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Tag Archives: Future
Fine Art Photography – Is It Still Viable?
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Dear friends, you will notice three differences in today’s photography podcast:
- Rick is missing (he’s in Naw’lins) but we’ve got an amazing guest to fill his shoes.
- There’s no featured artist or photographer this week as our guest, on behalf of galleries, features all artists.
- 95% of the show features intelligence and well-articulated thoughts – because our guest spoke for 94.5% of the show! But don’t worry, bizarre behavior and poorly-formatted thoughts will return next episode!
And [drumroll] Introducing… Ginger Fear!
Can photography still be a viable piece of art sold by a gallery? If you’re a fine art photographer, you need to listen to this episode. As it turns out, there is actually a lot of potential and hope for photography (and other art) in the digital age and Jason even suggests some surprising actions to take.
If you shoot fine art photography, the information in this book is worth far more than the selling price
Seriously, this has to be one of our greatest shows ever. Jason Horejs, the owner of Xanada Gallery in Scottsdale AZ drops by and gives us incredible insights into the role of an art gallery and how photographers can do a better job getting gallery representation. His wit, knowledge, charm, and insight into the gallery world provided the show with a lot more information than we were expecting.
If you’re interested in learning more about the art world and Xanadu Gallery (where, in fact, they do not roller skate and wear satin pantsuits to Tony’s dismay), look for Jason at:
- His blog, Red Dot Blog
- Xanadu Gallery
- His Facebook page
- His book Starving to Successful
What do you think? Let us know here and on Twitter!
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Art, Business, Fine Art, Framing, gallery, hybrid photography, inspiration, Jason Horejs, Nudity, Photography, Printing, RedDot, Sales, Scottsdale, Social Media, Xanadu Gallery
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Is Software the New Barrier to Entry? PI41
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The New Barrier to Entry?
We start off with Rick trying to dial back his (seemingly) hatred of the French but then he turns his attention to the Basque region of Spain. But, hey, he does an Irish friend. If you’re familiar with the other podcasts that Tony is involved in, you’ve gotta be shocked that he is the voice of reason and sanity on Polarizing Images!
And don’t forget the new segment! Send us the name of a drink via our Twitter account – @PolarizingImage – and we’ll have Rick drink it through a Red Vine straw. Remember to tag the Tweet with #RedVineDrink.
Anyway, lots of good stuff in this episode once you get past our usual goofiness (A.K.A. the reason you keep coming back). Topics today include:
- Do we really expect Tony to do any heavy-lifting? *Can* he?
- If E&J is good enough for us, it’s good enough for hillbillies. Let’s just call it “domestic”… I wonder if Rick is blind yet?
- With the cost of software, does that make it a barrier to entry? How about the learning curve of software?
- Does keeping on top of software updates prevent the guys from updating their gear?
- Is there a perfect tool or piece of software?
- How terrible or lazy are actions and filters? (hint: Rob has changed his opinion)
Even just 20 years ago, it was quality camera gear that posed the greatest barrier of entry to being a professional photographer. You would never have dreamed about becoming a wedding photographer with “just” a 35mm camera and a couple of inexpensive zoom lenses. Today? Different story! But you need something for post production. Whether you’re buying high end applications like Photoshop (still the “gold standard”), paying less for a more appropriate version of Light Room, or stand alone apps and filters, your collection and library of software is going to grow and, regardless of how much you spend (or don’t) it all takes time to learn. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the time required to hone your craft as a photographer!
Our Artists
Starting with our photographer, we look at Italian photojournalist Clay McLachlan. Want to see how a working (and successful) photojournalist sets up a seemingly easy food shot? Check out this behind the scenes video called Blue Bottle.
As an homage to Rick’s father, Rick chose the German-American architect, Helmut Jahn. Jahn was the architect behind the United Airline’s terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. And yes, at one time, O’Hare was an example of modern architecture. Chicago is a city filled with architectural history and relevance but, beyond that, a city of artistic importance. Anyone who wants to be a travel or architectural photographer will, at some point, need to travel to Chicago and see the works of influential designers such as Jahn.
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Actions, Amateur, barrier to Entry, Business, Clay McLachlan, Clients, Comfort Levels, Critique, editing, Facebook, filters, Helmut Jahn, hybrid photography, Like, obsolete, Photography, Photoshop, post production, Professional, Software, Techniques, Twitter
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Photography Today, Is It Killing Off the Dinosaurs? Part 2
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Photography? No, really, we do talk about it eventually! As usual, the guys take the long way around to getting on topic as we have our usual discussion about what we’re drinking, why Rick will eventually play all seven dwarfs, whether Rob or Tony has the larger breasts and, well, you know by now…
Oh, and thanks to Mr. Sadie Breeze for preventing brain damage.
Photography, Dinosaurs, and When You Won’t Change
After the last episode’s emotional tirade about whether or not the photography industry still needs a traditional sales force, things come down in this second part. Instead, we talk about whether the film shooters and even the dSLR users today are being left behind by the advances of technology. Is there still a place for traditional print portraits? Is there still room for the fine artists? How about the RAW vs JPG argument: is that argument going to be irrelevant in the near future? And what about those guys who insist on only selling prints and not providing CDs? That’s an issue we need to deal with.
Let’s face it, photography is indeed changing and, as much as we want to believe differently, we don’t have the actual answers about what will still be viable five years from now. But one thing is clear – if you’re not going to be a visionary in photography then you’ll end up a dinosaur and, historically, we now how that ends.
Artists of the Fortnight
Tony points us toward the amazing photography of Dennis Hopper. Sadly, Dennis is no longer with us but his work in photography remains with us. Rob believes that actors often make great photographers because they live their lives being creative. Regardless of why, Hopper himself has a body of work that is poignant and strong. Anybody who wants to get into the fine art side of portrait photography would do well to take a good long look at Dennis Hopper’s work.
For our artist, we look at the well-known Rembrandt. If there was ever a true Renaissance Man, Rembrandt was it. Schooled in math, science, art, literature and history, Rembrandt used that learning to develop a style of portraiture known for its sharpness and, of course, it’s lighting.
Don’t forget – Our Photography Book Review
Head on over to www.PolarizingImages.com now and take part in our book discussion, The Art of Photography!
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Business, change, Clients, Dennis Hopper, dinosaurs, editing, Fine Art, History, hybrid photography, inspiration, Meetup, obsolete, Photography, Photoshop, Podcasting, post production, Rembrandt, Twitter
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Selling Photography – Photography Today Is Killing Off the Dinosaurs
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You want disagreement and yelling? Today we look at the people who are in the business of selling photography and are dragging their feet when it comes to change. But don’t worry, it’s a self-correcting problem.
We start off right on target until Tony asks a seemingly innocent question – does a store really need a traditional, trained sales staff? Then shit gets serious and we think Rick may have started crying. He didn’t: turns out he was just speaking into a muted mic. But before we get onto the topic about selling photography, we need to bitch and moan about why Australia just wants to fuck with you and how a shark got it right in the 1960′s. Tony also thinks a sting ray got one right a few years ago. Too soon, Tony, too soon.
Selling Photography – Do We Even Need To?
We actually intended this to be more photography-related than it ended up being, but the reason for this topic is because a large and well-established camera store in Chicago is closing its doors and the guys think it was their inability – or unwillingness – to adapt to the photography industry today. It certainly wasn’t the skill level or experience of their staff as that has always been top-notch. But the store died the death of a thousand cuts. An online presence that was virtually non-existent, major retailer for Nikon and Canon but where were the other manufacturers, a lack of related tools (no audio gear, very little video support, no computers or software…)
Winston Churchill by Yousef Karsh
So what is more important when selling photography: a sales team or an educational team? Tony vehemently argues for the education, Rick passionately defends sales staff with photography experience, and Rob finds himself leaning toward Camp Tony where he’d usually be the first to call bullshit!
What are your thoughts? Does selling photography today require sales staff or educators? Leave us a comment on the site, call in your thoughts, or Tweet your reaction.
Our Fortnight Artists
We even manage to have a heated argument about our photographer, Yousef Karsh. You may not know his name, but you sure as hell know his work. Famous for his portrait of Churchill (seen here), he shot a lot of historically famous and significant people – many of those shots are still the iconic image for those people.But really, who amongst us today can have such access to famous, important, and polar opposite figures? Probably no one. Maybe an era really is over.
We don’t have “an” artist today. Rather, Tony introduces us to an artists’ collective, Papunya Tula (go ahead, sing their name to Hakuna Matata, you know you want to). This is a group of Aboriginal artists whose art is as much a form of communication as it is visual beauty. Their work reminds Rob of the folding lines found in Origami.
Oh yeah, Welcome you ignorant masses!
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Business, change, Chicago, Comfort Levels, dinosaurs, Fine Art, History, hybrid photography, obsolete, Papunya Tula, Photography, selling photography, Social Media, Twitter, Yousef Karsh
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Episode 34: Photography Is All About… SQUIRREL!
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Elisha and Anne: are you available next week?
Tony is out sick for this episode and it’s left to Rick and Rob to record the show. Listen to what happens when two guys with attention deficit issues try to remain focused on a conversation. Witness for yourself Rob’s amazing talent of taking 5 minutes to set up a 5 second answer or Rick giving an awesome answer that has nothing to do with the question.
It’s a rather personal show, with R² (that’s shorthand for Rick and Rob) discussing their goals for 2013, their regrets of the past year, and their dream assignment. Of course, there is the usual oddball stuff liberally strewn throughout.
BTW, since we forgot to do the opening segment, Rob was drinking whiskey and Rick was drinking his homebrew. So now you know.
What else do we talk about? Well:
- The difference between allowing mistakes and accepting mistakes
- How the business of photography interferes with the art of photography
- Can a style atrophy if you’re not careful?
- Buy stuff from our CafePress Store (it’s a recurring theme)
- Will Rob continue with figure studies in 2013?
- Why photography can still be a viable profession
- How the opening sequence to our first episode was like Masterpiece Theatre… on quaaludes
There’s neither a featured photographer nor artist this week but that will be back.
Happy New Year and, before we forget again, it’s absolutely critical that you never, ever… oh look, a puppy!
Regrets About Your Photography? If You Could Change Anything…
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Do You Have Regrets About Your Photography?
We regret nothing! That’s a crock of shit, yes we do! Okay, maybe this isn’t so much about regrets but, knowing what we do now about the photography industry, if we could go back 10 years, what would we do differently?
A slow start as we have to do a debrief on Tony’s trip and we have a hard time focusing (don’t worry, it’s just the booze talking) but we eventually get down to an excellent discussion about what we wish we could go back in time and what choices we made that we’d like to do over. We’re typically in agreement that we all wish we had adopted a digital workflow a lot earlier.
To sum it up, Rob wishes he had gotten into digital earlier, Tony wishes he had learned Photoshop earlier, and Rick wishes he had learned to drink Negronis a lot earlier. But we might be wrong about that. One thing for sure, Rick doesn’t regret his lack of use of social media!
How about you? If you could go back and change any choices you made, what would they be? Let us know!
Our Artist of the Fortnight
Tonight, Rick introduces us to Cindy Sherman, well known for her self-portraits. But don’t dismiss that, she’s an original and they are not the kind of self-portrait that you’re likely thinking of! Some absolutely amazing work but to fully appreciate some of her pieces, you’ll need to get used to her style first. Go ahead and do that, though, it’s worth it.
Tony (surprise, surprise) chooses another musical group. This time, he takes a band from Akron, OH, the Black Keys.
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Art, Business, Cindy Sherman, Clients, editing, Fine Art, History, mirrorless versus dSLR, Photography, Social Media
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Photojournalism – Is it Still Viable? Episode 17
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Another episode, another rant. But this time we decided to be different. Instead of three guys who have never practiced true photojournalism before, we brought in one of our regular listeners, Grammar Nazi! (a.k.a. Steven). Steven, or Mr. Nazi if you prefer to be formal like Tony, not only has been teaching photojournalism at the university level for a really long time (how long? listen to the damn show and find out!) but has also worked as a journalist and photojournalist.
Can you believe it? We actually got someone with real credentials to talk about it. And (to quote my current favorite show, Archer) “Holy shit balls!” This guy is good and knows what the hell he is talking about. So, yeah, maybe we turned the clock back a bit and the show is a bit NPR-ish but when you hear what Steven has to say, you’ll know why all three of us are super-excited about this episode.
Is Photojournalism Dead?
That’s the obvious question, isn’t it? All three of the guys were almost ready to declare professional photojournalism as a dead vocation. Grammar Nazi assures us that it isn’t. It’s just found in different places these days. He points out that, while large papers like New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are laying far more people off than they are hiring, they are also completely ignoring smaller towns and cities with their coverage. So, to answer Rob’s question about what career path awaits a graduating journalist, Steven paraphrases the famous line, “go small, young man!”
Our Featured Artists
Sumi-e requires patience and time; two things that are the antithesis of photojournalism
Again… holy shit balls! If you listened to episode 16 (you did listen, right?) you heard Rick go off like a Roman Candle about flower photography. Don’t worry, he still despises it in most incarnations (in-carnations… see what I did there?) but he also chose to pay homage to Nancy Rotenberg, a recently deceased photographer who worked with floral subjects a lot. And did so in a way that Rick found inspiring.
Rob has discovered the beautiful sumi-e work of Yolanda Mayhall. Ms. Mayhall is an American artist who learned the traditional sumi-e art when she lived in Japan with her husband, another artist who died in 2005 (welcome to the dead artists’ episode). As you’ve been listening to the show and learning about Rob’s affinity for simple design and aesthetics, you will immediately know why he is drawn to her work.
Again, a huge thank you to Steven the Grammar Nazi for his insight, humor, and time in sharing with us the past, present, and future of photojournalism. You can follow Steven on Twitter @thegrammarnazi or read his blog at http://www.stevenchappell.com/
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged College, History, Media, Nancy Rotenberg, Photography, photojournalism, Police, Security, Social Media, style, University, Yolanda Mayhall
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Professional Photographers Don’t Shoot Flowers – Just Ask Rick
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What does it mean to be a professional photographer? A ninety minute show later, and we’re still not sure. Granted, we’ ve been drinking (again/still) and it’s possible that that has affected our judgment. Still, we go into a pretty animated conversation around the variety of factors that qualifies a person as a “professional”. Oh, and Rick really, really, really hates pictures of flowers!
A quick head’s up: due to some Skype issues, the first few moments are a bit rough with some short bursts of intermittent static. Give it five minutes or so and it goes away. Did we mention we’re on Stitcher?
How a Professional Behaves…
All three of us have opinions on what separates the professional from the amateur. Tony thinks it has to do with a person’s ability to tell a story. Rick and Rob believe it has to do with behavior. And not just the public behavior in front of clients or the public, but also keeping separate records and accounts, approach to clients, and the ability to consistently get the shot under virtually any condition.
We’re still not sure what constitutes being a professional photographer but, perhaps, we can define it by what it is not. It’s not about taking a half-assed approach. It’s not being a “wedding photographer” who shoots one or two weddings for a couple of hundred bucks. It’s not calling yourself a professional because you dropped ten bucks on a domain name. But are you a professional photographer just because others label you that way?
Maybe it’s a combination of all that – regardless of being full- or part-time, being a professional is about running your business as a business, maintaining and expanding your skills and abilities, learning that it’s okay to fail as long as you pick yourself up, and being able to consistently provide your target audience with what they expect, and knowing why it’s important – and how – to capture the image properly in-camera. It’s all that… and more.
Oh yea, there’s no such thing as a “semi professional”: get over it.
Rick, Rob, and Tony all agree - a professional photographer drinks absinthe. Image by HSLD, licensed under Creative Commons.
Today’s Artists
Our photographer today is a personal favorite of Rob’s, John Shaw. Specifically, we look at his gallery from Ireland. It’s a tough task to photograph a subject that has preconceived ideas for so many people. None of the guys have been to Ireland but we each have images in our mind’s eye about a land with a rich history in spirituality, mysticism, music, and ancient magic. As a photographer, it is a challenge to shoot something that so many people already have an opinion about but John is successful.
The artist today is Darwyne Cooke, author of graphic novels. We look specifically at his novel, The Hunter. (Click here to see a preview of the novel). As you leaf through the pages, look at the ability to convey emotion and story through light and shadow.
You Get the Last Word on Being a Professional
What do you guys think? Are we right? Are we wrong? Should we try the topic again when we’re sober (yeah, good luck with that). And is wedding photography like sex?
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Amateur, Criticism, Darwyne Cooke, Graphic Novel, History, inspiration, Ireland, John Shaw, Nature, Photography, Professional
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Into the Looking Glass, Part II (Let’s Try This Again)
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Wow, our first two-part series! Into the Looking Glass continues this week with a greater focus on the art and business of photography. In episode 14, we ended up being pretty technology-heavy which is never the intent of our podcasts. And, as time ran out on us (yet we continued to blather on and on), we didn’t have time to address the other areas of where we have seen the business and the art of photography come from and where we see it going.
Every episode, we start with what we are drinking. Into the Looking Glass is no different! Rick refers to his homemade absinthe fountain and here it is.
Today, we try to right that wrong.
Business & Art as Seen Through the Looking Glass
So many topics and rants in today’s episode. From Rob bitching (again) about the cavalier approach that people have toward intellectual property (and the unintentional theft) to the value we place on the art we hang on our walls. From the bad signal-to-noise today to a great quote (well, “great” according to Rob):
Many of the pix out there on the internet are such a no-frills, in-your-face slam dunk of plastic sexiness that the creator with his camera seems not to be an inquisitive, interested gentleman, but more like a drunk at a bar sidling up to a hot chick and blurting out, ‘Wanna boff? (Joe McNally)
Also, by listening to this episode, you’ll hear a for-realz disagreement between Tony and Rob as to the role of the traditional business model vs. the idea that maybe it’s okay to let your work get stolen. Spoiler alert: Rob thinks that Tony is fucked up!
Today’s Photographer and Artist
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When talking about the Looking Glass and where photography has come from, you can't skip over Arthur Fellig (aka Weegee)
When talking about the Looking Glass and where photography has come from, you can’t skip over Arthur Fellig (aka Weegee)
Tony’s choice for photographer today is the New York City street photographer, Arthur Fellig. Also know as Weegee, he was known for start black and white crime photography. Don’t know him? We’re willing to bet that you know his work!
Our artist is Anna Mary Robertson Moses, much better known as the renowned American folk artist Grandma Moses. Want to know our opinions about her? Make sure you listen to the show and leave us your comments. We have some listeners who have been fantastic about leaving comments – even though sometimes they disagree with what we’ve said – and we could not appreciate that more!
A final thought… There is no “X” in espresso!
Thanks for listening to Part II of Into the Looking Glass - don’t forget to leave us your comments!
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Anna Mary Robertson Moses, Arthur Frellig, Artistry, Business, Grandma Moses, History, Photography, Weegee
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Into the Looking Glass – What Does the Future Hold?
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What does the future hold for photography? Can we tell by looking at the past? In today’s episode, Into the Looking Glass, we talk about what we think will be next in photography. More than just technology – although talk about that enough – but also about where we might be heading in terms of art, expectations, and legalities.
Bear with us, though, as Rob is still overcoming his bronchitis (6 *$^@ weeks, now) and due to some technical issues with Skype, the show sounds a bit rough in places. But, without the great editing skills of Tony, it would be far, far worse.
What Do We See in the Looking Glass?
Is the point and shoot dead (Tony sure as hell thinks so while Rick and Rob thinks the PnS is still dying)? How about the traditional model for the SLR? Are moving mirrors going to go out of existence? Rob’s been playing with his new A65 from Sony, which has a pellicle mirror, thinks it will. Will high-end medium-format cameras come down in price so that Rick can finally get that Hassey he’s been drooling over for 20 years? Our predictions form that basis of Tony’s question, what can we see in the looking glass.
As we peer into the looking glass, the work of our artists for today seems secure - Helvetica is here to stay for quite a while yet.
Listen as Tony regales us with tales of his new iPad, while Rob’s jealousy causes him to tell Tony to go screw himself.
But, getting back to our topic, we talk about how we think technology will change, what the future holds for photojournalists vs the citizen journalist and will the amateur photographers feel confident enough to challenge egregious demands by law enforcement and, more commonly, overly zealous security guards who say photography is illegal?
If you find today’s topic interesting, you’re going to love this – they guys discover that this is just too damned big of a topic to cover in one episode. So our next episode, number 15, will be more like episode 14B – we’ll cover how art has changed over the past five years and how we think it might continue to evolve over the next five.
Our Artists
Our artists tonight are the team of Max Miedinger & Edüard Hoffmann: the creators of the Helvetica typeface. If you have more than just a passing interest in typography, check out the documentary on the typeface.
Tonight’s photographer is Sally Mann. We explore her work and look at the evolution she’s gone through starting with her early work. Word of warning, she did a lot of shooting at the Body Farm and you will see image of corpses in various stages of decomposition. A switch from looking at nudes like we did a few weeks ago!
Don’t forget to leave comments on the show and check back in two weeks as we finish up our topic, Into the Looking Glass.
Posted in Podcast
Also tagged Artistry, Edüard Hoffmann, Helvetica, History, Max Miedinger, Photography, Sally Mann
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