livebooks blog

• Cable channel Bravo confirmed that a new reality show featuring celebrity and fashion photography duo Markus Klinko and Indrani is slated for a debut in January 2010. The glamorous pair were the creators behind iconic images including the album covers of David Bowie’s Heathen and Beyonce’s Dangerously In Love. American Photo’s State of the Art blog has more details. Another interesting development about photography invading mainstream TV is the anticipated launch of the Photography Network this September. An excerpt from their marketing pitch hopes Photography Network will be to photography “what HGTV is to home and garden and the Food Network is to food.” For a sneak peak, check out their demo reel.
• Following complaints from photographers and an NPPA letter to Amtrak in January, Amtrak issued a new set of guidelines last week that incorporate NPPA’s recommendations. The new policies state that Amtrak police should not “delete, destroy, or alter photographs and video, along with the directive that they shall not request others to delete, destroy, or alter photos or video either.” After a lot of mixed messages and mistreatment from Amtrak, this is finally some good news for photographers.
• After months of anticipation, the Getty Flickr stock collection is finally here. While most would agree it is impressive in terms of quality and quantity for something on Flickr, it comes with a hefty price tag also. We’d love to hear what you think about its potential and problems.
• Big congrats to beloved Scotsman Harry Benson for receiving a CBE from Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace yesterday morning! Check out Harry’s insightful advice for young photographers here on RESOLVE.

Harry Benson, the always-dapper, world-renowned photographer, showed up for this recent liveBooks Photographers In Focus video interview in a well-fitted suit — albeit without a tie. According to Harry, his attire isn’t just good fashion sense, it’s also good business sense.

“If you need to go to the White House for a press conference, dress like a professional, not a plumber,” he says. “It shows respect for yourself, as well as who you represent.”

Harry should know, considering he photographed every U.S. president from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. He says he has seen photographers turned down for jobs simply because they were wearing jeans and no jacket.

“It is something that is so obvious to me, yet so many young photographers seem to fail to recognize it,” Harry says.

Now that he mentions it, that suit does look pretty comfortable — we bet he was wearing it even when he was bouncing on beds with the Fab Four. No wonder the Queen of England named the Scottish photographer a CBE (a designation just one level below knighthood) in January.

Check out the video for more Benson insights into being the best photographer you can be.

Business concepts are only intimidating if you let them be. The photo industry is stereotyped as being business averse. Ironically we’re better suited for it than most people. We look outside of the box to solve photographic problems every second of every day. So why should we fail to apply the same thought process when it comes to business issues? All we need to do is learn a bit more about that other world. Not unlike we do when we research an assignment we’re about to shoot.

A few months ago I wrote a comprehensive piece about the current economic situation and how it relates to photographers. In it I touch on an explanation about where the economic crisis came from. But this video makes my simple explanation look like hieroglyphics requiring a Rosetta Stone. If you transact anything more complicated than buying a beer, stop what your doing and watch this video (by Jonathan Jarvis, as part of his thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design).

Fine art and portrait photographer Michael Jang tells some great “breaking into the biz” stories in this video interview from our Photographers in Focus series. While still in art school, he used a letter from his teacher and some creative subterfuge to crash big Beverly Hills parties — and make the images that launched his career. We wanted to make sure you got a chance to see it if you haven’t already.

Michael is in San Francisco like us, so we thought we’d check in and see what he’s been up to lately. He’s excited about his recent conversation with aspiring photographers at the University High School here in town. Check out the San Francisco Chronicle story about his visit to the school as well as a collection of his very early family photos, which have just been acquired by the SFMoMA this year. Michael also gave us some bonus video footage of him speaking at a Photoshelter panel discussion.

“Don’t lose sight of why you want to be a photographer and your love for photography,” he advises. “If you can make good pictures, people will find you.” His point — that the real issue is not how to make money, but how to make great pictures — might not be the most popular, since it’s not the easy solution, but judging from the applause after Michael’s comments, it needs to be said more often.