In 1985, Syd Shelton recalls, children on bikes still ruled the streets; there weren’t so many cars, and kids didn’t have phones to stare at. He took this picture in Dublin, near the docks. He was in the city preparing a photographic project called Ireland: A Week in the Life of a Nation. Fifty photographers, some famous, such as William Klein, were due to arrive to capture the country in pictures. In the meantime, Shelton had some time to wander. He thinks of this picture as a street portrait rather than something entirely spontaneous: “I was using flash and a tripod and the image was very much a conversation between me and the kids.”
The street with the gasometers was in Ringsend, on the south bank of the Liffey. At the time it was entirely a residential area – some of the houses were built by William Beckett, Samuel’s grandfather, in the 1880s. Many of them have now been demolished. Ringsend is the home of Google’s European HQ, and the gasometer has been redeveloped as luxury apartments. Shelton has another photograph from that afternoon in 1985. “I got the kids on bikes to gather their mates,” he says, “and I took a picture of 40 of them, with the gasometer behind.”
This picture is included in a group exhibition at the Atlas Gallery in London called Seen Not Heard, devoted to the idea of childhood, with a percentage of the sale price for each print sold donated to Save the Children. For Shelton, it represents something of a lost world, and not only because the streets themselves no longer exist. “The fact is,” he says, “you can’t take pictures of children any more. I was doing a story on London Road in Brighton a few years ago and took a picture of some children queueing for an ice-cream. Two minutes later, two police cars screeched to a halt at the kerb. Someone had called 999.”
Elvis Ugo is a professional photographer and videographer who uses his camera to create memories in his community. In this interview by KINGSLEY ALUMONA, he speaks about his work and the impact he is making with it.
Did you study photography and when did you start your photography/videography career?
No. I studied Economics at the University of Port Harcourt. I started when I was in junior secondary school. My cousin, who was a photographer, introduced me to it. One day, he asked me to accompany him to a beach party to assist him to write the names of his customers and to collect money too while he focused on taking the pictures.
Unfortunately, my parents didn’t like the idea because I was too young to be exposed to such an environment. I had to plead with my parents to allow me to go; luckily, they agreed. I followed my cousin and did the job well. That was how I started serving him. I was his errand boy for four years. He taught me most of the things in photography.
How would you describe the socio-economic benefits of photography/videography in your town in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State?
The benefits are many, but I’ll mention a few. Photography, in Bayelsa and in other places, helps to build the confidence and self-esteem of people, especially females, as we bring out the beauty in them through high-quality, professional photos.
We help to keep memories alive through photography. We’ve helped to reconcile broken relationships through birthday shoots, and also helped to increase sales for businesses through ‘product photography.’
Photography has given most of our youths a sense of direction as they embrace the art, thereby impactingthe crime rate. With photography, most of us have been able to put a roof over our heads, put food on our tables, pay our bills without stress, and even get married.
Personally, photography has increased my contacts and connections with the high and mighty.
Would you consider yourself paparazzi?
I used to be a paparazzi photographer, but not anymore. I now run a corporate photography company called Studio10 Photography.
Do you have clients in politics and entertainment?
There is no sector, especially in Bayelsa, where you will not find my clients. In the political sector, I’ve worked for the likes of former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife; Hon. Waripamowei Dudafa; Hon. Gesiye Isowo, among others. I’ve worked for my governor, Senator Douye Diri. In fact, I’ve worked for almost all the governor’s top officials in Bayelsa.
Outside Baylesa, I’ve worked for the former governor of Delta State, Dr Emmanuel Oduaghan. I’ve also worked for senators, House of Representatives members, and business executives too many to mention.
Which social events attract the most customers to you?
Weddings, political events, family or official portraits, and birthday shoots. The events vary, and clients differ. It depends on who’s bringing the jobs. We’ve our standard pricing, but we’re flexible to meet every client at their level. Also, prices vary depending on what the clients want, but we offer the best affordable price with high quality. However, political and wedding events cost more than birthday projects and the rest.
These days, most people use their phones to snap/take photographs and some even edit the photos with them. What do you do differently that still attracts customers to your business?
That’s very true. But no matter the level of phone you buy, it can’t be compared to what we produce. We’re professionals in this industry, so we give a professional touch. Good photography requires a lot of skills and creativity − having a good phone or camera is one thing, and knowing how and what to do with it is another thing.
With innovations, advances in technology and selfie photography, do you think the future is bright for people doing professional photography?
The future is brighter than ever. Selfies, phone cameras, and all that are tools for more awareness about my job and not a threat. It becomes a threat when you don’t think out of the box. Training and retraining myself and the staff is key. The business of photography goes beyond just knowing how to snap. It entails managerial skills, social skills, networking, and much more.
What are the major challenges you face as a photographer/videographer?
Finance! I have a lot of ideas to promote this industry, but it all boils down to funds. Photography gadgets are very expensive. Awareness/mindset of some clients and up-and-coming photographers − in fact, most of them approach the business with an I-don’t-care attitude.
Another challenge is staff retainership. Most young people don’t believe in serving anyone for a long term anymore. I served my cousin and another master for five years. Finally, getting our staff to understand customer service and relationships is quite difficult. Photography thrives and survives heavily on customer engagement and satisfaction.
Tell us the nature of your studio’s partnership with People’s FM, Yenagoa.
My partnership with the radio station is a win-win thing for both of us. It’s one of the best things that have happened to my brand. Every business owner needs Peoples’ FM under the management of its current General Manager, Mrs Chichi Umeseaka. The partnership has increased patronage in my business through airing commercials for my brand. Now, it’s going way beyond just playing jingles. I’m having more contacts, business opportunities, and lots more.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Place/Date: – April 30th, 2023 at 2:00 am UTC · 5 min read
Source: Datamall Chain
According to Zion Market Research, the global digital photography market reached a size of $105.2 billion in 2020 and is expected to hit $149.4 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of approximately 4.4% from 2021 to 2028.
With the development of the times and technology, the progress of the productive force and the evolution of relations of production affect all aspects of social life, including digital photography, which is a huge and growing market.
This article focuses on exploring the current situation and challenges faced by digital photography, as well as how NFT technology and the decentralized storage technology can empower digital photography and commerce. This article has chosen the Datamall Chain as an example to discover how decentralized storage technology can be utilized to support digital photography. As a trading platform that can maximize the value of decentralized storage, Datamall Chain can provide underlying support for digital photography and NFT artworks, promoting the healthy development of the digital photography market.
Today’s digital photography, especially the commercial market, faces the following two problems:
In the upcoming era of Web 3, the combination of blockchain technology and NFT technology provides a new way for photographers.
By converting photographs into NFT, it is possible to permanently record ownership information of the photographs on the blockchain, including the photographer, time of creation, copyright, etc. No matter where the photographs are displayed, it can clearly demonstrate the ownership and copyright information, thus protecting the intellectual property and interests of the photographer.
Governments around the world are also increasingly accepting information on blockchain as evidence to support litigations. For example, Vermont (2016), Arizona (2017), and Ohio (2018) have introduced laws allowing the use of blockchain records with signatures as evidence in court.
The emergence of NFT technology has also broken the traditional digital copyrights protection and business model, offering more opportunities for photographers to create and sell their works. Artists and photographers can issue their photographs through NFTs and get profits from it. Furthermore, photographs can also be auctioned and traded in the NFT market, thus bringing a more open and free business model to the digital art market.
While addressing the problems in the digital photography market, NFT technology also adds new forms of presentation and development.
For example, it has given rise to an ecosystem of supporters. With NFT technology, digital photographers can turn their works into a unique type of digital assets and distribute them to supporters, who can own the digital works and get a share of the revenues of the digital works.
And it has brought new sales channels. Traditional photographs are mainly sold through traditional offline auctions and online platforms, but t these sales methods are associated with issues such as intermediary fees and handling charges. With NFT technology, photographs can be auctioned directly using cryptocurrency, therefore substantially reducing intermediary commissions and handling fees.
In addition to NFT technology, decentralized storage technologies represented by Datamall Chain, as a more fundamental support, can make storage of photographs and NFTs safer, more reliable, lower costs, and make the access of which faster.
Furthermore, Datamall Chain is a Nash Consensus-Based decentralized storage platform, where storage providers can list orders with varying prices and lease terms to sell their idle storage spaces. At the same time, storage providers need to stake DMC as a reserve to prove their storage capacity capability and ensure that they have the store data as they have promised. If storage providers breach the contract, they will face penalties and lose their staked DMC. This free competition market model allows storage consumers to freely choose their preferred storage service providers.
Overall, the combination of NFT technology and decentralized storage technology has brought many new opportunities and challenges to digital photography. It has not only improved the uniqueness and value of photographs, but also provided better solutions for the protection and storage for it. At the same time, these technologies will also boost the development and innovation of the digital art market, creating more business opportunities for artists and collectors.
For more details, please visit the DMC official website, Twitter, Discord.
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Before emerging as an iconic figure of Indian cinema, Satyajit Ray was a graphic illustrator and perhaps that has become a less-known side of him today. Long before he created wonders in the world of celluloid Ray had established himself as a promising illustrator in the arena of advertisement.
According to the famous Indian painter Paritosh Sen, “Ray brought a mini-revolution in printing design.” Before joining D.J. Keymer’s office in 1943 as a junior visualiser, Ray extensively practiced “Oriental Art” under the tutelage of Nandalal Bose and Benode Behari Mukherjee. It is true that the “Kala Bhavan” of Shantiniketan was well-known for its emphasis on Indian tradition and originality but Ray and his batch-mates were not restricted within Indian culture and tradition.
Dinkar Kowshik – the well-known visual artist and Ray’s batchmate in Shantiniketan – says in the book “Satyajit Ray – an intimate Master: Those Kala Bhavan days”: “The hostel verandah was usually our drawing room.
We would gather and talk endlessly about the current world scene of art. The discussions were rambling and endless; names like Paul Klee, Brancusi, Kandinsky, Juan Miro, Picasso, Salvador Dali and Cezanne were used as sterling currency.
The Indian artists whose names graced the list were but few. Benode Behari, Nandalal, Ramkinkar, Rabindranath, Abanindranath and for a change Jamini Roy. No artist from Bombay could find favour in this elite list.
They were just crass imitationists who painted to please customers instead of themselves.” From Kowshik’s memory, it can be noticed how well updated they kept themselves in those days and they were intensely looking for an alternative path by rejecting the commercial Indian art of that time.
Ray joined D.J. Keymer in 1943 and in a very short time he became a well-known face in the Calcutta advertisement world. Some of his commercial illustrations were warmly accepted by the people. The half-opened Margo soap, one cigarette stick sticking out from the tin of Chelsea cigarettes and the woman in the “Tea with Music” commercial were some of the famous designs Ray did in his early career as a graphic designer.
Ray’s career as a graphic designer was not confined to the commercial advertisement world, he designed book jackets too. For instance, the book cover of Jibananda Das’s “Banalata Sen” shows the artistic brilliance of Ray. In this cover we can see an enigmatic doeeyed mysterious woman peering from behind the foliage (this cover tells us that Ray had a deep understanding of poetry too).
The book-covers of Sukumar Ray’s “Khai Khai”, Leela Majumdar’s “Jonaki” and Jim Corbett’s “Man Eaters of Kumaon” were some of his notable works but Ray’s life took a completely different turn when D.K. Gupta of Signet Press asked him to illustrate for “Aam Antir Bhepu” – an abridged version of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s masterpiece “Pather Panchali”. Today, we consider Ray as a predominantly image-driven storyteller. Perhaps he formulated his deep understanding of image composition in cinema during this period of illustrating for “Aam Antir Bhepu”.
“The Pather Panchali Sketchbook”, which Harper Collins published in 2016, gives us an insight into Ray’s process of composing scenes for his debut film. His son, Sandip Ray writes in the preface of the book – “Ray did not use his now-famous kheror khata (red notebook) to write the screenplay. He did some sketches in a drawing book after he had come back from London in 1950 and illustrated a succession of pictures (in pen, brush and ink) for the sequences of frames as they would come up in the film. He used to take them to the producers and explain the sequences.
The producers he approached, however, had no interest, nor could they understand the whole process. Some of the shot divisions were scribbled on chits of paper and cigarette packs.” When Ray shifted to his career in filmmaking, he decided to leave his full-time job; although his career as an illustrator did not end but took a new turn. During this time, Ray’s creativity flourished in poster designs for his films.
He eschewed the then prevalent commercial Bombay-made posters — which depicted the star’s face most of the time — and took an aesthetic, abstract approach towards poster designing. For instance, the poster of his 1960 film “Devi” (The Goddess) shows a young woman directly gazing at the viewer. Ray divided the face of the woman in two shades to portray the superstitious ambiguity of orthodox society. Ray took a minimalist approach while designing the poster for his 1964 classic “Charulata” (The Lonely Wife).
With swift brush strokes he created a profile-image of Charulata. The loneliness was very apparent in the melancholic longing eyes of the lady in the poster. In 1961 Ray revived the famous children’s magazine “Sandesh” which was originally founded by his grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury. During this time, Ray started his second innings as an illustrator and he also blossomed as a writer and translator.
He spent a monumental amount of time sketching and sketches became an inseparable part of his narratives. Almost all of his “Feluda” stories contain some eye-catching sketches. He took a dark silhouette-ish approach toward the pictures he drew for Feluda and his short stories; while the pictures he used for the Professor Shanku series were a bit complex.
The illustrations of “Eksringo Abhijan” and “Hypnogen” are quite reminiscent of the psychedelic art which gained momentum in the early 70s. Ray also sketched for others stories too; for instance he sketched “Ichingka” – an alien who appeared in the short story of Amitananda Das. Ray also adopted an unique style for the cover designs he made for Sandesh – the covers incorporated colorful geometric and floral patterns native to alpana art done by Ray himself. Ray also developed his skill in sketching portraits.
For instance, he made some impressive portraits of figures such as Sergei Eisenstein and V.I. Lenin. Ray was one of those few men of wisdom who was able to share the ray of his wisdom with people of all ages. He has left his traces not only in the world of celluloid but also in literature, illustration, music, advertisement and calligraphy.
Ray had a special quality through which he molded his ideas of western aesthetics with Indian art and incorporated them in his films, music, commercials and illustrations, and these Ray-made aesthetics are still very much prevalent in our society.
The ideas of Ray which are reflected sometimes in celluloid, sometimes in the pages of books, shape our early minds. We still develop our early social values, principles, taste for art and eyes for aesthetics from Ray – who was a committed social artist. We are still indebted to Satyajit Ray.
(The writer is pursuing a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University.)
“It’s also just a good sense of pride for the city and people who are here year-round,” said Kerri Danowski of Spokane Arts.
SPOKANE, Wash. — In the daily race of the city, there’s a welcoming sight you may pass by in a split second.
“So fast you don’t realize the detail, so scrubbing it just allows you to appreciate the artwork, which I love,” said JoAnne Baldwin as she surveyed a mural under the railroad bridge on Lincoln.
Spokane’s somewhat hidden murals got a scrub Saturday as part of Spring Clean Week.
“We are helping to beautify the downtown core,” said Kerri Danowski, operations and marketing manager for Spokane Arts.
The city’s Office of Neighborhood Services and Code Enforcement, Spokane Arts, and Downtown Spokane Partnership joined together for the week-long effort. Spokane Arts enlisted the help of volunteers to spend Saturday cleaning up eight murals downtown, washing away a winter’s worth of grime in anticipation for thousands of visitors for Bloomsday.
Other projects for the week include cleaning up sidewalks and adding new flowers to city planters.
“We wanted to make a lot of progress in a short amount of time,” said Danowski.
That’s where volunteers like Baldwin come in to put in the dirty work.
“This water is so dirty so something is working,” she laughed. “It’s so great to see all these murals across town and I thought why not be a part of cleaning them up as we get ready for Bloomsday.”
Beyond the scrub, artists will come in to touch up the murals to remove art of a different type.
“We’ve really seen a big increase in graffiti and tagging since COVID,” Danowski said.
Anti-tagging coatings will be put on to keep the pieces looking beautiful long past spring.
“It’s also just a good sense of pride for the city and people who are here year-round,” Danowski said. “When you see beautiful art on the street and wonderful plants all throughout downtown, you feel proud of that and you want to take care of it.”
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FEATURE — Hawaii, with 1,759 photography businesses, has the highest number of photographers in the country when analyzed per capita. With more than 123 visual artists per 100,000 residents, one of America’s smallest states has more than enough land and sea vistas to inspire a prominence of photographers.
Montana, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Vermont, Oregon, South Dakota, Idaho and Maine comprise the rest of America’s photography capitals.
These states also have depth in the photography field and a plethora of stunning wide-open spaces.These top 10 photography states also have more than half of America’s National Parks.
What is driving so many photography businesses in these states? Five professional photographers weigh in, from fourth to first.
Utah’s untouched beauty captured
Utah, with the Mighty 5 group of national parks, has the fourth-highest number of photographers, with 96.25 professionals per 100,000 residents. Mike Shubic, a travel writer and photographer for over a decade, believes it is one of the most scenic states in the country with an incredible diversity of landscapes.
“Arches National Park is known for its more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, making it one of the most popular places for photography in Utah,” Shubic said. “The park offers several viewpoints and hiking trails that provide great opportunities for photography, including Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch and Double Arch. In addition, the park offers the famous viewpoint at sunset, the Park Avenue Viewpoint, a great spot to take photos of the setting sun.”
Captivating Colorado
The analysis revealed that Colorado has the third-highest number of photographers, with 5,961. Colorado is also home to four of America’s National Parks — Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, as well as some of the world’s most jaw-dropping and diverse scenery.
“I didn’t move to Colorado to become a photographer, but moving here inspired me to choose photography as a profession,” said Elopement photographer Sean Oblizalo. “I am very fortunate to have Colorado as my photography playground with its jagged peaks, turquoise lakes, aspen trees, and wildflowers. It’s the perfect place for a photographer to call home; It’s probably the most photogenic state in the U.S.”
Added John Berry, staff photographer of Estes Park, Colorado, and Estes Park resident.”I firmly believe that it’s highly difficult to take a bad photo in Estes Park. It’s a valley surrounded by mountains. Living in Estes full-time is a true blessing. I feel like I’m always discovering amazing new places to explore.”
Montana’s mountains and more
Montana has the second-highest number of photographers in the country per capita, with a total of 1,172 total photography businesses statewide.
“I like to say that it’s easy being a photographer here; you just point your camera at Montana and press the shutter,” said Eric Heidle, photographer and communications director for the Montana Arts Council.
“Montana’s beauty comes in many shades, from its spectacular mountains to its stark, austere prairies, to dramatic river canyons and dense but forbidding forests.”
“I like photographing Montanans as much as I do Montana,” he said. “Last week I spent a few hours taking pictures of a deeply gifted blacksmith turning a bar of steel into a work of art, moonlighting as a humble fire poker.
“I’ve had the chance to take portraits of a saddle maker who’s a working cowboy, a luthier building stunning guitars at his shop in a Montana ghost town, and the owners of a grand piano that came up the Missouri (river) on a steamboat the same year Custer lost the battle at the Little Bighorn.”
Honing in on Hawaii’s beauty
Do stunning images of incomparable beauty on the grandest scale come to mind when thinking of Hawaii? With its unique landscapes across volcanic mountain terrain, lush rainforests, colorful Hawaiian flowers, snow-covered peaks, and world-renowned beaches, it is not a surprise that The Aloha state is a never-ending inspiration for visual artists.
One such artist is Zak Noyle. Born and raised in Hawaii, he has traveled the world capturing the best waves and best surfers, but Hawaii is still his favorite place to photograph.
“Being an ocean photographer, Hawaii is the most ideal location in the world to live and shoot! It would be easy for many to overlook a sunset in Hawaii or a beautiful tree or clouds. Still, I am constantly stopping and admiring the amazing beauty surrounding me in Hawaii,” Noyle said. “I’m fortunate to have my work displayed in real life size covering the walls of the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel so guests can feel immersed under our waters.”
Hawaii visitors can drop by Noyle’s favorite photography spots and take their pictures to remember their vacation. His top places on his home island are Queens Beach in Waikiki, Sandy Beach at sunrise and The Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, where he first fell in love with surfing photography.
Do photographers develop more photographers in these states?
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, there are 38,420 professional photographers in America, and various elements can attract them to live and work in certain places. For example, some states can offer more job opportunities, subject matter and customers to those looking to make a living as photographers.
Those factors can help explain why Hawaii tops the list and Mississippi, the poorest state in America, has the lowest number of photographers compared to its population.
Flytographer, a company that connects vacationers to local photographers in destinations worldwide, reports that their biggest market is the Aloha state. With over 10 million annual tourists, many families, newlyweds or those getting married hire a photographer to capture their trip to Hawaii.
“We professional photographers aren’t innocent bystanders, either,” Heidle said. “We’ve been capturing and sharing for decades, so we can’t pretend to be surprised when more folks want to share a wonderful place, including more photographers.”
Written by MONICA FISH, Wealth of Geeks, via The Associated Press
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
