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| 32 photographers featured… all of the men. |
Nikon Asia is taking some serious heat today after a Nikon D850 promotion featuring 32 photographers caught the eye of the blog Fstoppers. The issue with this so-called “awe-inspiring” promotion? It featured 32 men, and 0 women, a realization that has led to wide-spread criticism of the promotion and of Nikon as a whole.
The original article didn’t hold back, claiming that “Nikon thinks [the D850] is too much for women to handle,” since the company didn’t select a single woman photographer for this particular promotion. Responses online were equally harsh, with some users asking Nikon when the female version of the D850 would come out… and if it would be pink:
“Or is the D850 in fact for men only and @Nikon plans to release a pink and sparkly D850w for women to use?” @vinson83 @fstoppers #diversity https://t.co/u7xy2cIaBe
— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) September 14, 2017
Others implied they would be taking their business elsewhere:
Hey @CanonUKandIE let’s talk. Clearly women aren’t good enough for Nikon ???? https://t.co/La1tE734PT
— Jennifer McCord (@jrcmccord) September 13, 2017
The controversy has gotten so much attention online, in fact, that CNN Money picked up the story.
For its part Nikon Asia did respond on Twitter, thanking users for “challenging us to do more” to support its female photographers. According to that statement, Nikon Asia did invite women to be part of the promotion (no word on how many) but none were able to participate. Here is the full statement:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. We really appreciate the support from our photography community. pic.twitter.com/e78qp4Q08a
— Nikon Asia (@NikonAsia) September 13, 2017
All in all, it’s been a very bad 24 hours for Nikon. But inflammatory as the original story is and obviously unacceptable as this all-male promotion was, it’s worth pointing out that this doesn’t seem to reflect Nikon’s philosophy as a brand, and particularly not Nikon USA.
The D850 has been promoted like mad, and one of the main photographers spreading the word around the United States is Dixie Dixon. When we reached out to Nikon for comment on this story, the company was adamant about its support for all photographers, sending us the following statement just a few minutes ago:
At Nikon, we champion all passionate photographers. Women are an integral part of the photography community and we are dedicated to celebrating any talented storyteller and their work. We appreciate you raising this concern and we will continue to support the immense creative talent of female photographers in the US and globally.
Nikon—and more specifically Nikon Asia—certainly made a big mistake with this promotion. And given the attention this story has gotten (and will continue to get) it’s safe to say they’ll never host an all-male event or promotion again, nor should they. But to say “Nikon thinks [the D850] is too much for women to handle” is a stomach-churning extrapolation to make… albeit a very click-y one.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
