Art Producers Speak: Alex Farnum

We emailed Art Buyers and Art Producers around the world asking them to submit names of established photographers who were keeping it fresh and up-and-comers who they are keeping their eye on. If you are an Art Buyer/Producer or an Art Director at an agency and want to submit a photographer anonymously for this column email: Suzanne.sease@verizon.net

Anonymous Art Producer: I nominate: Alex Farnum. “He is a great creative collaborator, professional and wonderful with the client. He is always willing to make anything work. He is an amazing person and genius photographer”

This Gypsy story was completed in late 2012. A collaborative effort with my favorite stylist, Jasmine Hamed (www.stylistjasmine.com)
A spring fashion feature and cover story for 7x7 Magazine.
One of 20 portraits of N. California Grape Pickers during harvest.
This image is from a series I created while in Mexico. Images of people finishing their swim.
From the book This is a Cookbook. By Max and Eli Sussman (Weldon Owen Publisher)
An advertisement for the launch of a new type of mountain bike apparel - Kitsbow. Shot deep in the mountains outside of Bend, OR.
A real cowboy seen in the streets of Santa Fe, NM while on assignment for Travel + Leisure
From the Lost Coast Surf Story photograph for Kinfolk Magazine. This is where they jumped into the waves.
Shot for a Style Council story about San Francisco's most fashionable people. This was shot in the bathroom
A part of EBAY'S Show your Love campaign for Valentine's Day - 2013
From In the Charcuterie - a book by the team at Fatted Calf about meat preparation

How many years have you been in business?

This June will mark my 8th year that a.farnum has been in business..

Are you self-taught or photography school taught?

I studied Photography, Filmmaking and cinematography at the Academy of Art in San Francisco.

Who was your greatest influence that inspired you to get into this business?

I can’t say that any photographer was my early inspirations. I don’t think I was that sophisticated in my teen years. Being an “artist” was as far as I had gotten. My father gave me his old camera outfit when I was 18. This was a huge deal since it was always his “fancy” camera that we were not to get into. So when it became mine, that is when I really became inspired.

How do you find your inspiration to be so fresh, push the envelope, stay true to yourself so that creative folks are noticing you and hiring you?

The easy answer is this…..all I want to do is shoot photographs, document the world, meet and hear interesting stories. If I can do this every single day, then I will be a happy man. So this is what I do, jobs or no jobs. If I am slow, I pick a subject and a day and I go shoot it. Sometimes this includes planning a test and sometimes it is simply getting into my car and heading out. My inspiration for these ideas comes from the endless amazing photographers, writers, designers etc. etc. that I find on the web. Thank you Tumblr. Thank you Cargo Collective, thank you Instagram….

Do you find that some creatives love your work but the client holds you back?

This is an interesting question…..I think that my main priority when hired for a project is to understand the needs of my clients. Photography is a Service based industry, especially commercial photography. Even though I may be considered an artist, my main goal is to deliver what my client needs whether it’s the agency or the client. Understanding the politics is also a key to success. If you can wrap your head around the dynamics of these relationships, you can build your workflow to make all parties happy including yourself.

What are you doing to get your vision out to the buying audience?

I do a whole myriad of things. Of course the most common which are mailers, email promos, continuous blog updates (www.afarnum.com/blog) and tons of social networking, but for me, I try to complete personal projects on subjects I love and share these with the buying audience. That way, I then have the chance to bid on projects that suit me and my interests. It’s a win win!

What is your advice for those who are showing what they think the buyers want to see?

People will tell you to follow your heart, your style and to make sure to stay true to yourself. I think this is only one part of a much bigger machine. What about understanding marketing? Understanding the push and pull that goes one within an agency or magazine? Your work is a reflection of your artistic view, but that is only 50%. “Are you a good collaborator? Yes? Show me….” The pre-production I put into my jobs include presentation after presentation to communicate my vision and to allow all creatives including the client to collaborate on ideas from the get go. This leaves nothing to chance and helps all the parties understand what the plan is both creatively and logistically.

Are you shooting for yourself and creating new work to keep your artistic talent true to you?

Tons. If I am not booked on a job, I am looking for something or someone to shoot.

How often are you shooting new work?

Ideally I am shooting new work weekly and posting that work to my blog once a month or so….4 new posts per month. That has been my goal for the last four years or so.

1979 – Born to John and Cecilia Farnum in Long Beach, California, 8LB. 4OZ.
1981 – Picked up a pencil at age 2 and shocked mother with my scribble abilities.
1986 – Excelled at Dad’s weekend 3-D drawing classes
1991 – Climbed to the top of the middle school art scene (AKA bad grafitti)
1996 – Scored my first camera senior year, a Pentax K1000, never put it down.
1997 – Moved to SF at 18, art school (last photo class to be taught in film)
2002 – Moved to LA and scored my first big job as a set photographer
2003 – Then to New York, wiggled my way into a full-time Graphic Design job
2004 – Back to SF, landed a photo gig at ANTHEM, a national branding agency
2006 – Burning Man, Coachella, and real life helped me better understand the world
2007 – Started a.farnum photography hungry as a tiger
2013 – 5 years later and things are sizzlin’

Represented by APOSTROPHE

East Coast – Kelly Montez
kelly@apostrophe.net
(212) 279-2252

West Coast – Jenifer Guskay
Jenifer@apostrophe.net
(415) 824-4000 329

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s, after founding the art buying department at The Martin Agency then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies. She has a new Twitter fed with helpful marketing information.  Follow her@SuzanneSease.

 

AP Takes A Stake In Bambuser, The Real-Time Mobile Video Service That Helps Eyewitnesses Tell Their Stories

The pair have actually been working together for the last three years; and for the last year, AP reporters have been using Bambuser’s backend to record and then deliver video to its studios from the field; and also to source content from citizen journalists to bolster overall coverage. Notable events that have benefitted from that relationship have included the siege of Homs; video taken by activists inside the Syrian government’s Taftanaz air base; the Oklahoma tornado; the Russian meteor; and the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.

via TechCrunch.

Dwell’s New Promo Daily

Dwell Magazine has a new column online called “Promo Daily” where Photo Director Anna Alexander and  Associate Photo Editor Julia Sabot highlight promotional pieces they love. You can view their picks here:

http://www.dwell.com/people/julia-sabot

http://www.dwell.com/people/anna-goldwater-alexander

I asked Anna a few questions about the new columns and promos in general:

Tell me about the new Promo Daily?

My associate, Julia Sabot, and I were talking the other day about promos. We love them. I know we’re a rare breed, but we actually do hire people based off of their mailers. So, we started to ponder whether or not photographers knew how important they are and how awesome they are, and that promos aren’t dead. I still have a James Acomb promo from like 2004- when I was at Wired- might be because it’s of Henry Rollins and I have a huge obsession with him, but I still have it pinned to my desk.

The first & only post I did on a promo was of Noah Webb‘s FANTASTIC Berlin Passport (http://www.dwell.com/post/article/photographer-we-love-noah-webb). It blew us away. Yes, I know he’s a Dwell photographer already- but he didn’t just send it to only us. Honestly, we hadn’t commissioned him in a while and it was a big fat HELLO! reminder…so, he did our next shoot that came down the pipes. I got so much photographer feedback from posting that (not just from Noah and his beautiful agent Maren at Redeye). We already occassionally post about photography under the title Photography Focus, as well as Julia’s weekly QA, but we wanted to give something back to the photographers who give us mailers, both email and post mail. We’ll be posting our favorite promo of the day with a little info as to why it’s so awesome- because photographers need to know that they’re not just pimping their art out into the USPS system never to be seen again.

When you speak to photographers about promos what advice do you give them?

The last couple of photo portfolio review events I did, I kept getting asked about promos (including emails- which we will also post) and if photo editors/producers toss them immediately in the trash and erase them from their inbox. I actually got in an argument with Armin Harris across an auditorium of photographers at Texas Round-up…it was awesome. Maybe we’re alone here, but I personally know other PE’s who feel the same way I do about promos. We’re photo editors, it’s in our nature to look at an image and know in .5 seconds if it works. We’re all aware that promos are expensive, as well as a traditional portfolio book which is a huge reason why so many are going digital for promotional materials. It’s unfortunate. I typically advise that they make sure they’re sending it out to a current masthead, with a current address to the company/publication. We still get promos to an old address & for photo editors who left 8 years ago. Also, one should be sent to each member of the photo dept / art buying dept- It takes time, but when something is personally written to us it gets noticed. Know who you’re sending your work to, for some reason we get a lot of wedding photographers.

What’s going on at Dwell with photography these days?

Summer is actually our busiest because of the weather, even though grey days are perfect for natural interior light- the overcast sky blows out the exteriors. Also, we’re working to get more profiles on our pages because there’s too many outstanding portrait photographers out there who we need to show-off.

My photo editor readers will want to know how you became the Photo Director at Dwell. Tell us.

I started at Wired in 1997 as the Photo Intern, left for a year during the tech boom bubble to Industry Standard, then went back to Wired. In October 2011, I got a call from Dwell’s Creative Director Alejandro Chavetta and that was that- I was totally poached. Wired and Dwell photography are COMPLETELY different, that’s no secret- but it’s still the business of editorial photography, and both are known for kickass photography. it’s not like I switched to Cat Fancy (I wish).

Mail and email for your promos:

Anna Alexander
Dwell Magazine
550 Kearny St., ste 710
San Francisco, CA 94108

Julia Sabot
Dwell Magazine
550 Kearny St., ste 710
San Francisco, CA 94108

digital promos to:
photo@dwell.com

41 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Date A Photographer

30. YOU’LL HAVE A HARD TIME PROVING THAT YOU WERE TOGETHER ON VACATION

That’s because they’ll be taking most of the pictures, without themselves being in front of the camera.

31. THEY WON’T PHOTOGRAPH WHAT YOU ASK THEM

Think having a photographer partner will bring you advantages? Think again. Photographers are very proud and stubborn creatures and they will rarely photograph anything they consider unworthy, unless it’s paid or they like it.

via 41 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Date A Photographer.

This Week In Photography Books – Ed Ruscha

by Jonathan Blaustein

Just because someone says something, doesn’t make it true. We know this. (And its corollary: don’t trust everything you read on the Internet.) We know this, and yet almost always choose to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, it’s more appropriate to call bullshit.

Take Ed Ruscha, for instance. I met the man in Albuquerque a few years ago. He was standing in the vestibule of the Tamarind Institute, waiting to head out into the heat with his good friend, Dave Hickey. (Who was sitting on some concrete outside, looking like he might have a stroke right then and there.)

I’m not much for hero worship, and rarely get starstruck, so I walked up to Mr. Ruscha and said hello. He said hello back, and offered up a beefy, California smile. Pushing my luck, I told him that he had been quite the topic of conversation at a lecture I’d recently attended at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson. (They had exhibited the re-constructed, seminal exhibition “New Topographics.”)

William Jenkins, the original curator, Frank Gohlke, one of the artists, and Britt Salvesen, the curator 2.0, were talking about the New Topo movement, and Mr. Ruscha’s name came up again and again. (Mostly in an embittered, black sheep kind of way.) They’d say things like, “Unlike Ed Ruscha…” and then talk about their photographic intentions. It happened so many times, I giggled.

I mentioned this to Mr. Ruscha, thinking he’d find it amusing. His response caught me off guard. “New Topographics? Never heard of it. What are you talking about,” he said.

I stammered something about the group of art stars that were included, like Stephen Shore, Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, and the Bechers. “Surely, you must know who I’m talking about?”

“Nope,” he replied. “Never heard of them.”

What to say then? I’m pretty sure I went with a sorry for the confusion, such a pleasure to meet you, and then shuffled off. I don’t have a tail, obviously, but if I did, it would have tucked comfortably between my legs as I walked out into the blazing sun. (My friend David was a witness to the entire event. He took a photo, but unfortunately, my eyes were closed.)

Surely, I would have loved to call bullshit. I don’t care what anyone tells me, I don’t believe that Ed Ruscha has never heard of any of those artists. It defies logic. But it does fit in squarely with the longstanding stereotypes about his adopted city, Los Angeles. (i.e., People often lie to your face.)

Despite that familiar drawback, folks continue to move to LA in search of blue skies, beautiful beaches, In’n’Out burgers, and lofty dreams. Whether you’re a hot farm girl from Iowa looking for a big break in the Valley, or a grumpy, record-store-clerk-looking sculptor hoping to get into art school at UCLA, there is gold in them thar hills. And people will do almost anything for gold.

Personally, I have some fondness for LA. I almost moved there back in 2002, but got hustled by some hucksters who realized I spoke no Angelino. (I moved to Brooklyn instead, which was a blessing.) But I’ve been back many times, and find a lot of charm in the seemingly charmless unbroken stretch of strip malls and palm trees. It’s so American, that perfect mix of artifice and optimism. It’s beautiful and seedy at the same time.

At it’s best, art aims to capture and coalesce the essence of a person, place, thing, or idea. Irrespective of his aggression against veracity, Ed Ruscha has managed to represent LA better than any artist before or since. His series of commercially-produced artist books from the 60’s are brilliant, and continue to resonate to this day. He gives us LA as Atget gave us Paris, Walker Evans gave us the Great Depression, or Robert Frank gave us the Beatnik version of the USA.

Much as I’d love to take credit for that lovely thought, (and would if I were an insufferable Hollywood studio exec,) it comes to us via Virginia Heckert, the curator of photography at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She compares the work of the four legends in the excellent new book, published by the museum, called “Ed Ruscha and Some Los Angeles Apartments.”

I’ll say it straight out, I love this work. (I do prefer “Every Building on the Sunset Strip,” but this is great too.) Yes, it’s dry, and seemingly effortless, but that’s part of why it’s so good. The more you look, the more you realize that the humor and nonchalance dance quite well with a nihilistic passion for a misunderstood place. These photographs are a bit of a love letter, albeit wrapped up in a healthy dose of irony. (Even the lazy cropping lends tension.)

Ed Ruscha might be the most symbolic American artist since Andy Warhol. He doesn’t try, he just is. He’s cool and unemotional, but his work reflects a respect for craft, tradition and obsession that is borderline sentimental. (And Hollywood by way of Nebraska and Oklahoma is the perfect, plucky backstory.) These gray pictures, which eschew hard whites and rich blacks, speak to the reality of a world in which we’re all hypocrites, to some degree. (I should know, after hearing my wife try to delicately explain to my young son why it’s OK to fib sometimes, to spare someone’s feelings, weeks after we told him that it’s never acceptable to lie.)

Ms. Heckert’s essay is admirable, and also allows for the inclusion of some excellent plates by other artists. (Including the aforementioned New Topo Masters: Shore, Adams, and Baltz, who were said to be influenced by Mr. Ruscha’s work.) Then come the plates, which have a great rhythm. My only complaint is that they added a few additional pictures that were released as prints in 2003, (despite Mr. Ruscha previously saying he’d never sell prints, and basically trashing the whole idea entirely,) and they do feel a bit tacked on.

He might not have ever admitted it, but there was a lot of work and thought that went into seeming so casual about the whole thing. And his initial editing instincts, back in 1965, were spot on. The book seems to naturally end where he wanted it to.

Given that I’ve never, ever ended a column with a quote before, let’s try it. Ms. Heckert summed it up perfectly, so we’ll let her have the last word today:

“Whether Ruscha plotted his route in advance or happened upon his subjects by chance, whether he was familiar with the neighborhood or exploring new locations expressly for the purpose of finding subjects for his book, is ultimately irrelevant, because his photographic depictions of Los Angeles apartment buildings are simultaneously arbritary and inconsequential- and at the same time carefully edited and quintessential.”

Bottom Line: A re-issued classic, get it while you can

To Purchase “Ed Ruscha and Some Los Angeles Apartments” Visit Photo-Eye

Full Disclosure: Books are provided by Photo-Eye in exchange for links back for purchase.

Books are found in the bookstore and submissions are not accepted.

 

Art Producers Speak: Carlo Ricci

We emailed Art Buyers and Art Producers around the world asking them to submit names of established photographers who were keeping it fresh and up-and-comers who they are keeping their eye on. If you are an Art Buyer/Producer or an Art Director at an agency and want to submit a photographer anonymously for this column email: Suzanne.sease@verizon.net

Anonymous Art Producer: I nominate: Carlo Ricci. “Carlo is wonderfully approachable and in the cusp of making a real name for himself”

Barry Shantz is a former international drug dealer. When the FBI caught him with 1.3 billion (yes, Billion) street value worth of Hashish they claimed it was the biggest drug related bust in US history. Photographed for Vancouver Magazine.
Editorial shot just a few weeks ago, portraying Ron Mattson a pharmaceutical researcher involved in a controversial conspiracy aimed at shutting his medical studies down.
Jordan Morita is a talented trombone player from San Diego. Photographed after jumping in the pool, fully dressed, with the rest of his band.
Part of a personal project.
Personal work shot in South America driving to Canada. We were in the middle of the Atacama desert and our van was over heating. We had to stop and spend the night literally in the middle of nowhere, it was a surreal and magic experience.
Advertising campaign for Emirates in Australia.
Part of a personal project an art director friend of mine and I worked together on.
Laura is a good friend and an amazing singer who lives in LA. Shot over two days last year for her new promo material.
Fashion shoot with a former contender from Australia's Next Top Model.
Advertising work shot in Australia.
One of the first commercial jobs I've done, shot in Italy for a UK based clothing company. It's an old shot but I still love it.
Quantum physics researcher. Who said scientists can't be sexy?

How many years have you been in business?

I’ve been shooting professionally for almost 4 years now.

Are you self-taught or photography school taught?

100% self-taught. In Italy I studied Engineering and coached basketball for a living, go wonder.. Photography came somewhat late in my life, I discovered it at 26yo by picking up a Nikon F2 (my dad collects old film cameras) and from that moment on I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I moved to Australia with a 5D and a bag of clothes and I never looked back.

Who was your greatest influence that inspired you to get into this business?

To get into photography nobody really, it just happened; but a few inspired me once I started.

If I have to pin-point one name, it would probably be Simon Harsent. I met him once in Australia and we kept in contact over the following years through sporadic emails, but what he told me stuck with me. He’s such a fantastic photographer and somebody who truly has an honest love for his craft.

I’d also mention Kieran Antill, an amazing artist and creative (great guy too), at the time Creative Director at Leo Burnett in Sydney (now in NY) whom I showed my first ever printed portfolio. He had just won a Cannes Gold Lion Award for advertising, but still took the time and especially the honesty to constructively criticize (let’s say destroy) my book. But he really liked some of my work and that raised my confidence that I was doing something right.

Also, my partner is a photo producer and she’s been incredibly supportive and contributive throughout the last 3 years.

How do you find your inspiration to be so fresh, push the envelope, stay true to yourself so that creative folks are noticing you and hiring you?

I’ll just take that as a compliment, am I fresh?

I mean, you started this column interviewing Nadav Kander, let’s say you raised the bar pretty high for the remaining 95% of us photographers out there..

Going back to your question, I love iconic and very strong/styled images, I look for inspiration in other people’s work but mostly in other fields, especially cinema and music. I try to constantly challenge myself and curiosity is what fuels the search.

I’m also very passionate about what I do, it just comes natural and I feel extremely lucky to be doing it, as it never feels like I’m working really (almost never). I believe that hard work, commitment to your craft and being a nice guy always pays back in the end.

Do you find that some creatives love your work but the client holds you back?

In general I’d say no. I shoot a lot of editorials so the creative is also the client and I find them very open to new and risky ideas. I usually try to shoot something “safe” that I know will work and then I explore more creative options. Even when I think that they were looking for a more “conservative” shot, they always surprise me by picking the one I love the most.

When it comes to advertising work I feel there’s much more preparation and discussion beforehand. If the client signed off on the photographer often it’s because of something he/she has shot before which they liked already and they want something similar. There might have been a conversation on some aspects of the shoot but I always felt that their suggestions were legitimate points.

I’ve probably been really fortunate and it might happen in the future but I’ve never felt that clients were compromising my work.

What are you doing to get your vision out to the buying audience?

I love meeting people face to face. I think this digital revolution opened doors to a lot of creatives and everybody has the chance to put his/her work out there to be seen. There are thousands of talented photographers and reaching out to an art director, a photo buyer or even a client has never been that easy. So now more than ever I value the importance of meeting them personally, getting them to trust me that it will be great working together, both creatively and personally.

I initially reach out through social media or direct emails, maybe follow up with a phone call and every time I’m travelling for a shoot in a new city I try to save some extra time to go and show them my book in person.

What is your advice for those who are showing what they think the buyers want to see?

I’ll go back to Simon Harsent and what he told me that stuck: “Shoot what you love. Because ultimately, that’s the one thing that will make you grow into the best photographer that you can be.”

I think it’s great advice, however I believe it’s normal to overthink about your work and how it will be perceived; I do that all the time. But eventually you want to be shooting what you love, otherwise you’ll find yourself 5 or 10 years down the road that you’re doing something that doesn’t make you happy and more importantly that doesn’t inspire you anymore and that’s the end of creativity. It’s hard because you still have to make a living and I’m definitely not the naïve artist type, but aesthetic is subjective, some art buyers won’t like your work and some will love it, those are the ones you want to be working with. Trying to please everybody is just plain pointless.

Are you shooting for yourself and creating new work to keep your artistic talent true to you?

This past year I’ve mostly been shooting assignments but the one before this I took the whole year off to shoot personal projects (see below).

Editorials are a great in-between, they give you the chance to be creative and try new ideas and at the same time it’s work that gets published. You also constantly deal with all sorts of people, which I think it’s great for interpersonal skills as well.

Having said that, I’m about to take a month off commissioned work to shoot a personal project that I’ve been planning for over two months.

How often are you shooting new work?

In the last few months I’ve been shooting editorials every week but I shoot motion as well and usually video projects take much longer to be planned and executed, so it really depends.

I spend the majority of my time working on ideas and organizing shoots rather than shooting for the sake of it. That’s what my Fuji x100 is for. I’d rather do 30 well thought shoots per year than 300 average ones.

In Australia I used to shoot fashion work pretty much everyday and after a while I found it was killing my creativity. I was so unhappy that I decided to leave. I took a year off with my partner and we drove a VW van from Argentina to Canada, shooting film documentaries for NGOs along the way. Looking back now I believe that for different reasons it has been the most productive year I’ve ever had.

Carlo Ricci is a Vancouver based photographer and director. Born in 1981 in Italy, he discovered photography in his mid twenties and soon after moved to Australia where he started working professionally. After 2.5 years in Sydney he embarked on a year long exploration of Latin and North America driving all the way to Canada while shooting film documentaries for international NGOs. He now lives and works in Canada specializing in editorial portraiture and advertising.

Please visit www.carloricci.com to see his portfolio. Proud member of www.wonderfulmachine.com.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s, after founding the art buying department at The Martin Agency then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies. She has a new Twitter fed with helpful marketing information.  Follow her@SuzanneSease.

California Labor Laws And Work Made For Hire Agreements

Question from a reader about California labor code and an answer from Carolyn and Leslie at the Photo Attorney.

Q. I’m sorry to bother you but I have a question that has not been addressed on any professional photography or photography related website that I can find. In CA the labor code makes work for hire when transferring the ownership of copyright illegal (civil and criminal liability) except in the case of an employer/employee relationship. How does this apply to photographers working in CA when doing small jobs? Is it legal to have work around language that assigns copyright to the person doing the hiring (meaning the agreement says everything a work for hire agreement would say but it doesn’t use the term work for hire); or is it a case of walks like and duck, quacks like a duck, it is a work for hire agreement and therefor illegal in the state of CA?

A. Thank you for this important question.  The issue is not that it’s illegal for an independent contractor to agree to a work made for hire agreement in California.  The problem is that when a photographer is hired under a work made for hire agreement, then the photographer, under California state law, is considered an employee rather than a independent contractor.   Specifically, California Labor Code section 3351.5(c)provides that one definition of an “Employee” is:

Any person while engaged by contract for the creation of a specially ordered or  commissioned work of authorship in which the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire, as defined in Section 101 of Title 17 of the United States Code, and the ordering or commissioning party obtains ownership of all the rights comprised in the copyright in the work.

California Unemployment Insurance Code Section 686 also states that:

“Employer” also means any person contracting for the creation of a specially ordered or commissioned work of authorship when the parties expressly agree in a written instrument  signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire, as defined in Section 101 of Title 17 of the United States Code, and the ordering or commissioning party obtains ownership of all of the rights comprised in the copyright in the work. The ordering or  commissioning party shall be the employer of the author of the work for the purposes of this part.

Once the photographer is an employee, the employer must pay unemployment and worker’s compensation insurance for the employee.  If not, the employer can be subject to one year in jail and up to $20,000 in fines (California Labor Code section 3700.5 and California Unemployment Insurance Code Section 2122).

But there is another way.

If the photographer is operating through a business entity (such as an LLC or corporation), then the Labor and Unemployment Codes don’t apply.  If the photographer is an individual/sole proprietor, then don’t use “Work Made for Hire” language in the Agreement.  Instead, you may assign the copyrights to another through language such as:

Photographer irrevocably transfers and assigns to the Client the copyrights created as part of the project.

Of course, if a photographer agrees to transfer copyrights, hopefully it will be for an appropriately large sum.  And when a photographer hires someone (like a designer) and wants ownership of the material created, also be careful not to violate these laws.  All of this is part of knowing your rights and responsibilities as a professional photographer!

— Carolyn E. Wright and Leslie Burns, Law Office of Carolyn E. Wright, LLC (a/k/a the Photo Attorney)

 

Advice For Photo Assistants: Traveling Smart

by Demetrius Fordham

I think I speak on behalf of most photo assistants when I say that travel’s easily one of job’s biggest perks. In my time assisting, I’ve worked in the Congo, Seoul, Monaco, Sydney and Rio among other cities, hung out with awesome new people and stayed at five-star hotels – all on someone else’s bill. Sweet, right? Not necessarily.

Traveling might be one of the best parts of the job, but it’s also one of the most challenging. Photo assistants are responsible for lugging hundreds of pounds (and thousands of dollars) of equipment across the world. We’re the lucky ones checking in ten cases of photo equipment, filling out the proper travel documentation, dealing with photographers trying to skirt airline luggage limits (I once had a photographer stick fake CNN passes on all our equipment in order to get it all through). Upon arrival, we’re the ones responsible for ensuring all the equipment got there in one piece, and getting it to the studio (while the photographer and clients are having cocktails on the hotel’s rooftop bar). Don’t even get me started on keeping track of excess travel expenses, or jumping on planes at a moment’s notice (the girlfriends love this, by the way). All that said, there are ways to make traveling – an inevitable part of the job – a little easier.

One: Pack right

It’s the photo assistant’s responsibility to ensure all the equipment gets to the destination in one piece. Therefore, make sure it’s packed meticulously: ensure all cameras are disassembled, individually wrapped and travel-ready. Carry on all cameras if possible (that way if everything gets lost in transit or stolen, the photographer is still able to take pictures). Make sure all other equipment is securely packed in their respective cases (Tenba makes sturdy travel-ready cases for camera, video and digital equipment) before checking them in. And it might sound like common sense, but it’s a good idea to double-check that all the required equipment is actually there and that it’s all functional before leaving the country.

Also be sure to double-check you have all the small but necessary items like cables, batteries, chargers, travel adaptors and memory cards. There’s nothing worse than discovering you have dead batteries and no charger in a location with limited pro-photo resources.

Don’t forget to pack properly for yourself, either: if you can, travel light and try to fit a week’s worth of clothing in one bag. But make sure you bring one nice shirt. You may be asked to dine with clients at some swank joint and that flannel might not cut it.

Two: Get all your documents in order

If you’re traveling outside the country with multiple cases of high-value photo or video equipment, it’s a good idea to obtain a carnet document (essentially a temporary “merchandise passport” for your equipment) to ensure you clear customs more easily and freely. These can be applied for online or at a carnet office, though in most cases the producer or studio manager will handle this process and all you’ll need to to do is to provide the serial numbers off each piece of equipment you’re working with. Obtaining a carnet might be a pain in the ass, but traveling with it makes hauling equipment from country to country a lot less dramatic.

Also ensure that have your personal travel documents in order: namely, a valid passport and the requisite visas needed for the country you’re traveling to. Double-check that you’re in possession of a valid driver’s license, as you’ll need it for identification purposes (and chances are you’ll need to drive).

Three: Back up everything

Backing up images should already be standard practice as a photo assistant or digital tech, but due to the high risk of digital media getting lost in transit (I’ve had bags stolen before; particularly common when it appears you’re traveling with expensive equipment), you have to get OCD-like about protecting your files when traveling. As a rule, I personally give the photographer a hard drive of the images taken on the job, and I take an additional hard drive myself which I carry on. I also FedEx one back-up hard drive of images to the photographer’s address before leaving the location. At least if the plane goes down, the job can still be delivered on time!

Four: Pack plastic

In a perfect world, you won’t have to pay for anything – and you shouldn’t. But in reality, you might need to put up small amounts of cash for cabs, excess baggage, some meals or to cover incidentals at a hotel. That said, carrying a credit card is useful. Once the job wraps, you’re entitled to get all these excess travel-related expenses reimbursed – including international roaming charges on your cellphone – so keep all of your receipts and records and ensure you can justify all the expenses you’re claiming. (For more information on invoicing and billing on any job, see my previous post.

Five: Get sleep!

Long work days coupled with jet lag and a fast-paced, high-pressure environment aren’t so great for your general well being. It also doesn’t help that you’ll often have dinner after the shoot with the photographer, crew and sometimes clients, and are tempted (or obligated) to stay out for a drink or hit the town. Though it’s important, necessary even, to socialize with your crew and explore a new city, know and respect your limits. Get back to your hotel room at a decent hour and try to get at least six hours of sleep – seriously. You’ll feel better, perform better and get booked on international jobs as a result.

If you have any other tips or questions on traveling as a photo assistant, feel free to comment below or get discussion flowing on the Photo Assistants’ Association Facebook page.

© Corey Rich Productions
© Corey Rich Productions

The Most Important People To Photograph Are Those Without A Voice

Perhaps the most important people that I should photograph are the people who don’t have a voice. And I think that that’s the message of the day. That’s the most honorable thing to aspire to. To be able to give someone the chance to express themselves, to tell their story on a platform that they would never normally get. And in doing so, that platform shifts how we see the times that we are living in. So that really is my mission.

via A Conversation with Platon | New Republic.

Vogue/Condé Nast Contest Attempts To Secure Free Images For Unlimited Use

From an ASMP press release:

ASMP, joined by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), American Photographic Artists (APA), the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA), Graphic Artists Guild (GAG) and North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA), is concerned about the terms and conditions of a contest announced by Vogue, a Condé Nast publication, entitled the New Exposure Photography Competition, Presented by Bottega Veneta. This contest, which is targeted at students and emerging photographers, appears to be an effort to secure thousands of free images for unlimited use in publications and in advertising. For this reason, we believe this contest exploits photographers and we strongly caution everyone to carefully review and understand all the terms and conditions along with the rights they are surrendering before entering any competition.

The core problems we see are that:

  • The sponsors have the perpetual, unlimited use of all contest entries.
  • There is neither compensation for contest participants nor is there credit given for their work.
  • Participants are required to sign a liability release and copyright assignment, and to indemnify Botega Veneta and Condé Nast against any lawsuits that may arise as a result of the usage of the photographs.
  • Every entrant is required to waive any right to sue in the event of misuse of the photographs entered.
  • The winner is being offered $10,000 for a shoot that would normally command several times that amount. The winner will be required to grant copyright ownership of all photographs from the shoot.

 

We believe that while competitions can serve a purpose within your business plan and potentially give your work significant visibility, there are a number of issues to consider before you enter. For more information about the terms, conditions and issues for Photography Competitions, go here.

 

Retailers have a moral obligation to ban the airbrush

The airbrush backlash is now well underway as Debenhams announces a ban on all retouched lingerie model shots.

The high-street department store puts and end to such images as they ‘want to help customers feel confident about their figures without bombarding them with unattainable body images’.

via Mail Online.

Beyoncé photos spark press-PR feud

Since Buzzfeed published shots of the star that her publicist didn’t like, her PR squad stopped issuing press passes to photojournalists to tour dates, and instead has required news organizations to register with them for access to pictures taken by the tour’s official photographer. They’ve also contacted media outlets like Buzzfeed to request that certain photos be removed.

The strategy hasn’t worked too well for Beyoncé; news outlets, frustrated about the limitations on their photographers, have used the original offending photos, from Beyoncé’s Super Bowl halftime show, in lieu of the provided photos.

via Poynter..

Is There Still Hope For Newspapers? David Simon Of The Wire Thinks So

Jonathan, sent me a link to David Simon’s blog awhile back and in the comments of the introduction he gets into a debate with someone about the future of newspapers. I know he’s right about the problem and solution, and despite the occasional idiotic moves by clueless investor/owners the industry will rise from the ashes soon. (I would not bet against Buffett on this.)

The media landscape has indeed changed and is still changing, and honestly, you’re missing it.

Yes, in the past, circulation didn’t support the paper — it was a loss leader. Advertising revenues supported the paper. Why? Because of the costs of circulation: Newsprint, presses, pressmen, trucks, gas, etc. It cost money to get a newspaper to a doorstep, regardless of how much coin you could charge for the product.

But now? Take a long breath and think about it.

Now, for the first time in the history of prose journalism, every paid subscription to a newspaper operating with a paywall is pure profit, save for the static costs of maintaining the digital website. The world has flipped and slowly, belatedly, the newspaper industry is realizing it. In fact, the reason the industry leaders failed to see it for too long was that they were wedded — as you are still wedded — to the model in which advertising with the god of revenue and circulation was the loss leader. But that isn’t true digitally. Now the future of journalism lies in paywalls and a paid circulation base. Now digital advertising can’t command sufficient rates to support first-rate journalism. (You’re wrong about that, too. Digital advertising on free webpages can only command pennies on the dollar of the print ad rates that once sustained journalism.) But digital circulation can sustain such an enterprise. And is doing so: The New York Times goes to a paywall and now has 700,000 paid subscriptions, and on the strength of that figure is being upgraded by Wall Street analysts. Next quarter they will be back in the black for the first time in many a year.

People always paid to have the paper come to their doorstep. Eventually, they’ll pay to have it available on their digital devices. As they are doing with the NYT. And the Wall Street Journal. And the FT. And even some regional papers and chains are now experimenting. Would it have been easier if they had not let the horse out of the barn for a decade or more? If they hadn’t eviscerated themselves in cost-cutting and ushered so much talent and content out of the newsrooms? Of course.

But they did and now the only road back is to nuture the paid subscription model and use revenues to reinvest in the coverage that people want and can’t get otherwise. And digital subscription revenue — which is now profit, not a loss leader as it was in the days of newsprint — will sustain the news-gathering function of a professional newsroom. The NYT at the top of the foodchain is proving it and most every other newspaper chain in the country is either following them or preparing to do so. This is the end of the beginning of a very dark and misplayed era for professional journalism.

Do the research. You’ll see that your argument is about two years behind the actual trend in the industry. Kind of embarrassing when you label people as Old Media and New Media, but then you go on to miscalculate your argument based on an Old Media model that no longer actually applies.

Then in a follow up comment

Every major newspaper chain — every single one — is now planning to eventually maintain paywalls. Again, it is end of the beginning.

You are used to a world that is unsustainable. News organizations have realized they must find a way to create a revenue stream through digitized delivery, and they are engaged in doing so. Your ability to get the best journalism for free is going to become less and less and at some point, if you want to have professional journalism, you’ll pay $10 or $15 or $20 a month for it. As readers did when it landed on their doorsteps every day.

And if the industry really gets their shit together down the road, it will get to the point where you’ll sign up with a consortium for digital access to your choice of various national, regional and local media. As with your cable bill. You want the NYT and the local regional paper and SI.com or ESPN and the WSJ, check those boxes and send the monthly bill. Sound crazy? Don’t see why it would be. We all once got television for free. Eventually, they ran the cable into our homes and now we spend $40 or $50 or $100 a month for television. And that revenue supports a multitude of programming that didn’t exist a couple generations ago. Same thing can happen with journalism. But job one is having the major papers get behind the paywall.

Read it all here: David Simon | Introduction.

The Photographers Who Reach Out To Me On A Regular Basis Get The Jobs

My whole philosophy on hiring people is: I need to meet you. I need to know what type of person you are (even if it is just for 5 minutes). I may already know what you shoot and your work, but as soon as I meet you/we make a connection, you get added to my consideration list.  Some photographers I’ve met share recent projects with me and others just check in with me every once in awhile. Either way, I know that person is going to follow through on a lot of things and that is important to me when I hire a photographer.

via Sasha Carillo, Creative Planner and Art Producer at Davis Elen advertising in Los Angeles.