Nikon's Excuse For Leaving Female Photographers Out of Its New Campaign Is Truly Lame
32 professional photographers. 1 camera. Keep an eye out for more. https://t.co/rKs8h2jQpW pic.twitter.com/INm6VsxXdu
— Nikon Asia (@NikonAsia) September 7, 2017
Japanese camera company Nikon recently invited a slew of professional photographers (32, to be exact) to test out its new camera for a campaign — but there was one major problem. It seems that out of the nearly three dozen photographers tapped for the campaign, not a single one of them was a woman.
Of course, female photographers were quick to point out the sexist gaffe on Twitter, calling out the company for its huge error. Many of them pointed out that they were longtime customers of the brand as well.
As a lifelong @NikonUSA shooter, this profile on 32 all male photographers is pretty disheartening. https://t.co/15pKlIlYIQ
— Leah Voss (@LeahVossVisuals) September 13, 2017
My Nikon D800 wasn't built for my delicate womanly hands but I still managed to film with it in Gaza, Tripoli + whilst being teargassed.🖕🏽💅🏽 https://t.co/Xh8kfblPg2
— Julia Macfarlane (@juliamacfarlane) September 14, 2017
And in response to the wave of (valid) criticism, Nikon issued this lackluster nonapology:
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
In the tweet, Nikon claimed that the female photographers originally invited to participate in the campaign were "unable to attend," which frankly seems like the PR-approved equivalent to "my dog ate my homework," considering the wealth of talented female photographers out there. However, the company did at least confess that it "had not put enough of a focus on this area" — so at least there's one point we can all confidently agree on.