Representative Nadler was interested in hearing the views of a range of artists and publishing veterans from his district…
Read MoreThe strange subterranean world around us has opened to release the Cicada after 17 years and our yard is abuzz…
Read MoreThere’s always that terrifying moment when a large, seemingly peaceful gathering turns brutally ugly…
Read MoreI first met George Olson during a sniper attack in San Francisco in the late 70’s. A deranged gunman, reportedly with an M16, was firing from a high floor of an office building…
Read MoreThe photography universe is facing a number of threats on a scale I’ve not seen in my lifetime…
Read MoreWhy is this useful to know? Because every decision you make impacts your costs and/or potential revenue, so you should be evaluating all options in the context of your cash flow and whether you will make a profit…
Read MoreRoss Perot once told me that when he was starting his new company, no one would invest in his idea except his wife and mother. “And that’s why I have 3.3 billion dollars!”…
Read MoreSetting aside the technical skills, the perfect portfolio, the eye, the heart, and the soul that are all so important if you’re going to be a photographer, let’s focus on what you’ll need to be a financially independent photographer…
Read MoreJust as the economic collapse was the result of cannibalistic, blind greed driven by a demand for profits, so to will be the coming collapse of the community of content creators, of the artists. The shake out is already beginning…
Read MoreFrom “Blur: A Memoir,” an ongoing and random series of stories, dreams, and memories from my life as a photographer. This is #2 in a continuing series from “Tesåo,” about my wife Tereza and our relationship…
Read MoreWhen Tereza arrived in New York City from Brazil in 1976, her older sister Magda got her a job in a sweatshop on 23rd Street sewing leather bags for Carlos Falchi…
Read MoreI’ve been driving up and down 280 in Silicon Valley the past few weeks working hard to launch my new book and documentary film project from my work here in the 80’s and 90’s…
Read MoreThroughout the 1980’s I covered a lot of football, some of it without a motor drive or auto exposure and all of it manually follow-focusing with big glass…
Read MoreA pounding on my cabin door brings me upright from a deep sleep only just begun. Sunlight slanting through the portholes is disorienting me––my clock says 3 a.m.––but then I remember I’m on a Russian icebreaker out of Murmansk bound for the North Pole…
Read MoreWhy do photographs-- still images-- survive? In this media saturated culture where video is king there remains a vital place in our lives for frozen moments in time-- simple still photographs, produced by what French critic Roland Barthes called “clocks for seeing,” his crazy/perfect description of a camera. For me it seems to be the collision between the profound, deep seated human need to find meaning-- not just in our lives but the meaning of life itself-- and the way our brains must decode still photographs.
Read MoreIn regard to commercial photography it does seem that with the latest from ASMP and APA that things are definitely getting worse before they get better. With Omnicom’s announcement that they will no longer pay advances and are passing liability to their clients the expectation is that photographers will be asked to provide banking services to multibillion dollar corporations. Insane. Sad. Make no mistake, this is a war on creatives– agency and photographer both.
Read MoreTo survive the creative, economic and emotional chaos of a life in photography your career must be designed for longevity. To achieve longevity, you must reconcile the conflict between what you shoot for money and what you love to shoot. Ideally, you get paid to shoot exactly what you love to shoot, every day. Reaching this nirvana requires making tough choices, a careful business strategy and attention to basic business practices. (Or be super talented/lucky, born wealthy or marry a brilliant business manager.)
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