Real Pictures Sell

Advance Notes: Reality shows on TV can trace their heritage back to 1999 and the movie, “The Blair Witch Project.” Many knockoffs and parodies have been tried – but none have produced the initial shock of seeing, for the first time how citizen reality clips can have their impact.

Centuries ago, storytellers would regale villagers with tales of adventure, the glories of victory, and the horrors of defeat. The imagination of the listener was a partner in creating the depth of the emotional impact of the stories.

When motion pictures came along, the depiction of adventure, strife, and war was laid out in visual detail with the magic of cinema. Imagination no longer figured in. Hollywood directed whether we shivered with delight or closed our eyes in fright.

But motion pictures focussed on fantasy, not delivering human reality to the masses. This kind of John Wayne-make-believe in tinsel-town lasted until the Vietnam War, when we were introduced to real-time TV coverage, albeit censored by the networks.

To expect to -- or try to -- depict real emotions on film in the past was the job of artful movie directors and career actors. But now comes along a new medium of motion pictures, the video format.

The producers of the box-office hit, "The Blair Witch Project," asked, "What if we allowed real people to video tape themselves during their own experience in a potentially near-hysteria situation?" The producers gave three pick-up actors (I’ll call them participants) a high-end video camera and ample tape. They pointed the participants, a female and two males in their 20’s, into the woods and gave them an assignment to look into a folktale about a witch that legend says once frequented the distant hills.

The box office proved (as you know, the movie has made millions) that viewers were ready to pay for a motion picture that was void of professional actors, computer visuals, and million-dollar backdrops. Yes, Internet hype drove many to the film out of curiosity. But word-of-mouth drove the box office receipts off the charts. Viewers were given a peeping-tom license into a story line that strung together raw footage that laid out the three participants’ internal selves as if their emotions were beef cattle parts being prepared for supermarket meat counter packaging. (Sorry, I didn’t know any other way to say it.)

Did the film propose some message? Since the outcome of the film wasn’t predetermined, the traumatized actors were at the mercy of each sequential 3x5-file card with instructions that the producers had given them on the first day of their four-day trek. The message of the film became as cryptic and as intriguing as a rumor -- real, yet maybe unreal. Whatever.

Did this experience engender a new genre of film? Was it some kind of faux snuff experience in disguise? Will we see new stalls at the video stores: "B-W-P-Type Films"? Probably not, because everything that follows The Blair Witch Project will be tinted with the temptation to do it one better. When you pull a mask from a face at the Halloween Ball, the black cat is out of the bag. Therein lies the unique voyeurism of this film. Like the wonder of having your first child, it’s impossible to repeat the primordial experience.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/dec994.html

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This week's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio:
James Milam (http://folio.photosource.com/2836)
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Sanjay Marathe

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.

WHAT IT COSTS TO PRODUCE A SIMPLE PHOTO OF A CORNFIELD - Serban Enache, CEO of Dreamstime asked, "Aren't the costs lower now for a traditional photographer, just as they are for a micropayment photographer? Why does an image of a cornfield need to cost several hundred dollars when it costs $10 to produce. http://rising.blackstar.com/what-it-costs-to-
produce-a-simple-photo-of-a-cornfield.html

BUT NOT FOR EDITORIAL PHOTOS Book Excerpt: Why Get A Property Release? - Increasingly, photographers and photo libraries are complaining that their clients are receiving cease and desist letters from manufacturers of the objects depicted in photographs, sometimes alleging a violation of trademark. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/features/
article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003605722

OOOOPS………. Sydney Airport security story leads to charges - The pair will be charged with trespassing on Commonwealth land under the Commonwealth Crimes Act and entering a secure area without lawful purpose under Aviation Transport Safety Regulations 2005. A 27-year-old journalist from Castle Hill and a 28-year-old photographer, from Zetland, also face the trespass charges. http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/
Airport-security-story-leads-to-charges/
2007/07/07/1183351508289.html

TRAVEL Best airfares to places that are a photographer's dream http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-airfares8jul08

NEW RULES FOR COMMERCIAL STOCK PHOTOS? Permit May Be Required For Public Photography in NYC. "New rules being considered by the Mayor's Office of Film,
Theater and Broadcasting would require any group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour to get a city permit and insurance. The same requirements would apply to any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a public location for more than 10 minutes, including the time it takes to set up the equipment
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/30/0644201&from=rss

WAR PHOTOS Iwo Jima was the site of some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, and the photograph taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal of the flag-raising atop Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, came to symbolize the Pacific War and the valor of the Marines.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070628/ap_on_re_as/iwo_jima_marine_23

TRAVELERS ABROAD

Photobuyers: Watch this column. For the e-mail address, phone or fax number of the traveling photographer, call the PhotoSource International office and ask for Rohn Engh (1 800 624-0266). For an expansion of this list: www.photosource.com and press the Travelers Abroad button, to learn of past international destinations of our photographers.

Larry Caine
August 8 – September 15, 2007
Northern Italy and France

Shawn McGrath
October 1 – October 7, 2007
Ireland

Robert Maust
June 26 – July 19, 2007
Egypt

Jason Lauré
June 1 – July 30, 2007
South Africa

Lois Olson

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Hard to find qualified photographers? They're reading our weekly newsletter, PhotoStockNotes. Reach them cost effectively at. . . http://www.photosource.com/psb

Now you can search back issues of PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter. On your Web browser go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/list.html then type in your keyword.

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## PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter monthly newsletter is produced by PhotoDaily, PhotoSource International, Rohn Engh, Director, who is solely responsible for its contents.
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Next Week: Easy Photo Research

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That “c” with a circle around it, ©, is the familiar copyright notice. On a photo, it alerts readers, and would-be infringers, that the photo is under U.S. Copyright Law protection.

Does this symbol need to be displayed on all your photos for you to be protected? In other words, if someone uses a photo without the permission of the photographer, but the photo does not contain a copyright notice, is that person still guilty of infringing?

The answer is yes. Someone who uses a photo they see in a publication, without getting the photographer’s permission (let alone paying him or her), is violating copyright, whether or not there’s a copyright notice on the photo. Under current law, photos are protected by copyright whether or not the photographer puts a copyright notice on them. However, the fact that a photo does not have a copyright notice on it may result in a lower damages award, under copyright law’s "innocent infringer" defense.

Better Information

 Send me information about how I can list a photo need. http://www.photosource.com/photoneed 1 800 223 3860
Yes, I want to subscribe to the PhotoResearchers Newsletter https://www.photosource.com/
photobuyer/register.php - 1 800 223 3860
Tell me about the PhotoSourceGROUP gallery of stock photos and how I can get on-time delivery of images http://www.photosourcegroup.com/
QAphotobuyers.htm 1 800 223 3860

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Looking for “Non-Generic” photos for your next project?

You’ll find real-life photos at “PhotoSourceGROUP”.
Click here for more details.

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For photo researchers, the Internet has finally matured...
Easy Photo Research

Say good bye to long, harrowing, frustrating searches when you need an EXOTIC, UNIQUE, HISTORICAL, CELEBRITY, SCIENTIFIC, HARD-TO-FIND photo. Now you can use the Internet to quickly locate the source of a hard-to-find image, and save yourself tons of labor and time. And it's FREE. Here's how:

Step 1: Using the popular search engine, Google, type in the words or phrase that describes the picture you need.

Step 2: Then type a space (on the same line), and then the word, photosource. (We have a million and a half text descriptions of available photos.)

Step 3: The source (or sources) of the photo you need will appear on your screen. You can be sure you will be dealing with a qualified photographer. Click on his or her name. When their page comes up, scroll down the page of text until you see your request highlighted in red.

Step 4: Phone, fax, or e-mail the photographer and request a digital sample (or lightbox) to view the image choices. You deal directly with the photographer for payment for the use of the photo. No middleman fees.

For a fast check on how this works, go to Google and type one of the following phrases into the search bar:

To locate a particular town or village:
Summerland Key, Florida photosource

To find an exotic weed, or flower:
Ageratum houstonianum photosource

An historical event:
Emperor Haile Selassie Lighting Bonfire photosource

To find a geographical location:
New Hampshire covered bridge photosource

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
We’re seeing that the Internet can be a powerful tool for quick and easy photo research.

Dennis Frates

GOT A PHOTO NEED? Send it to eds@photosource.com (Just write up your photo listing in any way you feel clearly gets across what you need) or use our standard form at < http://www.photosource.com/
photobuyer/request.php >. It’s free. No charge.
Once you use our photo listing service, details of contact info, budget rouge, w/color, any specifics like “requests no phone calls,” etc., will be saved on your personal computer so you don’t have to re-type them when you make a photo need listing the next time.

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PHOTOBUYERS!
Send us your photo need. You’ll find us at www.photosource.com/ On the upper right (white letters, blue background) click and fill out the form. ( No registration, no password needed…only your email address. Other options: FAX (800) PhotoFax (746-8632)
E-Mail: eds@photosource.com Phone: (800) 223-3860
Correspondence Attn: PhotoDaily/PhotoLetter Editor, Lela LaBree
PhotoSource International
1910 35th Rd, Osceola, WI 55020

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PhotoResearcher, get a handle on this easy way to post your photo needs and get fast results, from a select group of professional photographers. Check out our brief video that takes you through three simple and quick steps to locate the photos you need. Finding a hard – to – locate photo using the Internet.

Mel Glynn

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White Mailers
Sending a disk or slides? Look like a pro. Stiff white cardboard mailers are available at: MAILERS, 575 Bennett Rd, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007, Attn: Pat Pulver; http://www.mailersco.com/ . Phone: 1 800 872-6670. Fax: 1 847 731-2603.

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Travelwriter Marketletter… for writers and photojournalists.

Travelwriter Marketletter is a monthly publication available online
( http://www.travelwriterml.com ) and in hard copy format. Travelwriter Marketletter is in its 28th year.
If you’re a travel writer or photographer, TWM tells you about new markets, payscales, editors, specs and trips. Contact Mimi Backhausen Phone: 703-879-6814 Fax: 208-988-7672

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SPEED READ

Why tire your eyes reading hundreds of Photo Stock Lists when you can let a search engine on the Web do the searching for you? With the PhotoSourceBANK we can help you save time and your eyesight.
At this website you can search through more than 2 million descriptions of available photos in just seconds. (“Hits” are displayed for you in red ink.) The search immediately tells you the contact information of the photographer who can supply you with that hard-to-locate photo.
Try this lightning quick search method out today. At www.photosource.com, press PhotoSourceBank, and follow the easy instructions. The system is free to qualified photobuyers.