Last week, Stephanie Clifford wrote an article in the New York Times detailing changes in the landscape of professional photography arising from the competition with amateurs newly-enfranchised by digital technology.

At the recent Joop Swart Masterclass for World Press Photo, I was touched by the desire of Iranian photographer Ali Akbar Shirjian, a student, to bring back information from the class to his fellow Iranian photographers in the hopes he could use the fruits of his experience to help them to organize effectively into a professional group.

Over a eight-day span recently, I worked as a part of the team teaching at the Joop Swart Masterclass, sponsored by the World Press Photo organization in Amsterdam.

Joining me in that endeavor were photographers Philip Blenkinsop, Giorgia Fiorio, and Maggie Steber, photo curator Celina Lunsford, and photo book publisher Dewi Lewis.