Editorial

This is the story and all the messy details of how I lost my photography business' 8-year-old website at Bludomain, a hosting service "for the creative professional."

Right now is the best time ever to be a photographer, so why all the long faces?

I found an image that I don't want to see. Too familiar, and so, too hurtful. But as the Internet meme jokes, "What has been seen can't be unseen." In that context, such images are considered shocking, graphic, violent. The image I refer to, however, is far removed from any of these labels. But for me, there it is, that Punctum that Barthes spoke of. As I write, Google Chrome suggests the correct spelling is 'puncture' -- how appropriate.

Just this past week, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs approved amendments to EU’s Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which includes the infamous Article 13.

For about a year and a half, every time I opened my fridge I saw my last remaining 10 exposure pack of Fuji FP 100C instant film, and every time I opened said fridge I was reluctant to take it out and shoot it. I did not want to waste my last remaining packfilm but I knew I shouldn’t wait too long, because eventually the chemistry inside the film would dry. And since the film expired in late 2007, I was running out of time.

Through his most famous character’s lips, Arthur Conan Doyle once lamented “There is nothing new under the sun.” But he was wrong. Because I recently saw a photograph that was so utterly unique and awe-inspiring that it instantly froze the Lucky Charms-laden spoon that had been traveling toward my waiting craw. I’d just seen my first milk bath portrait, and never again would I be the same.

My mom was a florist. She used to say you can always tell a florist by their thumb. Each floral stalk must be cut prior to refrigeration and cut again when incorporated into a design, so if the inside of the thumb is rough and slightly discolored, with tiny slices lining the soft padding, like a hundred tiny paper cuts, you’re talking to a florist.

As a kid who grew up with a shelf filled with yellow spines, I can attest to the rhythm and general predictability of a National Geographic cover. With few exceptions (most notably those holographic covers from the 1980s), cover photography from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s followed a familiar pattern of a faraway place, strange creature, or “exotic” face in saturated color.

February 2017. For a midwesterner like my father, this was prime time to get away. So Jon decided to acquire two tickets aboard a cruise from San José, Costa Rica to the Panama Canal. His original plan was to treat my mother to a bit of mid-winter warmth and sunshine. When she wasn't able to go, he offered the spare to me.

Growth. Real, personal, soul-fulfilling, butterflies in the belly-inducing growth. That’s the key to my happiness; my personal metric for success. It doesn’t matter what I achieve or how much of it I attained. I define myself as successful simply in the process of progress.

For a photographer with so many memorable quips to his name, Garry Winogrand didn't leave much of a paper trail. The four books he made during his lifetime (five if you count the 1976 Grossmont College booklet) consist almost exclusively of pictures. Although they also include some great essays, none are by Winogrand. Nor did he write for any outside books or sources.

Having spent thousands of hours on Flickr over the past 15 years or so, on a personal level I’ve become fairly invested in the site. To date I’ve published over 140,000 of my photographs there. I publish 40 or so new photos there every single day. It’s the primary archive of my photography work on the Internet.

Seven years ago I decided to buy a camera to capture my climbing adventures. Little did I know how it would change my life. Not only did it make the climbing even more enjoyable, it also taught me all the important aspects of photography.

My name is Patrick Keenan, and I'm a photojournalist in Australia. I have been using Ektachrome 100ASA underwater in my Nikonos cameras and SB-105 flash since the 1970s and was disappointed to see production end in 2012 because of the digital revolution.

My eyes are filled with tears because of the smoke. The plastic particles in the air are irritating my lungs. I'm climbing this mountain with my two friends.

I don't usually go the negative Nellie with anything photo related, sometimes it's best to keep your mouth firmly shut. But I'm not going to take it anymore, I'm as mad as hell, and I'm going to lean right out the window and shout it to the world, enough, I'm done with rubbish samples of film technology on the Web.

My youngest daughter and I are visiting New York City this week. After visiting the 9/11 Memorial in the late afternoon on March 11, we made our way to Battery Park to catch the sunset, view the Statue of Liberty, and take a few shots. I shot the above photo with a Nikon 28-300mm lens that evening. The next day I found out that one of these helicopters is the Eurocopter AS350 that crashed in the East River about 8 minutes after this photo was taken.

In drought-stricken Cape Town, we’ve been living with just 50 liters of water per person per day since the beginning of the year. That’s 13.2 gallons. It doesn’t go far when you think about how often you turn on the faucet each day for drinking, cleaning, flushing toilets, showering, washing dishes, and doing laundry.

This week, TIME magazine published James Nachtwey’s photo essay on the opioid crisis. Over his decades-long career, Nachtwey has carved out a reputation as a stoic and relentless documentarian of conflict and pain. His latest effort took over a year to produce, and it has all the hallmarks of great photojournalism, providing a level of intimacy and rawness that can only be captured with persistence and skill.

We all plan for our shoots, we pack our kits, check it twice, and always heave a sigh of relief when we get to the job and everything is there. The airline didn’t lose anything, nothing was dropped, there are no shattered lenses and those anxious few hours is over and done with.

Notable American photographer Kalliope Amorphous has published a warning to other photographers who are considering protecting their copyright using ImageRights International. She accuses the company of an "egregious grab" that forces photographers to use the company's legal services.

I write a version of this story every year around this time: photo contest result time. And every year, it’s addressing the same grousing and whining and complaints about everything from non-diversified juries to images being too newsy or not newsy enough.

In a break from the past, World Press Photo (WPP) released the short list of finalists in advance of naming the winners to their annual contest – arguably the most prestigious in all of photojournalism. The photos are remarkable for their composition, exposure, and intimacy. But judging by the subject matter one might surmise that we’re living in a hellish dystopia, or that the jury believes pain and suffering is the most valid form of photojournalism.

Are you setting out on your journey of discovery in the wonderful world of photography? Are you wondering whether to go for digital or follow the fad for film? Are you intending to invest in some gear but don’t want to waste your hard earned cash on kit that doesn’t help you to progress? Here’s some advice from a photographer who has seen both sides extensively.

In light of another prominent figure in the photography industry being accused of sexual misconduct, I feel compelled to pen my feelings about it all, specifically what it has done to MY profession of choice; photojournalism.

I recently went on short vacation in Italy. Visiting La Spezia was the perfect opportunity for me to finally try out the famous Contax T2 that I got recently. I hit the streets of La Spezia with the camera loaded with Kodak TX400 film.

No matter how you feel about Instagram, if you’re reading this you know that you need it. Period. Social media can change careers. Instead of being stuck working with people in your 15-mile radius, you’re now open to the world. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably also using Instagram wrong.