PDNPulse

Tonight in the Gallery: Six Photography Opening Receptions in New York City

Darren Ching — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:41:39 -0500

Here's a round-up of six photography opening receptions in New York City happening tonight. Upcoming gallery opening round-ups will feature openings in different cities.

CHELSEA

Luke Smalley, Jill Greenberg [Project Room] at ClampArt
521–531 West 25th Street, Ground Floor, 6–8pm.

Andrew Moore at Yancey Richardson
535 West 22nd Street, 3rd Floor, 6–8pm.

UPTOWN

Roger Ballen at Gagosian
980 Madison Avenue, 6–8pm.

DUMBO

Antony Crossfield at Klompching
111 Front Street, Suite 206, 6–8pm.

Dreamboats [Group Show] at Umbrage
111 Front Street, Suite 208, 6–8pm.

Fred Stein & Erika Stone at Farmani
111 Front Street, Suite 212, 6–8pm.

Toyota Apologizes For Using Flickr Photos In SUV Ad

Daryl Lang — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:47:01 -0500

Toyota U.S.A. has removed a photo feature from one of its Web sites and apologized to Flickr photographers whose images appeared on the site without their permission.

Flickr users recently noticed that a Toyota 4Runner site was running some outdoorsy photos that appeared to be copied from Flickr. A Flickr forum soon lit up with gripes about the Toyota site, including complaints from photographers who said they hadn't given permission for their pictures to been used in an ad.

Flickr user Jakerome identified over 40 Flickr images used on the 4Runner site and compiled them in three galleries.

Photographer Michael Calanan, who found one of his pictures copied (seen in the image above), has been tracking the developments on his blog. He labels his photos on Flickr as "All Rights Reserved" and says he was never contacted about the use of his images on the Toyota site.

Late Wednesday, a Toyota rep posted an apology on the Flickr forum:

"Toyota apologizes for pulling images from Flickr without photographer permission. Images from a handful of photographers appeared on a Toyota site for five days. We’re working quickly to reach out to the individual photographers involved. Until then, the images have been removed, and corrections have been made to the process of pulling images from Flickr."

The apology offered no explanation as to how this happened. Before the photo feature was removed from the 4Runner site, some Flickr users determined that the site was pulling images from the Flickr servers into a Flash interface. The 4Runner site displayed the pictures at 230 by 150 pixels and included links back to Flickr.

Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles handles advertising for Toyota, and at least one of the Flickr photographers said he's been in contact with Saatchi.

This is not the first time a company has attracted complaints after using Flickr images for advertising. In 2007, a family in Texas sued Virgin Mobile Australia over an ad campaign that used Flickr pictures. The case was dismissed after Virgin Mobile argued the suit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction.

Layoffs at Time Inc., Fortune Small Business Closing (Updated)

Daryl Lang — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:23:59 -0500

Big magazine publisher Time Inc. has begun cutting what is expected to be hundreds of jobs. We're keeping an eye on this story as it develops. If you hear of any photography staff affected, we'd like to know about it: dlang@pdnonline.com.

Reports as we get them:

Update 8: Time Inc.'s Southern Progress division in Birmingham, Alabama, has laid off dozens of people, reports the Media of Birmingham blog. This includes cuts to the editorial staff of Southern Living.
Update 7: Sports Illustrated and Fortune hardest hit by the layoffs. More from Keith Kelly at the Post.
Update 6: Journalisticks and Paid Content report on layoffs at Essence. Gawker says People is seeking eight volunteers on the edit staff to take buyouts.
Update 5: Eleven employees have been let go at Entertainment Weekly, including four on the edit staff, reports Erin Carlson at The Business Insider.
Update 4: Mediaweek's Lucia Moses reports on Time Warner's conference call. Layoffs of 5% of the work force are expected: "Much of the cost reduction would come from Time Inc.’s News business group, which includes Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money magazines, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said."
Update 3: Time Inc. is closing FSB (formerly Fortune Small Business), a custom publication sent to American Express cardholders, Mediabistro's Fishbowl New York and The Times both report.
Update 2: Time Inc. has filed notice to eliminate 280 jobs in New York State, The Times reports.
Update 1: Gawker has a memo that went to Time magazine staff this morning asking for up to 12 volunteers from the editorial side to take buyouts by November 18.
Stephanie Clifford at The New York Times has details about buyouts being offered to Time Inc. employees over the next two weeks, with layoffs expected to be completed by Thanksgiving. Previously The Times reported that 15 to 20 sales and marketing staff have been let go at Sports Illustrated.
Jeff Bercovici at AOL DailyFinance reports that Time Inc. executives were trying to hold an emergency meeting with leaders of the Newspaper Guild.
Last week Keith Kelly at the New York Post ballparked the number of layoffs at 540.

The poor economic conditions for magazines have caused Time Inc.'s revenues to fall significantly in the last year. This morning, Time Inc. parent Time Warner issued its third quarter earnings report. The company's publishing division saw revenues drop 18% to $914 million year-over-year. Advertising revenues plunged 22% and subscription revenues were down 13%. The company also said it expects $100 million in "restructuring charges" at its publishing segment in the fourth quarter (now).

Time Warner executives held their quarterly earnings call this morning and said part of the restructuring at the magazine division will involve more sharing of information among titles.

Some history: A year ago, Time Inc. restructured in a move that included hundreds of job cuts. Two years ago Time Inc. laid off 289 magazine employees. In recent years Time Inc. has shut down Time Style & Design, Southern Accents, Cottage Living, and the LIFE newspaper supplement.

Does Prince Shoot with the Nikon D700?

Dan Havlik — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:46:07 -0500

If you like Prince (we do!) and you like the Nikon D700 (we gave it a positive review last year) then you might like this video which appears to show the Purple One shooting with a D700 before a concert in France.

The clip is a little strange and its hard to tell if that's really Prince behind the lens -- does look like him -- but the videomakers slow it down for you again and again so you can get a better look at him and his camera. Here's a frame grab on the right.

Oh, and there's also about five minutes of stylish French people gushing about how much they like Prince before and after the show. ("Priiiiiiinccee...Allez Prince!")

(Via Nikon Rumors.)

LiveBooks Gets $5 Million Investment, Lowers Some Prices

Daryl Lang — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:01:14 -0500

LiveBooks, a Web site builder that caters to photographers and other creative professionals, is getting a $5 million shot in the arm from private and strategic investors.

In announcing their investment this week, liveBooks also said it will lower some prices. An entry-level, template-based Web site now runs $39 a month or $399 a year. This is a restructuring of the previous pricing model, which cost $800 plus $90 a year for hosting for an entry-level site. Earlier this year LiveBooks advertised a special price of $44 a month for photojournalists.

LiveBooks says it will also use the investment to reach out to the graphic design and interior design markets, and add new business management features. Read more at the liveBooks site or in the press release below.

PRESS RELEASE
liveBooks secures $5 million in funding from strategic and private investors

Company introduces subscription-based pricing and pre-designed websites delivered through SaaS; aligns strategic partners to expand into graphic design, interior design and other new markets

SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 3, 2009 – liveBooks, Inc., (www.livebooks.com) the leading provider of award-winning websites that allow creative professionals to promote and manage their businesses online, today announced that it has secured $5 million in funding from strategic and private investors. This allows the company to expand into new markets and create more flexible and affordable payment and design options for its customers.

With this funding, liveBooks has:

1) Lowered the cost of entry into the liveBooks suite and service so that any professional can now afford a liveBooks site;

2) Introduced a subscription-based service to eliminate the need for front-loaded monetary commitments;

3) Launched pre-designed site offerings with unrivaled choices in terms of number, design and utility;

4) Broadened its market reach with new, creative professional industries such as graphic design and interior design

The net result of these changes is that every creative professional now has access to an affordable solution designed to differentiate their online offer, without the need to get involved in the technology of running a website.

"We have been impressed with liveBooks' approach to the photography industry and believe that a liveBooks site is a great solution for anyone selling a visual product to manifest their unique brand on the internet,” said Laura Shore, senior vice president of communications at Mohawk Fine Papers. "Our strategic relationship with liveBooks is an important component of our effort to expand our sphere of influence beyond paper products and to incorporate a 360-degree focus on products and services related to the graphics industry."

For customers who want the benefits of liveBooks’ proven design expertise and intuitive site administration in a more affordable package, the company is now offering an unrivaled array of pre-designed themes and layout options with subscriptions priced at $39 a month. liveBooks is also extending this pricing flexibility to its customized design customers who want completely unique sites that are both visually stunning and true manifestations of their brands. Single customized sites will require a one-time design fee plus a subscription charge.

“liveBooks' website platform empowers professional photographers with the tools they need to easily and successfully leverage the power of the internet to run their businesses,” said Chris Rainier, National Geographic Photographic Fellow. “At a time when creative professionals in all disciplines are facing job cuts and finding making a sustainable living increasingly difficult, the new liveBooks offering – which is at a price that even a student can afford – will be a saving grace. This gives me hope for the future of the global and independent creative photographer working as a professional.”

liveBooks has a history of creating beautifully designed and easy-to-manage websites for the world’s top photographers, such as Rainier, nature photographer and host of PBS’s “Adventures to the Edge” Art Wolfe, and celebrity photographer Harry Benson. Since its inception, liveBooks has created sites for more than 7,000 photographers and creative professionals.

“We’re extremely proud that our work has helped professional photographers grow their businesses over the past five years and we remain committed to delivering exceptional designs and customer service to the photographic community,” said Andy Patrick, CEO and president of liveBooks. “This financing allows us to take advantage of the significant growth opportunities in other creative markets where professionals’ business needs are similar to those of photographers. This, together with the implementation of the more scalable, SaaS- and subscription-based business model, presents our customers with more affordable options in these difficult economic times.”

liveBooks was incorporated in 2005 and quickly became well-known for developing and delivering customized websites that allow professional photographers to easily manage their online presence with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and advanced search marketing tools. The 75-person company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in the United Kingdom, Romania and throughout the United States.

To reflect the expansion of its business model and offerings, liveBooks today re-launched its website at www.liveBooks.com. The company can be reached at (888) 833-4605.

About liveBooks

liveBooks, Inc. provides award-winning websites that serve as a business hub to help professionals in creative industries like photography, graphic design and interior design save time, promote their businesses and make more money. The company works with an extensive ecosystem of advisors, partners and consultants to deliver unrivalled products, services, partner applications and customer experiences through the powerful combination of small-business acumen, award-winning designs, a scalable platform and extensible architecture. liveBooks is committed to customer success through design leadership, business integrity and its belief in the power of image and creativity to enable social change.

Getty Images Now Distributing Photos from Bloomberg News

Daryl Lang — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:41:13 -0500

Getty Images this morning announced an exclusive deal to distribute Bloomberg news photos. The deal gives the Bloomberg business news service much wider distribution of its photos. And the addition of a new source of business news pictures could help Getty compete with photo services from The Associated Press and Thomson Reuters. Getty will distribute both new and archival images from Bloomberg.

In addition to its own news, sports and entertainment photos, Getty distributes images from a variety of editorial partners, including Agence France Presse.

A press release announcing the partnership follows.

PRESS RELEASE

Getty Images Appointed As Editorial Distributor for BLOOMBERG PHOTOS News Images
Increases breadth, depth, reach and quality of Editorial imagery available to Getty Images customers

Seattle and New York – November 3, 2009 – Getty Images, Inc., the world’s leading creator and distributor of visual content and other digital media, today announced that it will provide customers around the world with access to the entire archive of BLOOMBERG PHOTOS™ images. For the first time, Getty Images will provide unrivalled editorial imagery coverage of the financial and business sectors, which complements its own focus on superior quality imagery of top news stories from around the world.

Getty Images has exclusive agency rights to market all BLOOMBERG PHOTOS imagery, both past and present, captured by Bloomberg’s network of 400 photographers worldwide covering the business and financial industries, companies, markets, economies and governments. Today, with more than 400 journalism awards, Bloomberg has become one of the world’s largest and most trusted media companies and information sources.

"Getty Images is proud to be associated with Bloomberg and its spirit of innovation and journalistic excellence," said Peter Orlowsky, vice president of business development for Getty Images. "This cooperation enables Getty Images to provide its customers around the world an unparalleled product and service of truly rich and comprehensive news photography. Bloomberg's superior photographic coverage of the business and financial sectors is the perfect complement to our specialized, thorough coverage of the today's top news stories, and will strengthen Getty Images' position as the leading service to media customers worldwide."

"Bloomberg is very excited to collaborate with Getty Images,” said Dylan Cohen, global head of content syndication at Bloomberg. "The availability of BLOOMBERG PHOTOS content through Getty Images reinforces our commitment to deliver top quality coverage and unsurpassed customer service to business and finance news consumers around the world."

Over the past several years, Getty Images has built a world-class Editorial division, which is comprised of news, sport and entertainment imagery, and collectively has been one of the fastest growing parts of its business. The growth has been based on a strong focus on the highest quality photography, the creation of an all-digital offering, development of an industry leading website, and partnering with best-of-breed organizations. This blend of news agency quality, combined with wire speed, relevance and accessibility, has led to Getty Images’ imagery appearing across the world’s leading newspapers and magazines, as well earning many of the most prestigious awards from renowned organizations.

Bloomberg joins a number of media companies that have utilized Getty Images’ proprietary digital platform and expert industry knowledge. The BLOOMBERG PHOTOS archive can be viewed online at www.gettyimages.com/bloomberg.

About Getty Images
Getty Images is the world’s leading creator and distributor of still imagery, footage and multimedia products, as well as a recognized provider of other forms of premium digital content, including music. Getty Images serves business customers in more than 100 countries and is the first place creative and media professionals turn to discover purchase and manage images and other digital content. Its award-winning photographers and imagery help customers produce inspiring work which appears every day in the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Visit Getty Images at www.gettyimages.com to learn more about how the company is advancing the unique role of digital media in communications and business, and enabling creative ideas to come to life.

Gourmet Art Director Posts Photos of Magazine Being Shut Down

Daryl Lang — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:59:16 -0500

Gourmet associate art director Kevin DeMaria was one of the employees who lost their jobs when Condé Nast closed four magazines last month.

Somehow, DeMaria had the presence of mind to shoot photos of the Gourmet office as it was being being boxed up and shut down. Now you can view his pictures online at a sited called Last Days of Gourmet. The pictures have all the vivid and depressing detail you'd expect: Signs were pulled from the walls, expensive office machinery was disconnected, garbage containers were wheeled in and out.

Similar story: In 2008, San Jose Mercury News designer Martin Gee took photos of the aftermath of layoffs at his newspaper, only to be laid off himself a few months later.

Commercial Photographer On List of Low-Paying, Stressful Jobs

Daryl Lang — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:52:28 -0500

CNNMoney.com has posted a list of 15 stressful jobs that pay badly. On the list: commercial photographer.

The basis for this list is a recent survey by the web site PayScale.com. The survey found the median pay for commercial photographers is $43,600, and that 100% of commercial photographers described their jobs as "stressful."

That salary number seems low to us, though it may depend on how they defined "commercial photographer." PDN's last photographers salary survey, published in June 2006, found that self-employed advertising, corporate and editorial photographers had median salaries of $100,000, $97,500 and $42,500 respectively. (Chart.)

If you're seeking a creative job with low stress and high pay, here are three more from the list to avoid: Curator, film/TV producer and news reporter.

"Rock & Roll" Show Opens at Brooklyn Museum

Daryl Lang — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:56:12 -0400

© Nitin Vadukul, Radiohead, St. Louis, 1993.

Are there any two art forms that pair better than music and photography? They surely sing in harmony at "Who Shot Rock & Roll," a photo exhibition opening today at the Brooklyn Museum.

The wide-ranging exhibit pays respect to the greats of portrait photography, including Richard Avedon, David LaChapelle and Annie Leibovitz (represented by one small photograph), as well as lesser-known photojournalists who happened to catch a star at a pivotal moment in music history.

The show highlights some of the finest creative collaborations between musicians and photographers. Avedon's portraits of The Beatles are one such stand-out, as is Michael Lavine's picture of Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G. seeming to haunt a cemetery shortly before his untimely death. The show devotes one wall to Storm Thorgerson's photo and design group Hipgnosis, which created conceptual album covers for Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Visitors will hear rock music playing throughout the show, coming from looping music videos directed by photographers, including Anton Corbijn's video for U2's "One," and LaChapelle's video for The Vines' "Outtathaway."

The opening text, written by guest curator Gail Buckland, notes that the photographers behind many great rock-and-roll images are virtually unknown. A few of the images in the show credit only a picture agency or a record label, the photographers' names lost to history.

The risk of the exhibition is that some rock stars are so big, they overpower the individual pictures that made them that way. At the opening Thursday night, fans understandably crowded around sections devoted to particular stars—Elvis, Hendrix, Dylan—chatting about the accomplishments of the performers. (It felt less like an art museum and more like the Experience Music Project.) Even in Andreas Gurksy's enormous print showing a huge crowd at a Madonna concert, the grandest thing about the picture is Madonna herself. With that in mind, the show's real achievement may be luring music lovers into an appreciation of still photography. If fans walk in to see Michael Jackson and leave talking about Albert Watson, mission accomplished.

To kick off the exhibit, the museum staged a rock concert with Blondie. (Singer Debbie Harry appears in at least three photos in the show.) Two floors below the photos of Madonna, Blondie played in a big room adorned with Medieval European paintings of the other Madonna. In a nod to the occasion, Harry even sang "Picture This," a Blondie song about photographs. As the band rocked out, the audience lit up with dozens of glowing LCD screens, held aloft by fans shooting rock-and-roll photos of their own.

"Who Shot Rock & Roll" runs through January 31 at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, N.Y.

More images from the show: