Stella Kramer interviews (here) photographer Louie Psihoyos (spent 17 years traveling the world shooting for National Geographic) about his career and his new movie The Cove.
Any advice for new photographers?
The only advice I would have for a young still photographer would be to forget all advice and follow your passion with a passion. The Universe has a strange way of supporting lunatics like us that refuse to live inside the box.There is no box.
The film looks amazing:
Robert Michael Murray, the developer of emerging technology platforms for Georgetown University, the 2000 Democratic National Convention and a former tech liaison for multiple TV series, will be in charge of leveraging NG content throughout the new and emerging social media platforms.
via MinOnline.
Miki Johnson who runs the Resolve blog had a nice theme running all week called “after staff” (here). She interviewed and gathered advise from people who’ve either moved on or been laid off from a staff job. As a former staffer myself I can tell you… well, I’m not a good example because I worked with freelance photographers before getting a staff job and couldn’t wait to become a freelancer again some day. One thing that I remember clearly tho is that after many years of having a deadline each and every month, as a freelancer or independent business person you have an unending list of things to get done and no deadlines. That can be somewhat crushing and paralyzing to deal with.
Also, worth mentioning is a Q and A with Maren Levinson founder of Redeye Reps who offers more insight into the perpetual question, “how do photographers land agents?” I just received an email from an 18 year old photographer who said he’s ready to start finding one so here you go buddy: (One of the questions I hear most from photographers, whether they used to be staffers or not, is, “How do I get commercial jobs?” A close second is, “How do I find a commercial rep?”)
“All of my photographers would be successful without me, but hopefully I make things better– I’m a good collaborator, and I represent where they want to be going and the clients they hope to be in contact with.”
Photographers of all types listen up ! It is time to STOP hoarding all your “secret” information and START to share it ! I am very upset and disappointed in many photographers today because they think they are Gods gift to photography and that the technique and information they have is exclusive to them only. They think that they are the ones who invented the god dam light bulb and I am TIRED AND FED UP with that kind of thinking.
Check it on Jason Christopher’s Blog. Thx Wesley
“The Economist has launched a single copy subscription service in the U.K. that allows readers to order just one copy of the magazine for home delivery the next day. Readers can place an order online or via text message for a copy of the latest issue of the weekly publication. The cost of the delivered magazine is the same as the newsstand price.”
via MediaPost.
Seriously, American magazines (Anne Moore!?), wake the-f up. If that’s not enough, subscribers can listen to the latest issue on their ipod (the Economist read out aloud word for word by four or five posh sounding British newscasters). What the hell? I just subscribed to a magazine and was told it would take 4 – 6 weeks for the first issue to arrive.
There are no guarantees that if you work hard enough, or are talented enough, that you will be successful, be able to support yourself, or importantly, make a meaningful contribution to others. But in the meantime, if you are an artist, the art just comes – weather you like it or not- because you can’t stop it.
Ah bummer the perks at Condé are over. I used to love a good client lunch or wrap dinner. I suppose the thousand dollar sushi wrap dinner is out the window now.
…It used to be that on Monday mornings, the flower deliverymen would clog the elevators while they brought fresh bouquets for editors’ and publishers’ desks.
…“When a client wanted to go to get Japanese, you used to say, ‘Ooooh! We’ll go to Nobu!’ But it’s so outrageously expensive, now you have to think twice.”
…they would order takeout from Balthazar several times a week. Sandwiches, cheese plates, the works
…“I just found out today that we are on our last batch of Poland Spring,” said the source. “We won’t have any more after this. We have to start drinking tap water.”
Newspaper advertising sales are likely to bottom out after four straight years of decline in 2009, but they aren’t headed back to where they used to be, according to a new projection from Borrell Associates.
This is a cool video of a product shoot from start to finish that Peter Belanger posted on his blog (here). You even get to go into the Art Directors office and see him slap the cover lines on the thing. If you visit the macworld website (here) you can discover this appalling fact about magazine production “[We] design twelve initial cover variations, meet about those covers, design twelve more variations, and then pick our favorite.”
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it.
Found it on Art Produce.
A group led by the private-equity firm InterMedia Partners and InterMedia’s luxury magazine publisher, Uptown Media, has reached an agreement to acquire Vibe and its Web site. The new owners say they plan to relaunch Vibe.com in the next few weeks.
They intend to bring out the print edition only at the end of the year and then publish it quarterly rather than monthly, possibly increasing the frequency after 2010.
via– WSJ.com.
I think that magazines need to spend more time and effort on the distribution problem. The less time people spend around newsstands and the less there are of them means that they need to seek alternate ways to allow consumers to browse and buy a single copy of a magazine. Also, the inefficiency of shipping magazines all around the country in hopes that someone will pick one up seems like a place where you can save some cash as opposed to say, cutting your contributors fees. Maggwire is a new site where you can view magazine stories (from their websites) by topic and vote, comment on and share them. I like the idea of an aggregator that only deals in magazine content. Looks like a winner to me.
via, Mr. Magazine.
“Yes, the home-page story about the Hudson crash might get more clicks than some uniquely incisive analysis of the economy. But it also makes the home page more of a commodity and less of a brand. Paradoxical but true: It’s possible to post stories that make people who come to a web site more likely to click, yet may make them less likely to come back to the site, and certainly less likely to pay for it.”
“I’m 92 years old, and I’ve survived a lot of crises in photojournalism,” he said. “I find the present situation depressing, but I’m crazy enough to be hopeful. There have never been more images out there, and we need more help in sorting out all the information.”
John G. Morris, a former photo editor via NYTimes.com.
see you next week.
If you’re not following the action over on WTJ ? (here) it’s pretty exciting for those who love cycling and photography (beer, cured meats, naps and lots of logistical hurdles). Tomorrow is the big day. Can’t wait to see what happens.
Jonathan Adams sent me this:
A beautiful piece by Ohio U student Maisie Crow done as part of their Soul of Athens series.
She brings stills, video and audio together in such a simple and powerful way and tells a story that is probably all to common but you really never hear it told.
Yeah, the future is bright. So many great stories out there and young, ambitious, talented photographers ready to tackle them.
