An Angel’s Dream: Native Stock Pictures Touches New Horizons

Guest post by Jain Lemos

For Angel Wynn, moving from Sun Valley, Idaho to Santa Fe, New Mexico opened up doors of abundance for her art and agency.

Walking into Angel Wynn’s studio home on Canyon Drive in Santa Fe, the air seems to shift and all of a sudden, you are transported into a world of brave beauty. The strong presence of buffalo, wild Mustangs and Native people hang on the walls in an enchanting mix of imagery. Then Wynn appears, big smiles break out and the relaxed conversation never lags. She is absolutely in her element here.

Gallery Image: “We Shall Remain” Yaqui Apache man with horse during a summer storm
© NativeStock.com/ Marilyn Angel Wynn

Wynn has been shooting Native American themes for 30 years. She was based in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho until May of 2012 when, motivated by new dreams and goals, she packed up her studio into a horse trailer and headed for Santa Fe. As a veteran stock photographer, Wynn has experienced every phase of our fluctuating business. She’s been through the digital conversion, the switch to online sales, the rights model evolution and the decline in stock income.

“Since 2007, stock has become a tough way to make a living for many photographers,” she admits. “But by having a strong specialty, such as North American Indian cultures, I’ve thankfully been able to sail through the storm these past few years.” Moving to New Mexico was not only a personal choice but also made business sense. With stock prices plummeting, Wynn was no longer able to travel to specific locations throughout Indian Country. Living and working in New Mexico, she now has a huge pool of Native talent just minutes away.

Her agency, Native Stock Pictures, has been relevant all of these years because of her specialty. Wynn also shot lifestyle and skiing stock in Idaho, but keeping models from looking dated became an increasing challenge year after year. “With traditional Native life, dated-looking photos are a good thing,” she laughs. Still, diversifying meant finding new sources of revenue within her specialty and Wynn has energetically branched out.

Last summer she was contracted for one of the biggest photo shoots of her career. She had to find a selection of Native models between the ages of 19-35 years, with art directors narrowing the group down to 24. “It was difficult to locate a number of professional models with the specs the client was requesting. From my own pool of non-professional models that I had recently worked with for my own stock shoots, I was able to convince them to hire from my pool,” she explains. The art directors were thrilled with the models and the shoot results. Soon after, Wynn started an all-Native talent agency in New Mexico. She’s listed with the New Mexico Film Bureau and already has about 40 models signed up.

Video has also been a new focus and is a natural fit for her agency. Instead of stills of native flute players, her videos show how the instrument is played plus viewers get to experience the sound of the wooden instruments. She has started producing short clips to compliment her extensive still image collection and to offer more content variety to her educational publishing clients. Subjects on her list include a woman grinding her corn, traditional dancers, pottery being made and fired, games being played, cooking procedures and traditional languages being spoken.

Wynn is also realizing her dream of being an art photographer with a gallery and studio in the highly desirable Canyon Street location she’s opened up in the Santa Fe art district. Along with teaching workshops and holding openings, she has quickly become professionally recognized and accepted in the community. “I’m also honored to frequently have Native people come by and visit my studio. After viewing my years of gathering stock images, these tribal members are excited to discuss photo possibilities that would include their families and traditions,” she says.

When it comes to compelling pictures of indigenous cultures and their lifestyles, both past and present, Native Stock has the most comprehensive files you’ll find. And Wynn’s vision keeps evolving while she lives her dream. As with all success stories, hard work and dedication are the essentials… and a feather in your hat doesn’t hurt.

Jain Lemos brings dedication, creative vision and enthusiasm for the collaborative process into her role as Executive Director of the ASPP and publisher of The Picture Professional magazine.

Choosing Solutions

Tired of getting the ‘latest, greatest’ app, tool, etc., and finding it’s more frustrating than fruitful? Sheridan Stancliff, owner of SheridanInk, a premier marketing agency and project manager supreme helps us do our due diligence.

As we buy new gadgets, take on new clients, adopt new responsibilities and projects, it can sometimes be a daunting task to figure out exactly how to keep organized and be the most efficient in our jobs as we can be. Apple has ingrained it into our heads that “there’s an app for that” and in most cases, there is. What they don’t follow up with is finding the right app for that – whatever that may be.

Sure, I can decide I need a calendar application and Google “calendar apps” and download the first one I find, but is that one going to do what I need it to?

To save a great deal of time – and protect our fragile sanity – take the time to do a little prep work for your search.

Spend a few days making notes as you work, jotting down your wish list of features and capabilities that will make your world a better place. One would think this would be the default way to approach it, but it’s often surprising how often we want to just get something done and forego the legwork.

Over the last few years as my business has grown, I have had to re-asses current solutions I use and how I can evolve from there. Will my current application allow me to expand over a network? Does it already have features I will need eventually, but perhaps not now? Will it sync with my mobile devices or perhaps be cloud based so I may access any of the information remotely if needed?

For instance, my initial invoicing app turned out to be way too basic for my expanding needs. It was a great app to start with, but stalled out as I found myself needing more and more capabilities, billing options and accounting requirements. As a small business without an accounting department (oh, how I wish I had one, though!) I had to do some research and talk to people about where I wanted to take my business and what I would need to have in place to make it all the more efficient and easy to get there.

Again, back to the lists. I jotted down basic needs then a few other wish list items. Once I had written out the requirements, the search was much easier.

I found a few solutions for my basic needs, and soon discovered that they were fairly similar in many aspects, so I began to prioritize functions and needs. With my list, I was able to quickly weed out a few options that didn’t meet the basics, then choose based on user interface and more in-depth functions – and how it would be able to expand with my business.

In another scenario, I was working on a collaborative project involving a group of seventeen main clients and additional one to be added later. I needed to figure out a way I could not only maintain a group calendar (utilizing google calendar) but one that would let me also maintain my own calendars, create to-do lists, reminders, scheduling and a few other odds and ends… and let me sync with my iPad, iPhone and desktop machine. iCal just wasn’t a powerful enough tool to handle all of that.

Rather than just downloading whatever calendar app I stumbled on, I was able to narrow down my options based on what each solution did or did not provide.

(For those that are curious, I chose BusyCal for Mac)

Before I had settled on my final solution, I made the mistake of just downloading a number of calendar apps without really making a plan. It ended up being a waste of time and a bit of money as they were just not the right fit. It also added to my frustration level when things just weren’t working as I wanted.

BusyCal allowed me to sync numerous Google calendars, set to-do lists and reminders, coordinate with my contacts for birthdays and other special days and also gives me a 5-10 day weather synopsis (bonus!) Since its interface was much like iCal, just amped up a bit, it was simple to migrate over without having to start from scratch as I would with other apps. The cost was reasonable and they give a 30 day trial. All in all, app success!

So in a nutshell:

Evaluate current solution and make notes about what is and is not working for you.
Make note of additional features and functions you need to make life easier
Conduct your search and weed out options that don’t meet your basic criteria.
If solutions are similar, download evaluation copies and give them a thorough run-through

It may seem simple – and it is – but in our impatience and time-crunched days, we sometimes forget that the little time spent prepping can save a whole bunch of time later.

Sheridan Stancliff has spent more than 15 years in marketing and communications, following a successful stock shooting career represented by Getty and Stockfood. Now Sheridan is focused on the publishing industry, helping fiction writers market their works. Impressed with her industry knowledge and passion for romance fiction, Sheridan was invited by several well-known authors to manage their collective blog, The Goddess Blogs . From there Sheridan has built SheridanInk into a premier marketing agency.

Let Me Introduce You to Harry and Edna

Guest post by Simon Herbert with thanks to PetaPixel

Our photographic records have changed radically over the last century: from the tiny black-and-whites that our great grandparents took; to the larger format black-and-white of our grandparents; through to the color print “happy snaps” of our parents; then the first digital camera pictures taken by our own generation; and, currently, the even higher-res digital files on the smart computer/cameras on which our children record every meal, every smile, every sunset, and share with their friends instantaneously.

What has also changed, though, is the way that we can trace the lineage of these images. Every digital image now comes attached with a ‘clock’ that records the exact time and date of that image’s capture. We live in a world of records and data: the history of our movements can be traced via our phone’s GPS; our Facebook postings contain their own time-line; our iPhotos are compiled with meta-data that most of us will never use. We always will know where we are, and where we were, in every point of time and space.

https://www.facebook.com/IsThisYourMother

So what happens if, like professional photographer Jeff Phillips, you find 30 old boxes of pictures taken by a couple long dead, at an antique fair? 1,100 slides that make up the life record of a childless couple who pursued their collective energies to travel the world; a fascinating record, but devoid of any information other than a penciled record on some slides of a ‘Harry’ and an ‘Edna.’ The images were lost in time, not date-stamped other than by the environs and clothes of disappeared eras.

https://www.facebook.com/IsThisYourMother

Phillips used modern media, and set up a Facebook page, Is This Your Mother, on which he would point out clues contained within this array of images. People responded with not only hundreds of likes, but, amazingly, an answer to the mystery within three short weeks.

Welcome to Harry and Edna Grossmann’s story; which ended in 1986 and 1983, respectively. And welcome to the backstory of all those images of sunsets and horizon lines, of cruises and deckchairs, of exotic squares and tall minarets, of mugging for the camera and being caught lost in one’s own thoughts; welcome to the world that we all still share in our own photographs. In the Grossmann’s records, we see our own travels writ large.

https://www.facebook.com/IsThisYourMother

Not content with even these treasures, Phillips investigated further, searched for the Grossmann’s survivors, and found their Great Niece Carol Felzien, who was both grateful and shocked at what the Facebook page had managed to achieve.

https://www.facebook.com/IsThisYourMother

The legacy of Harry and Edna is now scanned and archived, and finds its expression on its own website.

A selection of images from the Grossmann archive is from currently on display at The Foundry Art Centre in St, Charles, MO, until June 21st.

Head over to the project’s website for more info, or check out more of Harry and Edna’s photos on Facebook.

Simon Herbert is a freelance writer and editor, and has written for magazines including: Creative Camera, High Performance, Border Crossings, Art Monthly and Artists Newsletter; and catalogues for the Sydney Biennale and Henry Moore Sculpture Trust. As an art curator, he co-founded Locus+, which commissions a variety of digital-based artist’s projects.
He has also been known to poke around in old film boxes and canisters: http://retinette.wordpress.com/

From Across the Pond – Convergence of Video and Stills

Julian Jackson digs into the UK Market and updates us.

Video is starting to become the new essential for stills libraries. Although the two majors have had motion divisions for years, most UK photo-libraries avoided video for a number of reasons: technical complexity, bandwidth and the uncertainties of a new market, compounded by the economic difficulties of the past few years.

However there has been a steady move towards footage from UK libraries including Alamy, Robert Harding World Imagery, Science Photo Library (SPL), Bridgeman Art Library, and others. Two recent London events confirmed this: fotofringe,and footageMarketplace. There was a crossover of libraries at both events, which is surely a trend, as previously there was a distinct separation between stills and motion-based suppliers. Perhaps the long-foretold convergence between stills and moving pictures is actually on the way?

One of the first to dip their toe in the market was SPL in 2009. Ben Jones, their Head of Motion, said, “The world was quite different from the world of stills, which we knew very well, so there was no easy way to segue into footage. It was a challenge for us, but we spent about two years planning the move and getting the content and technical operations into place.” The recession had slowed the development of the marketplace, but it seemed that 2013 was the year when footage was really taking off. Darrell Hodgetts, Digital Account Manager at the Press Association echoed this, “We have had a 400% year-on-year growth in video”.

There was a remarkable unanimity amongst the exhibitors at footageMarketplace that educational publishers were now seeking video content. Ben Jones noted that there were various monetization strategies, including subscription models, single clip sales, and also complete mini-programmes a few minutes long, about different aspects of chemistry, for example.

Barcroft Media, which was originally a news agency based around stills and text, have had success in specializing in what might be termed the extreme side of news video, unusual people, animal antics and somewhat freakish subjects. Ping Kwan, their Sales Manager, extolled their You Tube channel as a top marketing tool. They have had 91 million hits. She was not worried about unauthorized uses – reckoning that the exposure was worth it, and they have a system in place for tracking infringements.

Two notable medium sized libraries which have added footage to their stills offerings are Robert Harding World Imagery, famed for their travel content, and Bridgeman Art Library, known for their licensing of fine art images, including hard-to-find material in private collections.

Harding acquired environmental library Specialist Stock in early 2012, which had a lot of filmed material in its archive. Robert Harding said, “It was a steep learning curve. If you are not technically-minded, you need someone who is. They are big files, they need special processing. you need a lot more time than you think you are going to need.” Integrating the footage, cataloguing and ensuring there was sufficient content for users needs has taken Harding a year to get their offering into a shape where they are happy to market it. Michael Kelly, Digital Asset Manager, said that the lack of global industry standards for footage was a big problem, and that coming from the world of stills, where this is well-defined, was quite eye-opening. Kelly said he found the lack of standards “archaic” although he now thought that there would be move towards a set of globally-recognized video standards which would benefit both the industry and the customer.

Robert Harding cautioned that now having Standard Definition material was worthless, as everyone wanted HD, and that also undigitized film was less valuable than sellers might think, because of the costs of digitization, and that also a lot of it was in a 4:3 format which no longer fits the move to wider framings in many applications. There were significant costs, both financial and in personnel time, involved in moving into the footage world, which should not be underestimated.

It also seems that the move to video means broadening the content offering. That can be most clearly seen with Bridgeman, whose video clips include not just artists at work, which is to be expected, but also film of the First World War, including trench warfare and aerial combat, and a tranche of Dutch colonial material going back to the 1920s, from the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

The advantage of footage is that, as a broad generalisation the fees are higher, and that the market is expanding rapidly – all sorts of end-users want to have more rich media, as opposed to the saturated market for stills.

The other significant industry pulse from both fotofringe and footageMarketplace seemed to be that the industry was cautiously optimistic about the future. It was felt by many different stills and footage vendors that the worst of the economic effects had bottomed-out and while the economy was not great, it was slowly improving and better times were ahead for those suppliers who were flexible in their approach to the marketplace.

Julian Jackson is a writer with extensive experience of picture research, whose main interests include photography and the environment. His website is www.julianjackson.co.uk. He also runs a Picture Research by Distance Learning Course www.picture-research-courses.co.uk. Linked-in profile.

The Resurgence of low tech in the age of technology

Guest post by Alisa Steck of Rocketroom

Today’s insatiable consumerism with the latest, greatest digital devices has brought us every feasible type of entertainment and media at our fingertips. Cell phones older than a year are incredulously considered Jurassic technology. We could hardly imagine a world without must-have applications such as iTunes, delivering every song, movie and novel on demand. Hot items such as the iPad and Kindle ensure that we will always have our favorite newspaper and stay on top of the best sellers. These streamlined digital tools are making our lives less cluttered and more efficient. What more could people want? The constant acquisition of the hottest new gadget seems to be leaving us wanting something more, something else, something tangible.

A nostalgic desire for a simplified, tactile world has found its way back into our hearts. The age of soulless homogenous branding has had its cage shaken. Although the “always on brand, always on message” perfectly manicured corporate brands aren’t going to completely disappear anytime soon, we are seeing a deep need to return to what is truly important and timeless. Perhaps it’s the recession that has reminded us about what we are yearning for to feed our souls? The desire for texture, for awakening our senses, for the scrumptious tactile feeling of fine paper under our fingertips. There is truly a visual feast found in artisan craftsmanship.

As creative professionals, increasingly more of our work has become digitized, so every trip to the printer fills me with a strange joy. I’ve missed the unmistakable scent of printers ink. The perfection in the imperfection of beautifully handset type, and the almost musical sound of an old foot operated letterpress. Knowing that someone has put care, thought and creativity into their craft, results in pure treasure. It’s the human connection one feels in such objects; not just to the craftspeople who forge these things, but to the generations to come; that these ideas and objects will also come to touch. And with this renewed desire for human connection, there has been a resurgence of the tangible.

Independent bookshops are miraculously popping back up. Communities such as Briar Press have sprouted from a common dedication to the preservation of the art of letterpress. Handcrafted and individually packaged food items, such as the delectable chocolates by Brooklyn’s Mast Brothers Chocolate (cacao nibs are even transported by sailboat!) are more cherished than commercially mass produced brands. People have no problem standing in long lines to sample the artisan cheeses at Mt. Townsend’s Creamery and small craft beer breweries such as Sound Brewery have loyal imbibers that savor the lovingly brewed liquid gold. In a time when communication has been reduced to ‘twitter’ and feels more like chatter, the deep desire for the human connection has once again blossomed.

Alisa Steck is photographer, producer and editor for Rocketroom, LLC in the Seattle, WA region. Rocketroom’s photographic work is represented by Getty Images, Alamy & iStockphoto. In addition to photography, Rocketroom is a boutique graphic design & hosting firm, with an emphasis on branding.

Name that Tune, Find that Tune, License that Tune!

Guest Post by Kathryn Waugh Skene of Music Matters

The use of music in a production – whether film, television, games or advertising – is about connecting the right song with the right moving image. It’s about emphasizing a storyline, intensifying a scene and augmenting an emotion, all while staying true to the style and vibe of the project.

But there is also a logistical side to including music in your production; that includes budgets, research, negotiation and licensing. Songs, like all intellectual properties, are protected by copyright.

Let’s say your dream song is called “I Love You,” and you want to use this piece during, say, a pivotal car chase scene in your movie: you know you need a license (unless you have suddenly become an adept composer!), but you just don’t know where or how to get one?

The good news is that with a little detective work, and a basic understanding of licensing, this shouldn’t be an impossible task.

Song Research

The first thing you’ll need to know is who wrote and recorded “I Love You.” This information is relatively easy to obtain if you have a CD copy or (legitimate) MP3. Check the liner notes, or digital file, and you’ll find the writer and performer listed beneath the song title. For example: I LOVE YOU / Written by John Smith / Performed by JS Band

If you don’t have the recording (perhaps you heard the song online or on the radio) an app like Shazam or SoundHound will at least be able to uncover the performer. A quick internet search (“I Love You by JS Band”) will reveal the composer.

The next step is determining what type of licenses you need. In the world of music clearance, there are two types of licenses.

Types of Licenses

A Synchronization license covers the use of the composition, whether recorded or not . A sync. license is generally granted by a music publisher.

A Master license covers the use of a recording of a song by a specific artist. A master license is generally granted by a record label. You do not need a master license if you are recording your own version of “I Love You”.

Locating the Music Publisher

If you’re lucky, the music publisher will be listed on the song’s liner notes (for example, “I Love You” written by John Smith, performed by JS Band, @Best Music Publisher Inc). If you don’t have this information and need to find the publisher, there are several online databases you can use.

CMRRA, ASCAP and BMI are music societies which allow you to search using the song name, writer/composer or performer. Once you locate “I Love You” by John Smith you will find the publisher information listed on the song’s page. If the contact details are not available, a quick internet search should provide further information. Other resources include: iTunes, Amazon and Wikipedia.

Locating the Record Label (or master owner)

Again, this information should be easily located on the recording. If you do not have access to these details, there are a number of helpful databases online, such as: allmusic.com, MySpace and Artist Direct (also see resources for locating the music publisher).

Getting the License

Now that you have completed your research on “I Love You,” you are ready to contact the publisher and label to request a license. Before doing this though, you will need to put together certain details about your project, including:

A short synopsis of your production
The length of “I Love You” and how many times you are going to use it in your project
How “I Love You” is being used (background, instrumental, performance on screen, etc.)?
A description of the scene “I Love You” is used in and if you are using it over the credits
What rights, territory and term are required?
Will “I Love You” be covered by a composer (no master required)?

Once you have gathered all these details, it is time to send in your license request. The publisher and/or record label should get back to you within a few business days with a quote. If you agree to their fee and terms, a license will be issued.

And you’re done! You can now use “I Love You” by John Smith in that car chase scene. Other than submitting a cue sheet to the relevant performance society there is nothing left to do… except to sit back and enjoy that creative marriage between song and visuals.

Music Matters are clearance experts with over 15 years experience. Kathryn knows where to look for and clear the music you want for your next project.

Visual Connections Toronto – May 16

In Toronto or environs on May 16th? Clear your calendar and reserve your space now for Visual Connections Toronto and for the morning Copyright and Clearance session featuring top experts in North America who can answer your questions and discuss copyright, clearances, orphan works and more. From 10am to noon, the panel will be held in the The Spoke Club. Immediately after, the expo floor opens with access to scores of image and footage agencies. Lunch, snacks and opportunities to win prizes are all part of the day.

Designed for and limited to professional picture buyers, registration is free and attendees are encouraged to submit questions in advance for the Panel. Visual Connections has held image expos for many years in New York and Chicago and are thrilled to bring the Expo to Toronto.

Registration and more information for both the Copyright Session and the Expo can be found here.

See you there!

Image Supplier Global Surveys Just Released!

Thanks to our international trade organizations PACA , CEPIC, BVPA and SAB for working in conjunction with the Research Group from the University Heidelberg, to research, create and make available the first truly international overview of Image Suppliers in both English and Chinese.

Over the course of 2012, over 250 world wide image suppliers(still, illustrations and motion) responded to a survey, resulting in 3 separate reports;

Report 1: Players, Products and Business generating a solid estimate of global market volume

Report 2: Marketing, Distribution, Performance which assesses economic performances of different strategies

Report 3: Regions, Trade, Divisions of Labor highlighting geographic dimensions and the importance of both central and peripheral regions.

All reports are available for free downloads here: http://www.stockimagemarket.uni-hd.de/

Enjoy!

The Pitt Rivers Museum Collection now represented by Bridgeman

View of a member of Wilfred Thesiger’s travelling party looking out across the Wadi Sayfam towards Jebel Kawr, Oman, March 30 – April 2, 1949 (b/w photo), Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, (1910-2003) / Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK/Bridgeman Art Library

Located in the heart of Oxford, the Pitt Rivers Museum has collected photographs ever since its foundation in 1884 by Lieutenant-General Augustus Pitt Rivers. Particularly strong in images from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the collection contains important fieldwork archives, including the photographs of adventurers such as Sir Wilfred Thesiger.

Portrait of Wilfred Thesiger sitting in the Wadi al ‘Ayn, Oman, February 8–16, 1949 (b/w photo), Salim Bin Kabina, (20th century) / Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK/Bridgeman Art Library

Sir Wilfred Thesiger belongs to a long tradition of English explorers who had one foot in the world of colonial rule and the other in a deep fascination of other cultures. An adventurer at heart, he left the rarefied world of Oxford University for the exotic allure of East Africa at the earliest opportunity and spent the following decades absorbed in the exploration of foreign lands.

Thesiger is best known today for his travel writing: Arabian Sands (1959) and The Marsh Arabs (1964) are particularly well-loved by those who hanker after a golden age of intrepid discovery. Now, with the digitization of thousands of negatives bequeathed to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Thesiger’s cherished journalism is matched by an extraordinary collection of photographs which vividly portray the splendor and romance of travel.

PRM479730; Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK;

View of men in boats, spear fishing on Umm al Abid, Iraq, 1958 (b/w photo) by Thesiger, Wilfred Patrick (1910 – 2003); Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK / Bridgeman Art Library

The endless sand dunes of Arabia’s legendary Empty Quarter presented Thesiger with his severest privations and perhaps his most stunning photographic opportunities. But what emerges most clearly from this collection is how often the explorer turned his lens on his guides and travelling companions. Thesiger respected his Bedouin friends tremendously, adopting their dress and becoming willingly absorbed into their way of life.

Portrait of a boy, a herder, leaning on a pole, Iraq, 1956 (b/w photo) by Thesiger, Wilfred Patrick (1910-2003); Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK/Bridgeman Art Library

The same can been said of his travels amongst the Madan of the Iraqi marshlands, where his photography goes beyond the documenting of traditional customs to bring his subjects to life through candid, even affectionate, portraits. Whether in Africa, Arabia or Mesopotamia, Thesiger managed to capture a timeless charm in the people and places that he loved, and a dazzling record of his own wanderlust.

View all images from the Pitt Rivers Museum collection on the Bridgeman website available for licensing.

For over 40 years, Bridgeman Art Library has worked with museums, artists and photographic archives to make the best of the world’s fine art, cultural and historical imagery available for reproduction. With works from over 8,000 collections and 30,000 artists, every subject, concept, style and medium is represented. In 2013 Bridgeman launched a footage platform, allowing creative professionals to search clips alongside more than 500,000 stills on www.bridgemanart.com to create a complete visual package.

Lost in Digital Translation

Guest post by Sharon Donahue

Today if you wanted to find out more about Diophanti Alexandrini you might start by going to Wikipedia to read about this Greek mathematician. You can even begin with Google Images to see pages from his 1670 book on Arithmetic. The woman who introduced me to photo research at the beginning of my career brought me to Harvard University’s Houghton Library. Here we waited patiently until the librarian retrieved the original 17th century Greek edition from the stacks and carefully placed it on a velvet-covered podium for our review. How thrilling to be allowed to turn the pages of a book more than 400 years old!

Here’s my advice for new Photo Researchers:

Don’t Miss Seeing the Originals

Early in my career a good deal of my research time was spent searching through primary source material: broadsides at Antiquarian Societies, posters, postcards, bound copies of Harper’s Weekly, Puck, Godey’s Lady’s Books, original engravings and black and white prints.

The Museum of American History at the Smithsonian owns unique artifacts from the earliest presidential campaigns. Planning a trip to Washington, DC I asked and was given a tour of the political history memorabilia not on view to the public. They brought out trade cards with portraits of President Cleveland and his wife, photographs of ten foot tin balls rolling down the street to promote Whig party candidates, matchbox covers with Locofoco Democratic party slogans, little brass buttons made for George Washington’s 1789 inauguration, Teddy Roosevelt bandannas, etc. The most difficult decision was deciding which objects to have photographed for an American government project.

Have you ever read Faith Ringgold’s childhood story, Tar Beach? Over the years I have seen many photographs of Ringgold’s story quilts. It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to see “Bitter Nest #5: The Homecoming” at the Currier Museum of Art that I could truly appreciate that Ringgold’s quilts are beautiful in the own right with exotic colors and patterns. After hand sewing the pieces, Ringgold applied her acrylic painting on top of the cloth right over the stitches! It’s so much more impressive when you are standing in front of this large work of art than when you bring up a digital version online.

Become a Documentalist

I remember being told that in France Photo Researchers consider themselves documentalistes highlighting their research skills. Can you image being fortunate enough to spend several days in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris? One of my colleagues went there to review their unique collection of medieval books of hours. Seeing the brilliant details of the original illustrations with silver and gold leafing made it very clear to her why the images in these manuscripts were called illuminations.

Learn to Be Visually Literate

One important skill for Photo Researchers is to learn to comprehend and appreciate the visuals created by others. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and go straight to the source.

Looking at a science magazine a few years ago I came across an unusual photograph of brain cells from a transgenic mouse which were called “brainbows”. Out of curiosity I called the source, Dr. Jeff Lichtman at Harvard’s Center for Brian Science. Serving as Co-President of ASPP New England at the time, I asked if we could come in as a group to learn more about this interesting work. Not only did Dr. Litchtman present a slide show with a brief history on visualizing the nervous system, he also allowed us into the lab where his graduate students were using a dissecting microscope with laser scanning.

Check Out New Images Sources

Last summer I traveled to Westminster, Massachusetts for a local fair. Never one to miss an opportunity to explore a historical society, I dropped in to see what treasures they had. To my surprise I found they had a collection of lovely portrait miniatures by sisters Sarah and Eliza Goodridge ca. 1830. Among Sarah Goodridge’s most interesting and personal works is a miniature portrait of her own bared breasts, entitled Beauty Revealed. The original of this work is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Executed in 1828, it was presented by the artist to her close friend, correspondent, and occasional subject, Daniel Webster.

So my advice is to step away from the computer once in a while; leave your electronic devices at home. Be a photo documentaliste, visit a museum, a library or a local historical society. Advance your visual literacy by talking with an art curator, a scientist or an archivist.

I welcome your comments.

Sharon Donahue
Photo Editor
sharon.donahue@gmail.com
http://photoeditor61.wordpress.com

Visual Connections Blog Follow @visualconnects

An Angel’s Dream: Native Stock Pictures Touches New Horizons

Choosing Solutions

From Across the Pond – Convergence of Video and Stills

The Resurgence of low tech in the age of technology