Leica is to lower the barrier on its online Fotopark for the last time on February 28. The closure, fittingly, represents a “shift of focus”.
Here is the letter sent to all those who registered for Fotopark, including me, even though I didn’t use the service so cannot comment on the underlying reasons for the decision. Users might have a better idea and any comments would be welcome.
We have made the decision to shift our focus to concentrate on the exchange between photographers and photography experts.
Due to this, the Leica Fotopark will no longer be available as of 28th February 2019. We would like to thank you for the time you have invested in the platform, and recommend the LFI.Gallery as a new location to showcase your photos.
The LFI.Gallery combines the curatorial expertise of the LFI photo editors and the storage functions of the Leica Fotopark and is the ideal platform for Leica photography and photographers. We are looking forward to seeing you and your pictures again in the LFI.Gallery.
You can download the pictures you uploaded to Fotopark through ‘My Account’ as a .zip file and manage or delete your account from there. It is no longer possible to upload new photos. If you decide to take no action, your account will be automatically deleted with effect from 1st March 2019.
As a sweetener for the disruption, Leica is offering registered users a digital subscription to LFI magazine.
I signed up with Fotopark when it was launched and submitted some photos but lost interest as it just turned out to be another cloud where people parked their photos.
From what I saw Leica launched it with fanfare and then quickly lost interest so nothing happened. I surmise that some keen young marketing person came up with the idea but there was no committed follow up.from the company as no individual or team had responsibility for it. This does seem to be a Leica company problem-going off on tangents on products and programmes which are not followed through.
Flickr was taken over last year by Smugmug who decided that the original Flickr objective of being a photo sharing site like- Fotopark-had been corrupted by many users who were using it as free cloud to just store their photos so the new owners have limited the free storage to 1000 photos and if you have to pay a monthly subscription if you want more photos on the site
It’s a pity that Leica did not put the effort into making Fotopark work. A really well executed ste would have been very worthwhile . Perhaps the Fotopark admin and marketing team were transferred to the limited edition section where they spend their days brassing up new M bodies with abrasive paper.
The downside to the curation is that many Leica photographers are not getting their photos on the site nor any feedback from the curators, whoever they might be. Some are already saying that it is not worth the effort and won’t submit any more photos. I have been singing Leica’s praises for what it does to support photography generally, including the Barnack Prize etc, but a different approach is needed to support the wider group of amateurs. It is not clear that Leica has found the ideal approach yet, particularly as the curation of a large number of amateur photos could be very demanding resource-wise.
William
William, I totally agree it would be good if Leica could find a way to support the wider group of amateur photographers.
I understand that they have some financial involvement with the very good I SHOT IT online photo competition site but it is never promoted .Even an email to new Leica buyers telling them about I SHOT IT, the LFI magazine and previously Fotopark would be better than nothing .
When I stay for one night in a hotel I get emails and newsletters from it for ever unless I unsubscribe but when I buy a $7000 Leica I receive nothing. No welcome to the Leica family letter, no info on exhibitions at Leica stores, LFI magazine, the Fotopark, no info on accessories for my new camera etc,etc,etc,
They really are pretty hopeless. I would be tackling these marketing 101 points before investing in fancy,”flagship” stores in incredibly high rent locations.
I had a quick look at I SHOT IT and the content there is much more like what amateurs shoot than the usual content of LFI magazine which is now owned by Leica. I am still a subscriber to the magazine, even though I do not think it is particularly good. I did win a very small prize for one of my photos when it was published in the magazine some years ago, but I would not be tempted to submit my photos for ‘curation’ at LFI. The photographic content of the magazine tends to be ‘trendy’ and that whole tone pervades the magazine. The technical articles about digital cameras, which bore me anyway, are in poor English translated from German. They have been publishing some material recently about vintage Leicas in the run up to the opening of the Leica Museum and that, at least, is a positive for me. I am hoping to have a digital only subscription to the full magazine as the hard copy takes up too much space at home and I keep throwing them out.
To your other points, the LHSA has recently been including a leaflet with a trial membership offer in Leica camera boxes sold all around the world and I would recommend that new Leica owners at least give the trial membership a chance. As well as being a member of LHSA, I am also a member of The Leica Society (TLS) in the UK and I am a regular contributor to the Leica Forum. Between those 3 bodies and LFI I have no shortage of Leica information and competition opportunities coming my way. I am also a registered Leica owner (for all my Leicas from 2017 back to 1926) and, as a result, I receive information from the company as well. In truth, I can suffer from ‘Leica overload’ at times. Macfilos does not contribute to that, I might add, because of the calm and, often whimsical, approach of Editor Evans.
William
Hi Willian,
I fully agree with your statement regarding LFI, I would’t be able to describe it in a better way as "trendy". never get recognition when you do a job beside the actual trends. I currently left LFI.
Best regards
Kai