Tramadol abuse. Tramadol cod. Tramadol side effects. Tramadol….

Where digital is important to me is in distribution. Certainly the Internet and for me sites like Fotolog and Flickr provide an audience which allows me to do things that I might never have a chance to show in a gallery or even make a print of. It empowers you to take chances, do it faster and get immediate satisfaction. This can fill you up with encouragement. It allows me to be prolific without purpose while getting this instant feedback. In some ways this may be better than something bigger that is too far in the future or maybe never comes. For me it has confirmed a sense, a self image, and a persona – this can be a strength, as you try to get attention for your work elsewhere. It has allowed me the opportunity to develop an audience slowly. It is an audience that I share a history with and is involved with the work over time in an intimate manner.

This passionate audience is what allowed me to develop a body of work without art school, editorial clients or commercial clients. I am fortunate that I now have the opportunity to show the work in a NY gallery.

Like all things this big, Flickr is mostly is average but that is probably true of most professional commercial and editorial work that I see as well. The reality is that most photographs are forgettable. Isn’t that why God invented contact sheets ….

Yes Martin Parr or an American Richard Billington… don’t dump on the trash aesthetic!

What ? Martin Parr has a flickr page ?!?!

(sorry…)

There’s nothing inherently wrong with amateur photography, but if you can’t go out with a 5D, and some friends, and with no client, and bring back a quality image, with no one giving you real-world parameters, (ie, the type’s got to go here; the talent needs to be “approachable and accessible”; it’s raining but you still have an 8am deadline tomorrow to bring back a quality, publishable image; the talent doesn’t want to be there; the AD is giving you one set of directions while the CD is giving you another set of directions — well, you need to sell that 5D.

If I was Chris Buck or Chessum, and I saw my name thrown into this “competition” without my knowledge, I’d be a little pissed about it. It’s like they nominated themselves, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

There is a whole different yardstick for a photographer who’s working on a paying gig, than one who’s just out with his friends, or on a student assignment, or even a Test.

It would be great to know, in this silly new Photo Rank, which were jobs, and which were “me and my buddies out shooting”.

Sorry, that’s my experience so far.

If you are a pro photographer and you are that threatened by the amateurs on Flickr…maybe you weren’t all that good to start with?

What’s really happening is that digital has leveled the playing field for a lot of people who don’t have a ton of money for photo equipment. Some of them have a great eye that would never have been recognized in the film-only days.

In this argument as well as in photography itself, it’s all about what you see. Mr. Gamba sees the quality of photography getting worse. I see it getting better. Because of digital cameras and sites like Flickr, millions of awful photos are available for all the world to see. But so are thousands of great photos that would never have seen the light of day in the film-only era. Those photos push me to improve my own photography.

In case it matters, I’ve been a newspaper journalist for more than 20 years, so I know a bit about an industry under siege from new media and new competition. Like great journalism, great photography will find a way to survive.

Sure, not everyone in Flickr care about their pictures. I do have just boring ol’ snapshots in my Flickr pool too. But many of us are here to learn and understand. We want a record of how we have grown in our photographic knowledge. And we are consumers too. Thanks for recognizing that, APE.

What I also think is amazing is that I’ve discovered SO many incredible photographers that I would otherwise have never come across because of Flickr…photographers are much more creative and whose work blows a lot of the shit I see in magazines out of the water. Some of it is taken by professionals, and other work is taken by amateurs. Flickr has been a big help for many people wanting to take their craft to the next level, mainly because it gets their photos out to the masses much more than a portfolio ever would. I know that personally I’ve gotten a lot of work because of my Flickr stream — some as stock images (my non-music stuff, mainly) and other work shooting regularly for magazines (mostly music). It can be a good supplement to a website.

Not everyone wants to be a commercial or editorial photographer, necessarily, but some Flickr members may now be enjoying a level of success that they might not have before. Flickr’s main attribute, though, is it’s sense of community. There are many, many groups dedicated to professional photography that are incredible resources, which are not only helpful but also supportive. Personally, I’ve mentored many people via Flickr and it’s been amazing watching them grow into their own style…it’s very rewarding.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that instead of “pros” turning their nose up at Flickr, they should be focusing more attention on the businesses who think they can use it as a cheap resource. You can find some seriously kickass photography on there, but 9 times out of 10, the “client” wants the work for free or next to it. THAT is the problem. Just because a photo is on Flickr doesn’t mean it’s licensed under Creative Commons (I’ve had a stupid amount of people, including very large well-known companies, think that my photos were, when they’re actually All Rights Reserved).

And appropriately, I’ve linked to my Flickr page above instead of my site.

In some cases they may, like me for example.

I am not a pro, since I work in a different industry. My co-worker was building a website for his friend, a dentist, and he needed some photos of his ambulance and equipment. He knew that I possess a DSLR so he asked me to shoot it. Why not? I took my new shiny superwideangle lens and did the shots. They were quite happy, since they would need to hire a professional otherwise, and my shots were very GEQ . I was happy that I may help and learn something new – and I also got a super-healthful tootbrush as a gift .

So sorry a Pro for eating your lunch, it was just a coincidence….

Gone are the huge budget shots with multi-day contracts for a campaign. For most shooters anyway. But then advertising and magazines have changed significantly as well. Combining that with the digital tools which allow AD’s and designers to work with images as digital assets and the middle of the road shooters get squeezed.

For example, I had a young guy working for me as a designer. We had to do something for the Ballpark (at the time – BOB). He looked at a few books from local shooters and didn’t like what he saw for what he wanted to do.

He took an afternoon and our 3MP camera to the ballpark and shot a couple hundred images. He worked them, collaged them and ended up with an award winning piece. He could have hired a pro, but for what he wanted, he felt that they would have been too literal. I dunno, maybe… maybe not. But before digital, he would have had no choice but to hire a pro.

I don’t pay any attention to GWC’s (that’s guys with cameras) or the amateur who wants to play in the pro world. Fine. I love freedom. Love it. But I do look at the clients who hire them with a new eye. Who is the bigger fool… the amateur who thinks he is good enough or the AD who agrees? Personally don’t know a single AD in my book who would ever consider it, but I know in the wedding, portrait and local editorial it is quite an issue.

If you are working with an AD or Editor who is just fine hiring you or the local dentist who’s got a, you know… 5D, big lenses – the whole enchilada, then you have a fool for a client and need to start looking to replace before getting replaced… the dentist will shoot it to hang with the models.

Still not sure why we had to pick out a shot from an amateur who was of no threat that we know of instead of some real wanker who is taking work. But that’s just me.