In the video above (edited down from 25 minutes to a little over 9 minutes) Nee documents an altercation he had with Deputy Gylfie while conducting the perfectly legal act of photographing the Los Angeles Hollywood Metro subway station. During the altercation Deputy Gylfie states that it is against the rules for Nee to be shooting in the subway, which is in fact incorrect. Law enforcement officials ought to know and understand the law as it pertains to the areas that they patrol.
More than anything I was disappointed in how Gylfie bullies Nee and especially how he threatens to turn his name over to the FBI to have him detained and inconvenienced in the future simply because the officer has the power to put his name on a list. As photographers we should not be subjected to this sort of harassment by law enforcement. Using 9/11 and terrorism as a bully pulpit is no excuse. It is simply not illegal to photograph subways.
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my first six months experience selling images through Getty’s Flickr Collection. While overall I’ve been pleased with my experience with Getty, one of the things that I always felt was a limitation was the fact that the Getty/Flickr program was invite only. And while literally thousands of Flickr photographers have been invited thus far (the Flickr/Getty private member only contributor group on Flickr counts over 12,000 members and Getty says that the collection now includes over 60,000 photographs) there wasn’t really a way for a photographer to try and be included in the program if they didn’t get a Flickr invite.
Until today.
Today Getty Images and Flickr announced a “Call for Artists”, which will provide the Flickr community with a forum to “pitch” their work for the collection. In the past, the Flickr community could set their account settings to reflect that they wanted to be contacted by Getty Images, but could not proactively present a portfolio of photos for consideration. If Getty has not contacted you yet and you think that you’d like to try and make some money selling through Getty, this will be a group that you will definitely be interested in.
Basically, Getty is asking photographers who might be interested in this program to put together a portfolio of 10 photographs (no more, no less) to submit to the group pool. Getty wants you to upload them all at once and then there editors will review them and possibly invite you to be included in the program. Keep in mind, with Getty you will want to be mindful of the images you choose to submit. Don’t submit images of people where you don’t have / can’t get a model release. Don’t submit photos that show brand logos or prominent places that would require a property release (unless you can get the release). You’ll also want to make sure that the images are at least 3 megapixels in size.
Once you submit your photos it may take them a few weeks to get to you.
Congratulations to Flickr and Getty on expanding this successful program. While I don’t think any individual photographers are exactly getting rich off of the Getty deal yet, I do think that this program is a terrific way to earn extra money on your flickrstream and at least help in getting you that new lens or full frame DSLR tha t you’ve had your eye on.
If you’d like to see the images that Getty Images is currently representing of mine you can see those here.
From the Mercury News:
“San Jose police Thursday announced the arrest of a suspect they described as one of the most prolific graffiti artists in the Bay Area.
Steven Free, 30, of San Francisco was arrested Tuesday on a $100,000 warrant, charging him in 10 felony cases in San Jose involving $40,000 in damages
Free used the tagging moniker “Girafa,” and the cartoon character of a giraffe, police said.
During a search of his San Francisco home, officers discovered thousands of pictures of graffiti with the “Girafa” moniker and cartoon characters of giraffes on several of his social Web sites.
“He was just causing a lot of vandalism around the Bay Area, anywhere he would find a spot, he would use this moniker,” said San Jose police officer Jermaine Thomas.”
This is too bad. Girafa is one of my favorite graffiti artists in San Francisco. It amazes me that someone could be charged with 10 felonies for sharing their art with the world and making the world a more beautiful place. Girafa’s work mostly ended up on abandoned and shut down businesses. It is always a treat for me when I run across one of his paintings.
Artists like Girafa don’t belong in prison. They are a part of our cultural landscape. Troy has a great collection of Girafa images that you can see here. There is a group on Flickr devoted to his work here.
Posted
on October 30, 2009, 8:25 am,
by Thomas Hawk,
under Censorship, Flickr, Yahoo.
DeleteMe Uncensored was a thriving online community of 3000 photographers and critics hosted by Flickr, the Yahoo-owned photo-sharing platform. The group, which had called Yahoo home for years, was a popular, user-governed hub of free speech. But then someone at Flickr pushed a button and within seconds, thousands of photographs, conversations and connections were obliterated. All because of one user comment that Flickr censors deemed inappropriate. Flickr didn’t issue a warning, it didn’t delete the thread – it simply pulled the plug.
