PhotoResearcher Newsletter

Advance Notes: Because independent photographers can list descriptions of their images on the Internet, and the power of search engines such as Google can find specific-content pictures among these lists in seconds, photobuyers are realizing it’s to their advantage to deal directly with the large community of independent photographers.

More and more photobuyers are realizing the benefits the Internet affords them for photo research. As more and more photographers make their images available on the Internet and researchers utilize the Net’s search and photo-finding capabilities, the visuals in publications everywhere can do nothing but improve.

The automobile, airplane, fax and the telephone launched huge leaps in communication among peoples of the world, and so now do the capabilities of the amazing Internet delivery system.

But the Internet goes even farther. It affords photo researchers the search power that was once the domain only of the large stock photo agencies and major libraries.

As a photo researcher, now that images can be both pre-viewed and transmitted electronically, you can open the curtain on a brand new horizon of search opportunity. No longer will you sometimes have to be satisfied with images that are just “good enough.”

With high-powered electronic tools available to everyone, the top dog major stock agencies are no longer, well, top dogs. In the past, creative persons, whether songwriters, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, etc., had no way of competing against the middleman agents and the large conglomerates. Now individual photographers have access to buyers equal to the access enjoyed by the large agencies.

All thanks to The Web. For example, if you are producing a book, CD, magazine article, web review, TV special, on outdoor markets in different countries of the world, there would be no reason to turn to a large digital stock agency to seek the needed images. Using web search engine efficiency, you can, in minutes, conduct an Internet search and locate photos from independent freelancers, and save money by eliminating the middleman.

Our continuing interest in copyright infringement was sparked by the court ruling (Sandoval v. New Line Cinema Corp) in which a photographer's images were briefly displayed in a scene in the movie, Seven. The Court ruled for the film company, basing its decision on the "Fair Use" doctrine in the Copyright Law. In making its decision, the Court cited its recent opinion in Ringgold v. Black Entertainment Television. For photo researchers , it's important to remember that in this case the Court is considering the movie appearance (an entertainment medium) as an editorial usage. If the defendant had used the photograph in a non-editorial situation, such as a commercial video or other promotional venture, the Court probably would have ruled for the photographer.

Sanjay Marathe

Where Has All The Water Gone?

If Bob Dylan, the songster, needs a new title, he can use this one.

This message to you is not just about water, but about a major project that’s putting a call out for photographs concerning all aspects of the world-wide water crisis—photographs that show a truth as alarming that Al Gore’s revelations about Global Warming pale in comparison: to the fact that in every country in the world, within a generation or two (that means our grandchildren), people will no longer have easy access to clean water.

THE FAUCET TURNED OFF?

How did this mounting lack of ‘clean, available water’ come about so quickly? Just fifty years ago only five man-made chemicals were found in town or city reservoirs in this country.

Today, researchers have found 10,000, including birth control and anti-depressant chemicals in tap water. Water supplied through the aqueducts of ancient Rome was clearer and cleaner than the water supplies of many third world countries, and indeed the water supplies in some parts of our own country.

Liquid H2O isn’t inexhaustible. We are drinking and using the same water, recycled, that the dinosaurs were consuming. Except it was much purer in those days.

In our times, wars have been fought over oil. Water inevitably will be the next contested resource. Egypt is pumping the Nile dry, much to the distress of neighboring Ethiopia. Turkey may soon dam the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which will affect Syria and Iraq. In our own country controversial state water rights battles have already emerged in the courts.

Here in our own state of Wisconsin, where we have the largest supply in the world of clean, fresh water in Lake Superior, the corporate players and the politicians are beginning debates over tapping (draining) this resource.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

To bring the harrowing and rapidly deteriorating situation to the attention of people everywhere, a non-profit group, the BPR Foundation, is funding a project called The Blue Planet Run. The organization will publish a book on this global water crisis, to help spark urgently needed action to clean up and conserve water before it’s too late. The book project will be led by photographer Rick Smolan, creator of A Day In The Life series of coffee-table books (more than 75 published to date). Rick will be collecting photographs during the months of May and June.
You can be a part of this book.

If you’ve photographed areas where water supplies have been or are being maltreated, such as the polluting of a lake, dumping trash in a river, corporate waste poisoning the water table, Rick Smolan’s team would like to see your photos.

Also, if you are planning to go on assignment to a location where there’s disregard for protecting the planet’s water supply, the Blue Planet Run team would like to talk with you. You’ll learn how you can submit images on line to the project, and/or pitch a story idea for an assignment.
For information: http://www.photosource.com/blueplanet.html.

Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of “Sell & ReSell Your Photos” and “sellphotos.com,” has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and to receive this free report: “8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer,” visit http://www.sellphotos.com

Watch for developments in the field of stock photography in PhotoResearcher's Newsletter

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS
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You'll be the first to know.

Note: If the URL is long, it may extend to two lines. In that case - clicking on it won't work. Instead, "copy and paste" the URL.

MALIPULATION TO CONGRATULATION - A month ago, Allan Detrich’s career seemed done after a manipulation scandal at the Toledo Blade. But in the last few days, his photos have gotten wide play on national TV including CNN and Fox News, and Polaris Images has agreed to distribute his work. Storm Photos Are A Second Chance For Allan Detrich http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/
article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003582423

HAS PHOTOGRAPHY BECOME A CRUTCH FOR PAINTERS? "Dear Mr. Saltz" has been organized as a response to Pulitzer-nominated art critic Jerry Saltz's 2004 Village Voice article,"The Richter Resolution", which was a critique on the use of photography in painting.
http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2007/05/14/34491.html

MARILYN CAN BE COMMERCIALLY USED Court Rejects Right of Publicity Claim for Marilyn Monroe - In addition to undercutting a lawsuit against a photo archive for unauthorized commercial use of a Monroe photograph, the decision opens the door for anyone to use Monroe images commercially without permission from the estate. http://www.stockphotographer.info/content/view/514/92/

MR SPOCK - photographer. Leonard Nimoy’s “Full Body Project- features nude obese women. The former Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy, has become an unlikely champion for
body image through his photography. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/fashion/13nimoy.html

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