tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88278623952344852022024-03-14T03:56:07.897+00:00New PhotographicsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-21257425699110379072018-01-26T16:01:00.000+00:002018-01-26T16:01:13.253+00:00Moved<br />
Please head over to <a href="http://jonathanworth.org">jonathanworth.org</a> to see more recent work and/or get in touch.<br />
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j Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-66392621649634295742010-12-11T09:40:00.002+00:002010-12-11T09:47:22.557+00:00In Solidarity with Jonathan Worth<span class="Apple-style-span" ><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><blockquote></blockquote><br /></span></div>.......The following is taken from Fred Ritchin's <a href="http://afterphotography.org/">AfterPhotography</a> blog<br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><i></i></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><i>FROM MR. WORTH, IN ENGLAND:</i></div><i><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>“So this week’s phonar class session had over 700 people “drop by” and reached over 42,000 people via Twitter http://www.phonar.org , I’ve asked a few people for nominations of a book that “is notable/ inspiring/ seminal/ provocative, in it’s narrative structure/approach or perhaps in it’s ‘discussion’ of narrative”.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>“Would you possibly mind nominating a tome ?”</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>—</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>MY RESPONSE:</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>There are three that come to mind (two short stories and a hypertextual poem):</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>“BORGES Y YO” (Borges and I), the extraordinary short story by Sr. Borges about him and him</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>“LAS BABAS DEL DIABLO” (The Devil’s Spittle), Julio Cortázar’s short story about photography, literature and life, with shifting pronouns, translated as “Blow-Up” for the Antonioni movie that it did and did not inspire</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>“CENT MILLE MILLIARDS DE POÈMES” (One Hundred Thousand Billion Poems), by Raymond Queneau, the simplest and most beautiful of hypertext poems, from 1961</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><div style="text-align: left; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><blockquote style="display: inline !important; "><br /></blockquote></i></span></div></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><div style="text-align: left; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><blockquote style="display: inline !important; "><br /></blockquote></i></span></div></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><div style="text-align: left; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>The final list will appear at <a href="http://phonar.covmedia.co.uk/?p=383">phonar.org</a></i></span></div></i></span></div></i></blockquote><i><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i></i></span></div></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-19744757624089416262010-07-13T08:10:00.003+01:002010-07-13T08:48:44.161+01:00European Parliament TV: Focus on Copyright<div>Here's the documented <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2010/06/26000-worth-of-ltd-edition-recycling.html">shredding</a> of the Cory Doctorow prints 03.32 - 05.22, with a lively chat about copyright and copy-wrong afterward . Be sure not to miss the 'industry and artist representative' who dictates what artists want in complete contradiction of the two artist case studies that precede her.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><object width="412" height="336" id="flashcontent-8589226017761198570" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0"><param name="Movie" value="http://www.europarltv.europa.eu/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf?vid=6c6ccb0e-bd44-42d3-903f-130777941f8f&cid=0c8dedcf-1098-46c9-9b85-6f2b0f0b120d&lang=en&bitrate=512&loop=off&autoplay=off&startVolume=medium&showTitle=on&showBottom=on"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="scale" value="noscale"><param name="salign" value="tl"><embed src="http://www.europarltv.europa.eu/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf?vid=6c6ccb0e-bd44-42d3-903f-130777941f8f&cid=0c8dedcf-1098-46c9-9b85-6f2b0f0b120d&lang=en&bitrate=512&loop=off&autoplay=off&startVolume=medium&showTitle=on&showBottom=on" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" scale="noscale" salign="tl" width="412" height="336"></embed></object><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div>(At risk of repeating myself - excuse me) I hope the kid in the bedroom does make screensavers or a fansite mash-up out of my images, likewise the blogger when illustrating their articles. I ask them to credit me <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/">(BY)</a>, (preferably to link), not to charge anyone to access it <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/">(NC)</a> and that they share any mash-ups with the same <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/">(share alike)</a> license. </div><div><br /></div><div>To misquote an oft repeated mantra : 'obscurity is my professional enemy, not piracy'.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>If you're a magazine, TV company, Advertising agency, ring-fenced online newspaper or other entity (now in existence or to be birthed in the future), and you would like to use my image to enhance your 'paid-for' content, then <a href="http://jonathanworth.com/contact">email me</a> for my usage rates and I'll be happy to quote you.</i></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-91210684104877717222010-06-14T17:08:00.002+01:002010-06-14T17:08:55.961+01:00$26,000 worth of Ltd Edition Recycling.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/TBZSin_ANDI/AAAAAAAAAPc/L30HIC2RIOk/s1600/%C2%A317,760_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/TBZSin_ANDI/AAAAAAAAAPc/L30HIC2RIOk/s320/%C2%A317,760_sm.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><i>"$26,000 worth of unsold limited edition prints and signed manuscript pages ready to be recycled /transformed into a new work of art."</i></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">On Friday 11th June Jonathan shredded of the unsold prints and signed manuscript pages from</span> </span></span><a href="http://craphound.com/ftw/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #c2882e; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cory Doctorow’s ‘For The Win’ novel</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The event was filmed by</span> </span></span><a href="http://www.europarltv.europa.eu/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #c2882e; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">European Parliament Television</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">and will be aired as part of a program on New Economies of Photography.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">More background on this story can be found</span> </span></span><a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2010/06/burning-originals.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #c2882e; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">here.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">With a longer write-up</span> </span></span><a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2010/01/given-things-away.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #c2882e; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">here.</span></span></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-70560061473282014622010-06-14T12:05:00.014+01:002010-06-14T12:15:27.822+01:00BBC Radio InterviewI did a kind of a 'Soundtrack to your life' type interview last week where you pick a song and tell a story - it's not a great story - more of a story-ette really.<br />
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<object data="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf" height="129" id="iefix1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf" /><param name="scale" value="noscale" /><param name="salign" value="lt" /><param name="bgColor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="window" /><param name="FlashVars" value="mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F140913-bbc-radio-my-song-pt2&mp3Title=BBC+Radio+%27My+Song%27+pt2&mp3Time=10.57am+14+Jun+2010&mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F140913-bbc-radio-my-song-pt2.mp3&mp3Author=jdubbyah" /><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/140913-bbc-radio-my-song-pt2.mp3">Listen!</a></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-68612477842580625482010-06-08T09:15:00.005+01:002010-06-08T21:42:35.521+01:00Burning The Originals<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188203/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421881375703256002" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5kYoUZS8I/AAAAAAAAAOA/jUTZK7sS8O0/s320/cd_an.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 311px;" /></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, true to my word I'll be destroying the remaining prints and signed "For The Win' manuscript pages, likewise there'll be no more editions, and no discounting. I promised the buyers of the prints that I'd do this only after putting the images on sale a second time to coincide with the official publication date. That's now approaching a month passed.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392503335353460482" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/StYFNnnaJwI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/5bNOsZCbaM8/s320/cory_manuscript_first_printing.jpg" style="float: left; height: 229px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can still </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">buy the remaining signed prints</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and corresponding signed manuscript pages as well as the last of three massive 1mx1.5m composite prints - this one is the artist's (my) own. Cory owns one, and a collector in Australia bought the the other.</span></div></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><br />
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</span></div><h3 style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5SGQJZNQI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Td-M1lIFitY/s1600-h/cory3_cntct_sht.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421861268767716610" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5SGQJZNQI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Td-M1lIFitY/s320/cory3_cntct_sht.jpg" style="display: block; height: 233px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></h3><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The destruction event will take place on Friday 11th June and will be filmed by </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://europarltv.eu/" style="color: #1c51a8;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">europarltv.eu</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> , the web TV station of the European Parliament. </span></span></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/892c76f0-5975-42f1-9ab0-8760371fe660/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=892c76f0-5975-42f1-9ab0-8760371fe660" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: medium; float: right;" /></a></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-73692153381611162552010-03-01T14:49:00.003+00:002010-03-01T15:20:00.560+00:00Annie Othen radio interview.<object data="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf" id="iefix1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="129" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf"><param name="scale" value="noscale"><param name="salign" value="lt"><param name="bgColor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="window"><param name="FlashVars" value="mp3Title=Annie+Othen+interviews+jDubbyah&mp3Time=02.40pm+01+Mar+2010&mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F101511-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah.mp3&mp3Author=jdubbyah&mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F101511-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah"><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/101511-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah.mp3">Listen!</a></object><br /><br /><object data="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf" height="129" id="iefix1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf"><param name="scale" value="noscale"><param name="salign" value="lt"><param name="bgColor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="window"><param name="FlashVars" value="mp3Title=Annie+Othen+interviews+jDubbyah+Pt+2&mp3Time=03.16pm+01+Mar+2010&mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F101521-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah-pt-2.mp3&mp3Author=jdubbyah&mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F101521-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah-pt-2"><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/101521-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah-pt-2.mp3">Listen!</a></object><br /><br /><object data="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf" id="iefix1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="129" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf"><param name="scale" value="noscale"><param name="salign" value="lt"><param name="bgColor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="window"><param name="FlashVars" value="mp3Title=Annie+Othen+interviews+jDubbyah+Pt+2&mp3Time=02.48pm+01+Mar+2010&mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F101512-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah-pt-2.mp3&mp3Author=jdubbyah&mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F101512-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah-pt-2"><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/101512-annie-othen-interviews-jdubbyah-pt-2.mp3">Listen!</a></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-55519550401101191072010-01-11T08:00:00.008+00:002010-02-04T15:46:02.287+00:00Given Things away.<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188203/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5kYoUZS8I/AAAAAAAAAOA/jUTZK7sS8O0/s320/cd_an.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421881375703256002" border="0" /></a><br />I've kind of been putting off writing up a concluding post to the 'Giving Things Away' trial, not for want of sharing it, but because I've been implementing the things that I've learned and in lots of ways moved the whole thing much further forward. Which means I have to now go back and untangle the various strands.<br /><br />Laziness perhaps, but in my defense, the critic shouldn't mistake my drowning for waving, this 'live trial' is a pragmatic necessity from which I earn a living (call it R and D), not a passing whimsy. The write up I still find harder to justify because my photographer 1.0 brain stills sees talking about and sharing what I do as, at best indulgent vanity and at worst, commercial suicide.<br /><br />However, in truth and in a Photography 2.0 one line summary, I've learned more and come further in the the last three months than I have over the last three years, the conclusion of which is that sharing </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >what I do</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > as well as the mechanics of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >how I do it</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > is crucial for my practice, and possibly, for others like me.<br /><br />Hence, I begin my year looking backwards.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >In brief summary:</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > the original 'Trial" consisted of trying to use the internet for what it's really good at (distribution) rather than fighting those same dynamics. So rather than stifling use of my images with brutal copyright terms, I gave them away for free and then tried to make money out of the wider reaching audience.<br /><br />In full: here are the links to the posts <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/giving-things-away.html">Pa</a><a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/giving-things-away.html">rt I</a> <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-things-away-pt-ii.html">P</a><a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-things-away-pt-ii.html">art II</a> <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/11/giving-things-away-part-iii.html">Part III</a> and a further <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8827862395234485202&postID=7483684747319691479">follo</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8827862395234485202&postID=7483684747319691479">w up</a> (which riffs a bit, but buried in there are some outcomes).<br /><br />In keeping, the following is split into a skinny and a full fat version, the former consisting of the numbers the latter pertaining to the broader fall-out. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Caveat</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >: God knows, I'm not an economist so</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" > please indulge my language and please do correct me if I use the wrong terms. If I don't know of a term to describe what I find then I make one up (which I'll try to prefix with a 'what I'm calling'). I'll probably also mis-use terms, mis-qu</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >ote people and inadvertently plagiarize , though on this last point someone once said that 'Amateurs plagiarize whereas Artists steal', a quote which (in keeping) I have stolen.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5X6HHb35I/AAAAAAAAANg/FpWb1uIWAYE/s1600-h/cory1_f43bw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 314px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5X6HHb35I/AAAAAAAAANg/FpWb1uIWAYE/s320/cory1_f43bw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421867657254920082" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >The Skinny:</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Total gross cost of making the original images of Cory £114.00 GBP*<br />Total cost of producing the 111 small prints for sale £111.00 GBP (that's approx)<br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Total cost of Printing the three large contact composite prints £ 150.00<br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Total cost of packaging (archival sleeves, e</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >nvelopes and tube) £65.00<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Overall cost per unit £ 3.85 GBP<br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Total overall</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > cost £ 440.00 GBP<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Income from Etsy print sales £ 875.00<br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Income from Print usage $250 (see <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-paid-to-give-things-away.html">here</a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > for client refusing to use the image without paying)<br />Income from Guest Speaking about the trial £ 300<br />Total income £1</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >325<br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Minus £125 donation to charity (tax deductible)<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Net Profit to date £ 760.00 GBP</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >*These costs don't include the net costs of doing business (cost of my time, business overheads etc) nor the opportunity cost (opportunities forsaken to produce the work, in other words - what I could have done instead during that time).</span><br /><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">The fuller fat version:</span><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >The skinny really doesn't tell the full story. For a start there remain sixty unsold prints which I've already said <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/11/giving-things-away-part-iii.html">here</a>, will go on sale for one month when Cory's "For the Win" is published at ten times their current price. There will be no second edition and any remainders will be destroyed. So there remains </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >potentially, a </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >significant further income from sales.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >There are a number of what I'll call 'perceivable non-material benefits' which range from my learning exper</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >ience in general to the incre</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >ase in number and make-up of my contacts, to my general status as a practitioner. What to include and what not include here is a bit messy and really the untangling of which I spoke earlier, but here are some clearly tangible and relevant examples:<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >The original <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188203/in/set-72157622138315932/">image</a> that Cory annotated to date has been viewed 8,321 times on Flickr, the others from the set have been viewed <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188221/in/set-72157622138315932/">972 times</a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188231/in/set-72157622138315932/">1,344</a> times respectively - every page of which links to my site and credits me.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >One of the images appears on <a href="http://sc.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cory_Doctorow_portrait_by_Jonathan_Worth_2.jpg">Wikipidea</a> - again crediting me and driving traffic to me and my site.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5Xrp2V-SI/AAAAAAAAANY/lON8iZ1Xje4/s1600-h/cdoctorow_by_jworth02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 312px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5Xrp2V-SI/AAAAAAAAANY/lON8iZ1Xje4/s320/cdoctorow_by_jworth02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421867408880433442" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Cory also has a significant twitter follo</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >wing so when he tweeted what I was up to it went out to 30,000 plus people. I tried to keep up with the (what I'll call) 'compound retweets', in other words the total number of people reached when someone following Cory or me, retweeted what we were saying to their followers, and them in turn to theirs and so on. For this purpose I had columns in my Twitter desktop application that were just searching the relevant key phrases, the upshot of which is that after 36 hours I lost count somewhere around a conservative 750,000 people reached. Perhaps this is what Clay Shirky means when he refers to Twitter's</span> “algorithmic authority”.<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Cory wrote about the experiment on his Craph</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >ound blog:<br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Jonathan</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > Worth is "</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://craphound.com/?p=2364">experimenting with new business-models for pho</a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://craphound.com/?p=2364">t</a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://craphound.com/?p=2364">o</a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://craphound.com/?p=2364">graphy that leverage, rather than fight, the Internet</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >and also at BoingBoing where he is an editor, these both directed more traffic to me and my site<br />(and continue to do so).</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rising.blackstar.com/visual-creativity.html"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5dQPfeZFI/AAAAAAAAANw/iyInCYnXIag/s200/wf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421873535018493010" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/20/jonathan-worth-tries.html">Jonathan Worth tries out a copy-friendly photography business-experiment</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >In turn, a further series of articles and blog posts followed, which likewise generated more traffic, reached even wider audiences and so o</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >n.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://rising.blackstar.com/visual-creativity.html">In the New Media World, Photographers Who Embrace Change Will Suc</a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://rising.blackstar.com/visual-creativity.html">ceed</a><span style="font-style: italic;">" by Wayne Ford</span><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://virtualphotographystudio.com/photographyblog/2009/10/21/one-great-idea-%E2%80%93-meet-jonathan-worth/">One Great Idea – Meet Jonathan Worth</a><span style="font-style: italic;">" by </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Lori Osterberg</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><a href="http://www.photopromagazine.com/index.php/pro-resource/53-ideas-a-inspiration/256-social-skills-using-the-web-more-effectively.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Social Skills: Using the Web more effectively</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">" by Charlotte Griffiths</span><br /><br />Likewise, the experiment and now references to my practice as a whole, crop up in articles and blog posts amongst yet other strata of audience (and potential collaborators) :<br /></span> <h3 style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://blog.livebooks.com/2009/11/required-reading-posts-about-photographys-future-you-cant-afford-to-miss/"></a>"<a href="http://blog.livebooks.com/2009/11/required-reading-posts-about-photographys-future-you-cant-afford-to-miss/">Required Reading: Posts about photography’s future you can’t afford to miss</a>"</span> <span style="font-size:100%;">by Miki Johnson<br /></span></h3> <a href="http://www.david-campbell.org/2009/12/22/revolutions-in-the-media-economy-5/"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ></span></a> "<a href="http://www.david-campbell.org/2009/12/22/revolutions-in-the-media-economy-5/"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ></span></a><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Revolutions in the media economy (5) – the pay wall folly for photographers"></a></span><a href="http://www.david-campbell.org/2009/12/22/revolutions-in-the-media-economy-5/">Revolutions in the media economy (5) – the pay wall folly for photographers</a><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Revolutions in the media economy (5) – the pay wall folly for photographers">"</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >by David Campbell</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.afterphotography.org/">Towards a Sustainable Journalism</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"> by Fred Ritchin</span><br /></span><br /><h3 style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;"><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.livebooks.com/2009/11/required-reading-posts-about-photographys-future-you-cant-afford-to-miss/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5cG9TIm7I/AAAAAAAAANo/KXUYQcCcBoc/s200/mj.psd.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421872276004445106" border="0" /></a></span></span></h3> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >The</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >n in </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"recognition of (my) innovation and </span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >influential role in developing new business models for ph</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >otographers using the social web”</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >, I was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, another </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >network whose pertinence was illustrated to me on a recent trip out to New York. I was out there primarily to try to meet Fred Ritchin (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Photography-Fred-Ritchin/dp/0393050246/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210872427&sr=8-3">After Photography</a>, <a href="http://www.pixelpress.org/">Pixel Press</a>) and see Stephen Mayes (<a href="http://viiphoto.com/">VII</a>) in the hope of getting advice.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > Fred kindly invited me to talk to his students at NYU, and the morning I was due to do this I tweeted to that effect. Within ten minutes I'd received an email from the RSA in the US asking if the talk was public as there were over four hundred fellows in the NY area </span> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >and they'd like to offer the chance out to them to attend and meet me.<br /></span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >I mentioned earlier one of the publications that used the image of Cory to illustrate an article insisted on paying to do so, yet another (Jon Levy of <a href="http://www.foto8.com/new/">FOTO8 </a>magazine) after having used the same image, also contacted me to discuss the opportunity of producing a series of portraits for him in the same visual vein. </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Conclusion :<br /></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >The cold maths of this one-off trial don't equate to a viable business model, at least not my execution of it. Not when one takes into account the costs of doing business however, this is only a fraction of the story and the learning that I've paid for </span> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >here with my time, someone else can pick up and take forward much more efficiently, as I intend to from now on.<br /><br />There were a few things that made Cory an ideal su</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >bject and I think are worth reflecting on:<br /></span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >He has a cult following and he interacts with these followers, in fact he actually involves them directly in the production of his work, so that they become in every respect, partisan. Take for example when people point out typos Cory amends the mistake and thanks them in a footnote (who wouldn't buy a second copy of the book with your name in it?) and the very fact that his CC licensing actively encourages reworking or 'derivative' versions of his work. He takes Jeff Jarvis's advice to <a href="http://www.buzzmachine.com/what-would-google-do/">"make more customers take ownership of your brand"</a> to the next level, </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >literally</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >.<br /><br />He was also willing to motivate this community and so thereby indirectly grant me access to them.</span><br /><h3 style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5SGQJZNQI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Td-M1lIFitY/s1600-h/cory3_cntct_sht.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sz5SGQJZNQI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Td-M1lIFitY/s320/cory3_cntct_sht.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421861268767716610" border="0" /></a></span></h3> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br />The mechanics of how he does what he does are also detached from the end product. You read his books, you don't watch him write them, and so there's an element of mystery, wherein for the fan there's an inherent value. Think at base level of the autograph, then think of the actual pen that was used to write the autograph or the desk that it was written at, or the author's favourite chair/typewriter etc. This stuff is only valuable to the avid fan but the bigger the fan the greater the inferred value, the trick is enabling every level of fan to access their particular version of the product.<br /><br />I incorporated this by employing something that Chris Anderson refers to in his book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp/1401322905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262367526&sr=8-1">Free: The Future Of A Radical Price</a>" as 'Versioning'. The prints were available from zero cost and infinite availability (Flickr and Archive.org) towards infinite cost for the singularly unique, though in truth this was also where I learned about 'price discovery'. The most expensive prints were the first to go, from which I conclude that I should have pitched their price much higher. These more expensive prints enabled me to sell the cheaper prints at break-even but they should have made me a much larger profit or perhaps even more delicate versioning .<br /><br />This still gave the fans access to versions of the product and because Cory granted me access to his followers I overcame the second traditional problem - that of geography - how to economically reach each and every level of fan, wherever they might live, which might be what </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Jeff Jarvis describes as effectively '<a href="http://www.buzzmachine.com/what-would-google-do/">targeting masses of niches</a>' for which the internet is the only viable tool.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Distilled out - the Internet enables access, Social Media enables discerning access. Versioning enables the customer to dictate their individually perceived value of the product and at the same time it justifies that choice to their peers (see the comments section at </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/20/jonathan-worth-tries.html">BoingBoing</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> where fans joust about who got to buy Ltd. Ed. Number 1).</span><br /><br />It seems natural to me that the next step is to use this same heady cocktail to</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > ask the masses of niches "Who do you want me to photograph?". The product of which I could then afford to allow magazines to publish for free, so disseminating my work again amongst their paper-fans and using them for what they're still really good at (physical distribution and cross-promotion, such as when a reader of X-Magazine stumbles across my article after reading another unrelated piece), as opposed to relying on them for what they're no longer able to do (commission and pay).<br /><br /></span><div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></div><div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >UPDATED ARTICLE LINKS :</span></div><div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://economicstoolbox.com/index.php?m=3%7C4%7C2">Economics Toolbox</a><br /><a href="http://www.foto8.com/new/online/blog/1084-beyond-perceivable-benefits-jonathan-worths-creative-commons-license-experiment">FOTO8 Leo Hsu</a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><a href="http://rising.blackstar.com/new-photography-business-models.html">RISING BLACKSTAR</a><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/892c76f0-5975-42f1-9ab0-8760371fe660/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=892c76f0-5975-42f1-9ab0-8760371fe660" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-44263978553153767432009-11-17T11:25:00.022+00:002009-11-20T06:19:59.467+00:00Reasons to be Cheerful Part Three<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/11/reasons-to-be-cheerful-part-two.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">... continued from part two.</span></a><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMX5c6MYbI/AAAAAAAAAME/fqzy6Fz_ICg/s1600/colin_firth.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMX5c6MYbI/AAAAAAAAAME/fqzy6Fz_ICg/s320/colin_firth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405190253554983346" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-style: italic;">"We don't know who discovered the water, but we know it wasn't the fish." Marshall McLuhan.</span></span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">(iii) The Visionaries<br />(iv) and the Fish.<br /></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">If you're over 26 then you're not a fish.<br /><br />I doubt many people under 26 (</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">the Google Generation)</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;"> would </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">be here anyway and so I can them all Fish without fear of reprisal. They're the people younger </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">than the internet and as such they're digital natives. Speaking at NYU last week, I asked again "How many people here use social <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f800000000002781e" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media" title="Mass media" rel="wikipedia">media</a> to research and develop their practice?", and as usual, my vernacular was impregnable.<br /><br />Not because they didn't understand the terms, but as usual they just didn't regard their current social media habits as being the methodology by </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">whic</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">h they'd </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">define the sustainable <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f800000000002ee3b" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography" title="Photography" rel="wikipedia">photographic</a> practices of the <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f8000000000042883" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_century" title="21st century" rel="wikipedia">21st century</a>.<br /><br />It was like me telling them that they all had a</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">ccents. Accents that only I could hear.<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMYGuHjx8I/AAAAAAAAAMM/WUlIa5zehLo/s1600/jude_law.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMYGuHjx8I/AAAAAAAAAMM/WUlIa5zehLo/s320/jude_law.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405190481512744898" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Which is kind of the point. It was too normal to point out, and for them too </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">blindingly obvious</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;"> to be an issue. This is a very circuitous way of saying that, the problem is all mine, and ours (that is, if you're not an aquatic). I can teach them craft but they're fettered by my ineffectual application of their digital reality, a traditional application just d</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">oesn't account for the huge shift in attitudes to terms like: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">'access'</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">, 'value', 'free' and </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">'ownership'. </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />It's <span style="font-style: italic;">us</span> that have to learn how <span style="font-style: italic;">their</span> perception of the</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;"> digital landscape will redefine <span style="font-style: italic;">ours</span>.<br /><br />This particular bunch of students were very lucky to have the last sort of person that I met as their Professor.<br /></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">There are the those people that see this moment in history to be one of unparalleled opportunity. A real chance for Photographers to take control of their medium and their practice. The chance to define a future where they can realise the full mat</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">erial benefit (both economic and otherwise) by leveraging the forces of this post Digital-Renaissance (</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">'access'</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">, 'value', 'free' and </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">'ownership').<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwQZASHxtFI/AAAAAAAAAMU/Kee5iDLETpo/s1600/bob_monkhouse2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwQZASHxtFI/AAAAAAAAAMU/Kee5iDLETpo/s320/bob_monkhouse2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405472945406587986" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">They see how (in very practical terms) this can d</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">efine 21st Century Journalism as a force to empower their subjects to effect positive and lasting change.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">These people are the Visionaries. <br /><br />And right now, they're </span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;">all out</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:100%;"> fishing.<br /><br /><br /></span></span></span><br /> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/007fb6c7-5cb4-4324-97db-3fc8289d651f/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=007fb6c7-5cb4-4324-97db-3fc8289d651f" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-info pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-62482968902397390392009-11-17T00:40:00.015+00:002009-11-19T06:35:15.087+00:00Reasons to be Cheerful Part Two<span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/11/reasons-to-be-cheerful-part-one.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">... continued from Reasons to be Cheerful Part One.</span></a></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/portfolio/alicia-keys-independent"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMRrvSUcVI/AAAAAAAAALs/3DrapKQbG6M/s320/alicia_keys.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405183420900077906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">(ii) The true Radicals.<br /></div><br /><br />Several of the magazines that I went into recently had shed a bunch of staff, more of the almost daily purges in that industry (our industry). So, aware of and sensitive to this (and also inspired by a conversation with <a href="http://www.viiphoto.com/">Stephen Mayes of Vii</a>), I asked some of them; what difference it would make were I to offer to work for free ?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tumbleweed.</span><br /><br />.. I went on.<br /><br />jw - What about if I traded my fee for a hotlink to my site. Perhaps it would be hosted at my site in a similar way to how <a href="http://vimeo.com/6782218">Vimeo hosts my video</a> but it's embedded in my site, so whenever anyone clicked on my Photograph it took them straight to that story in my folio - likewise for my credit wherever it appears.<br /><br />mag - Why would you do that ?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/portfolio/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 255px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMR8zXNVII/AAAAAAAAAL0/k3OyMRKrmUc/s320/sue_townsend.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405183714052101250" border="0" /></a><br />jw - Because the particular traffic that I want to get at, is the person that either likes my work and wants to hire me. Or it's the person that wants to use the picture/ a picture because they're interested in the subject. You'd still pay the expenses for the job, I'd just trade my fee for easy access to a discerning sort of traffic.* And it would cut both ways, if someone came to my site and saw someone that they were interested in then they could link back to your site and there, they could read a story on them.<br /><br />mag- But what about the print version of the magazine?<br /><br />jw - Well, I'm not exactly sure that I see the future of your magazine as being paper, do you ?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">.. more Tumbleweed , followed by debate.</span><br /><br />I was staggered that this could be a question up for grabs. All I could think of was that these lovely people, whom I respect enormously, were in some sort of 'survivor-denial', they reminded me of passengers in a hot air balloon fatally holed. No matter how many get thrown out, it's only going in one direction unless there's a radical re-think. However, the fact that we even had a discussion about this left me thinking that perhaps these people, might be the <span style="font-style: italic;">real</span> radicals.<br /><br />Not me. I can't match that sort of extreme view.<br /><br />So, after some more to-ing and fro-ing I was told that if I wanted to take this further then I'd have to speak to someone on the digital side because they didn't have much to do with them once they'd sent stuff over and '<span style="font-style: italic;">..can we do hyperlinking?</span>'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/portfolio/lily-allen"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMN7wkY4hI/AAAAAAAAALk/hMvmeQ8ytUI/s320/lili_allen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405179298075697682" border="0" /></a><br />I watched a hot air balloon come down just then. It left a wet pink stripe across the floor of a vaguely surprised digital landscape.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*Frankly, this is pretty much the current version of events with a most of the newspapers and weekend supplements in the UK where the fees include expenses and seldom cover the costs of the job. Other magazines like iD and Dazed have always traded a minimal or no fee for the prestige/exposure that their publication offers. All this really does is formalise that situation, make it explicit and begin to concretise this notion of apparent "Prestige/Exposure" into a formal transaction.</span><br /><div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/f9252595-bcca-45b8-8f5f-afa99441a8b3/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f9252595-bcca-45b8-8f5f-afa99441a8b3" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-info pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-75734525708755205222009-11-16T22:22:00.034+00:002009-11-17T21:45:10.989+00:00Reasons to be Cheerful Part One.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-things-away-pt-ii.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 312px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwL9RfCWJOI/AAAAAAAAALM/TazcvbMzdk4/s320/cdoctorow_by_jworth02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405160979628958946" border="0" /></a><br />Last week I invested the proceeds from my <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-things-away-pt-ii.html">experiment with Cory Doctorow</a>.<br /><br />Actually I gambled them, but then that's all investing is anyway isn't it or did I miss something ?<br /><br />I gambled that some of the people I've not been able to access via Twitter (or any other of the traditional social media methods) might speak to me if I knocked on their door (old school).<br /><br />I booked a flight, a couch and then whored my services as a photographer, an assistant, a re-toucher and a speaker, in order to pay for my stay.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"Sir, is your trip business or pleasure?"</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"Sir, my Dad said 'Find a job you like and you'll never work again'. So I'm here strictly on pleasure</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">."</span><br /></div><br /><br /><br />The people that I met, fell broadly into four categories;<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">i. Those who saw their practice/business as being in terminal decline and/or out of their control.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">ii. Those in denial (the true Radicals).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">iii. A precious few who were excited and pro-active (the Visionaries).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">iv. And the fish.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/shot-list"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwMDGLPvOFI/AAAAAAAAALc/qrVYXS6QSsM/s320/bob_hoskins.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405167382407624786" border="0" /></a><br />(i) One of the photographers that I spent time with described how he was struggling on his reduced editorial fees, that he wanted to fund new projects and he'd been trying to set-up a book deal for nearly two years without success. This very established photographer then explained that the book is a valuable aspect of his promotion and one of the vehicles that he employed to generate new commissions.<br /><br />So I asked him why he wasn't publishing it himself and at the same time earning the proceeds ?<br /><br />Answer; 'Because it's not that simple. Funding, design, storage, distribution - and there's no money in books '<br /><br /><br />What about if you minimised the upfront costs by say, using a print on demand company ? That way you can have it designed by whichever designer you want to work with (rather than being saddled with whichever one is at this elusive publishing house).<br /><br />Likewise we just removed the storage issue (because they'd be printed on demand), leaving only Money and Distribution.<br /><br />So I asked him; why he usually did both hard and soft-back versions of his books.<br /><br />Answer - because one's better and more expensive, thereby catering for different buyer's budgets.<br /><br />Great, but only two different budgets? Why not ten or twenty ? In fact, why not cater for everyone's budget? Why not have one virtual version that's open and available at no cost, one small softback version that's $5, one better quality at $10, another hardback at $20, another larger hardback at $30 and yet another limited edition with signed for $50.<br /><br />$100 could buy you a hard-back with a signed print - some of these could go out to your commissioning editors and so on, until ultimately you make a unique handbound set of fine prints, stitched together by elves and delivered by you in person on a unicorn for $100,000.<br /><br />Then follow that up by making yourself available for commission at $10,000 a sitting.<br /><br />That just leaves distribution.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/portfolio/barry-cuningham"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SwL-rtt4BhI/AAAAAAAAALU/Q1QWvlzLWTU/s320/barry_cunningham.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405162529757857298" border="0" /></a><br />So I asked him; were there any people repeatedly interested in his work, like a fan-base? Or did he sell to different people every time one of his books was published? In answer to which, he showed me the vaguely terrifying list of email requests from assistants, students, enthusiasts etc all requesting an audience, work, advice, donations and so on.<br /><br />Ummm.... so what about if you sort of provided a virtual forum for those people to congregate? A place where you could (for want of a better phrase), herd them towards other virtual environments to experience your magic first hand ? Like for example, which publications are showing your work, what campaigns you've been working on, what projects you're thinking about, perhaps even give these loyal fans access to behind the scenes footage and the odd contact sheet. Maybe even reward their commitment by offering advance copies of those books, special rates etc ?<br /><br />Well there's this thing called Social Media and it allows you to do all of that and probably a lot more too. We're all still waiting for the Fish to work out and show us it's full potential.<br /><br />And here's another thing about the "new commissions" part. What about if there was a way of gathering this loyal 'fanbase' and asking them if they'd fund your next project? In gratitude for which you'd reward these new 'patrons' with special treatment and access to some of the afore mentioned magic.<br /><br />Well there's a website for that too.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-61969606712650788322009-11-01T15:51:00.011+00:002010-01-01T11:31:11.868+00:00Giving things Away Part IIILast Friday I sent out the following email to the purchasers of the Limited Edition Cory Doctorow Prints and Signed Manuscript pages;<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 312px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Su2zSi5gPUI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/lqtzILG1sH8/s320/cory_print.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399168659474103618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Advance Notice of Withdrawal from</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" > sale of Signed Cory Doctorow Manuscript and Photograph.</span><br /><br /><br />As someone that has supported Cory's and my "Trial", it is my pleasure to give you exclusive, prior notice that the remaining prints will be withdrawn from sale at midnight GMT on Sunday the 8th of November. I will Tweet and blog publicly, to this effect from Monday 2nd of November.<br /><br />The remainder will go back on sale when "For the Win" is published April 2010.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">They will however go on sale at exactly </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">TEN TIMES the price you paid for them</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.</span><br /><br />So to be clear, if you bought one of the higher numbers 65-111 at $8, then any remaining editions will be back on sale at $80 each in 2010, if you bought one of numbers 7-17 then they will only be available at $800 each.<br /><br />There will be no discounting and no exceptions. Should the situation arise whereby any prints remain unsold one month after publication of the novel, then they will be destroyed and there will be no second edition.<br /><br />To affirm validity and value, I have kept a record of every purchaser, their Zip / Postal code and their respective Print Edition Numbers, if you sell or gift your prints in the meantime please pass onto me a record of the transaction and the details of the new owner.<br /><br />I would like to stay in touch further, but I hate SPAM and presume you do too. If you would like me to send you updates such as this one (and there won't be many) then please just send a reply to this mail.<br /><br />It's been lovely to meet you albeit virtually and I hope our paths cross again.<br /><br />Very best wishes,<br /><br />Jonathan.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Su2ydq8095I/AAAAAAAAAJw/wpkfCEgjJos/s320/cory3_cntct_sht.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399167751102461842" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">REMAINING PRINTS AND MANUSCRIPT PAGES ON SALE HERE.</a></span><br /><br /><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-74836847473196914792009-10-17T17:41:00.037+01:002011-06-20T17:06:59.568+01:00Getting paid to give things away.My Dad spent six years in the printing trade as an apprentice "Compositor", setting every letter of cold type by hand. He said he learned the job in the first two, then spent four years doing a mans work, for a boys wage.<br /><br />Some of my earliest memories are the smell of books bigger than me and fonts with magical names I could barely read.I loved their shapes. I'd trace them with my finger. Then with my pencils.<br /><br /><a href="http://jonathanworth.com/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Stye6l2CC9I/AAAAAAAAAJY/xbaetcsu3Xw/s400/dad_southwold_pier.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394361183111351250" border="0" /></a><br />He wasn't a printer by that time, he'd just kept the books. One day in 1960 Fairchild Semiconductor invented the Phototypesetter and his job disappeared.<br /><br />I have the benefit of this knowledge at my back. And like many passionate media creatives I do not want to sell insurance. <span style="font-style: italic;">You</span> work in the media or else you wouldn't be here, so you know that our industry is illustrating how business models do or don't adapt to technological and societal evolutions.<br /><br />I'm running a series of live trials that form (for lack of a better word), "Research". They're the sort of thing that all long-term freelancers do, just I'm making mine public.<br /><br />I know freelancers generally don't collaborate. And I've never been drawn to a particular Union. So I thought this would be just a case of sharing information, maybe a few people would comment and chuck in some experiences of their own. I thought I'd publish information on a series of ongoing experiments and then hope others'd pitch in and help me work out what conclusions to drawer.<br /><br />I didn't expect people to actively engage. I've never seen the industry (in it's broadest sense) that way before.<br /><br /><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Linotype_CRTronic_360.jpg/200px-Linotype_CRTronic_360.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Linotype_CRTronic_360.jpg/200px-Linotype_CRTronic_360.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I'll record Cory (the subject) Doctorow's massive and hugely generous support no doubt, in detail in the future, but I wanted to drop a couple of things here that happened last week.<br /><br />So you know what particular trial I'm referring to now (?) if not click <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/giving-things-away.html">here.</a> This week I was approached by the Art Director of a Magazine in NY wanting to use one of the images of Cory. He approached me saying that he understood the images were CC licensed to be available for reproduction (Cory and I agreed this particular flavour of CC license for the purposes of this test) but that he wanted to use the image for the cover of the magazine and ...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span><span style="font-family:Arial;">"As a long-time art director and former freelan</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span><span style="font-family:Arial;">cer myself (illustration), I am always conc</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span><span style="font-family:Arial;">erned about fairness in compensation for photographers.</span></span></span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>I also work for a (currently) budget-strapped magazine, and as a result we always try to</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span> f</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>igure out how to do our covers for free (fairly of course), or as cheaply as possible. Many of our cover photo images ar</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>e</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span> provided by publishers because they serve their purpose of promoting their books while serving our need to illustrate the story. Other times we come up with original design solutions.</span></span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>But I also respect your desire to be compensated, and putting the photo on a print maga</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>zine cover is probably extraordinary usage of your imagery. I appreciate you checking in with Cory re: the scope of the CC licensing (of which I admittedly need to become more educated about).</span></span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>We have an broad agreement with XXSTOCK AGENCYXX for photography, and </span></span><a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-things-away-pt-ii.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 196px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/StyfjrdFZII/AAAAAAAAAJg/jjGAvEZkUko/s200/cory1_f43bw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394361888991962242" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>the cover </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>we were considering for this issue before deciding to make Cory Doctorow the cover, was going to use a royalty-free image from XXX which would have cost us only $150.00 (US dollars).</span></span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic;" dir="ltr" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>Would you be OK if we </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span>compensated you $250 for use of your image...</span></span>"<br /><br /><br /></div>I explained that he was not obliged to pay me and it's worth noting (one way or another) that for the period of this Blog my website and online folio have been off line - so this AD has no idea who I am or what I've done in the past. He just has an image that he likes, which serves a specific purpose.<br /><br />It's also worth noting that Cory has a bunch of similarly licensed images that are freely available to use from his flickr stream. But anyway, the AD wanted this one and, he wanted to pay me for it.<br /><br />I didn't expect that.<br /><br />I didn't expect it so much, that after a some back and forth emailing we're meeting up when I'm next in New York. That's someone who likes my work, and wants to pay me for using it, which means that meeting goes into my "Perceivable Non-Material Benefit" column and the fee goes into the perceivable benefits column.<br /><br /><br />Here's another thing. When I began using Twitter (as opposed to signed up for and forgot about) one of the first people that I came across who was Tweeting things I wanted to learn more about, was a very reputable Art Director whom I'd worked for in the past.<br /><br />I became a part of his Twitter community, and through the echos that are RT's I gradually sidled up, before tapping him on the shoulder and asking if he remembered me and came here often?<br /><br /><a href="http://jonathanworth.com/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 317px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Styh4Yd_gxI/AAAAAAAAAJo/ldos6TvjrI8/s320/dad_john_con.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394364443696005906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Up to now, I'd always always thought "Networking" to be a hollow and crap term, which summed up what vacuous Trustafarian Socialites did and whose sole motivation was personal gain in a fashionably fair-weather world of parasitic exploitation.<br /><br />I've never understood it as a variable sifting through, of all the friends, colleagues and acquaintances one had come across, to find those who, at that particular moment you have the most in common with. I don't now think there's anything sinister in this practice as I did before. It's just great.<br /><br />I wonder, is that what the younglings mean by the Social-Media-Interface-tubing in my space?<br /><br />Anyway, here's a line of what Wayne Ford wrote in a blog titled <span style="font-size:100%;">"</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://rising.blackstar.com/visual-creativity.html"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">In the New Media World, Photographers Who Embrace Change Will Succeed</span></span></a>" for Black Star:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(</span><span>of </span></span>our subsequent conversations)<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"it is the dialogue itself that will ensure the media’s long-term survival — and the success of photojournalists and others. </span>"</span><br /><br />Dialogue, with another ally. Not Patron, but ally and partner.<br /><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Metal_movable_type.jpg/200px-Metal_movable_type.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Metal_movable_type.jpg/200px-Metal_movable_type.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My Dad assists me these days and not long ago we did a job that meant hanging about waiting for someone in a dank and forgotten storage area. Against one wall were a bunch of old wooden drawers a yard across and at least as deep. Each of these were divided and subdivided into open topped sections.<br /><br />My Dad explained that these were the Type-Cases he'd had to use as a youth. He pointed where every letter of the alphabet, the numbers, the punctuation and the spaces would have lived.<br /><br />Although there aren't as many books bigger than me now, I still love the smell of ink.<br /><br />And I love making Photographs. And I'm not ready to sell insurance.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-22135887336555022372009-10-14T12:47:00.029+01:002010-01-01T11:30:42.542+00:00Giving things away Pt II<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/StXu-car50I/AAAAAAAAAII/u7sdhs9c6Go/s1600-h/cory1_f43bw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 196px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/StXu-car50I/AAAAAAAAAII/u7sdhs9c6Go/s200/cory1_f43bw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392478885393459010" border="0" /></a>This is an update to my "Giving things away" post which you can read <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/giving-things-away.html">here</a>.<br /><br />There are several threads to this exercise one of which is detailed here but all are being recorded whether they work or not.<br /><br />I just opened an <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah">Etsy shop</a> account from which I'll be selling limited editions of my prints. I've made 111 copies of the print that was CC licensed and uploaded to <a href="http://www.archive.org/index.php">archive.org</a> , one to go with each of the pages of Cory's upcoming new novel "For the Win".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/StYFNnnaJwI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/5bNOsZCbaM8/s320/cory_manuscript_first_printing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392503335353460482" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Cory has given me one of ten First Edition Manuscripts and signed every page. I am likewise signing, stamping and numbering each Archival Print.<br /><br />The first fifty will go on sale directly and I'm planning on shouting loudly about it on Friday afternoon when most people are online.<br /><br />So please feel free to pass <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah">this</a> on to anyone that might be interested and please forgive me in advance if you happen to be in my Twitter stream.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188203/in/set-72157622138315932/"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/StYG-2HBliI/AAAAAAAAAIo/uN3BgohUUho/s200/annotated+flikr+pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392505280569382434" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The pricing structure will be as follows with prints only going on sale in order.<br /><br />Pages 65-111 are priced at £5GBP or $8 USD<br />Pages 39-64 are priced at £10GBP or $16 USD<br />Pages 18-38 are priced at £25GBP or $40 USD<br />Pages 7-17 are priced at £50GBP or $80 USD<br />Pages 2-6 are priced at £75GBP or $120 USD<br /><br /><br />Page 1 is priced at £150GBP or $240 USD and will also include Number 1 of 3 Special Edition Pieces (made from the contact frames from the shoot) measuring 100cm x 140cm. Number 1 will be on sale, number 2 will be owned by Cory and number three I'll keep.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jDubbyah"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/StYFfpgeIjI/AAAAAAAAAIY/lwEbraR1gvo/s400/cory3_cntct_sht.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392503645098877490" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The proceeds of this sale will be donated to a Primary School raising money for permanent classroom buildings.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-78239284775289823442009-10-05T12:28:00.017+01:002009-10-13T13:00:34.379+01:00Fat telly-addict predicts end of Sport and Photography.As I sit here and write this there's a certain amount of apocalyptic vitriol being spent over a football game. No big deal, it's a world cup qualifier, but apparently it's causing a certain amount of discomfort amongst couch-gymnasts.<br /><br />Apparently because an 'Old media', ahem sorry - a major television network went bust and no old-media; apologies - and no television company stumped up the cash to buy the contract, the host nation decided to pump coverage of the game out by the internet-tubes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/10/05/article-1218154-06B40CC7000005DC-778_468x286.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 286px;" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/10/05/article-1218154-06B40CC7000005DC-778_468x286.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />But surely that's just crazy talk. That means fat-telly bloke has to plug his laptop into his 97 inch plasma to watch it and even more traumatically, they can't screen it down the pub.<br /><br />Seemingly, fat tele-bloke is absolutely, flabbergasted. I know this because he shouted so earlier from radio world. Could it be true that this is an indication of the direction of the tele-medium or as couchbloke said; "sport itself" ???<br /><br />I've never bought a television and for the last year not owned one. I do watch tele-land, I just don't use a telebox to do it. I don't buy newspapers either but I do read news and although I seldom buy magazines I look at an incredible amount of pictures.<br /><br />I don't think I'm that unusual. You're reading this (hello Mum) rather than watching the telebox, or maybe you're doing both. Maybe you're in the bath. But we're not that dissimilar are we?<br /><br />Nope, I don't think fat telecouchsportsfan is going to stop demanding to watch sport on his 500 inch plasma. I don't think I'm going to stop wanting to look at quality photographs and read reliable news. I also don't think that I'm going to stop wanting to watch great films, read great books and listen to music that moves my very soul.<br /><br />Amen.<br /><br />Quite by coincidence when rooting about behind something that was holding up the a crucial part of our house last night I found a folded newspaper clipping that until that point had been preventing a major subsidence.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 252px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SspZ_qKGibI/AAAAAAAAAHw/XwEzEW7trAE/s320/1978_pirate_radio.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389218854285511090" border="0" /></a><br />The lead story was from 1978 and speaks of a police raid on some crazy Pirate Radio Station that was "transmitting on the medium wave". Stop me if I'm wrong,but was it due to this regional, but crucial investigative breakthrough that the music industry survived beyond the 70's ?<br /><br />I'm going to have to plump for a big fat no. I'm pretty confident saying that people's urge to make music coupled with peoples need to experience it meant that the music industry continues to exist and I'd offer that more music is heard by more people quicker and more often than any time in history.<br /><br />I'd also propose that when more TV stations and channels go bust, that fat telesportscouch will still demand to watch the footy, and David Beckham's kids will still want to play. I'd also have to say that there'll still be news and people will still want to hear about it. I bet they'll even want to look at pictures describing it and read considered reflections on it's ramifications.<br /><br />So, Dear Amorphous-couch shape that shouts out of the radio - according to the (thus far) reliable laws of supply and demand, if you want it badly enough then someone will supply it to you. Conversely to all of the suppliers of this demanded product (sport,news,music,photography etc), the enormous and overwhelming demand means that you will have a market.<br /><br />The means of distribution and pricing structures will be dictated by that same market. Here's the good bit; everyone coming to this moment in the history of our media for the first time today, will be proactive about how their product is perceived and valued. They will not wait their turn in the suppliers queue, they'll push past us old people with our baggage of old business models and sense of yesteryear business decorum.<br /><br />Because for these "lens based new-agers" it'll be completely normal and they'll not be interested in whatever it is us dribbling, middle aged, digitally-incontinent photographers are banging our tri-pods about anyway.<br /><br />No matter how loud you and your friends shout into the radio. No matter how often you use CAPS LOCK INAPPROPRIATELY in comments sections. And no matter how frustrated I get with you.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-26867451493021145812009-10-01T09:09:00.038+01:002009-11-17T12:45:09.797+00:00"Tradition is not a business model."<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SsUJWy2fHdI/AAAAAAAAAHY/H4lW6rGAz10/s320/bobbie_gillespie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387722816430742994" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Why do Architects listen to photographers?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">There's no punch-line. The question is almo</span><span style="font-size:100%;">st as ran</span><span style="font-size:100%;">dom as </span><span style="font-size:100%;">it appears on the surface. And still, I have more blog and Twitter interaction from Architects than anyone else non-photographic.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">And I'm not the only one. A <a href="http://www.foto8.com/">Foto Magazine</a> p</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ublisher</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> that</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> I was talking to last week said that he also learned from and exchanged ideas with Architects</span><span style="font-size:100%;">. The more we talked, the more I realised how incredibly short sighted and narrow minded I am. Me, who preaches to other photographers to think of new ways to understand wh</span><span style="font-size:100%;">at we do and how we might make it relevant.</span><img src="file:///Volumes/jonathan/Desktop/examples/lilli_allen.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">I listened to <a href="http://craphound.com/">Cory Doctorow </a></span> when he described <span style="font-size:100%;">ho</span><span style="font-size:100%;">w</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Science-Fiction writers would take great pride in the fact that their work would bui</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ld on the </span><span style="font-size:100%;">work of their mentor's. Far from being covetous of his product, he actively works with other writers and sees this 'passing of a flame' as paying homage to the people that he in turn learned from and continues to be inspired by.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SsULmNBo2vI/AAAAAAAAAHo/jR0rZq3-lm8/s320/charles_stross.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387725280178133746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">I thought of this, but in a different way wh</span><span style="font-size:100%;">en </span><span style="font-size:100%;">readi</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ng an article over on TechCrunch (</span><span style="font-size:100%;">thanks to <a href="http://twitter.com/PopSciGuy">@popsciguy </a></span>from where this title originates).<span style="font-size:100%;"> The</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> full <span style="font-style: italic;">Journalism Internet Manifesto</span> is <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/09/09/german-bloggers-internet-manifesto-on-journalisms-future-makes-waves/">here</a></span>, <span style="font-size:100%;">I was reading it through my Photographer's eyes for what was relevant to me and perceiving photography as a small cog within the giant amorphous mass that is <span style="font-style: italic;">Journalism</span> in it's broader sense. I was thinking - yes "</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">16. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Quality remains the most important quality</span>." </span>is relevant , prac</span><span style="font-size:100%;">titioners that strive to produce original high qu</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ality work will always be in demand.... and then it occurred to me that I was again missing the point.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">At the core of journalism is the idea that once garnered, information possessed by the journalist must be coveted and hidden. It's value is it's exclusivity. We've got something that we have to share but in traditional business models the only way to consistently realise the material benefit is to sell it exclusively.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 314px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SsT9JeNPpsI/AAAAAAAAAHA/2B6Ugkfbceg/s320/enrique_mexico_city.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387709393411221186" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">This can't be the most efficient way of getting our work seen or heard. Assuming that sharing was the journalist's original intent, then this method must be at odds, in fact I struggle to think of a more effective way of limiting the peopl</span><span style="font-size:100%;">e that are able to share in the work.<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />The upshot are practitioners who historicall</span><span style="font-size:100%;">y are fri</span><span style="font-size:100%;">gh</span><span style="font-size:100%;">tened of admitting their work is informed by others and consequently terrified that others will steal their ideas. The 2.0 discipline equivalent of a</span><span style="font-size:100%;">n inter-webular stillbirth.<br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Similarly both Music as a Practice and Music as an Industry have elements of this in common with photography and journalism- I suppose all art has elements in common. The most important one being that they drawer people together with something that transcends the material body of the the artifact. To illustrate this I often feel it my obligation to point out how much great Art artifacts have in common with</span> the best Jokes<span style="font-size:100%;">.<br /><br />The science of the Joke is a dark one and w</span><span style="font-size:100%;">homsoever works it out first probably won't be that funny. A bit like the Joker in Batman. But clearly, humour transcends the Joke itself and drawers people together in an involuntary response, Art and 'the sublime' do the same. And the more democratic the humour, or perhaps another way of putting that might be ; the more access-able the humour, then the more people will be drawn together and the louder they'll laugh.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">So, ahem, I think it's fair to say that we've established categorically, the effects of Photography, Journalism, Music and Jokes are the same, in that they transcend the material body of the artifact and bring people together <span style="font-style: italic;">in</span> a mo</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ment or <span style="font-style: italic;">on</span> a subject.<br /><br />This being the case, then what's the differe</span><span style="font-size:100%;">nce between reading a joke alone and hearing it amongst friends? I guess it's similar to listening to music alone as opposed to going to a concert? Or singing in the bath as opposed to singing as part of a choir? Perhaps in journalism it's the difference between having information that you keep to yourself or being part of a political movement.<br /><br />Would it be fair then to say that as more </span><span style="font-size:100%;">people experience something alone, so the value of that experience increases when it becomes part of a larger whole?</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Might this be a way of looking at the increasing numbers of people attending live music events as being directly related to the increase in 'freely' download-able music ?<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SsT-LVg_NXI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/UmviK4CwzN0/s320/lilli_allen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387710524949476722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Might it also apply to a piece of fine-art. Lets say Da Vinci's Mona Lisa? A painting that has been reproduced countless times. Would it be fair to say that the original artifact had been devalued as a consequence?<br /><br />Well what if we take the opposite point of view ? What if that picture remained seen by only a few people along with everything else that Da Vinci produced? Would these unseen artifacts be worth more because no one had heard of him or seen his work ?<br /><br />No, of course not.<br /><br />They're valuable because they're well known. As more people value them, so the perceived worth of the original artifact increases respectively.Likewise as awareness of the original is disseminated, so the likelihood of someone able to afford this now escalating price coming into contact with this knowledge also </span><span style="font-size:100%;">increases</span><span style="font-size:100%;">.<br /><br />Excellent, we've clearly illustrated why Architects listen to photographers, and who could dispute it? But where does that leave new business practices and models for the lens-based practitioners formally known as Photographers?<br /><br />Perhaps, it's seeing partners where previously we'd looked for patrons. Perhaps, it's seeking to exploit the very things that in prior business models we might have perceived as exploiting us.<br />Maybe, the answer is understanding what <span style="font-style: italic;">we</span> can learn, not only from Architects, but from any and all seemingly unrelated disciplines which are just like us, trying to navigate their way through a world widely webbed.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-57981234086254478662009-09-27T20:55:00.003+01:002009-09-27T21:11:41.117+01:00Behind the scenesI had to put together some examples of my work for a talk that I'm doing, so rather than a bunch of disparate stuff I thought I'd make a little film of one shoot where you see the images being made and then how they get used. This is a portrait session with the band Kasabian.<br /><br /><br /><br /><object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6782218&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6782218&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Note to self - I have to gather much more information on shoots and work with assistants/collaborators that can shoot video and record sound, whilst changing a Hasselblad backs like the wind itself.) </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-38722306413945009012009-09-25T20:09:00.006+01:002009-11-17T12:45:37.008+00:00The Marlboro Marine<span style="font-style: italic;">Luis Sinco (Photographer, Los Angeles Times) in dialo</span><span style="font-style: italic;">gue with Thomas Keenan (Bard </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">College, USA) </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>The following is an abstract from a conference being held this weekend at Durham University. The conference is titled "Humanising photography" and can be found<a href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/dcaps/activities/conference2009/"> here.</a><br /><br /><br /><img src="file:///Users/jonathan/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sr0ZxIUXG3I/AAAAAAAAAG4/yra2ktMjsJs/s1600-h/marlboro+marine+James+Blake+Miller2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sr0ZxIUXG3I/AAAAAAAAAG4/yra2ktMjsJs/s320/marlboro+marine+James+Blake+Miller2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385489061242149746" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />This is not a war story—it’s a love story. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Luis Sinco </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">It’s about the unlikely friendship between James Blake Miller, a young Marine from the coal- </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">mining mountains of Kentucky, and me, an accomplished photojournalist for one of the </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">nation’s top newspapers. Ours is a story of fidelity, courage and kindness in the aftermath of </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">war. How we overcame differences in age, geography, race, politics and culture to form a </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">lasting bond. It’s about how he saved my life—and how I repaid the debt. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />I was embedded with the Marines in November 2004 as they mounted a bloody </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallouja, Iraq. I followed Miller’s unit as they took </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">cover from heavy fire inside an evacuated home. During a lull in the fighting, I transmitted </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">images by satellite phone from the kitchen. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the house, and I </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">headed to the action upstairs. Miller had barked orders into his radio, directing tanks to take </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">out the insurgents who had us under attack. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />In the brief calm that followed, I looked across the rooftop at Miller, realizing he had </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">just saved my life—and the lives of many others. I raised my camera and snapped a picture </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">of the young warrior, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his face smeared with grit and </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">camouflage paint, blood trickling from a cut on his nose, his eyes exhausted, haunted, yet </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">somehow determined. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />The photo, immediately dubbed the “Marlboro Marine,” ended up on the front page of </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">more than 160 newspapers. It evoked strong emotions around the world. Mothers wondered </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">if the rugged young man was their son. Women wanted to marry him. Dan Rather waxed </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">poetic about it on the evening news. Many recognized the “thousand-yard stare.” Even the </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Marine Corps command took notice, offering to give Miller a free pass to leave the combat </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">zone. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />The photo thrust me into the limelight, earning me a finalist spot for the Pulitzer Prize </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">and invitations to speak at prestigious institutions. Ironically, I wanted nothing more than to </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">leave the photo – and the war—behind. I resented how the image had been misinterpreted </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">as a swaggering pro-war emblem. I had taken so many other photos in Iraq, but all anyone </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">remembered was the “Marlboro Marine.” </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />My antipathy began to fade in the fall of 2005, when I learned that Miller, then barely </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">21, had been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition serious enough to </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">get him discharged from the military. Soon, at the urging of my editors, and the </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">encouragement of my wife, I headed to Kentucky, hoping to do a quick follow-up story. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />For me, it was a chance to set the record straight—to let the world know that the </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">photo of Miller was not about “Kicking Butt in Fallouja” as the conservative New York Post </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">had screamed on its front page. Despite my reluctance to get involved and the professional </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">ethics that required me to remain objective, I found myself getting drawn into Miller’s crisis. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">After a particularly bad run of events, he fell into a deep depression and teetered on the </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">brink of suicide. I had no choice: I had to put down my camera and pick up a young man in </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">desperate straits. “If I had gone down in Fallouja, would you have carried me out?” I asked </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Miller. “Damn straight,” he responded. “Well, I think you’re hurt pretty badly and I want to </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">help you,” I said. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />That day I coaxed Miller into my car and drove him to a treatment center in </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Connecticut, all the while knowing that I could lose my job for crossing the line that’s </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">supposed to remain between journalist and subject. Over the next 18 months, I came to </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">understand how war alters lives—not only Miller’s, but also mine. Together, we have </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">struggled to make sense of a world where it seems nothing has changed but us. We became </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">brothers. We found healing. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-30106779601702720472009-09-20T19:02:00.021+01:002009-09-21T22:43:55.589+01:00Why you don't need a Rep Pt III<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Srfv456FX-I/AAAAAAAAAGY/NhZGs4lrCFM/s320/alan_moore_jworth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384035640440872930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >"He [Yousef Karsh] thoroughly researches his subject, knows wife's name, or man's hobby,<br />and uses this information to the hilt. He's the ultimate flatterer." - Elliott Erwitt</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br />Van Gogh could have 'Repped' himself better.<br /><br />I expect that like me, early on in his career Vince was often down the pub with a few mates waxing lyrical about why no one valued what he did and 'if only he had an agent all this nonsense would go away and he could concentrate on the real business of making pictures' etc.<br /><br />And then when things were getting a bit maudlin and everyone was staring into their beer. There'd be the usual awkward moment, no one wanting to look at the obvious gap at the side of Vince's head where a ear should live. Then to break the tension someone would ask if anyone wanted another drink, and Vince would have to say "No, I've got one ear thanks"and everything would go a bit <span style="font-style: italic;">Reservoir Dogs</span>, so to speak.<br /><br /><br />I only wonder why he didn't take the next step.<br /><br />Not to clean off the other lobe (for the full aero effect), but rather, to consider marketing and repping himself. Obviously he was mad, but surely you'd be mad not to (Hah).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 388px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Srft6QJUnHI/AAAAAAAAAGI/t2OFqGFyFsc/s400/outcasts.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384033464566979698" border="0" /></a><br />There's no point me repeating what Bree Seeley said <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-you-dont-need-rep-pt-ii.html">here</a>, and I detailed how far off the mark I was when I first started out <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-you-dont-need-rep-pt-i.html">in Pt I</a> , all that remains are a few of the nuggets which (with the benefit of hindsight) I now see turned my career around, or kicked it off depending on your point of view.<br /><br />It wasn't my fault that I didn't understand the role of the Agent or Rep(resentative) when I started out. My understanding of an agent was someone with a bunch of jobs each week and a roster of photographers with which to do them. I, like most of us, had worked from age sixteen and a lot of that had been for agencies doing unskilled minimum wage work. So when I started out on my own, I was still yet to make the transition to a self employed professional mind-set.<br /><br />This is a bigger deal than it might at first sound. The first and biggest favour that a freelancer can do themselves is to consider all business relationships to be on some level; partnerships.<br /><br />Even the relationship with the client should be perceived as symbiotic. Yes you're providing a service but the client is equally dependent on your product. Think of the photo-editor going to her Art Director and justifying her choice of photographer with the pictures you made. If you provided her with bad work then her judgment will be brought into question as well as your abilities.<br /><br />Similarly the relationship with an agent or rep should be considered a collaboration.Put simply, a good agent is a great business partner that helps an artist to realise all the perceivable benefits of their product, both material and non-material. In doing so it is the partnership that enables each to sustain and grow both of their practices.<br /><br />A bad agent is a parasite.<br /><br />Here are a few steps :<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Educate yourself</span>. You can do a lot worse than subscribing to somewhere like Photo District News and using their vast resources to do this, of especial interest should be their "People on the Move" section wherein you can track the players within the industry and with little amateur detective work get in touch. Likewise their "Who's shooting what" section, great for finding out who shot that great campaign perhaps because you want to assist that person or because your work is better and you want to get in touch with the creatives.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be creative in your problems solving</span>. Another way to educate yourself is to learn from someone whose work you admire and respect. If this person reps themselves successfully then you can learn a great deal. If not then consider an internship at an agency. You'll see first hand how the industry works from the other side, it continues to amaze me that so few aspiring photographers try this route and instead dive straight into the studios - go<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrfwMXU0HRI/AAAAAAAAAGg/Z4kqL4BcvvI/s320/james_mcavoy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384035974755130642" border="0" /></a> to the agency you'll be able to meet all of the photographers,their current assistants and their clients as well.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bring more</span>. When you get that meeting (though it might equally be a commissioned portrait) - be prepared, know about the person you're meeting and what they do. Everyone loves to be flattered to some extent. Everyone is vain and even the most hardened pro will wilt at another's genuine interest in their practice (but don't bullshit - only 'wrong people' love an ass-kisser).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be prolific. Be disciplined.</span> If you're not shooting,thinking,working everyday, then you're a part-timer and as such you should get another part time job because your approach to this one's not going to pay the rent on it's own.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be reliable.</span> You must be someone that solves problems for people. Not someone that adds to them. If a commissioning client finds that you always overcome, they will be more inclined to give work to you if only to make their lives a little easier. Not definitively but those extra jobs that you get because you're a rock, add up. Pretty soon you have a reputation. Try to take stuff out of the hands of the client - "I'll book that, leave it to me, I'll sort all those other things" not only does this mean you're empowered but also you're removing stress from somebody elses world. Again not a definitive answer but these little things add up to an holistic practice.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Use what you've g</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ot,</span> (equally don't dwell on what you 'ain't got'). The phone is a very seductive tool and if you're butt-ugly, plump for it. I say this with some authority and I believe that the telephone sex industry revolves around this dynamic. So I heard.<br />Email can be a similarly deceptive tool and your correspondences should be considered (don't text speak - you will be thought of as a chimp), and subliminally allude to what you aspire to be (big,lots of staff or small and intimate).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Make the most of being small.</span> Perhaps you heard? Size isn't everything. One person doesn't have the overheads that a big set-up has, small is personal, manouverable, quick to respond and efficient.<br />An agent won't have time to spend all of their attention on you. You do. And here's a thing, in fact you can afford to pay yourself a relatively high percentage of your turnover in order to spend your time on you. As you grow you can also afford to hire good people to do specific tasks that maximise your efficiencies rather than being saddled with full time staff that you have to pay during down times.<br />Having learned from the bottom up you will also understand the intimate workings of your practice and be abl<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrfwmTAdAFI/AAAAAAAAAGo/Qs4dNHn4qyo/s320/steven_merchant.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384036420272586834" border="0" /></a>e to spot possible problems early on in the future, again saving you money and making your business more efficient.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Think long,</span> make a plan and see it through. One photographer that I worked for always made a list every Christmas of the things he'd achieved over the year and things he wanted to achieve over the coming year. I adopted this and find it very useful.<br />It's also a good way of seeing the positive things in what sometimes, on the surface, seemed a bad year. I'd add to it a longer plan for where you want to be in three years time as well and likewise how to get there. These plans tend to change and evolve but that's okay. It's all about disciplining yourself and setting in place a structure. No on else will do this for you, remember <span style="font-weight: bold;">'You are the boss'</span>.<br /><br /><br />If Van Gogh had thought like this, then he wouldn't have donated an ear. That was very short-termist. Especially when we consider that at some point he'd probably need to wear glasses.<br /><br />Stick to the plan Vince..... <span style="font-style: italic;">stick to the plan dude</span>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-38666451228523486412009-09-20T14:27:00.003+01:002009-11-17T12:46:02.325+00:00Why you don't need a Rep. Pt II<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrYr6zIgafI/AAAAAAAAAF4/8g-B6VTGUrk/s400/colin_firth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383538693726300658" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Part II ‘Van Gogh, may have had previous relationship baggage - see the whole ear in a letter thing’</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The following is from a conversation between me an</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">d Bree Seeley.<br />Bree has been both an Editorial Director for, and agent with Magnum, as well as working with (amongst others) such names as Anton Corjbin, Jack Peirson and Pierre Et Gilles.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">JW - Bree, one of the decisions that I came to make early one was to rep myself and to abuse friendships with people like you in order</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> to learn how to do it ....</span><br /><br />BS - ....repping oneself is a really sober decision. I swear, the information one gleans independently takes root in a significantly more meaningful way than being party to somebody eles's high talk.<br />The latter can be a sort of rush to be involved. For example; agent says they’re calling their old mates to do lunch/ cocktails to discuss the latest matters of glitzy third parties business which they’re hoping to land and, voila: you’re stoned on thinking that you're nearer the industry fire than you really all.<br /><br />And frankly, the only item one can bet on, is that the wait staff will be up a tip after that meeting.<br /><br />Actually being avid about tracking players involved in projects (magazines, web/multi media projects, books, exhibitions..) takes diligence at first, but soon becomes a natural reflex and addictive.<br /><br />Learning the names and responsibilities of industry folks is like unravelling a sweater and soon you've got the whole thing uncovered. Give these practices a while and you find crossover names reoccurring. Soon you get it and mercy... you've garnered a lot of information and it doesn't feel like work anymore because you're no longer in the dark.<br /><br />You'll have information that, combined with the wherewithal, will allow you to pursue the people you admire and/or projects you relish, and you’ll make an impression on its players, given that you've actually tracked individuals and 'know' their work. There's integrity in this method and a much respected depth of understanding.<br />Simply grafting yourself onto others and hoping that they'll following up with what seem like ‘the untouchables’ does not offer you a feel for how the projects or industry trades.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 201px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrYrRNi-olI/AAAAAAAAAFo/8PTBRBcbNas/s400/heath_ledger_small.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383537979262149202" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Relationships you as the artist make with the decision makers (Creative Directors, Art Directors, Picture Editors, Gallerists) can never be topped by facilitators or middle-people. The decision makers on creative or cultural projects are considered 'the artists' at their pop culture offices, where in fact they are 'remixers' (myself included - sigh). This crowd in-turn require you (the actual artist) to do the real work and for that they will always want as much contact with you as possible.<br />Agents know this and hence once you find yourself having secured a project, artists often awkwardly start wrestling with their agent who insists in remaining involved. For me this is where an agent earns their stripes. If they can stay out of the mix (more-or-less) and let the remixer and artist do their work, then they're okay by me.<br /><br /><br />Agents will come and go but once you've made a solid relationship with a facilitator at the actual creative project you hope to work with (ad agency, magazine, publisher etc..) they will be calling you directly. That's just how it goes.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">JW - Okay so I did all that but I’m still wanting to work with someone, what should I look out for?</span><br /><br />BS - Well, some agents might require you to pay them a <span style="font-weight: bold;">base salary</span> instead of a commission basis. A quality agent will see you as two parts of a whole. The Ying and the Yang of getting this ‘making-a-creative-living-thing’ done. They “the business” and you the creative”, but the whole thing spins on where you get together.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Boundaries</span> about work from clients predating an agent relationship need to be established very early, so that nobody assumes the road ahead. Here you need to work to an understanding that is fair (eg. i the client offers low-maintenance work with little or no production requirement - it remains yours for the next 24 months total, thereafter it’s subject to the agent usual percentage. OR, if their work is production heavy then the percentage may be lower for one year (but the agent gets all of the production mark-ups).<br />You're a creative. Think of a way to manage these clients with your new agent, that offers an incentive to be taken on by the agent and grow that business, but that rewards your previous ingenuity for sealing repeat business. You'll know in your guts when you've settled on a fair deal.<br /><br />Likewise try to get your head around a reasonable clause should the relationship with the agent fail (<span style="font-weight: bold;">your “pre-nup</span>”). It should be one that allows you to both leave with what you entered the relationship with, as well as a fair sharing of the produce thereof.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 132px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrYrc1mt7FI/AAAAAAAAAFw/QoMhMQ6Re9w/s400/brett_easton_ellis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383538178993810514" border="0" /></a><br />Some <span style="font-weight: bold;">shabby agents</span> can also expect artists to foot the entire bill for promotion. Again you’re partners in this. so they need to be chipping in. Hey, I’ve heard of some agents with <span style="font-weight: bold;">bloated rosters</span> who expect to make a profit from promotions because they overcharge their artists. Run from these people.<br /><br />Turnaround for payment must be in keeping with the turnaround of payment by clients. Any other way and trust will soon break down.<br /><br />Best to know the outlets you want to work with and expect that the shared knowledge of an agent will have a sword sharpening effect. They may be front line, but all involved work shown to any outlet needs to be absolutely relevant. This goes back to my point earlier about trading on the details of a project, and getting it into your practice early. Bloody hell... between you and an agent there is no reason why this cannot be in check at all times<br /><br />Don't take an agent on if you’re unable to handle criticism or get snakey with rejection. ‘Natch’, few of us have a love affair with being criticised but if you become badly behaved when you're being dealt it straight, then best find your own way.<br /><br />I recommend not signing up with agencies with <span style="font-weight: bold;">too many photographers</span>. Again you'll know when the list looks too long for you. It’s okay to be aligned with an agent who has an artist similar to you, but you owe it to yourself to see and understand the real difference between you both. Otherwise you should not be surprised when you lose work to this person - whereas what you want, is to have a chance at some more work because a genre is established at the agency.<br /><br />If you do commit to an agent, <span style="font-weight: bold;">give it time</span>. Expect nothing for 6-8 months. You gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette. Quality relationships take some time. If the agent is taking steps with you everyday or every week then let the efforts ferment (in a whisky way, not a milk-in-the-sun way). If after 9 months you have little or no feedback and no nibbles, then give it another 3 months of working harder together. Find a second wind, make another plan again: together.<br />18 months of nothing is fair game for parting ways.<br />That's 18 looooong months if you didn’t think wisely about the partnership in the first place.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">JW : But what about from the other side of the fence? What does a good agent look for or look to avoid?</span><br /><br />A <span style="font-weight: bold;">highly motivated</span> photographer with a clear sense of purpose for their work. Hopefully it’s not only to become famous but also to do work of lasting merit...<br />Somebody who may not be a prolific producer (eg. 6000 frames a week) but who <span style="font-weight: bold;">shoots through experimentation</span> and makes efforts to develop as an artist (rather than an artist who talks about changing).<br /><br />An artist with some genuine experience (doesn't have to be long history) in/of the industry. And so has some grasping of its realities.<br /><br />A decent person. A professional outlook. Reasonable. Honest. Committed. Mature. No brutal track-record lurking in their previous business relationships.Clarity of vision.<br /><br />May be working with a popular method but can be said to have a distinctive voice (without this, how can an agent be highly charged about their artist's value).<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">JW : Okaaaaay, so how come I’ve never met an agent to work with?</span><br /><br />BS : Worth, you have bad hair, you’re a bit fat and frankly your social awkwardness is very off-putting. I don’t actually know how I know you.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">JW : I’m like, probably not going to kiss you goodbye. Unless I should. I think I may have a coleslaw coming anyway.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrYtLfz9IeI/AAAAAAAAAGA/MTwcNb1d-Ac/s400/bob_monhouse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383540080109232610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:85%;" >Bree Seeley has been a facilitator of photography for 12 years . Currently picture editor at The Walrus, in Toronto. She has served as picture editor in the UK at the Sunday Telegraph Magazine and in Canada at Saturday Night, Maclean’s, and Shift. Bree was editorial director at New York photo agency Morisot Inc. and at legendary agency Magnum Photos UK bureau. Bree has taught photojournalism at Wilfred Laurier University, and is currently an instructor at Ryerson University teaching Visual Studies. She has been involved in the development of 10 photographic books, including the 2005 Infinity Award-winning Lodz Ghetto Album: Photographs by Henryk Ross and has been the commissioning photo editor on 20 works that received Gold awards from the Advertising and Design Club of Canada, and on 12 that won Gold at the National Magazine.</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:85%;" >Married to Franc Madden, she is also mother to a pair of scrumptious children.</span><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-62217230281166288502009-09-19T22:25:00.003+01:002009-09-19T22:40:46.841+01:00Why you don't need a Rep.<span style="font-size:130%;">Part I ‘Van Gogh died broke didn’t he?’</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrVLo4VbreI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/7YqRCD2FJNw/s1600-h/vince.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrVLo4VbreI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/7YqRCD2FJNw/s320/vince.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383292095280426466" border="0" /></a><br /> When I first started out or actually, mores to the point when I repeatedly failed to start out; I and the small clique of friends that called Crouch End our new home, held "getting an agent" as being the Holy Photographic Grail. The attainment of which, would grant us access to a world of constant work, a welcome revenue stream and exposure for our art, dare I say it, possibly even the coffee table trophy formally known as; “A book”.<br /><br />A great deal of time was spent bemoaning our collective lack of success and condemning anyone who seemed to have grasped the challis.<br /><br /> We seethed at photographers who got out of college and only minutes later were shooting a big campaign and we knew it that it was down to their retched agents which we all agreed they only "got" because they had; cool hair and, kissed people on both cheeks. Two things that we knew set <span style="font-style: italic;">them</span> apart from <span style="font-style: italic;">us</span> and labeled <span style="font-style: italic;">them</span> sell-outs and <span style="font-style: italic;">us</span> as righteous, if perhaps a little nerdy.<br /><br /> We bad-vibed them. All of them, and their skinny jeans. And all their shiny, skinny, beautiful friends.<br /><br /> We knew there was no justice in the world of commerce. We knew that the best artists would starve in garrets or die of selenium poisoning. Though, away in the privacy of our own insecurities we would all deconstruct with a Becher-like obsession, the all-important concept of engaging in physical contact at that first portfolio meet.<br /><br /> I'm pleased to say that I've never lost this vaguely adolescent clumsiness and have now grown to accept it. So understanding that I would never have really cool hair or be able to pull off a convincing Euro air-kiss, I turned the focus of my attention away from the “getting” an agent and towards working out exactly what it was that they did and how. More importantly, if I might in fact be able to do it for myself.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrVPsy8SazI/AAAAAAAAAEY/U9wTHa0stjY/s1600-h/mr_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SrVPsy8SazI/AAAAAAAAAEY/U9wTHa0stjY/s320/mr_m.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383296560598772530" border="0" /></a><br /> As such when someone asks me now how to get an agent, I tell them three things;<br /><br />1: to hang out with cooler people,<br />2: grow their hair and<br />3: shake hands like a Frenchman.<br /><br /> Not really. I’d say, come back, and we'll tell you how Van Gogh could have repped himself better.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-59137907938508646982009-09-17T08:22:00.003+01:002009-09-17T09:28:47.710+01:00Hyperphotography and Living Magazine covers.<object height="344" width="425">I read about this Photo-shoot on <a href="http://www.rachelhulin.com/blog/2009/09/its-alive-alexx-henry-shoots-a-moving-cover-for-outside-mag.html">Rachel Hulin's Blog</a></object> and Tweeted a link to it right away. The references to Harry Potter are funny and hopefully begin to communicate the bigger notions of what's happening to our medium. It's a parallel that I drew <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/star-trek-harry-potter-and.html">here</a> along with modes of instant global communication (Star Trek), the advent of Hyperphotography and their effects on documentary practice.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FtgSMlrVIx4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FtgSMlrVIx4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />Just as the development of Digital SLRs that capture movies heralded photographers applying their existing skills sets in new ways (You are at the very least making home movies aren't you?) so E Paper should be perceived by most of us as "the cart leading the horse" again.<br /><br />Not directly identifiable but really interesting is the promise of Hyperphotography's shifting power, from the observer/photographer to the hitherto objectified subject and how <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span> is going to effect what we do.<br /><br />Toss into the mix Google Wave's insta-web and we suddenly have our photographed subjects discussing the pictures in which they are depicted, in real time.<br /><br />Which kind of leads us to the fundamental re-structuring of how conventional Televisual media works as well . Doesn't it?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-58443999914276589622009-09-14T09:22:00.034+01:002009-09-14T17:47:32.062+01:00Do I have to go to college to be a Photographer?No. Obviously not - I think it's a deliberately stupid question and one that I hate being asked with a passion.<br /><br />Second only to <span style="font-style: italic;">"What camera should I buy for </span><span style="font-style: italic;">my vacation?"<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 341px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sq5txrhfuiI/AAAAAAAAACo/37zNe-FEJI4/s320/alicia_keys.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381359305018554914" border="0" /></a><br />I'm not saying that one shouldn't pay for a degree. On a good course (the right course for you) there can be some clear and perceivable benefits to making the substantial financial investment. But a person can certainly put themselves into all of the situations in which they'd benefit from the positive aspects of a bricks and mortar education, without actually packing a bag.<br /><br />I went to college because I thought it was my only way into the industry. I knew no one that made photographs for a living. Neither of my parents had gone to college, my Mother worked as a receptionist and my Father was a salesman. It was 1991 and my network of friends, family and colleagues didn't reach geographically or otherwise very far from our garden gate.<br /><br />This was not the right reason to go to college.<br /><br />Anyone reading this article and considering going to college today can't claim to have the same story.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Why?</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sq5vgzeZX-I/AAAAAAAAADA/bR_P6aRr52w/s200/mum_hastings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381361214118518754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Because you just met me for one. So unless you're my Mum (hello Mum) then you've probably already broken some ground in extending your network of contacts and reference points.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">So where next?</span><br /><br />Well, start by continuing to think in this fashion. For instance, there are actually very few people that work in the Photo industry that make photographs for a living. The job is just one aspect of an industry that runs the whole gamut, from framing prints, curating exhibitions, styling clothes/food/rooms, to location scouting, researching, production, representation, photo direction and art buying, right up to commissioning Picture Editor of the New York Times.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">How do you find out about these opportunities?</span> Well the job centre/employment office is rubbish for all of this stuff and frankly most Photography courses don't deal with it either. The ones that do deal with it tend to focus so much on the "How" that it tends to be to the detriment of the more important "Why?". You end up knowing how to do work a bunch of different cameras but no idea what to point them at.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">(But)...a lot of photographers think tha</span><span style="font-size:85%;">t if they buy a better camera they'll be able to take better photographs. A better camera wo</span><span style="font-size:85%;">n't do a thing for you if you don't have anything in your head or in your heart. - Arnold Newman - "Amer</span><span style="font-size:85%;">ican Photo" - March/April 2000, page: 17</span></div><br />One way is to carry a notebook (old <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">skool</span> I believe) or a phone that's up to the task and every time you see a picture that you like (no matter how bizarre the situation or outlet) to jot it down (I guess we could call this Augmenting our reality ^_^). Then in the splendid comfort of your own virtually snug, home-computing environment, work out who the hell made it? How? And for whom?<br /><br />Here are some nuggets that might help you begin this process of reverse engineering:<br /><br />Lets say it's a picture in a magazine. The name of the photographer should be with the picture somewhere, certainly in the case of an editorial story (as opposed to an advertisement), perhaps underneath, at the foot of the page or in the gutter (where the staples are).<br /><br /><br /><br />This being the case then the picture was either;<br /><ul><li>a) commissioned by the publication </li><li>b) given by the subject </li><li>c) sold by a photographer/their agency, or </li><li>d) placed by an advertiser.</li></ul><br />a) The Art Director or Creative Director are usually top of the pile at a magazine and top of the masthead (a column of contributors usually early on in the magazine) they're great to meet if you get chance but they will seldom micro manage the photo-commissioning, it's usually the Photo Editor that does this.<br />Photo Editors come in a variety of flavours, some publications have rafts of them, others get by with just one. Either way, this is the person that would commission you and it's the person you have to show your work to.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/theater/06lyal.html"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sq5kpNmIxyI/AAAAAAAAACI/xacTYrSMD2o/s400/jude_law_by_jonathanworth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381349263941355298" border="0" /></a><br />b) Publications will often not have enough of a budget to commission new photography. They will choose instead to buy/use stock photography, re-use -pictures from previously commissioned shoots that they've retained the rights to use or use press and publicity images.<br />Press and Publicity images are owned by the subject or their representatives and used to promote themselves or what they do.<br />Either the subject themselves,their publicity person or agent will commission you to make these pictures. And as they have a natural shelf life, this can become a source of regular income, as any Photographer doing mode l head-shots will tell you (or not).<br /><br />c) Generating your own work is an essential part of what we do as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">creatives</span>. If you want to be known as anything more than, a technician called in to facilitate somebody <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">else's</span> vision, then you have to demonstrate this with your own work. Entire business models are evolving that rely less and less on commissioned editorial work and instead seek to realise the benefits from self generated projects. Look at Magnum for instance and how their industry can no longer compete with the citizen eye-witness on their mobile phone. Instead their direction is more in large Art projects that are made after the initial news event and monetized through exhibitions and book deals. When you generate your own work then you can sell or license it.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/Sq5u6ak7E_I/AAAAAAAAAC4/NC3V7lta054/s320/rollingstone_cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381360554599977970" border="0" /></a></div><br />d) Advertisers remain a large and profitable market for a lot of photographers. There are a number of ways that a client may wish to use or commission photography to sell and promote their product or services. These are usually fed through a creative/advertising agency and more specifically through the Art Buyer.<br />It is this person's job to h ave a comprehensive knowledge of the industry, so that when a designer (who normally hails from planet <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Zorg</span>) comes to her desk and says that they need a, young/old/foreign/quaint/sexy/religious/colourful/retro/black and white (that thinks in colour) photographer to sell their new Haemorrhoid treatment - he or she will be able to pull together a bunch of absolu tely relevant photographers.<br /><br />If you're stuck with a spare Christmas card approaching the festive period, then send it to an Art Buyer.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Five questions to a</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">sk before you go to University ;</span><br /></div><br /><ol style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; text-align: left;"><li>Who wrote the course and when?</li><li>What is the course Ethos and how is that embedded? (sum up the course in a sentence)</li><li>Who is delivering the course?</li><li>What work do they do? (you must at least respect aspects of their practice to be fair to them and you)</li><li>Who are the alumni and what do they think? (also and essentially how long ago did they graduate, was it the same course and was it delivered by the same people?)</li></ol><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" >ps</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span></span>When you found the name of the Photographer, did you Google them, go to their website, go through their client/publications list and make notes of them all ? If they were represented by an agent did you go through their site and see who else they represent ? If it was an advert did you find out who art directed it and then worked out what other clients they have/campaigns they work on ?..... I do.<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-37259838091863713572009-09-12T00:32:00.009+01:002009-10-16T08:31:25.784+01:00Giving things away.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188203/in/set-72157622138315932/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 294px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SqwtjNKWYAI/AAAAAAAAACA/jocI0PiJILg/s400/cory1_f43bw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380725737652641794" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >The following are the ongoing notes from a live experiment trialing an adaptation of Cory Doctorow's business practices as a successful Science Fiction author. </span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-things-away-pt-ii.html"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED HERE.</span></a><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Background</span></span><br /></div></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/">I</a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.jonathanworth.com/">'m a freelance editorial photographer</a>. Which broadly means that I charge a creative fee for my photographic </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">services, the product of which the client is entitled to use, exclusively (called an embargo period), before I then syndicate it, and the rest of the pictures made at the shoot.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">As such my current business model revolves around my ownership of the copyright of my images and trading the licensing rights thereof. I represent myself and so pay no commission on my fees to an agent on the initial creative fee (though those fees seldom cover the cost of the shoot), however, when syndicated through Corbis Outline, I pay a minimum of 50% if they re-sell it, and 50% of my fee again if one of their agents sells it for them.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">I also produce self directed projects which I exhibit, and my work is collected by the <a href="http://www.npg.org.uk/">National Portrait Gallery</a> in London,UK. My total monthly income from archive sales are approx £150 GBP. I also sell my work directly and independently.<br /></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><a href="http://craphound.com/bio.php">Cory Doctorow (craphound.com)</a> is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger -- the co-editor of Boing Boing (<a href="http://boingboing.net/">boingboing.net</a>) and the author of the bestselling Tor Teens/HarperCollins UK novel LITTLE BROTHER. He is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in London.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">.....His novels are published by Tor Books and HarperCollins UK and simultaneously released on the Internet under Creative Commons licenses that encourage their re-use and sharing, a move that increases his sales by enlisting his readers to help promote his work. He has won the Locus and Sunburst Awards, and been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Scienc</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">e Fiction Awards.</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188203/in/set-72157622138315932/"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 334px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_de5ZvfjcKaU/SqwnoLFZEFI/AAAAAAAAAB4/8W1JX3NhnaM/s400/annotated+flikr+pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380719225924554834" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Notes:<br /><span style="font-size:100%;">3rd September,2009<br />Portrait session time 90 mins.<br />Travel cost : £40<br />Food : £20<br />Film : £15<br />Processing dev. only : £9<br />Broken equipment during session (sync cable) : £30<br />Time spent: 1 day<br /><br />Low res. scanning : In house<br />High res. scanning : In house<br />Post production : In house<br />Time spent : 1/2 day<br /><br />Photographs delivered to subject all <a href="http://creativecommons.org/">CC licensed</a> and simultaneously uploaded to <a href="http://www.archive.org/index.php">http://www.archive.org.</a><br />Time spent : 1hr<br /><br />Image annotated by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/3906188203/in/set-72157622138315932/">subject and passed to subject's community via Flickr.</a><br /><br />Image views as of 12th September 2009 via </span>Flickr; <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2,297</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Image views as of </span><span style="font-size:100%;">15th September,2009</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> via </span>Flickr; <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2,918<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Image views as of 22nd</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> September,2009</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> via </span>Flickr; <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">4,103<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Image views as of 13th Octo</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ber,2009</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> via </span>Flickr; <b>5,436</b><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Income; £0.00<br />(Directly perceivable) indirect income ; £0.00<br /><br />There's a bunch happening will write up soon.<br /><br /></span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-things-away-pt-ii.html"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED HERE.</span></a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >WANT TO BE INVOLVED ? GREAT, MAIL ME.</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827862395234485202.post-74591685069681004582009-09-11T11:38:00.001+01:002009-09-11T18:16:30.249+01:00Why the Spanish Inquisition 1478-1834 was good for Photography.<div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />History is never antiquated, because humanity is always fundamentally the same. ~Walter Rauschenbusch<br /><br />History is a vast early warning system. ~Norman Cousins<br /><br />The challenge of history is to recover the past and introduce it to the present. ~David Thelen<br /></span></div><br /><br /><br />So what I'm not saying is that burning people is a good thing. Unless they're already dead and then that's okay.<br /><br />If that's what you're into.<br /><br />As opposed to planting.<br /><br />Equally I'm not saying that I don't have a few contenders myself for the list of; <span style="font-style: italic;">"l</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ightly toasted on one side just to teach them a lesson"</span> category either.<br /><br />What I am saying is; can we please move on from the <span style="font-style: italic;">"Photography is dead debate"</span>, when it's quite evident even to the most hardened cynic that the medium has never been more universally alive in terms of it's access and more democratic in terms of it's understanding. What we should be exciting about, is the potential for where this leads us.<br /><br />Take a straw poll now of a few people's favourite painters, then ask which actual paintings they know. I imagine that anyone still reading at this point would be amongst people of a certain demographic that (with more refined tastes than my own ) might well refer to painters and paintings that I've perhaps never heard of. However, I bet that almost all of the people and paintings mentioned are post-renaissance. Picasso will be in there somewhere and Van Gogh no doubt, but I bet Rembrandt is too and perhaps Titian, I bet the Mona Lisa crops up and probably <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335119/">Scarlett Johansson</a> (from which you should draw enormous comedy mileage).<br /><br />Conversely, if the main names are Luís Borrassá, Andrea da Firenze and Simone Martini then dinner is on me.<br /><br />There are a number of things that changed in painting between these two sets of people that are worth reflecting on for Photography right now;<br /><br /><ol><li>The way the pictures depicted their subject matter.</li><li>The subject matter itself.</li><li>The way that the artworks were read.</li><li>The sources of funding for the Artists.</li></ol><br />In depiction, there was a move away from single point perspective. There was literally a new depth to the images that allowed the reader/viewer to look into and around the picture. It reflected a more life-like and realistic experience more akin to the world that the viewer actually lived in. After all, people generally aren't flat.<br /><br />Sounding familiar ? Maybe time to brush up on your <a href="http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/09/star-trek-harry-potter-and.html">Hyperphotography</a> if not.<br /><br />The subject matter itself changed because, for years painters had told the story of the Bible, as dictated by the Papacy to the illiterate masses. Through layers of sea-shell, egg whites and lamp black (amongst other ingredients) they told very clear stories in established and understandable formats.<br /><br />With the rise in literacy, the translation of the Bible and the spread of individualism, people began to proclaim Christ as the head of the church and not the Pope. On a fundamental level, they began to question their sources of information as never before.<br /><br />In fact it seems hard to believe to us today that the thought of a personal relationship with God (or as Plato described it, being without a Greek word for religion, Love,Knowledge and Truth), through direct prayer, was as alien for them as, lets say for instance, it would be today for us to ask a person depicted within a photograph, for their own version of events.<br /><br />Completely ridiculous! In fact one might even go so far as to say; heretical.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Burning_witches_Malleus_Maleficarum_Montague_Summers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 214px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Burning_witches_Malleus_Maleficarum_Montague_Summers.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Goodness. Can you actually imagine questioning the version of events, as dictated by a Professional Photographer and an actual Writer, which had been subsequently verified and published (by the newspaper/magazine or television), by actually asking the subject in the picture itself for their version ? There and then. On a completely personal level. Away from any perceivable editorial grasp?<br /><br />Asbestos body suit anyone?<br /><br />Although as Dan Brown proves to us so <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/irony">accurately</a>, there were of course rebels who, although taking the money from their patrons, secretly stuck two fingers up to that establishment and painted their own coded versions of events. However, the paintings and the buildings that housed these works of art still came to embody the idea of God, just as they were meant to.<br /><br />And they still do.<br /><br />Ask any local village vicar/pastor/minister etc. how much money she raises to build wells for dying children in Africa, and she'll tell you it's a fraction of what she can raise in half the time by telling the local community that without a new roof, their church (building) will have to be demolished. It is surely the case that the language and intent of any religious teachings are lost in a society where the people that populate it, believe that those teachings are embodied in the modes of communication themselves. We just plain stopped hearing the wood for the trees, so to speak.<br /><br />Can you really imagine, a world without the New York Times ? Or any other newspaper denting your lawn every weekend?<br /><br />But anyway; this undermining of Papal authority didn't end there, as the new worlds and new markets were discovered, so the growing nations of Europe began to resent the high taxation that Rome siphoned off. The Church fractured and split.<br /><br />It's reaction? A bloody big stick. Or actually in this case, a bonfire.<br /><br />It's almost like, lets say (just for fun), if the Music industry decided to sue a few file sharers for absurdly huge sums of money that would be impossible for those people to ever pay, and in the full knowledge that the costs of doing so would never be recovered, in order to make examples of them.<br /><br />Yes, clearly ridiculous.<br /><br />Incidentally, the witch hunters themselves were a prosperous lot during this people, more than likely billing hourly.<br /><br />My point is that when we look back at the similarly massive cultural and societal shifts that took place during this period we see that by trying ineffectually, to maintain the discipline and direction of it's Orthodoxy, the Papacy first in 1184 (followed by Isabella and her Spanish adaptation in 1478) established their inquisitions, they were really just plain failing to accept the next and looming business model. In fact it's been argued that (in a similar turn of religious events) when Catholic Mary Tudor (the first daughter of English Henry the Eight) persecuted the protestants she did more <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"to advance the course of Protestanism than any Protestants could have imagined. (because) Seeing men of the church ... publicly burned for their religious convictions earned these martyrs a certain respect that you just don't get from doing </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thought/">Thought for the day</a><span style="font-style: italic;">." ~</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Utterly-Impartial-History-Britain-Idiots/dp/0552773964/ref=pd_sim_b_3">John O'Farrell</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span><br /></div><br />So where exactly did all this, as interesting as it is, leave the Painters ?<br /><br />Their medium was becoming common place, circumvented and in the terms of it's previous purpose, made largely redundant. In fairness though, it could have been worse. Bible scribes had the printing press just itching to be invented around this time too. Can you honestly imagine how gutted they were when mass communication of their medium made their practice entirely irrelevant? I bet the painters heaved a huge sigh of relief knowing that their work was unique and immune to such degradation for ever.<br /><br />Although the painter's patron of the Church didn't disappear over night, they (the painters) did find themselves looking for new ways to sustain their practices. With the increase in commerce and the corresponding decrease in monopolistic control by the Papacy, it was the nouveau riche merchants that went on to facilitate this.<br /><br />What I'm also not saying with this analogy is that that every editorial photographer should now go and work for a Russian Oligarch, nor should they all go and form a new religious sect. What I am trying to say is that when we think of the great leaps and bounds to have taken place throughout Art History over the last five hundred years, it's difficult not to be inspired and amazed by the post renaissance artists. They still define who we are and how we see today.<br /><br />Photography, will not , as Phillip Jones Griffiths questions (paraphrased from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Photography-Fred-Ritchin/dp/0393050246/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210872427&sr=8-3">Ritchen After Photography</a>) ‘...become a shooting star of the twenty first century, which came and went in a hundred years’, because there is in all probability a twenty first century Leonardo Da Vinci walking amongst us right now. In fact from his bedroom, his avatar is probably mixing hyperphotography, metavideo, news and music with vehicle design and Science Fiction literature, all in Second Life.<br /><br />We just need to hope that he’s not getting sued for it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18158196112818763941noreply@blogger.com1