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• The Fairey/AP lawsuit saga drags on. Last week, the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford University filed suit against the AP on Fairey’s behalf. Now the CIS is asking the public to send examples of photos that are “like” the Mannie Garcia photo, we assume to prove that Fairey’s image didn’t necessarily come from that one specific photo. For more from Fairey’s side of argument, head over to the New York Public Library (NYPL) on February 26 for a discussion with CIS founder Lawrence Lessig, Shepard Fairey, and author Steven Johnson. The event is jointly sponsored by NYPL and Wired Magazine. Tickets are on sale here. (via Boing Boing)

• Magnum Photos is now accepting submissions for 2009 membership. As you’ve probably heard, Magnum is open for submissions only once a year. And only a talented few, and sometimes none at all, are invited as nominee members. If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out last year’s nominees: Peter van Agtmael and Olivia Arthur. Submission deadline is May 31, 2009.

• Northern Short Course (NSC) McLean, VA is fast approaching, on March 19 – 21. And so is the deadline for its Still Photography and Multimedia Contest. To make things easier for everybody, this year the NSC is accepting all entries electronically, due by February 27, 2009. In addition to more than 20 workshops, The NSC also offers bonus portfolio review sessions in the evenings.

Biden and Obama during the DNC, published at BAGnewsNotes. © Alan Chin

With a sense of duty but not much true excitement, I had planned on traveling to Denver for the Democratic National Convention, months before. Then, in August, war broke out in the Caucuses between Russia and Georgia. I called Michael and said, I want to go to Georgia. And he said, do you have an assignment? And I said, no. And he said, what about the DNC? I said, forget about the DNC. And he said, are you going to forget about the DNC if I can “assign” you again? I said, what do you mean? He said, if I can commit to paying you, would you think about not going to Georgia on your own?

If someone gives you a good assignment, you take it, right? I’m not going to be able to pay my rent from this blog, but, a) it’s the thought that counts, the fact that he’s willing to commit; and b) every bit helps. When I thought about it, it came down to: Michael Shaw is offering me an assignment to cover the DNC.

So Michael came to Denver as well, because he’s not only the editor, he’s also the main writer and journalist for the BAGnewsNotes blog. It was the first time we worked together face-to-face, because he lives in San Diego and I’m in New York. And it was enormously productive. We were able to get decent access, because the political parties take blogging very seriously, so they gave us standard press credentials. Of course it’s funny for me because I ran into all these photographers I know, and they asked me, who are you working for? They say, Time or Newsweek or whoever, and I say, it’s a blog called BAGnewsNotes. But just gauging from their responses, many photographers had already heard of what Michael was doing, and were already reading the blog. So within the small world of photojournalism, people know and appreciate it.

They thought what we were doing was fabulous, but also that it was incredibly ironic because I’m known for being very analog in this digital age, and developing film in hotel rooms. I do all these really old-fashioned traditional things, yet here I am on the other end of it. I’m shooting black-and-white film, processing it in a bathtub, and uploading the images to a blog. I was shooting digital as well at the DNC, but the New Hampshire and Ohio primaries I photographed entirely on film.

I believe that BAGNewsNotes has real credibility. Aesthetically, we’re not there not yet, I’ll be the first to admit that. When it comes to design and how we present the images and text, it’s not perfect. But that’s growing pains, technical issues. In terms of mentally and conceptually where we want the site to go, we have a good idea and I think we’re succeeding. Sometimes I feel like I’m really sticking my neck out, because I’ve put a lot of work into this in the last couple years, especially the last year. And I do wonder if maybe that was time that I should have spent trying to get traditional assignments. But then I look at the fruits of our labor, the photography and the analysis, and I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished, on less than a shoestring. Hopefully, the more people who look at what we’re doing, and the more people we’re able to get turned onto this, the more viable it becomes.

"Contrails," an image by former advertising photographer Brian Kosoff. © Brian Kosoff

When I began working as an advertising and editorial photographer in 1979 I joined an industry that hadn’t changed much for 50 years. People made a product, someone would have to photograph or illustrate it, and then someone else would put that image in a publication. How much could that paradigm change?

My first encounter with digital technology’s foothold in the graphic design world was in 1984. I went to see a client, a design firm, and one of the designers pulled me aside and pointed out a small computer on his desk. “This is going to revolutionize design,” he told me. I looked at the little box again, focusing on the small screen and wondering how designers accustomed to drawing on 24-inch pads with hundreds of color markers would be able to work on a 9-inch black-and-white screen using a “mouse.”

Of course, a decade later the digital revolution had arrived. The world of graphics and printing changed dramatically –- typesetters disappeared and art directors also became computer experts –- but it was the effect on photography I really felt.

I bought a Mac and Photoshop in 1991. Previously I had done a lot of special effects photography for clients. The type of thing where you have five cameras set up on five sets and take the same piece of film and multiply expose that film to precisely masked and composed scenes. The Mac changed all that. Now all I had to do was scan film at the local service bureau and then move the pieces around almost effortlessly in Photoshop. Well not that effortlessly, it would take hours sometimes for the Mac to complete a Photoshop command. I can recall holding a loupe to my screen to check if the progress bar indicated whether the Mac had frozen or was still working. Seeing the bar move a single pixel in 90 seconds meant that PS command was going to take all night. Of course it usually ended up freezing first.

For most advertising photographers of my generation these were the good times. Very little had changed for us except we had more and better tools. But the same tools that made photo composure so easy for photographers also made photo retouching easier and less expensive. Why pay for a highly skilled photographer who could produce images needing little or no retouching when you could hire a less experienced and far cheaper photographer who’s work could now be inexpensively retouched and enhanced? You could argue that the more experienced photographer brought other values to the mix, but in many cases lower cost trumped quality. Still, the old hierarchy persisted. The photographers just starting out got the lower paying assignments, the high end photographers still got substantial day rates, and the mid-level photographers got a mix of both, an agreeable situation for all. More »

What a difference a day — and 175 million pissed-off users — can make. Yesterday, news circulated that Facebook had changed its Terms of Use to say that even if you delete your account, Facebook still had the right to use the content you uploaded. Facebook would access this content from an archive of your account that is created as soon as you sign up for the first time. This morning Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg backed down from his Terms of Use change amid a torrent of outrage from just about everyone who has a voice on the internet. However, the intent behind Mr. Zuckerberg’s terms change may not be as nefarious as you think.

When you sign up for a Facebook account you’re asked to agree to a set of terms governing you and Facebook. It’s that long scrolling text with the I Agree button at the bottom of it. The part of that agreement governing usage of your content, including your photography, gives Facebook the right to do whatever they want with your images. The reason they need such broad rights is so you can share your photos with your friends. Sharing images on Facebook is not like going to someone’s house and showing your portfolio. Facebook is displaying your content in an electronic venue that they own so your friends can have access to it. They can’t do that without permission from you.

The reason for the much maligned changes to the Terms of Use was to keep the links to your shared material active even after you scram from your account. Otherwise your friends are left with a bunch of blank holes where your pictures once existed on their accounts.

The truth about sharing anything on the internet is, once you do, it’s gone. You will have lost control over its web existence forever. It is futile to argue the fairness of this because the web is the web, and to partake it its vast reach and freedom, you must accept the previously stated truth. Kara Swisher has made this point in more detail and I agree with her completely, especially as it regards social networks such as Facebook.

This doesn’t mean that Mr. Zuckerberg is without guilt. Facebook has a dreadful record for disrespecting its users privacy. Indeed, Mr. Zuckerberg’s attempt to change the Terms of Use this last time did not give users who signed up under the original terms an opportunity to opt out and cancel their accounts before the change took place. They just woke up and found themselves bound by a new set of rules. That’s just wrong.

So does this mean you should be an anti-social artists and pray that your friends will email you to say hello since they can’t poke you on Facebook? Oh, heck no. That’s like avoiding a pub to keep from drinking too much. Be smart and you’ll have a lovely time without incurring a hangover. Recognize that anything you place on a social network is no longer yours once you post it. And if you have images that you want share with your friend list, but want to keep away from the Facebook fiefdom, then try something like: “To check out more of my work, please come to my exhibit this weekend or visit my web site at the following URL.”

Every situation you walk into requires a little scrutiny so you can protect yourself and your interests — especially as a photographer. This event at Facebook should not serve as a deterrent from all the fabulous things social networks have to offer. It should serve as the shot of heightened awareness you get after you dodge a bullet. Now you know better. Act appropriately.