for future imagery,
is that for both the Wooden Classic/Tradition and the Top Of the World
Classic...
Everything in life has its own chapter and place, I began this foray
into sports photography in 1992 almost immediately after the completion
of the initial Krebs v. Rutgers case. Appropriately, I will close this
chapter of my life, as that case takes itself once again to Federal
District Court...
To all of you with whom I have had the pleasure and honor to work, I
thank-you. You may never know how much your friendship, support,
advice, and patience meant to me both professionally and personally,
however, I will keep a warm spot in my heart for each and everyone of
you as I move on to other things... I will, as best as possible, remain
in touch with each of you and hope you each will do the same...
Were I a "lower profile" individual, I might not find myself making this
decision now, but, I cannot be any but whom I am... I was no different
when working as a political consultant and cannot be less true to myself
today. I am who I am and ask no more than that others form their
opinion of me based upon knowing me for the individual I am; as such,
there are very few with whom I have worked who will not have a strong
opinion of me for better or worse. I am not one who engenders, or wishes
to engender, lukewarm feelings or half-measures in others. In truth, I
would have it no other way.
Again, thank-you all, for making my career in this field exciting,
vibrant, unpredictable, and when taken as a whole, both rewarding and
enjoyable. I only hope that you benefited in at least a small way from
the experience of working with me as well...
I have been truly blessed to work with so many good people and to have
seen the beauty of every corner of this country, in great part thanks to
my participation in the sports business...
Now it is time for me to move on...
Keep in touch, and if I can ever be of some help in whatever realm the
future finds me working, as always, please do not hesitate to ask...
And, by the way, if you need a tough attorney a few years from now, feel
free to look me up.. I hope my shingle will be up somewhere by then!
Sincerely,
Keith Krebs
--{ The views expressed in the preceding are those of the } { author, alone, and are neither the responsibility of, } { nor, should they be understood to represent the } { official viewpoint of P.O.V. Image Service. }
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