Black Star Rising

Aaron Johnson, who describes himself as “40% photographer, 60% Photoshopper,” draws an amusing online comic strip called “What the Duck” that professional and amateur photographers alike should enjoy.

There’s an interesting conversation
going on at Lightstalkers. Matthias Bruggmann writes that he’s been working with the curatorial team at Musee de l’Elysie in Lausanne, Switzerland, on the “We Are All Photographers Now!” exhibit.

“I’m a made-man, man, and when you come outside I’ll get you. Don’t you worry, we’ll be waiting.”

He had unwashed, thick brown hair that was tipped with blond streaks. His face was pushed into mine and he was screaming at me. Pushing and shoving in the tiny lobby of the hotel were about five of his gang members, yelling and telling me what they were going to do with me when I came outside.

As more and more images are being used on the Web, rights-managed (RM) sellers need to find an appropriate way to price based on such usage.

In my 2001 edition of Negotiating Stock Photo Prices, I offered a very simplified pricing system that basically had three categories – National Corporation, Regional Corporation and Local Corporation – and four sizes of uses. Considering the many ways that images are now used on the Web, this strategy is totally inadequate.

Is strength reflected in physical pain? Can beauty be found in scars? How do trained professionals show compassion? Photographer Michelle Del Guercio answers these questions and more with the images posted on her medical photography site.

The combination of two art forms, done successfully and for maximum effect, can have a visceral effect on viewers. Take writing and photography, both extremely powerful on their own. When used together — when the choice of words and phrases is an integral part of the image conveyed — the result can be surprising and unique.

Placeblogger.org is a new site that aggregates local blogs, both in the United States and worldwide. It’s part of a relatively new trend focusing on hyperlocal information and community-building. The photographic equivalent of Placeblogger might be Photobloggers.org, which is part of Photoblogs.org.

In Victorian times, mourning family members often staged photographic portraits of dead children and other loved ones prior to burial. In later generations, this practice came to be viewed as morbid — which led to the destruction of thousands of these so-called “bereavement portraits.” Examples of 19th-century bereavement photographs can be found here and here.

Reuters closed the final chapter on the Adnan Hajj affair this week by announcing staff and policy changes in the Middle East. Despite maintaining that it had found only two altered photographs after studying hundreds in its investigation, Reuters reported that the news agency has:

From the Yorkshire Post:

An amateur photographer who captured a rare image of two Caribbean snails has won a battle against a major stamp publisher which used the images without permission. Lawyers from Leeds-based law firm Walker Morris represented former US Army major and wildlife photographer Mark Johnson in the copyright case against New York-based Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC).

Beautiful photography can warm the soul, but photography that lights a fire in people sometimes compels them to action. Here are some examples of student work that might just make a difference.

Drawing attention to the poor conditions of South Carolina’s rural schools, a touring exhibit called “But What About Us?” showcasing 60 student photographs is on display this week at the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium (via the Charleston Post Courier ), with Director Bud Ferillo’s documentary, “Corridor of Shame: The Neglect of South Carolina’s Rural Schools,” being screened on Wednesday. This slideshow and gallery on the Corridor of Shame site provide vivid evidence of the dilapidated conditions at these schools — exposed walls, crumbling ceilings, broken toilets and sinks, and more.

Reporter Virginia Rohan has a nice profile of Ron Galella — the original paparazzo — at NorthJersey.com:

Editor & Publisher reports that the White House refused to allow photojournalists to shoot still pictures of the president after his speech Wednesday night. As a result, print and online media were forced to run low-quality frame grabs from the address.

Soundslides is a tool designed to create audio slide shows from still images. Originally made for journalists but available to anyone for the cost of $39.95, it creates Macromedia Flash files that are publishable on the Web.

As Evangelist and CEO for the photo-sharing site Zooomr, Thomas Hawk sure knows how to evangelize:

Engadget may have the best tech coverage of CES and I may not have hit my 1,000 photo goal (I’m at 678), but at least this year I got the babes. La La, Sarah, Irina, Valerie, all the best ladies of tech, booth babes and even a little day diversion side trip down to AVN. I’m pretty tired and will probably still get more shots up in the next few hours, but after that I’m going home to crash.

One of the major stories of last week was the funeral of our (the older photographers’) friend, President Gerald Ford. The memorial service was held at the Washington National Cathedral, and a large pool of the regulars was selected to be in the balcony — the only place the cathedral allows us on these occasions. Although the balcony is large, there is only one area way over on the right-hand side to get all of the attending presidents in one frame.

The Visual Dictionary is a social-media endeavor to create a complete dictionary of contributed images. Since its launch by Matthew Knight last February, members have supplied more than 4,000 photographs to the site.

Cool Hunting reports on “VOOM Portraits,” a fascinating new style of video portraiture by artist and theater director Robert Wilson, to be featured at shows in New York this month:

Have you ever wondered what colors sound like? Or what images taste like? Well, if you were someone with synesthesia , you’d know.

Just what is synesthesia? According to Richard Cytowic, M.D., a leading synesthesia researcher:

The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., was put on the griddle by readers after publishing a Photoshopped image of a Democratic lawmaker that it did not identify as being altered. Reports News 14 Carolina:

Late last year, Epson added two new multimedia storage viewers for photographers on the go, the P-3000 and the P-5000. So far, they have been well-received.

In times of crisis, disaster or war, what’s the right way to present images that represent the situation without falling into sensationalism? With the unauthorized filming and leaking of the execution of Saddam Hussein and the ongoing conflict in Iraq and other parts of the world, this question is one that perpetually engenders debate.

Ken Krayeske, a freelance photojournalist, was arrested by Hartford, Conn., police this week as he snapped photos of Gov. Jodi Rell’s inaugural parade. Police said Krayeske, who had supported the campaign of a Rell opponent, was arrested for being a “political activist” and potential threat to Rell.

As we all know, the Big Three stock agencies are in a period of turmoil, with the emergence of microstock, photo-sharing, crowdsourcing and other changes seriously cutting into their profit margins — as well as the earnings of professional stock photographers.

Recently I heard of a customer who was looking for a picture of an air conditioning repairman working on a home system to use in a small yellow pages ad. I thought it would be interesting to see what was available. I started with the Big Three and found this: