Relations between photo agencies and contributors can be a tricky matter, especially when it comes to royalty percentages. When the agency is a microstock distributor with a crowd-sourcing base it doesn’t take many false steps to turn that cuddly community into a howling mob. And when those steps come from a Chief Operating Officer whose PR skills elicit comparisons with Tony Hayward and Gerald Ratner the results can be, well, explosive.
Category: Editor’s Choice
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iStockphotos “Unsustainable” Business Model: From Crowd-Sourcing To Crowd-Shafting? » The Russian Photos Blog
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Human landscapes in SW Florida – The Big Picture
Human landscapes in SW Florida
A couple weeks ago, I was listening to a story by NPR’s Planet Money team about “Toxie” a toxic asset they had purchased to follow and help tell the story of the recent financial meltdown. One of the mortgages in Toxie was on a home bought for investment
via Boston.com: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/09/human_landscapes_in_sw_florida.html
Many homes there are empty and have been for years. Huge developments sit partially completed among densely built up neighborhoods and swampland. A guest stated that there were “enough housing lots in Charlotte County to last for more than 100 years”. Boom and bust residential development has drastically affected parts of southwest Florida for decades now, and I spent some time (with the help of Google Earth), looking around the area.
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Leica X1 L'Eclaireur limited edition | Leica News & Rumors
Leica X1 L’Eclaireur limited edition – Leica Rumors
This Leica X1 limited edition was created for the 30th anniversary of the Parisian boutique and concept store L’Eclaireur. The camera was designed by Gilles Ouaki (see related Leic’art). 1930 pieces will be produced, the release date is October 14th. No w
via Leica Rumors: http://leicarumors.com/2010/09/26/leica-x1-leclaireur-limited-edition.aspx/
“Wow!” is all I can say. I was shocked and surprised at the quality of images I first downloaded. The first thing you notice is the sharpness, these are the sharpest images I have ever had the pleasure of owning. It’s not just the great lenses, it’s also the lack of an anti-aliasing filter on the sensor.
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Mark Dubovoy's Photokina Blog – Final Installment
CLICK NOTE: Final report from Mark at Photokina. Lots of great information here, including the 160 megapixel Seitz panoramic camera (seen in the photo above).
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Scenes from China – The Big Picture
Scenes from China
The past several months in China have brought devastating floods, a mysterious North Korean jet crash, the Mid-Autumn festival, crackdowns on gambling and much more. A country with nearly the same land area as the United States, China is home to over a bi
via Boston.com: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/09/scenes_from_china.html
The past several months in China have brought devastating floods, a mysterious North Korean jet crash, the Mid-Autumn festival, crackdowns on gambling and much more. A country with nearly the same land area as the United States, China is home to over a billion more people than the U.S. (1.3 billion to be more precise), and as it grows economically, it is grappling with environmental, social and political issues that affect people and places around the world. Collected here, from the past several months, are photographs from around China, the land and the people – their daily lives, challenges, work and play.
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Robert Capa's Spain, Inside a Suitcase – NYTimes.com
In “Images of War, Finally Unpacked,” Holland Cotter reviews an exhibition called “The Mexican Suitcase” at the International Center of Photography in New York, which documents wartime life in Spain between 1936 and 1939 through the eyes of three photographers — Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and David Seymour (Chim) — in images no one seems to have seen for more than a half century.
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step away from the holga and no one gets hurt | Redlights and Redeyes
I’m sorry, as cool as your out-of-focus, Hipstawhatever iPhone looks, it isn’t creative.
I don’t know how more bluntly to put it, but the proliferation of imagery lately is slowly sucking the creativity out of photography. In fact, it has become more formulaic than anything else. I’m just as guilty. Just scroll down and see my last post. I find a wall with some random graffiti cover-up and a splash of paint and I nearly wet myself. It’s refreshing. Therapeutic. Completely worthless and self-absorbed. I have come to a realization that I am contributing to the decline of photography with every click of my camera.
You are too.
Link: step away from the holga and no one gets hurt | Redlights and Redeyes
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High Balinese Ritual, Low Holga Technology – NYTimes.com
High Balinese Ritual, Low Holga Technology
John Stanmeyer found the simplicity of the Holga an ideal way to capture the complexity of Balinese spiritual life.
via Lens Blog: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/high-balinese-ritual-low-holga-technology/
John Stanmeyer is one of the founding members of the photo cooperative VII and his work appears regularly in the National Geographic and Time. He has won the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award and honors from World Press Photo and Pictures of the Year International. James Estrin spoke with him about his new book, “Island of the Spirits,” while Mr. Stanmeyer was at home in the Berkshires making five-foot-long prints for an exhibit opening on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the VII Gallery, 28 Jay Street, Brooklyn.
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Everything is OK!
CLICK NOTE: This is the greatest thing I’ve seen in so long. It’s time for people to wake up!
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Taryn Simon, New York | Feature Shoot
Steidl recently published Simon’s book Contraband which includes photographs taken at both the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Federal Inspection site and the U.S. Postal Service International Mail Facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport. From November 16th 2009 to November 20th 2009, Simon remained on site at JFK and continuously photographed items detained or seized from passengers and express mail entering the United States from abroad. Simon has an upcoming show at Gagosian Gallery (Beverly Hills, CA) September 22- November 6, 2010.
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William Albert Allard: Five Decades – National Geographic
October 2010
via Magazine: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/allards-west/allard-photography
A 48-year contributor to National Geographic, William Albert Allard is widely known for his pioneering use of color photography to capture iconic images and intimate portraits of people throughout the world.
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If Photojournalism Is Dead, What's Luceo? – NYTimes.com
If Photojournalism Is Dead, What’s Luceo?
James Estrin believes Luceo Images is a vibrant rebuttal to the notion floated by Neil Burgess that photojournalism died last month.
via Lens Blog: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/if-photojournalism-is-dead-whats-luceo/
I realized that the success of Luceo is a very good rebuttal to those who believe photojournalism is dead. David Walter Banks, Kendrick Brinson, Matt Eich, Kevin German, Daryl Peveto and Matt Slaby are carefully laying plans for careers of 30 to 40 more years. They are all busy with assignments and working on personal projects. They look at the same circumstances Mr. Burgess did and come to an entirely different conclusion.
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andy spyra – kashmir | burn magazine
andy spyra – kashmir
[slidepress gallery=’spyra_anthropographia’] Hover over the image for navigation and full screen Andy Spyra Kashmir play this essay I first came to Kashmir in the early spring of…
via burn magazine: http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2010/09/andy-spyra-kashmir/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burnmag+%28burn+magazine%29
I first came to Kashmir in the early spring of 2007 at the end of a motorcycle trip across India. I simply fell in love with the region, the people, the light and the atmosphere of this remote place of the world. But as much as I love it, that much I dislike the political situation of the valley.
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l e n s c r a t c h: Liu Bolin
Liu works on a single photo for up to 10 hours at a time, and the result is both witty and unmistakably political and echoes the book, Where’s Waldo. Liu says he began the series after authorities shut down Beijing’s Suo Jiacun (Artist Village), in 2006. “At that time,” Liu told the Daily Mail, “contemporary art was in quick development in Beijing, but the government decided it did not want artists like us to gather and live together.” The photographs require him to pose for as long as ten hours while his collaborators perfect his painted disguise.
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Mike Tyson's 'biggest regret' is not smoking weed with Tupac Shakur
Mike Tyson’s ‘biggest regret’ is not smoking weed with Tupac Shakur
Jody Cortes / WENN.com Boxing legend Mike Tyson’s biggest regret in life is refusing to smoke weed with late pal Tupac Shakur before he died. The former professional fighter struck up a close…
via Daily Dish: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?entry_id=71894
“He always wanted me to smoke weed with him, and I never did it, and I wish I did. That’s my biggest regret.”
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l e n s c r a t c h: Charlotte Ostervang
Danish photographer, Charlotte Ostervang, knows how to take a fantastic portrait. Several years ago, when she applied for the Berenice Abbott Award, I saw her beautiful silver gelatin prints from the series, Portraits from Eastern Kentucky and knew that she was a force to be reckoned with–her work in person was stunning and incredibly moving.
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lens culture: Paris Photo 2010
This year’s event brings together 90 international art galleries and 13 publishers, showcasing work from more than 25 countries – with a special emphasis on photography from Central Europe.
As just a small preview of the wide range and eclectic mix, Lens Culture has produced a high-resolution slideshow of more than 340 of the images that will be featured this year.
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A Photographer's Life Is A Juggling Act
A Photographer’s Life Is A Juggling Act
This a guest post by Ken Jarecke, a world-renowned photojournalist and founding member of Contact Press Images, an illustrious photo agency based in New York. Please also visit and read his blog, Mostly True. The past few years it’s been hard for me to pi
via Views, Reviews & Interviews For Savvy Photographers: http://tiffinbox.org/a-photographers-life-is-a-juggling-act/
The past few years it’s been hard for me to pick up a camera. We all know that the industry, at least the editorial side of it, has been at an all time low. Sure, I’ve worked to put a good face on it, like in this piece on the New York Times Lens blog, but more often than not, my desire to make wonderful images has been absent. My heart has just not been there.
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A Global Graveyard for Dead Computers in Ghana – NYTimes.com
A Global Graveyard for Dead Computers in Ghana
The unexpected consequences of shipping computers to the developing world.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/04/magazine/20100815-dump.html
In Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, the capital of Ghana, adults and children tear away at computers from abroad to get at the precious metals inside.
Credit: Pieter Hugo for The New York Times
