Final personal Development plan

My final personal development plan with additional target, and some slight alterations.

Staff photo shoot

I have been taking photos for the university to give them head shots for the website. i found this a great experience for working in the studio and also of studio location but with studio lighting, this has given me experience working in difficult situations where compromise is necessary

The first week i used the studio in the university, this allowed for an easy setup, and we had lighs placed where we wanted them to get the best image we could.

for the second week of shooting, I went to media city, where we were faced with a really bad room for both space and lighting fortunately me and my colleague that I was working with, were able to get the room changed to a space that was better for photographs. this experience has taught me that you always need to be on your toes for photography as a professional, as you don't always know the conditions you will have on the day. Had time not been an issue, i would have most likely visited the location before shooting though.

Susan Sontag On photography

On photography is a book written by Susan Sontag, in the book she writes about her interpretations as to what photography is, and what it means.

Sontag starts by saying how she sees photographers as "enlarging and altering what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe" she says that photographers are a "grammar and, even more importantly, an ethics of seeing. by this I feel she is putting a photographer almost on a pedestal above the rest of what is deemed to be the average person, although I could be interpreting this wrong.

Sontag comments on how we like to collect the world through photographs because they are "lightweight, cheap to produce, easy to carry about, accumulate, store. i would agree that this probably was the case when the book was first published in 1977 however now because of the way technology photographs are less physical and more like the films she described and lights that flicker on the wall, and disappear without power, they lack physicality.

"Photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as paintings and drawings are" i guess the easiest way to explain this is, that the photographer only photographs what they want someone to see, it is their own interpretation of the world through a lens, especially now in the age of computers, not only do we photograph what we want to photograph, but we also edit them, to make them look how we want them to look. This comes back to the hyperreal and making something over perfect.

"Recently, Photography has become also as widely practiced as sex and dancing - which means that, like every mass art form, photography is not practiced by most people as an art. It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power."
I would say that this quote is more true now than it ever has been. a huge number of people have smartphones, all of which can take photographs, which we upload to social media, "facebook" "instagram" and "snapchat" because it is the social norm "the done thing". nearly all of these photos are just mundane photographs with limited though behind them.

Grundberg The crisis of the real

The opening of the book starts with a quote "Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation. it is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology), but of consealing the fact that the real is no longer real"

The book starts by looking at, and explaining post modernism, and what it means for photography. Grundberg explains how there are many different interpretations as to what postmodernism actually is but his interpretation is "I would argue, in short, that postmodernism, in its art and its theory, is a reflection of the conditions of out time" he talks about how less is more in the artistic sense of post modernism. 

Grundberg touches on rephotography, which is the art of reusing a photograph to create a different meaning, with rephotography you dont go out ant take original photographs, you re use what is already available.

I would say that Grundberg does a good job of trying to clear up what post modernism is, and touches on various post modernism techniques how they are achieved, and often the reasoning behind them, or his interpretation at least. 

Technical skills.

I have been working on my technical skills and framing when taking images, I have been taking more time over my photographs. This extra time over my photographs makes the images look better and also in some cases can significantly reduce the post processing required as there is less work requires to make the images look as good as they can do.

I have take time to work in the photography studio photographing portraits of people, this is to help improve my abilities in this area. by the time i finish at uni, i want to be good at most types of mainstream commercial photography, so that i am confident being a freelance photographer.

Roland Barthes Camera Lucida

Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist. He looked at many schools of theory including semiotics, social theory and Marxism

the book Camera Lucida reflections on photography looks at interest in photography and still images, as opposed to the "moving images of cinema.
he talks about how a photograph mechanically records a moment in time which can never be repeated.

He looks at how the photograph can be the object of three practices or emotions
The operator as the Photographer
The spectator as Ourselves and anyone who chooses to look through the photographs
The person or object that is photographed is the Target

Barthes talks about observation both being the observer and the observed
He talks about how he can be observed without knowing it, but how more often he had been photographed, and how he knows he has been photographed. Barthes talks bout how once he knows he is being photographed he starts to pose, thus creating an image for the camera. He talks about how when he poses, he knows that he is posing, and wants you to know that he is posing.

Barths also talks about how a photograph shows  lot more about a person, period of time and place than a painted portrait does. as you see more photographs you start to understand a little bit about the subject you are looking at.

Organisation

So far one of the main things that i have been working on is my organisation. i have been taking special care to make sure that all of my events and projects get put into my planner / calendar on my computer. The main advantage to doing this, is that my events and deadlines are available for me to see both on the computer and my mobile phone.
It is my hope that that this will become normal practice for me and help me become more organised in the future when i have more work going on simultaneously.

being well organised also helps stop me worrying about the amount of work i have to do, as by having a schedule for the work i need to do it puts things into perspective, manageable chunks.

Better lighting.

In order to improve my skills with lighting, I have agreed to photograph the staff portraits for the university website and this will help by giving me invaluable studio time to practice and improve my skills and abilities in this photographic area. it is also my hope that from taking my time to do work for the university that It may provide opportunities for me to get some paid work in the future.

first edition of the personal development plan

What are my development objectives? [what skills, knowledge or experience am I missing?]	What activities do I need to undertake to achieve my objectives?	What support/resources do I need to achieve my objectives? [what can the course offer?]	Target date for achieving my objectives	Actual date of achieving my  objectives
Better lighting control (studio more then general	More practice shooting in the studio	Refresher session in the studio	01/06/2014
Become better with blogs.	More on them more often	Personal undertaking	01/11/2013
Better organisation. (not rushing at deadlines)	Keep on target	Personal Undertaking	12/12/2013
Better at researching	Using more sources More time in library	Personal undertaking	01/11/2013
Improving technical skills and framing of images	Take more time over my photos	Personal undertaking	01/01/2014

My targets

I have put together a presentation to show people what targets I have with a stock image to try and depict the target.

One thing I hope to get better at is my lighting control, as sometimes I feel I can be a little lapse with my technique. it is my aim to take more time over my shots, to get the best image i can, with the least post production.  

I feel that i would benefit from improving my blogs both with the quantity of work and the quality of what i put on, including, but not limited to adding research to them more often. 

being more organised will help in many ways, not least of which will be helping me stay less stressed around deadlines as all of my work will be done before then, and using calenders will help me know what i have on, and when, so i don't double book for things. 

Improving the quality of my research will not only help me with adding subject matter to my blogs, but it will also influence my work as a lens based practitioner, and with a more educated mind, my work should also improve, and have greater meaning. 

also with starting my dissertation improving my research is a must.  

Red Eye

Paul Herrmann Red eye visit notes

RedEye Photography 

- What they do 

- The broad picture of photography

- networking and advice 

- information and opportunities 

- portfolio sessions, lectures, workshops, symposia, debate 

• Big projects: Lightbox, national photography symposium, look festival 
• Volunteer, contribute
• Ethics and good practice
• Membership.

Redeye Membership (for people looking to build their Careers)

• Contacts and networking
• opportunities
• Discounts
• Exposure
• Solidarity 
• Student Membership £30 a year. 

Upcoming redeye events 

• Career development weekend 9/10 november 2013

building a career 

funding and fundraising

exibiting private and public 

- Hothouse 16th nov manchester 

- Post conflict media IWMuseum North 1December 

- Writing 

-History (alternative histories of photography)

Market trends 

• Photo business halved in 10 years 
• Royalties Down 80% 2005-11
• Staff Photographies declining 
• Well-run businesses mostly fine
• internships / unpaid work increasing
• Photographers who retain copyright who earn 33% more. 
• Fine art print prices, particularly vintage increased over 30 years. 
• Cross-boundary work, increasing. 
• This is not a recession

Market Overview

- staff / employee

- commercial and advertising

- social / high street

• editorial
• Personal
• Projects
• assisting / managements
• education

What do top photographers have in common?

• “you have to be burning and you have to have your shit together” christoph bangert
• “the only way to progress is to keep taking phots, compare yourself to an athlete - you cant go 6 weeks without exercise” Roger Ballen
• “work your arse off. non of the artists i work with make enough, however much work you’ve made its not enough, make lots of work. this isnt for ales purposes, and its not quantity for its own sake, its a learning process, finding ut which is your best work which says what your trying to say and then editing down what you present to the world. 
• its a myth that artists get discovered, all artists make their own business
• you’ve got to have something to say, its got to be worth saying, and the picture has actually got to say it.
• photographers perticaully art photographers who are serious about their work are making more effort to make more interesting work that distinguishes itself from the ubiquity of photography.

Two paradigms 

the old photographer

the new photographer

The Top Photographer

• Interests knowledge and research - the photographic economy, and the world.
• marketing talking and writing. 
• a strong voice or style 
• personality, building relationships with clients, buyers and curators.
• the work ethic and good business
• long term commitment, motivation. 
• craft and ideas - work that gels, resonates, reflects and surprises. 

Success 

- challenging models of success 

- championing alternative modes of practice 

- bypassing institutions 

- collaboration and collectives 

- community based 

• cross media and online

Starting a business 

The idea of business

• employee v freelance 
• you and your business (keep yourself and your business separate) charge someone from the business, and the business pays you
• a business like approach get work done fast and to a high quality
• Work hard, be nice to people
• Reply to Emails don't send things in late. 
• Get some business help
• tell HMRC you are setting up a business.
• get an accountant
• Business advice services (the launch pad)
• Ethics, Growth or sustainability?
• stay on top of paperwork

Fees Copyright and Licensing

• how much should photographers charge? 
• find out what the company pays for a job
• find out what people pay for that type of work
• Work out your minimum job fee - effectivly the business’s break even point
• total annual overheads divided by the number of jobs you can reasonably do in a year. 
• Salary
• insurance 
• Equipment
• Rent,  office be at home or an office somewhere else. 
• website and marketing
• portfolio, high quality and expensive
• accountant
• taking somebody else's figures is not always the best way you need to work out what the lowest price you can charge, and not go below that. 

What circumstances would you charge less than the minimum job fee?

• loss leader / marketing. 
• when you have amazing acess to something that you wouldn’t always get
• when you will be able to reuse the image. 
• we all chose to work for free sometimes. 

Usage 

• object and image - the physical original and the reproduced (copy)
• for images usage is everything
• Always retain your copyright, think 50 years ahead. 
• get used to Licensing (non physical print) Different to copyright. 
• sell license not copyright 
• work out break even fee
• factor in the usage (how many reproductions) are you likely to be able to re use the images (photo libraries) where will it be used, how much will the client get out of that image charge accordingly. 
• research and experience, how much are people charging, / paying for the work. 
• negotiate the price, find the best price for both parties involved. 
• three special areas 
• stock / library sales
• print sales
• working as a facilitator / educator

Licensing

• Issue a licence to use, with every bit of work you do
• its a description of how your allowing your client to use your work
• Dimensions 
• media 
• time / number of times used 
• geographical, where will the image be used 
• exclusivity (when will the image next be used)  

doesn't have to be complicated but it always applies.

give a good estimate of the work with the usage as a quote. 

(photography of your party for use on website for 5 years will cost £3000 etc)

Should you ever sell copyright?

- if you sell copyright, the person who owns it has almost all control over the work

• they can sell or give work to other clients 
• they can sue you if you use it 
• you have no incentive to give them any more than the bare minimum

generally don’t sell the copyright

-however license the work to let the do what they want with it within reason, but you retain the copyright. 

Watch out for anything that says you are giving the copyright because you wont get paid for the work, this can be things like Flickr read the small print carefully and don’t tick the wrong boxes.

Working for free, or cheap

• advantageous for photographer 
• limited in duration
• doesnt replace paid work
• copyright is respected
• socially useful or commercially 

Stock Photography 

• similar pricing to commissions 
• balance the advantages to the user and you.
• Getty images etc for pricing

Photographing people

• ethics 
• the law 
• what laws apply when you photograph people? 
• copyright (for private / personal photos) 
• defamation (although not everyone is gonna look good all the time)
• Data protection - law of misuse of private information. (where people can be identified, and then lose something as a result) 
• contract law (in premises) (for example when you go to the national trust you agree not to take work for commercial work when you buy a ticket)
• Child protection. 

The law Worldwide

- what laws come into play when photos are supplied around the world

• image rights
• human rights
• Model Rights 
• contract between model and photographer 
• model permits certain types of usage 
• needed if you are working with models for selling photos or advertising

Consent form 

-different to a model release 

provides evidence you have consent to take the image 

• the subject or guardian signs the statement 
• no consideration 
• covers you under law for no commercial use 

Its a maze

• News and public interest you often don't need consent
• the bottom line is cash, if there is money involved, someone will find a way of sueing 
• if your shooting for commercial stock libraries get model release 
• if you are unsure of the photographs will be commercial, get consent
• 8/10 balance
• Think what would a judge say? 

Photography in public? 

-an area in flux various terrorism legislation comes and goes 

• careful that what you use cannot be used by terrorism
• its fine to photograph works of art thatare on permenant public display from a public display (CDPA- UK)
• other laws may apply : trespass, bye-laws, obstruction, harassment, official secrets, court proceedings. 

-be careful when photographing people coming out of court. 

Where next?

redeye.org.uk : Paul@redeye.org.uk

development organisations 

- photoworks

• ffotogallery
• photofusion
• grain
• festivals
• other institutions

online 

• epuk.org
• lightstalkers.org
• stockphoto.net
• prodig.org
• artjobs.org.uk
• criticalnetwork.co.uk
• a-n.co.uk
• artquest.org.uk
• beyond-the-lens.com
• copyright4clients.com
• nuj fees guide - media.gn.apc.org/feesguide
• galleries council arts officers, business support
• trade associations and unions (eg AOP, NUJ, BIPP, RPS, a- / AIR)

Intro

this blog is for the professional frameworks 3 module looking at ways of improving our practice and looking at working in a professional environment
i will be creating a personal development plan and this will have targets and how i might achieve them.