November 18, 2019

Street Photography A Stream of Consciousness

We look for the open expression, the subject allowing their inner feelings to project outward into a reality unconquered. The photographer welcomes this openness of thoughts and moves ever closer to the subject by positioning himself where their will be no details that will distract the photographic eye from the facial expressions of the subject, his clothes, her hair, their originality. 

A good photographer can have one subject and in the time it takes to create an image the subject could express a litany of expressions from happiness, anger, loss, guilt, resignation to a bad situation, tears the full gambit of emotions that expresses the inner/outer universe of our human lives. All these will be expressed and felt in a photograph. A click of the shutter, time passing onward, oh illusive time, but in the photograph taken time is frozen still, in their eyes the meaningful and elusive, a split second, the shutter captures a moment, in war, in a wedding, a friendship, happiness, guilt, anguish, handicapped, hateful, all the emotions of humanity captured in a millisecond and put into a frame, with that unique moment created as time moved on but not in the still image that is now present, jarred loose from the passing seconds, forever stagnant but with purpose yanked from its moorings and now stands free, alone just like the subject in their anguish and this stream of consciousness isolated, separated now forever from the persons physical presence, separated by the click of a shutter, a moment taken, irreversible taken from the subjects fluidity in physical space, this person’s time line abruptly stopped in that split second of seeing a possible composition by the photographer and then the subjects time begins again outside the frame as they move on and leave nothing of themselves only the impression on a digital file separated from their physical source, prior to the feeling expressed and taken from the person by the photographer now without the ability to change their frozen expression, this photographic reality, this image, is possible because of the infinite time we have to make images without a structured necessity, only our own rules of composition and exposure making it more a cutting away, like an artists sculpture, catching something from the person, her inner personality, more anger bottled up an extension of the person’s personality becoming her exterior unknown to her now until she sees herself through the photographers lens and realizes this is not her, it is someone else without a foundation of times motion in completing her expression instead this expression was in flux when the photographer broke through times unity, seeing into the photograph through her exterior emotions and in her facial expressions unclear, broken away from the next moment settling for an irrational revelation, something of her personality more unique, taken and this separation is an abstraction from her outer facade and is not representative of her internal self hidden under an accumulation of narratives tried on like used clothes and now caught in this moment an idyllic self acting a role for someone else’s entertainment looking back years from now at a picture taken without knowing the ending, a mystery puzzle now forgotten, it is what it is without change, a still life exposed to random views without a connection, alone in self without speech, without an explanation, a dutiful personality compromised and forever alone maybe in an album or in someones wallet, the perceiver and the perceived unified through technology and not seeing the ramifications of a new awareness in random exposures, a new feeling of capturing someone else’s moment without permission a new street revelation, a motion of the camera coming up to an eye moving on the street moving with the crowd or against the crowd an observer, a truth seeker, his purpose never planned always ready in anticipation, the old way, the random objects reflected in glass in front of the mannequin, the truth of the photograph doesn’t lie, it reports the details and leaves the impression of the scene for others to observe and feel their disconnection or connection with the subject, the independent scene a contrast of thoughts in characters acting their roles in physical space, without favor, without forethought, just now in the present, quickly push the shutter now! now! an objective vision trying to unmask the facade of faces as objects once hidden trying to turn away, we hide behind inner rage to get a glimpse of these special moments, under currents, under the skin glimpses of another character wanting to come out but forfeits the freedom of their expression, their purpose, something gritty and bleak with tears and in a reality that is truth without clothes, without a mask of happy spirits bubbling away supposedly ecstatic while underneath an impulse ready to act out in a street performance of violence, look at me I am alive but dead in your camera, once the image taken I no longer exist, do you understand this, I am in a new spacial dimension without escape my purpose now is to be observed by multiple eyes seeking my thoughts in a purpose never exposed I have no voice in the theater of a still life, the image maker always with his intuitive antenna up looking for that moment that begins and ends with the image taken and the subject forever reborn and placed in a photo album or book for the dead in heart will inherit this menagerie of sinful natures, for the truth of our existence is this, we are inner beings with an outer shell, purposely disguised as someone else that hides their emotions from the prying thoughtful eyes of others, the camera always ready to expose an inner truth through outer materialization, the photographer takes from the street an image, the subjects likeness and applies this dubious foundation to ascertain the realness of the expression or the middle finger being presented in front of the violent facial features an anonymous photograph behind the persons dramatic features and an image is still-life enhancing ones selective ambition to inside the moving target, feeling their inner vibes unknown unexpected the photographer grasps a scene beginning to develop not with tricks but patience a subtle plausible reasoning of our being aware of ones surroundings, knowing the alleyways, the corners to go through or stay hidden in doorways waiting for that inkling of personality that will pass, always seeking an uncomfortable representation of yourself in others but only their outer shell that gives a simple clue to their nature and how we should respond in apathy, without emotion at our first encounter, a test of the other’s performance, now we must listen to the frivolous sounds of a camera clicking away at everything and anyone seeking to unmasked them and we find in the infinite void of our dual reality an emptiness in the photograph even though presented with a knowing power, a godlike power to take from spacial sequencing an absence of expression, an appearance coming to life with deliberate agonizing features, yelling obscenities, knowing that the camera demands truth in a suggestive cloak as one parades in circles down a busy sidewalk that expresses and commands something within, an inner journey maybe saved, as the people separate and give space to a spectacle of someone else’s truth, all is blank until details show in the scene a possibility of composition waiting for the right appearance, one seeks their hidden persona, the detail that illuminates the inner vibes you feel that this is a truth worth investigating to follow your instinct with emotion of details forging a possibility in the mind of the photographer their physical presence exploited as high art but not in an excessive selfish ego’s brute force but as a person who roams the streets looking to repeat a play for anyone moving in currents of deceptions, he chooses compositions through intuition, he never takes his eyes off the faces reflected in dirty windows always perceiving his visibility and exploiting the deceptive convergence of details excited to play their part, the betrayal of someones surface gleam for once in awhile one clicks the shutter at that moment when the pedestrian is himself and we can apprehend through the image made a depth of expression that exists through the photographers mind, who never once looked outside himself for inspiration and visual content worthy of his interest, his perception entirely his, externalized.

November 17, 2019

Is Photography Still An Art Form? 

Photography can still be a great art form if one approaches the subject with respect, openness and a unique vision.

Photography is an expression of an intimate moment between photographer and subject.

We live in moments strung together that create our past and future. If we become aware of our surroundings within our unique moments we have a chance to create magnificent realities on a two demential platform.

We express ourselves in obnoxious ways and we express ourselves in quite ways. 

These quiet moments allow us to think before we begin searching the exterior reality for an image we sense is present.

We have to become part of the image reality we are studying, an extension of ourselves made visible through the details we decide to choose that will enhance our visual insight present in the scene before us that represents an importance to our inner intuitive consciousness that is beginning to form a composition in the continuous flux of light as the photographer begins to solidify his composition.

Photography is an art form with many dimensions. Many avenues of study and learning opportunities. If we seek to make great imagery then we need to let go of the preconditioning of thoughts we were raised by and just see life through an open mind. A mind willing to take chances with light, composition and exposure. You must be your unique self studying the landscape searching for that image you feel is present. 

Photography is an expression of moments in time, in a physical space we occupy in constant flux. If we only focus on the surface details then we have abandoned our artistic insights of deeper emotions, and ignore the scene evolving, changing and giving the photographer 1000s of possibilities that he will have to edit down in order to find those details that will be the corner stone of his visual foundation, setting the stage for that landscape that will not only express his inner perception through the nuances of light but also be a revelation to the viewer of his personal artistic expression.

Photography sees behind the facades of an empty life, a reality dimmed because of the control we assume we must have over ourselves to conform to a certain standard of behavior and then snap images in the present through those restrictions without understanding the infinity of moments before the shutter should be pressed. Patience is the first step in becoming a photographer, without patience you will be part of the herd mentality always moving forward, backward, sideways, down never toward your intuitive photographic expression.

We are trapped in our flesh and our physical space we live in. Our presence is transitory and as we age and change we accept our limitations and seek solace in our past when in fact we should be expecting, demanding a newness of vision, as we age in our individual history and we should be able to create a deeper understanding of our unique reality we are traveling through by increasing our power of awareness, our determination to expand our vision of ourselves through new, unique images. And become through our interior perceptions of our external physical space a rejuvenated expression of our selves through our photography.

We are physical beings that seek knowledge in the appearance of our surrounding and the forever changing realities we try to conquer. We need to ignore the pressure of the past. We mustn’t adapt to anything that limits our choices. We should always be seeking revelation of purpose and explore our inner world projecting ourselves and our photographic eye outward into the realm of infinite possibilities.

A moment in time is all a photographer needs to create a great image. Awareness of your surroundings, the angle of light through clouds and trees all must be taken into account before one can position himself/herself for the image creation.

The most important relationship between subject and photographer is respect and being in the right light.

November 12, 2019

Future Of Photography

In this unnerving future of photography it has become apparent that cliches are the new mantra of the photo agencies. When you look through the millions and millions of images on these stock agencies photo sites you don’t see originality but a redundant expression from a narrow herd mentality. Everything looks the same, happy people (actors) doing what they do in rooms of bright lights and staged props all for the chance to be put in an ad and gain some money. These actors will reap the benefit of payment for the time spent posing for the camera but will the photographer make the necessary money to break even. The answer to that is no, not when the photographer is getting 20% of the sale and the agencies take 80%. 

If you want to know one of the reasons why Royalty Free is a bad deal for the photographers that is one of them, the money split is taken by the powers that be and the photographer is left holding a few pennies.

The agencies will claim look, these RF sales will be multiple sales to many buyers not just one offs and you will reap the benefit of more money from RF than you would from Rights Managed. 

Very doubtful when you look at the buyers getting giddy over the usage of these repetitive boring subjects by paying the stock house a cheapened sum of cash while the photographers hard earned efforts gets the shaft. 

And because of RF the agency takes their 80% while cutting more editors and staff because lets be honest everything will be done electronically without the need for a human presence. 

There is nothing original in their subjects chosen and photographed, supposedly representing, according to the agency, real life. If we could live like these superficial stage performers we would be as far away from real life we live now. Poverty, crime, racism, anguish, health issues,… and yet the agencies try and sell us photos that are supposed to make us believe that these are real households and real people. Right, I have some mountain view property in Florida I want to sell you. 

There is no realness in the images created, nothing that would suggest that these are intimate moments

between people that know each other, just paid actors acting a part trying to express real emotions in front of the camera.

There is no personality in the image creation, no connection with the subject, just a surface reflection of the same boring pictures we see time and time again in ads that are suppose to represent real people, in real life situations. These are not real people but actors posing for the product that is always forefront in the image. 

The redundant themes are now in place. Casual conversation with an expression of concern, love in the models eyes toward the actor playing a role, a smile, a laugh, never a tear, maybe a serious face of importance, but nothing original, the scripts are in place and the photo agencies are all playing the same tune, boring images without originality. 

Royalty Free is confusing but in one instance it is appropriate. Royalty Free for the photographers that took the image. 

Everyone chases the photographers dream to be seen as a great shooter, creating images of beauty and depth without the redundant cliches we see constantly in travel and people images. But everyone will eventually realize that photography today is not the photography of the past. There is so much images being snapped and then put online that for the stock shooter he/she will never reach the heights of their expectations. 

Sure their will be some good shooters that will try to be authentic in their approach to creating a realistic scene, a natural expression, an intimate moment. 

But the majority of images taken now are copycat imitations of already created images, a continual regurgitation of past shots where the subject is posed in shallow depth without originality. 

These images are not created out of love of nature or people but to exploit the external world for profit. 

All great images are made because the photographer took the time to know his subject. To explore the many facets of the subject habits and personalities and this guided the image creator to connect on a deeper, personal level with the person, place, or animal.  

Photography now is chasing the sameness of content, happy faces wearing the newest trend in clothes, hairstyle, makeup, props and phony expressions.

Honesty in todays stock horror show of repetitive trends is undermining originality and purpose in image creation.  

The old masters made images through their own inner vision and not a list of posed images to shoot by an agency that couldn't care less about the time and money spent making the requested images, all they want is more and more images to demean photography by making it a lost art, turning image creation into a commodity, a commercial enterprise for shareholders profit!  

The loss of caring about truth in image creation, assuming images are an honest view of a subject, is settling over us and eroding the meaning of the image, lessening our awareness of how to make unique expressions of our inner being.

This poser photography of snap and go as if you could really see the final subject in a split second of observation. 

We are diminished in our ability to present a subject in a new light, an authentic representation of a life we thought we knew.  

Great photography is not done in time’s movement, a great image is created when time stops for the photographer and his impressions of the scene developing before him unfolds slowly as he seeks a deeper understanding of the details of the burgeoning light that is revealing to him a new perspective that the image creator will use to express his intuition that is seeking answers to reveal a unique vision.

My advice to younger image creators is be true to yourself and create images you like and don’t rely on content briefs to trap you in an image box you can’t climb out of, use your own unique perspective to create images with purpose that express you inner world externalized for all to see.

November 11, 2019

Royalty Free Is Now The Standard 

Royalty Free is now the standard scam to sell a photographers hard earned efforts.

So Getty finally made an easy decision. They will eliminate Rights Managed (RM) imagery from their clients choices and finally put a dagger in the heart of a business model that protected photographers image uses and paid the photographer a nice fee for their efforts.

I feel that the paragraph that best summarizes why Getty eliminated RM imagery is this,

“Royalty Free (RF) imagery is now the preferred and dominant licensing model for our customers due to the simplicity, value and quality available. Licensing complexity has only led customers to other content and in many cases another provider, as the broader industry is now essentially a RF-only model.”

If we break down this paragraph we will see that Getty was being depleted of customers that were bypassing their web site and going to ShutterStock and Adobe Stock Image.

Their efforts in trying to make RM imagery work for them and the RM photographers one last time was a lost cause from the get go. I don’t believe they gave this “Market Freeze” enough time to work. They just wanted to have an excuse to fall back on if photographers started to complain. If this happened and I am sure it did they had a ready excuse to tell them, that this Market Freeze was the RM photographers last chance and it fizzled. I can’t remember right off hand when they began this approach to selling RM through Market Freeze, even the title of this new approach seems off kilter, by hiding Rights Managed Imagery on their site in a new RM downgrade, separating our RM images from their main goal of selling only RF images showed the photographers still shooting RM our time in the spotlight was long gone.  

After the limited time Market Freeze was supposedly up and running on the Getty site I would go on the site and look for my images. It took me many attempts, jumping through an assortment of categories that eventually would bring up my imagery but not all of them. If it took me this overwhelming amount time to just get to my images I am sure the customer/art director must have been so frustrated to the breaking point she/he just gave up, forget this BS, and either went to a different source or just went with how easy the access was with Royalty Free on the Getty sight. I don’t believe Market Freeze was up and running form more than 2-3 months.

What a great name for RM, Market Freeze. We are freezing out the Rights Managed photographers. They have already lost their life style to a royalty (payment) system degrading year after year as RF crept closer and closer, undermining the photographers control of over his image creations, like a rotten apple in a barrel of delicious apples, eroding any chance for a photographer to make a living creating photographs in the Right Managed market place. 

Back in the 80’s and early 90’s their was something called respect for the photographers and their efforts making great images for the market place and if a client paid for the rights of an image and then tried to extent that usage past a certain negotiated date then an extra fee was sent to the business and the photographer received an extra payment. 

I can remember when we heard the first inklings of this new business model called Royalty Free. What was it how did it work? As we learned more and more about it it turned our stomachs and made us sick. 

We couldn’t believe a photographer would give away his image creation for pennies on the dollar. And then have no rights to rebill the client if he used that image on another campaign. And now in this ever cheapening of image creation add the word Forever without any means for the photographer to be reimbursed for that extended usage is absolutely crazy.  

It is a new era of greed by the Photo Agencies who have abandoned common sense and have left the creators of imagery at the mercy of the market place. I believe Royalty Free is not royalty free for the agency but for the photographer who receives 20% of the sale. I can see why Getty wants to eliminate RM. It is harder to negotiate pricing and it takes a good editor

to see the potential of the images submitted. In the past we trusted our editors. They were our friends and we had continuous contact with them in getting ideas where to travel and ideas for shots. But a good editor always let the photographer choose his course when making his own personal expression, his photos. 

Our sales staff in the old days negotiated a fair price for the image, a 50/50 split between the Photographer and the Stock Photo Agency. We were on equal footing. And because of the openness of the agency with the photographer you felt inspired to travel and create the very best image possible, by waiting for the unique light that would enhance the subject and also the price of the photograph. 

I wonder if Getty’s move to exploit the photographers by migrating them over from RM to RF isn’t also a cost cutting measure by eliminating editing jobs. I thing we can safely say yes on that. For all the royalty free corporation brag about is the ease of selecting an image and then automatically buying it and using it without any restrictions. It is as easy as pie and oh yeah, cheap. 

Now with cell phones and digital cameras, everybody is a photographer and the billions of snap shots taken daily get posted or accepted into Royalty Free Corporation.  

And that is what they are corporations, with only one thing on their mind and that is profit. Not the photographers who go out of their way to create beautiful images but the bottom line, keeping the investors happy with a growing market share.

Photography isn’t for fun anymore, it is a giving away your image rights to people that couldn't care less about you and what you earn from your image creation. 

What you earn now is pennies on the dollar from your RF imagery. Oh yeah, you also get an ego boost from selling your image on the cheap! 

Tell me how does that feel!