Come join in our talk on June 17th in Los Angeles, when Rachel Murray Framingheddu, Amy Graves, and Photo Editor Aimee Santos and myself talk about the times it has been a plus, and/or a challenge, as a woman working red carpet events. RSVP via this link here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/female-photographer-roundtable-tickets-5546740450
1/8/2015
I’ve been saying it for a long time: copyright as a means to leverage income for one’s creative works is going to go away. It will. Not entirely, mind you. But the word will. It’s been so diluted in the last decade I’ve been wondering why it’s still on the books. So I’m reaching out to you: marketplace, and you: my fellow creatives to brainstorm with me here to come up with a new term we can all get behind. We’ve got to shore this term up before we lose its import altogether.
How about finquity? (You know, financial equity). Or, capain? (You know, capital gain). Or, sales (You know, sales!).
Don’t believe me about the term copyright’s demise? C’mon! Our click and purchase habits are dictating copyright change. Our couch-potato non-crediting of “regrams” dictates it. I mean #regram doesn’t note who created the image, only that it’s being reused. You can listen to any song on the web for free. Increasingly, these are daily habits for us.
I don’t have exact metrics on this, but surely you’ve experienced it. Daily, click and purchase habits are redefining the position creatives find themselves in when negotiating compensation for the work they put out. Not the work they do, mind you. The marketplace doesn’t dispute the time creatives spend to make whatever it is you are enjoying. What it continually disputes are the requests to pony up for the finished product.
Now, marketplace, I don’t want to alienate you. I like you. You like my stuff so how can I not like you? We can work together on this. I know we can.
How about rebranding copyright in 2015? Yes? No? Who’s with me? Not you? It’s because I said rebrand, right? I know. Sorry about that. (Rebrand is due for a rebrand). Anyway, how ‘bout rejuvenate copyright then? No? Too feely? Too affected? Listen, I said I’ll work with you and I will.
Certainly we can agree copyright needs a fresh coat of paint. It needs to be a term we can easily plug into our estimates; a term that will account, simply, for the materials and labor that creatives put forth; a term that will inspire both the marketplace and creatives to equally subscribe and engage in its use. And yeah, let’s be real, it’s gotta be short.
Simply understanding the definition of “copyright” has, by it’s own definition, always been a roadblock to the exchange and sale of creative property.
Sometimes copyright is a positive roadblock: for example, when a creator wants to protect her work from being reproduced by a business that doesn’t uphold her interests.
Oftentimes copyright is interpreted as a negative roadblock. Clients simply don’t want to talk copyright because they’re thinking “I thought she wanted me to use this material, but now she wants me to pay more? Didn’t I just agree to pay her for the time she put into creating it? Why do I have to pay for the product too?” To those of you asking this question, let me refer you back to the terms I brainstormed in paragraph two.
And to content users, well, we all just want to click and purchase. We’re thinking “you don’t have to remind me that you own it, just put a price tag on it already and let me get this thing.”
Not to worry, clients and content users, we creatives don’t want you to have to think about it any more either. We’re over-stimulated ourselves and, frankly, wonder about the poor souls who never cultivated skills to understand licensing agreements. So, let me as both a creative and a user in the marketplace offer the following: it’s a term that has cultural currency. It means currency. And, it’s short; @ML. That’s it.
@ML means “at materials and labor.” I’m going to start using @ML when I talk about copyright. You can also hashtag it of course for searches, just please know that the @ symbol is being used to reflect the soul of the matter. You know, the soul of any thing is where we creatives are @. It’s where we live. The rest of it is how we support that place.
If you want, you can also use @TML. That translates to “at time, materials, labor.” This will help you when you simply want to roll all your line items into one on your estimate sheet. Still, you’ll need to factor in the ML. Remember, that’s copyright.
What do you think? Are we good? Told you, I was willing to work with you. It’s just a matter of defining where we’re all @.
Thanks to @SanDisk for the new #SanDiskStories pg that includes #twitter + #instagram feeds as well. Love the sharp new look that helps me share the life stories I capture! http://test.sandisk.nfusion.com/content/amy-tierney
While I can’t add DJ to my own resume (yet), I heard on Mathieu Schreyer’s KCRW show that great photog Douglas Kirkland is, at age 70, adding it to his. In 2006 I had fun photographing Kirkland at the Beverly Hills Ferrari showroom during his friend Cristina Comencini’s afterparty for her film “Bestia Nel Cuore”, with actress Jacqueline Bissett. What a fun memory (pictures below) and a good listen to his DJ lineup from today on KCRW here.
Rebecca Anderson has (thankfully !) styled many of our shoots. Check out her video interview (link just below. Look for the photo shoots we’ve worked on together in the video). She’s a pro. Has worked with the top of the top talent. And brings that special collaborative energy … not to mention amazing thoroughness and attention to every last detail. AND she does it while having fun. Yes, fun! As in bouyant and not, well, you know … and in this business that is a breath of fresh air. Video here: http://scale.gs/rebecca/rebeccaInterview_H264.mov
You can listen to global imaging company SanDisk (www.sandisk.com) interview Amy about her work here:
Hi friends. Last week on January 21, 2010 SanDisk (www.sandisk.com) flew me up to San Francisco to be photographed for their latest Advertising campaign.
Here’s a behind the scenes video of the shoot:
I hope you enjoy and I look forward to photographing you soon !
Hello everyone.
On December 19th I worked with my long-time collaborator and stylist friend Rebecca Anderson to get some new images for our portfolios, while having the wonderful experience of dressing our models (Jennifer Akerman, and Hollie Van Dyke, both from Models International www.mi-agency.com, big thanks to Tia Talbott over there!) in Maxine Dillon’s (www.maxinedillon.com) Spring 2010 line.
We knew we wanted to work with light and color that would exude upbeat, spring colors while keeping with Maxine’s love of the East Coast, USA (not to mention electric blue) and my continuing love affair with the West Coast (meaning nothing too staged, let the models move !). It was Rebecca’s idea to utilize projections and it was up to me to bring in secondary light sources for any other images I wanted to create. Our make-up artist was Robert Constant (www.iamconstant.com/) who, when we told him of our plans to project spring flowers and backdrops of green suggested we go to Los Angeles Botanical Gardens to shoot, and we are very happy that’s where we were lead. Robert really brought his talent on shoot day (as well) to make Jennifer and Hollie shine. Our hair stylist was Mariko Sakata (makeupbymariko.com), who really understood our vision, and not only could collaborate well but meet my deadlines to get models in and out of the chairs on time, as did Robert, which is always terribly appreciated !
I’ll be putting up retouched stills a little later … HOWEVER, IN THE MEANTIME: here’s a behind the scenes video I cut together, below, (thanks to 1st assistant Amanda Abraham for capturing the video on my Canon SX100 which we kept low res, grainy, to show the difference between the Canon 5D Mark II velvety looking digital files I captured).
Speaking of capture, this was my first shoot with the latest SanDisk (www.sandisk.com) Extreme Pro compact flash cards. In late 2009 SanDisk made me a member of it’s SanDisk Extreme Team (here’s a link on that: www.facebook.com/sandiskextremeteam). Specifically I used the SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB 90MB/s compact flash cards which retail for a fantastic value of $335.99. I’ve used SanDisk for five years now and made the switch precisely because everything I read about SanDisk cards, not to mention great word of mouth from my other pro friends who consistently spoke about how fast SanDisk was processing their largest files (not to mention off-loading on their computers). Five years later, and SanDisk is still delivering that same quality for me – and this shoot of capturing maximum 21mb RAW file after RAW file on my Canon 5D Mark II put the cards to the test, allowing me to keep up with my burst rate with fluid efficiency. Thank you SanDisk !
Now, here’s the behind the scenes video:
November 16, 2010.
It is so wonderful and amazing to me how many at-risk teen girls (and women mentors) have been uplifted from a small, passionate idea that Step Up Women’s Network helped me support back in 2006 via the “I Dream to”/Photojournalism for Girls program. Over 250 girls in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have been able to interview and photograph a woman they dream to be. Myself and all the instructors have wonderfully lead them, Step Up Women’s Network supports our efforts and inspire us to go further, and the girls commit – learn confidence, life skills to get them on their feet, and produce beautiful, resonant work in the process. The thing is, this program (and ones like it) have to keep happening… the dialogue needs to continue between these at-risk girls and the women who have come up ahead of them.
In 2006 I was very fortunate to finally meet the nationally recognized non-profit, Step Up Women’s Network (www.suwn.org), while I was covering backstage at the 2006 NAACP Image Awards for WireImage at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Step Up was there (specifically Alexa Brandt, their membership manager at the time) doing outreach to the VIPs.
Such as to actress Taraji P. Henson, Kerry Washington, etc – (below):
Taraji P. Henson wears a bracelet in support of Step Up Women's Network
Alexa Brandt, Senior Program Manager of Membership, Step Up Women's Network talks to actresses Katherine Heigl and Kate Walsh backstage at the 2006 NAACP Image Awards
Actress Katherine Heigl, backstage at the 2006 NAACP Image Awards, wears a bracelet in support of Step Up Women's Network.
Actress Kate Walsh, backstage at the 2006 NAACP Image Awards, wears a bracelet in support of Step Up Women's Network.
That meeting led me to meet Jamie Kogan, Step Up’s tremendous Senior Program Manager / Community and Girls’ Programs. I volunteered taking photos at a class they already had going, and that summer I mentored a girl. I was volunteering at another kids’ photo program, but was dismayed at their lack of interest in putting current digital cameras in the students’ hands, or having them work on computers while at the same time saying their organization was helping to advance these kids’ job skills.
Soon Jamie asked me if I’d be interested in leading a photo class but she wanted something new. I decided if I was going to do it, I wanted the girls to be able to use what would be their newfound photo skills as a way to help their future selves. Step Up’s strength is that it is a dedicated networking organization; it helps women from varied professions bridge their gaps by holding events ; by getting them together to talk. It’s precisely what I wanted more of as a young girl: that ability to make an introduction to all the different types of people I dreamed to be … and it was precisely the strength I could bring them from my career as an Entertainment Photojournalist.
I had been helping a lot of people enhance their publicity via my photojournalism coverage, and now was my chance to help young women (who face insurmountable economic and emotional odds) find a stronger voice and direction towards their future selves. Jamie Kogan, Senior Program Manager of Step Up, took to it immediately. I continue to be so thankful for her appreciation of it. I drafted the semester program for our girls. A web-page of the girls’ meetings with their mentors would be the final project. I guided our camera and equipment purchases, and brought in our additional instructor, Maya Myers, as well (thanks to an introduction by a mutual photo friend Sarah Poust). Our first classes were for pre-teen girls at LA Leadership Academy grade school. Each week we taught the girls something new about how to use a camera (shutter speed, composition), as well as how to best interview a subject and everything that came with it (firm hand-shake, eye contact, a worthwhile goodbye).
We scheduled for each girl to meet with her mentor (most of the women were members of Step Up Women’s Network, a few we introduced to the program given a girl’s request for a specific photo/interview subject). Maya and I drove the girls all over Los Angeles to meet up with all the amazing women, and drove them home afterwards. The economic disparity between a mentor’s workplace and a girl’s home was striking; just a half hour away from each other and an economic world apart. Some girls talked about how their family members – brothers and sometimes even mothers – would tell them they shouldn’t bother wanting to be anything because they didn’t have a chance. It’s a horrible cycle; thankfully there are organizations such as Step Up Women’s Network to bring enriching after-school programs into public schools to try to break it.
A photo of our first semester’s two classes below, and then the introductions and photographs of the girls:
I Dream to/Photojournalism for Girls 1st Semester at LA Leadership Grade School
Step Up Women's Network Photojournalism for Girls student, Miracle Johnson, and veterinarian Dr. Michele Karron at VCA Hospital, 2007.
Attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Kimberly Buffington and "I Dream to" student Linda Fuentes
Marleni Davila goes on her "I Dream to"/Photojournalism for Girls Step Up Women's Network project interview at Guerra Gutierrez Mortuary with Liza Saenz on 2/15/2008.
Step Up Women's Network "I Dream to"/Photojournalism for Girls student LaShanae Thomas interviews breast cancer surgeon Robina Smith at USC's Outpatient Clinic on February 27, 2008.
Here are photos from the 2008 Los Angeles “I Dream to”/Photojournalism for girls Gallery Show at the Helm’s Bakery space in Culver City – where the girls got to show off their websites and prints to their families and mentors (prints and framing made possible thanks to Kim Creighton, Matthew Rolston’s long time print manager).
Step Up "I Dream to"/Photojournalism for Girls student Genola Thomas with her project at the 2008 Step Up Gallery show.
"I Dream to"/Photojournalism for Girls student Dayana Masariegos and Senior Program Manager Step Up Women's Network Jamie Kogan.
Sr. Prog. Mngr./Step Up Jamie Kogan, "I Dream to" prorgram creator / photographer Amy Tierney, and 2008 co-instructor/photog Maya Myers.
2008 Gallery Show at Helms' Bakery space for Step Up Women's Network's "I Dream to"/Photojournalism for Girls program.
The girls' final projects for "I Dream to" 2008 were websites and were projected on the wall at the show.
In the summer of 2008 I introduced the New York Step Up Women’s chapter to Getty Images new Varick Street studio, NY (thanks to Peggy Willett, Community and Industry Relations, Getty Images Seattle, who really took to the program). It was there that a Summer 2008 Gallery show happened for the New York Step Up students, and it was great! I loved having Nicole Tammelleo as their instructor ! We got to share a lot of inspiration across the miles as the program progressed. Here are few images from that August 2nd, 2008 New York gallery show:
2008 "I Dream to" New York Gallery show at Getty Images' Varick Street Studio.
Lida Orzeck, Founder of Hanky Panky (short blonde hair) with New York Step Up photojournalism students.
Nicole Tammelleo, photographer and instructor of the first NY "I dream to" program with student + mentor
Here is a link to the WireImage photo coverage of the New York show at Getty Images’ Varick Street studio: www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====327444
In Fall 2008 a new photographer and co-instructor, Emily Hart Roth (www.emilyhartphotography.com), came on board in Los Angeles. We were sorry to see Maya go, but glad she introduced us to Emily. Emily came with a lot of passion – and an appreciation for blogs which she wanted to share with the girls. So we changed our final project from websites to blogs.
Photographer and Co-Instructor Emily Hart Roth hugs a student
In the Fall of 2008 Step Up worked with the partner schools (LA Leadership High School and Gertz Ressler High School) to extend the program – so instead of twelve weeks we had twenty. Emily and I redrafted the program. We gave the girls more time to learn about composition and how to photograph; we also taught them how to organize their photos – rating and selecting the best via the Adobe Lightroom application. We went back to the Canon A520 cameras which, while introductory point and shoot cameras, also allowed us to teach the girls about manual controls. For the girls’ blogs, Emily wanted to use WordPress.com as she had been using it for her own blog and liked it a lot. I certainly agreed, and transferred my own blog to WordPress.
Meanwhile New York students were plugging away.
Here are some photographs from our Fall 2008 Los Angeles semester:
Fall 2008 "I Dream to" classes at Soul Studios, Los Angeles, 12/2008
Fall 2008 "I Dream to" student Frankie Jo Gonzalez gets her picture taken by mentor, actress Ashley Jones.
Fall 2008 "I Dream to" student Paola takes a picture of mentor actress Shannon Komai McClain
Immigration Attorney Victoria Duong and her mentee "I Dream to" student Gigi
Student Leslie Guzman photographs her mentor, Veterinarian Annette Le Pere at Soul Studios 12/2008.
The Fall 2008 Los Angeles’ students final blog projects can be found online here: http://stepupphoto.wordpress.com
A review of the program can be found here on Livebooks Resolve blog: blog.livebooks.com/2009/05/teaching-teens-to-photograph-role-models-then-become-them/
A video of the girls, mentors + volunteers of the I Dream to program can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/ajaniperkins#p/u/0/qtqMaZNGy1I
Now, four years later, my baby (as it were) “I Dream to”/Photojournalism for Girls has become a signature program for Step Up Women’s Network. Every Fall a new class of freshman gets a chance to choose “I Dream to” as an after-school class, learn the math and light of photography, the writing and social skills of interviewing and the confidence to meet with anyone, anywhere.
I have continued on as an Ambassador for the program, while we brought in new instructors: Laura Grier (www.beautifuldayphotography.com), Sarah Horowitz and Melissa Fargo. Luckily Emily Hart Roth taught at the new, additional school that Step Up partnered with: the Environmental Science and Technology High School where we held our LA mentor days this year on December 5th and 12th, 2009. Photos and video to post soon. We also had SanDisk http://www.sandisk.com, the global imaging company (who I encouraged to give an in-kind donation of SD camera cards and card readers to the program) come to film and interview the girls and women on their experience with the program.
The “I Dream to”/Photojournalism for Girls photos were displayed at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, and decorate the National Step Up Women’s Network offices:
"I Dream to" photos show at the Pacific Design Center, Nov. 18, 2009.
"I Dream to" photo projects show at the Pacific Design Center, Nov. 18, 2009.
"I Dream to" photos at the entrance to Step Up's national office in Los Angeles.
"I Dream to" photos permanently hang in Step Up Women's Network's national office.
More photos of the girls and stories of Chicago and New York classes to come !
Thank you for learning about the program. I hope it serves as inspiration for you to come on board as a mentor for one of the girls if you are in one of Step Up’s cities – or, if not, to start a program of your own like it in your own city.
Amy Tierney / Thrive Images 