Review of Martin Gee's "Reduction in Force"
Friday, May 23, 2008 @ 07:52
For anyone who has been involved in the world of newspapers over the past twenty-five to thirty years, this online video will strike a chord. It was put together by San José Mercury News designer, Martin Gee, who is one of the many insider eyewitnesses to the decline of the once unshakeable newspaper industry.
This short presentation, illustrated by stark photographs, shows the remnants of a once bustling newspaper editorial office and gives viewers a unique inside perspective of the depression encountered when one realizes how far the newspaper industry has fallen. While once busy, today empty desks line hallways; previously constantly ringing telephones sit in a metal storage cart waiting discarding to some future home perhaps miles away.
Martin Gee talks about his realization that he takes depressing photographs these days and the ones in this catalogue clearly are examples of some of that work. He took these photographs around his newsroom one night and they clearly capture his personal sense of loss of an era that once was, but probably never will be again.
Gee works for the San José Mercury News, but the pictures he captures of abandoned desks, computers, telephones and other elements of the newspaper industry's heyday can be seen at newspaper offices in just about every major city across the United States. The 'body counts' are duly reported in the media as each of these publications undergoes cost-cutting measures such as layoffs and buy-outs, but the aftermath of those staff reductions go largely unnoticed by all except those whose lives are directly affected.
The images in Gee's retrospective represent his personal impressions of a strong industry brought to its knees and were never meant to be a documentary, but rather merely Gee's personal impressions and innate sadness. They were posted by Gee on flickr.com and were only distributed more widely after a blogger discovered them there. The result of that wider distribution was a series entitled "Reduction in Force." Gee even remarks that as a result of the wider dissemination of his photos, he will probably be at the top of the list when next the San José Mercury News goes on the offensive for its next round of layoffs!
For a unique look into the dying newspaper industry of today, visit Gee's retrospective
here.
