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.

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This screening (here) of a movie on Yousuf Karsh caught my eye because I’m a huge fan.

Film Screening – Yousuf Karsh and Portrait Photography
DATE: 11/10/2009 – 11/10/2009
WHEN: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
WHERE: Embassy of Canada

501 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

To be “Karshed” was a synonym for having attained the summit of worldy achievement. During his 60 year career, the 15,312 sittings he had, resulted in arguably a portrait gallery of the most famous figures of the 20th century. This film is the celebration of his centennial year of birth.

Produced by Ian McLaren / Production Grand Nord
Written by Harold Crooks and Joseph Hillel
Directed by Joseph Hillel

2009 / 51:30 min.
COST: Free

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Speakers include Paul Fusco, Ed Kashi, Jodi Bieber, Marcus Bleasdale, Shahidul Alam, Gary Knight, Robin Hammond, Adam Ferguson, Travis Beard, Michael Coyne, Masaru Goto, Jack Picone, Megan Lewis, and more to be confirmed.

On October 15th we will connect an international community of documentary practitioners and journalists for one day, to share stories, to stimulate discussion and debate about our discipline, and to inspire each other to continue the fight for justice.

[read more here] thx luca.

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My favorite part of flying has to be the visit to Hudson News to survey covers, scan headlines, look for trends and see in general what piques my interest. The first thing to jump out at me was the new Rolling Stone book size and paper which eerily looks very similar to Men’s Journal. I bought a copy to check out the Sebastiao Salgado essay and read a 12 page story on the death of David Foster Wallace. I also grabbed a copy of The Atlantic after reading about the redesign because I wanted to see how it feels in the hand. I was impressed. I noticed that portfolio hasn’t run one of those lovely abstract covers in awhile and hope they haven’t completely abandoned those in favor of the more traditional personality based ones. The new Radar redesign looks great… too bad they pulled the plug on it. Bon Appetit covers are grabbing my attention now because they feel grounded/authentic and I see that Craig Cutler has shot the last couple. The cover flap for literary and news magazine seems to be a new trend and is likely tied to their need to sell, sell, sell on the newsstand but remain tasteful on your nightstand. I wasn’t going to buy the new GQ because my bag was already weighing a ton but I couldn’t resist a 32 page photo essay by Jeff Riedel (I’ll have to see if he’s up for an interview about it). I also discovered a piece inside on covering the presidential campaigns for news magazines that talks about the un-objectivity of the whole affair and nasty way that the flacks influence the press.

I attended and blogged about the Lucies (here) and while there are several things I think they could do to improve it, I was moved by several of the speeches and overall it’s a much needed event in the world of photography. My very simple fix would be to give more awards to young upcoming and hot now photographers and maybe include some academy like mass voting in the process. While I think honoring some of these legendary photographers is very important and gives the event serious street cred, there is a real need to elevate hungry young photographers into the spotlight and give validation to projects that require publishers and editors to take chances on lesser known photographers. That being said, the honorees were the ones who gave speeches that reminded me of the power and importance of photography.

I had two days between that and the the start of the trade show and ended up out both nights with photographers, photo eds and agents. Everyone now begins a conversation with me by saying “this is off the record.”

Thursday I headed for the trade show and the place seemed to be packed with people. I was there to meet people, observe what it might take to have a decent booth for my website company and hand out some cool stickers I made. The serious fawning over gear is somewhat lost on me (I’m not a photographer) so, I kind of walked around observing and meeting up with different people. The most interesting phoneomenon has to be the “live photo sessions” where photographers with model(s) and lights are shooting live images in front of a crowd of people. There’s also a lot of slideshows where photographers talk about technique and how the images were made. Some of the crowds were impressive and Vincent Laforet seemed to be drawing the biggest. I can only assume the blog is partially feeding this and that is an awesome development.

After the show it was time to party and I headed out with Andrew Hetherington (his official report here) to 3 in a row. The highlight of the evening was Monte Isom’s self promo party. Yes, instead of a promo card or emailer that you track Monte has a guest list, DJ and booze. Clients are handed flash drives with his photography on it when they check in. I guarantee he sees a return on this mother of all promos and I hope he keeps it up because it’s a good event for photographers and clients to mingle and party unlike the PDN self promo event where they shut off the booze and kick you out just when I was starting to settle in.

I had some interesting conversations with industry vets much of which was concerned with the cliff we just fell off. When it comes to advertising in magazines there seems to be a lot of chasing demos going on which amounts to creating content that will attract a certain demographic age, income level, education and ratio of male vs female readers. This has really been going on since 2000 but now in earnest because of the urgency in the situation. I think demos will dominate the conversation with potential advertisers going forward along with words from the web like uniques and hits.

My argument against chasing demos is that the cost to appease these fickle readers who care very little about your core values is enormous. Both in terms of the number of people needed to produce the junk content and the watering down of the core content. If you’ve every wondered how a magazine with millions of readers can shut down it’s because of the sheer weight of trying to maintain a huge circulation of people who barely like what you produce. This is a very scary time to be in magazines as I was told by several people that no advertising is being sold in 2009. None. Everyone is making a decision after the election and waiting for some sign in the economy. Only the strong will survive. In the end chasing demos has no end game it’s just a temporary fix as numbers rule the conversation right now but eventually it will fail as we return to the value of original content and readers who are invested in the product.

Overall it was a great week in the city and I met an incredible group of people who are committed to making this industry a better place: John Harrington, David Hobby, Joerg Colberg, Mark Tucker, Kristina Snyder, David Burnett, Cameron Davidson, Eric McNatt, Chris Bartlett, Evan Kafka, Jonathan Saunders and Allegra Wilde.

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Starting to fill up.

Hello everyone I’m here in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center attending the Lucies with many of the photo industry elite. They call it the “oscars” of the photography industry and I can certainly say from where I’m sitting it appears to be just that. Big statues on either side of the podium, a screen in back for multimedia presentation of the photographers work, live band onstage and a packed house add to the important feeling atmosphere here.

7pm- Everone is filing into the auditorium.

7:12- Ok here we go. Anthony Bannon starts this thing off. We are here to honor the best photographers in the world.

7:15- Hussain the founder is speaking now. The goal is to raise the profile of photography.
Seems like he’s worked very hard to get this thing going. Much respect in the room for him.

7:18- Mario (wedding planner) from sex and the city is the MC.
who is lucy? tv comedy awards? based on lux for light. he is told.
making fun of the statue. hands over the head. is that a security pose?
he’s singing now. crowd is cheering. not bad not bad.

Where would anyone be without photography he asks? Good Point.

7:23- Mike from Pilsner Urquell. Talking about the beer and the synergy between great beer and great photography. I can’t think of a better title sponsor. Beer and photography always goes together.
Kouldelka’s homeland beer he mentions. Nice.
Deeper perspective award created by Pilsner Urquell. New category that they’re excited about. Showing Nominees now.

DEEPER PERSPECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented by Pilsner Urquell

Professional and Non-professional Nominees:

Malcolm Craig Gilbert
Henrieta Haniskova
Claire Martin
Justin Maxon
Brent Stirton
Jimmy Williams

Photos presented for each nominee with the photographer explaining the project with voice over. Very effective. More projects should be presented this way. Good to hear the photographers voice on each of these projects.

7:32- And the winner is Justin Maxon
He’s headed up to collect the first award of the evening. Man he must be nervous in front of all these photographers.
Speech: Thanks to the photographers in this room and hey… Ryan at Portfolio thanked. Thanks the subjects of the photographs.

7:34 -Next up Achievement in Fine Art Richard Misrach Presented by Elizabeth Siegel

Elizabeth talks about Richard’s work. Beautiful images of disturbing subjects. Faith in the power of aesthetics to effect change. They worked together on the beach photographs. Looking at his work now.

long video presentation of his work on the big screen. fantastic. looks amazing projected.

7:40 Richard. big cheers. Reading a speech. tried to get his dad to buy moonrise over hernandez for $250. his dad wasn’t buying the value in a print.
there are more photographs in the world then words.
no longer shoots film! accused of going to the dark side.
new advances opened up photography for him in ways he cannot explain.

7:43 PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR
Presented by Markus Klinko + Indrani, Photographers

American Photo
Blind Spot
EyeMazing
Foam
Focus
Nueva Luz Photographic Journal
Photography District News

7:45 And the winner is EyeMazing (netherlands)

thanks all the photographers. and done. perfect. who else you gonna thank people.

7:47 Achievement in Fashion Patrick Demarchelier (can you pronounce it? if you want to drop his name you better practice)

Video presentation. Rocking music. Patrick: You feel the moment of the picture and a great camera.

Thank you from Patrick but that is all.

7:52 – BOOK PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR
Presented by Amy Arbus, Photographer

21st Editions | Jamie Baldridge – The Everywhere Chronicles
Aperture | – Richard Misrach – On The Beach
Chronicle Books | Manuel Alvarez Bravo – Photopoetry
Nazraeli Press | Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao – Habitat 7
Powerhouse Books | Helen Levitt – Helen Levitt
Steidl & The Robert Frank Project | Robert Frank – The Americans

Speech by Amy. never met a photographer who didn’t want to get a book published.

7:55- And the winner is 21st Editions | Jamie Baldridge – The Everywhere Chronicles

Speech by 21st Editions. Thanks all the people he works with and a big hug for the photographer next to him. Jamie works for the art not the man. Grateful for the opportunity. A hard thing to master but an opportunity to understand the wold in ways that many people can’t.

7: 57 – Spotlight Award Visa Pour L’Image Festival Presented by Kathy Ryan + Scott Thode

Scott talking about meeting Jean and the beginning of Perpignan Now Kathy on the legacy of the festival. Scott calls it PJ’s mecca. A time to see and remember the greats, drink and dance on the bar.
What happens in Perpignan says in Perpignan says Scott and Kathy in unison.
Visa is about the stories in danger of not being seen and told.
Kathy- Despite pressure to lighten up the fare he never wavered.

8:05 – huge crew from Visa picks up the award. Nice!
Jean-François Leroy: we don’t want to become jurrasic park. where you come see photojournalism. tells everyone to publish photojournalism right now.

8:07 – Achievement in Photojournalism Susan Meiselas Presented by Sylvia Wolf

Mccarther fellow, capa gold, magnum… holy shit.
ok now the video. stunning work. really a huge fan of Susan. Again the big screen is sweet.

8:13 – susan giving a great speech. all the people who supported her in the beginning. time magazine gave her some film and a ticket to fly. people believed in her before she believed in herself.
indebted to her sister. family and extended family are the core. someone waiting here for you to come back. fighting tears.

8:16 -PICTURE EDITOR OF THE YEAR Presented by Platon

Simon Barnett | Director of Photography | Newsweek
Steve Fine | Director of Photography | Sports Illustrated
Alice Gabriner | Chief Picture Editor | Time Magazine
Michele McNally | Director of Photography | New York Times
Chiara Mariani | Photo Editor | Corriere della Serra Magazine

platon: everyone stand up. give ourselves a thunderous and defiant applause in the face of tough economic times

pe’s the glue that hold our industry together. YEAH man. no wonder everyone loves you. giving a great speech. pe’s taught him a lot.

8:18 and the winner is Michele McNally | Director of Photography | New York Times
big cheers. oh yeah we’re in NY…
shes totally unprepared looking at the competition did not expect to be up there
the staff is important. merely a facilitator for the work that they do.
thanks her bosses for allowing them to do what they do.

8:20 Honoring those who have passed… man this is the oscars.

8:23 Achievement in Sports John Iacono Presented by Bert Sugar

kick ass montage with pumping music and tons of SI covers.. sports action moments.

thanks the family and SI. pesky photographer who told the athletes “kiss the trophy”

8:28 FASHION LAYOUT OF THE YEAR
Presented by David Schonauer, American Photo

Harper’s Bazaar – Fairy Tales by Jean-Paul Goude
Harper’s Bazaar – On Your Marc, Get Set, Wait by Peter Lindbergh
V Magazine – Giselle in the Flesh by Mario Testino
Vogue US – Wanderlust by Mario Testino
W – Emotion by Craig McDean
W – Social Studies Featuring Tilda Swinton by Juergen Teller

8:31 and the winner is Harper’s Bazaar – Fairy Tales by Jean-Paul Goude
someone from harpers picing up the award (the didn’t say who). thanks dd
invest in photography. it’s safer than the bank

8:32 – INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented by AtEdge Glen Serbin and Susan Baraz

Professional Photographer Nominees:

David Burdeny – Nature Category
Oleg Dou – Fine Art Category
Livia Corona – Architecture Category
Mark Holthusen – Advertising Category
Nadav Kander – People Category
Paolo Pellegrin – Book Category
Brent Stirton – Editorial Category
Nick Veasy – Special Category

22 thousand entries from all over the globe including far away alaska (first political joke of the night… this is the oscars people). showing the video. mark holthusen get’s some good applause. must be in the crowd somewhere.
ok, talk about diverse styles here. how do you pick a winner.

8:37 and the winner is Brent Stirton – Editorial Category
he’s shocked. nice speech thanking getty and newsweek.

Achievement in Documentary Josef Koudelka Presented by Elliott Erwitt

Erwitt: koudelka is a bohemian from bohemia. Magnum has 50 prima donnas. his devotion to craft is humbling to the rest of us. photography does not get any better than that of Koudelka.
video of his work now. stuning.

8:45- koudelka is not here. out shooting I’m sure.

8:46 – PHOTOGRAPHY CURATOR/EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR
Presented by Benoit LaGarde, Collector & CEO Splashlight Studios

Melissa Harris for Josef Koudelka – Invasion 68 : Prague | Aperture Gallery, NYC
PHOTOGRAPHY CURATOR/EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR
Presented by Benoit LaGarde, Collector & CEO Splashlight Studios

Melissa Harris for Josef Koudelka – Invasion 68 : Prague | Aperture Gallery, NYC
Terence Pepper + Vanity Fair Editor David Friend for Vanity Fair Portraits 1913-2008| National Portrait Gallery, London
Brian Wallis and Cynthia Young for Cornell Capa : Concerned Photographer | International Center of Photography, New York
Virginia Heckert for Bernd and Hilla Becher : Basic Forms | Getty Center, Los Angeles
Jeff L. Rosenheim for Lee Friedlander : A Ramble in Olmsted Parks | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Brian Wallis and Cynthia Young for Cornell Capa : Concerned Photographer | International Center of Photography, New York
Virginia Heckert for Bernd and Hilla Becher : Basic Forms | Getty Center, Los Angeles
Jeff L. Rosenheim for Lee Friedlander : A Ramble in Olmsted Parks | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Benoit: the role of curator is as important as it ever has been. there’s so much imagery available.

8:48 And the winner is Terence Pepper + Vanity Fair Editor David Friend for Vanity Fair Portraits 1913-2008| National Portrait Gallery, London.

the crowd not completely stoked on VF winning over more documentary fare.

8:51 Achievement in Advertising Erwin Olaf Presented by Kathy Ryan

hold on kathy has some very intelligent remarks about his work… I just cant spell those words. dang.

short speech. thanks the people who works with him.

8:57 – PRINT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Presented by tk

180 Amsterdam/TBWA Chiat Day/China | Client – Adidas | Campaign – Impossible is Nothing | Photographer Marc Zibert
Ogilvy & Mather – Paris | Client – Louis Vuitton | Campaign – Journeys | Photographer Annie Leibovitz
180 Amsterstam | Client – Adidas | Campaign – Originals | Photographer Nadav Kander
Ogilvy & Mather – Mexico | Client – Mattel | Campaign – Scrabble | Photographer Vincent Dixon
Client/Campaign – Marc Jacobs | Photographer Juergen Teller

8:59 – 180 Amsterdam/TBWA Chiat Day/China | Client – Adidas | Campaign – Impossible is Nothing | Photographer Marc Zibert
thanks his agent… this is the oscars people

9:00 – tony bennett- huge applause. holy shit it’s tony bennett!

Achievement in Portraiture Herman Leonard

Tony:way ahead of time this next artist. we still live in times that don’t realize how great Jazz is. never met anyone more spontaneous as this with his instrument,,, a camera. his timing is impeccable…. compares him to great jazz mucisians.

video now. the work is stunning. jazz musicians on how important his photography is to their music (rare to hear this kind of appreciation from subjects). miles davis his greatest subject. why? because he didn’t like to be photographed. didn’t like the intrusion. he felt it a privilege to shoot him.

HUGE applause for herman leonard

9:07 by far the most honerable award he’s ever received he says. thanks everyone… including bennett.
60 years traveliing around the world. started here 52nd and broadway. club owners gave him access to backstage. not allowed to shoot during a performance because it was distracting.
what could be better than doing what you loved and being entertained at the same time.
test to become a photographer in WW2 what are the ingredients in developer? he didn’t know. just added it to water. they made him an anesthetist instead.
tried to get a job with Yosef Karsh. he said i don’t need an assistant but invited him up to the house for lunch. you’ve come so far. i’ll let you be an apprentice because I can’t pay you. met truman, einstein… greatest people in the arts. it was a life changing experience. left karsh and plunged himself into the jazz world for 15 years.

man that was awesome. way to go herman!

9:13 – DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented by Pilsner Urquell

Non-professionals and students Nominees:

Faisal Almalki – Fine Art Category
Rachel Blaser – Special Category
John Delaney – Editorial Category
Weronika Gesicka – Nature Category
Benny Haryanto – Advertising
Lung Liu – People Category
Marcin Stawiarz – Architecture Category

9:15 – And the winner is John Delaney – Editorial Category

thanks his parents and wife… man this is.. oh nevermind.

9:19 – Humanitarian Award Sara Terry The Aftermath Project Presented by Anne Wilkes – Tucker

Anne: photographing the people in bosnia left behind after the conflict. woman bent over going through bodybags looking for some sign, then the killer on graves with guns then the selling a small bag of goldfish on the street. she’s doing a really go job describing why the phtography is so important here. photographing after the conflict are the hardest to fund. her aftermath project gives grants to photographers who want to photograph that subject.

video. sara: I was a writer but had a personal crisis and words failed me for the first time in my life so I picked up a camera to communicate…

powerful. the project is so deep. the pictures amazing.

9:25 – amazing speech. shot video of it for you. she says “the stories we hold up define who we are as a society.” pow people.

9:33 – Lifetime Achievement Gianni Berengo Gardin Presented by Elliott Erwitt

published over 200 books. Elliott say he takes his camera to bed to save time and photographs his dreams. snap.

video now. the work is fantastic. strong b/w. life, people. gianni: calls himself the handyman of photography. i like to be the one that builds with my hands and mind. the amazing object is the camera.

Gianni could not be here.

Ok that’s it. Thanks for tuning in people.

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I’ve been curious about the Lucie’s since they started so I’m excited to provide some commentary for people unable to attend and announce the winners in each category. I’m fully aware that “live blogging” a photo awards ceremony may draw comparisons to watching a fresh coat of paint drying on the wall but I’m ready to give it a shot and attempt to entertain however many people tune in.

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We’re going to talk about shooting for magazines and spend the first part discussing what goes on inside a magazine, how stories are assigned, the dynamics between the different departments and in particular how Art Directors and Photo Editors work together… including the ways in which I try and trick AD’s into picking my photographer or my opener choice.

For the second part of the lecture we’re going to talk about a photographers style and how we use it to make assignments and really try and show as many examples of portfolio images that convinced us to hire a photographer and then the published results from the assignment.

The event is free and open to the public and should be informative but also entertaining since Heidi and I aren’t afraid to give each other a little shit. We will also try and tackle a few topics that have been in the news lately.

Shooting Editorial- Tuesday, September 30, 7:30pm-9:00pm in the Ahmanson Theater on Art Centers North campus. The address is 1700 Lida St. Pasadena, CA 91103.

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Here’s what I discovered:

Travel + Leisure, loves film. All their regular contributors shoot film so if you’d like to shoot stories for T+L you’d better go buy a film camera (or fake it somehow). Whitney was careful to point out several times that the deep rich blacks achieved in film are very important to the pictures they run. Additionally what separates a good travel photo from a brochure photo is the amount of information that’s in the frame. A brochure photo will take great pains to show the view and the bed in a hotel room, the flower on the nightstand and all the little details that are all perfect plus it’s lit like the land of a thousand suns, so you can’t tell what time of day it is. That’s four different pictures in a travel story.

Tha AARP Bulletin is different then the magazine, they’re more focussed on the issues and not as lifestyle or a slick as the magazine. Michael said that he never gets enough stories pitched from photographers and they pay good money, so that should be incentive for photographers to send him a pitch or two. He also said finding pictures of seniors with different ethnicities is nearly impossible.

Portfolio.com seems to be headed in the right direction. They have a photo editor, they’re buying stock and assigning stories. Ryan told us about how a photographer who’s work he enjoyed pitched a story on high end bone fishing and was given a 5 day assignment. Also, he showed a few of the recent stock purchases they had made and all felt fresh compared to your usual business metaphors.

Time magazine is an industry icon and heavy user of stock in the front a back of book sections of the magazine. It was interesting to hear Leslie talk about how photos get approved at the magazine. She will meet with her section designer and go over the line-up to see what stories they want to find photography for then she’ll go get a handful of images for each one from which the designer will mock up 4-5 approaches. They then take that to discuss and pick the final selection with the Editor. Also, I asked her about stories that were difficult to find stock for that they always encounter. Major issues facing youths like drugs, pregnancy and drinking we’re always hard to find pictures of because all the underage people depicted and the releases they would need from parents. In fact she recently used craigslist.org to find kids with party photos for an underage drinking story and found the perfect frame where someone was passed out face down and surrounded by beer bottles.

Everyone said they had purchased photos from Flickr or amateur photographers from time to time but they kept their standard usage rates because it was not an issue of finding something cheap just finding an image the stock sites didn’t have. Most are using micro stock for those tiny throwaway shots (worst design trend ever) in the front of the book except Whitney who had no idea what micro stock was. Also, everyone seemed very excited about Photoshelter’s stock offering and I know the feeling because if you’ve searched the big stock houses enough you become very familiar with the limitations of their collections so a new player who’s actively adding imagery and photographers to the system is a very welcome addition.

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If you’re attending I’ll see you there. If not I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.

Looking to buy a new website?
A Photo Folio is a website design company created by A Photo Editor.
Have a look (here).

Looking to buy a new website?
A Photo Folio is a website design company created by A Photo Editor.
Have a look (here).