The Online Photographer

You might be only dimly aware of this, or you could easily know far more about it than I know (I haven't followed it closely), but Apple Computer is slated to make a major new product category introduction tomorrow morning in San Francisco. Expected is the "iPad," although that might not be its actual name, a "tablet" computer that would double as a multipurpose electronic reading device.

But there's likely to be more to it than that—possibly a lot more. Essentially, the rumors are that Steve Jobs hopes to do for print distribution what iTunes did for music distribution. Many traditional print media—newspaper and magazines—have been buffeted by "competition" from the web (which in some ways isn't really competition, functionally, since the web is mostly not professional and doesn't amount to a serviceable replacement*—but it is competition in a business sense, as trad media has seen its revenues and circulations shrink). They're likely to be so grateful to anyone attempting to propose and provide a viable business model going forward that they could be choosing to overlook, for now at least, the far-reaching ramifications of sharing or even ceding partial control of their content to a central distributor. There's already been a fair amount of unease over Amazon's attempts to wrest content from book publishers for the Kindle; it's possible that those are just the foothills of the mountainous battles to come over revenue sharing and control of content between Apple and traditional content gateways. (The music industry isn't in a state of unalloyed joy over the rise of the iTunes model.)

In any event, even though it doesn't have to do directly with photography (except that it has implications for newspaper and magazine photojournalism), the announcement tomorrow will probably be interesting, to say the least.

Mike

*And I say that as a web content provider.

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Featured Comment by Stephen Gillette: "Mike, please allow me to disagree with your opinion that the iSlate (I'll use that rumored name for today) has little to do directly with photography.

"The device will surely be much more elegant than any netbook, much more portable than any notebook, with an intuitive touch interface similar to the iPhone. And it should be perfect for viewing photographic content.

"The Amazon Kindle (which has been successful, maybe even wildly so) may be great for reading Harry Potter, but it can't handle Ansel Adams' 400 Photographs or William Eggleston's Guide. The iSlate may do just that.

"Personally, viewing photographic 'content' on an iPhone has never seemed practical, given the 3" screen. That has not stopped developers from offering endless iPhone/iPod Touch apps for photography. It looks very likely that all of these apps will port to the new Apple device.

"The iSlate may offer opportunities for photographers (and videographers) who can offer quality content and exploit the potential for mass distribution. This will require an enthusiastic, forward-looking understanding of where our culture is heading in regards to image making and sharing. I appreciate that some will find this evolution of the medium bewildering or even irritating. However, consider the artist/photographer. Or the photojournalist. Or the commercial photographer. All trends point to continued downward pressure on earnings. Time magazine has famously used iStockphoto to source a cover photo—for $30. The old models of doing business can no longer guarantee an ability to earn a living for hard-working photographers.

"I doubt that the iSlate will do for image-content creators what iTunes has done for musical artists. (And just what iTunes has done for music is still a developing story, with plenty of pros and cons.) But I will be very surprised, if the iSlate catches on like I think it will, if it doesn't open up opportunities for photographers that we can scarcely imagine now.

"One example: an inexpensive (think iTunes' or Kindle pricing) portfolio of images (think: photo book), which can be purchased and downloaded with minimal effort, might entice some to purchase a hard copy (ever easier to produce through a growing list of providers, such as Apple itself or Blurb), signed and with extra images. One tier up, the collector of photographs could order an original print from the photographer, and potentially in a size much larger than the printed book or iSlate iterations of the image. As awareness of the photographer and his/her work increases, the synergy of these multiple avenues of distribution will undoubtedly foster other opportunities, from commissions to exhibitions and collaborations.

"Tomorrow's Apple unveiling may well be the start of the next big thing for photography."

Photo by Michael Perrin

This past Saturday, reports the BBC, more than 2000 photographers protested the indiscriminate harassment of innocent photographers under Britain's anti-terrorism laws. The protest took place in London's Trafalgar Square. 

Britain's law allows police to stop and search individuals without any indication of wrongdoing. Despite increasing calls for moderation—most recently from the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that Britain's law is indiscriminate—the law is often used as an excuse to hassle and persecute photographers.

TOP is firmly in sympathy with the demonstrators. The act of photographing is by itself an extremely poor indicator of possible malign intent. There are plenty of ways for actual terrorists to get photographs of potential targets, either by accessing available existing images or by photographing surreptitiously. The act of photographing openly with plainly visible equipment most probably means a person is less likely than the average citizen to be a terrorist, not more. Police persecution of photographers, in our opinion, is just a way for police to appear busy without risk to themselves while actually doing nothing to improve public safety. (Case in point. Seems like somebody sends me a link to a similar video once or twice a week.)

CNN article about the event.

Photo by Flora Savastano

Mike
(Thanks to Steven House, and Rudy)

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Featured Comment by Mark Scheuern: "Security expert Bruce Schneier had an excellent editorial on the topic of photographer-terrorists in The Guardian in 2008."

Mike replies: I agree with you, Mark. That's probably the best commentary on the issue I've read.

Featured Comment by Roger Bradbury: "I was there, and I've probably got a shot of Michael Perrin taking the picture above. It was all good humoured, and after a while I stopped trying to keep out of everyone else's shot. It's just not possible.

"People brought all sorts of cameras. One guy brought a 5x4 camera and I watched him throw in a bit of front tilt to get his shot. He was up above the steps where I stood. Another had a handheld pinhole camera made from a roll film back and lots of black tape and card. A petite woman was carrying a folding Polaroid rangefinder camera with flash bulb gun, and a rollfilm SLR, and a Canon DSLR and a bag for her film and bulbs.

"Everyone was doing their own thing. If we are not careful Britain will become a place where you daren't do that, for fear of bringing yourself to someone's attention.

"Here are just a few other thoughts:

"Robert Roaldi wrote: '...and you have to justify your presence to them....' Quite. This is just one of the ways that 'innocent until proved guilty' is being phased out a bit at a time in the U.K.

"Perhaps the dog's jacket should have read, 'I'm a terrier not a terrorist,' but in Britain now that's close enough for the police to want 'a word.'

"Remember that this event was a mass photo gathering in defence of street photography. It was not a protest, because you need permission from the police to do that."

Kudos to photographer Ezra Marcos for organizing a way for photographers to help with the Haitian relief effort. At an event organized by Marcos, Jacksonville, Florida photographers offered to shoot free portraits for anyone who would write a check—of any amount—to a Haitian relief agency. Marcos then put the donor's check into a stamped envelope and handed it back to the person to mail. He says he did it that way because he wanted a way to assure people that he wasn't profiting from the event.

Photographers reportedly spent 15 or 20 minutes with subjects in a variety of settings, and donors were impressed with the amount of care and skill the photographers put into the portraits.

The story is at the Florida Times-Union's Jacksonville.com News website.

Mike
(Thanks to David Graham)

Global disasters are never good, but this latest one seems particularly cruel—the epicenter of the quake being right next to a population center, in a country so poor that many of its structures are substandard and its medical system can't handle the normal flow of ordinary medical emergencies—and that's with its infrastructure intact and the power on. News of disaster of this magnitude can't help but cast a pall over the daily lives of every one of us, the world around. What can be done? Suck it up and pull together what you can in the way of a donation to do your tiny part, and hope for the best. Our thoughts and concern and prayers to those in Haiti, and those with loved ones there.

Mike

UPDATE: Here's a link to a page for donations to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international independent medical humanitarian organization that is delivering emergency aid in Haiti. It's a secure page and there is a phone number as an alternative; MSF notes that there is "fraudulent activity" happening in the field of Haitian emergency relief.

...Which, I must say, totally boggles the mind. There are thousands of hurt and scared people slowly dying underneath the rubble of collapsed buildings, and other people are trying to send money to help them, and some thief is going to interpose himself into that process and steal that money? How does a human being spend money gotten in that way? That is truly, truly depraved.

In any event, MSF has worked in Haiti for years and is a reputable organization well positioned to help. I've made a donation on behalf of TOP readers from the website's working petty cash fund.

Another excellent choice for a donation is Partners In Health, the organization co-founded by Dr. Paul Farmer, whose work, mainly in Haiti, was the subject of Tracy Kidder's excellent 2003 book Mountains Beyond Mountains. PIH have set up an earthquake relief page here.

Featured Comment by Michel: "I would like to encourage everyone who makes a donation to a charity organisation to check with their employer's HR or philanthropy department to see if they will match their donation. Many employers do—it's usual for any 501(c)(3) registered organisation (in the U.S.)—but it is surprising how few people are aware. There's a website out there called matchinggifts.com that can help looking this up, but it is very slow today. Perhaps that's indicative of many people already searching the database."

Well, it just turned midnight in sleepy ol' Wisconsin, and I just wanted to wish all our friends around the world a prosperous and peaceful 2010. I hope it's a good year for you and your family.

And for your photography, too.

Sincerely,

Mike
(Thanks to Bob Rapp for the link)

From Dirck Halstead, dated yesterday:

Subject: An Important Letter to the Viewers of the Digital Journalist

I am afraid that the December issue of The Digital Journalist may be our final issue, at least for a while.

As many of you on our mailing list know, The Digital Journalist has been online producing our monthly magazine, about visual journalism, for 12 years. During that time we have presented the memorable work of some of the greatest photojournalists in the world, while offering opportunities for publication to many new photographers. Our columns and reviews have taken a 360-degree look at the industry, and predicted much of the upheaval that has taken place as the media around us have been buffeted by the shifting winds of technology, and now, a crippling economic downturn.

We have also sponsored over 37 Platypus Workshops around the world, which have taught photojournalists how to cope with and adapt to these industry changes.

Unfortunately, our principal sponsor, Canon, whose market has also been impacted by these turbulent times, has decided they can no longer afford to provide their financial backing to The Digital Journalist. We are very grateful for the generous support they have given us over the years.

Even before Canon's decision we were planning to reorganize. We are aware of how seriously a lot of our readers, who make their living from photojournalism, have been hit by the recession through the failures and cutbacks of countless publications, magazines and newspapers, as well as TV and cable. Our reorganization goal is not only to continue publishing The Digital Journalist, but to provide funding in order to send photographers out into the world to do their work, documenting the important stories that shape our lives and history.

Such an ambitious undertaking requires serious fundraising efforts on our part.

So we are asking you, our loyal readers, numbering more than 10,000, to help us raise these funds. Effective immediately, we have set up a PayPal link on The Digital Journalist and urgently ask for your pledges so that we can continue the work which will help us all. We have never solicited paid subscriptions, but these dire times call for dire measures.

If you value The Digital Journalist, this is the time to step up and make a pledge. If enough people do, we may be able to keep The Digital Journalist—and video journalism—alive. Consider it as an investment in yourself, and the future.

Thank you all for your loyalty over the past years. We appreciate your continued support, and look forward to seeing you on the Web.

Sincerely,

Dirck Halstead
Editor and Publisher

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Photo by Craig F. Walker

I'm posting this two days late for Veterans Day, but there is an excellent extended photo essay about one young serviceman's tour of duty at The Denver Post's Captured blog. The photos are by Craig F. Walker.

Oddly enough, people serving in the armed forces right now are actually safer than they were in the peacetime army of Ronald Reagan. Consider this definitely counter-intuitive finding of the economist Steven D. Levitt:

...Fighting two wars must surely be driving the death toll higher for young people, no?

From 2002 to 2008, the United States was fighting bloddy wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; among active military personnel, there were an average 1,643 fatalities per year. But over the same stretch of time in the early 1980s, with the United States fighting no major wars, there were more than 2,100 military deaths per year. How can this possibly be?

For one, the military used to be much larger: 2.1 million on active duty in 1988 versus 1.4 million in 2008. But even the rate of death in 2008 was lower than in certain peacetime years. Some of this improvement is likely due to better medical care. But a surprising fact is that the accidental death rate for soldiers in the early 1980s was higher than the death rate by hostile fire for every year the United States has been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. It seems that practicing to fight a war can be just about as dangerous as really fighting one.

—Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner,
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes,
and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance,
(William Morrow, 2009), p. 87

I hope that news is encouraging. I found it something of a consolation. Of course that does nothing to demean the sacrifice of those who did lose their lives in service (whether to accident or to hostile fire—or any other cause), and it is cold comfort indeed to those at home worrying about their loved ones on duty.

Have a safe weekend.

On deck for next week: Two lovely new photobooks, one of which I think is a rare must-have; Ctein on solar telescopes; and at long last, another installment in our ongoing albeit intermittent "Around the Web" feature.

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Photo by Mario Tama. Members of the elite Navajo Code Talkers, the famed U.S. Marine unit who delivered unbreakable codes during World War II battles against the Japanese, salute before the start of the annual Veterans Day parade November 11, 2009 in New York City. Thirteen of the 50 or so remaining Code Talkers participated in today's parade for the first time. (Getty Images)

This one is from boston.com's "Armistice Day Remembrances" at The Big Picture.

Mike

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Photo by skagman, a.k.a. John Nuttall

There are only about 700 Tesla roadsters on the world's roads so far, making the new all-electric car one of the rarest as well as one of the most sought-after cars on the planet. Maybe the driver of the Prius who slammed into the back of this one in Denmark was thinking, "Wow! That's a Tesla!"

Not any more, it isn't. The Prius smashed the electric car all the way underneath the Volkswagen Tuareg that had been in front of it. So now the formerly lucky Danish Tesla owner gets to find out how long the waiting time is for a second Tesla.

At least it did okay on crash safety. No major injuries were reported.

The picture reminds me of the work of Swiss photographer Arnold Odermatt.

(Alternate title for this post: Honey, Did I Leave the Tuareg on the Roof Again?)

Mike

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The venerable Shots mag- azine, an alternative magazine for art, student and outsider photography (my description, not theirs) founded by Dan Price, is issuing a call for work, for its annual Portfolio Issue. There's a small submission fee. "Photographers selected for inclusion will be interviewed for publication and featured on at least 4 pages...."

I don't think I've seen it since Dan was in charge, but back then, at least, there was always interesting stuff in Shots. Might be just the thing if you're not finding regular outlets for your work, but I suggest you take a look through at least one issue before submitting.

Reuters

Half of this year's Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to Willard S. Boyle (left) and George E. Smith (right), inventors of the charge-coupled device, or CCD, which forms the basis for most digital camera sensors. They shared the award with Charles K. Kao (center), whose work was crucial to fiber optics.

Further reading:

New York Times Science section

CNET News

physicstoday.org

Mike

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Featured Comment by Rick: "This was wonderful news to hear. I first met George Smith and some of his colleagues from Bell Labs in the 1970s when I was a young engineer. We were part of an informal sailing club George established called the 'Five B's Society' (don't ask). I vividly recall remarkable conversations with him about his work on the CCD and other related technologies, which back then were mostly thought of as digital memory devices. He's a very warm and self-effacing person, but even 30+ years ago was already well known as a world-class scientist. In more recent years, we would occasionally correspond with him and his wife as they cruised their sailboat around the world. Ironically, I don't remember ever seeing him with a camera."

B&H Photo-Video in New York City will be closing on Friday for the religious holiday of Succos, the "sweetest festival." They will not be accepting orders from Friday, October 2nd through Sunday, October 11th. If you need anything, best get your order in by Thursday.

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Lynsey Addario, a Turkish-American photojournalist based in Istanbul, has won a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant for 2009, the Foundation announced yesterday.

The grant, which is made secretly, is popularly known as the "Genius Award." There is no public nomination process and no one knows they're being considered until they win. Winners receive $500,000 over five years. There are no strings attached, but the award is given with the understanding that it will help foster independence and freedom from financial worry for work yet to be done.

East Bhutan. Zangmo, about 85, waits for hand-outs of extra potatoes from two young men preparing their potato harvest for sale in the village of Zhangkhar, on the road to Dramatse, in eastern Bhutan, August 8, 2007. Though there are no traditional homes for the elderly in Bhutan, most Bhutanese naturally help their neighbors and elders in need as an intrinsic part of Bhuddist culture. Roughly 80% of Bhutanese rely on subsistence farming for survival. Photo by Lynsey Addario.

Addario, 35, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1995, was cited for "Creating a visual record of major conflicts and humanitarian crisis of the 21st century." She photographs regularly for The New York Times and National Geographic. She is one of 24 Genius Award recipients in 2009 and is the only photographer to win this year. You can see her work at lynseyaddario.com.

Congratulations to Lynsey!

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UPDATE: I heard from Lynsey Addario on Thursday morning, who writes, "Michael, Thank you so much for posting the article...I hope this fellowship brings more attention to photojournalists as a whole! Warm regards, Lynsey." 

Featured Comment by CK Dexter Haven: "I was prepared to look at the link and have the response: 'this person deserves the title "genius" and all that money?' Well, I don't know what a genius is any more, but I'm glad Lynsey won this award. I'm going to have to visit the site in pieces, because it's too much to take in all at once. There's a lot of courage there, both in the photographer and the subjects. Stunning work, and it's given me needed perspective. I hope, now, to spend a lot less time dealing with the meaningless minutiae I too often discuss in web photo forums."