Above: The Africa Media Online Media blog will initially focus on the Twenty Ten project, a partnership between World Press Photo, FreeVoice, Africa Media Online and lokaalmondiaal with funding from th Dutch Postcode Lottery.

We have just recently launched two new blogs which I thought I should bring your attention to. As an organisation Africa Media Online bridges two worlds – the Heritage sector (museums, archives and libraries) and the Media sector. Up to now the Digital Picture Library Manager blog has serviced both sectors.

With the launch of our Twenty Ten project, togther with Dutch organisations World Press Photo, FreeVoice, lokaalmondiaal and funding from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, training 108 journalists from all over Africa to cover the lead up to and the event of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I thought we should have a blog that focuses specifically on media matters. So we have launched the Africa Media Online Media blog. This blog focuses on happenings in the media world in Africa, and in particular, it will keep interested people up to date with the Twenty Ten project as it unfolds.

With 108 journalists in 34 different African nations, Twenty Ten will be bringing you the most complete in-depth coverage of the first African FIFA World Cup from an African perspective.

Above: The Twenty Ten blog will publish the content from the 36 text journalists, 36 photojournalists and 36 radio journalists and will provide a quick link to the material as it is loaded on the Africa Media Online web site.

Where our Media blog keeps you up to date with the project itself, our Twenty Ten blog keeps buyers abreast of the latest content from the journalists that has been posted online on the Africa Media Online web site.

Our Digital Picture Library Manager blog is going to continue to keep the Heritage sector up to date with developments in that sector. I should imagine that many of you will be interested in both, or all three and I would encourage you to sign up to the RSS feed to all.

Above: The Creative Commons logo is, for many, a symbol of a new way of dealing with copyright more applicable to the information era. It certainly holds out promise for museums, archives and other public repositories that hold collections in trust for the public good.

Copyright and Creative Commons

I am delighted that distinguished copyright lawyers Tobias Schonwetter and Andrew Rens will be joining Digital Imaging consultant Graeme Cookson, metadata expert, Sarah Saunders and myself in giving input at the Heritage Digital Campus to be held in Cape Town from August 17 to 21.

I met Andrew some years ago through one of our advisory board members, Dwayne Bailey of Translate.org.za. Andrew is Intellectual Property Fellow at the Shuttleworth Foundation and has initiated a number of innovative initiatives in the area of intellectual rights. Tobias has his PhD in copyright exceptions and limitations and, among other distinguished positions, is legal lead of Creative Commons South Africa. Both are sought after speakers on intellectual property issues and I believe they will be of immense assistance to participants in the 2009 Heritage Digital Campus, particularly in relation to the advent of Creative Commons licenses which I believe give the legal framework for heritage institutions to both grant access to collections held in their trust for the common good, while at the same time ensuring that the collections are not exploited.

Above: Andrew Rens was the initiator of the African Commons Project and Freedom to Innovate South Africa. Andrew is an active blogger and two of his blogs can be found here and here.

Tobias sent me an outline of what he and Andrew will be dealing with in their afternoon sessions:

What is copyright?
Copyright terms, the public domain, orphan works etc.
What happens when you digitise?
Introduction to CC licenses
How to use CC licenses

I am very excited about the star line up with have for this first Heritage Digital Campus. Those of you who have signed up for the full week and those signed up for Sarah Saunders’ course will have Tobias and Andrew’s sessions included in your training. If you have already booked and are still to pay, please be in touch with Jacqui Cook (+27-33-345-9445) as soon as possible to secure your place. If you are a government department this can be done by giving her a purchase order number. If you have not yet booked please urgently be in touch with Sue Hadcroft on +27-83-445-6042 so that she can secure your place.

Download the Masterclass Outline
Download the Booking Form

Above: Michael Barns cares for the 2-3 million images in the holdings of the Smithsonian Photographic Services which are kept in cold storage in one of the Smithsonian buildings in Washington DC. It was a privilege interacting with him and his Director, Carl Hansen during a trip to the US in October last year. I was able to get an insight into processes for digitisation and digital asset management utilized at the Smithsonian.

Africa Media Online’s 2009 Digital Campus will take on a new focus this year in response to many requests from the heritage sector. This year the week-long digital imaging training will be focused on challenges faced by museums, archives and libraries in digitising objects, images and manuscripts and the challenges faced in planning and executing the process, managing a digital archive and making the material available to a global audience including how to manage use rights.

UK-based digital imaging consultant, Graeme Cookson, will bring his experience of working with the British Museum, British Library and the Royal Horticultural Society to the masterclasses which he says will deal with “the challenges of photographing art works, the limitations of judging colour in art work, differing lighting conditions and aids in reading correct colours.” This will be the fifth year that Graeme will be coming out to South Africa and his classes are consistently sold out, a testimony to his amazing teaching skill (and great sense of humour). We have had a number of delegates who have come back to do the same classes again two years in a row!

Graeme Cookson is a master at communicating digital imaging concepts using practical illustrations from everyday life

Graeme will be joined by a good friend of Africa Media Online, Sarah Saunders, who runs the Electric Lane Digital Consultancy in London. Sarah brings years of experience in working with image libraries and the heritage sector in the UK, and has been extensively involved in cutting edge developments in the metadata field in the heritage sector and publishing industry including the Pic-for-Press initiative in the UK, heritage fields in the International Press and Telecommunications Council (IPTC) schema, which has become the universal metadata schema across all sectors. Sarah works with the IPTC Photometadata Working Group on behalf of the British Association of Picture Libraries and Archives (BAPLA). I was at the first International Metadata Conference in Florence, Italy in 2007 when Sarah presented a paper. This is no mean feat as everyone in the global publishing industry was there including all the software developers and imaging manufacturers (Adobe, Microsoft, Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Leica etc.) and the governing bodies of the global publishing industry (IPTC, IFRA)

Sarah will be running the Digitising Cultural Heritage Masterclass which provides an introduction to knowledge areas critical for digitising and image archiving projects in the cultural heritage sector. As Sarah says, “the aim is to help delegates plan and execute an informed and coherent strategy for making their collections accessible and searchable on-line. I aim to help delegates gain the confidence to build a digital resource to industry standards, capable of creating an income stream as well as supporting an organisation’s  core aims.”

Sarah Saunders brings to her sessions a wealth of experience bridging the heritage sector and publishing industry in the UK.

I will also be giving input in an evening session, which is open to all, “Managing a Digital Collection on a Shoestring.” My concern here is to show museums, archives and libraries, which don’t have huge budgets, how to manage a digital collection well and give secure access to a global audience without it costing tens- or hundreds-of-thousands of rands. I’m going to be showing you some practical systems that can help you do this.

Another change in format this year is that we will only be running the masterclass in a single venue. This year it will be in Cape Town from August 17 to 21. Because of the limited space and the need to book venues and flights early, we are going to be closing booking on May 31.

Due to communication difficulties, where our April communication about the Heritage Digital Campus only went to half our database, we have extended the booking deadline to June 19

To secure your place please download and fill in the attached booking form and fax it to: 086 669 7733 or email to sue@africamediaonline.com. The attached booking form is for the whole week. For shorter courses please call Sue Hadcroft on +27-83-445-6042.

Booking Form

Above: Two woman await a tram in a shelter advertising an exhibition of Richard Avedon pictures which was on at the Foam_Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam while we were there.

In February I was in Holland, together with our Product Manager, Ian Blackburn, and Media Manager, Dominique Le Roux, to work on a joint project with four Dutch organisations, World Press Photo, FreeVoice, lokaalmondiaal and the Tropen Museum. What has brought our five organisations together is a very exciting project centred around the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Together, the five organisations, headed by World Press Photo and FreeVoice, have been awarded over €2.2 million by the Dutch Postcode Lottery to carry out the project.

Above: Africa Media Online’s Media Manager, Dominique Le Roux (left), together with colleagues from Dutch partner, lokaalmondiaal at a pub in Arnhem, a town outside Amsterdam, Holland.

The aim of the project is to bring an African perspective to the reporting on the soccer World Cup, which will be held in Africa for the first time in history – in South Africa in June and July 2010. In the latter half of this year (2009) World Press Photo and FreeVoice will be training photojournalists, radio journalists, and text journalists at a number of venues around the continent. The journalists will then report from their various nations on the lead up to the event and that content will be distributed by Africa Media Online to African and global publishers. It will also be published on lokaalmondiaal’s web site for the Dutch Public. The best of the content will also be curated to form part of a major exhibition in the main exhibition hall at the Tropen Museum in Amsterdam which will be launched just before the staging of the World Cup itself.

Then in 2010, the best of the qualifying journalists will be invited to South Africa where they will cover the 2010 Fifa World Cup on the ground. There will be three teams, two based in Gauteng province but traveling to the games, and one traveling down the coast to finish up in Cape Town at the semi-final due to be held there. The teams will not just be reporting on sports, but rather on every aspect of life that is impacted in any way by the soccer fantasia.

Throughout, Africa Media Online will be distributing the content to publications all over Africa and the World. As part of this we will have created the application web site and upgraded our MEMAT system to facilitate seamless distribution.

After the event, a select group of photographers will qualify for the 2010 African Photo Entrepreneur Programme to be run by Africa Media Online, and lokaalmondiaal will be putting together a book with the best of what was produced. There will also be a traveling exhibition in South Africa.

Above: From left to right: Project Manager for the “Twenty Ten: African media on the road to 2010 (and beyond)” project, Ruth De Vries, from World Press Photo with her colleague Katusha Sol, Africa Media Online’s Media Manager, Dominique Le Roux and Product Manager, Ian Blackburn, and a representative of the Tropen Museum in Amsterdam view the main exhibition hall of the museum where the project exhibition will be staged just before the 2010 Fifa World Cup next year.

So it is all very exciting and it starts right here with you and or those you can encourage signing up to:
*Make application to be one of the journalists to cover the event (the closing date for registering to receive a username and password is 4 May 2009). If you want to be considered for APEP next year, please sign up to participate in this project.
*Sign Up to receive information about the project and, if you are an African publication out side of South Africa, to receive free content.

Above: A mock up of the new top include for the new MEMAT system using the Africa Media Online web site as an example.

Next Generation of MEMAT begins to Rise from its Foundations

After a year of development behind the scenes we are at last beginning to see the next generation of MEMAT take shape. The whole process has taken us far longer than could have been imagined, but creating a system that can handle images, sound, and video has proved to be highly complex.

We spent most of last year getting the base infrastructure together led by our Head of IT, Daniel Smith. Daniel is an absolute wizz. He does miracles with tight budgets. He has come up with an incredibly scalable system that means we can deploy mirrored servers all over the world in multiple depots. This translates to both security and high speed access.

The base system also utilizes the very latest developments in metadata. This is still very much a developing field. I happened to be at the first international metadata conference in 2007 at the CEPIC convention in Florence, Italy and we have tried to keep up with developments since then. The advantage of this is, of course, that right at the heart of the system are global standards which means cross-platform compatibility. So, if you load media onto the new MEMAT system, that media is not forced into a format that is unique to that system – rather your hard work of capturing data is maintained, no matter what system you chose to migrate that media to. The other advantage is that the metadata in the files can be leveraged to ensure very powerful search filtering.

At the heart of the base infrastructure of the new MEMAT is The Vault. The Vault is a digital repository with virtual “deposit boxes” which can be very easily written to write once media. The concept was given to us by Peter Krogh who wrote The DAM Book. We brought him out last year to teach at our Digital Campus and he has been a real friend to us. (Rumour has it that he is about to bring out a brand new version of The DAM Book, so watch this space.)

Originally we had planned to use an open source media management system at the core of the new MEMAT. That, unfortunately did not work out, and it did set us back some months. It just was not up to the professional standards we require. So Rosanne and I have spent long hours doing hand drawn wire frames. We got up to 75 pages! At the same time, those wire frames are being transformed into PDF designs by Brendan Temple at Temple Creative. Brendan is a real gem. Some years ago he spent some time in the UK heading up the designs for two major picture collections – Digital Vision (which is not part of Getty Images) and Image Source. He then helped us with elements of our MEMAT 2.0 system and now we have the privilege of his heading up the design of the new MEMAT, and I am sure you will agree, he has done a fantastic job.

So now we are on to the development with many programmers beavering away using Rapid Application Development protocols. They are using a combination of Ruby on Rails and PHP (both programming languages) to develop the system. We have already used this in the development of the application web sites for the Twenty Ten project and for MENA Training Programme for World Press Photo, and it has worked really well, giving a solid product with very few bugs.

So all in all, it is very exciting to at last see things taking shape. We are really grateful to the support of the European Union through Gijima KZN who provided part funding for development and to the Dutch Postcode Lottery who through World Press Photo and FreeVoice have also provided funding toward further development. This has been a costly venture and their help has been invaluable.

Black or White

As part of launching the new MEMAT system, the Africa Media Online site is getting a face lift. Temple Creative has given us two possible designs, but we would love your input on which one to chose. The image used is one of my favourites from Photo Access.

Here they are:

We await your feedback on our poll below:

Above: A fragment of “Cassarinas at Dawn, Maputo, Mozambique” by David Larsen, is one of the images that forms part of the IZWE de Africa exhibition that has travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina as part of a cultural exchange programme.

Clare Louise Thomas writes to participating photographers from Buenos Aires:

So, we opened the exhibition on Thursday evening and it was a roaring success. The space looked amazing and the feedback was just magnificent. Every single one (I love this) of the photographers were singled out as someone’s favourite and people were just thrilled to be seeing the work that was coming out of South Africa. The cultural TV channel (Canal A) came and did an interview and I made a speech about what an honour it has been to work on this project and how valuable it is for emerging South African photographers work to be getting out there.

Africa Media Online exhibition organiser and photographer, Clare Louise Thomas being interviewed by Canal A at the opening of the “IZWE: Desde Africa” exhibition as part of the Proyecto 34˚S cultural exchange between Cape Town and Buenos Aires. PHOTO: Clare Louise Thomas

The Economic, Political and Cultural Counceller from the South African Embassy Vicor Rambau was there and showed great interest in the exhibition. I will be meeting with him next week to see what future possibilities may hold, as well as with the director of the Borges. Marta Camponara is a well respected African Art Collector here who is touring her exhibition of African sculptures around Argentina and we are looking into our exhibition travelling with hers… The options are looking good, but even if it just stays as is where it is now. it is a great thing. The pictures look incredible and as a collection really work wonderfully together. I can’t wait till we can bring it back home and show the people there…

Members of the public browse the exhibition at the opening in the prestigious Centro Cultural Borges in Buenos Aires, Argentina. PHOTO: Clare Louise Thomas

Watch the media for information about the exhibition as it filters out bit by bit. The Cape Argus featured something this weekend with their own selection of photos and quotes from the information provided. So check that out and I will keep you updated on more as it happens.

Again, congratulations. I am so thrilled at the outcome of this experience.

Clare in Buenos Aires
(Africa Media Online)

Last night saw the opening of the IZWE de Africa exhibition featuring the works of South African photographers in a prestigious venue in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A collaboration between Africa Media Online and Proyecto 34°S, this six-week exhibition provides a mix of emerging and established photographers with the chance to share their views on Contemporary African Culture.

Proyecto 34°S is an artistic exchange between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Cape Town, South Africa. Its primary objective is to promote and facilitate the exchange of African and Latin American performing arts, culture, heritage and literature. Curated by Nadia Strier, the Izwe de Africa exhibition features as part of the South African Embassy’s heritage showcase at the Centro Cultural Borges, as well as online at Africa Media Online, where buyers will be able to select and purchase art prints.

Above: Jeremy Jowell’s image of Seychellois fishermen is one of 23 photographs by Africa Media Online photographers featuring in a prestigious exhibition in Argentina which also serves to launch our new print-on-demand service

Each of the photographers was asked to describe how their photographs reflect their views on the theme. Tammy Gardner, whose image is of a young man striding with his briefcase before the crumbling façade of The Empire building in Muizenberg, on the False Bay coastline, sums up the overall tone of the exhibition in her commentary:

“The obvious statement of crumbling Empire in Africa, the dilapidated building still showing its beautiful design form, the optimistic morning light, the purposeful stride of the black man with his shabby clothes and briefcase. A perfect metaphor for the complexities of African life as we know it today – not so shiny, not so picture perfect, but hopeful, working with what we have.”

Africa Media Online is a South African organization that specializes in giving African photographers a voice and an opportunity to compete on equal footing in international markets. “A balanced view of Africa and her rich heritage cannot exist unless we as Africans are able to consistently tell Africa’s story from our perspective in the global information economy,” explains David Larsen, Director of Africa Media Online.

Larsen refers to Africa Media Online’s role as the provision of a ‘digital trade route’ – this includes training, the provision of online systems and an image library that markets content directly to editors and publishers, curators and art directors around the world. Now this exhibition launches yet another platform that the company will be providing: the opportunity for international buyers to select African images online and have art prints delivered to their door.

The exhibiting photographers are:
Sean Wilson, Marinda Louw, Kim Thunder, Christine Nesbitt, Simone Scholtz, David Larsen, Jeremy Jowell, Karin Duthie, Craig Urquhart, Chris Kirchhoff, Nikki Rixon, Tammy Gardner, Clare Louise Thomas and Toni Jade Efune.

Six of these fourteen photographers were a part of the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme run by Africa Media Online in 2008, which was focused on growing photo entrepreneurs to compete on the global stage in terms of photo production and market savvy.

Right Click to download PDF slide show of the exhibition

For further information please contact the Media Manager, Dominique le Roux: +27 21 788 6261 or +27 82 823 0460 dominique@africamediaonline.com

Winner of the “Tudor Sigma African Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for 2008, Karen Agenbag (centre) with Africa Media Online’s Media Manager, Dominique Le Roux (left) and Africa Media Online’s Managing Director, David Larsen (right). PHOTO: Alan Nambiar

The 2008 African Photo Entrepreneur of Year Awards
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: November 12, 2008

A Johannesburg photographer and Kenyan photographer based in Johannesburg took top honours in the first African Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Awards which were presented by Africa Media Online at a gala dinner at the Ascot Conference Centre in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday November 12. Twenty-seven professional photographers stood to win prizes in six categories, with women photographers taking four of the six awards.

One of the images from Karen Agenbag’s winning assignment for the “Tudor Sigma African Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Award.” Karen scored consistently high with every one of her 17 top images.
The 27 photographers were all participants in Africa Media Online’s Global Competitiveness Masterclass, the final stage of the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme aimed at ensuring that African photographers are globally competitive ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Close to 150 photographers applied to the programme in June this year and 40 were selected to attend Africa Media Online’s Digital Campus in August where they were trained in working with digital images at the standard required by global markets. At the end of that week the professional photographers were given an assignment to “capture the essence of the proud, stylish and technologically-savvy African of today.” Of the 40, 27 photographers completed the assignment to the required standard and were invited to attend the Global Competitiveness Masterclass in Pietermaritzburg being run this week from November 9 to 13. Africa Media Online’s African Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Awards is the culmination of the whole process.

A prestigious panel of award winning photographers and photo editors was gathered to judge the awards. These included Pulitzer Prize winning photographers Greg Marinovich from South Africa and Rick Gershon from the US. Gershon is a multimedia specialist at Getty Images in New York. Marinovich’s wife, Leonie an acclaimed photographer in her own right, was also joined by former picture editor at the Associated Press, Katherine van Acker, and professional commercial photographer and Microsoft Icons of Imaging member, Peter Krogh. The judges gave scores to each image from the assignments of each photographer. The scores from the top 17 images in each assignment were calculated to give the results in each category. There were four class awards and two regional awards. No one photographer could win more than one class award.

Johannesburg photographer Karen Agenbag was the winner of the top award, the “Tudor Sigma African Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Award,” awarded for the best overall assignment. Tudor Photographic (Pty) Ltd., South African agents for Sigma, presented the top-of-the-range Sigma SD14 professional digital SLR camera and Sigma 24-135 f2.8-4.5 lens. The 14 Megapixel camera uses a unique Foveon x3 sensor which, unlike most digital cameras, captures red, green and blue light on different layers of sensors, somewhat like film used to do.

Above: Anthony Kaminju, winner of the “Adobe Best Picture of the Year Award” poses with Africa Media Online’s Managing Director, David Larsen, after receiving his award at the Gala Dinner of the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme held in Pietermarizburg, South Africa on Wednesday evening November 12, 2008. PHOTO: Alan Nambiar

The “Adobe Best Picture of the Year”, awarded for the image that the judges consider is the best image of the year, went to Kenyan-born photographer Antony Kaminju, who received Adobe’s latest version of the award winning professional imaging programme Adobe Photoshop CS4.

In the hard fought over “Adobe Best Picture of the Year Award,” this picture from Kenyan born Anthony Kaminju won out from a series of images on Rock Soweto.

The “FotoFinder Award” was given for the best assignment from a photographer outside South Africa. Kenyan photographer Felix Masi received airtickets to fly to South Africa, courtesy of FotoFinder GmbH, an image portal in Germany (http://www.fotofinder.com).

Kenyan photographer, Felix Masi, took top honours in the “FotoFinder Award” for the best assignment from a photographer outside of South Africa for his images of the emerging middle class in Kenya.

Johannesburg-based Toni Jade Efune won the “Microsoft Woman Photo Entrepreneur Award”, presented by Microsoft’s Professional Photography division. As part of this award, Africa Media Online will be digitising the top 300 images from this photographer including scanning on a prepress scanner, retouching the images so that they are market ready, and associating keywords with them so that they can be found on an online search. Microsoft presented a Crumpler laptop bag, Microsoft Vista Ultimate, Microsoft Office 2007 and their professional imaging software Capture One 4 not only to the winner of this award, but also to all the other award winners.

Johannesburg photographer, Toni Efune took honours in the “Microsoft Woman Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Award”.

The “Tudor Sigma Documentary Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Award” is given for the best assignment from a photographer who took a documentary approach. This could include environmental portraits. This went to Cape Town based South African photographer Nikki Rixon. Tudor Photography (Pty) Ltd. presented her with the Sigma DP1 14 Megapixel compact camera. This camera has all the power of a digital SLR in an unobtrusive package ideal for documentary work.

Cape Town based photographer, Nikki Rixon won the “The Tudor Sigma Documentary Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for her series of environmental portraits.

The “Africa Media Online KZN Photographer of the Year Award” honours the top photograper from KwaZulu Natal province where Africa Media Online is based. Africa Media Online will also be digitising the top 300 images from the collection of winner Anwen Evans.

Anwen Evans took top honours in the “Africa Media Online KZN Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for her KZN lifestyle shoots.

Find out more about the 2008 African Photo Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
Find out more about the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme

This project is supported by the European Union

Picture Above: Participants in the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme and Africa Media Online staff during a team building exercise run by Over the Top Adventures at the start of the Global Competitive Masterclass at the Old Prison Conference Centre in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. From left to right: Melinda De Villiers (Keyworder – AMO), Kevin Factor (APEP participant – Knysna, South Africa) Marinda Louw (APEP participant – Cape Town, South Africa), Ian Blackburn (Product Manager – AMO), Toni Jade Efune (APEP participant – Johannesburg, South Africa), Adebayo Omotade (APEP participant – Lagos, Nigeria), Tammy Gardner (APEP Participant – Cape Town, South Africa)

Twenty-seven professional photographers, drawn from as far afield as Kenya, Nigeria and Liberia, have made it through to the final stage of Africa Media Online’s African Photo Entrepreneur Programme (APEP).

The select group are all that remain of over 150 photographers who made application to the prestigious programme in June this year. After a portfolio review close to 50 photographers were invited for interviews. In all 40 photographers were invited on to first training block of the programme, the Digital Campus, which was run in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg in August.

APEP participant Claire Thomas from Cape Town, South Africa trusts her colleagues during a team building exercise at the start of the Global Competitiveness Masterclass, the final stage of the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme. PHOTO: Alan Nambiar

At the end of the week-long Digital Campus participants were given an assignment which would determine who would make it through to the final stage of the programme, the Global Competitiveness Masterclass.

As part of the APEP the Global Competitiveness Masterclass aims to empower African photographers to become globally competitive ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. The masterclass will be hosted by Africa Media Online in Pietermaritzburg from Sunday to Thursday, November 9-13.

To make it through to this stage, the photographers had to undertake an assignment which broke the stereotype of Africa as full of starving, begging and poverty-stricken people. The professional photographers had to “capture the essence of the proud, stylish and technologically-savvy African of today.”

“I was really impressed how many of the photographers applied themselves to the assignment in the midst of their normal work pressures,” said Africa Media Online’s Media Manager, Dominique Le Roux, whose job it was to coach the photographers through the assignment. “Many of them went to extraordinary lengths to set up photo shoots or capture daily life situations that fulfil the brief of capturing the hip and happening emerging black middle class. And on top of it all, every image had to be model released which makes them incredibly valuable in the picture industry because they can be sold for use in advertising.”

“We decided on this brief because we know there is a real need in the picture market for these images,” said Rosanne Larsen, Director of africanpictures.net, Africa Media Online’s picture sales division. “So we knew that right from the outset, if the photographers fulfilled the assignment, they would be making money right away.”

Of the 27 who made it through, 13 are men and 14 women drawn from all over South Africa and from Kenya, Nigeria and Liberia. And for the 13 photographers who did not make it through to the final stage, they will be given the opportunity to participate in next year’s photo assignment and so possibly qualify for the Global Competitiveness Masterclass in 2009.

Participants in the Global Competitiveness Masterclass during a group session. From Left front to Right front: Felix Masi (Nairobi, Kenya), Yolande Snyders (Cape Town, South Africa), Nikki Rixon (Cape Town, South Africa), Ahmed Jallazo (Monrovia, Liberia), Adebayo Omotade (Lagos, Nigeria), Kirsten Hughes (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), Ed Suter (Cape Town, South Africa), Yasser Booley (Cape Town, South Africa)

The African Photo Entrepreneur Programme is aimed at working professional photographers and aims to take up-and-coming African photographers and assist to get them established in the African and international picture industry.

“We don’t teach photographers how to take pictures,” said David Larsen, Africa Media Online’s Director. “ They don’t get onto the programme unless they know how to do that. What we aim to do is to take them to the next level. So the first training block, the Digital Campus, teaches photographers how to deliver images that are technically at the standard that the global picture industry will accept and how to manage and grow their picture archive over time. The Global Competitiveness Masterclass, on the other hand, is all about getting images to market.”

“Africa Media Online has been fortunate in that it has managed to build a network of friends and colleagues around the world and we are going to be drawing on leading photographers and picture library owners from South Africa, the USA, Germany and Holland to give input to the programme, including two Pulitzer prize winning photographers, Greg Marinovich and Rick Gershon.”

“We have also been fortunate in that the programme is partially funded by the European Union through Gijima KZN and the KZN Department of Economic Development, and we have had a number of sponsors coming on board including Tudor Photographic with Sigma cameras, Adobe USA and Microsoft Professional Photography in the US, FotoFinder GmbH in Germany and O’Reilly Media in the US.”

“Our aim is that by the end of the week the 27 photographers will understand the global picture industry, understand how to best place themselves within it, how to access markets and have at their fingertips actual routes to market for their work.”

“Our goal is that photographers should walk away from the masterclass with a significant competitive edge which enables them to thrive as photo entrepreneurs,” he said.

“The African Photo Entrepreneur Programme is not just a training course, it is a whole process aimed at empowering deserving professional photographers who have committed themselves to making a career of photography in Africa. In terms of this, when the programme ends we don’t just drop them, but rather they are brought into an ongoing relationship with us at Africa Media Online in which they are supported in a community and provided with technology and distribution networks for their work,” Larsen said.

Africa Media Online’s mission as an organisation is Africans telling Africa’s story. The APEP is part of a digital trade route that Africa Media Online has been building with help from grant funding from the European Union through Gijima KZN enabling African photographers and photographic archives to present their work to global media, art and product markets while retaining ownership over their work ensuring that revenues flow back into Africa.

Find out who got through to the Global Competitiveness Masterclass

This project is supported by the European Union

Picture Above: Africa Media Online staff and participants in the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme in the pub at the Ascot Conference Centre during the Pietermaritzburg Digital Campus. From left to right: Maryann Shaw (APEP participant – South Africa), Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi (APEP participant – Zimbabwe) Lungile Kunene (Sales Assistant, AMO), Julius Mwelu (APEP participant – Kenya), Felix Masi (APEP participant – Kenya), Antony Kaminju (APEP participant – Kenya/South Africa), Sue Hadcroft (Business Manager, AMO), Peter Krogh (The DAM Trainer!)

Welcome to the ninth edition of the Digital Picture Library Manager blog designed to add value to the management of your picture and media collections as well as to keep you up to date with developments at Africa Media Online and the world of digital imaging that could be of benefit you.

In this blog:

1. Adobe Backs African Photo Entrepreneurs with Lightroom 2.0
2. What You Said About Africa Media Online’s 2008 Digital Campus
3. All 40 African Photo Entrepreneur Programme Participants Complete Stage One
4. Africa Media Online Launches Model Released Multiple-Use Collection
5. Photographers Gatherings in Cape Town and Johannesburg

1. Adobe Backs African Photo Entrepreneurs with Lightroom 2.0

One of the world’s foremost imaging companies, Adobe, has put their impetus behind the African Photo Entrepreneur Programme (APEP) with the sponsorship of the recently launched software package for photographers, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0. All of the APEP participants who complete the prestigious programme, will receive a license for the cutting edge software package.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 is an essential element in a best practice RAW workflow for digital photographers. The programme enables high productivity in the bulk adjustment of images, enabling photographers to turn around work speedily and at standard

All 40 African photo entrepreneurs who are participating in the programme have already received training in its use during the Digital Campus phase. They had the privilege of practicing the use of the software programme under the supervision of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom alpha tester, Peter Krogh.

Before they can qualify for their copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0, however, the 40 photo entrepreneurs still have to complete the other phases of APEP. Currently they are working on assignments in collaboration with Africa Media Online’s media manager, Dominique Le Roux. Those who successfully complete this stage will be invited to the Global Competitiveness Masterclass to be held in Pietermaritzburg in November. There, participants will gain exposure to local and international experts in marketing imagery and engage with the future of professional imaging.

“We are thrilled with Adobe’s input into this programme,” said Africa Media Online’s director, David Larsen. “Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 is a massive leap forward into the future of digital imaging – an integrated RAW workflow. Adobe’s commitment to open standards means that the photo entrepreneurs who will be utilizing the programme can be certain that they are building an archive that will be accessible for generations to come. This is something we really emphasized during the first training block of APEP. Professional photographic entrepreneurs have to realise they are building an asset for the long term and if they can be using the right tools and the right standards now, the value they will reap down the line will be tremendous. Adobe is making that possible by not tying photographers in to proprietary systems. This means that their pictures, and the information about the pictures will always be accessible, even if there comes a time where Lightroom is no longer in use and there are other systems in place.”

Liberian photographer, Ahmed Jallazo gets to grips with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 at the Johannesburg Digital Campus

“We faced a dilemma in the first training block,” said Larsen. “Here we were training photographers to use the best systems available, aware at the same time that many of them could not afford to invest in these systems. We consoled ourselves with the knowledge that at least they were getting exposure to the principles and could see the potential. Adobe’s donation has significantly changed that scenario and the photographers will be able to take the opportunity with both hands.”

“We are really grateful to Peter Krogh who came out here, believed in what we are doing and saw the need, and so engaged with Addy Roff and Frederick Johnson of Adobe. And we are grateful to Addy and Frederick who caught the vision and made it all happen.”

Adobe’s donation of software follows on the heels of an investment by Microsoft in the photo entrepreneurs of 40 copies of Expression Media 2.0. Together these packages provide the backbone of best practice digital asset management for photographers.

2. What You Said About Africa Media Online’s 2008 Digital Campus

Africa Media Online’s 2008 Digital Campus came to a conclusion in Johannesburg on Friday August 22 wrapping up three hectic weeks for the AMO team and our two lecturers, Graeme Cookson and Peter Krogh. As a participant, you gave us some great feedback.

On the evaluation form at the conclusion of each masterclass you were asked to give comments and an overall score out of 10. These were the average scores and some comments given. As participants the vast majority of you were working professionally with images: designers, professional photographers, museums professionals, scanner operators and others:

Digital Imaging Essentials one day masterclass with Graeme Cookson
Pietermaritzburg: 8.9; Cape Town 9.1; Johannesburg 8.7

Graeme Cookson teaches the Digital Imaging Essentials masterclass at the Cape Town School of Photography (left) and Museum Africa in Johannesburg (right)

What were the major benefits gained from the training
“This course was extremely professionally presented”
“Graeme’s use of analogies very useful!”
“Detailed info that could not be found in books”
“Understanding what pixels are and how they work”
“Learnt a lot more about levels and curves”
“The order in which to edit an image & the tools to use”
“Colour management – learnt some great rules so I don’t need to rely on eye”
“Better understanding in detecting & fixing image quality problems”
“Being able to identify an image good enough for international market”
“Better understanding of what submission standards I must insist on”

Digital Imaging Ecosystem evening masterclass with Peter Krogh
Pietermaritzburg: 8.6; Cape Town: 9.1; Johannesburg 9.0

Peter Krogh teaches the Digital Imaging Ecosystem masterclass at iKhaya Conference Centre in Cape Town (left) and Wits University’s Hofmeyr House (right)

What were the major benefits gained from the training
“I realised how unorganised and dangerous my back-up system is!”
“To treat an image with more respect”
“A major reality check & what to do about where I am at now”
“Made how I need to store my library very clear”
“Library based collection management was a real benefit to me”
“Understanding how a system of storage can work & increase productivity”
“Knowledge of brilliant system that changes the potential of data/catalogue”
“Workflow will definitely improve”
“A whole new world was opened up to me”
“Great speaker, awesome content, just overwhelming. Thank you!”

Practical Digital Workflow 2-day masterclass with Graeme Cookson
Pietermaritzburg: 9.0; Cape Town 9.0; Johannesburg 8.9

Graeme Cookson gives in-depth instruction at the Practical Digital Workflow masterclass at Ascot Conference Centre in Pietermaritzburg (left) and Market Photo Workshop (right)

What were the major benefits gained from the training
“Understanding image anatomy to bit level”
“In-depth knowledge of digital landscape”
“Image cleaning, sharpening, greyscale, use of highlights & shadows”
“Understanding of specific PS functions: curves, hue, saturation”
“Better use of histogram, channel, layers for colour profiles”
“Discovery of image faults & precise techniques to fix them”
“A bigger confidence in working images & awareness of what damages them”
“I can now enhance my images much better”
“A logical framework to approach problem solving”
“Can go back to thousands of images I thought were bad, correct & enjoy them”
“The way Graeme teaches – a master!!!”
“Stupendous! You need to add a column in front of ‘Very Well’”
“AWESOME lecturer!”

Get Your DAM Stuff Together 2-day masterclass with Peter Krogh
Pietermaritzburg 9.1; Cape Town 9.7; Johannesburg 9.4

Peter Krogh instructs participants during the “Get Your DAM Stuff Together” masterclass at the Cape Town School of Photography (left) and participants Toni Efune and Leonie Marinovich get to grips with digital workflow during the masterclass at Museum Africa in Johannesburg (right)

What were the major benefits gained from the training
“Wake-up call on backups”
“In-depth evaluation of software”
“Cataloging & DNG”
“Better understanding of DNG, Espression Media & Lightroom”
“Much greater understanding in file management and back-up”
“Understanding a clear system in moving files through production”
“A complete understanding of the whole workflow using the best of different softwares”
“A vision of what I should be doing in managing my own archive”
“It is going to make a huge difference to the potential & accessibility of my data”
“Helped me create a positive, logical direction to begin a critical task”
“Peter has a great ability to impart immense knowledge & encourage change of current data management systems in a reassuring, clear and concise manner”
“Peter’s approach to organisation is quite radical compared ton the way I have been working – creates a faster, more effective workflow”

Participants at the Pietermaritzburg Digital Campus take a welcome break (left) and participants at the Digital Campus in Cape Town get in on a group photo (right)

You also made some general comments:
“I feel very privileged to be a part of this because it has taken me beyond what I always thought I had or could achieve”
“Awesome opportunity to network with others in the industry”
“I would like to thank AMO for this opportunity. I wish there could be more of this”
“The speakers certainly knew their stuff”
“Thank you for the notes!”
“Please come back and do this again!”
“Very inspiring”
“I think the AMO team is great. Thank you guys for enabling me to participate & be among a group of inspiring photographers whose work mesmerised & motivated me”
“Peter and Graeme are both amazing and I want to thank you two gentle men for tolerating & giving us the kind of helpful knowledge in the craft we practise in our everyday lives”
“AMO – keep doing what you are doing!”
“It is a marvellous course that overwhelmes one, but leaves one feeling empowered. Thank you!”

Top Left: Africa Media Online’s director, David Larsen and Graeme Cookson at Digital Campus Pietermaritzburg; Top Right: Head of Training at World Press Photo Maarten Koets and South African documentary photographer Paul Weinberg at a social gathering during Digital Campus Cape Town; Bottom Left: Cape Town based photographer Nikki Rixon and Kunle Ajayi from Lago, Nigeria during a break in Cape Town. Bottom Right: Chief photographer for the Sunday Independent, TJ Lemon forces Johannesburg based photographer, Caroline Suzman into the camera frame during Digital Campus Johannesburg

3. All 40 African Photo Entrepreneur Programme Participants Complete Stage One

At the close of the 2008 Digital Campus in Johannesburg on August 22, all 40 APEP participants had made it through the first stage of the programme. The final week was hosted in Newtown in Johannesburg by Museum Africa and Market Photo Workshop and at Wits University’s Hofmyer House.

Click here to see who made it to APEP Johannesburg

“Stage one, was participation in the Digital Campus which provided a brilliant technical foundation in digital imaging for the photographers,” said Africa Media Online’s director, David Larsen. “The participants could hardly have had better tutors than Graeme Cookson and Peter Krogh.”

Neo Ntsoma

“This programme exceeded my expectations,” said Cape Town based photographer, Willem Foster. “I am glad I got to experience it, not only for everything I’ve learned form Graeme and Peter, but for everything I’ve learned from the other participants. I never thought we would learn so much from each other. The programme was well organised and set out and the material was all relevant.”

“Awesome! It was such an eye opener,” said Johannesburg based Neo Ntsoma. “Both the instructors are master in their fields and they have a marvellous way of helping you see your work in a new light. Peter Krogh has his own special way of making everyone feel comfortable and valued.”

Tammy Gardner

“Amazing quality and depth of knowledge of the lecturers,” said Tammy Gardener who attended the Pietermaritzburg training block. “Phenomenal practical learning opportunity. Good authentic networking opportunity.”

“I feel immensely grateful to have found a training course so appropriate to my needs,” said Cape Town participant Ed Suter.

Fati Moalusi

“It was amazing for me to be taught by some of the world’s best tutors in the photography digital system,” said Mandla Mnyakama also from Cape Town.

“I have learned a lot of things that I overlooked as a photographer. The week was just empowering!” said Fati Moalusi who participated in the Johannesburg Digital Campus.

“Changed my life photographic-wise,” said Durban based Wade Howard. “I am self-taught and this has changed the way I will be doing things. Good networking too. Exciting!”

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

“It was a fully packed week filled with fun, highly educating seminars which opened up my mind to new ways of dealing with digital images and how to take care of them” said Zimbabwean photographer, Tsvangirayi Mukhwazi.

Rafs Mayet

“It’s a great way to get on the digital highway, avoid becoming a dinosaur and get up to speed with experts in their fields,” said Durban based Rafs Mayet. “If you are serious about photography, then this is the best way to go.”

“It’s a must-attend for any serious photographer on the continent,” said Kenyan photographer, Antony Kaminju.

“It was a very fulfilling experience for me,” said Pretoria based Phil Magakoe. “I learnt a lot and was privileged to have met everyone, especially my African brothers form over our borders. I strongly feel that there will be positive outcomes that will bear much fruit.”

Antony Kaminju

“A turning point!” said Kenyan photographer, Felix Masi.

The photographers are now in stage two, working on an assignment where they have to put into practice what they have learnt. Dominique Le Roux, Africa Media Online’s Media Manager was present at the Cape Town and Johannesburg Digital Campus’ and has been overseeing the assignment stage. “I was really impressed. There were so many people so eager to learn… Just like sponges, every one of them, soaking up as much of the knowledge and information available. Since then, as I’ve interacted and tried my best to partner with them as they work on their assignments, I’ve both despaired and celebrated as I’ve seen this new band of photographers getting to grips with both the science and the art of it all.”

This project is supported by the European Union

4. Africa Media Online Launches Model-Released Multiple-Use Collection

Africa Media Online has again come up with a home-grown solution to the media market’s imaging needs. The company has launched the first of its multiple usage CDs: collections of images that can be used multiple times in multiple ways for an upfront, once-off fee.

The launch CD, in what will be a series of multiple use collections focussed on all things African, highlights Africans in the business environment. Called africa@the office, it showcases a variety of predominantly corporate business scenarios, from boardroom meetings, to interviews, desk and computer scenes, and of course the trials and jubilations so typical of the real business world – all portrayed by a truly African array of faces and cultural demographics.

While the concept of a CD of such images, traditionally referred to as ‘royalty-free’, is not a new one, the company has gone a step further than most: not only are all images model-released, but many of the models share in the proceeds from the sale of the images. And of course all the photographers involved are Africans too. This philosophy of sustainable profit sharing is very much at the heart of what Africa Media Online as an organization is all about.

“A balanced view of Africa and her rich heritage cannot exist unless we as Africans are able to consistently tell Africa’s story from our perspective in the global information economy,” explains David Larsen, Director of Africa Media Online.

The africa@the office CD, like all those that will be launched in the coming months, is available as an actual physical CD, or as a downloadable collection from Africa Media Online’s image library at www.africanpictures.net, and includes high, medium and low-resolution versions of each image. The retail price for the entire CD/Collection of 80 images is R3 490 (excl VAT), while those buyers wanting only a specific image can buy it on a royalty-free licence based on size:
High res (+A4/22-36MB@300dpi): R1450 (excl VAT)
Medium res (A5/10MB@300dpi): R650 (excl VAT)
Low res (A7/2MB@72dpi): R400 (excl VAT)

To view the images, go to www.africanpictures.net.
To order contact: pictures@africanpictures.net.

5. Photographers Gatherings in Cape Town and Johannesburg

Africa Media Online took the opportunity afforded by the Digital Campus to touch base with a number of its contributing photographers in the Western Cape and Gauteng areas. In Cape Town photographers gathered at on Tuesday August 12 at the authentic Ethiopian restaurant “Addis In Cape ” in Church Street, central Cape Town. In Johannesburg photographers gathered at the iconic “Gramadoelas” restaurant in Newtown for healthy debate around issues of copyright and model releases over wonderful South African and African cuisine.

TJ Lemon (left) and Greg and Leonie Marinovich (right) engage in vigorous debate at the first gathering of africanpictures.net contributing photographers held in Johannesburg

“I really felt that we all walked in the door as business colleagues and clients and walked out as friends,” said Dominique Le Roux, Africa Media Online’s Media Manager who organised the events. “How great to get to know each other in an informal and relaxed way. We might have known about each other beforehand; we might have known each others’ work well; now we got to know each other’s hearts. I loved seeing the passion, hearing the frustrations, and sharing in the common commitment to go forward proudly telling African’s story – and making money while doing so!”

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