In the series What it Means to Be Here, PhotoVogue artist Jeanette Spicer encompasses photographs, mixed media and videos to engage with the absence of the lesbian gaze and the long history of patriarchal constructs that shape our ideas of the female form.
Spicer captures the intimacy between lesbian, bisexual and queer women throughout her community of lovers and friends. Her series emphasizes a sense of ordinariness and reverence for sex, pleasure with agency and spontaneity, calling into question the lack of lesbian representation within the photographic medium.  
Historically considered as places of isolation and confinement for women, the interiors of her work represent independence and a reclaiming of ownership, while the exteriors, sometimes shot in gay male cruising sites, offer an opportunity to explore these sexual playgrounds dominated by men and wonder why women don’t have these spaces. 

Read our Q&A with the artist to learn more.

When did you start working on the series What it Means to Be Here? How was the idea born?

I started working on the series What It Means To Be Here in 2018. The idea was born from a previous series about my first girlfriend. I was coming to terms with being a lesbian at that time, about ten years ago, and as I have gotten older and evolved, I realized that this awareness could come into my art. With this in mind, I began asking friends, lovers and people I knew from my community to be a part of this project.

How much is this project connected to your personal life?

This project is my personal life. The people in my work are a mix of friends, lovers, mentors and family. Even though some subjects come into and out of my life, and sometimes, back again, they have all meant a great deal to me not only as people, but their willingness to give me their time in the name of lesbian, bi and queer female representation. As a lesbian, particularly as a lesbian artist, I look back to the photographic/artistic history of my community and find very little. I don’t want to undermine or discount the incredible, moving and necessary work that previous generations of lesbians have made, but we are written out of, invisibilized and pushed to the margins in general, and even more so in the art world. Because of that, I feel a responsibility to represent my experience, for myself, my community, my elders and the future generations.

The Swiss-born photographer Alberto Venzago cannot be described with one word alone – his special character is utterly multifaceted. Wise, witty, and deep with a keen sense of irony and a sharp mind, he welcomes everyone interested in his photographic world with open arms. And believe me; he has some amazing stories to tell! How he entered the world of Voodoo cults and won the trust of the infamous Japanese Yakuza… Discover the answers to this and more in our interview!

Nadine Dinter: You were born in Switzerland but have lived almost in every part of the world. Does the word and feeling embodied by the German term Heimat (homeland) exist for you?

Alberto Venzago: Photography is the ability to document, interpret, or reinvent. I don’t know whether seeing the world through the viewfinder all these years has clarified or distorted my view. Perhaps the camera in front of my eye is simply a useful filter so I don’t have to experience everything firsthand. In any case, after 50 years, I suspect I have thoroughly overdone it with my profession. When places become “locations” and people become “objects.” When the word Heimat conjures up a vision of a hotel room. Home is no longer a place – it’s a state of mind. And it can change. A new love, a new task, all that is part of the whole. I feel it immediately when all these elements come together: Here I am at home – for this precious moment. But just for now.

Before becoming a photographer, you studied remedial education and music. Did that influence your photographic vision and draw you to specific topics in photography?

AV: I was born into an artistic family. My Jewish mother is from a German acting family; my father was a musician; my brother is a conductor. So it was clear that I would study music. A motorcycle accident ended my career as a clarinetist. In retrospect, I am very grateful. The course was set from above. I was thrown into another life. After graduating from high school, I studied remedial education but soon got bored. I was called up for military service. Prison or emigration were the two alternatives for the conscientious objector. I emigrated to Australia, where I was allowed to study mother-child relationships for two years with the Aboriginals in a closed reserve in the middle of the desert. Learning about foreign cultures and their habits like dreamtime and song lines was a real mindfuck. My obsession with the mystical found the best playground here. I knew immediately: This is my life.

While other photographers focus on beauty, fashion, or other motifs that are easy on the eye, you seem attracted to dangerous environments and social groups. What sparked your decision to set out in search of the extraordinary?

AV: I don’t aim to photograph something extraordinary. But dedicating myself to a theme means investing a lot of time in an idea. I took photographs in Tokyo for 5 years, and in Benin for over 12 years. I have to be clear that This is what I want. This is my world. I don’t have time to waste my life. I love the dark, the hidden, and the unspoken. Photography is different from the word. Words are precise. Unambiguous. Photography, for me, is on the way there, the in-between, the not-yet-formulated. I love the moment when the image emerges from the dark but is not yet tangible. The magic, the transition from the inconceivable to the concrete. It all happens in the mind, but when it’s physically imprinted on film or sensor, then the process of photography begins to take shape for me. I prefer life on the edge; the normal bores me. Apart from heavy documentaries, I photograph many nudes, but even there, the mysterious is more apparent than the superficial.

Looking back on the past decades, what was your most memorable encounter, and why?

AV: When I showed my retrospective at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich two years ago, it hit me like a thunderbolt: “Damn it, I’m still alive after all. I’m looking forward to the future!” For many, a retrospective is the first step to your funeral. But because of the pandemic, I was forced to take a break. During those two years, I digitized my entire archive. There were pictures I didn’t even know I had taken. Maybe my drug and LSD consumption had played a trick on me. But it was fantastic to discover them.

There are so many memorable experiences! It’s like making love for the first time. To realize that the camera is a magic instrument that opens doors that are closed to mere mortals. But it also involves responsibility. “Important moments” were undoubtedly the encounter with Khomeini, my initialization with the Voodoo priests, being accepted by the Yakuza in Japan, and winning the ICP Infinity Award. The best part was probably my years of apprenticeship. I am an autodidact. During my four years at Magnum, I lived in the attic with Rene Burri above the Paris office. I spent nights studying all the contact sheets of Magnum photographers – my heroes. That’s where I learned how they approached their subjects. And also what real talent is.

You are famous for “riding” with the Yakuza in Tokyo and joining voodoo ceremonies in Benin. What’s your trick to win the trust of such highly secret and distrustful circles?

AV: I am convinced that secret insiders tested me and decided that I wasn’t interested in sensations. That I wasn’t a threat. My interest in cults – as a former hard-core Catholic – has helped me. I am fascinated by the integrity of these institutions. And isn’t it incredible that even criminals and murderers can become your friends? The best thing about all these documentaries was that they were not just objects before my lens. They became human. And even better: We became friends – and still are today. I think love, openness, truth, and a big dose of humor and humanity are the basic pillars of these relationships.

Has there been a lesson you learned as a human and as an artist after those adventurous projects?

AV: Respect, humility, gratitude. Embrace love, and celebrate your luck.

In your celebrity series, we see portraits of renowned enfants terribles like Mick Jagger, H.R. Giger, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Dieter Meier. Which of them was the most difficult to “control” in front of the camera? Do you have an anecdote to share with us?

AV: I love the term enfants terribles because very often, artists have remained children.
Jagger was low-maintenance and very professional. I was a tour photographer for the Start Me Up Tour. He is a few years older than I am, and back then I thought, wow, so old and still so vital. He was 38 then!

Fassbinder was great. I photographed him on the occasion of his final film, Querelle. He staged a picture for me on the set in Munich. He laid down on the floor, the famous Fassbinder spotlight (Storenlicht) above him, the panache upside down on the floor. And he said: This is how they will find me. Five weeks later, they found him just like that – DEAD. Fucking scary!

Working with H.R. Giger was a gift. He lived outside Zurich in a middle-class bourgeois townhouse. Everything was dark; the blinds were always closed. He lived at night like an animal. We sniffed fat lines of cocaine and found everything ass-hot. He sat in front of the canvas with his airbrush, and shapes from another universe magically emerged. I was gobsmacked. I was overjoyed. Today, when I look at those fabricated images with shrunken heads from the Amazon and the nude images he made of his partner, an almost religious embrace takes hold of me, like a kiss from an extraterrestrial power. And you know, this is the truth.

Dieter Meier is a friend. We have known each other forever. Yello was THE cult electro music back then. We are still close today.

Your show is titled Stylist of Reality, but my impression is that you don’t stylize your subjects at all but depict reality authentically, documenting the truth. What’s your take on this?

AV: Deciding on an exhibition title is always a bit like searching for a generic term to describe your life’s work. I am a chameleon. It isn’t easy to classify my works. I hate to repeat myself; I get bored quickly. Styling is nevertheless an important concept for me. I’ve been married a few times to models; they shaped my female figures. Beauty as a concept has been important to me since I was a child.

Maybe in extreme situations, I also try to compose a picture that is more than a snapshot or to fill a frame. Image composition, with foreground, background, intermediate layers, and lighting. But it’s always about the true image. In the end, the truth is more important than the pretty picture. And if reality also satisfies certain aesthetic moments, that’s actually pretty cool. Is that distorting reality? But the truth is always the answer.

If you could turn back time, which country and person would you still like to photograph? Or photograph again?

AV: I hate repeating what I’ve done already. I’m for more radicality! At the moment, I’m working on a big story about the descendants of the models Paul Gauguin worked with in Tahiti. It’s a wonderful task. On the one hand, I’m reading Gauguin’s diaries and learning about the Impressionist art world and the rivalry between Van Gogh and Gaugin. His tale of woe, his unrecognized talent, and the eternal struggle for money and recognition. His lonely death and immense talent. Especially now, in light of woke culture and the me-too discussion, it’s a great story. I love his paintings and have found a way to immerse myself in his world. What a privilege. And what a great universe to be in.

Of course, I would also like to shoot the equivalent of Godfather 2/2.0, the next generation, but unfortunately, the Yakuza have been replaced by the Chinese and Russian mobsters. Maybe after Tahiti, the next story will emerge. But stories are like tsunamis. They appear unexpectedly. For some a danger; for me a revelation.

Your advice to the new generation of documentary photographers?

AV: Be authentic. Photograph only what really interests you. Take your time.
Start with people you know, your family, your friends.
Visit museums. Be open to everything. Not only photography.
And when you find a subject: be radical. Don’t settle quickly. Maybe the next day, you’ll discover that everything is the opposite of what you were convinced was reality today.
Trust your sense of intuition.
And maybe sometimes it’s good to know that there’s life outside of photography. Not so easy for someone who no longer makes a distinction between private life and story hunting.

For more information, please visit www.venzago.com or follow Venzago on Instagram at @albertovenzago

The retrospective “Stylist of Reality” at Ernst Leitz Museum, Wetzlar will be on view through 14 May 2023.

What visibility of French photography in institutions, art centers and French events?

Update of the report “Long live French photography”

At the beginning of 2021, a report on the visibility of French photography “Vive la photographie française” was published, in order to establish an inventory of the presence of historical and contemporary French photographic creation within the various institutions. , art centers or French cultural events. The study focused on the accounting of photographers exhibited over the past six years (from 2015 to 2020 inclusive). This period included a year cut off from a large number of exhibitions, following the closure of cultural venues linked to the Covid-19 health crisis. It did, however, allow us to measure the trends in terms of support for national creation on French territory. Those of large institutions give priority to international authors, compared to smaller structures which devote themselves more easily to local and national creation. What are the changes two years after this study? Has the health crisis upset the representation of artists of the territory?

This update comes almost a year after the publication of the Franceschini report on the financing of the production and distribution of photographic works, and the implementation of 13 specific measures. The CLAP is one of the many professionals to have been interviewed. The main demands submitted show the importance of highlighting French artists. Glad to see that one of the objectives chosen is to strengthen the visibility of photographic creation by developing the presence of the French scene on the territory, but also abroad.

The account of French photographers or photographers living in France was carried out on monographic and collective exhibitions. These are calculated by proportion (the majority of international or French works). Some previous accounts have been reviewed and new locations have been added.

Download the full report
Chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://leclap.org//fileadmin/media/documents/action_du_CLAP/etude-photographie-francaise-2015-2022.pdf

April 11, 2023

The Gold Coast’s second Flotsam Festival, running May 1 – May 14, features a program that’s packed to the brim with surf and ocean photography.

Flotsam Festival, described as a ‘celebration of all things ocean-related’, is staged as a ‘giant interactive arts trail’ scattered across the Goldie’s most famous surf towns, from Burleigh Heads in the North down to Coolangatta. The event includes outdoor photo installations and indoor print exhibitions, along with film screenings, workshops and panel discussions, and other art exhibitions.

The program is heavy with legends of surf and ocean photography, as well as emerging talent. A taste of the photographers in the program includes Trent Mitchell, Ian and Erick Regnard, Clementine Bourke, Fiona Pyke, Tristam Evison, Peter ‘Joli’ Wilson, Mal Sutherland, Jordan Kier, Tam Grambeau, Shell Bankier, Franziska Link, Dick Hoole, Andrew Shield, Marty Tullemans, and Albert Falzon.

Click here for more info.

Here is a sample of the photography-related events on show:

Ted Grambeau’s Waves of Consequence

The culmination of a lifetime behind the lens, Waves of Consequence is a collection of images exploring giant wave faces as an art form. Spanning several years, the collection includes Hawaii’s most recent 40ft swells that grabbed international headlines and triggered the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational contest to run in January. As a collection of spectacular images, Waves of Consequence will showcase extreme surf from across the globe. The collection is one of the highest caliber of its kind any where in the realm of action and fine art photography.
Free
May 1 – May 14
Dust Temple, Currumbin

Trent Mitchell x Mysa Hotel

Award-winning local photographer Trent Mitchell’s outdoor fenceline exhibition series will travel to a fresh new location in 2023. Palm Beach’s Mysa Hotel gets wrapped up by Flotsam Festival with a stunning collection of black & white images capturing the enduring beauty beyond sandy shores. ‘This collection of photographs have been taken no further than 10 minutes from my home in Bilinga and encompass everything I love about the ocean and coastal life in a mysterious, atmospheric and dramatic way,’ Trent Mitchell.
Free
May 1 – May 14
Mysa Hotel, Palm Beach

If Walls Could Talk: Dick Hoole x The Pink Hotel

A site takeover of Coolangatta’s iconic Pink Hotel’s fenceline with a giant series of historic Gold Coast images from lens lord Dick Hoole.
Free
May 1 – May 14
Pink Hotel, Coolangatta

Ian and Erick Regnard’s Floating Bits

Internationally acclaimed photographers Ian and Erick Regnard present their most recent collection of works, ‘floating bits’. Photographed in the crystal clear water of the Pacific Ocean, floating bits is inspired by the need to be alone, but knowing that there is a presence somehow lurking closer. The hauntingly beautiful images were taken underwater at Niue, a Pacific island east of Tonga. A complicated and challenging process, these images were taken one shot at a time and reloaded after each image, using a mix of large format 4×5 polaroid film and medium format film.
Free
May 3 – May 13
Art-Work Studios, Mermaid Beach

Flotsam Now + Then Group Exhibition

Bending the space-time continuum with a trip through the eras. Kirra Hill Cultural and Community Centre gallery will play host to a group exhibition of surf images spanning from the 50’s to today, with photographers delving into their archives and harddrives to showcase the ‘superbank’ pre and post infamy. Featured photographers include: Mal Sutherland, Joli, Jordan Kier/Nugget Studios.

Free
May 1 – May 14
Kirra Hill Community and Cultural Centre

Shell Bankier’s Element

Each of my photographic artworks has an inherent stillness and flow within, evoking a recognition of nature’s rhythmic architecture, be it sea or sky, water or wave. With visual simplicity and all connected by water, these works cut away from a definition, to become something other, relying on rich colour and either abstracted form or strong visual elements…a curve of wave spray across a white sky, white breaking waves caught in the moment of surrender.
Free
May 1 – May 14
Barefoot Barista

Joli’s Full Day Surf Photography Masterclass

Join internationally-recognised surf photographer Peter ‘Joli’ Wilson for an exciting one-of-a-kind workshop that dives into the world of surfing photography. Joli is a top surf photographer who has been shooting the sport for more than 35 years. He brings his adventure photography skills and knowledge, as well as his experience with digital workflow to compliment the workshop.
$250
May 6
Kirra Hill Community and Cultural Centre

Smartphone cameras have come a long way in the past few years. Mobile photography is becoming more popular as the number of smartphone users increases globally. It is a task that requires a proper skillset and an understanding of the behavior of light with different objects. However, one can not only capture beautiful and meaningful photos if they possess the skills.

You need a good smartphone equipped with the proper hardware to shine among a crowd of mobile photographers. This article lists the five best camera smartphones of 2023.

Note: This article reflects the author’s choices.

Best smartphones for mobile photography

Here is a list of five phones with the best cameras for mobile photography:

1) Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G

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The Samsung S23 Ultra 5G is equipped with a powerful camera system that offers impressive capabilities for photography and videography. The device boasts a quad rear camera setup, featuring a 200-megapixel f/1.7 primary sensor, a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide sensor, a 10-megapixel f/2.4 periscope telephoto lens, and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens.

Additionally, the S23 Ultra 5G also comes with a 12-megapixel front-facing camera for stunning selfies and video calls. The major highlight of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the zoom lens that can go up to 100X and provides impressive image stabilization. This is the best device for videography, and for those who want to do astrophotography with their mobile phones.

Here is a feature that can help you decide which Samsung flagship to buy.

2) Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

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The camera on the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is an exceptional piece of technology that is widely regarded as one of the best smartphone cameras on the market. This camera has three lenses: a 48-megapixel f/1.78 wide-angle lens, a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, and a 12-megapixel f/2.8 telephoto lens.

In addition to its impressive hardware, the iPhone 14 Pro Max camera includes advanced software features such as night mode and deep fusion technology, which allow users to easily capture stunning photos and videos. In terms of comparison, here is an article on the Samsung S23 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max.

3) Xiaomi 13 Pro

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Xiaomi 13 Pro’s image-taking capabilities are highlighted by a triple-camera layout co-developed with Leica. Each shooter is capable of producing 50MP images, with the primary camera featuring a 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor. There’s no scope for doubt about the phone’s latent photography abilities in any lighting situation.

The snaps are extremely detailed and have a wide dynamic range. Aside from that, there are numerous camera settings to experiment with. The device is also equipped with a 32MP selfie camera.

4) Google Pixel 7 Pro 5G

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This flagship smartphone from Google boasts a triple-camera hardware setup. This includes a 50 MP f/1.85 Wide Angle primary sensor, a 12 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera, and a 48 MP Telephoto Camera.

Google smartphones are known for their image processing capabilities through software, and this phone does a pretty good job in terms of low-light photography, nightography, and portrait mode. The front camera is a 10.8 MP f/2.2 hardware that does its job well while clicking selfies and recording vlogs or reels.

For an in-depth comparison, check out the Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max camera comparison.

5) Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

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The predecessor of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is appropriately equipped for your photography needs and is still pretty relevant. The device flaunts a triple-camera setup of a 12MP f/1.5 primary sensor, a 12MP f/1.8 ultra-wide-angle sensor, and a 12MP telephoto lens.

The software processing of the images is as impressive as the hardware. In daylight and landscape shots, the dynamic range and color contrast are close to natural lighting, and it does a spectacular job in night mode photography.

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Mobile photography has emerged as a hobby in recent years, as smartphones are geared up with more advanced hardware and availability in a larger market.

A glaring limitation for smartphones is that a larger sensor can’t be equipped with limited hardware space for cameras. But companies are leveling the ground by working more on software-based processing of images. Phones cannot be a match for a professional camera, but for a regular hobbyist or user, they don’t need to splurge on cameras.

Founded over 150 years ago, Leica is a German company known for its high-end, professional-quality photography equipment, including cameras and lenses. Since 2019, the company has run an annual women’s photography contest designed to promote a female perspective on storytelling.

This year for the first time, the Leica Women Foto Project was opened to participants outside of the United States. The four awardees represent the US, UK, Mexico, and Canada. A distinguished panel of judges from the world of photography selected the winners, who each received a Leica camera, a lens, and a cash prize of $10,000.

Here are the stories of three of four awardees. All the women share an agenda of helping to expose social injustice and bring about positive change.

1. Eli Farinango

Eli Farinango is a Kichwa artist and visual storyteller born in Ecuador and raised in Canada. She aims to reclaim personal and ancestral memory through her image-making and collaborative processes. In her documentary work, she advocates for indigenous rights and sovereignty. Her work has been published in The New Republic, NPR, Remezcla, and other publications.

“My purpose is liberation and healing not only for ourselves, but also for our communities and for future generations,” said Farinango in an exclusive interview with Forbes. “I deeply believe that personal healing is directly tied to collective healing. One of the main reasons why I do the work that I do is to inspire others to delve into their own personal stories and find the healing that they need. Through my work, I seek to empower and uplift stories that are often ignored, erased or intentionally forgotten.”

As an indigenous woman, Farinango seeks to challenge colonial stereotypes of indigeneity, as well as patriarchal and capitalist structures that have caused harm in the lives of many indigenous women. She hopes her photographs “contribute to the imagining of new futures, where indigenous peoples are thriving, where our sovereignty is respected, our territories are protected, bodies are kept safe and we are the drivers of our own narrative.”

Having herself faced abuse, racism, discrimination and machismo throughout her life, Farinango has learned to navigate these challenges by using photography as a vehicle for healing and self-empowerment. “It takes a lot of time, personal work and requires support,” she says. “Being able to articulate what I am feeling through image-making has given me the space to work through very complicated and painful emotions. Making this body of work has allowed me to be vulnerable, connect to the strength of my ancestors and chosen community, and reclaim agency by writing my own story.”

To aspiring makers and artists Farinango says, “Be patient with yourself as you learn to step into your power. Empowerment doesn’t happen overnight, but it is necessary for us to nurture our power for ourselves and our communities. It’s important to take time to learn who you are, advocate for yourself and remain grounded in your values, your goals and most importantly your heart.”

2. Mary F. Calvert

Mary F. Calvert uses photography to influence social change by documenting social justice issues neglected by the media at large. She believes that journalists have a duty to shine a light into the deepest recesses of the human experience and provide a mirror for society to examine itself.

For the past nine years, Calvert has focused on bringing attention to sexual abuse of women and men in the U.S. Armed Forces. Her work was a finalist in Feature Photography in the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes, has won numerous awards, and has been supported by grants from Getty Image and the Alexia Foundation.

Growing up, Calvert was artistic and also became interested in social justice issues. By the time she was 10 years old, she says, she could tell that “our world was a very difficult place for too many people.” Later, her interest in visual arts merged with this concern for the disadvantaged, and she became a photojournalist.

Ten years ago, when she became aware of the alarming number of sexual assaults in the U.S. Armed Forces and the military’s pattern of blaming, harassing and discharging victims, Calvert determined to cover this issue. “I never imagined it would become my life’s work,” she says. “But every time I think my coverage is complete, another layer of the crisis reveals itself.”

The greatest challenge Calvert has faced has been not letting fear of failure paralyze her ability to move forward, take risks and accept new challenges. “I came to realize that failures are a key ingredient to success if they are answered not with surrender, but embraced as lessons,” she explains. “Overcoming these hurdles is what leads to growth as a professional and confidence in myself in all areas of life.”

The best advice Calvert has for aspiring artists and change makers is to realize that “there are no short-cuts to success. There is no substitution for working hard, paying your dues, learning from missteps and building a reputation for dedication and integrity.”

3. Greta Rico

Mexican documentary photographer, journalist and educator Greta Rico focuses her works on gender and human rights issues. Through her images, she reflects on coloniality, gender culture, violence, and trauma. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, an many other publications.

“I have always been passionate about telling stories,” says Rico. “I feel very fortunate to do so with my camera. The stories I tell are not mine, but rather people collaborate with me, allowing me to tell their stories and amplify their messages and experiences.”

One of the biggest challenges Rico has faced has been daring to expose herself and make herself vulnerable with her documentary project, Madre Sustituta. This project tells the story of her cousin Fernanda, who was sexually abused and then murdered, and how her family coped. Yet the project also helped the family heal wounds from the past, especially by sharing the story of the cousin who became the mother of the young girl orphaned by the event – the Substitute Mother.

Rico advises aspiring artists and change makers to stay true to their ideas of the world. “Convince yourself of the importance of your work. The world needs to know about all these issues from other points of view to broaden our understanding of current issues,” she says.

What if I told you there is a social media platform on which you can earn money whenever somebody likes your content? And it’s not owned by a big corporation but is governed by its community. In this article, I share my experience with such a platform that has been around for several years already.

Recently, I published an article about a scam in the crypto world targeting photographers. In that article, I highlighted that you should always be cautious when there’s easy money to be made. But not all is bad in the crypto space. Some projects are worth exploring, and the Hive Blog is one of those.

Hive Blog

Unlike traditional social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, which rely on likes and comments as their main form of interaction, the Hive Blog takes it a step further by offering actual rewards to content creators.

It is a decentralized blockchain-based platform with a unique way to monetize content. On Hive, you can not only showcase your photographs and share your articles, but you can also earn so-called Hive tokens. And while this might sound abstract, there’s an easy way to convert those into Fiat currency.

I’ve been using the Hive Blog since its creation in 2020. Before that, I was a regular contributor to Steem, from which the Hive blockchain was forked when concerns about the concentration of power among a small group of Steem stakeholders arose. The goal of this fork was a more decentralized, community-driven platform for content creators, curators, and users. If the Hive blog will succeed with that in the long term is to be seen. But for now, the developers and the community still actively work on those goals.

On Peakd, one of the many decentralized app front ends for the Hive Blog, you can get an overview of current proposals for improving Hive’s blockchain and infrastructure. Such proposals are a way to influence the direction of Hive. Developers use them to allocate funds, and users can vote for proposals they deem important.

Before I now share how you can earn money on Hive, I want to explain a key aspect of the blockchain. I mentioned that you earn Hive tokens for your content contributions. I also wrote that you can exchange those tokens for Fiat currency. But they have another use: you can convert them into so-called Hive Power, which translates into influence on the blockchain. One example is when you vote on other content. The more Hive Power you have, the more your vote is worth. You can even decide how much of your Hive Power you want to dedicate to a vote as a way of giving better content large rewards.

I should mention that only Hive Power worth several $1,000 will have a noticeable impact when voting on content. A typical contributor will not move the needle a lot.

How to Earn Money With Your Content

Let me be honest: Posting content on the Hive blog is no way to get rich quickly. It’s not even a way to get rich. As with any social media platform, getting noticed and building a following takes time. But if you regularly share content, you’ll slowly gain traction, and your posts will start earning rewards.

I’ve been on the blockchain for several years and have built a small following. But the money I earn from my articles varies. That’s why I was looking for a way to provide value to the blockchain without much effort. My solution for that is reposting articles I write for my blog. The amount of work to create a repost is minimal, as I show in the feature video. It takes less than 10 minutes.

With apps like TravelFeed, you can set a “canonical” tag so Google doesn’t flag such content as duplication. Instead, you gain additional exposure and another way of creating backlinks to your homepage.

From my experience, longer articles create more exposure than just posting a photo with text. The core idea of Hive is that the more value you add through your contribution, the more rewards you should get. It doesn’t always work, and it’s best to experiment and see what content gains the most traction for you.

On my blog, I post my long-form content only once a month with different success. The earnings vary, as not every article gets seen by the same amount of people. In one year, I make several hundred dollars that way with minimal effort. I keep one part of it on Hive and exchange the rest into other currencies through BlockTrades. If you have an account at one of the major trading platforms, you can use BlockTrades to send your money there and convert it into Fiat currency.

It’s also important to note that the earnings are split equally between the authors of an article and the people voting on it within the first seven days after its creation. The idea is to create an incentive to be active on the blockchain and interact with other users’ content. It means that my Java Indonesia Landscape Photography Guide did earn me around $65, while the voting period on my Sekumpul Photography Guide is still active.

Conclusion

If you are a professional photographer, a few $100 might look like peanuts. Turning posting on the Hive blog into a proper income stream would require effort and a much higher frequency of contributions and interaction with other users’ content than I do.

It might still be beneficial to get an account and at least dabble with the Hive Blog. It has been proven that it’s not one of the many fading trends in the crypto space because even though the token prices are down, people continue to post articles. And if the crypto market enters a period of hype and rising prices again, its nature will also help the Hive token to gain value. Then, a few $100 a year can quickly multiply.

And the best thing, in my opinion: you don’t have to put any money into Hive to get started. It’s one of the rare crypto apps where you can make money from a blockchain without an initial monetary investment.

Before you start your photography business, there are a few essential things you need to have in place. Utilize this as a checklist to tell yourself that you’re ready to launch.

#1. Website, Portfolio, and Email Address

Think of this trio as the alternative to a storefront. For a brick-and-mortar business, you need a location for your customers to go and a way for them to purchase your goods or services. There’s an expectation with most modern businesses that you’re going to have a website to share with potential clients and a way for them to contact you through that website.

Additionally, as a photographer, you should have some sort of portfolio. Your portfolio doesn’t have to be perfect when you’re starting out but the quality of your portfolio may reflect the quality of work that you’re able to book. Similarly, the type of work you show might impact the type of work you attract.

Don’t get hung up on having the perfect portfolio or website as you’ll refind them repeatedly over time anyway. However, you can always plan some portfolio-building photoshoots so that you have work to showcase. If all your work is portraiture and you’re building a real estate business, for example, you’ll want to create some sample images to showcase at least enough to get that first gig.

#2. Insurance, Business License, and Permits

This second trio consists of the official things you’ll need to put in place to be legit. Some small-time friends/clients might not care if you’re a licensed and insured photographer but when you’re ready to start your business you’ll need to take care of business. The other thing that might apply is permits, specifically if you’re shooting at locations that require a permit to conduct business.

A quick internet search for your state will provide you with the simple steps to getting a business license. Luckily photography permits are becoming easier to understand, track down, and acquire for various locations. Your local regulations will indicate if you need a license for your city, county, or state and how often you have to renew. When it comes to insurance, there’s equipment coverage and liability.

As you grow you might consider becoming an LLC to limit your liability, but that comes with its own limitations and may not be a factor if you’re just starting out. As we move into the next section on finances it will help you determine where you stand. If you’re a freelancer there will be different considerations than if you’re building a business and plan to hire other photographers.

#3. Contract, Licensing Agreement, Pricing

Next up you’ll want to have a contract, licensing agreement, and price sheet in place. Your pricing might depend on your market, experience, and budget which we’ll talk about more in the next section. Your contract and licensing agreement are what will protect you on the legal front.

The best thing to do is to get advice from a lawyer and ideally one who specializes in the photography industry. There are also templates and best practices that you can use as a starting point. Your contract might evolve as your business grows and you learn what is important to communicate clearly with your clients.

Image licensing is a whole other topic that you’ll want to understand as it pertains to your specific specialty. Your pricing is another thing that will change over time but it’s important to have a starting point for when potential clients reach out. Start by researching the market value for your work and what your competitors are charging but then also take a look at your budget.

#4. Budget, Business Bank Account

The next step, as I mentioned above, is to think about money. You need to create a budget and open a bank account. It’ll be important to have a separate bank account and keep your business expenses separate from your personal not only for tax reasons but to ensure you’re running a profitable business.

When creating your budget you’ll want to determine the cost of running your business including how much you want or need to make. This is yet another thing that might change and it’s important to revisit your budget quarterly or monthly. You may decide you need to spend more on marketing or you might have unexpected expenses come up.

Having a budget is crucial to knowing where you stand and what you need to do next. You can use your budget to determine your pricing or the quantity of work you need to book. Eventually, you’ll get even more advanced and track your marketing costs to make sure you’re getting a return on your investment.

#5. Marketing Plan

Speaking of ROI (return on investment) let’s talk about marketing. Marketing is all about finding clients. Your marketing plan will vary depending on your photography specialty but some elements are the same.

You need to determine who your target market is, how to reach them, and how to get them to hire you. Sometimes it’s a long game of cultivating clients while other times you just need to be there when someone is actively looking. Usually there’s a bit of both, actively generating new leads and continuing to cultivate the ones you have.

There are numerous marketing techniques and photographers that swear by particular ones. You probably won’t have the time or budget to do them all so start with the ones that seem the most effective in your target market. Track everything and evaluate the effectiveness of your plan.

Kicking Off Your Photography Business

Once you’ve checked these 5 essentials off of your to-do list, it’s time to kick off your photography business. Some people start before they’re ready and it makes it harder for them to gain traction. Other people are more inclined to wait until everything is perfect and they never actually get started.

One of the best ways to learn is to get started. Get your essentials in place and then get to work. Track your progress, evaluate what’s working, and adapt as needed. Starting a business can feel risky but if you do it thoughtfully failure is just a learning experience.

About the author: Brenda Bergreen is a Colorado wedding photographer, videographer, yoga teacher, and writer who works alongside her husband at Bergreen Photography. With their mission and mantra “love. adventurously.” they are dedicated to telling adventurous stories in beautiful places.

Image credits: Header illustration line drawings from 123RF