AoP Student Awards 2011 - the winners!

It looks as if an excellent night was enjoyed by all at the Association of Photographers’ 2011 Student Awards ceremony. I’m gutted that I couldn’t make it. 2011 was the 30th anniversary of the competition and the entrants did themselves proud across the four categories – portraiture & lifestyle, fashion & beauty, still life, and landscape, exteriors & interiors.

Overall winner was Squiz Hamilton from the University of Middlesex, for his series in the fashion & beauty category. His photos were the judges’ unanimous choice for their unique quality and sensitivity to detail. He’s walked away with six mentoring sessions from judge Miranda Gavin and £250-worth of Fjifilm products thanks to Calumet.

Squiz Hamilton, 2 of 6 in his fashion & beauty series (© Squiz Hamilton)

Merit prizes went to Sonya Hurtado (still life) and Luke Smith (portraiture & lifestyle). There were judges’ choice prizes for Rachael Lowndes (portraiture & lifestyle, single), Nina Hove (portraiture & lifestyle, series), Marianne McGurk (fashion & beauty, single), Sarah Brimley (fashion & beauty, series), and Sarah Jackson (still life, series).

Rachael Lowndes' judges' choice photo from the portraiture & lifestyle category (©Rachael Lowndes)

If you can get the AoP in Shoreditch, drop in to take a look at the exhibition. If you can’t, you can take a look at the images here.

The AoP Student Awards exhibition runs until 8 April 2011 at the AoP Gallery, 81 Leonard St., London, EC2A 4QS.

A brief introduction to white balance?

If you’re a new recruit to the digital photography vanguard, white balance might not mean very much more to you than a button on your camera. For veterans of the analogue campaigns, white balance is something much more familiar. However, knowing what white balance is and how it affects your pictures could help to make them a whole lot better. Thus we present to you the Small Aperture guide to white balance, in technicolour.

Light temperature

What we think of as white light isn’t really white. It’s actually the spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) mashed together. Light that comes from different sources – the sun, tungsten bulbs, fluorescent bulbs, candles – is made up of different proportions of the spectrum, and is said to have a different colour temperature (measured in Kelvins). Warmer light temperatures comprise more blue tones whilst cooler light temperatures makes things seem more orangey-yellow. (Yes, it seems counter-intuitive, but it’s about the energy in the light.)

Midday sunlight on a clear day is pretty evenly balanced across the spectrum and has a temperature about 5,000K, but light from tungsten bulbs has more red wavelengths in it, so will give your pictures a yellow or orange cast. Light on a cloudy day, on the other hand, is made up of more blue wavelengths. Unsurprisingly, this can give pictures a bluish tinge.

Auto White Balance

By the awesomeness that is nature, our eyes automatically adjust to these warmer or cooler temperatures of light, so things will always look as they should. Things that are white will look white, not a bit jaundiced or dying of cold.

Afro-Ken, taken with auto white balance

Now, digital cameras usually have an Auto White Balance (AWB) setting that overall does a pretty good job of compensating for the variations in light temperatures. But unlike our eyes, it doesn’t always get it quite right and pictures can come out a bit blue or yellow. In which case, you’ll find that there are a few options to help you out.

Presets

My camera has six presets – daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten (incandescent) light, white fluorescent light, and flash – in addition to AWB and a custom setting.

If I’m shooting inside under incandescent lights (3,200K) and my pictures are coming out a bit yellow, I can try switching to the tungsten setting. It’ll balance things out with some blue tones.

Outside on a cloudy day the light will be warmer in temperature (perhaps 8,000K), so might give everything a blue hue. If I apply the cloudy setting: tah-daa! Less blue, better balanced pictures.

Afro-Ken photographed using the daylight setting

If you hadn’t already guessed, blue and amber filters would have done (and indeed still do) the job of these different white balance settings for film cameras.

See how much more yellow-y he looks in the 'shade' setting?

Custom white balance and RAW

I also mentioned that I’ve a custom white balance setting on my camera. This can be really useful if, for example, you’re photographing something that is predominantly red. Your camera might mistake all those red tones for light that’s cool in temperature and make things a bit too blue. If your picture has two different light sources in it, one warm and one cool, custom white balance can make sure you get the picture that you want, not what your camera thinks that you want.

When you set the custom white balance, you’ll need something that is white to act as a point of reference for your camera, so it knows what ‘white’ should look like.

Of course, if you shoot in RAW, you can always adjust the white balance in post-processing. If nothing else, it’s a fun five minutes to make a sunset glow blue.

In summation

• Light comes in different temperatures: sometimes with more red wavelengths (lower temperature), sometimes more blue (warmer temperature)
• Our eyes adjust to these different versions of ‘white’
• Differences in light temperature can make our pictures look too blue or too yellow
• In the film days, these differences were fixed using filters, now cameras have an auto white balance (AWB)
• Sometimes, AWB doesn’t get it quite right, so you can adjust your camera to the light’s temperature using some preset white balances, or you can customise the white balance
• If you need to, you can correct the white balance of a picture in post-processing

Experiment! Play around with the different settings to see what the effects are. You never know, you might decide that you quite like green sunrises!

For a giggle, here's Afro-Ken made to glow blue by using the tungsten setting without any tungsten lights

Astronauts + cameras + middle schoolers = awesome

I’ve just spent far too long playing with the ‘Where in the World?’ image quiz found on the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth website. Far too long. It was a combination of being astounded by the detail of images taken of Earth from the International Space Station using a handheld Nikon (or a Rolleiflex, or a Hasselblad, or one of several different types of camera) and rather enjoying the process of deducing where the picture is showing. Addictive, I tell you.

Astronauts have been taking pictures of the Earth using cameras that you or I might use – admittedly with some rather serious glass attached to them, though – for over 40 years. Nearly one million images, just over half of which come from the International Space Station, are available for you to browse and use (with proper attribution, of course) on a dedicated website. Or you can just get sucked into playing an Earth identification game.

Rio Negro, Tauapecacu, Brazil, courtesy of courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center (image ISS013-E-65343)

However, when I was able to drag myself away from ‘Where in the World?’, I found out about something else very cool happening on the International Space Station. It’s called EarthKAM, and the idea is to give middle school kids the opportunity to control what gets photographed from the International Space Station. So if they want some images to have a look at the extent of Amazon deforestation, or what pivot farming sites in Saudi Arabia resemble right now, they can request them. The camera, by the way, is a Nikon D2Xs.

London at Night, courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center (image ISS006-E-22939)

The next EarthKAM mission is running from 5 to 8 April this year.

Although EarthKAM is sponsored by NASA, participating schools can come from anywhere in the world, but they do have to be registered. In return for free registration, they have to provide feedback and work samples if they want to continue using the service for more than a year. That seems a fair trade-off to me, though.

Wetlands, the Bahamas, courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center (image ISS016-E-32090)

I’m completely smitten by the idea that a bunch of 12 year olds can request specific images of the earth to be taken on a Nikon dSLR from space. Some classes have used it as part of an investigation into climate change, some have created exercises where the image from space has to be matched to an image of the same place taken on earth, others have looked at coral reef destruction. The historian in me is sure that it could be used to look at the Silk Route, or something similar, too.

Yep, this one has just fulfilled my awesomeness quotient for the day!

(Featured image: The Palm, Dubai, courtesy of courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, image ISS025-E-5324.)

Very cute slideshows from Cute Slideshow

I’ve hundreds of photos on my iPhone but, bizarrely, I don’t tend to do much with them, except for contribute to Haje’s Locks on Toilet Doors project, or document the bruising on my recently injured foot. When I was asked to review a new app that would let me turn these loved-but-languishing photos into slideshows, and even set them to music, I got a bit excited.

Very cute slideshows, but you can't export them

The app’s called Cute Slideshow and it’s made by Cute Logic. You can put together a slideshow of up to 1,000 images from your camera roll, use 20 different transitions, add text, and choose a sound track from your iPod music library. It took me about ten minutes to put together a slideshow, complete with music, that paid tribute to my shoe collection. I was very proud of my slideshow and I was impressed by how easy it was to make something so fun.

I’d really like to be able to show you my slideshow, too. But I can’t, and this is where Cute Slideshow falls down.

Unless you’ve an iPhone 4 or a fourth generation iPod Touch, your slideshows are stuck there on that piece of kit. Even with an iPhone 4, you can only display them on an external screen using a cable. To turn Cute Slideshow from something that I think is quite cute into something that I think is rather groovy, I’d really like to be able to export my slideshows.

One of my friends, who has been my mental sparring-partner for the past eleven years, raised all sorts of problems when it comes to exporting slideshows. ‘What about platform compatibility?’ he asked. ‘And coding for YouTube is a nightmare,’ he told me. ‘Could there be rights issues with the music?’ Well…

The interface is very simple, though

Pick one or two platforms that’d be compatible to play slideshows; don’t most of us have access to a selection, anyway? I’m not a coder, so I don’t know how much of a problem coding for YouTube is, but as a consumer, having a product that doesn’t do quite what I want it to isn’t very useful. As for the music rights issue, there’s no difference with this than any other slideshow or time-lapse or video that you or I might set to music: it’d depend on how we used it.

I want to love this app, but it feels as if it doesn’t go far enough. I’m sure that there are plenty of people who’d be happy viewing their slideshows on their iPhones or iPod Touches, or be able to hook up their iPhone 4 to their big screens. For me, though, it feels a bit half-baked.

What my sparring-partner and I did agree on, though, was that this would be a great app for the iPad.

So the verdict? Great start, but this cake needs a bit longer in the oven.

Cute Slideshow is available from the App Store for £1.79 or US$2.99.

Implied nudity in portraiture

It doesn’t take much of a brain to fathom what a ‘nude’ photo is. If bits that are normally covered up on the beach are on display, then it’s a nude.

Similarly, a ‘non-nude’ photo is pretty straightforward: There are no hoo-hoos, wee-wees or breasticles on display.

So, what is all this ‘implied nudity’ stuff all about? Well, it turns out that there’s an ‘in-between’ stage of nude photography: Implied nudity. Used creatively, it can add an interesting dimension to your portraiture. Here’s how and 

Right: Not a terrible portrait, but it isn't exactly super exciting ever. But there seems to be a lot of skin on display. Hmm, I wonder if I can make this photo more interesting... (click the picture to see it bigger, on Flickr...)

Put very simply, implied nudity happens in one of two ways: The model is dressed, but the photo is shot in a way where it looks as if she might not be. Or the model might be in some state of undress, but the photo is shot in such a way (through lighting, perhaps, or by the model’s position), where you can’t be sure whether or not they are naked.

So, er, what’s the point?

Humans are funny creatures: our minds constantly play tricks on us. When pieces of information are missing, our minds tend to ‘fill in’ the information. When you read smthng lk ths sntnce, your mind doesn’t really struggle to fill in the missing letters, for example – the same happens in photography. In a photo where a model is covering up her breasts, your mind will automatically ‘fill in’ the missing bits.

With this in mind, you can use that to your advantage as a photographer: By hiding your model’s dangly, bouncy, or naughty bits, you can sometimes create a photo which is even more allusive and erotic that one where it’s all on display.

Right: Now that's more like it. All it took was to de-saturate the image, fiddle with the contrast a little, and do a tighter crop, which in effect hides all her clothes.

There are a few different situations where this works extremely well. In the past, I have been known to do ‘nude’ sessions with models (especially models who aren’t that experienced), and then taken photos only of their face or head-and-shoulders. Some people relax (or tense up) in a completely unique way when they are not wearing clothes – which gets reflected in their face.

Another great example of implied nudity by Emily - see the full version on Flickr.

I think I’ve taken some of my best portraits this way – simply because the model was concentrating on making their bodies look good, so they forgot to worry about their face. The result? Beautiful, intimate portraits where you would never have known the model wasn’t wearing clothes.

The opposite is also true, of course: You might well find yourself working with a model who would love to do nudes, but is too shy to actually strip off. Using these techniques, you can create the illusion of nudity.

Showing more by hiding more

Right: You can use implied nudity to create tension in a photograph... She's in a graveyard. Surely, she's not naked. Is she? (clicky for bigger)

We all have different tastes and preferences for what we think is attractive. Combine this with the afore-discussed tendency for people to ‘fill in the blanks’, and you can see what might happen: In a photo where something is hidden, it gives the viewer the opportunity to read as much (or as little) into the scene as they want to.

The great thing is that the viewer tends to ‘fill in’ the blanks with whatever their own fantasies or beauty ideals are, which means that by tapping into the fantasy world of your viewers, you can actually make your model more attractive: After all, your viewers are going to be attracted to whatever their fantasies cook up!

You can't see much (is she wearing a bra? Is she not?) - but it's the implication of nudity which makes this photo. (clicky for bigger)

So – a rather long and picture-heavy post to make a rather simple point: If you haven’t experimented with implying nudity in portraiture before, why not give it a shot – you might like what you come up with!

Sony World Photography Awards open winners

There were 51,000 entries coming from 148 different countries. Choosing the ten winners of the Sony World Photography Awards open category was no mean feat. The panel of five judges managed to make their ten selections, however, one for each category: action, after dark, architecture, arts and culture, fashion, nature and wildlife, panoramic, people, smile, and travel. (I wonder how much coffee they got through?)

© Andiyan Lutfi courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011 (Nature)

The talented winners were:

• Action: Chan Kwok Hung (Hong Kong)
• After Dark: Chumlong Nilkon (Thailand)
• Architecture: Marek Troszczynski (Poland)
• Arts & Culture: Hubert Januar (Indonesia)
• Fashion: Edina Csoboth (Hungary)
• Nature & Wildlife: Andiyan Lutfi (Indonesia)
• Panoramic: Wolfgang Weinhardt (Germany)
• People: Raghuranjan Sarkar (India)
• Smile: Carlos Henrique Reinesch (Brazil)
• Travel: James Chong (Singapore)

© Chumlong Nilkon courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011 (After Dark)

They all get some dSLR kit courtesy of Sony, as well as having their images published in the big book of winners. They’ll also be exhibited alongside the winners of the professional competition at Somerset House between 26 April and 22 May. Not so bad, hey?

© James Chong courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011 (Travel)

(Featured image: © Chan Kwok Hung courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011 (Action))

When the going gets tough, the tough get... crowdfunding

Prizes might not be the only reason that we enter photo competitions, but they certainly provide an incentive and a lovely recognition of achievement. It’s rather groovy being able to point to something and say that you won it because one of your photos was thought to be awesome. But prizes for photography competitions aren’t necessarily high on corporate sponsors’ lists of charitable good causes when money gets tight. So what are the options for competition organisers when the pot at the end of the rainbow vanishes?

If you’re the Edgar Degas Foundation, the organisers of the Dutch photography prize, Bouw in Beeldprijs, you turn to the general public.

Last year, Bouw in Beeldprijs, which is seen as an important platform for Dutch photography, had over 140 entries. This year, it’s in excess of 200. To ensure that this year’s ten finalists are supported and that there’ll be a competition next year, the organisers are looking to raise €10,000 in donations from ordinary people who (probably) have an interest in the arts.

The music industry has already looked at crowdfunding, so why not photography?

Bouw in Beeldprijs is grateful for any donation, no matter how small. Those who are able to give a little more might get a ticket to the competition’s exhibition, a print of one of the entries, a limited edition print, a private viewing, or public recognition of their support. (And if you want to, you can contribute here.)

Whether or not they’ll be able to make it work, I don’t know. Do people care enough? Do people have enough to spare? But at least they haven’t let the competition keel over and die.

(Featured image: Transvoid, by Roderik Henderson.)

Annabel Williams hits the road

If you’re thinking of investing a little bit of time and some money in you and your photography this year – after all, you are the most important factor when it comes to taking photos, not your lenses or your camera – and in particular if you want to concentrate on portraits, you might be interested in the series of seminars and workshops that portrait photographer-extraordinaire Annabel Williams will be running this summer.

An evening seminar and a two-day workshop will each hit London, Birmingham, and Leeds in May, June, and July this year. Annabel, whose photography has won enough awards to sink a battleship, will be leading the evening seminars. She’ll concentrate on what it takes to become a successful photographer right now: how you work and what clients expect. The idea is to give you the confidence to make photography work for you.

Charlie, by Annabel Williams

The workshops are more practical. (Well, they are workshops.) One day you’ll get to work with Annabel, looking at how to design a shoot, how to cope with the weather and get the best out of the lighting, how to handle your models, and how to develop your own style. The other day you’ll be working with Marko Nurminem, who’s something of a digital imaging guru. Need some Photoshop and Lightroom guidance? He’ll help. How about advice on managing your workflow? Yep, he’s got that, too.

Really importantly, though, these courses have been designed no matter your level of experience. Whatever you do – or don’t know – it’s about getting the most out of you and your photos.

Jared, by Annabel Williams

Evening seminars cost £95+ VAT and have a maximum capacity of 100 attendees; the two-day workshops are £495+ VAT and are limited to 28 participants. You’ll get plenty of attention, then!

Interested?

• Tuesday 31 May, 18:00 to 21:00 – London evening seminar at Westbourne Studios, Notting Hill
• Wednesday 1 to Thursday 2 June, 09:00 to 17:00 – London two-day workshop at Westbourne Studios, Notting Hill
• Monday 20 June, 18:00 to 21:00 – Birmingham evening seminar at IET Birmingham, Austin Court
• Tuesday 21 to Wednesday 22 June, 09:00 to 17:00 – Birmingham two-day workshop at IET Birmingham, Austin Court
• Monday 11 July, 18:00 to 21:00 – Leeds evening seminar at The Round Foundry Media Centre
• Tuesday 12 to Wednesday 13 July, 09:00 to 17:00 – Leeds two-day workshop, The Round Foundry Media Centre.

Want even more details? Head to the roadshow’s website.

Gallery: Vietnam in Black & White

A portrait taken of my sister in Vietnam

Since mid-December, I've been on the road. From London, to California, via a month in Vietnam, and now in Thailand, my carbon footprint is Elephant-sized, but photographically, it has been golddust.

I've finally gotten around to doing a street-photography inspired gallery of my photos - all in black and white. Enjoy!

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© Kamps Consulting Ltd. This article is licenced for use on Pixiq only. Please do not reproduce wholly or in part without a license. More info.

The magic of fill light

Lightroom is magic - and as photographers, we've never had it this good.

There you are, after a long day of shooting, and you realise that some of your favourite photos are too contrasty, with parts of the image bathing in darkness. Adobe Lightroom to the rescue...

I was playing around with my brand new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens in my kitchen on a rainy day, and was experimenting with a new reflector I was building (it works great, but more about that in another post). Some of the photos that didn't work out so well ended up on my camera, and then on my computer, and then in Adobe Lightroom. I figured I'd see if I couldn't edit one of them into shape a little, and was (re-)astonished by the fantasticness of Lightroom's Fill Light slider.

Starting with this photo:

I started experimenting with various settings. You can crank up the exposure to make the rest of the image brighter, of course, but that would over-expose the already bright highlight on the right of this Hershey's Kiss.

So, by instead adjusting the Fill Light slider:

I was able to recover the shadows remarkably well:

A closer look at the image shows that you do gain a bit of digital noise:

But it's possible to reduce it quite a bit by using Lightroom's rather phenomenal noise filters:

Of course, as always, it's much better to ensure that you get your lighting right when you take the photo; you get less noise, higher quality, and more precise control about what the hell you're doing. And yet, it's rather fantastic to see how photographers are given a lifeline if you balls things up just a little bit too much.

How did we ever survive without Lightroom?

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Do you enjoy a smattering of random photography links? Well, squire, I welcome thee to join me on Twitter - Follow @Photocritic

© Kamps Consulting Ltd. This article is licenced for use on Pixiq only. Please do not reproduce wholly or in part without a license. More info.

Waiting: pictures by young homeless people

Did you know that there are over 10,000 homeless young people, aged 16 to 24 in Scotland? No, me neither. That’s a small towns-worth of young people with no where that they can reasonably rely upon to provide them with shelter and security. A bunch of them have had the opportunity to document their lives in pictures, and a touring exhibition opens in Glasgow today, before trundling on to Edinburgh, Dundee, and Stirling.

They weren’t just handed a camera and sent on their ways, though. First they went on a residential course, led by photographers Brian Sweeney and Christina Kernohan, next they attended two classes every week for six weeks. Then they created photo essays of their lives, which they had the opportunity to present to students and staff at the Glasgow School of Art. Now, their pictures are on public display.

You can see them at the Braehead Shopping Centre in Glasgow between today and 28 March, and then at Maryhill Library, Glasgow until 4 April before going on tour. Look closely, and you might see them on the Glasgow underground, too.

The project was a collaboration between Photovoice, a charity that seeks to give people who are usually the subject of photos the opportunity to take them, and Fairbridge, an organisation that supports young Scottish people who are somehow disengaged, perhaps through homelessness, substance misuse, or a history of offending, to make positive changes to their lives.

Many of the young people have said how it has given them confidence, as well as a new skill and something to build on. But I think that Gemma Cochrane, one the young people on the course, sums it best: ‘…it makes you see things from a different perspective.’ Same goes for all of us, Gemma.

Waiting is showing across Scotland from 18 March to end of August 2011:

• 18 to 28 March, Braehead Shopping Centre, Glasgow
• 29 March to 4 April, Maryhill Library, Glasgow
• 6 to 17 April, Edinburgh Room, Central Library, Edinburgh
• 26 April to 8 May, Central Library, Wellgate, Dundee
• 16 May to August, one week tour of each library in Stirling

ArtistBe.com - selling and buying images online

It’s a simple concept: a place where artists can display their work and people who might want to buy a photographic print, or an oil painting, or a watercolour, can, well, buy it. It’s called ArtistBe.Com (that’s artist become, of course) and it’s overstockart.com’s newest venture.

If you want to sell your photos, you can sign up for a free account, upload your images, and then assign them to the relevant galleries by subject – for example architecture, cuisine, or people – and also by style (abstract, Art Deco, pop art… ) so that buyers can find what they’re looking for. You get an individual gallery, too, with all your work in one place.

Find images by subject, style, or artist/photographer

If you’re selling an original piece, the buyer will communicate directly with you and you negotiate the deal and terms. That means you’ll be responsible for getting the piece to your buyer, but you won’t have to pay commission to ArtistBe.com; you get the entire fee.

Alternatively, you can also sell reproductions on canvas in a range of sizes. They vary in price; the cheapest I saw was around $30 and the most expensive almost $500. (Although doubtless there are more expensive ones, too.) The production and shipping of these is handled by ArtistBe.com, which removes that headache. But it does mean that you’d only take 15% of the sale. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose.

Sand Dunes Pattern by Harveys Art

It’s all new and shiny, so how well it is going to work remains to be seen. But having an easy-to-use venue to sell images can’t be that bad a start. Have a look for yourself at ArtistBe.com.

Adobe Photoshop Express 2.0 is go

Hot on the heels of Photoshop Express 1.5, which came out at the end of January, version 2.0 of Adobe’s on-the-move photo editing suite for iPhones, or anything running iOS 4.2, really, is available for download. That bit’s free, but there’s also a not-free Camera Pack that you buy for £2.39. Of course, it’s the not-free bit that you’ll be wanting.

So now you can have a noise reduction feature, called, rather originally Reduce Noise; you can self-time pictures at three or 10 second intervals; and there’s the Auto Review function that allows you to decide quickly if you want to keep your picture.

Version 2.0 will work provided that you’re running iOS 4.2 on your Apple-branded mobile communication device; but you need an iPhone 3Gs or more exciting, a third or fourth generation iPod Touch, or either of the iPads for the Camera Pack to work. Oh, and Photoshop Express can’t currently support the camera on the iPad 2. Just by the way. Very useful.

Photoshop Express 2.0 can be downloaded from the iTunes store, naturally.

Inspiration in slow motion

Remember Glide 2, that awesome slow motion video of a train pulling into a station that we featured last autumn, made by research mathematician Graeme Taylor? Well, it seems as if it might possibly have inspired a music video by British indie folk band SixToes. The video for their song Low Guns is seven seconds of a tube train running through Ravenscourt Park Station slowed down to last almost four minutes.

Look familiar, and rather cool?

As for Graeme, he told me that he ‘rather likes it’. That’s a bit of a different reaction to David LaChapelle’s response to Rihanna’s S&M video, isn’t it?

The Great Migration - in time-lapse

The Great Migration. It’s one of Africa’s most impressive, perilous, and at times chaotic mass animal movements. 1.5 million wildebeest make the epic journey from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya (and back again) every year in search of greener pastures. Of course, being so impressive, perilous, and sometimes chaotic, it’s been documented thousands of times. But Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas, intrepid wildlife photographers extraordinaire reckon that they’ve captured it in way that’s original. It’s also mightily impressive.

They’ve created Migration, which uses a combination of telephoto video clips and time-lapse sequences, to show the giant herd’s encounter with the Mara river. Over 10,000 animals take on the river, its crocodiles, and its cliffs in one go. It’s astonishing. Take a look for yourself:

Migration from Will & Matt Burrard-Lucas on Vimeo.

There’s also a superb panorama image of 30 stitched-together stills. You can zoom in for a closer look!

Head over to Will and Matt’s website to read more about the migration, and of course to see lots more photos!

Stop43's IP management ideas

Stop43, the dudes who took on the Government over the clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill (the one that would’ve effectively stripped photographers of their rights to their images that were deemed ‘orphan works’), and won, have submitted their proposal to Professor Ian Hargreaves’ consultation on intellectual property. Of course, it focuses mostly on the concept of ‘orphan works’, but it has some pretty interesting things to say.

The idea is to create a free, online machine-searchable metadata registry. They’re calling it a National Cultural Archive. This archive will make work freely available to people for ‘cultural use’, allow ‘orphaned works’ to be re-adopted by their owners, act as a mechanism to aid copyright enforcement, and help people buy and sell licences to use images.

‘But if it’s a free system,’ I can hear you murmuring, ‘how would it be supported?’ They’re proposing a levy system on the sale of licences that it facilitates. It’d be self-supporting, then. They also reckon it’d be easy to set up and are keen to build a model. Easy to set up, if they manage to get people on-side with it.

They’ve also made suggestions that would help to allow the re-formating of work that would otherwise be lost entirely because it’s on decaying traditional media and it can’t be digitised without breaching copyright. That’s pretty important, considering how much crumbling paper and deteriorating tape is sitting in museums and libraries across the country, with no way of legally salvaging it.

They’ve really tapped into the business theme of the consultation, though. They’re very keen to point out how properly attributed work and the sale of licences will contribute to increased tax receipts for the Government and help to drive economic growth. Reckon anyone will listen?

Stop43′s National Cultural Archive: a one-stop shop for all your image licensing needs.

Sending postcards from your iPhone with ShootIt

Using your own photos as postcards? Genius! Shame ShootIt's service doesn't work...

There are a few providers who offer the ability of sending postcards directly from your Apple iPhone (or the web) when you're out and about. I decided to give ShootIt a shot (forgive the pun), because their app seemed particularly sleek, and because I'm currently travelling a lot; seemed to make a lot of sense to trust the web to get my cards sent quickly, rather than relying on the local postal system.

ShootIt (shootit.com) have a clever business model: You upload an image via the iPhone app or their website, write your message, and click 'send'. They take care of the rest, including the printing of the postcard, and, as they say on their website, "shoot it! mails postcards First-class the next business day", which means "they will be produced overnight and delivered across Western Europe in just a few days".

Tragedy strikes

Whilst I was travelling, my family suffered a minor tragedy - my grandmother, who turned 90 last year, got ill, and it didn't look as if she would be able to pull through. My father asked me if I would please send a few postcards from my travels, as grandma - who usually was very active - would be locked to her chair and/or bed for the foreseeable future (in retrospect; for the rest of her life).

Anyway, I figured that the best way to start sending a lot of cards would be to leverage ShootIt: By taking photos and sending postcards frequently, they would arrive much, much faster than sending them by snail mail, right? So there I went, sending a total of 5 post-cards between February 1st and 18th.

Then, an inevitable, yet sad sad thing happened; on the 21th of February, my grandmother passed away. I called my parents, and asked them if they could please place my postcards on her coffin during the funeral. "Postcards?", my dad asked me. "What postcards?". It turned out that by the 21st of February, not a single one of the postcards I sent via ShootIt had arrived. Luckily a postcard I sent in the regular (notoriously unreliable) vietnamese postal system around the 4th of February, arrived just in time for the funeral, and I was able to 'be present' via a postcard after all.

"The postcards were all addressed perfectly", I thought, "Why the hell weren't they delivered?". Then, Daniela (who edits the Small Aperture site) e-mailed me to thank me for her ShootIt postcard... on the 11th of March. It was sent on the 4th of February - so the postcard took a mind-numbingly month-and-a-week to arrive to the UK.

As for what happened to the postcards sent to my grandmother in the Netherlands? Who knows - as far as I know, they're still scurrying their way across the atlantic.

ShootIt? More like 'shove it'.

It's such a cursed shame; post-cards sent from your iPhone (or computer) is cost-effective, and ought to be bloody fast. But when it ain't (and especially since none of the messages I wrote to my grandmother arrived before she passed away), it's useless.

If anyone knows of a service who does what they promise, it may be worth a shot - but I'd give ShootIt a miss, if I were you.

Update #1

I just received an e-mail from my mother, who tells me that 5 postcards arrived all at the same time on the 17th of March. She tells me the quality is great, but notes that " This is sort of like it used to be many years ago: You buy the postcards in the country where you are on holiday, forget to post them, and then send them when you get back home, with your normal stamps. Although that would probably have been faster than using the online service".

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45 inspirational nude photos

Nude photography is a genre most photographers dabble in every now and again. I've often thought of nude photography as a natural extension of portraiture; if you're going to spend so much time on trying to capture the 'essence' of who somebody is, in some cases shedding any barriers between the model and the camera (such as clothes) is the next logical step. One thing that can be a challenge, is to translate portraiture techniques into nudes. For right or wrong, there are still a few social taboos around nudity - and even in relation to photographing nudes - and I often receive e-mails from people who want to give it a right good go, but can't quite figure out how to get started.

Get the book

I am often asked where people who are interested in nude photography should start - and after a bit of research, I've finally found a great one-stop shop for all the information you could need about nude photography.

The book is called True Confessions of Nude Photography, and was written by A.K Nicholas.

You can find it on Amazon UK or Amazon.com.

Where to begin?

I've written about the topic before, and you could do a lot worse than having a look at Try Nude Photography; my interview with nude photographer Pascal Renoux who is also featured in this list of inspirational nudes), Adding Passion to Nude Photography, and Nude Photography 101.

You may also be interested in the short piece by Brigitte I posted on nude self portraiture. And, of course, if you're not 100% sure about taking it all the way, there's always the deeply titillating art of implied nudity in portraiture.

I need some inspiration!

The reason I decided to create this post is two-fold; A lot of photographers are posting their first few steps in nude portraiture to Flickr, but many of them don't get the exposure they deserve. This list (with a very few notable examples) consists mainly of photos that I found to be inspirational (in some cases; aspirational), but that haven't had that many views and/or comments. The great thing about this is that even if you are a Flickr veteran, there's likely to be a load of photos in this list that you haven't come across before.

The other way of using this list is for 'imitation as inspiration'. If you're only just starting out in nude portraiture, it may be a useful exercise to pick some of the photos you like best, and plagiarise them. See if you can recreate them as closely as possible, and learn as much as you can about the process. Obviously, I wouldn't necessarily recommend posting the copies to Flickr (or, indeed, anywhere); but imitation can be a great way to get more familiar with a model, with directing your subjects, and getting a 'feel' for what works and what doesn't in nude portraiture. Once you're comfortable, turn off the 'copying' switch, tune in to your own creative vibe, and start creating your own masterpieces.

I did promise you some inspiration, though, and so far it's only been me babbling on... Let's get started!

1 - Call Girl by Glen Flower

From the title, you’d expect something a little more audacious to live up to what we know as a call girl. This photo stands out by going against that predictable notion and taking a more playful tone by use of bright colors and lighting, an eye-catching pattern of characters and a simple yet effective pose.

See Call Girl by Glen Flower in full res on Flickr

2 - Nude 2 by Andy Hassall

The first thing that draws my eye to this photo is the glow around the woman’s figure. Not only is it flattering to accentuate the curves, more importantly it adds an ethereal story to the image. Soft and delicate is a woman...

See Nude 2 by Andy Hassall in full res on Flickr

3 - Untitled by canarinomannaro

It's very obviously a nude, but there is nothing to see. It's intriguing and alluring, almost beguiling. The grains and the black and white do nothing but complement.

See Untitled by canarinomannaro in full res on Flickr

4 - Desnudo Simple by Alberto Ibarra Glez

There's something pure, innocent, and powerful about this nude; the model isn't without flaws, and the shot itself isn't perfect either - but that's where the beauty comes from. The relaxed pose and the peaceful look means it doesn't really matter. A lovely example of the nude photography genre indeed!

See Desnudo Simple by Alberto Ibarra Glez in full res on Flickr

5 - Day 235: Scar Beneath the Surface. by Brigid Marz

The fear of reality is the attraction of this shot. Wet hair suggests vulnerability. Parted lips infer loss of breath and words. The hand on her breast declares a longing for comfort.

See Day 235: Scar Beneath the Surface. by Brigid Marz in full res on Flickr

6 - Untitled by Jenn

There is a serene beauty when you look at this woman. The pose is almost heartbreaking as she stares out the window and the light soflty hits her skin and her surroundings. The only color in the room is the pink flowers on the wall, which implies that the subject is not sad, but only hushed.

See Untitled by Jenn in full res on Flickr

7 - H.E.A.T by Nausika Bongard-Bonjour

Raw is the word. It is only human to feel heat and the artist has created a "real" representation of this. Her treatment speaks of grit by having the close appearance of an instamatic or polaroid camera. The ice is not foreign either whether we'd like to admit it or not.

See H.E.A.T by Nausika Bongard-Bonjour in full res on Flickr

8 - Bathtub racer by Jaybird

The fun use of lines and color in the composition reminds me of when we were kids. The way our imagination worked during moments of lull is what the image captures - just proof that even as adults, our imagination still runs away with us.

See Bathtub racer by Jaybird in full res on Flickr

9 - Spiderwoman by Rod Monkey

The minimalism of this nude is an effective delight. I can't help but enjoy the pose - the model on her tiptoes and the bones of her shoulders make the shot and help us appreciate the supple human body.

See Spiderwoman by Rod Monkey in full res on Flickr

10 - Varina & Jiz by Maxwell Lander

I'll be frank with you: There's nothing attractive about this photo; but that's also not the point. It has raw emotion, and a veritable overload of attitude, passion, and even a touch of anger. Bloody awesome work. The rest of Maxwell's work is worth a peek as well; he's one of those photographers who is able to surprise me (in good ways) rather consistently.

See Varina & Jiz by Maxwell Lander in full res on Flickr

11 - Grow by Meta-morphosis

The artist attempts to portray power and strength, that which is intrinsic in a stripped down "real" man. Roots of a tree as a metaphor to the latter are elementally strong and able to withstand nature's (maybe even all) challenges.

See Grow by Meta-morphosis in full res on Flickr

12 - Untitled by Yami Ya

The photo is haunting as the model's spine presses against her skin. The peculiar spine is what catches the viewer's eye and arrests them to linger on nothing else. The mood is solidified by the predominant grey tones.

See Untitled by Yami Ya in full res on Flickr

13 - 112/365 by Lys

The image emits a whimsical feel to its viewers. The different hands clutching the woman's back can be interpreted in many different ways and perhaps different emotions. For example: the hand with red nail polish represents lust by use of color and the hand's slightly stronger grip on the skin.

See 112/365 by Lys in full res on Flickr

14 - No heels, no shirt, no skirt...All im in is just skin...All I want to see you in is just skin. by Lauren

The model's eyes hold the power of this shot. You stare at her as she stares back at you with a brutal sense of honesty. This shot seems simple, but it's far from it when beyond the eyes you start to notice the curious shape of the body, the flaws of the skin and the odd proportions. I guess it's like looking in the mirror.

See No heels, no shirt, no skirt...All im in is just skin...All I want to see you in is just skin. by Lauren in full res on Flickr

15 - Tina Nude by Haje Jan Kamps

I did a photo shoot with Tina many years ago, in 2003; I loved the innocence that shone through in many of her photos. A few years later, she became a glamour model - but I like to think that it was these shots that got the ball rolling (It probably wasn't...)

See Tina Nude by Haje Jan Kamps in full res on Flickr

16 - Untitled by Marko Matus

There are so many things one can say about this photo. The texture is lovely. The light adds depth. Your eyes can fool you - it takes a while to notice what you're really looking at in this photo. This nude is brilliant and unique (and maybe even painful).

See Untitled by Marko Matus in full res on Flickr

17 - Morning by LightDream 7

The warm subdued colors give the photo a Sunday morning vibe. The mood is lazy and grateful as you think about the weekend. What makes this photo real is the detail of the hair on the model's buttocks, the light that hits the crack perfectly and the little bokkeh beside it. Wonderfully lethargic!

See Morning by LightDream 7 in full res on Flickr

18 - Nude by Fran Rivero

This sultry, alluring nude is terribly suggestive, but that's because of her eyes. They're drawing you into the shot, whatever of her body is on display.

See Nude by Fran Rivero in full res on Flickr

19 - Sunshine in the Water by Andreas Müller

This is an enjoyably light-hearted nude. An offshoot from the expression "the sun shines out your ass," the photo deserves recognition for successfully providing humor to its viewers by using the human form. Smooth lines are an added element to the visual appeal of the photo.

See Sunshine in the Water by Andreas Müller in full res on Flickr

20 - Untitled by Dario Torre

The photo somehow teases and thrills. This nude shot doesn't expose much, except the backside of the model, however the attraction is the model's gaze in his reflection in the mirror. It's just enough to make you wonder how the rest of his body looks and what he could be thinking about you.

See Untitled by Dario Torre in full res on Flickr

21 - Untitled by Kvn

The photo is a visual craft of highlights and shadows. Though the shadows envelope a majority of the photo, it doesn't darken the message of the image, but it adds to the charisma of what little highlights there are, as they dance around the subject. She looks almost angelic.

See Untitled by Kvn in full res on Flickr

22 - let it flow away by Eleina Priede

There is a beautiful angry desperation to this photo. She holds a knife, but looks as if she doesn't have the strength to use it. Curled up, hugging herself, she holds on in restraint. The light plays well on her weapon of choice, which she may never use.

See let it flow away by Eleina Priede in full res on Flickr

23 - Alex Oller by Ronaldo Donizeti

All I see is a solid canvas in this shot. The subject is flattered and paraded as a work of art, not because of the ink, but because of the texture of his body and the natural peaks and valleys. The details are excellent.

See Alex Oller by Ronaldo Donizeti in full res on Flickr

24 - BS 14 by Marco Villani

Minimalism is beautifully portrayed in this nude. Smooth clean lines and duotones work for this piece as they help put our attention on the real focus, imprefect bumps of the subject's skin. There is also an amusing ambiguity to the composition that draws you in.

See BS 14 by Marco Villani in full res on Flickr

25 - Z by Don Pasquella

The androgyny of the model, combined with the otherworldly, almost sculpturesque quality of this photo is astounding. It's a nude, for sure, but subtly so, and extremely well executed. Well worth a closer look!

See Z by Don Pasquella in full res on Flickr

26 - Power by Imitable at Least

Power is truly the message that this capture speaks. The seated pose with his arms raised up and his head humbly down exemplifies the aforementioned power and also achievement. The perfectly strong contrast between the black and white tones complement such as well.

See Power by Imitable at Least in full res on Flickr

27 - Pastel Time_93 by Fabienne Chemin

"I sleep to dream" is my first thought when admiring this nude. The man without clothes as he sleeps puts one in a very naturally relaxed state that trumps all states of relaxation. The artist comforts us even more with the use of very light colors and textures, maybe hinting that the dreams we dream can be nothing but sweet.

See Pastel Time_93 by Fabienne Chemin in full res on Flickr

28 - Chimera by Jason Skinner

Complexity is this artist's game. There is nothing more mesmerizingly complicated than the human body, what more when intertwined with another's (metaphorically and literally). It's a riddle unsolved. The balance, highlights and shadows work wonderfully to make the art three dimensional and labyrinthian.

See Chimera by Jason Skinner in full res on Flickr

29 - Haunted by her by Sharlene Shappart i

Fear overwhelms me as I look at this photo. I take a glimpse and look away as I'm haunted by her stare. The sheer of the cloth on the woman's breast is perhaps the only vulnerability that can be grasped. The nude figure is subtly but effectively used by doing so.

See Haunted by her by Sharlene Shappart i in full res on Flickr

30 - Yolande soft nude 4 by Julio Cristian Ruiz Molinero

The eye travels from head to midriff to the tips of her toes and then back again. The composition urges you to take in everything, before maybe settling on the in-focus nipples, or perhaps on her hands. See Yolande soft nude 4 by Julio Cristian Ruiz Molinero in full res on Flickr

31 - Dune by Lindy Barbosa

Allan Teger is a wildly talented photographer who did a great series of photos called 'Bodyscapes', where little characters would do everyday things in landscape made of a human body. 'Dune' is an imitation of one of Teger's shots, showing how it adds fun and creativity to an oft-overdone shot.

See Dune by Lindy Barbosa in full res on Flickr

32 - Helping Hand by Neo Geodesy

There's no doubt about what's going on in this photo, and whilst the subject is undoubtedly verging on the pornographic, the treatment is sensual, intimate, and beautiful. Masterful lighting and great use of depth of field nail this one home. Awesome.

See Helping Hand by Neo Geodesy in full res on Flickr

33 - Tubside by Imre Kissik

Another great example of 'no clothes, but showing not-a-lot', this warm-tones feast-for-the-eyes by Imre is a cascade of class and finesse. Having her eyelashes in focus is a lovely touch, too.

See Tubside by Imre Kissik in full res on Flickr

34 - Intimate by Luca Gualtieri

Naked like the day she was born, and yet casually covered up. The touch of light on her eyes pulls my vision to her face; and her relaxed yet slightly anticipatory expression adds just the right amount of tension to the shot. Absolutely lovely.

See Intimate by Luca Gualtieri in full res on Flickr

35 - Untitled by Jorge Carrion

I adore how this portrait comes across as a battle between humans and their surrounding elements. There's something brutal, yet serene about this photograph that I can't quite put my finger on - which is why I keep coming back for more, I suppose.

See Untitled by Jorge Carrion in full res on Flickr

36 - Untitled by The Girl Behind the Lens

In this photo, you can barely tell what it is a photo of; to me, the first thing I noticed was the sheet in the background, which led me to think we are looking at a bed. Only then did I realise what the photo was on. A masterful study in subtlety that appears to be all too rare in the genre of nude photography

See Untitled by The Girl Behind the Lens in full res on Flickr

37 - Morning Bell by Kristaps B

High key photography is something that lends itself well to portraiture, and nude portraiture is no exception. A feeling of innocence, purity, and simplicity is projected onto the viewer - and the soft lighting helps make the model seem approachable. A delightful shot!

See Morning Bell by Kristaps B in full res on Flickr

38 - v2 by Hans Proppe

I know this photo has a nude body in it, but it took me quite a while to figure out quite how. That, in itself, is enough reason to include this image in the list, I believe; the abstraction of nudity is something that really appeals to me; the intrigue, intricate textures and delicious lighting - perfect!

See v2 by Hans Proppe in full res on Flickr

39 - Naakt by Klaas v/d Pijl

Some nude photography has a whole other layer of nudity in it; an innocence, a complete and infallible belief that there's nothing wrong with not wearing clothes. This photo, to me, is an excellent example of just that. Yeah, the girl is nude, but there's just something about her calm facial expression which shows that she doesn't do shy. A simple shot, for sure, but worth recreating for its zen-like calm when you're working in the studio

See Naakt by Klaas v/d Pijl in full res on Flickr

40 - Assembly of Shadows by Dreamography

The title of this photo speaks to me. Sure, there's a nude person in the frame, but it's incidental; this image is all about the interplay of light and shadows, and about the mystique of it all.

See Assembly of Shadows by Dreamography in full res on Flickr

41 - Venus by Artemisia Artex

Nude portraiture is hard, I won't lie about it. Nude self portraiture is a whole other level of hard, but 'Artemisia' pulls it off beautifully. Gorgeous lighting, a look that really locks with the viewer, and the fiery red hair make sure all the image comes together beautifully.

See Venus by Artemisia Artex in full res on Flickr

42 - Can't you almost hear her thoughts by Sol Lang

Whereas some nudes stand for pride, strength, and self-confidence, this photo is almost the exact opposite. The model's facial expression is reserved - afraid, almost - which makes her vulnerability shine through. Her body might be nude, but I can't help but feel that in this photo, we are also staring at a bared soul.

See Can't you almost hear her thoughts by Sol Lang in full res on Flickr

43 - Te Ofrezco by Manuel Orero

There is a long history of nude photography and pregnancy, and frankly, it's curse-worthy hard to come up with a new take on the topic... but this image does it gorgeously. A pair of baby shoes, and an out-of-focus mother-to-be? Fabulous. Okay, so she isn't actually completely nude; but as far as a cool idea for a shot goes? A definite winner.

See Te Ofrezco by Manuel Orero in full res on Flickr

44 - Disappearing by Brigid Marz

I've been a huge fan of Brigid's work for a long time, and this photo is a great example of why; she often manages to convey a vulnerable strength - or is that a strong vulnerability - in her subjects. Strong poses, powerful lighting and great post-production - take a look at the rest of her portfolio as well!

See Disappearing by Brigid Marz in full res on Flickr

45 - Brooke (plage 2) by Pascal Renoux

Pascal Renoux' work often has a sense of wonderment about it - a playfulness that goes far beyond what many other photographers are able to offer up. There's an intimacy in that playfulness; an incidental, rather than elaborate, sense of nudity, which makes his work stand out. Fantastic stuff.

See Brooke (plage 2) by Pascal Renoux in full res on Flickr

And finally, a few words about copyright

Most of the images used in this post are used without explicit permission from the photographers, however, they are used under the 'criticism and review' sections of UK copyright legislation. The photos in this article are used in reduced resolution, and I warmly recommend that you visit them in their full-resolution glory in Flickr. Remember to comment and favourite images you like on Flickr to show the photographers your appreciation. If you are the photographer of any of the works in this write-up, and you had rather I didn't include your image, please let me know.

Ida Kar at the National Portrait Gallery

It was a shame that the NPG couldn’t manage to open the first exhibition devoted to Ida Kar in over fifty years on Tuesday, what with it being International Women’s Day. It would have been fitting for such an influential figure in photography. She was, after all, the first photographer to be honoured with a major retrospective at a London gallery. (That was at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1960, by the way.) But that’s a minor thing, because the exhibition itself is the important bit.

Dame Iris Murdoch by Ida Kar, 1957. Copyright: National Portrait Gallery, London.

Clare Freestone has brought together a collection of pictures that charts Kar’s career from his first studio in Cairo, through her days in London photographing the movers and shakers in the artistic scene, including her exhibitions at Gallery One and the Whitechapel Gallery, and on to her later reportage and travel photography. It shows how Kar adapted to her surroundings and changing circumstances. Although, she did favour working in just natural light, her camera of choice was a Rolleiflex, and she rarely changed lens.

Kar was definitely an environmental portrait photographer. Yves Klein (‘the artist who painted nothing’) is pictured next to his blue sponge; Iris Murdoch is sitting with her back against her bed, surrounded by books and papers, Shostakovich is sitting at his piano. You can feel the souls of tortured artists and starving poets seeping through the bromide.

I have to admit that I’m not a great lover of environmental portraits, it’s a personal preference thing, but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying them and I did enjoy Kar’s. Still, it probably wasn’t surprising that I liked the picture of Barbara Hepworth best. She seems to be actually doing something towards creating a sculpture, rather than just being ensconced amidst her medium.

Royston Ellis, 1960 by Ida Kar. Copyright the National Portrait Gallery, London.

It’s these portraits, a who’s who of the London literati, that represent the pinnacle of Kar’s work. And they’ve impressed themselves on my memory better than the documentation of Kar’s trip to Cuba or her commission for The Tatler to Armenia, which was from where her family came.

You can get in to the Hoppé and Kar exhibitions on a double ticket, and I’d thoroughly recommend it. They make the most amazing contrast: Hoppé’s very personal, slowly generated and closely cropped portraits against Kar’s quickly shot environmental pictures. Hoppé who embraced technology and Kar who was much more set in her ways. It’s two very different means of telling a story through a photo, but both work.

Go see and enjoy. After all, as Sandy Nairne, the Director of the National Portrait Gallery put it, Kar is ‘admired by neglected’. I hope that this will change that.

Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer, 1908-1974 runs from 10 March to 19 June 2011 at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE.

(Featured image: Dame Barbara Hepworth at work on the armature of a sculpture in the Palais de Danse, 1961, by Ida Kar (c) National Portrait Gallery, London.)

A week of copyright, and copywrong

Copyright infringement is galling at the best of times (that’s if there really is a ‘best of times’ for someone stealing your work) but when people who really should know better screw up, it’s a complete kick in the guts. You’d like to think that people who are creative themselves, who teach creative pursuits, or promote creative endeavours would stand up for other people’s copyright, not trample over it roughshod, wouldn’t you? We should be so lucky.

This week started with the Lady Gaga fiasco, when the bizarrely-dressed music mega-star who also happens to be the Creative Director of Polaroid, demanded that photographers on her Monsters Ball tour surrender the copyright of any pictures taken at the shows. Sheesh, woman! Who owns the copyright of the music that you make? How do you make (some of) your money? So who owns the copyright of a photo? How do photographers make their money? Think about it and get back to me.

Then Haje finds out that a school in Canada has been reproducing his work wholesale as part of its photography course. Yes dear students, some of you might wish to go on and make money by taking photos or writing books or producing music, but don’t expect to ever be able to make a living from it because people like your teachers can just rip it off without giving you any due.

Finally an open letter from the Association of Photographers to the Photographers’ Gallery dropped into my inbox last night. Here, you can read what it says for yourself:

8 March 2011

Brett Rogers
The Photographers’ Gallery
16-18 Ramillies Street
London W1F 7LW

Dear Ms Rogers

It is with very great concern that we note the unauthorised use of a photograph made by John Goldsmith titled ‘Porcelain’ which resides on his Flickr Photostream and which has been used as part of a computer-generated impression to promote and publicise the new Photographers’ Gallery building.

As a trade body representing professional photographers, working to promote best practice and securing and protecting the rights of photographers everywhere, we are sure that you would not condone such a breach of a creator’s rights and would join with us in condemning what amounts to theft of someone else’s intellectual property.

We trust that as an organisation dedicated to promoting the best in photography, you are equally committed to respecting and honouring the rights of others, and will ensure that the photographer is paid the commercial rate for the use of his image as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely

The Association of Photographers

You might need to pinch yourself, but I can assure you that you’ve not misread it. The Photographers’ Gallery, an organisation designed to promote and support photographers and their work, allowed John Goldsmith’s photo to be used as part of its marketing campaign for the refit of its shiny new building, without asking his permission or offering him recompense.

Above: Porcelain by John Goldmsith. Below: unauthorised use of Porcelain in publicity for the Photographers' Gallery (photo courtesy of Joni Karanka).

The AoP stepped in when Goldsmith was pushed from pillar-to-post by the Photographers’ Gallery and their architects, each denying responsibility for failing to get permission to use the image. O’Donnell and Tuomey, the architects, have had the cheek to argue that they don’t need to reimburse Goldsmith because they’ve given him months of free publicity. Hogwash!

Goldsmith points out on his website that the original image was a candid street shot not intended for commercial use: he doesn’t even know who the woman in the picture is. In fact, if you’re her, or you know her, he’d like you to get in touch.

There’s just so much that’s wrong with the attitude of the Photographers’ Gallery that I’m astonished. Exactly which photographers are they promoting and supporting here? Precisely whose work and income are they managing to protect? Something tells me that they’d better move fast to rectify this one, or their credibility will be on very rocky ground.

In fact, I’m astonished that anyone who works in a creative capacity isn’t prepared to stand up for the copyright of any other creative individual. It’s an uphill struggle for those of us trying to earn a living by writing books, making music, taking photos, or producing art, at least until we hit the very big time. A little bit of co-operation goes a long way. It’s far better than cannibalism.

And for anyone who says that copyright is complicated: hell’s bells people, it’s copyright, not astrophysics.

(You can read more about the Lady Gaga fiasco in Rolling Stone, whilst John Goldsmith gives the story of Porcelain in his own words on his website.)