When an award-winning photojournalism photo has been toned to look like a movie poster, you are signaling to next year’s entrants that the bar has moved. Find the best retoucher you can, and heighten the drama as much as possible. We don’t care about factual statements. We care about visceral reaction and entertainment value. Make us feel something! Truth be damned.
via PetaPixel/a>.
The ruling does not break new legal ground, but supports a long-standing legal principle that copyright law protects artistic expression, but not ideas. In the Harney v. Sony Pictures case…
The limits on copyright for unprotected content “is not some unforeseen byproduct of a statutory scheme,” the Supreme Court said. “It is, rather, ‘the essence of copyright,’ and a constitutional requirement. The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but ‘[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts’ [according to the US Constitution]. To this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work.”
Read more:PDN.
he finds the photography world ‘very narrow in what it appreciates’ (a sentiment echoed by Brian) and that ‘ninety percent of the books that Steidl produce are just a little bit dull’. In a nice, if rather unexpected, synchronicity with another interview he even complains that the photo world is made up of 40-year-old men (notwithstanding his own proximity to that club).
I began to disregard some of my earlier feelings about photography, the way that photography worked and notions of documenting truth and representation, and having to take a new position of not caring so much about what was what and where it came from.
–Christian Patterson
via the Trail of Dead | VICE .
All cameras introduce varying degrees of imperfections. While these imperfections are undesirable for the consumer, they can be highly informative in an image forensic setting. Sensor imperfections, thermal effects, compression, etc. each introduce noise in the image. This noise manifests itself as slight variations in the recorded intensities of light. If a portion of an image is altered then it is likely that the underlying noise pattern will be disrupted. Differences in the noise pattern can therefore be used to detect and localize image tampering.
via Image Authentication and Forensics | Fourandsix Technologies.
Every year, I have countless college seniors come by to meet and show me their portfolios, many of which show very good work. Then I pose the question, “How long did it take to create those 12-20 images?” The answer is always the same, “This is my work, which I did over the last year.”
That’s wonderful, but in the professional world, that you need to be creating 12-20 AMAZING images day-in and day-out, everyday, regardless of circumstances, since that’s what is demanded (expected?) of you as a professional.
The Time & Life building, an edifice standing tall in the middle of Midtown, was long a revered totem of the publishing business. To people in the industry who came of age back when things were good, Time Inc. was legend, having grown up not just on the force of its journalism but on tales of editors’ offices the size of racquetball courts and liquor carts rumbling through the hall spreading cheer and an aura of privilege.
via NYTimes.com.
It’s a mixture of Skymall catalogues, aspirational lifestyles, and art references. For one recent story that focussed on disrupting the family-friendly side of stock imagery, we searched stock sites for “wholesome” imagery—finding that term meant fruits and vegetables, household chores, and healthy-lifestyle choices. We combined these elements with censored nudity, off-kilter Old Navy styling, and an unhealthy obsession with flip-flops.
“Those are the difficult moments every photographer has to get over and get away with it and not be discouraged,” he says. “Because if one is sensitive, it has an effect on you. So maybe it’s better not to be sensitive as a photographer and just go on. Many photographers today have that but I never had that. I think it’s nice to be sensitive as a photographer and maybe it’s harder.”
The trouble with photographs today is that they are so easy to make and share, so seductive, so representative of our lives at any given moments (friends, the crazy things they do, drugs, risks, sex, school, parties, girlfriends, boys, on and on) and you definitely have an eye! But when does it go beyond the merely seductive and dreamy stage? Only you can answer that question whenever you are ready. I bet in a year your photographs will be totally different.
— Joel Meyerowitz to 18 year old Olivia Bee
via NY Mag.
any time we’re working with a new assistant for the first time, I’m always curious to see how they coil a cable. It’s not a test, more of an observation – are they cautions, are they thoughtful? Are they paying attention? You can learn a lot about someone’s work ethic from something very small and seemingly trivial.
I am looking forward to being surprised by imaginative photography that is original, curious, and thoughtful. I am not concerned at all about what equipment has been used, I am not sure it’s really very relevant. I would love to see a representation of the world that isn’t reductive, that doesn’t represent the world in photographic cliches – old or new cliches. Since the first year I judged the contest, I saw photographers emulating work that had been successful in previous years or plagiarizing the style and vision of someone else.
— Gary Knight, Chair of 2013 World Press Photo Contest
via World Press Photo.
…we take the same view regarding freelancers speccing in material. Even if they have returned home safely. This is because it could be seen as encouragement go out and take unnecessary risks in the future. The situation out there is incredibly risky. And we do not want to see any more bloodshed. There has been far too much already.
via dvafoto.
still love old-school promos too, btw. I get a stack of mail everyday, and while 95% of it might go in the trash if there’s that one promo I like I put it on my stack of promos on the shelf (see below). It might be nine or ten months later, but I’ll remember the work and will go look for the promo if we want to consider hiring that person.
–Leslie Baldwin, Texas Monthly Photography Editor
via I Love Texas Photo .
we are now independent, and greatly looking forward to being a smaller, leaner company able to pursue its own best interests with a new sense of purpose and creativity. As Marc likes to say, “This is a startup, with a 160-year-old brand at its heart.”
via A Letter from the editor – British Journal of Photography.
Lifetime Achievement: David Goldblatt
Young Photographer: Kitra Cahana
Art: Mishka Henner
Publication: Cristina de Middel, The Afronauts
Photojournalism: David Guttenfelder
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Erik Madigan Heck
Now the reality when producing any involving/layered story; It’s 99 percent problem solving and 1 percent photography, all wrapped around a heaping scoop of serendipity.
via The Photo Society.
It’s possible to live off of commercial photography, but I don’t think it’s possible to live off art photography full time, or at the least it’s highly unlikely for all but the exceptional few. I did receive an honorarium for a show, which was a pleasant surprise, but every artist I know works a day job or takes commercial gigs.
via American Photo.