Chase Jarvis Blog

Priced To Sell: Gladwell vs. Anderson Considering Photography

2009-07-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

About 18 months ago, I wrote about Chris Anderson's 'Free' in the context of the ever-evolving landscape of photography, video, and their relation to new media. In today's New Yorker Magazine, Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point,Blink,and Outliers,) offers some cogent analysis and great counterpoints to Anderson's claims that are well worth the read:

"...And there’s plenty of other information out there that has chosen to run in the opposite direction from Free. The Times gives away its content on its Web site. But the Wall Street Journal has found that more than a million subscribers are quite happy to pay for the privilege of reading online. Broadcast television—the original practitioner of Free—is struggling. But premium cable, with its stiff monthly charges for specialty content, is doing just fine. Apple may soon make more money selling iPhone downloads (ideas) than it does from the iPhone itself (stuff). The company could one day give away the iPhone to boost downloads; it could give away the downloads to boost iPhone sales; or it could continue to do what it does now, and charge for both. Who knows? The only iron law here is the one too obvious to write a book about, which is that the digital age has so transformed the ways in which things are made and sold that there are no iron laws."

Counter to some predictions, photography and video are are not bound to 'Free'. I'm in agreement with Anderson that 'Free' is most certainly carving out its space--even reasonably so--in every digitally based industry, but I'm in complete alignment with Gladwell that the two markets 'Free' and 'Not Free' can and will continue to co-exist reasonably nicely. The trick is/will be in...[click the 'continue reading' link below]

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...finding the balance. I find this to be the case in my own personal preferences, both in regards to how I obtain digital content as a user, as well as my life as a content creator and distributor.

Suffice it to say, this article is an essential read if you're at all interested in the intersection of art + new media. Get it here (for free ;) at the New Yorker: Priced to Sell, Is Free the Future?

Update...Featured Comment: I thought this comment by Craig Swanson of CreativeTechs was particularly smart and did a nice job of bridging the gap between Gladwell and Anderson. As such I'm featuring it here. I'd also say you could sub my name out of his thoughts and insert any independent artist who has taken a similar path...be it you or any other photographer on this march...

I've spent the weekend listening to the abridged audiobook of Chris Anderson's FREE. Which I (of course) downloaded for free as digital MP3 files. I think there is a tremendously important, and frequently missed point in the concept of "Free" as a business model tactic in today's digital economy.

In Chapter 3, Chris Anderson compares the results of abundance vs. scarcity in the prices of digital items in today's information industries.

I can't easily find the specific quote in the audiobook (which is one reason I've already ordered and paid for the printed edition), but Anderson compares the prices of digital commodities that are racing towards "Free" with other digital products such as Microsoft's Windows, or Adobe's Photoshop which have held their prices even while the marginal cost of manufacturing individual copies has dropped to nearly nothing.

The difference being that, for the moment, Microsoft and Adobe have maintained a level of monopoly with their products. If you want "Photoshop" there is only one company who makes it (Leaving out piracy and theft for the moment).

The question becomes where you and your creative work falls.

Today, we've seen the great abundance and availability of stock photography reducing the value and revenue from individual stock collections. Based on results, I think it is fair to note that generic stock image libraries are among the digital products already on a steady march towards "Free".

Meanwhile, the value of time and creativity from certain specific photographers (like you Chase) have increased greatly over that same period. While photography as a whole is quite abundant (abundant digital items are racing towards "Free" status), the availability of, for example, "Chase Jarvis" is quite scarce these days. (Scarce items maintain and even increase their value).

So I think this has a lot to do with how we manage our careers and art in the future. To maintain our value we must become our own monopoly. Become a "generic" photographer, designer, copywriter, or in my case Mac IT tech, and watch your market value drop as the world shifts.

Become a monopoly of one, and watch your value grow. I may be able to hire a generic photographer at a wide range of prices (including free in some cases). But if I want to hire Chase Jarvis, there is a single person who controls the price and availability of that particular monopoly.

It isn't easy. It isn't even fair. But it is the world we're living in.

[Thanks @mcbill for the tip! Gladwell image by C. Davidson/Hastac; Anderson image by Joebeone.]

Chase Jarvis CURRENT: The Consequences of Creativity

2009-07-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

I was recently invited to speak to the Art Director's Club of Denver and the ASMP about creativity, and subsequently delivered that keynote two weeks ago. This video is a recording of that talk. Hope it strikes a chord with you.

I had a blast connecting with some of the creative community in Denver/Boulder while I was in town, and it was also a great honor to judge your annual advertising awards show with some rather distinguished ad gurus from around the country. Thanks to the ADCD for being such gracious hosts.

Additionally, the video should be downloadable via my iTunes podcast within the next 24-48 hours.

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Related Posts/Videos:
[Consequences Of Creativity: ADCD Teaser #1]
[Consequences of Social Media: ADCD Teaser #2]
[Consequences of Creative Vision: ADCD Teaser #3]

If you can't see the video in your RSS reader, click here.

Fake Photojournalism Wins

2009-06-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Two French students were awarded the annual Grand Prix du Photoreportage Etudiant last week to honor a photographic story that presented images documenting the precarious lives of students today and the things they must do in order to survive and succeed.

The only catch is that the entire story was a fake.

And during the award ceremony, the two "winners"--Guillaume Chauvin and Remi Huberr, art students at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Strasbourg--instead of claiming their trophy and prize money, stood on stage and revealed their hoax. The images were not photojournalism but staged images featuring many of their peers. I'd have love to been a fly on the wall in that auditorium. Ouch.

From Horses Think blog:

The winners claimed that the idea was hatched a year ago when they looked at all the work students were competing with for the 2008 prize. They realized that the “world view of this work was limited and seemed more like vacation photographs as opposed to photojournalism. The photographs depicted small children with big wet eyes in order to illustrate the misery abroad.” Speaking to Le Figaro, Guillaume Chauvin confided that they “wanted to enter the contest in order to show the codes used too often in photojournalism and to prove that something real could be translated into something staged.”

Is this genius? Is this mocking an industry that can't tell true plight from a staged...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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set of pictures? What have they done?

I think what they've done is not to make brilliant photojournalism, but to make brilliant art. There was certainly a significant price to be paid for that art, or perhaps many prices: the reputation of the award, the reputation of the judges, even their own reputations perhaps--and only time will tell--but they've surely made some brilliant statements about the nature of such imagery, called into question the cliched nature of the traditional canons recognizing that work, and made us all pause, even if just for a moment, to consider what photojournalism really is. By blending genres (PJ + perhaps advertising photography?) and creating staged images that were stunning enough to win a Grand Prize (hard work in it's own right), I'd argue that they've achieved their end goal. And they've done so in an incredibly creative way. Subversive and meta.

It sure worked on me. I dunno about you, but if I hired artists for a living, I'd want those guys' brains and talents on my team. Of course they might stab you in the back in the name of art, but they're clearly good at finding a point and making it clearly.

Genius or just plain disrespectful in an arena that has no room for shenanigans?

[If you read French, follow this link to view the story as told by Le Figaro and as the "win" appeared in Paris Match.]
[All this via Horses Think, via Conscientious. Thanks guys.]

And My iPhone Goes to... (BTW, Check Out This Gallery)

2009-06-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Omar Shine, for this killer image here. Great composition, color, and story. Points for abstraction. Congrats Omar. Everyone please shower him with praise. Omar is from the great country of Canada, so it'll be up north that I'm mailing my phone. (Omar, please contact me offline about getting it to you.)

IMPORTANT: in addition to Omar's winning shot, there were 3500 images submitted in just a couple of days, with some absolutely stunning work therein. Seriously. As such, I have posted a gallery of my favorite one hundred images with photographer names on each. This gallery is REMARKABLE. Please pay a visit. A good chunk of this work stands up to a lot of the work I see in the industry, regardless of the the platform, mobile or otherwise. Pat yourselves on the back. And thanks for the fun.

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[And btw, a personal aside: I found out my mom and dad entered some spoof images in the contest too. Scroll back thru the whole Facebook gallery of submissions if you want to see images of a strange goat tied to a car and a cactus shaped like a rabbit. my parents are funny and cooler'n hell...]
[Lastly, in case you missed it, this entry is the result of this earlier post.]

Irrelevant Award-Chasers

2009-06-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Jeff Goodby, pilot of the mighty Goodby, Silverstein & Partners advertising agency has rightly said of the advertising industry:

"We've created a system that rewards work that is increasingly unknown to anyone outside the business. We have become connoisseurs of esoterica. And in the process, we're becoming more about us, and less about changing the world. We are becoming irrelevant award-chasers. Sure, some of the best things we make nowadays are internet experiences with necessarily specific, limited audiences -- that cab driver might not be expected to see them. But for the ones I'm talking about, the only intended audience is, well, us..."

Having just judged the Art Directors Club of Denver's annual award show with some bigtime judges, even one from Goodby (winners announced September 25), I've seen this first hand. It came up. And when I went to vote for best in show, I couldn't throw my vote around lightly. It was ultimately a vote away from the obscure reference and toward a more inclusive, understandable message without ignoring the cultural cost of such a decision. Like 'less is more', clarity often finds the win in any situation, regardless of niche, metaphysics, or content of the message.

The rest of the Ad Age article...[Click the 'continue reading' link below}
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can be found here.

Your Photos Are Boring

2009-06-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry, someone had to say it.

Your photos are predictable. Your insights are recycled. You don't bring surprise with you when you come back from working on location.

That's why people are ignoring you.

Which used to be fine, because people used to not be able to find other photographers. You could just sit back on your past work, or your agent, or your portfolio. But that half-price sale on attention is now over.

The only path left is to lean out of the edge and become interesting, noteworthy and yes, remarkable.

If the above words don't sound like mine, it's because...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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...they're not. They're the words of marketing guru Seth Godin remixed with a couple of choice photography terms here and there. But they got your attention I bet. They certainly got mine. I took them to heart. This sort of brutal honest point keeps me on my toes. Reminds me to innovate, create, differentiate. There are a million photo gigs out there and, more often than not, getting that phone call requires that we first suck it up and do some remarkable work.

[I've done this little word play trick before and it was equally evocative... Read it over here. Thanks Seth.]

Subversive Winner: Make A Music Video With Surveillance Cameras

2009-06-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

I missed this when it came out last month, but I'm smitten with the concept and decided it must be shared. Regardless of whether you like the track or not... Reminds us why art and new media is so freaking cool. From The Future of Media:

"The band set up their music equipment, from microphones to drum kit, in eighty different locations, including buses and what appear to be taxi cabs, and then requested all of the footage using the Data Protection Act, an English statute similar to the U.S.’s Freedom of Information Act that mandates any individual should have access to all information collected about them."

Talk about doing a video on the cheap. Very impressive.

What's even more impressive to me is...[click the 'continue reading' link below]

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...something I've praised before: meta art. Just like my heroes of the NYC art scene in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's - Warhol, Basquiat, Johns (hell, even Duchamp way back in 1917). These artists made art that stood on it's own, and simultaneously commented about the medium, process, or concept in itself.

And this video has that.

Never really thought I'd see that level of meta-narrative in an indie band music video. As such, I give props to this band, The Get Out Clause. And god that must have been a pain in the arse to set up their gear in 80 different locations.

(via Lens Culture)

Who Wants My iPhone?

2009-06-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The winner has been chosen, check out the gallery of the top hundred or so entries.

I'm the proud owner of a new iPhone 3Gs. That said, I've got my last iPhone, this lovely black 16GB 3G (pictured here), that I'll no longer be using. Don't get me wrong...I love this little sucker. I've lugged it over 200,000 air miles, literally around the world, and it's taken all the daily iPhone pics that you've seen on my Twitter feed and Facebook fan page. She's still in tip-top shape. It's dear to me, but it's time for me to give it to you.

In exchange, I want to see your photos (in the spirit, we'll limit it to mobile devices only...iphone or any other camera phone - honor system here...) posted to my Facebook fan page. You've got till 12 noon on Tuesday 6/23, my time (GMT -8). On Tuesday the give away will close, I'll pick my favorite image from all those uploaded and I'll give that person my beloved iPhone 3G. Announced Wednesday 6/24.

To participate, you've got to:
1. 'Become a fan' on my Facebook fan page. (NOT my personal page, but the FAN page. Follow that link...)
2. Under the "wall" tab in the 'what's on your mind' window atop the page, write your name and a url if you'd like.
3. In that same window, directly below where you just wrote your name, click on the 'add photos' icon.
4. Upload your favorite mobile image. No limit to the number of entries. Anyone can enter, from anywhere in the world.
5. When you win, I'll send you my iphone in the mail. Easy peasy.

[I'd love to see some community love here. Don't be a miser. Please share this. It's really about pictures and not about the phone. Also, if you've got time, visit the Fan gallery and click 'like' to any images that inspire you. This isn't part of the giveaway, but it seems like a nice way to look at some pretty pictures and maybe make somebody's day.]
[Lastly, images in my iPhone gallery, shot with the iphone in question, are here. Chk 'em.]

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Top 20 Photography Blogs According To Some Math

2009-06-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thought y'all might be interested in a list of the top photography blogs (according to some math) that was recently forwarded to me unsolicited from Invesp Consulting, a firm specializing in internet data. According to them, the ranking was established "using 16 different criteria and an algorithm that took 8 months to develop...and from a sample of 20,000 photo blogs". Links to all the top 20, plus a hundred or so others, after the jump . If some of these sites aren't one your list, check them out and consider subscribing. [Click the 'continue reading' link below.]

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1. Digital Photography School
2. Strobist
3. DIYPhotography.net
4. The Luminous Landscape
5. Digital Camera Reviews & Photography Tips
6. PopPhoto: Tests & Reviews
7. Digital Camera Reviews, Ratings, Tips and Comparisons
8. Chase Jarvis Blog
9. 1001 Noisy Cameras
10 A Photo Editor
11. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips
12. Photography Served Featured Projects
13. Pro Photo Life
14. Photojojo
15. Shoot the Blog
16. Photoshop User TV
17. TwipPhoto.com
18. Pioneer Women Photography - Ree Drummond
19. Joe McNally's Blog
20. JMG Galleries - Jim Goldstein

More after the jump. [Click the 'continue reading' link below.]

Remember this list is just by somebody's math and is not my list, nor should it be yours definitively. It's a by the numbers approach that some might find useful.

Of note is that a lot of these blogs are gear, tech, and how-to related...all important for sure, but that said, I'd encourage you not to get too hung up on gear and specific how-to stuff. It's addicting and easy to do that online, but it's only a fragment of the picture.

Instead, consider seeking out some blogs that also reveal a wider range of subject matter. Elements of creative culture, mindset, vision, approach and the numerous other elements of photography, film, or art that are arguably the most important elements of these crafts. IMHO, you'll find that info more readily from the blogs of independent creatives, ADs, PEs, and art sites than you will from some other, more-easily-stumbled-upon blogs. But that's just my 2 cents.

Spend some time digging deeper, lemme know if you have favs, report back. I'd love to see more independent artists higher on this list in the future.

Here's all the data and results by category that Invesp used, with links to a hundred or more photo blogs.

Banksy Vs. Bristol Museum: New "Secret" Exhibit Takes Over

2009-06-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

One of my favorites, the legendary street artist, Banksy, has "secretly" taken over the city museum in his hometown of Bristol. In a rare statement, Bansky said:

"The people in Bristol have always been very good to me - I decided the best way to show my appreciation was by putting a bunch of old toilets and some live chicken nuggets in their museum...This is the first show I’ve ever done where taxpayers’ money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off."

The BBC reported: "Graffiti artist Banksy has unveiled his most ambitious British project to date, a made over museum in his home town of Bristol. Staged in the council-owned City Museum and Art Gallery, Banksy v Bristol Museum was such a closely guarded secret even senior councillors were unaware of the plans, while visitors and staff were told that filming had been taking place. The exhibition features animatronics, installations and a sensory display."

A BBC news video and more links after the jump. Click the 'continue reading' link below.
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Daily Mail UK covers it.

A great series of photographs of the exhibit, compliments again of the BBC.

Someone's Got to Be First

2009-06-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

In any discipline, it's tough to be first. The first guy to make a battery powered car, the first first gal to wear combat boots with a babydoll dress, or the first guy to eat 50 hotdogs in 10 minutes. People may laugh at you. They might even point and laugh.

In the world of creativity, it's especially tough. Not physically hard, but emotionally hard; hard to have the cajones to lay it out there different than anybody else is doing it, saying, "THIS is my style, come and get it"...putting a stake in the ground--whether it's with fashion, filmmaking or photography--and not giving a rat's arse what everybody else is doing or thinking.

Well, the guy in this vid pretty much nails it. Be sure to take some humor away from this, but be reminded that it took this guy standing up at the beginning of the video to get it all started.

Someone's got to be first, why not make it you?

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BTW, Seth Godin thinks you should be #3.

Art & Copy Trailer

2009-06-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

If you're a photographer, filmmaker, CD or AD and interested in advertising work, and/or if you've enjoyed Doug Pray's previous documentary films Hype!(about Seattle Grunge) or Scratch (about DJ Culture), you'll want to check out his new one, Art & Copy.

A synopsis:

"ART & COPY reveals the stories behind and the personal odysseys of some of the most influential advertising visionaries of our time and their campaigns, including Lee Clow (Apple Computer 1984, and today’s iPod); Dan Wieden (“Just Do It”); ....Directed by Doug Pray (SURFWISE, HYPE!, SCRATCH), ART & COPY captures the creative energy and passion behind the iconic campaigns that have had a profound impact on American culture. Featuring rare interviews with the aforementioned industry legends, the film seeks to identify the elements that transform a slogan into a pop culture catch phrases....'The movie looks at advertising not as products flying off the shelf but as the work of a few American heroes who feel passionately about their craft, ideas, and the ability of ideas to change how people feel.'"

Probably coming soon to a small theater or a DVD near you.
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Thanks Chris!

ADCD Talk Reminder + Chase Jarvis SOCIAL

2009-06-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

A couple times each year I tear myself away from making stuff and blowing it and getting run over by cars for long enough to do a couple keynote talks. One of those times is this Friday in Denver. Open to the general public. Focus is on creativity. Thanks to the Art Directors Club of Denver for hosting.

What: Chase Jarvis Keynote Address
Date: Friday, June 12
Time: 6pm gather, 7pm start
Location: Denver Newspaper Auditorium
Details: www.ADCD.com

Tickets available here. I'm told they're moving quickly.

ALSO wanted to let you know that we're having an expressly casual Chase Jarvis SOCIAL Thursday 6/11 (tomorrow) in Boulder. All are welcome. I'd love to meet you in person. Fan me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter to find out time and place.

Lastly, in case you missed 'em, I made some fun of myself and did some laughable (er..dubious) teaser vids for this talk here, here, and here.
Low and behold, in true form, an ol' pal McNally followed it up with this funny parody .

Hope to see you at one or both.

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iPhone 3GS Is The Photographer's iPhone

2009-06-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard the news, the best camera is the one that's with you, like in your pocket right now. For yours truly and anybody else who can part with $200-$300, that will on June 19th be the newly announced iPhone 3GS. Looks like this will be an amazing little tool for those of us interested in taking pictures and shooting video when our dSLR's are outta reach.

In case you missed it, here's a brief recap of the hot new photo and video specs for the iPhone 3GS:

Photo:
- 3 megapixel camera
- low light capture modes
- autofocus
- autoexposure
- OR tap to focus, allowing focus and white balance adjustment on the fly
- auto macro lens (up to 10cm away)

Video:
- 30 frames per second VGA video
- auto focus
- auto white balance
- auto exposure

Other handy stuff for us photo/video geeks:
- 16 and 32 GB storage
- faster processor
- cut and paste multiple photos into email, etc
- multimedia messaging (send photos via sms/text)

I dunno about you, but I'm pumped. All that in your pocket - always. LOVE to hear your thoughts. For photos highlighting some of these features, plus some additional snazzy chatter hit 'Continue Reading' link below...

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Here's a highlight photo from the WWDC just moments ago of the "tap to focus" selective focus option:

Here's a demo image of the auto macro setting in effect (to 10cm):

Here's a demo image highlighting the low light capabilities:

Here's a demo shot of video mode:

And here's a shot of video sharing mode:

Hope all that makes things a little sweeter.

If you haven't seen my iphone photo gallery before, please check it out here. I also post daily iPhone images to my twitter feed (@chasejarvis) and to my Facebook fan page. Love to see your avatar there and/or get any feedback.

Details on the other non-photo iPhone 3GS stuff here on Gizmodo. Big thanks to the Giz for the screengrabs and their play by play, live blogging the announcement.

Olympus Pen Digital And Maybe A New Way Of Thinking

2009-06-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Do you recall the story of my uncle's war camera - the little Olympus Pen half frame? Well, looks like they've reinvented it (read here) digitally using the new micro 4/3 sensor technology and it got me thinking.

Since you know by now I believe deeply that the best camera is the one that's with you. And since I'm an advocate of keeping a camera with you at all times, it's obvious that small cameras are easier to haul around than large ones. As such, this little Olympus--and potentially a huge wave of cameras following this path (ahem, Nikon and Canon?)-- could drive a revolution of small, high powered cameras with interchangeable lenses. I mean, c'mon, check out this sweet little 17mm 2.8 on this Pen. This camera clearly fits into your shirt pocket. If these micro 4/3 sensors can get noise issues figured out and they can add an array of lenses... [Click 'continue reading' link below]
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...might we be onto something?

Don't get me wrong, those of us that have them, we love our D3x's and H3D's for the majority of large scale commercial work--and that level of camera is certainly here to stay--, but it seems we could be in for a real polarization of technology in the very near future. At one end, the really big and buff - the big dSLRs I mentioned + DSMC's like the forthcoming RED camera system; and at the other end of the spectrum a new standard--perhaps even professional quality--of highly effective micro cameras.

And it's what this begets that interests me: Might we then also see a new era of professional photographer, a backlash in the spirit of Terry Richardson who lands large commercial commissions but who'd rather shoot Kate Moss with a point and shoot than with a Hasselblad?

The only thing that's constant is change.

Consequences of Creative Vision: ADCD Teaser #3

2009-06-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

I'm giving a chat about creativity + social media at the Art Directors Club of Denver. This 45-second teaser video highlights the consequences of creative vision.

This talk is open to the public, tickets are available here. Please tell your friends. Hope to see you there.

[Ok. So I promise this is the LAST one of these ... We've really upped the cheese factor to 11. Had so much fun pulling these stupid things together. We laughed like kids for the entire day. In case you missed the first teaser video, and the second teaser video, check them out. In reality the fire hose one hurt the most...]

Who: You + the Art Directors Club of Denver + the ASMP
What: Chase Jarvis keynote address
When: Friday, June 12, 6pm
Where: Denver, CO (Denver News Auditorium)
Details: www.adcd.com

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[If you get this via RSS or email and can't see the video, click here.]

When Was the Last Time?

2009-06-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here asking myself this question, which makes me want to ask you the same one.

When was the last time you shot something for the first time?

Get out there and shoot something new. Break your mold. Report back.

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iPhone Art Graces Cover of The New Yorker

2009-05-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

So this time last month it was a still from the RED one camera featured on the cover of Esquire Magazine. Now it's iPhone art on the cover of The New Yorker magazine. Yes, my friends, the future is upon us. The Matrix. And I love it.

Speaking about artist Jorge Colombo, abcnews.com reports:

"Using the Brushes application, one of thousands available for the iPhone and iPod touch, he has digitally painted dozens of New York scenes, including Grand Central Terminal, classic downtown delicatessens and the Empire State Building. This week one of his sketches will assume a spot coveted by artists in New York and all over the world: the cover of The New Yorker magazine."

A made-for-morning-show-TV interview with Jorge here.

Well...told you it wasn't getting any less interesting around here. So welcome to The Matrix...Now let's just hope we're all brighter than Neo and have a vocabulary beyond "whoa" to discuss what's happening.

[If you're a noobie to this site, then you should know I've long been enamored with the iphone-as-damn-cool-camera and I send a daily iPhone image out into the world via my Twitter account (follow me) and my Facebook fan page (become a fan). My recently updated iPhone photo gallery is here. Check it. Now, just waiting for The New Yorker to call...and ever jealous of Jorge!]

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Songs For Eating And Drinking on The Boob Tube

2009-05-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Psyched (and happily surprised) that our Songs for Eating and Drinking project was deemed worthy of a 30 minute television special last week. Sample it here or if you prefer the boob tube, it runs several more times this month on The Local Music Show with John Richards (The Seattle Channel - cable 21) at 8:30pm on Thursdays and some other late night slots too. With any luck, this sucker is going global. Booyah-kashah.
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NYPD Tells NYPD That Photography Is (Still) Legal

2009-05-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

In light of some recent harassing of photographers on the streets and subways of NYC, the New York City Police Department issued an internal memo reminding themselves that photography on the streets is (still) legal.

"Members of the service are reminded that photography and the videotaping of public places, buildings and structures are common activities within New York City. Given the City's prominence as a tourist destination, practically all such photography will have no connection to terrorism or unlawful conduct.

...Members of the service many not demand to view photographs taken by a person absent consent or exigent circumstances...

...Metropolitan Transporation Authority (MTA) regulations expressly permit photography and video recording in subways...although permission is required for commercial shoots..."

The full order can be found after the jump...[Click the 'continue reading' link below.]
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Thanks to Todd at GalleryHopper.org

Escaping Your Portfolio

2009-05-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

As a professional creative--or even an aspiring amateur--it's standard protocol to have a portfolio. Whether it's posted online or neatly bound in a black leather book bearing your name, or both, the portfolio is meant to be a cohesive sample of your work.

But why is the thing so damned precious?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of having a portfolio. I understand it's a core convention of creative professions and that it does the heavy lifting when it comes time to "get work"... But in recent times I've become increasingly disenchanted with the concept of "the" portfolio in our digital world and I've noticed--in myself and others--that the metaphysical weight alone of the word portfolio can crush the creative spirit rather than enhance it.

What to do? Ditch it.

Not literally, but ditch the concept in your mind and wander aimlessly creating things that you want to create. (Gasp!) Too many people, myself included, fall prey to the notion that everything you create should drive toward the ultimate portfolio. Well, I'll say it again: ditch that idea. Let your portfolio come together in an edit, not in a "how to spend your time" sort of fashion.

How can I say this? Well...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
experience, for one. Shooting whatever I fancy has been responsible for almost everything I'm creatively excited about in my life, and ironically, everything I'm getting paid to shoot these days. Could I have ever started my daily iphone picture last year with that measly 2 megapixel camera had I not abandoned the idea of "what is this good for?". When I spin through that absolutely simple, basic work now, I get giddy because I'm free enough to take a picture of a flag or a shopping cart or a blurry pile of rocks they way I see them on a daily basis, without prejudice, without weight. That's been incredibly liberating.

Moreover, a spin through my Disposable Heroes (please do), will get you perhaps the most egregious epitome of incongruent work ever. Probably make most hurried art directors roll their eyes... But I created that gallery specifically with a qualifier - as a dumping ground for things I'm making that don't fit in anywhere else. And you know what? I like it - I'm glad I did it. I'm free to have fun or to suck or to stumble on something fantastic. There are images there combining fashion photography with intentional digital sensor blooming. There's a collage embedded with "1968" documenting a series of snapshot portraits I made with the camera my uncle had on him when he was killed in Vietnam. The thing hardly makes sense at 500x700 pixels (considering that it's really a 4 foot by 7 foot print...), but I don't care. That gallery is also a dumping ground for some beautiful post production with my award winning Kung Fu HD series, and there's even some ballet shots where I'm testing some lighting techniques that interest me, and some non-profit work featuring street people. And all of this work is interesting, but I was only freed in my mind to post because it doesn't fly under an official Portfolio. Blasphemy the weight of that word. Instead, it flies under the made-up moniker Disposable Heroes...which I have no idea what that means outside that fact that, ultimately, it gave me the freedom to post whatever I wanted (and that it's the title of a Metallica song and from the 90's).

Other stuff that has been exciting for me that couldn't have happened had I been thinking of things only in terms of "my portfolio"?

_Video. If I was too focused on my portfolio, I never would have--years ago and long before it was normal, fashionable, or even professionally acceptable to my peers to be transparent--begun to make behind-the-scenes videos of my shoots. And what good has that done for me? Well, ultimately it's been a big part of creating this humble community, as well as propelled my interest in shooting and directing motion. That led me to be the first photographer on the planet to get to play with the first ever video dSLR, the Nikon D90. It lead me to make short films and music videos, and to the RED camera and the Phantom HD camera. And on and on and you get my point. It's pays - thru luck or otherwise - to pursue your interests.

_Songs For Eating and Drinking. Had I not been willing to take a break from portfolio making and collaborate with a buddy to bring musicians to a dinner table and shoot their pictures and record their music, I'd be duller boy. And I wouldn't have these pictures or this website, and I'd be less happy because of it.

_The Seattle 100 project. I've never thought of myself or been described as a portrait photographer. And that's part of why I was free enough to create the Seattle 100 project. Thousands of portraits featuring 100 underground Seattle cultural leaders. I didn't care about convention or refining my commercial portfolio. I wanted to make pictures, document my city, meet and unite some interesting people.

_The New Zealand Landscape series. Me? A landscape photographer? Hell no. Unless you consider that my only true fine art gallery show opened this year in Dubai and was entirely comprised of black and white landscape images. Only reason I shot those pictures was because I was inspired by the landscape. I was working there a lot commercially, and when given the chance, I'd escape and make a picture here or there on my own.

_Etc etc

And I could go on ad nauseum, but I'll spare you since you're undoubtedly getting the picture. Very little of what I've created and shown as my "work" has been centered on creating the perfect portfolio, and it's felt so good.

Since you're still with me, you now get the qualifier: Don't ditch having some tightly-edited body of work...something, somewhere you can mail around or point to that will help you get hired for what it is you want to get paid to shoot... That is an necessary evil of the profession. Just ditch the concept that everything you create needs to go toward that body of work. There are people in your life, friends, editors, creative consultants and agents especially that are extremely deft at plucking out the threads of your work that can unite it into one black book that gets into the advertising agencies. Let them guide you in part - as an editor, not as a muse - to what you should show of the work you create. Find them and cultivate those relationships: those people are geniuses in their own right. But just don't let that "portfolio" mentality strangle your vision to create.

Most of you are probably free from this curse of the word portfolio, and for those of you who barely sat thru this ramble, I apologize. Guys like me have had a lot to learn from people like you. I bow down. But for the rest of us, for those that have hated that word - no, not the word the concept - let this be new news: we're finally getting over you.

If I've done anything in this past year, it's been escaping that word "portfolio" and editing for my book rather than shooting for it. And it's been the most productive, creative, and enjoyable year of my life.

A Million Little Pictures: Documentary Project

2009-05-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Just stumbled on this: a really cool project pulled together by Arthouse co-op in Atlanta... You send them $18 and they send you a disposable camera with 24 shots to document your life this summer. You + 999 others from around the world get your snapshots in a gallery show on September 25th, helping to build a picture of life in 2009.

It's Friday and you've got a wadded up 20 dollar bill in your pocket. This could be a great way to spend it.

(Yes they know it's only 24,000 pictures...)

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(via Todd Walker's excellent blog Gallery Hopper. Thanks Todd.)

Consequences of Social Media: ADCD Teaser #2

2009-05-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

I'm giving a chat about creativity + social media at the Art Directors Club of Denver annual awards show. This 25-second teaser video highlights the consequences of social media.

This talk is open to the public, please tell your friends. Hope to see you there.

[Ok. So I'm having a little fun with this. In case you missed the earlier teaser video, check it out. In reality this one hurt a little more than the last one...]

Who: You + the Art Directors Club of Denver + the ASMP
What: Chase Jarvis keynote address
When: Friday, June 12, 6pm
Where: Denver, CO (Denver News Auditorium)
Details: www.adcd.com (more info coming soon)

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[If you get this via RSS or email and can't see the video, click here.]

Shake Your Tree Today

2009-05-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm taking the liberty of suggesting that you do one or more of the following today:

1. Shoot personal work. Call in some favors, get creative with no budget, and shoot something for yourself.

2. Set free that idea you've been holding onto. Write a blog post about it. Ask your friends what they think. Tell the world.

3. Learn about video. Don't have a camera? Buy drip coffee for a month instead of lattes, and buy a Flip Mino video camera with the money you save. Experiment.

4. Connect with your peers. Start a blog, dig into your Facebook. Or, hell, gather your photo friends for beers and a slide show.

5. Walk around with your camera. You don't need sunshine. Interesting weather makes interesting pictures. iPhone or one dSLR body with one lens. There is no "client". Just take pictures.

6. Rent a piece of equipment you've been wanting to learn about. Or try this rental secret: pick it up on Friday after 3pm, pay for Saturday. Sunday's are often free because the camera store is closed. Return Monday by 10am. 3 days for the price of 1.

7. Put together a book of your work. Blurb or Asuka, whatever. Affordable. Even if you don't print 10 or 100, print 1. Put it in your studio for visitors to flip through, or leave on it your coffee table at home.

8. Do the thing on your list that you most dread doing. Call that client who hasn't paid. Sign up for Twitter. Develop a marketing plan. Go to the ASMP meeting.

9. Remind yourself that the gear you can't afford is not the barrier keeping you from success. Gear has very little to do with photography.

[Click the 'continue reading' link below.]

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10. Read up online about the history of photography and it's masters. Weston. Steichen. Arbus. Mapplethorpe. Adams. Doisneau. Cartier-Bresson. Avedon.

11. Admit to yourself that you don't know about something you've been pretending to know about. Sit down and do the research yourself. Learn it.

12. Go sit in front of the newsstand at some mega book store. Flip through all the magazines that interest you. Go beyond photo magazines. Generally speaking they limit your imagination rather than expand it. Spend at least an hour.

13. Make a list of 5 clients you want in the next 24 months. Shoot for the moon.

14. Rent a medium format film camera and shoot two rolls of 120. Slow down. Places will process your negs and give you scans these days for pretty cheap.

15. Look through the pictures in my portfolio and appropriate an idea. Tweak the concept and go make a better picture. It's okay. We all do it. I'm probably looking at your work right now and am grateful for the inspiration.

16. Take 100 pictures with your iPhone. Or your Samsung phone. Or your point and shoot. Whatever camera is the closest to you right this minute. The best camera is the one that's with you.

17. Refresh your website with at least one new picture. Or dig up an old one, re-process it and make it a new one.

18. Take a picture of something wherever you are when you read this post. Share it somehow, even if it isn't your favorite. Post it to your blog, twitter, or link it in the comments below. Email or MMS it to somebody who will appreciate it.

19. Quit your day job if you hate it and can live without it. People say it's a bad time to start a new business or go in a new direction. On the flipside, I think it's a great time if you've got a clear vision and a little cushion.

20. Concept, shoot, and edit a short film (video) in a single day. Keep it cheap. Keep it short. Use whatever camera you have access to.

21. Show somebody your portfolio or a selection of pictures. Let them tell you which ones they like, but also be sure to ask them which ones they don't like and why. You'll likely learn something.

22. Back up your work. It's not that hard and it'll probably save your arse at some point in the very near future.

Fly Like Superman Over NYC

2009-05-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

I tweeted this earlier today, but just couldn't resist posting it here on the blog as well. Sure there's all kinds of great aerial, RC, mega extendo tripod VR, or unique POV photography stuff going on these days, but this is quite beautifully executed. Like Google earth NYC, but with a whole lotta polish.

Fly like superman over NYC here.

File under supercool. Or Superman. (Eat your heart out, Clark Kent. The ol' innernets lets me fly too).

[Photographs by Oleg Gaponyuk + Andrei Zubets. Stitched together by John Colebrook. Thx @andrewamine for the tip.]

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