I was recently contacted through flickr by Getty Images who were interested in licensing the eight pictures shown here. Getty is one of the premiere stock agencies in the world. When I’m hired to photograph different events around NYC I always find myself bumping shoulders with Getty photogs. These guys are hired by Getty as contributors to fill its ever expanding catalog of stock images. They are good at what they do, and usually the most aggressive in a crowd of photographers, though they are typically shorter than me and I end up just shooting over their heads. Being contacted through flickr is not the same as being hired by Getty, it is two completely different arrangements.
Being contacted by Getty prompted thoughts that had been in the back of my mind for a while… I have all of these pictures from all of these places I have been and besides the ones I’m commissioned to take none of them have made me any money. I have to admit, the thought of recouping some of what it cost to go to these places and get these pictures is nice, but deep down I just want people to see my pictures and appreciate them. I think this is how a lot of new photographers feel and in turn is why most people don’t make much money off of photography anymore, at least stock photography.
I did a little research into what to expect from handing over the rights to my pictures through flickr for Getty to license. People are making money from this… but not much. As an example, someone might have between 50 and 100 pictures in the Getty flickr group and make $1000 over the span of a year. That’s $1000 that they wouldn’t have had otherwise, but is that all their images are worth to them? The picture of my wife and I sitting by the fire in Glacier Bay, Alaska for example… this is a picture of one of my favorite moments in my entire life, do the math based on the example above, is that picture really only worth $10-$20 to me? Sorry Getty, but I think you are going to have to do better than that. I’m not greedy, but I have a sense of worth. Pictures are cheap these days, and me and my digital camera are one of thousands of reasons why, but I think this is where I’ll put my foot down, that picture is worth more than $20. Maybe the picture could be reproduced without airfare to Alaska, and without kayaking for a week to get to that spot, and without eating freeze-dried food two meals a day… maybe. But the memory cannot, and I’m not willing to give that away for any price. On the other hand, a picture of a humming bird (I have lots of those) may be worth slightly less to me. Perhaps I could throw a couple of those to Getty, just out of appreciation for them actually noticing my work…
My picture from last month didn’t win a spot in the pages of National Geographic Magazine. However, the editors did pick the photo seen above to be in the running this month, that’s two in a row! I took the photo while in Tokyo on my recent rip to Japan. It was a nice moment, a young couple was watching me work and looking over my shoulder trying to see the results. After taking a few shots I showed them this one, they said “cool” in their best English, I responded “sugoi” (Japanese for “cool”) in my best Japanese.
Kyoto is still a very traditional place, not to say that modern taste in food, drink, and style doesn’t exist there, but as a city Kyoto is making an effort to hang on to the past. It is full of temples, shrines, and women in kimonos. It is a place where you can still be treated to the sight of a geisha shuffling down a lantern lit alleyway. Old Kyoto and modern Kyoto seem to coexist. Though it seemed difficult for a foreigner to tap into the true heart of the place, it was easier there than anywhere else to find an English menu or someone willing to point you in the right direction. In the end, I think I liked Kyoto the best. The people there were willing to ignore you if you wanted or help you if you needed. They made little effort to speak any English but also had a distaste for the word gaijin.
Osaka welcomed us with open arms. I didn’t do much exploring, but I got closer to the heart of the city than any of the other places I had been. The look of the city gives away the fact that there was a boom in the fifties, the Glico Man and its neon-clad surroundings attest to it. Osaka felt as if you had made a wrong turn down some weird street in Old Vegas where no one speaks your language… but instead of turning around and going back the way you came, you stay, because you realize that this place is much cooler, and even though it points and laughs at you… it’s curious, and it wants to hang out.
This photograph, my wife and I camped out at Reid Inlet in Glacier Bay National Park, was selected for today’s Daily Dozen on nationalgeographic.com. This is the third time one of my photos has been selected by the editors at National Geographic for their daily contest. The top rated photo from each month gets published in the pages of National Geographic Magazine along side a second photo chosen by the editors, this is the real prize. Please follow the link below to vote on my image. You have to cycle through and vote on the first few images to get to mine, please be kind to the other photographers.
