Sports Illustrated has no more photographers on staff, News Photographer magazine reports. The magazine famous for pictures of sports and photo spreads of models in bathing suits fired all six of its staff photographers yesterday.
“Our commitment to photography hasn’t changed,” Sports Illustrated director of photography Brad Smith told News Photographer, despite no longer having photographers on staff at the magazine. “We’re still going to cover games, we’re going to shoot portraits, we’re going to cover Olympics, we’ll be at the Final Four, we will be at championships, we’ll be there.”
The laid off photographers can keep contributing to the magazine without the security of full-time employment, an arrangement that is sure to comfort those who lost their jobs yesterday.
“In my grandest thoughts I hope they will continue to contribute to the magazine,” Mr. Smith said. “I can’t imagine a world where they don’t. We just have to figure out what this new structure is.”
Whatever that new structure is, it will most likely mean spending less money to illustrate sports.
