The Destruction of Arts in Our Society

Recently, HTC got into a little bit of heat over one of its images of a new phone.  See the image above.

See something interesting?  Yeah...its gold.  Look closer.  Yeah...UEFA Champions League.  Closer.  Is that???

Yes.  It is.

They released an image of their new phone, shot by an Iphone.  Look at the reflection.

As a professional photographer, this bothers me on so many levels.  First, any photographer worth their weight in camera gear would not have a reflection like that in such a shiny object, because as professional photographers, we take great care in our craft to make sure reflections aren't distracting.  It happens more often than not.  Ever seen those NBA finals photographs of the players posing for photographs with the trophy?  Joe Blow is in the background, unshaven, drinking his mocha, and it is visible in the reflections.

More importantly, the larger issue is that some AD or Marketing exec actually convinced someone at HTC that it would be a good idea to just take a snap pic of their brand new phone, and release it, instead of hiring a photographer that would make sure this wouldn't happen.  As a photographer this hits home with me more than it probably does for most, but here's why it should matter to you:

Education.

Arts have been under assault in our education system for years now.  Whether it be Photography, music, drama, or the like.  Despite the fact that study after study has shown that students engaged in some sort of art education are more successful, and have a more well rounded education, scores of students are forced to go with defunded art education in their schools.

If we, as artist, or by larger part, we, as a society, are to make the case to our politicians and legislators that the arts are important on more than just a paycheck level, we have to not only lobby them for continued or increased funding, we also have to strike at these companies who consider it acceptable to devalue our work as artist by not hiring professionals in favor of snapshots from a cell phone.

It is much more than our jobs we are fighting for.  It is the valuation of the arts in our society.  It is the proper education of our children.  We should not allow companies like HTC to take that away from us.  We've got too much riding on this.

****Information for this blog post was gathered from this article: Oops! HTC mishap

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I love North Carolina...especially the WNC region.  And I will be there soon :)

I have an upcoming travel schedule this summer, taking me all over the Southeast US, and up to Chicago.  If you're interested in booking some time, call or email me, and lets chat!  Until then, enjoy just a few shots of WNC!!!

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Why this lawsuit against the Jumpman Logo won't go anywhere...

There it is.  We all have seen it countless times.  We all know it.  We all love it.  There is a chance...miniscule...yet still a chance, that we may never see it again.


Photographer Jacobus Rentmeester recently filed suit against Nike, citing copyright infringement.  He claims Nike stole the image from him, based off of this image that he shot for Life Magazine:

I say it goes nowhere...here's why:

First off, Rentmeester shot the image in 1984, thirty years ago.  He entered into an agreement with Nike to allow the logo to be used, where Nike agreed to pay him a certain amount of money over two years.  For practical reasons one must ask the question...why now?  Why thirty years later?  While he does retain copyright, he entered into a contract to allow the company to continue usage of the logo, so what gives?

Secondly, when it comes to the issue of copyright infringement, this will turn into a very difficult case for him to prove.  For example, years ago there was a copyright case concerning a photographer and artist.  The original, the photograph, was a well known photograph of a scene in Louisiana.  The second, the Judge ruled, was the same scene, with a few very minute differences.  The painting(second one) had puddles on the ground, and used leaves to frame the image in a slightly different way.  The photographer, who filed suit, lost, because of the fact that the judge ruled that while the images were similar, those few very distinct differences were enough to not constitute a copyright infringement.  

I'm pretty sure Nike will end up giving him some "go away" money, however, we, as photographers, must do all we can to protect ourselves.  In my opinion, which, of course, is only my humble opinion, the burden of responsibility, which in this case, was on the photographer, was not handled in an appropriate manner.  He should consider himself fortunate if Nike settles out of court.