From that day I realized that you can take simple, ordinary, everyday things and make something out of them. You can make a statement by using what is right in front of you.
via LBM Blog
I believe that the truly creative periods are those when you live with intensity
I don’t know what’s important to the people who look at my photos. What’s important to me is to make them. I work all the time, but there are only a few of my photos that I find really good. I am not even sure that I am really a good photographer. I think that anyone working as I do could do the same. But my purpose is not to prove my talent. I photograph almost every day, except when it’s too cold for traveling the way I do – as in this time of winter. Sometimes my photos are OK, other times they are not, but I think that eventually something will come out of my work. I don’t worry about it.
–Josef Koudelka
via A Photo Student
Gerard Butler Talks About Shooting With Jim Wright On Leno
Last week Gerard Butler was on Leno and Jay picked up the copy of Men’s Journal that Jim Wright shot the cover and feature of him for and asked about the opening image. Gerard launched into a funny description of the shoot:
I’ve worked with Jim in the past so I shot him an email to get a little more background on the shoot. Also, I know Jim recently moved to NYC after many, many years living and working in LA, I also asked him about a strange phenomenon that seems perfectly normal when you live in NYC “flying photographers out to LA all the time.”
To be honest, I wasn’t the first choice for the shoot. Unfortunately, for him, the other photographer blew out his back and couldn’t make the journey to LA. The week before, I had shot the Bruce Willis cover so MJ came back to me and asked if I’d step in.
Gerard Butler’s publicist is an old friend of mine so the trust level was running high for the shoot. Myself and the crew met up with Gerry at a secluded house in Malibu and we went to town. Gerry was up for anything. We’re were aiming for the normal guy approach; trying to show various sides of his personality. Luckily,whatever challenge I threw out there, he literally dove right in. The ocean shots were a blast and a battle at the same time. I asked him, “If I go in; will you go in?” Gerry comes back with, “Follow me!”. We’re were onto something as this was the first shot of the day. Thank god that my one assistant, Sean Costello, stands about 6’6″ because he saved the camera every time. The guy whose camera that didn’t survive was the guy who was hired to shoot the B-roll. I had assistants watching the waves. He didn’t. Hence, no B-roll of the shoot. My two other assistants literally saved me from getting swept away.
We got the shots and headed up the beach and Gerry leans down and sticks his face in the sand and we just kept going until he was completely covered. Then back in the ocean, then to the hot tub. Which was needed because we were both freezing by that point. The hot tub was not a planned shot. But again, I threw it out there and we got some amazing underwater shots. Eyes open in hot water. I couldn’t believe it. At this point, I felt like I had the shoot in the bag and I hadn’t even done the cover image yet or brought out the three bikini models. Plus we hadn’t even broken for lunch yet.
I’d been in LA for about 18 years, working my way from PA to assisting some of the worlds greatest image makers of the last twenty years. Everyone from Herb Ritts to Michel Comte to Peggy Sirota whom I worked with exclusively for almost five years. She was a real mentor to me and gave me the confidence to do my own thing. My career has gone well, knock on wood, for the last 12 years. This past winter I moved to NYC to be with my girlfriend and near family. I switched agents as well to NYC based Bernstein & Andriulli, so most of my work was coming out of or based in NY. But as fate has it, once you move to one coast they want you on the other, so much of my time lately has been spent flying back and forth. Last month a three day trip turned into three weeks as people got word that I was in LA. I don’t mind it, I just wish someone can explain it to me
Palm Springs Photography Festival
Starts Tomorrow.
This workshop Allegra Wilde is giving (deconstructing your portfolio) looked interesting to me so I asked her to tell me more about it:
Basically, I’ve figured out over the years how to explain to photographers a way to edit, package and distribute their own work. The vast majority of people out there are not going to be represented by an agent, or spend money on a consultant. So I have a method that (paradoxically) allows a photographer to navigate the problem of being ” too close to their own work” by actually being less objective with it.
This is not simply a question “do what you love” or just show your personal work. Because even though photographers who are interested in doing commercial work have sort of gotten that message, they still fall victim to marketplace pandering in their portfolio and websites, and because of this, look like most other photographers, go up against more competition, and therefore, get the job less of the time.
That is not to say that they shouldn’t show buyers what they can do that may look like what is already out there. And i believe there is a place for that in their presentations, but they are missing an opportunity if they mix up their jobs with their personal work. If they muddle it all together, then they don’t have a portfolio that looks original and strong creatively, and, showing the tearsheets or jobs mixed in… at the same time, they miss the opportunity to make a credible sale.
Fantastic.
If anyone goes let us know what you thought of the concept.
Ask Anything – Copying Other Artists
Former Art Buyers and current photography consultants Amanda Sosa Stone and Suzanne Sease have agreed to take anonymous questions from photographers and not only give their expert advice but put it out to a wide range of photographers, reps and art buyers to gather a variety of opinions. The goal with this column is to solicit honest questions and answers through anonymity.
Someone emailed this link:
http://www.cjlane.net/news/?p=69#more-69
and noted that it’s a very close resemblance to the French photographer’s series:
http://www.denis-darzacq.com/la_chute/index.html
Which caused quite a stir a few years ago (it’s currently being shown in major art galleries in the US). The person who emailed us wrote: “It is of course quite possible that two like minded people come up with a similar idea at the same time, or within a recent time frame, but surely as an informed practitioner, you have a responsibility to do your research or at least credit the inspiration in some manner. Perhaps I’m being pathetic.”
Amanda and Suzanne:
Which came first the chicken or the egg? In this case we could say Sam Taylor-Wood. But who inspired Sam – Barbara Morgan (with an urban twist)? The links could be endless (as Michael Grecco points out below). Chris, Sam & Denis have all done work similar and all have made a success out of it.
We have both experienced copyright issues in our day of art buying and see it everyday in consulting. Example: An Art Director comes up with a concept and the photographer is hired to do the job – sometimes not aware of the original swipe or where it came from. I (Amanda) once had a job go through my department and the art buyer didn’t see the final until right before traffic/production was about to release the image – it was so identical to the comp (which was swiped) we ended up offering $30k to the photographer our AD swiped it from to be able to take it to print – it was that much of a copyright infringement.
So we asked Michael Grecco for his opinion on this matter.
Photographer Michael Grecco
For me, this issue brings up many visceral thoughts and emotions because not only am I a fan of the underlying images, but also know some of the photographers (other than Chris) who created them. The ads show a hooded figure jumping in a very industrial setting wearing jeans, sweats, and CAT Earthmovers Footwear.
I write this from two perspectives: one, how far should an artist go when mimicking, or borrowing ideas from other artists. Ultimately what is their responsibility to make an idea their own. Two, what is the responsibility of art directors and creative directors in educating their clients about a comp, and how it should be used to begin the creative process, not conclude it.
I would like to first look at the origin of the idea of jumping in photographs since that is the concept of the images and put it in a modern context. As a photographer, we all look for inspiration in everything around us, including other images by other shooters. As a kid, I was always a fan of the work of Philipe Halsman and his series of jumping portraits. Halsman himself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Halsman) had a fascinating life and was a regular contributor to Life Magazine. I first came across his work as a kid, when I used to take out the Time Life books on photography as a long term “loan.” His work was prominent, and impressive, leaving a lasting impression on my subconscious. He is best known for the image of Salvador Dali jumping with water traveling through the frame and a cat flying through the air.
As an artist, though, when we get inspiration we have to then make it our own. I will borrow a seed of an idea, and then see where that creative road takes me. If I am shooting for a client, hopefully I have the room to take the image to a very personal place, a place that would be my work, and not that of the borrowed image. This should happen naturally, the pull of your own vision influences you to make “taste” decisions when creating an image that should in theory transcend the underlying image, no matter how good it is. The artist should be chosen for that reason, they should bring something more to the project, otherwise hire the original artist of the work or if they are dead, make it an homage.
Collection examples:
Google Image Search: Halsman Jumping Images
Famous Dali Atomicus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Salvador_Dali_A_%28Dali_Atomicus%29_09633u.jpg
This leads me to the trail of creativity that created the CAT ads. In each case, each artist has put their “physic” perspective and artistic touches to these concepts. The modern seed for this idea is the work of Sam Taylor Woods, a British artist, who has taken the idea of jumping and made it personal, literally. She shoots self portraits of herself floating through space, separated from the Earth, She calls the series “Suspended.” The images evoke a sense of freedom, of life and death and weightlessness. There is an ephemeral quality I can only believe is inspired by the artists’ experience surviving two bouts of cancer.
Google Image Search: Sam Taylor Woods
The next set of images I feel are a variation and an interpretation of Sam’s conceptual theme. Let me add here that themes or concepts cannot be copyrighted; only the execution of the concept is the subject of legal protection. Concepts themselves are free to live in the world for people to make their own. It is their execution, in legal terms the “look and the feel” of the images that is the subject of protection legally. The artist that created this next set of images has inspired me for years. I first saw her work in an “alt” magazine many years ago and she has continued to produce great images. I have had the pleasure of breaking bread with Julia Fullerton Batton and her husband Kelvin who is also a photographer, in Arles, France.
Julia’s images deal with issues of isolation and alienation. Many of her subjects are teenage girls, relating to the slightly overly polished or greatly bizarre world around them. She has taken this seed of an idea, flying or jumping, and has now used that in her repertoire to fortify her underlying thesis of the world. In her series called “In Between,” she borrowed a general concept and made it her own. In my opinion, you cannot call these images the same from an artistic perspective (or a legal perspective). They exist as a consistent component of Julia’s body of work that delves into the psychological and socioeconomic world of her subjects.
Images provided by http://www.juliafullerton-batten.com
The last inspiration of mine is a journalistic one. Denis Darzaqu, the French photographer, spent time photographing French Hip Hop dancers in an amazing series called La Chute. The images won a World Press award and were included in the catalog, where I first saw them. I was immediately in love with the jarring flight he had created. Even though they could be viewed as a journalistic document, I also saw them as an original and artistic work of art that was emotionally inspired. My feeling for these images was strong enough to hunt Denis down in Arles to let him just how much I liked the work. They are stunning and I believe they are the true inspiration for the CAT ads. In fact they are so close in look, feel and concept to the ads that I can only think, why did the agency or CAT Earthmover not hire Denis Daraqu to shoot these ads? It stuns me!
Images provided by: http://www.denis-darzacq.com/
Having shot for many years myself, I know how these things usually happen: the comp proposed by the design firm or ad agency gets the client stuck on exactly the image they see. How the style of the comp has changed over the years has been interesting. To sell ideas and ultimately get clients, pitches now include literal photographic images instead of the line drawings that agencies used to do when making a pitch. It’s a competitive world out there pitching visual ideas to corporate number pushers that might not understand the vision of the agency pitch. To ensure that the client gets and loves the idea and then hires the agency, art directors are forgoing drawings for stock, for “swipe” photographic images.
In Hollywood, this practice is rampant. At the top, Hollywood is a culture of sequel movies and TV shows, remakes, and spin offs. This has transcended into the ad agencies that create the campaigns for the studios and networks, and they “borrow” feverishly. Ideas are often derived from a recently spied coffee table book or magazine feature that has inspired an Art Director or Creative Director. Then they create a campaign around the creative work of others. Creative theft might not be as blatant as that though. The images borrowed might just be for the purposes of bringing the client closer to the agencies vision. After all, why use a crappy line drawing when you can use a photograph?
OK, here’s why: because if you put in a particular image into the comp, that’s exactly what you are going to get, that image. Then it becomes plagiarism; you are intentionally trying to match the execution. It never gets expounded upon and it never becomes the vision of the artist you’ve hired. The client will almost always get stuck on the image you put in the comp. It’s corporate culture. I can hear the executive from marketing now, “if it has been approved by the president, that’s exactly what we have to get from the shoot or I’ll get fired!!!”
I’ve had this happen countless times and have had many conversations with my clients about it. If they are stuck on the image in the comp, I will insist they license it from the photographer that shot the original image, in addition to licensing my image. After all, we are now copying the execution of an image by another artist, the “look and feel” in legal terms. Remember, concepts are not copyrightable, only executions are. Wondering if Denis got paid for his inspiration, I contacted him. He told me that CAT originally asked him to shoot the job, but that they could not agree on a price.
I think the agency “painted themselves into a corner” by building a campaign around another artists work and then having the client not wanting to pay the photographer’s price. I believe that the responsibility of the creatives at the very beginning, going into a pitch, is to make sure that the original artist will get some sort of fee for the “inspiration,” if the client chooses not to use them, for whatever reason. This way all parties get the consideration due them.
The other solution is for creatives to think strategically about what comps the client sees and gets to keep after a pitch meeting. Depending on how literally the client perceives the visuals, their direct literal interpretation of the comp can hinder the ultimate creative process by not allowing the chosen photographer to do his or her creative best. Or, even worse it can result in plagiarizing the work of another.
Amanda and Suzanne, To Summarize: The world of art would not exist if we had nothing to look at. We copy art all the time. It’s how the world revolves. Art inspires more art. But at a certain point you have to decide to make authentic art off of inspiration and not copy inspirational art. Is there anything really original? We all can look at trends and we all follow them – example the Gap ads of early 2000 with the flare – it felt as though every photographer’s portfolio for 2 years after those ads had done it (and we still see it today). The over “REAL” post look of 2008 (which is still going strong – example the current Hidden Valley Ranch ads). How many times have you seen Venus redone? Art Directors use art sometimes to be inspired or mock up ads – which we call Swiping (and it’s come to be an acceptable process in art direction)– and it will continue to happen – it’s part of the process. Just be smart about how you shoot, what you shoot and do your research. But also remember that when creating ads it’s not only your responsibility, but also the responsibility of the art director and agency who is guiding you.
Call To Action: Be inspired and Be authentically yourself. When you receive a comp, research your comp and find a way to push the envelope with your own creative twist.
Here’s yet another example of copying to check out: http://thomasallenonline.com/2010/03/02/theft/
If you want more insight from Amanda and Suzanne you can contact them directly (here and here) or tune in once a week or so for more of “Ask Anything.”
RIP Jim Marshall
“If someone doesn’t want me to shoot them, fine, fuck ‘em,” he says. “But if they do, there can’t be any restrictions.”
Rare – Joel Sartore
This is super cool. Two of my favorites, Joel Sartore and animals on seamless.
and BTS:
and more on Joel:
Watch CBS News Videos Online
thx Shannan.
Spencer Heyfron Breakaway
I’m working on a new series of posts talking to people who’ve recently made or are in the middle of making the transition to full time photographer. Spencer Heyfron was someone I got to know as Jake Chessum‘s first assistant. And, to be honest his name stuck with me primarily because I had to book flights, hotels and rental cars for him and Jake (was never on location with them). He’s very fitting for the first post on this subject, because while working in NY mere days into anonymously starting this blog, I made a post that “Spencer had flown the coop” after I noticed a big feature with his pictures in Esquire that made we want to immediately hire him. That was several years ago, but I thought I’d catch up with him anyway and see how it all went down.
APE: Tell me how it all started for you.
Spencer Heyfron: I was in college in England studying cinematography, and changed in the last year to photography because I just preferred it. I graduated and I had no ties, so I just came over to New York, really straight away. That was 1997.
APE: What made you decide you should come to New York, was it just to quick start your career?
Spencer: I really liked David LaChapelle’s work and when I was at college, his work was everywhere. In my local library in England, I found David’s home address and just came over, on the plane. I had nothing to lose, I just said, “I really like your work can you give me a job, or I am going to go home on the next plane.” And he gave me a job, as an assistant.
APE: You called him up and said I want a job and I like your work?
Spencer: I actually didn’t call him up, I went to his studio. It sounds kind of stalker-ish, but I was quite prepared to turn around and spend a few days here, then go home. But he said, “My second assistant just left, my first assistant has a room if you want to use that”, and yeah, I was away.
APE: So, do you think it was good timing, or was part of it that you showed up at his front door?
Spencer: I think it was good timing and I was just totally honest, like “I really, really, really like your work”. I think I interned for a week at the studio and they realized I wasn’t weird, or crazy and then I was there for, maybe, two years.
APE: So, for two years you were his second assistant. How was that, did you learn a lot from him?
Spencer: Oh my God, I learned more the first day than I had in my whole college years. It was so crazy, the difference between learning it academically and theoretically at college and then being the real world. The first week, just, so crazy. I can remember the first job was Dolly Parton. I learned so much that day, the whole process of a commercial photo shoot really.
APE: And, how was David?
Spencer: He was great; he was actually like his images, kind of exciting and crazy and so into it, completely into it when he is shooting. Playing loud music with so many people working. It was really a good time. I thought that was what all photographers were like [laughter].
APE: You thought they were all crazy and played loud music?
Spencer: Some shoots would go on for 20 hours and that was considered normal. Anything after that was like a holiday. It was really hard work.
APE: And, was he good about sharing information about what was going on or you just kind of soaked it all up?
Spencer: I think I just soaked it all up. I learned more from his first assistant, David was more like the director who would come in and say what he wanted and everybody would make that happen. And then, you know, David would shoot it and be orchestrating it. It always worked out, it always looked great.
APE: After two years, you decided to move on?
Spencer: I was working with a bunch of other people. When anyone from England would come over I would be working for them. And I started working for Jake during that time.
APE: So how do they get to know that you were someone to call as an assistant?
Spencer: I think having David on your resume is pretty good. I went around to a lot of the agents. I had a list, as well, of photographers that I wanted to work for. And Jake was on that list, so I went around to their agents and said I was an assistant that was available.
APE: So, pretty aggressive trying to land with the right people. Do you see other assistants do that kind of thing?
Spencer: I think so. I get a fair amount of assistants emailing me, just saying “I’m available and I want to assist you.” I think that is the only way to do it, right, to really go for it. Actually, there are so many assistants at this point, since I first came over so I’m not sure it still works.
APE: And so, tell me about working for Jake? You worked for him for how long?
Spencer: Nearly five years. He’s great. Compared to David, it was night and day. It was a lot more laid back and there was a lot more communication. I learned so much from Jake, just so much.
APE: And you were his 1st Assistant?
Spencer: Yeah, in the end I was his studio manager as well, which helped me transition to being a photographer.
APE: And how did that come about?
Spencer: He just got busier and busier and he needed somebody permanent. And I became first assistant and in the off days I would be working the studio and it was just like a mix of the two. Even when I left about three years ago, and he was still getting busier and busier. Now he’s with Art and Commerce.
APE: And you saw his career rise and got to see how he handled it but also how he worked with his subjects as a photographer.
Spencer: One of the best things about being an assistant is that you find out what sort of photographer you want to be. You then get to see how different photographers act and how they react on a shoot. So with Jake anything he shot, no matter if it was a celebrity or somebody on the street he was very respectful of them, he treated them like human beings. That’s the key to his work. He’s talking to people and they’re very comfortable with him.
APE: Can you give me some other things that you took away from working with him that influenced you?
Spencer: It’s a business. I think that’s a key component in this industry. When you are in college and you’re thinking about what sort of photographer you want to be, what you want to shoot, how you’re going to shoot it and how you’re going to put your personality into the work, that’s all fine but in the end it’s totally a business. Jake taught me that. And, he always came back with the goods. Do you know what I mean? He always came back with what he would have decided to do and he would shoot extra and have lots of options for himself and for the client.
APE: How are you able to do that when you’re pressed for time? Or the subject doesn’t give you a lot of time?
Spencer: Well, obviously, it’s time-dependent but he also taught me how to shoot very quickly, like, a few different shots in five minutes.
APE: That is quite a contrast from David then.
Spencer: Entirely.
APE: So, tell me about the transition. When did you know you were ready to make the transition? And how did you do it?
Spencer: I think I was more than ready. I was getting a bit too comfortable and I think that it wasn’t a challenge any more. I realized I’ve got to go off or I never will.
I had been doing personal projects while when I was with Jake. I’d fly out a few days earlier and do some personal work. And then he would come and we’d shoot. And we were on our own as well. We’d go out somewhere traveling because he’d always been shooting personal stuff. And I’d go with him. And he’d let me take my camera and do what I wanted to do.
And he was very good about contacts as well. He’d say, you need to call this person and show your book. He helped me put my book together as well.
APE: Some of the people I’ve talked to say the transition is nearly impossible, because you’re comfortable and making a living, then you have to go to not making a living.
Spencer: Well, I think it was a little bit of denial on my part. I didn’t think it was going to be as hard as it was, it really is hard.
APE: So, that helps. Not knowing how difficult it might be.
Spencer: Exactly. Yeah and it’s very rare that it’s immediate. I was really fortunate. Because a lot of the contacts I had like “Newsweek,” “ESPN” and “Esquire” gave me work.
APE: And what about landing Look Book, tell me how that happened?
Spencer: Well, I worked with Jake on it. And I didn’t think it was challenging him anymore so he gave it up. And I think there was somebody else before me, as well. I don’t know what happened there. So, they called me up one day and asked if I wanted to shoot it and they weren’t sure if I would even want it. To me, it was the most fun job.
APE: I think it’s really high profile, in the media world too.
Spencer: Exactly, and when you walk up to somebody and say we’re shooting for NY Magazine look book they know exactly who it is. It’s just amazing, it’s a very high profile job. I was floored when I got it. I was really excited.
APE: And, so, that’s probably a great promotional tool for you.
Spencer: It’s so great. Most of last year, I was asked to do white background stuff, which was great because when I first went out with my portfolio it was all environmental.
It’s a fun job, really. It a hard job to do, because of the logistics of having a white background on the street, especially when it’s freezing, and the wind is blowing like we’re in Kansas. But it’s just so rewarding.
APE: Is there somebody there from the magazine to help you find the people?
Spencer: There’s always someone there from the magazine, like the writer, and together we choose everybody. We see something like from 15 to 25 people every time we go out every month. And they choose up to seven or eight people from that.
APE: Tell me more about your transition about how you marketed yourself. Did you go out and just meet with photo editors who I’m sure probably knew your name, right, ’cause you were Jake’s assistant.
Spencer: Some did, yeah, and I just went out and saw people. People were really kind, I’d go and see a contact and she’d say you have to see Lauren Winfield at “Fortune.” And then Lauren would put me on to somebody else, it was just like this ongoing thing.
APE: So how much of that is based on the fact that you’re Jake’s former assistant? Is that the key to getting your foot in the door.
Spencer: I don’t think it’s the key, I think it helps, I think there’s like three or four different things that can help you. I don’t know the ratio of those things but personality is very important. You have to be polite. Luck in is very important, you know, being in the right place at the right time. Also, your contacts obviously are very important. Finally your work. If you believe that your work has either your personality or the personality of the client, and you stick to it and people start responding to it and just keep on. It is really hard, the transition is really difficult.
When I have assistants now and we talk about it. I say, “it really is difficult, it really is and it takes time.”
APE: Tell me how your work has evolved from school until now.
Spencer: Well, at school I was still kind of over-thinking everything. I have an old friend from school and we talk about how in school before you could pick up a camera, you’d have to explain why you were doing it. Now it’s all digital you just get the camera and take as many pictures as you can then you decide how you’re going to get in there and edit them, rather than how you shoot things.
Also, I’m much more into like real people now and that’s kind of interesting to me because when you think you’re going to shoot the next “Vanity Fair” cover and when you actually shoot real people, I think it’s much more challenging because obviously they’re not professional models.
APE: Did you start out thinking you were going to shoot models?
Spencer: I think so, ’cause I think you assume you’re just going to be shooting fashion all the time, but I didn’t really think I’d be shooting portraits of real people, but it’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve done. Like with the Look Book.
My photography has changed from when I was at school, because of how much of a business it is.
APE: How has the business aspect influenced your photography?
Spencer: When someone rings up and it don’t sound like the most exciting project, you need to make the whole exercise a challenge. It’s a challenge to get something good of a politician in two minutes,
So it becomes a challenge and you can always look at that challenge and say, “ugh, I’ve got only two minutes with this guy” or you can actually say, “I might get something great from this guy in two minutes.” And it can become an exhilarating challenge or it can become a nightmare, and I’d rather it become a challenge, you know, it’s exciting for me, you have to adapt your work and still try and have your personality in the work come through.
APE: So, when you’re making the transition how do you fund the shoots? That must be difficult.
Spencer: Yeah, when you’re an assistant, it didn’t matter, you’re up in a nice hotel for five days with a rental car and meals out each day.
Then starting out some shoots you’d spend $6,000 or $7,000 and then not see that money again for three months. I had a few of those shoots that came in all at once and it was very difficult.
APE: That’s got to be tough.
Spencer: I was completely stretched with credit. But you know, they paid me, eventually.
APE: How long have you been with Kristina Snyder and how did you two meet up?
Spencer: About five or six months. It hasn’t been long, at all. I just did a very simple mailer to all the agents I thought were good and got a few responses and Kristina seemed to really be into my work.
APE: And that was it?
Spencer: Yes. Yeah, I mean that was really it.
APE: You make it sound so easy.
Spencer: I mean, it kind of was, I went to meet her and she was so into photography and I met with a couple of others and it was kind of a little bit more wishy-washy. They weren’t nasty in any way, it was just Kristina was so excited about it and I think that’s quite infectious. When you’re excited about work, I think it comes through.
APE: So it must have been a bit of timing there, because many agents are full, right? She was willing to take somebody on at that time?
Spencer: Yeah. Well she said “I’m full now. I’m not really looking for anybody, but I like you and what do you think?” And it kind of went backwards and forwards a little bit with the contract.
APE: So, the minute that you stopped assisting, did you not immediately go and try to find an agent? You waited until you had some clients and your work was beginning to mature a bit more?
Spencer: Yes, I remember I was talking to Andrew Hetherington about it, about how it was good when you first go out, not to be with an agent, then you pick up little jobs here and there. So, that’s what I did, and that’s how I got it started. So the first few years, I didn’t really actually look for an agent.
APE: And so now, is it your obligation now to get some assistants and give them the kind of training that you got and send them on their merry way eventually?
Spencer: I don’t know, I think I’m still learning. There’s not one shoot I’ve been on that hasn’t taught me something else. It’s a really great thing and that’s good for an assistant.
APE: So, now it’s been three years on your own, tell me how’s it going?
Spencer: It’s good. Every year it’s got better. The first year was kind of all right. The second year was really good. The third year was best yet.
I can understand why people are a little bit apprehensive about the industry, because actually it’s going through these crazy changes. But it’s been good to me so far.
APE: And is part of that because you started at the ground floor, there’s nowhere to go but up, right?
Spencer: I think so, yes. I’ve noticed really big names doing things that maybe they wouldn’t do five years ago, but what are you going to do? There’s simply so many people, so many people with the equipment now to do it.
I just think if you believe in your work, and your work has personality and you stick to it you’ve got a good chance.
And, I think that it’s very easy, when you see a lot people working around you in a certain kind of aesthetic to think, well, maybe mine’s not like that. Maybe I should do that, because that’s the cool thing to do. But if your work’s constantly good quality, which is what we all strive for, and it has that personality that you try and imbue in it, I think you’ve got a good foundation to go on.
Hearst’s Big Bounce
It’s only March, but Hearst Magazines’ chief marketing officer, Michael Clinton, expects ad sales for his titles will be burning up this summer.
Sales for April rose 12% compared to the same period last year. Now Clinton says May will be even better. Ad sales across 13 of Hearst’s main titles are already up 17% for May, he says, and the month isn’t fully booked yet.
via Forbes.com.
A Very Close Look At A Tragic Moment In Haiti And The Photographers Who Witnessed And Covered It
Fifteen year-old Fabienne Cherisma was shot dead by police at approximately 4pm on January 19th, 2010 in Port-au-Prince Haiti.
Pete Brook of the blog, Prison Photography has a 12 part (post) piece on the event and interviews with most of the photographers who covered it. The first post is (here) and the last (here) where all 12 are listed at the bottom so you can look at them in succession.
It’s an amazing piece of journalism and shows what an important role blogs can play in the news cycle to help us understand what it’s like to cover a moment like this and to further analyze what photographers think and do as something like this unfolds around them.
Part One: Fabienne Cherisma (Initial inquiries, Jan Grarup, Olivier Laban Mattei)
Part Two: More on Fabienne Cherisma (Carlos Garcia Rawlins)
Part Three: Furthermore on Fabienne Cherisma (Michael Mullady)
Part Four: Yet more on Fabienne Cherisma (Linsmier, Nathan Weber)
Part Five: Interview with Edward Linsmier
Part Six: Interview with Jan Grarup
Part Seven: Interview with Paul Hansen
Part Eight: Interview with Michael Winiarski
Part Nine: Interview with Nathan Weber
Part Ten: Interview with James Oatway
Part Eleven: Interview with Nick Kozak
Part Twelve: Two Months On
with the web, is our sense of “wonder” somehow disappearing, since everything can be had so easily?
I wouldn’t say everything can be had easily – good ideas are just as hard to find as they used to be… What matters I think is not the process, but the end result… Otherwise, Warhol’s soap boxes etc, would be of no interest at all, if we were to judge art by how easy it is to create…Since the process is almost always invisible in art, the sense of wonder, for me at least, remains – an extraordinary idea, a beautiful thought, a skilled hand… All these things are as amazing as they were before the web.
via Conscientious Extended | A Conversation with Phil Toledano.
Digital Editions Of Magazines Will Count In Circulation Figures
The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) announced recently that digital replicas of magazines that are requested and paid for will count in circulation figures (here). This is huge news for publishers as it will allow them a new outlet for cheap circulation, something that’s been missing ever since publishing clearing house went down in early 2000 (here). The digital editions of magazines will be counted on the circulation report and broken out like bulk (doctors office, etc.), so it remains to be seen how advertisers will react to the change.
What I hope will happen is that publishers who sell their printed edition at a loss will raise rates there and price digital editions cheap. This should be a no-brainer since the distribution and printing cost of these copies is zero. Sure, it costs something to port it for all these devices but once that becomes a part of the workflow for creating the magazine in the first place (a design that’s flexible) it shouldn’t be an issue.
This still doesn’t solve the problem of missing advertising dollars, but if they can move hundreds of thousands of subscribers to digital editions it will save a lot of money on printing and distribution. If they’ve got any brains they’ll invest that back into content.
Driveby culture and the endless search for wow
Time magazine started manipulating the cover and then the contents in order to boost newsstand sales. They may have found a short-term solution, but the magazine is doomed precisely because the people they are pandering to don’t really pay attention and aren’t attractive to advertisers.
via Seth’s Blog
Pricing & Negotiating For Photographers – Tag-teaming with TV crews on ad shoots
I’m super excited about this new monthly column entitled “Pricing & Negotiating” coming in from the fine folks at Wonderful Machine. Since they price and negotiate for so many photographers they’re in a unique position to show us nearly any scenario you can think up. Here’s the first one:
Tag-teaming with TV crews on ad shoots
Our producer Jess Dudley recently quoted a job for one of our photographers to shoot a number of environmental portraits of real people, for a major New York ad agency and their pharmaceutical client. Each of the subjects was a patient using the drug made by the client. The pictures were going to be used in print ads and collateral material, to help illustrate the improvement in the patients’ quality of life since starting the drug regimen. This project was different from most because the ad agency wanted to shoot TV commercials (with a separate video crew) on the same day, using the same location, models, stylists, wardrobe and props. Shooting print and video simultaneously offers a number of efficiencies for the client. It certainly makes some parts of the photographer’s job easier, and it helps create continuity between the two final products. But it adds some estimating and logistical challenges as well. In the end, our photographer was awarded the job, and Jess also served as on-site producer and digital tech.
Jess explains how he approached the initial estimate:
Request For Bid
Since the client had a lot of experience commissioning photo shoots, they were able to express pretty clearly what they wanted to accomplish, and what their expectations were (though there were still a lot of unknowns). The art buyer sent us a letter (known as a “request for bid”) with many of the details that we would need in order to put together a proper cost estimate. Then, I followed up with questions.
When you’re working with less experienced clients, you’ll need to be more proactive about getting all the information you need. We use this cheat sheet to prompt us for all the items we’ll need to consider.
Here’s what the client asked us to bid on in the RFB:
- 6 portraits of real people
- On location at a suburban home (near the photographer)
- You’ll have to schedule the still photographs around the video shoot
- The video crew will find the location and dress the set (you may need additional props)
- You’ll be able to share some of the wardrobe, stylists and catering with the video crew (and you may need to share part of those costs)
- We’ll want unlimited use of the pictures for a year (mostly for consumer ads and print collateral)
The Fee
At the most basic level, I think about the total cost of any job as a function of time, materials and licensing.
Lumped in with “time” is not only the actual time needed to prepare for and execute the shoot, but also the difficulty, level of skill, and rareness of skill required. If it’s a job that hundreds of other photographers could do and want to do, it’s not worth as much as a job that only three people in the world could do or would want to do (either by virtue of special skill or unique style).
“Materials” broadly refers to all of the production items that you have to pull together to add to the photographer’s vision, in order to pull off the shoot. These might include: assistants, digital techs, retouchers, location scouts, locations, permits, insurance, studio rentals, hair & make-up stylists, prop stylists, props, wardrobe stylists, wardrobe, vehicles, travel, meals, catering, models, casting, equipment rental, set construction, etc.
“Licensing” describes how the client is going to be able to use the picture(s). Broad usage for a long period of time is worth more than narrow usage for a brief time. Advertising use is normally worth more than collateral use. Collateral use is usually worth more than publicity use. And publicity use is usually worth more than editorial use.
I normally bundle the “time” and “licensing” into one “creative fee,” taking all the factors I can think of into account. The client had already produced a similar project before, and I was able to see the results of that, which they seemed to be happy with. The approach they were looking for was relatively low-tech, simple, flattering portraits, with naturalistic lighting, showing the patients in a warm and friendly way. What they valued most was having a photographer who could bring out the personality of the patients.
My normal rule of thumb for unlimited use of one image for one year, for a major brand, is that it’s worth about $10-20k. In this case, the pharmaceutical company was a major player but the drug itself was no blockbuster. For advertising use especially, I will normally charge by the picture rather than by the day. Even in cases where I’m quoting by the day, I’ll put a cap on the number of images we’re including for that fee. In this case, I felt that the first image held most of the value and each additional image was worth much less. Since they were very similar portraits, just with different people, each additional image merely complimented the first, rather than providing unique material.
The fact that the actual time, difficulty, and technical/creative demands would be relatively modest put some downward pressure on the price. The fact that it was a client with global reach, and they needed unlimited use (including the potential of national advertising) certainly put some upward pressure on the fee, and the one-year duration was a limiting factor. The fact that the location, props and models were going to be provided for us put downward pressure on the price. The fact that the project was local to the photographer put downward pressure on the price. The fact that the photographer had to work around the video crew was basically neutral. It just required that the photographer have patience and a manageable ego.
As a point of reference, I’ll sometimes check Getty or Fotoquote to see what a similar stock photo would fetch. But in the end, you just have to consider the totality of all the information you have, and use your intuition to determine the price. For this one, I decided to quote $14k for unlimited use of six images for a year.
The Production Costs
The art buyer wasn’t sure, at the time of the initial estimate, which production items were going to be paid for out of the video budget and which were going to be paid for out of the still budget. So to play it safe, I assumed that we were going to have to pay for everything we were going to need (or at least our fair share):
- 1 digital tech: so the client could see the results as we went along
- 2 assistants: to help move the equipment around, and stand in for the subjects
- 2 hours of retouching per image: should be more than enough for non-supermodels
- 1 production day: for me to pull together all of the production items
- 1 scout day: for the photographer to walk through the location and map out a plan with the line producer
- 1 location fee: we don’t have to find it, but we’ll need to help pay for it
- 2.5 wardrobe stylist days (1 to pull, 1 to shoot, .5 to return) and some wardrobe: we were only going to need to augment what the video crew was already providing
- Hair/make-up stylist: you might think that a makeup stylist could work on both sets, but because the stills and video were happening at the same time, on a hot day (requiring constant powdering), and sometimes hundreds of feet apart, I decided that we’d need our own dedicated person
- Props: unlikely, knowing how thorough video prop stylists are
- Travel, misc.: minimal for local shoot
- Catering: breakfast and lunch for our crew of 4
- Equipment: also minimal, so I chose not to charge separately for it
- Sales tax: some situations require the client to pay sales tax, but rather than speculating on it, I just say, “plus applicable sales tax”
Here’s the proposal (estimate and terms & conditions) I sent to the art buyer:
Later, more details came in so I had to revise the estimate. The project changed from 6 people to 5, and they also wanted to license a head shot of each subject, which they would simply crop out of each environmental portrait. To me, it was a wash. It was 10 images instead of 6. But the head shots weren’t really adding a ton of value for the client, and shooting 5 subjects instead of 6 was less work for the photographer. So I left the fee at $14k.
The art buyer also decided that she would determine our share of the location fee, wardrobe, and catering, and she would just tell us the number after the shoot, to add as a line item on the invoice. We would quote our other production items in the usual way.
That all settled, she signed off on the estimate, and sent me a check for $13.5k to cover expenses.
We had a pre-production phone call with about 20 people to iron out how the day was going to go. Then we did a walk-through of the location the day before the shoot, along with the video director, prop stylist, and line producer.
The shoot went really smoothly. The video crew shot their thing, then sent the subjects to us to do our bit. We made adjustments here and there to the wardrobe and grooming. But otherwise, it all went off without a hitch.
A couple things (in general) to remember about price quotes:
- A proposal should include at least a cover letter, estimate page, and terms & conditions page. This job was relatively straight-forward, so it doesn’t need much explanation. More cosmplex projects will require a more extensive description of how you’ll approach the shoot and how you’ll solve the technical and creative problems it presents. You’ll have to convince the client that you know what you’re doing, and that you’ll be able to deliver the final product.
- Be clear about whether you’re offering an estimate (where the expenses are detailed, and will vary somewhat in the final invoice), or a bid (where you’re offering one lump price, and as long as the client doesn’t change the parameters of the job, that will be the exact cost).
- Be clear about who you are contracting with (normally the ad agency).
- Be clear about who you are conveying the image license to (normally the client).
- If the client (or anyone else) is going to provide some normal production item (like catering or props), acknowledge it on the estimate so there’s no confusion about it.
- Be clear in cases where the client is paying for any of the production items directly, rather than through you. If you are going to be on the hook for a lot of expenses, you’ll want to make sure that you either get the expense money up front, or that the creative fee, production fees, and/or mark-up justifies the risk.
- Avoid having your payment be contingent on the ad agency being paid by their client. It’s very hard to collect money from someone with whom you do not have an agreement.
- In the same way, be clear with your subcontractors. Normally, it’s the photographer’s obligation to pay subcontractors in a timely fashion regardless of whether they have been paid by their client. If you want your subs to share in your risk, the golden rule dictates that you have to tell them that at the time of the booking.
We delivered the pictures. The client was thrilled. Here’s the final invoice:
A little less than a year later, the art buyer contacted me for a quote on extending the licensing on all 10 images for an additional 2 years.
When a client relicenses a picture, I normally discount the rate on that use. As the pictures age, they tend to (though not always) decrease in value. In this case, I figured the second year was worth about 3/4 of the first. And the third year was worth about 3/4 of the second. So I sent her a quote for $18k, which she accepted.
You can contact Carolyn Tucker to find out more about Wonderful Machine at 610.260.0200 or carolyn@wonderfulmachine.com.
Terry Richardson Getting Lit Up By The Blogs For His Lewd Behavior
I wasn’t sure if the piece in Jezebel yesterday entitled “Meet Terry Richardson, The World’s Most F—ked Up Fashion Photographer” had legs but it seems to be making the rounds today and picking up steam:
Fashion’s Raunchiest Photog – The Daily Beast
Fashion’s bad boy perv goes too far – Salon
Everyone in Fashion Knows Terry Richardson Messes Around With the Girls He Photographs – NY Magazine
Model Jamie Peck: ‘Perv’ Terry Richardson ‘Waggled’ His Privates Around – Huffington Post
It all started when model Rie Rasmussen called him out. “for exploiting and degrading young women through the power of his lens” in the NYPost (here) and then that story in Jezebel where a model recounted several encounters with Terry that has now left everyone a little disgusted and alarmed with his behavior. In a few of those stories fashion insiders are defending his behavior as common for “…an industry filled with crazy people and big personalities.”
I guess I always assumed that Terry kept two separate worlds going, one in which he shot fashion, portraits and covers of high profile models, celebrities and politicians and one in which he fed and documented his sexual appetite. But, I guess I should have figured that line would be impossible to maintain and certainly even harder the more vigorous the ego stroking by the art, fashion and media communities. Of course we’ve seen photographers taken through the wringer online before and they never seem much worse for wear on the outside but who knows what potential jobs are spiked because of it.
Social Media Marketing & the Future of Media – Presentation
I’m giving a presentation Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 10 AM to 3:00 PM (hour for lunch) in Santa Fe, NM on my favorite topic: Social Media Marketing & the Future of Media. Sponsored by ASMP- NM and The Photography Department of the College of Santa Fe (more info here).
I’m really excited about this presentation because I’ve been working on a “white paper” about this subject for awhile now. Not because I want to go around the country lecturing to photographers–this blog is enough for me–but because I want to present my ideas to corporations and media companies. The public demand for professionally produced content is going to explode and companies need to know how they can use photographers, writers and filmmakers to help them feed that appetite.
I’m going to spend the first hour on traditional marketing because I don’t think it’s a good idea to get into social media marketing without that foundation in place. I realize that may be boring for some of you so just skip the first hour. The rest will be social media and the future of media with lots of case studies and examples. Then I will end with a short demonstration on how to use all the tools and how to incorporate it into your daily workflow.
If you can’t make that event I will be giving a condensed version at the Telluride Photography Festival Friday September 24th and/or Saturday September 25th (times TBD, more here). And, of course the material will eventually be presented here as well.
How can you teach instinct? Or nerve?
The whole arc of my collecting has to do with the development of my own sense of self esteem so your question is right on the money, and I think the answer is no, it cannot be taught. But you can aspire to it and find your own way.
— Bill Hunt
Point A Camera And Their Clothes Fly Off
Looks like Seliger and GQ are in a little hot water over the Rielle Hunter (John Edwards affair) pictures where she’s got no pants on (MSNBC Story Here). The only reason I’m commenting on this at all is because I’ve been on the receiving end of phone calls by publicists and subjects who’ve done things on set with a camera pointed at them they later regret. To be fair the same thing happens to writers all the time. Fact checkers are routinely berated over the phone as people try to reshape what they said.
There is a known phenomena where people seem to rip their clothes off when you point a camera at them. Seems to have happened to Rielle. I don’t think the photographer is to blame.
Author Lisa DePaulo (wrote the piece in GQ) on hardball with Chris Matthews: When Matthews questioned the spread, DePaulo cracked, “This is GQ, not Newsweek.” (source)
And now the standard BTS video: