This Week In Photography Books – David LaChapelle

by Jonathan Blaustein

Taste is fickle. We all think we have good taste, but of course that’s impossible. Some of us are chic, and others display ceramic frogs around their home.

I’m more attuned to the dichotomy than most. Taos, where I live, is famed as an art outpost at the edge of nowhere. We used to have Agnes Martin, Ken Price, and Dennis Hopper, but they’re all dead now. Bummer.

Instead, in the 80’s and 90’s, the Taos art scene began to cater directly to the hordes of moneyed Texan and Oklahoman tourists that drove into town with regularity. Big trucks, big checkbooks, questionable taste. The result was a glut of “art galleries” that each tried to outdo the others with uninspired, gaudy Southwestern art.

If you like bad paintings of cowboys, indians, flowers, teepees, mountains, horses and hollyhocks, this is your kind of place. If, like me, you try to make and look at intellectually challenging work, then you’re probably better served elsewhere. I hate to be harsh, but it is what it is.

Sometimes, though, bad taste can be accepted within the realm of high art. We’re all familiar with kitsch, but I suppose it’s difficult to define. You know it when you see it, like porn. Some things are so cheesy or tacky that you like them in spite of yourself. (Like Billy the Badmouth Bass crooning “Don’t Worry Be Happy” every time you touch the button.)

I’ve got all this in mind, as I just put down a copy of David LaChapelle’s big new monograph, “Thus Spoke LaChapelle,” published in conjunction with an exhibition in Prague. (Yes, I know I ought not pick on the Eastern Europeans again. But I saw more silly mustaches and tacky vinyl siding while living in Polish Greenpoint, Brooklyn than I care to remember.)

David LaChapelle is a super-famous photographer, and you’ve probably already got you mind made up about him. As my knowledge base skews towards the art world, rather and editorial, I knew him as some dude who makes crazy, opulent photos, and who also sued Rhianna. (My goodness she’s beautiful.)

But I didn’t have a microfiche catalogue of his work in my head. Not at all. So I was pleasantly surprised to see this book, filled to the brim with celebrities, hookers, models, fake boobs, fake butts, jutting penises, and tons of campy, gay-themed silliness. Let me be clear: this is a big book, so there is more bad taste than a gas-guzzling RV from Texas towing a Hummer off the back. (Yes, I see them all the time.)

I’d rather not get into too many details here, because there’s too much to discuss. The famous people are there, and boy did he make Courtney Love and Michael Jackson look bonkers. But David Bowie is hip, Uma Thurman is radiant, and he even got Daniel Day-Lewis to do something strange. (Just imagine that set, if it was in the actor’s Bill the Butcher phase. “Uh, Mr. Lewis, we’d like you to rub a pomegranate all over your face. And if you’re planning to stab anybody, please avoid the vital organs.”)

There are some terrible photos in this book, and some photos that are terrible in a good way. (In fairness, some of the celeb pictures are good without being bad at all.) It’s big enough that you’re likely to find some you love, and some that shock you with audacity. Surprisingly, near the end, we see the series of images, represented on the cover, of people photographed while submerged in water. They’re well made, powerful, interesting, and subtle. If you didn’t know who made them, you’d probably just assume they came from the mind of a talented, less crazy artist.

Bottom line: Crazy monograph, famous photographer, famous subjects

To purchase Thus Spoke LaChapelle 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.

 

Still Images in Great Advertising- Jason Madara

Still Images In Great Advertising, is a column where Suzanne Sease discovers great advertising images and then speaks with the photographers about it.

Suzanne: Since my father was an architect, I have always had a love for architecture. I grew up in an older neighborhood in Baltimore with houses from 1880’s so I have loved incredible details in interiors. I think that is why I was so attached to this advertising campaign for ABC Carpet & Home. The colors, the details and the lighting are amazing and then it draws you in and see the carpets on the floor. I think this is an elegant campaign and I reached out to Carol Alda at Bernstein & Andriulli about the project and to reach out to Jason Madara the photographer on the campaign.

Suzanne: I look at your interior work a lot but I wonder if you were considered for this project because of the portraits in interiors that you did for GQ and the woman sitting in the chair with the pink curtains. What are your thoughts on what got the art directors eye?

Jason: I recently asked the art director at ABC, Angela Gruszka, that very question, and because I do shoot everything, I was curious as to what portion of my portfolio appealed to her for this project. She said she wanted a photographer with a good sense of light, depth and dimension to balance the wild kaleidoscopes of color she wanted to create in the ads. There wasn’t just one image in my book that spoke to her – she trusted me to create something beautiful and memorable out of essentially empty rooms. She wanted the final images to be painterly: rich in color and mood.

Suzanne: I read in your bio that you were raised in a visual arts family, does that help you when you are shooting an interior or a figure in an interior? Do you look at the entire scene and how it plays visually?

Jason: My upbringing has absolutely inspired me and the work that I do, and how I approach each job. My father has been in the music business for the past 50 years, and music has always been in my life and a huge inspiration for how I see the world. My mother comes from a broadcast production background and she taught me about the business side of commercial art. Because of this I started out having a good understanding of how to manage a production from A-Z. My stepfather comes from the fine art and commercial side of advertising. He taught me about contemporary photography, and opened up a world I never knew or learned in school. Because of these three people I learned how to be conceptual, how to be inspired and how to put it all together. It was truly the perfect storm!

So to answer your question, yes, when I approach an interior or a person in an interior, I look to what I learned through my years of living in other countries, studying contemporary art, traveling, and inspirations way beyond photography. For the ABC project, I wanted the light and color to play off each other, and to create an image that felt more like a painting.

Suzanne: Tell me about the rooms that you shot. Where are they and how much additional prep did you all have to do before the shoot?

Jason: When ABC contacted me about this job, they showed me scout images of an old house located in Hudson, NY. They also provided examples of the rugs they wanted to shoot there. We talked about the quality of light and looked at some of my work for the direction, mood and feel of how we would do it.

Apparently no one had lived there for years, but the last tenant had painted all the walls the colors that you see today. After years of decay it started to break apart. Amazingly, we didn’t do any prep aside from a tech scout the day we arrived. Angela Gruszka from ABC had a solid idea of which colors she wanted in each room and the rest was about the balance of natural light vs. artificial light, composition, and approach to showcase the rugs, but also showcase the environment – it was a delicate balance of everything. I didn’t want one particular image to be my favorite – I wanted to love all of them, but for different reasons.

We shot for two days and did four shots a day, starting with one key light. I just slowly added light by light until we got to a place we all loved. After the shoot, I flew back to San Francisco and started the post-production with my retoucher, Rebecca Bausher of Pixel Chick. We retouched the images individually over the next six months as they launched the ads, making sure that each image was exactly like the one before in quality, color, balance, and mood.

Suzanne: I love that you have multiple categories that most folks wouldn’t put on one website but they all work together well. It seems like the Europeans can do it so it nice to see you doing it here in the States. What advice can you give to photographers who want to work multiple categories but people say don’t do it.

Jason: I get this question a lot, and it seems to be a scary thing for most – the idea of showing different kinds of work in one portfolio. I never understood why so many in the industry advise photographers to only focus on one thing. There seems to be the perception in the domestic market that clients need the security of knowing their photographer is a specialized “portrait guy” or landscape shooter. I believe this is shifting. I think most photographers want to and do shoot many types of subject matter – they just aren’t marketing it all. It becomes their personal work. I think the key to making the multiple categories work is creating a consistent visual identity. There should be a continuity in the quality of light, color, and mood, no matter what you’re shooting. I’ve spent the last 15 years playing with and developing that cohesion. Portrait, landscape, interior, still life- I never really saw the difference. Every image is about light and composition, it doesn’t matter what it is. The goal for me is to keep the mood and color the same.

The advice I have for other photographers is simple: if you love something, then do it. Just don’t change who you are because the subject or environment changes – try to keep the same vision for whatever it is you photograph.

Note: Content for Still Images In Great Advertising is found. Submissions are not accepted.

Raised in Los Angeles by a music, film, and a visual arts family, Jason Madara’s cinematic vision of the world was instilled long before he ever picked up a camera. Growing up as a silent observer on sets and in studios, the world in front of him was in a constant state of storytelling: high in raw emotion and drama. As a photographer, Madara continues to capture moments as performances – alive and visceral in their stillness.

Formally trained at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara and professionally practiced across the globe, Madara’s deft balance of lightness and darkness brings beauty and tension to glimpses both ordinary and extraordinary. Madara credits the depth of emotion in his work to his wife and daughter, who constantly inspire him to unveil the complex sweetness, fragility, and power of the human state and natural environment.

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.

The New York Times Magazine: Photographs edited by Kathy Ryan

It’s just past the time of the year when everyone has posted their favorite photography books from 2012 and I thought I’d get in on the action, but because I’m very edgy I’m picking a book from 2011. Ok, actually I bought it last year intending to write about it, but my motivation left me somewhere along the way (almost didn’t do it again). My pick for for a timeless book everyone should own is The New York Times Magazine: Photographs edited by Kathy Ryan.

If you’re a fan of editorial photography, you know that The New York Times Magazine is the gold standard. This is not because they have their pick of photographers or because they publish weekly and have lots of assignments to hand out or because they’re not sold on newsstands so they don’t have to do many of the stupid things other magazines do to hit promised circulation numbers. All good reasons but no that’s not it. It’s because Kathy and crew swing for the fences with their pairings. They pair ambitious projects with ambitious photographers. They pair subject with a photographers particular experience and interest. Like a sommelier in the editorial department, they know it’s the chemistry between subject and photographer that makes incredible, memorable, home run photography.

This would be a great book if they simply picked the best photography from the last 33 years of the magazine and shipped it off to the printer. What makes it incredible and a valuable resource for anyone in the photography business is the commentary that accompanies nearly every image. The photographer, the subject, or one of the photo editors gives anecdotes about the subject, the shoot and even the circumstances surrounding the assignment. For me, it was like being in the photo department at The New York Times Magazine. An incredible treat for someone who loves magazine photography. If you’ve spent your career looking at photography like this, you will pick up the subtle difference when a great pairing is made.

Here’s a sample:

RICHARD BURBRIDGE
Author Tom Wolfe. Frome “Wolfe’s World,” published October 31, 2004.

For me, Tom Wolfe’s eccentricity is wonderfully expressed in this picture, by that crazy smile. He was charming. I thing that, above else, Tom Wolfe wis absolutely charming. And when I was equally charming, he was more charming. I like a portrait session to last ten minutes. When it goes past ten minutes, I’m in trouble, of something strange is happening. Because my photo-shoots are uncomfortable for most people. — RICARD BURBRIDGE

DAN WINTERS
Filmmaker Spike Jonze. From “Spike Jonze’s Wild Ride,” published September 2, 2009 (cover image)
I have to say, Dan was pretty patient with my back-seat driving. I definitely had opinions on what the photos should be. I think he has an ego as a photographer, in that he wants to make something he is connected to, but not so much so that he doesn’t also want the photo to represent the person. —SPIKE JONZE

NAN GOLDIN
Artist Kiki Smith. From t”The intuitionist,” published November 5, 2006.

Sometimes the slightly out-of-focus image is the one to go with. To me, this image is absolutely alive. It just breathes. And that celestial blue light brings to mind the hues and spirituality of Giotto. Goldin is a defining photographer of our time, who skips back a couple of centuries for her inspiration. — K.R.

GUEORGUI PINKHASSOV
Petlyura’s artists’s squat in Moscow. From “Young Russia’s Defiant Decadence,” published July 18, 1993

Gueorgui Pinkhassov says that he doesn’t have a particular intention when he is photographing; he is interested in something he doesn’t know. When he is shooting, he ignores the action and concentrates on the movement and intersection of purely visual elements–line, form, light. “Don’t be afraid to take bad pictures,” he says, “because good pictures are the mistakes of the bad pictures.” In this photograph, there are four separate actions that all weave together: one person lifts a cigarette, one tosses a ball, the dog looks on, and the Lenin-like figure drops the flag to the ground. For Pinkhassov, life is really like a tapestry—he’s never shooting just one thing, there are often several things happening simultaneously. –K.R.

Reining In Paparazzi Clashes With The Rights Of A Free Press

As unsavory as the paparazzi may be, it’s fairly difficult to craft a law aimed at reining them in that doesn’t clash with the rights of a free press as laid out in the U.S. Constitution. The best way to cope with this issue is not by passing new laws that target photojournalists but by more aggressively enforcing existing laws against driving too close, speeding, trespassing — and jaywalking. Judge Thomas Rubinson, who ruled that the 2010 law was too broad, suggested that lawmakers could have just increased the penalties for reckless driving.

via Reckless photography – latimes.com.

Overexposed: A Photographer’s War With PTSD

“Covering the war used to make me feel like I was doing something important,” Gilbertson wrote in the weeks following his embed with the Kurds. “I have grown to accept that people will not stop dying because I take their pictures.”

via The Atlantic.

Introducing: The Agent List

When I worked as a Photo Editor I kept a list of agents on a piece of paper along with several pages of photographers I had worked with or wanted to work with. When it came time to find photographers to go with stories that were assigned I would sit at the computer and google everyone I thought might be a good match.

When I started this blog I published my agent list here. It became one of the most popular posts, because people found a curated list of agents useful and you could simply click the links instead of googling. Now, 5 years later it’s time for a new list.

I enlisted the help of Brittain Stone a former colleague at Wenner Media and former DOP at US Weekly. We wanted to make a comprehensive list of agents world wide that was searchable by location and genre of photography. I should have expected that Brittain would scour the earth looking for agents, but I was shocked when he came up with 630 of them. Then he went through and tagged all the entries by location and genre of photography. A ton of work, but now we have something very useful.

We included a few other features like the ability for agents to claim their listing and make adjustments or create a new listing we can approve. Also, if an agent represents stylists, hair and other talent we listed those as well. Another feature I’m really excited about is the links to twitter, facebook and a blog on each listing. Personally, I think this is the best way to keep up with someone you’re interested in working with.

Ok, that’s it for now. There will be more to come if people find it as useful. Questions can be directed at Brittain (brittain@theagentlist.com). You can check out the new list here:
http://theagentlist.com

It’s Early Innings For Digital Pictures

…my belief is that we are still in the early innings of this digital photography craze, so if you’re tired of the meme, brace yourself because it will take years to unfold, and if you’re excited about this future, it’s a great time to get your hands dirty.

via TechCrunch.

A Short Lesson in Perspective

1. The creative industry operates largely by holding ‘creative’ people ransom to their own self-image, precarious sense of self-worth, and fragile – if occasionally out of control ego. We tend to set ourselves impossibly high standards, and are invariably our own toughest critics. Satisfying our own lofty demands is usually a lot harder than appeasing any client, who in my experience tend to have disappointingly low expectations. Most artists and designers I know would rather work all night than turn in a sub-standard job. It is a universal truth that all artists think they a frauds and charlatans, and live in constant fear of being exposed. We believe by working harder than anyone else we can evaded detection. The bean-counters rumbled this centuries ago and have been profitably exploiting this weakness ever since. You don’t have to drive creative folk like most workers. They drive themselves. Just wind ‘em up and let ‘em go.

2. Truly creative people tend not to be motivated by money. That’s why so few of us have any. The riches we crave are acknowledgment and appreciation of the ideas that we have and the things that we make. A simple but sincere “That’s quite good.” from someone who’s opinion we respect (usually a fellow artisan) is worth infinitely more than any pay-rise or bonus. Again, our industry masters cleverly exploit this insecurity and vanity by offering glamorous but worthless trinkets and elaborately staged award schemes to keep the artists focused and motivated. Like so many demented magpies we flock around the shiny things and would peck each others eyes out to have more than anyone else. Handing out the odd gold statuette is a whole lot cheaper than dishing out stock certificates or board seats.

3. The compulsion to create is unstoppable. It’s a need that has to be filled. I’ve barely ‘worked’ in any meaningful way for half a year, but every day I find myself driven to ‘make’ something. Take photographs. Draw. Write. Make bad music. It’s just an itch than needs to be scratched. Apart from the occasional severed ear or descent into fecal-eating dementia the creative impulse is mostly little more than a quaint eccentricity. But introduce this mostly benign neurosis into a commercial context.. well that way, my friends lies misery and madness.

This hybridisation of the arts and business is nothing new of course – it’s been going on for centuries – but they have always been uncomfortable bed-fellows. But even artists have to eat, and the fuel of commerce and industry is innovation and novelty. Hey! Let’s trade. “Will work for food!” as the street-beggars sign says.

This Faustian pact has been the undoing of many great artists, many more journeymen and more than a few of my good friends. Add to this volatile mixture the powerful accelerant of emerging digital technology and all hell breaks loose. What I have witnessed happening in the last twenty years is the aesthetic equivalent of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. The wholesale industrialization and mechanistation of the creative process. Our ad agencies, design groups, film and music studios have gone from being cottage industries and guilds of craftsmen and women, essentially unchanged from the middle-ages, to dark sattanic mills of mass production. Ideas themselves have become just another disposable commodity to be supplied to order by the lowest bidder. As soon as they figure out a way of outsourcing thinking to China they won’t think twice. Believe me.

So where does that leave the artists and artisans? Well, up a watercolour of shit creek without a painbrush. That one thing that we prize and value above all else – the idea –  turns out to be just another plastic gizmo or widget to be touted and traded. And to add insult to injury we now have to create them not in our own tine, but according to the quota and the production schedule. “We need six concepts to show the client first thing in the morning, he’s going on holiday. Don’t waste too much time on them though, it’s only meeting-fodder. He’s only paying for one so they don’t all have to be good, just knock something up. You know the drill. Oh, and one more thing. His favourite color is green. Rightho! See you in the morning then… I’m off to the Groucho Club.”

–Linds Redding, a former Saatchi and BBDO art director, died of Cancer in October age 52.

“Power down. Lock up and go home and kiss your wife and kids.”

Read more of: “A Short Lesson in Perspective”.

Still Images in Great Advertising- Philip Rostron

Still Images In Great Advertising, is a column where Suzanne Sease discovers great advertising images and then speaks with the photographers about it.


I came across this ad for Mercedes Benz shot by Philip Rostron instilproductions.com and thought this was the perfect ad to feature this week. Happy Holidays to all and safe travels. Here’s to 2013! May it brings you all things great!

Suzanne: I was surprised you were able to get Santa Claus as the talent for this campaign. So I would assume you are on the nice list?

Does blackmail disqualify me from the nice list? I may have persuaded Mr. Claus to participate in the campaign through, shall we say, unorthodox methods involving a black envelope – the contents of which will remain undisclosed, but, would put Santa on the naughty list.

Suzanne: I was an art buyer for Mercedes and the cost consultants were really tough. How were able to get them to approve talent coming from The North Pole?

Thankfully Mr. Claus was able to take care of his own airfare. We just had to pay for the fuel… 75lbs of oats, 50lbs of apples, and 25lbs of carrots.

Suzanne: Besides having a animal wrangler, did you have to hire a special clean up person?

We were able to convince Santa to spare a couple of elves. It’s a little known fact that elves are equally good with a poop scoop as they are with their tools. It did require some tough negotiating though, seeing as it is their busiest time of year. I didn’t want to pull out the black envelope again in fear of being placed permanently on the naughty list; instead, I bribed him with rum and eggnog and double chocolate chunk cookies.

Suzanne: I see Rudolph was not at the shoot, was this because Santa wanted him to rest for the Big Night since he does guide the sleigh?

I don’t want to ‘claus’ alarm here, but I overheard Donner and Blitzer snickering about Rudolph getting injured while training for the 2013 Reindeer Games. I hear Rudolph takes the games very seriously, almost as seriously as leader of the sleigh. When I approached Santa to inquire about Rudolph’s condition, his publicist, Mrs. Claus, was quick to deny the rumors saying the reindeer still like to laugh and call him names.

Suzanne: Were you surprised that Santa was able to leave the workshop so close to the holidays? Do you think this is because he has all his elves working on all the gifts? I would assume he had to check in with them several times during the shoot?

I’ll simply say, I hope he has a good long distance plan.

Suzanne: Did Santa have special requests for craft services?

Mrs. Claus has him on a strict diet. He has to slim down if he’s going to fit down all of those chimneys. I may have slipped him a cookie or two… Mrs. Claus was busy dispelling the injured Rudolf rumours that had started to take flight.

Suzanne: I see on your website that you have done a lot of award winning ads, do you think this helped you secure such famous talent who doesn’t like to seen out in public?

The black envelope aside, it would be nice to think that my previous work and reputation also played a part in securing Mr. Claus’ appearance. I’m thankful of the creative ideas that are brought in to us from prestigious clients and visionary art directors and I’m as excited as a kid on Christmas morning to be able to actualize these ideas.

Suzanne: I think we should add on the question about Santa being on set with you that he had Hanukkah Harry supervising the elves!

Supposedly, Santa has Hanukkah Harry on elf supervising duties. It wasn’t his first choice, but the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy were both unavailable. I think
the majority of Santa’s phone calls were to check up on Harry rather than the elves. Harry keeps feeding the elves potato pancakes and those delicious deep fried donuts filled with jelly and tossed in icing sugar. It’s having a major effect on productivity, elves aren’t accustomed to all those fats and sugars, you know. I also overheard that Harry is distracting the elves by making them learn the lyrics to Ma’oz Tzur. Santa had to send Mrs. Claus back to the North Pole to relieve Hanukkah Harry and get the elves back on schedule.

Note: Content for Still Images In Great Advertising is found. Submissions are not accepted.

Philip Rostron, photographer and digital imager, is one of the leading commercial photographers at the forefront of the industry. Starting his career in his native country, England, Philip soon moved to Canada where he founded the Toronto- based production studio Instil Productions. Through his renowned creativity and backed by a dedicated team of imagers, assistants and producers, Philip and his company have developed a strong reputation across North America and Europe.

Praised for his collaborative approach and problem solving abilities, Philip delivers quality and exciting results that raise the bar for industry standards. With countless awards from Cannes Lions, D&AD Global, Communication Arts, New York Art Director Club, Marketing, London International’s and Clio. Philip’s work has been showcased in Lürzer’s Archive 200 Best photographers Worldwide for the past three years. Some of his clients include: Coca-Cola, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Molson Breweries, Olympus, Rogers, Sony, Tim Horton’s and World Wildlife Fund.

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.

I Just Don’t Understand Why You Cannot Ask Permission

I have really enjoyed using Instagram (although the recent upgrade deleted my favorite filter). I understand it is free and you must make money. I am actually fine with you using some of my images to make money. It is a fair trade. I just don’t understand why you cannot ask permission and do it all above board.

— George Lange

via LAST 10 MINUTES.

Why Enter Photography Contests?

I’ve been extremely fortunate recently. It hasn’t always been that way. I entered many a contest and didn’t win in my early years. At times I got discouraged, but it was a learning process. I studied what was winning, not to imitate, but to better understand our craft and good storytelling. Photo contests give me an opportunity to look at myself. To ask, “What have I done this past year?” It’s a chance to be introspective and analyze my work to help me make good decisions about creating better images and better stories.

— Craig F. Walker

More on NPPA.

Instagram Plans To Sell Your Photos Commercially Without Paying You

Instagram issued a new Terms of Service yesterday (here) that will allow the company to use your photos commercially without any compensation to you:

Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.

You have until January 16, 2013 to opt out and delete your account.

I also found this next part troubling:

posting and use of your Content on or through the Service does not violate, misappropriate or infringe on the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademark and/or other intellectual property rights; (iii) you agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owed by reason of Content you post on or through the Service;

Couple thoughts on this beyond the obvious WTF that many of you who use the service and sell images professionally will have.

According to Cnet, once the deadline has passed you’ve given them a license and irrevocable right to sell any images you’ve uploaded in perpetuity.

Facebook paid 1 billion dollars for Instagram which came out to be $30 per user. Selling everyone’s photos seems like an easy way to make all that money back.

At over 1 Billion images and counting, doesn’t this make Instagram the largest stock photo agency in the world?

Most companies require royalty free worldwide licenses to your images in order to display them on your account and move them around the world on their servers. This is the first time I’ve seen a license to display images commercially. It can’t possibly stand up to the anger they’re about to experience. On the other hand a billion dollars is a lot of money. This will get them there faster than anything else. Could this be a shift in “free” services who want multi-billion dollar valuations and exits for their investors? This could just be the beginning.

UPDATE: Statement from Kevin Systrom co-founder, Instagram (here)

The language we proposed also raised question about whether your photos can be part of an advertisement. We do not have plans for anything like this and because of that we’re going to remove the language that raised the question. Our main goal is to avoid things likes advertising banners you see in other apps that would hurt the Instagram user experience. Instead, we want to create meaningful ways to help you discover new and interesting accounts and content while building a self-sustaining business at the same time.
 

Copyright removal requests spike to 2.5 million per week

Google announced Tuesday that the number of requests it receives each week to remove links to allegedly infringing websites in its search results has grown ten-fold over the past six months.

When asked about the spike in take-down requests, a Google spokesperson said they believe some of the increase is from Google streamlining the process to submit requests, and also due in part to copyright owners using more sophisticated tools to identify piracy and send notices to Google.

via The Hill’s Hillicon Valley.

This Week In Photography Books – Itai Doron

by Jonathan Blaustein

It’s late at night, and very dark. The street lamps around you are half-broken. You could be anywhere in Eastern Europe. Let’s say it’s Warsaw.

The rain comes down, cold and painful. It’s half-frozen; not quite snow. The worst. You feel the wet chill deep in your bones, and the slick cobblestones beneath your feet. The tread on your boots is worn, so you have to walk less quickly than you might like. Is this neighborhood dangerous?

Up ahead, a shadow takes form. Just a person, walking in your direction. Nothing to worry about. Two blocks becomes one, and suddenly you can make out some details. It’s a white dude with a nose that’s been broken. He’s big. 6’2″? His jangly leather jacket is tight, so you can see that his muscles are enormous.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Do you feel threatened? Are you afraid of getting mugged? Or is your blood flowing for another reason? Is he cute? Does he look like he wants to hook up? Wait, what’s going on here?

Exactly what I was wondering when I looked at “Fifteen Minutes With You,” a new small hard-cover book by Itai Doron, from Omoplata in Japan. The jacket image, of a muscly white guy taking off his wife-beater while staring threatening daggers at the camera…that’s the gist of it. (Honest to god, I just wrote Ass instead of All as the first word of the next sentence I was about to write. Freudian slip.)

The whole book is a series of thuggish, Eastern European-looking white men, mostly half-naked. They’re taking off items of clothes, holding weapons, or punching, while wearing boxing gloves. What? There’s little overt nudity, just one butt at the end of the book.

But what the f-ck is going on here? The guys look like they want to beat the shit out of the photographer most of the time, but sometimes like they want to make out. As the eroticism is not meant for me, I find it ironic and campy and intelligent. Like images from some 1981 KGB-Christmas-calender-gone-wrong that got its maker dropped in the gulag. Forever.

The pictures are ambiguous and strange. There is no text, no explanation of who these guys are, or where, or why this whole book was published, for starters. Just these weird, thug-porn-meets-MMA-fighter-pseudo-documentary photographs. Only at the end do we get a title sheet, with the names, locations and dates. (Of course it’s Eastern Europe.)

Meager context, but that’s what makes the thing fascinating for me. From the minute I opened the cover, I was constantly trying to figure out the puzzle, while also thinking about all the weird ways that masculinity can be symbologized in 2012. So next time you bump into Miroslav from Bulgaria, keep an open mind.

Bottom Line: Weird, compelling, homo-erotic Polaroids

To Purchase “Fifteen Minutes With You” Visit Photo Eye

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

 

I Love The Smell Of Sepia Tone In The Morning

Over the past couple of days, both of these services [Flickr and Facebook] have pulled a move straight out of 2010: they launched new versions of their mobile apps with — get this — filters. Filters! These guys have millions of dollars and thousands of employees at their disposal and this is the kind of innovation they’re dicking around with.

Look, I love filters just as much as the next San Franciscan that is currently rocking a beard and drinking a soy latte. Share a photo of a tree in sepia tone and I will totally like the shit out of it. I may even comment — but only if you haven’t overdone the HDR.

via TechCrunch.