© David Anthony
David Anthony's photos of skateboarder Chaz Ortiz will never make it into VIBE, which folded Tuesday as the shoot was in progress.
At exactly the same time, reports were beginning to spread online that VIBE magazine was folding. Within a few hours, VIBE Media Group had announced that the entire company was going out of business immediately.
Think Big Studios owners Craig Persin and Lynn Renee learned about the news on Facebook. They're friends with a lot of photographers, and one of them had posted a link to a story about VIBE closing down.
Persin immediately realized they might not get paid for the use of the studio, for which they were charging $390. “I realized, David’s not paying me. VIBE’s the one who signed the contract,” Persin recalls. “I started to freak out.”
Persin called VIBE photo assistant Dionna King. It took a couple of tries to get through. She confirmed the magazine was closing and that they would no longer need the photos.
Persin says he reminded King that the contract states the studio must be paid the day of the shoot, but King said he should invoice the accounting department. Persin was not happy at that answer.
After the call, Persin relayed the news to Anthony in the studio office. Anthony had already spent several hours in the studio shooting Ortiz, the young skateboarder, and was preparing to move outside for additional shots. Anthony decided to keep the shoot going as if nothing had happened.
“I had his whole family there on the shoot. I wasn’t going to let them know, ‘Hey, guess what, the magazine just folded,’” Anthony says.
“I was so impressed with his professionalism,” Persin says. “He did not tell the family, he finished his shoot. ... Why ruin their day?”
Anthony, who says the shoot had a relatively modest budget of $1,000, figures he’s responsible for paying the studio and his assistant. “Guess who’s stuck with the bills now?” he says.
As for the photographs, Anthony is considering giving him to the skateboarder's agent to use for promotions. "I feel so bad for the kid and his family," he says. "I can't tell you how excited they were for this shoot."
Understandably, Anthony is unhappy that VIBE gave him an assignment so close to closing its doors. “I cannot believe a week ago they didn’t know something was up,” he says.
King, the VIBE photo assistant, says the staff didn’t know the magazine was closing until Tuesday. They got an e-mail from the company president at about 11 a.m. eastern time telling them to prepare for a 2 p.m. staff meeting.
“Everything happened so fast,” King says. “I was flustered.”
VIBE had eight photo shoots over the last two weeks for the September issue, and Anthony’s was the last one.
King had been at VIBE for just over a year. She started there as an intern after leaving Florida A&M, where she was studying photography.
“I left school to come work at VIBE, which was pretty much my dream,” King says. Now that she’s lost her job at VIBE, she’s considering going back to school.
The VIBE staff was “like a family,” King says. ““Yesterday, things were pretty solemn.... Everybody was very close, everybody was very hurt.”
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June 30: VIBE Media Group Goes Out of Business
