On Wednesday National Geographic is planning to launch a commercial assignment branch. About 27 photographers will be rep'd by NG for potential commercial hire, extending the abilities of these prized photographers into a more financially lucrative marketplace.

I went on the new Assignment site and played around with its clean and navigable interface. The interplay between styles and photographers is translated in a fresh flash interface, allowing a user to highlight either a style or a photographer, and narrow down which photographer and what particular niche that photographer can fill.

Many strict editorial agencies have made the jump over to commercial work-- most famously VII and Magnum. I'm sure the demand for quality commercial imagery and the lessening demand (or perhaps budget) for high-quality editorial work have shifted the offerings. I hope to see some of these names appear on major commercial campaigns; the genres need some remixing. I personally would revel in seeing Brian Skerry shooting fashion instead of his traditional animal portraits, and perhaps reorienting our concept of what fashion photography is supposed to be.