All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Game-changers, doers, sky-high visionaries and upstarts dominate the photo news this week. We’ve got Shutterstock grabbing a new market and Getty grabbing at straws with audacious industry moves. The Canadians are throwing big bucks at photo awards (again), while fighter pilots are throwing the bird at the Oscars.
One South African photographer is taking us into the depths of despair, meanwhile the Dalai Lama is using Instagram to share his message of hope. We’ve got one photography project that pays homage to the greats and a nod to the photojournalism workshop that will create future greats. In terms of the photo presentations, Daylight rolls out a new design for the ages and Angela Merkel's hipster makeovers have us rolling in the aisles. Get your chops round this week in photography.
Above:
Photobook of Nightmares Launched With #Freeky Feathered Film
Roger Ballen’s photography is like cilantro. You either love it or hate it. There’s no right or wrong reaction; it’s just all about hard-wired taste.
To accompany the release of his book Asylum of the Birds (Thames & Hudson) this month, Ballen has released a film of him at work. The short film, made by Ben Crossman claims to be a documentary of Ballen documenting life in a Johannesburg slum in which humans and animals live in close quarters. As with all of Ballen’s work, you’re left to wonder whether all is as it seems. For starters, the location of the slum-asylum is kept secret. Why? Secondly, the first main scenes in which Ballen approaches the encampment looks like he’s stepping into a movie set. Is this vernacular architecture of the homeless or is the the stage for another of Ballen’s constructed unrealities?
Asylum of the Birds is a return to the scrawled and tormented psychology Ballen perfected in the series Boarding House and Shadow Chamber. But is it really so traumatic? Ballen is at play all the time and startling audiences in confusion and double-takes is part of the program. Asylum of the Birds boasts a new cast of characters but the look is the same. And why not? The wiry, furry, dirty actors in Ballen’s images are his signature. It’s served him well, not least when Die Antwoord recruited him as director for their viral-hit I FINK U FREEKY music video.
Having firmly established his reputation Ballen says his work is an exploration of the self, and so we read these images as those of a sinister jester wreaking havoc on division of fact and fiction.
Follow Ballen on Instagram and Twitter
No Fanfare for Quiet Shots of Dormant Mardi Gras Floats
Mardi Gras kicked off this week, bringing alcohol, confetti and brass instruments to the streets of New Orleans and around the world. Parade is a great project by photographer Ben Hillyer whose subjects aren’t the people, the party, or the pageantry we’re typically accustomed to seeing. Hillyer focuses instead on the floats and trailers that ferry the parade itself. These cool, silent images of dormant trucks are in stark contrast to the images of the feverish affair we usually see. Hillyer's work brings a new perspective on a longstanding tradition.
Upskirt Photography Has Massachusetts Lawmakers Flip-Flopping
On Wednesday, it looked like another case where justice fell short to the letter of the law. The Massachusetts’ high court ruled it perfectly legal to photograph under women’s skirt – so long as she’s wearing one. The ruling contended that a person’s right to privacy is protected only if that person is “nude or partially nude”. For the rest of us wearing clothes on a daily basis, we were on our own.
Codfish State peeping toms, however, only enjoyed legal protections for less than 48 hours. On Friday, in response to the baffling supreme court ruling, Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill making photographing or recording video under a person's clothing -- think down a blouse or up a skirt -- very illegal. The response legislation sailed through the House and Senate on Thursday. How refreshing to see politicians agree on the obvious!?
The 2014 Eddie Adams Workshop Is Open for Entries!
The Eddie Adams Workshop (EAW) is opening its doors once again, ushering in its 27th year. EAW is open to both students and professionals, of whom 50 in each class will be selected to participate based on the merits of their portfolios. The 100 participants chosen will spend an intensive four-day weekend in upstate New York, mentored by the industry's foremost photographers and editors.
"The EAW can really be a game-changer," says WIRED DoP James Merithew, "People create bonds that can last a lifetime. In this day and age every connection is a cherished possession."
The event is regarded by many as the premier destination for photojournalists looking to expand their knowledge and advance their careers. It'll cost you $50 to apply but don't let that stop you. Deadline: May 31, 2014.
Photographers Aghast at Getty's Move to Give 35M Images Away for Free
Perhaps one of the biggest headlines of this week was the news that Getty Images released a fat swath of its image archive for use without licensing fees. Sparking a wave of online outcry and commentary, the company hopes to circumvent the copyright infringement of web users by taking control of the embed method. Utilizing an iframe code similar to what Twitter uses to embed tweets, Getty can ensure that proper attribution and branding stays with their images in a way that makes it somewhat convenient to the average online user.
While it seems all well and good that Getty would create a way for low-budget online content producers to have access to mainly stock imagery for noncommercial and editorial usage (WIRED embarked on a similar venture in 2011), the hazy element of this goldmine of a deal is in the fine print -- or, more accurately, the Terms of Service. Specifically, this clause:
"Getty Images (or third parties acting on its behalf) may collect data related to use of the Embedded Viewer and embedded Getty Images Content, and reserves the right to place advertisements in the Embedded Viewer or otherwise monetize its use without any compensation to you."
In a thoughtful deep-dive story, The Nieman Journalism Lab points out that this "Trojan horse" could prove to be daunting for websites, because in addition to Getty's ability to create their own ad content inside that embedded code, they could ostensibly target those ads based on user data the embeds collect. So while there's no immediate cash cost, use of any of these 35 million images does come with a price: your data, and the data of your readership.
In a media landscape where content producers -- and photo agencies -- are trying desperately to stay financially afloat as their work becomes quick fodder for memes and microblogs, this move might well prove to be a successful way to monetize that work without restricting its reach. Planned well, this revenue stream could eventually lead to better compensation for the photographers who contribute to the agency. Or it could fail miserably, angering those same contributors as they watch their hard work flow out openly onto the web under the watchful eye of their employer. Either way, props to Getty for being a large company that's taking a risk that speaks to the ethos of the internet, for better or for worse.
Fresh Immersive Site to Bolster Storytelling in the Digital Age
Daylight, a “subcompact digital publishing platform” launched a new design this week with the intention of getting people to look deeply at photography and have them hang out on pages for longer than a mouse click.
Daylight founders, Taj Forer and Michael Itkoff teamed up with tech entrepreneurs Lee Buck and Peter Bourne, to snag online audiences “by making it easy to discover, be inspired by, and share the most compelling contemporary art.”
On first view, we like. Daylight has utilized a simple UI/UX design with a full screen scrolling format that intertwines text and image which, Daylight says “compares to that of the world's top museums and gallery spaces.” It’s the design du jour with outlets such as Medium, Exposure, and Huffington Post Special Reports opting for a similar user experience.
The site launches with features by Roger Ballen (Lines, Markings and Drawings), Mike Brodie (A Period of Juvenile Prosperity), Jess Dugan (Every Breath We Drew), Raw File favorites Jacqueline Hassink (Arab Domains) and Cristina de Middel (The Afronauts), along with an exclusive by Alec Soth (Orlando).
"We believe the timeless tradition of art as storytelling is vital to the human experience,” says cofounder Taj Forer. “That said, most digital content is consumed like potato chips. With Daylight, we are providing digital audiences with the inspiring, compelling art content that they are hungry for. We strive to give audiences reason to take pause with the art, artists and moreover, join the conversation."
*Discolsure: Raw File writer Pete Brook contributed to DayLight Digital in January, 2014. *
Shutterstock Acquires Online Asset Management Company WebDAM
Shutterstock continues to expand its empire of royalty-free image and video licensing this week with the acquisition of WebDAM, an online asset management company. WebDam is a cloud-based service that allows for organizing and coordinating photo, video, documents, presentations, and other content among a business’s creative teams -- sort of an enterprise-level version of Google Drive.
The purchase of the nine-year-old private company paves the way for Shutterstock’s services to expand into the content management realm, with an apparent end goal of covering all corners of the image licensing, storage, and distribution of its content among users. As part of the deal, WebDAM users will get access to Shutterstock archive of more than 30 million images. WebDAM will also keep its 25 current employees, and CEO Jodie Vandergriff will stay at the helm as they continue rolling out their product lines as planned.
The deal was made for an undisclosed amount, and is the first major purchase by Shutterstock after going public in 2012. The expansion of the company has actually been quite slow and strategic; its last acquisition was in 2009 of Bigstockphoto. Last year, they rolled out a premium image licensing service called Offset, and Skillfeed, an online database of video classes and tutorials.
Fighter Jet Pilot Shows Ellen What a Real Selfie Looks Like
Ellen Degeneres’s all-star Oscars selfie may have blown up Twitter, but this selfie -- taken by a Danish F-16 fighter pilot at the moment he fired an air-to-air missile -- shows what it looks like to blow something up for real. Actually, it’s not really a selfie -- it’s taken from a video camera mounted in the cockpit and frozen at the moment of firing by The Aviationist. Still, it’s pretty rad, and still more authentic than the product placement behind the Oscar selfie.
Pilots are actually prone to taking pictures of themselves in while in the air, but they rarely make waves online. As far as selfies go, this one has a lot of the markings of viral hits - a perfectly composed picture of recognizable figures taking a moment to document themselves in an extraordinary environment and situation. If more stars and higher altitude make for a more epic selfie though, nothing can compare to this.
German Chancellor Merkel’s Ironic Tumblr Makeovers
Last week, it was a picture of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel with a Hitler mustache that caused all the chatter. This week, we peeped a new Tumblr HIPSTER MERKEL which gives “the most powerful woman in the world” some triangle art treatment.
Conceptually, it’s a long way to go before it competes with the mesmerizing Pantone Merkel but it’s a nice distraction and still our fave Tumblr of the week.
Prestigious Canadian Photo Award Announces Three Finalists
Designed to “raise the international profile of an established Canadian photographic artist,” the Scotia Bank Photography Award describes itself as Canada’s “most prestigious photography prize.” Big claim. The AIMIA/AGO Photography Prize (won by Erin Shirreff in late 2013) might have something to say about that. Both awards throw down $50,000 for the winner, so it’s the different procedures and philosophies to reach he decision that distinguish the two mega-awards. Scotia Bank appoints a three-person jury, whereas the AIMIA/AGO Photography Prize employs a public vote.
On the shortlist for this years Scotia Bank Photography Award are Rodney Graham, Mark Ruwedel and Donald Weber.
As well as the pot of gold, the winner receives a book deal with world-renowned publisher Steidl and an exhibition at the CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto, in May, 2014.
New Book Documents the Developer Trays of Photography’s Greatest
Like the pens of the great writers, the developer trays of the world’s best photographers provide a unique, and weirdly intimate look, into the lives of people who used them. For years, photographer John Cyr has been documenting these trays, and we are pleased to hear that powerHouse will releasing a book of his work this month.
Cyr has documented so many important photographer’s trays that it would be impossible to list all of them here. Suffice to say he many of the greats; Ansel Adams, Eddie Adams, Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Sally Mann, and the list goes on.
World’s Beloved Spiritual Leader Dalai Lama ‘Gramming Up a Storm
This might be old news for some of you. The Dalai Lama started an Instagram account on February 1st. In five weeks, the spiritual leader has racked up nearly 42,000 followers. The Dalai Lama isn’t following anyone yet.
With travels widely covered by the media and his engagements well photographed, we figure this is just another opportunity to connect with his devotees. So far in the stream we’ve seen appearances by President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Larry King and the officers with the Richmond Police Department in California.
