Henry Diltz to Share Favorites from Five Decades of Shooting Rock Legends

In the world of rock and roll photographers, there are perhaps none as extraordinary as Henry Diltz. The famed photographer shot the most iconic rock photos of all time, and five years after his first appearance at The Ranch, Diltz will return on Sunday, July 23, to look “Behind the Camera With Henry Diltz.” 

During this one-night event, Diltz will share some favorites from his 50 plus year career and tell the stories behind them. A selection of signed prints will be available for purchase. 

This February, Diltz was honored with the Grammy Trustees Award for his significant contribution to the music industry. He has also been featured in several documentaries centered on the music of Laurel Canyon. His catalog includes over 250 album covers photos, many publicity shots, and tens of thousands of candids. Together they have become an indelible part of our collective story of music.  

Diltz’ first sale was a single shot of Buffalo Springfield in 1966 for $100. He went on to photograph The Doors, Crosby Stills Nash, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Steppenwolf, James Taylor, Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Petty, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Paul and Linda McCartney, and nearly every other prominent musician and group from the 60s  

to 80s and beyond. He was also the official photographer at the Woodstock and Monterey Festivals. His work has graced hundreds of album covers and featured in countless books and magazines, and his career continues today.  

His story as a photographer began with a $20 used Japanese camera purchased while on tour with his own band, the Modern Folk Quartet. Doing what he loved every day resulted in archives numbering in the tens of thousands of frames.  

Despite Diltz’ lack of formal photography training, he was easily assimilated into the world of music: the road, the gigs, the humor, the social consciousness, and the psychedelia. He became friends with his subjects, which enabled him to capture candid shots that convey a rare feeling of trust and intimacy. 

A few of Diltz’ most recognized images are James Taylor for the album cover “Sweet Baby James,” The Doors at The Morrison Hotel, Crosby Stills Nash on the red couch for the cover of their first album, Joni Mitchell leaning in the window, and Eagles “Desperado.” 

The main event starts at 7 p.m., but attendees are invited to come at 5:30 p.m. to enjoy cocktails and live music on the Sage Ballroom patio. There is also a VIP champagne reception limited to 20, where guests will have a chance to chat with Diltz and also receive premium seating for the presentation. The event concludes with a question-and-answer period.  

Tickets can be found at Eventbrite.com by searching for Henry Diltz or using this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/617236851037.

Becoming a successful professional photographer takes a lot more than being good with a camera; you need to have a lot of business sense and a keen understanding of how a career as a creative differs from that of a traditional 9-to-5 job. That latter point often trips up aspiring professionals. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced commercial photographer sharing one such mindset mistake and what you can do to avoid falling prey to it. 

Coming to you from Scott Choucino of Tin House Studio, this great video tutorial discusses why treating career advancement in professional photography like that of a more traditional job can lead to stagnation. It is natural to think of advancing in a creative career as a roughly linear progression, much like that of more traditionally structured jobs, but as Choucino notes, there is rarely much of a “middle” in many genres. This means you often need to have the confidence in your abilities to go after the bigger jobs instead of waiting for them to come to you. Knowing your worth and how to advocate for yourself is one of the most important characteristics of a successful professional. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Choucino. 

If you would like to learn more about the business of photography, check out “Making Real Money: The Business of Commercial Photography With Monte Isom!”

Reasoning that the form of a copyright registration does not
really matter, the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s
ruling that real estate photography provider VHT was entitled to
statutory damages for 2,700 photos infringed by Zillow even though
VHT had registered all of the works at issue as part of a single
database. Zillow argued that VHT should be held to its
registration, i.e., that the infringement was of a single work for
which VHT could obtain a single statutory damage award of not more
than $30,000. Reasoning that this would result in elevating form
over substance, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s
award of statutory damages for each photo Zillow had been found to
infringe.

VHT provides residential photography services and has a database
containing millions of photographs. Defendant Zillow is a real
estate website that sometime publishes those photos on its website
to assist in the marketing of residential real estate. At issue
here, was Zillow’s unauthorized use of 2,700 photos on the
“Digs” portion of its website, a webpage that provided
“visual inspiration” for remodel projects. (Ed. Note:
When we tried to access Digs, we received an “Error
404” message.). After a prior appeal, there was no question
whether the photos were infringing, only whether VHT’s
registration of a single photograph database with the Copyright
Office would support multiple statutory damage awards.

The Copyright Act states that plaintiffs typically must register
their works either within three months of publication or prior to
infringement as a prerequisite to obtaining statutory damages.
Zillow raised two problems with VHT’s registration. First, the
Copyright Office had not issued the registrations prior to VHT
bringing suit. Second, VHT had not registered the photos as
individual works, but rather as a single database.

Despite the Supreme Court’s 2019 holding in Fourth
Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC that a
plaintiff must obtain an issued registration from the
Copyright Office before filing suit, the Ninth Circuit
handily dispensed with this requirement under the unique
circumstances this case presented. Because the Supreme Court’s
opinion in Fourth Estate issued during the litigation, it
gave VHT a pass – reasoning that under prior Supreme Court
precedent, copyright registration is not jurisdictional. Given that
this was a fairly exceptional set of procedural facts, it is
doubtful that Zillow will seek (or obtain) a writ of certiorari
from the Supreme Court. So, while the discussion of this was
interesting, it is not likely to be of much use to
practitioners.

The more interesting question was whether VHT would be held to a
single statutory damages award having registered a single database
as a compilation. The district court, for its part, found that it
need not look at the form of the registration, what matters was
that each photo was independently copyrightable and infringed.
Thus, each act of infringement would support an award of statutory
damages. This was contrary to guidance contained in the Copyright Office’s Compendium of U.S.
Copyright Office Practices, section 1112 suggesting that
plaintiffs seeking damages for infringing a database compilation
would be limited to a single statutory damages award
(“Consequently, when a group of photographs is registered as a
database, the copyright owner may be entitled to seek

only one award of statutory damages for the database as a whole
– rather than a separate award for each photograph –
even if the defendant infringed all the photographs covered by the
registration.”)

On appeal, the Ninth Circuit affirmed that Zillow had infringed
individual photos, not the database compilation. The copyrightable
content in a database compilation is “the selection,
coordination, and arrangement of preexisting pictorial works.”
Here, because each individual photograph was published individually
and selected by Zillow for infringement individually, VHT was
entitled to statutory damages for each infringement of each photo,
rather than a single statutory damages award for infringing the
database. Courts need not follow the Copyright Office Compendium
since it does not have the force of law and is merely
persuasive.

But what about the fact that VHT registered millions of works as
a single database (often in chunks of tens or hundreds of
thousands) without submitting deposit copies? The Ninth Circuit
says that focusing on the type of registration “elevates the
form of registration above all else.” “Although the
Copyright Act states that all parts of a compilation … constitute
one work, it does not say that any work included in a compilation
cannot also exist as a separate, independent work.”

According to the Ninth Circuit, there are a number of ways to
register groups of photos, including group registrations (typically
limited to 750 individual works published within the prior year).
Under the Ninth Circuit’s rationale, a single registration of a
stock photo database is sufficient to register all of the
photographs contained in it, and that such a registration will
support an award of statutory damages (and presumably give the
district court discretion to award attorneys’ fees as
well).

Because “photographers can create hundreds, and sometimes
thousands, of photographs per day,” the Ninth Circuit reasoned
that allowing them simply to register a single database will
protect the financial interests of the photographers and keep the
Copyright Office from facing a deluge of copyright applications
from prolific photographers. Thus, going forward, content owners
can protect countless photographic works through a single
registration and still enforce their rights with the threat of
statutory damages.

While we sympathize with the difficulties faced by
photographers, we wonder whether the Ninth Circuit’s rationale
here holds water. As the Ninth Circuit pointed out, the purpose of
permitting the registration of a database compilation is to protect
the selection and arrangement of preexisting works, not the
underlying works themselves. Nonetheless, by including within the
scope of the database registration the individual works, the Ninth
Circuit has created a boon for photographers who would certainly
prefer to avoid paying multiple registration fees to the copyright
office.

Under the Supreme Court’s 2022 opinion in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes &
Mauritz, L.P., a mistake in registering a copyright will
generally not be held against the registrant in enforcement
proceedings. So, even if it turns out that the Ninth Circuit was
wrong, any registration obtained under its rationale in
VHT will likely be immune to challenge under
Unicolors regardless of whether the case is brought in the
Ninth Circuit or anywhere else.

The case is VHT, Inc. v. Zillow Grp., Inc., 2023 U.S.P.Q.2d
671 (9th Cir. 2023).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.

For six years, Melbourne photographer Shea Kirk has invited people to his home studio, to take two photos of them in front of a simple backdrop.

Now his simplicity has proven a winning formula.

Kirk has taken out the 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize for a portrait of his friend and industry colleague Emma Armstrong-Porter, also known as Ruby.

In awarding the prize, the judging panel said it was impressed with how effortless Kirk’s final product appeared.

“It’s quite simple work and quite straightforward, so really accessible, but I think underneath that simplicity, there’s a lot of stuff going on,” judge Daniel Boetker-Smith said.

Ruby, whose pronouns are they/them, said photography, as both artist and subject, had been an important tool to develop their relationship with their body.

“I’ve always struggled with the size of my body, from being extremely underweight to now being overweight,” they said.

Kirk’s portrait of Ruby was selected as the top pick from more than 2,000 entries, and 47 finalists for the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

He said he and Ruby had not met in person before taking the portrait.

“We just spent a few hours together chatting and making work, and this is what came out of that,” he said.

For his efforts, Kirk has won a $30,000 cash prize and equipment worth $20,000, but he said he was not motivated by accolades.

“I am 100 per cent obsessed with image making,” he said.

“Having said that, getting that level of recognition from peers and the industry is something pretty special.

New subjects with older techniques

Mr Boetker-Smith said many of the entries to this year’s edition of the prize reverted to older techniques such as film and glass plates, and also explored more complex topics, in an era where most people have a camera in their pocket.

“Photographers won’t just turn up somewhere and take a picture,” he said.

Renae Saxby was awarded the Highly Commended prize for her portrait of an Aboriginal woman driving in Central Arnhem Land, with a buffalo skull painted by her father strapped to the roof of her car.

Newcastle-based photographer David Cossini won the Art Handlers’ Award for his portrait of Ugandan man Godfrey Baguma, who won a 2002 World’s Ugliest Man contest.

The finalists’ work is hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra until October.

Melbourne artist Shea Kirk’s portrait of friend and fellow-artist Emma Armstrong-Porter has won the 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize, announced today by the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait, titled Ruby (left view), is half of a stereoscopic pair from Kirk’s ongoing series, Vantages. 

“Over the past six years, I have been inviting people over to my home studio to sit in front of simple backdrops and make portraits,” said Kirk, who is based in Melbourne/Naarm.

“This portrait is of my now good friend Emma, which we made together during our first meeting. I wanted to create the idea of the body as a record. We are our faces as much as we are our limbs, extremities, our nooks and crannies. The self and sense of a person in a portrait for me is often thought of more than just a face and hands, it’s an essence of the whole,” Kirk said.

Kirk takes home $30,000 cash from the National Portrait Gallery and $20,000 worth of Canon equipment thanks to Imaging Partner, Canon Australia. 

The subject of the portrait, Emma Armstrong-Porter (she/they), who is also an NPPP finalist, said Kirk’s portrait reflects her changing attitude to her body and how it fits within society.

“I’ve always struggled with the size of my body, from being extremely underweight to now being overweight. Over the past few years working with other photographers, making portraits, I’ve been processing my feelings about the transformation. I’m starting to feel more at home in my big queer body,” Armstrong-Porter said. 

2023 NPPP Judges – NPG Senior Curator, Joanna Gilmour; Director of the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Daniel Boetker-Smith; and critically acclaimed photo media artist, Tamara Dean – said the work was a “celebration of photography”.

“While Shea makes the portrait look effortless, this is a masterful and technically complex work where the sitter has no self-consciousness. It is as if the artist and sitter are participating equally in the transaction,” judges said. 

Renae Saxby was awarded the Highly Commended prize, for her work Bangardidjan 2022, a photo of proud Kine, Rembarrnga, and Dalabon woman, Cindy Rostron, on the road in remote Central Arnhem Land. Rostron is photographed in the family car with a buffalo skull painted by her father, Victor Rostron, strapped to the roof.  

Judges said the work had “exceptional cinematic quality, encapsulating an entire story, and while there is so much to see from a narrative point of view, it is the sitter’s gaze which draws you in”.

David Cossini’s portrait of Ugandan man, Godfrey Baguma, titled Ugandan Ssebabi, is the 2023 Art Handlers Award winner, which was announced on 9 June.

Established by the NPG to support and celebrate photographic portraiture in Australia, the NPPP was first awarded in 2007 and has since become a highlight of the Gallery’s annual calendar, attracting thousands of entries each year from amateur and professional photographers around the country.

NPG Director, Bree Pickering, said the exhibition reflects the distinctive vision of Australia’s aspiring and professional photographers.

“The NPPP is a beloved and important national prize that supports the Australian photographic community and enlarges our collective experience of the Australian people, from the well-known and celebrated, to local heroes and identities,” Pickering said.

“We look forward to welcoming visitors to this popular annual event, which reveals many rich examples of photographic portraiture.” 

This year, judges selected 47 finalists from a pool of almost 2,400 entries. According to Gilmour, the idea of going below or beyond the surface was one of the themes that emerged most strongly for the 2023 judges.

“Each of the works reveal sitters who have presented their quirks or flaws or vulnerabilities, and photographers who have gently yet uncompromisingly allowed their sitters to be themselves,” she said.

The finalists for NPPP 2023 are: Adam Ferguson, Anne Moffat, Bahram Mia, Ben McNamara, Brenda L. Croft, Bruce Agnew, Cassandra Scott-Finn, Charlie Bliss, Charlie Ford, Cindy Kavanagh, David Cossini, David Darcy, Dylan Le’Mon, Elliot Brown, Emma Armstrong-Porter, Forough Yavari, Franca Turrin, Francis Cloake, The Huxleys, Gerwyn Davies, Grace Costa, Isabella Melody Moore, Jacob Nash, Heidi Margocsy, Jacqueline Mitelman, James Bugg, Jay Hynes, Jimmy Widders Hunt, Jo Duck, Julian Kingma, Lily Hatten, Martine Perret, Meng-Yu Yan, Nathan Dyer, Renae Saxby, Renato Colangelo, Rohan Thomson, Sammaneh Pourshafighi, Sarah Depta, Sarah Enticknap, Sean Slattery, Shannon May Powell, Shea Kirk, Stuart Miller, Tajette O’Halloran and Teva Cosic.

The 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition opens at the NPG tomorrow, Saturday 17 June. 

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Portraits of refugees, asylum seekers and Swiss locals will be pasted onto the façade of a Geneva building next week as part of the latest incarnation of the French artist JR’s participatory InsideOut project. The giant mural will be created and installed on World Refugee Day (20 June) in partnership with Switzerland for UNHCR, the Swiss foundation of the UN Refugee Agency, and Hospice général, the public welfare body in the canton of Geneva.

Founded by JR in 2011, Inside Out “helps individuals and communities to make a statement by displaying large-scale black-and-white portraits in public spaces”. More than half a million people across 150 countries have taken part in the projects, which are now created independently from JR. Inside Out’s photo-booth van will be stationed at Geneva’s Centre d’hébergement collectif Rigot, a facility for asylum-seekers and refugees, with UNHCR mediators on site to explain the initiative to residents.

“This action will underline the message of inclusion reflected in this year’s World Refugee Day theme of ‘hope away from home: a world where refugees are always included’,” Switzerland for UNHCR says in a statement. “The portraits of host and refugee communities will be intertwined on the façade, making it impossible for the public to distinguish who is who.”

JR currently has a solo exhibition, Women, at Pace Gallery in Geneva (until 18 July). Meanwhile, his first solo show in Italy, Déplacé.e.s, at the Gallerie d’Italia in Turin (until 16 July), presents installations co-created with communities in refugee settlements in Rwanda, Mauritania, Colombia, Ukraine and Greece.

UNHCR this week published its Global Trends report for 2022, revealing the highest number of forcibly displaced people ever recorded. The total has reached around 110 million, up 20 million in the past two years, mostly due to the war in Ukraine and crises in Afghanistan and Sudan.

A photography career is often associated with travel or at least some form of exploration, but the possibilities are endless in the digital era, and you can develop a fulfilling photography business right from home. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a tech enthusiast, or your run-of-the-mill office worker who misses her creative side, this guide will provide you with valuable insights and practical tips to kickstart your photography journey. 

Let’s explore how you can turn your passion for photography into a thriving career.

Discover Your Passion and Set Goals

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Photography is a fairly broad field of work. Before diving in, take the time to discover your specific passion and set clear goals. What types of photography resonate with you? Wedding photography, wildlife snapshots, children’s photos, urbex architecture? Do you have a particular niche or style you want to explore?

Figure out what direction you’d love to go in and then create a career roadmap. Choose a niche that aligns with your interests and strengths, and develop expertise in that area. Specialising can help you stand out and attract clients who are specifically looking for your unique skills. Also, you’ll be able to make focused decisions and stay motivated long-term when you have a clearly defined vision.

Develop Your Technical Skills

As a photographer, it’s essential to master the technical aspects of photography in addition to the basics like perspective, lighting, and composition. Understand the exposure triangle – aperture, shutter speed, and ISO – to control the look and feel of your images. Learn how to focus accurately, adjust white balance, and use different shooting modes. It’s also worthwhile to explore editing software. You can develop all of these skills with online tutorials, courses, and workshops.

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You’ll need the right equipment to get stunning photos, but you don’t have to break the bank for it. As an alternative to traditional photo gear shops, you might buy the latest Canon Cameras online at digiDirect or look through online marketplaces like Craigslist or give-and-take groups. They’re all convenient and reliable options for acquiring quality tools and accessories. To begin with, invest in a camera, a few essential lenses for the type of photography you’ll be doing, a solid tripod, and optionally some lighting accessories.

Embrace the Home Setup

Create a dedicated space for your photography pursuits within your home to reduce distractions and maximise your productivity. Take your time to create a perfect home office tailored to your technical and creative needs. Set up your workstation with a comfortable desk, proper lighting, and organised storage for your equipment. Customise the space to reflect your style and make it conducive to your workflow.

Build an Engaging Portfolio

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A strong portfolio is crucial for showcasing your work and attracting clients. Select your best photographs and curate them into cohesive and visually appealing albums. Host them on your social media or consider building a website. Include a variety of subjects and styles to demonstrate your versatility. Update and refine your portfolio regularly to reflect your growth as a photographer.

Leverage Online Platforms

Social media and online platforms are powerful tools for photographers. In addition to being a home base for your portfolio and helping you in equipment hunting, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and photography-focused communities let you share your work, engage with fellow photographers, and reach potential clients. Leverage them to build your brand, gain exposure, and connect with like-minded individuals who might help you break into the industry.

Keep Up with Industry Trends

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Photography is a dynamic field. New techniques, technologies, and trends are constantly emerging, so you have to keep learning. Start with getting up to date with the top projected work trends for 2023 and then build on the discoveries and demands you can infer from there. Follow photography blogs, read industry publications, take online courses, and attend workshops to continuously improve your skills and stay ahead of the curve.

Network With Other Photographers

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Building connections and collaborating with fellow photographers and professionals in the industry can open doors to new opportunities. Seek out meetups, workshops, and conferences to discover like-minded photography enthusiasts who could help you on your new career path. You can do all this from the comfort of home – many events are online only, to accommodate attendees from all over, and even physical events often have real-time streaming, video call participation, and similar remote solutions. Collaborate on projects, share insights, and learn from each other’s experiences. By fostering a supportive network, you’ll gain valuable knowledge and potentially attract new clients.

Starting a career in photography is an exciting opportunity and you can definitely get started while staying at home. Start by identifying your passion, getting the right equipment, and working on your technical skills. Meanwhile, set up a quality home office and begin building a solid portfolio. Then you can utilise online communities and industry resources to turn your love for photography into a successful and fulfilling career. Whether you’re pursuing full-time employment or a creative side hustle, the possibilities are endless.

On an ordinary Sunday 20 years ago, Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell went to a local antique mall they’d been to many times before. While browsing, Treadwell spotted a box filled with old photographs and, as he flipped through, he found a snapshot of two men in a romantic embrace, dated 1927. “At the time we were both shocked that the photo was ever taken,” says Nini, a former ballet academy director, “much less survived 73 years to end up in our hands, in Dallas, Texas.” The couple thought they’d never find another antique photo of men in love.

And then they did, almost a year later. “When we found the first, we had no expectation there would ever be a second,” Nini says. They have since found photographs of male couples in formats dating to the beginning of the medium—daguerreotypes, glass negatives, cabinet cards, tintypes and photo booth snapshots—at flea markets, estate sales and online marketplaces, all taken during an era when same-sex marriage was illegal. It was only when they had amassed around 300 photographs that Nini and Treadwell realised it was a collection. It now numbers more than 4,000 vernacular photos dating from between the 1850s and 1950s, sourced from 36 different countries.

The exhibition Loving: They Love Each Other(until 24 September) at the Musée d’art et d’histoire (MAH) in Geneva, Switzerland, publicly debuts a selection of 400 images from their trove. Inspired by the book about their collection published in 2020 (Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850-1950, Five Continents Editions), the exhibition contains almost every photograph from the book plus 80 that Nini and Treadwell collected after its release.

“In these pictures it’s fantastic the number of different stories it could activate,” says MAH director Marc-Olivier Wahler of Loving as a whole, and also a 1951 photograph of two soldiers sitting on a bench. “You wonder, they’re in the army and are they really together? Then suddenly you see the entangled feet. And all these possible stories—what happened to them, what happened to this photograph? Where was it found? It’s endless.”

Loving also includes newly commissioned artwork by Swiss photographer Walter Pfeiffer, known for his playfully erotic portraits of male models. Pfeiffer chose snapshots from Nini and Treadwell’s collection and then colorised and enlarged them, layering a contemporary filter on the vintage images. Two rare black-and-white videos by conceptual artist Urs Lüthi will also be screened together with the exhibition.

In contrast to these two established Swiss artists, most of the photographers and sitters in the photographs are anonymous. An outlier is an early 20th century portrait that may be of Bloomsbury circle artist Duncan Grant and poet Rupert Brooke. Otherwise, the men in the photographs are unnamed.

Apart from some photo booth snapshots (generated by a machine) and an early selfie of a couple in a mirror, the authors of the images are also unknown. With many of the photographs in the collection taken at a time before at-home cameras were readily available, the understanding is that couples used photographers who they felt comfortable approaching to help produce visual testimony of their loving relationships. Few 19th-century photographers are known to have taken portraits of same-sex couples, with New York-based Alice Austen being one of them. This collection proves there were many uncredited others.

As private collectors, Nini and Treadwell had the freedom to preserve something outside of the institutional mainstream and inspire new research. “We felt [it] was our obligation to keep these photographs. To keep them safe,” says Treadwell, who works in the cosmetics industry. “Our goal is to continue to have museum exhibitions wherever we can that will propel us into telling this story and sharing the history that love is love. Love has been around forever.”

• Loving: They Love Each Other, until 24 September, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, Switzerland

Regeneration; Landscape, Waterscapes, and Flora winner

Many forests in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, benefit from naturally occurring, low-intensity wildfires. Without fire, trees grow unnaturally dense, and dead logs accumulate on the forest floor. This timber can collide with hotter, drier conditions and cause explosively large wildfires. Now forest managers are trying to reverse a century of misguided management by igniting controlled burns. The landscape may look different, but as this haunting image of a burned spruce forest shows, they can be equally captivating.

Photograph: Miquel Angel ArtusIllana/BigPicture