Mostly True

When Getty Wins, We All Win

I’ve been hating on Getty for years. They sponsor a few grants and buy their way into a few photo festivals and pretty much silence all their opposition. Meanwhile Cassandra over here is likened to the old man yelling at the kids to get off his lawn.

Well, enough of that…

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Getty hands Google users free commercial images. Photographers get $12.

This is a great opportunity and you’re all so stupid for not recognizing that! Twelve whole dollars for an image (or is it six?) and all I have to do is upload my snaps and wait for the monthly checks to arrive?

AWE-SOME!

Obviously none of you realize how much Ramen Noodles you can get for six dollars. Face it.

You’ve all had a good run, but your time has passed. The world no longer belongs to you, your fancy cameras, your outmoded ideals about ownership, copyright, private property, your work ethic, and high professional standards are so 20th century. Everything you’ve worked so hard to accomplish can now be easily duplicated by a Hipster with an iPhone. Furthermore, he or she (Hipsterette?) can do all this with one hand in their pocket.

What a bunch of pussies. That legacy, that archive, you desperately cling to… you didn’t build that. If it wasn’t for the good people over at Getty, and Google (who I see now owns Nik Software, wonder what that’s about?) people wouldn’t even know who you are. They created this market. They built the roads that the customers travel on to find your work. You should be grateful, instead all I hear is a bunch of complaints.

How much money do you need? At some point you’re just being greedy. Stop your whining, shut your mouth, get an Xbox and move back into your parents basement already.

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Okay, that’s passed. Now seriously, if you’ve had any dealings with Getty, you’re part of the problem and you have nobody to blame but yourself. At least the staffers get a regular salary, camera gear, maybe some benefits to justify the trade-off. The rest of you have no excuse, and this goes for all my dear friends who market their work through Getty (or Corbis for that matter).

Photoshelter is an excellent option and there are still a few mom & pop photo agencies out there. Start a co-op, work together, protect your work and set the terms for how you profit from it.

And for gosh sakes, I just threw some seed down, get the hell off my lawn!

Holiday Print Sale

"Jazz Santa" Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images ©2012

 

Well, it's that time of year again.

I've got a ton of printing to do this week. Since I'll be strappped to my computer anyway, I thought I'd offer a special holiday deal.

 

"Climbing the Ladder" Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images ©2012

 

This week, I'm pricing my medium sized collector's prints, that's an 18 x 12 image printed on 17 x 22 paper, for $395 (plus $25 shipping in the USA).

 

"Ascot Motel" Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images ©2012

 

My archival (pigment inks, acid-free paper) in this size, normally run $600, plus shipping.

The images shown here are newly drum scanned and haven't been seen for quite some time. I'm excited to have them back in circulation, but there are plenty more of my (classic? well known?) images to choose from here.

 

"By Air" Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images ©2012

 

My Collector's Prints are signed on the front, titled, signed and dated on the reverse and come with a certificate of authenticity.

 

"Wall Street Bull" Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images ©2012

 

To insure that your print(s) arrive before Christmas, this offer ends Monday, December 17, 2012.

Email your order at: ken(at)kennethjarecke(dot)com

I wish all of you a blessed and joyous holiday season.

Many thanks,

Ken

(Please share this with your friends.)

Hey, We're Both Not Hipsters!

 

I like this kid. He needs some steel reels, but besides that he's got it going on. He makes nice pictures too.

Something weird is happening. Not like Dr. Who weird. More like there's an underlying trend flowing past us right now, but it's not big enough for us to get a real good look at it, but we know it's there.

Yeah, so exactly like Dr. Who weird.

#filmphotography was trending on Twitter today. Where'd that come from? Besides my freezer, where do you even get film these days?

Photographer Donna Ferrato, was also trending today. Sure she's great and all, but it's not like she's photographing celebrites or something. There was a wonderful piece about her latest project on the New York Times Lens Blog today, but I'm not sure that completely explains it.

Are people really interested in serious subject matter?

The whole thing with Joe Klamar was strange. Ordinary people as well as un-ordinary people (that'd be photographers) were quite upset about what they preceived as a lack of quality in his portraits of U.S. Olympians. 

In a country that largely relies on it's nephews to take their wedding photos, when was the last time quality was an issue in photography?

This piece in the Wall Street Journal talks about people hiring photographers to make their vacation photos... mostly because they don't want to be embarrassed on Facebook.

Isn't everybody a photographer now? Take your own damn vacation photos. That's good fruity alcoholic drink money you're throwing away.

Listen, all I'm saying is this stuff is weird.

Advertisers are starting to figure out Facebook doesn't work for most products.

Heck, online advertising doesn't work well in general when you're selling something you can't buy on Amazon.

Could it be there's a real need for printing advertising on paper? If so, maybe you could squeeze some content your customer is interested in seeing around the edges?

It's a thought.

Just make sure your content is great. Today's consumer will go Klamar on your ass.