Yesterday, the Dow Jones lost 5.1% of its value amid recession fears. 'So far, Japan, Hong Kong and European countries including Germany and Italy are officially in recession,' according to the Associated Press. 'Most expect the U.S. and Britain to be joining them soon, whatever fiscal stimulus policy-makers come up with in the coming days and weeks.'

We wrote over the past few weeks that this downturn could affect photographers' businesses. 'Photographers are going to have to look at diversification,' warned Nik Stewert, the national marketing manager of Aaduki Multimedia. 'It's doom and gloom I'm afraid.'

Now, Vincent Laforet, a top New York-based commercial and editorial photographer, is weighing in with his own assessment of the situation. And it's gloomy.

In his latest blog post, he writes: 'My outlook for the print industry is now quite dire - in many ways this economic downturn may lead to an incredible series of layoffs and failures in the upcoming year that our industry has never seen before. What I assumed would happen over the next 3-5 years - may happen in the next year or two - precipitated by this economic downturn that we’re experiencing.'

He continues: 'Newspapers and magazines are facing the absolute perfect storm. The problem is that as we all know, both subscribers and advertisers are seeing a very very sharp decline. This is why you’re seeing incredibly cut backs in budgets, and massive layoffs. Publications are cutting the fat - and more often than not - into the bone - and guaranteeing their extinction long term.'

But the real sign that things are going down the drains is this: 'Companies are slowly (I’d say rapidly) completely clamping down on their advertising budgets. And when companies stop spending money on ads, things get REAL bad, real quick for everyone. The ad agencies suffer, the producers, assistants and commercial photographers suffer, and the newspapers suffer - all the way down to newspaper staff as there are no ads to run, and there is no money to pay salaries…'

Saying that Laforet has a point would be an understatement. Time Inc is cutting hundreds of jobs. The Christian Science Monitor and PC World are stopping their print editions to focus on solely on online activities. The New York Times is seeing its numbers fall. Even BJP's own publishing company is restructuring to face off the crisis.

However, while Laforet warns that revenues will be sharply reduced in 2009, this should not prevent photographers from trying new things. A report by the European Business Awards published today says that entrepreneurs can benefit from the crisis if they seize opportunities when others see only risk, and if they have a high level of competence in evaluating risk and mitigating against the downside. ' You need to stay focused on your goal,' says Laforet. 'BUT - stay nimble - embrace change and new technology. If your aim is to work at the NYTimes as a still photographer - you’re headed for a brick wall. If you want to work for those organizations (or others!!!) doing a mix of photography and other media - you’ll be just fine. Find a way to set the pace for the industry - don’t try to let them set the pace for you. Be a leader - not a follower.'