American Society of Media Photographers

Much of the material is freely available to the public. For instance, it offers a web tutorial on registering copyrights, and on model releases and property releases. It also helps users of images find qualified photographers for project assignments ("Find a Photographer") and helps photographers find qualified assistants ("Find an Assistant.") The ASMP has more than 7,000+ members in nearly 70 countries.

• Name — American Society of Media Photographers • Formation — 1944 • Type — professional association • Headquarters — San Francisco, CA • Location — United States • Membership — 7,000+ • Language — English • Leader Title — CEO • Leader Name — Thomas Maddrey • Website — asmp.org

In the fall of 1944, some two dozen New York photographers formed the Society of Magazine Photographers or SMP. Within a few months, though, they had to change the name to American Society of Magazine Photographers because the acronym SMP was already being used by another organization. (In 1992, recognizing that it had grown far beyond the borders of the magazine industry, the Society adopted its current name.) Their goal was to address their common problems: lack of credit lines, unauthorized reproduction of images, and uncredited copying of photographs by illustrators and artists. They also hoped to raise their rates of pay. In the early years, a majority within the Society held the opinion that ASMP should be a labor union and bargain collectively for wages and working conditions. However, this was far from unanimous. A substantial minority wanted nothing to do with unions and saw ASMP as a professional guild along the lines of the American Bar Association or American Medical Association. During the 1950s, the issue was the cause of frequent schisms and mass resignations. The issue was laid to rest by a 1976 ruling of the National Labor Relations Board, which determined that ASMP was a group of independent contractors and, thus, ineligible to be a union. Thereafter, ASMP focused its efforts on areas that are traditional activities of professional associations: networking, advocacy and business practices.

From just a couple dozen photojournalists in New York City, the Society soon expanded. Local chapters were formed, first in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and then in other cities. Today there are 37 chapters, covering the major U.S. metropolitan areas. Although the group does distribute videos of its major events, outreach to smaller cities remains a continuing challenge. During the 1950s and '60s, ASMP also grew to encompass a wider range of photographic applications, including such specialties as advertising, catalog, architectural and industrial imagery. After the Internet came of age, The Society's specialty groups took advantage of the free and easy interchange of ideas that bulletin boards, listservs and social networks could provide.

In 1973, at the instigation of then-president Lawrence Fried, ASMP published Professional Business Practices in Photography, a compilation of recommended procedures, industry terminology, and standard forms and contracts. Initially issued in looseleaf format (and informally referred to as the "Business Bible"), the publication has regularly been revised over the years; the seventh edition was released as a trade paperback in 2008. In addition to the Professional Business Practices book, which is aimed at photographers, ASMP has published pamphlets for photo users that explain how the business works. The Society has also regularly produced business seminars and conferences on topics of interest to professional photographers. ASMP was among the founding members of the UPDIG Coalition, which in 2006-07 published a set of technical recommendations for accurate reproduction of digital images. In 2008–2011, ASMP sponsored the dpBestflow project that, with financial support from the Library of Congress, published best practices and tutorials for preserving digital images.

American Society of Media Photographers is recorded with the occupation photographer. Recorded as a citizen of United States. Established in Library of Congress under n98005437.