Who remembers the documentary Reporters of Raymond Depardon ? In the '70s, when there were no cell phones or digital cameras, we see the famous photographers agency GAMMA following Richard Gere, then little known, or the French President Giscard d'Estaing,

Depardon and Gilles Caron founded the agency Gamma in 1966 and became one of the glories of French photography, at a time when Paris became one of the capitals of photojournalism.

At midday in Paris, photographers based in Europe were far ahead of fellow Americans because they were still 6 am in New York.

The agency GAMMA came to spread the work of more than 6,000 photographers before being bought in the late '90s, the group HACHETTE FILIPACHI, PHOTO editor, and then sold the group GREEN RECOVERY.

The Figaro on Saturday (25.07.09) reports that the leading agency must file for bankruptcy in the coming days. The management confirms that it is seeking investors and has a continuing project of the company, but there are great doubts about it.

Although this festival in Arles this year, GAMMA not reserved place in the Visa pour l'Image, the festival of photojournalism in Perpignan will happen in September, more or less at the time of Paraty in Focus.

The GAMMA, which currently has 14 photographers, the competition would not be holding on the France Presse and Reuters, and had a loss of activity of almost 50% this year. One possible way would be to abandon the hot news and look for work in depth, following the model of MAGNUM .

It is said that the most important photographers such as Laurent Van Der Stockt Luyssen and Jean-Luc, were about to leave the GAMMA.

The fund GREEN RECOVERY failed to account for the eight funds or agencies purchased from HACHETTE FILIPACHI, including Keystone and RAPHO, also celebrated the agency founded in 1933 by Charles Rado and had photographers like Robert Doisneau, Willy Ronis, Sabine Weiss, Edouard Boubat, and Janine Niepce.

A lesson from the current difficulties is that a photo agency is not a business like any other, you can buy and sell with impunity. It is difficult to an agency to go ahead without the enthusiastic participation, solidarity, blood, sweat and tears from photographers who compose it.

For a picture of the current agencies, funds and collective photography in France, click here .