Twin Paths

Reading around the various photography blogs this week, one topic seems to appear again and again - the state of photojournalism today. It's no secret that the photo story is under threat due to financial constraints and changing markets. Put simply, photojournalism is often no longer a viable option for newspapers and agencies that are under financial strain anyway. Celebrity sells and images of dying kids in Africa don't, so you go where the money is. It's that simple.

I studied documentary photography at college and I LOVE photojournalism, but even i had to take a step back to see how i was going to make a living. In the last post i talked about Elliott Erwitt, a Magnum photographer who is regarded as one of the best documentary photographers of the 20th century. Erwitt has been a big influence on my artistic understanding of photography, but he has also been a massive influence on my understanding of the business of photography for Elliott Erwitt is a successful commercial photographer too. He combines the income of commercial work with the passion for photojournalism, which enables him to live his life as he wishes. I choose that commercial/photojournalism balanced business model too. I compromised.

I admire immensely those photographers who are loyal to their photojournalism roots. Maybe i sold out. I don't know, but what i do know is photography is a real bitch to make money out of. Trying to make a good living from photojournalism is bordering on impossible. Even the best photojournalists earn surprising low amounts of money, and these are award winning, top of their game types. Being a photojournalist is for many akin to a religion - there is no financial reward but you are following a calling. It's all about passion and faith... in photography. Photojournalism isn't going to die out but it is going through immense change. Many outlets for images are under threat, and tomorrow, I'll post about how photojournalism might change in the years ahead.

A Touch of Erwitt

Dogs waiting for a haircut, Stoke On Trent - 1996

That would be Elliott Erwitt, a Magnum photographer who has become best known for his quirky and often funny photographs of dogs. I purchased an excellent book of Erwitt's work called Snaps while i was in Norfolk this year, which i thoroughly enjoyed looking through and regard as one of the best photography books you can buy. Not many photographers manage to combine thoughtful humour and documentary image making, but Erwitt does it with style.

I came across the above photograph, one weekend in Stoke on Trent as i was going into town. It's the only photograph that really comes to mind if I'm asked about carrying a camera at all times. This scene, when i saw it, instantly made me think of Elliott Erwitt and fortunately i had my camera with me. It's not as clever as his images tend to be, but it does have at least some humour in it.

Does it pay to carry a camera at all times? Sometimes it does.

Portrait of Andy

Portrait of Andy - 1992

Last week, i started adding some of my old college photos to my Facebook page. I took loads of photographs of friends/classmates including the one above of Andy, a Geordie who was my housemate, a good friend and a great jazz photographer. I used the camera as a sort of visual notebook. In many respects, photographing my college years was like a big ongoing photography project, running alongside the normal college work. To say I'm glad i did it is an understatement, although i had no idea at the time what i would use them for. The internet and websites like Facebook have provided that answer. These photographs now have a home.

As I've been going through these photographs, I've had mixed emotions. They've made me laugh, but I've also felt sad. As my friend Matt said ' If i could go back, it would be back to those days'. Sadly we can't return and all we have are these photographs to remind us. It's a bittersweet feeling. Another question that remains unanswered is do photographs actually help keep memories of events and people fresh? I don't know if they do, although maybe it depends on the person, place or event. I can't help but think of a girl i knew (and loved) whenever i smell a certain specific perfume on someone in the street, so it's not just the visual that can take us back.

I'm going to continue to put my collection of college images up on Facebook. They were taken with no real purpose in mind, but now they have a function. A role. Besides, it is better to have the photographs on show, making people laugh or smile, than to have them hidden away in a draw somewhere. Photography and emotional attachment have always gone together. They are often strongly bound together in the form of a family album or a portrait of a friend, so take as many pictures as you can, because once that moment in time has gone... it's gone for good.

Google it

Over the last few months, I've been adding Richard Flint Photography to a number of social networks, the most recent of which is Facebook. The main reason for developing these sites is to gain publicity for my work. They are adverts that may, or may not, create commissions and get new clients. Best of all these sites are free to set up, so for any photographer setting up a business there really is no excuse to not have some sort of online presence.

This week i added Google ads to that list of online promotion. I have to admit that the only reason i did so was because of a Google voucher that entitled me to £50 of free advertising. The only cost i have to bare is a £5.00 set up fee. For an advertising cost that's a pretty good deal. Will it work? Well, it's hard to say at the moment but judging from previous experiences I've had, I'm not too optimistic. You can have a million people view your website, but if no one hires you what exactly have you gained apart from a million people viewing your work. A bit of publicity and that's about it.

I'll be keeping my eye on this over the coming weeks to see if the website viewing statistics change drastically.... if at all.

Stonewall Still-life II

Stone wall still-life II, North Wales - July 2003.

This image, and the one in the previous post, were both taken from the rather large archive of negatives that I'm attempting to file properly. It's not an easy task, in fact it's pretty daunting, but it needs to be done. Dates, times and places all need to be added and logged, like i should have done in the first place. I started doing this a couple of years ago, so it's a kind of work in progress thing really. One day I'm sure to come to the end of it. Maybe.

If i stopped taking photographs tomorrow, i would still have a healthy supply of images to accompany the blog text. I wouldn't like to calculate the number of shots held in those negative binders, but i suppose it could be as high as 20,000. Maybe more. It's great revisiting old pre-blog photographs like this one. The light was wonderful the evening i took this. The rain clouds had just cleared and a golden orange sunlight shone down onto the wall, so i quickly grabbed the camera and spent twenty minutes or so shooting this stonewall before the light went. There are some wonderful colour images too that I'll post later this month.

Stonewall Still-life

Stone wall still-life taken on a farm near Bangor, North Wales - July 2003.

Audio August

The waves come rolling in at Holme Beach - Norfolk, UK

The last few months have seen a few new items integrated into the main website, the most important of these being the twitter feed. In August, i hope to launch another section of the website which has the potential to be both fun and useful. It is called AudioBoo.

The blog and twitter are great ways for me to post items that i interest me but these web tools do have drawbacks for communicating large amounts of information. What i am planning to do in August is add audio blogging to the website via AudioBoo, a service that allows you to record up to three minutes of sound via an iPhone and post it onto the Internet. Not only will i be able to describe where I'm taking photographs, you will also be able to hear the sounds too. It will act as a documentary soundtrack for some of the photographs i produce. On other occasions, I'll just talk about a photography subject that's on my mind. The creative possibilities for using sound are just endless.

I think it'll be fun. It'll add some depth to some of the projects i have in mind too. I won't go mad with it but i will try to do at least one or two a month. More news about this next month.

Misty Mountain Top

The mountains around Llyn Ogwen, North Wales - July 2003

The Architect's Journal website started it all. Up until that point I'd been OK, but as soon as I'd seen the article about the new visitor centre at the top of Mount Snowdon in North Wales, i got the sudden urge to climb a mountain or two, take some photos and get some mountain air. Sadly, I don't think I'll get to visit this year. Financial and work commitments will see to that but a trip in 2010 could be a distinct possibility.

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but my favourite place for photography is North Wales. These past years have seen me concentrate my photography on the lowland areas of the UK, however, it's the mountains, lakes and forests of North Wales that really do appeal to me. Let's not forget the great Welsh castles either. There aren't that many places in Britain where you get to taste the atmosphere of the old world. The various mountain passes and tracks give great access to the national park, so it isn't hard to get off the beaten track, away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, to take some dramatic landscape photographs.

Add the history of Wales, and you have something to fire up your imagination and creativity. After all, when the mist comes drifting over the high mountain tops, Snowdonia can still seem like a place of dragons, castles and legends.