livebooks blog

Kira Pollack, former deputy photo director at the New York Times Magazine, has been named the new director of photography for both the print and web versions of Time magazine, starting on October 5th. The New York Times Lens blog has an article highlighting Pollack’s career and a slide show showcasing some of her most memorable projects for the magazine.

Former Getty director of entertainment Frank Micelotta this week announced the launch PictureGroup, a new entertainment stock agency. The company has also created a strategic alliance with the Associated Press whereby they each will distribute content through the others platform.

Daryl Lang at PDNPulse raised a good point about the shifting style of news magazine photo editing in response to David Hume Kennerly’s reaction to his cropped photo of Dick Cheney in Newsweek magazine. There’s some good discussion on the PDN post as well.

Starting this week, iStockphoto will offer legal protection of up to $10,000 to any customers who buy images from the company. Customers looking for additional protection can purchase up to $250,000. Other stock companies, including Getty Images, who owns iStockphoto, offer similar protection, but it seems particularly pertinent in a space with less oversight and downloads by more media-law novices.

Aerial view of Lake Natron in Tanzania, spotted with a flock of flamingos. ©Art Wolfe

I’ve talked and written about how photographers need to look beyond the stock agencies to market their images. There are a host of pros and cons to these alternate business models, but the need to drive traffic to your website is always the tallest hurdle. No single approach will do. Instead, you need to attract attention, and keep it, by projecting your brand across a range of media platforms and by creating mutually beneficial collaborations. Here are some tips for how all kinds of photographers can do that.

1. Collaborate

Once you have a collection of images, see if you can create an association with other photographers to market a particular class of subjects. Photoshelter makes that easy with their Virtual Agencies, but there are several ways to accomplish the same thing. By grouping your work with that of other photographers, all of you can offer a wider selection of similarly themed work to potential buyers. My work is available alongside images from Thomas Mangelsen and David Doubilet at WILD, our virtual agency.

2. Organize

If each photographer does a good job of file naming and keywording, a buyer is more likely to find your image collection. Online galleries also allow you to display a larger selection of your work than an editor at an agency would allow. This is not an invitation to self-indulgence, however; show only your best or most saleable work.

3. Prioritize

I steer clear of microstock. If you can produce what the market demands in high volume, there is money to be made there, but it tends to encourage “treadmill shooting,” a mentality of “generate content” instead of creating art. Forgive me if I stick to Rights Managed and Royalty Free.

The sun sets over the southern Atlantic ocean as 10,000 nesting pairs of black browed albatross settle in for the brief summer night. ©Art Wolfe

4. Contact

Once your collective is up and running, or even if you decide to fly solo, contact all your existing clients with the news. Buy and use lists of prospective clients, like those provided by Agency Access and other services. More »

Maren Levinson

www.redeyereps.com

Photo by Amanda Marsalis

I founded Redeye in 2005 as a photo agency that supports photographers with both fine-art and commercial careers. I have always believed a photographer benefits from a multifaceted career, and I am interested in inspired work of any kind. Redeye currently represents six photographers, each with their own distinct photographic voice.

Before starting Redeye, I was a photo editor at Dwell and Mother Jones magazines, and consulted at various publications including Big, Chow, and GOOD magazines. I have also consulted with design firms and emerging photographers.

I love to edit and match up a photographer with their perfect job, path, or next project. Feel free to ask me anything and, if I don’t know the answer, I will make up something really good.

Click here for a list of all other “After Staff” posts.

The deal with reps

• A Photo Editor – Rob provides lots of insights into the industry, including agency lists like this and this, as well as informative interviews like this one with L.A. rep Deborah Schwartz

• A Visual Society – A no-nonsense post with lots of tips for getting a rep – the first one is, decide if you actually need one

• Nick Onken – Nick shares the process he himself went through to find a rep

• AdBase – AdBase also has lots of industry insights on their blog, in particular “How to Decide if You Need a Rep”

• Advertising Photography: A straightforward guide a complex industry – An informative book by RESOLVE contributor Lou Lesko — the title says it all

• RESOLVE – Jasmine DeFoore at Redux Pictures wrote an informative series of posts answering common questions about reps, mostly on the editorial side

Boosting creativity

• Ivan Makarov – I almost “borrowed” a few links from this “Links to Boost Your Creativity” post, but then decided they are all pretty good and I should just give Ivan his due

• TED Talks – A few favorites are Tim Brown on the connection between play and creativity, Elizabeth Gilbert on a healthier approach to creativity, and Amy Tan on where creativity comes from

• Creativity Tools – This is a fun list of online tools that help spark creativity

Tools for (new) leaders

• Fast Company – Despite the fact it’s about a huge corporation, the tips in this “How To Lead Now” story would work equally well for, say, a photo crew

• Leadership is Creative – A great piece from Harvard Business that asserts, “It’s not that creative work gets set aside in order to lead an organization, leading is the creative work”

• Managing Creative People – This book’s title could refer to a freelance assistant, a business associate, or (just as important) yourself