jb-avril

<p>Dear M. Flanigan<br>

I'll be honnest, I didn't read all the past comments, but I feel that I have to answer to your lastest.<br>

First of all, I know that "going public" about a personal decision is an open door to absolutly everything, and that's the game, but sometimes, it's enough.<br>

This is the second time I'm going public on this site (first time after having the "photo of the week" on a bosnian picture) and one thing strikes me. The most unnecessary comments usually come from people who have, let's say, less than 30/50 pics of their holidays, friends and family in their portfolio section. But they believe they have an appropriate opinion on everything.<br>

"Most all artists and photographers do their work for fun and not money. Most plumbers *tend* to get paid for dealing with poop".<br>

From what I can see on your portfolio, I am wondering if you're more into the plumber category than the artistic one. If that so, that's fine! we need plumbers too, even on this site.<br>

Plumber are nice people, and very helpfull. They also have the chance to do not have to commit themselves to something irrationnal and transcendental. They don't look in their professional life for a certain very special something. They also know that their work is going to help, but only in the vicinity of a kitchen or a bathroom, not into someone else's life bringing a specific testimony and/or an emotion.<br>

That what makes the difference with a author-photographer.<br>

To finish with; the fact that most artists died in poverty is not to be considered as something normal. Unless you may call "fate" people stupidity. Things can change, as long as some of us try to bring up something and not hide it in the closet.<br>

That what makes the difference between a man on his knees and a man standing up.<br>

PS// "the buying an artists cat of sunset images". sure the two words (sunset/art) belong to the same sentence :))</p>

<p>"The artists essential needs are fulfilled through the artists drive towards expression and communication, not through the collection of money"<br>

Oh, I believe that your committement to photography doesn't go as far as trying to make a living out of it :))</p>

<p>Thank's to all for your comments & advices.<br>

What I'm trying to do is just to raise an issue, not among photographers (we all know what this job is about) but among people having some responsabilities within the art/communication market.<br>

Hundred of thousand of people in this field make a very decent monthly salary using the work of dead artists who died (for most of them) in poverty.<br>

You're right Matt, I'm staging this thing. Already with a cameraman friend, we're talking about how and where.<br>

I don't care about the negs in a way. The important was to do the work and to see that the result went accordingly to my vision of it. The important is, I believe, the mental ability to create something. The object is just an object.<br>

The point is to have some people (if it could happen) facing their responsabilities while they are confortably seated behind their desks.<br>

I've checked the web, and burning negs is an extremely rare things (but I know, the web is NOT everything).<br>

We'll see if it works! I'll keep you guys posted :)<br>

Cheers, and thank's!<br>

JB</p>

<p>To Luis G,<br>

I "played" the game till I realized how systematic the "use for free" was.<br>

I agreed I said yes a reasonnable amount of time, till it appeared that it had to be a rule :(</p>

<p>I'll be honnest, I will keep the digital files from scanned pictures. Nevertheless, the original files will be destroyed. For me, it will be like making a statement on how this "artistic" world is ridiculous... <br>

I had university scholars asking for my work, of course for free, to illustrate catalogues after seminars. They were surprised when I say I needed to make a living form my work!<br>

I has to remind them that at their bloody seminars and workshops, they had their fees to attempt. event the taxi driver taking them from the airport to the location of the congress didn't work for free. Even the waiter offering champagne at the opening ceremony was getting paid. For the photographer who's work will illustrate the object of their work: Nothing !</p>

<b>Moved from the Philosophy forum because it's not the Rant forum.</b>

<p>By the beginning of 2010, I'll burn one of my latest work negatives, about 20 BW films (36 exposures).<br>

I know it's a bit harsh, but there is a sort of logic behind it (at least for me).<br>

Here is the story: I worked more or less for a year on an architecture project on the centennial of Tel-Aviv, at the demand of one of the best contemporary art gallery in Israel. Came out with a serie of about 80 pictures, twelve of them being printed on silver gelatin (60x90 cm). The exibition, six weeks early 2009 was a success with a huge press coverage, and incidently a very large frequentation of the gallery. A book was also published by the gallery with 80 pics, and text.<br>

The bad side now: Never, absolutly never in my 20 years carrer as a photographer, I had to face such a vampirism. I had of course positive or negative answers to previous works around the workd, sometime with important delays, but there, every single approach I had wanted my work to be... just for free!<br>

- El Al (israel airline) inflight magazine loved publishing my work and text on five pages, but were not willing to even give a courtesy ticket in exchange. I was even told that "some people were paying to be published in their magazine".<br>

- The most important insurance compagny in the country which has a cultural dpt and a large exibition room at the headquater, wanted (and had) the exibition for two months, but no money for the artist. I was told that it was due to the financial crisis.<br>

- The curator of the Museum of Modern Art in Tel-Aviv requested my gallery to have two of the prints displayed at the museum for three months, as part as an important exibition "Tel-Aviv by international photographers", but paid nothing to help.<br>

- Various gvt institutions contacted me to use my work to illustrate various brochures and catalogues on Tel-Aviv centennial but "had absolutly no budget to pay for the photographs"<br>

- Many communities in France, Luxembourg and Geneva would have loved to have the prints and set up an exibition to celebrate the centennial of the city, but had also no money to participate to the needs of the artist.<br>

- A french magazine published me on six pages to celebrate in their portfolio section the event of the centennial, but of course no money...</p>

<p>And so on...<br>

Of course, every single time I had the usual "you know, that will be such a good publicity for you!"<br>

With more than 40 pages of press on that work, plus web articles etc... I could live then on publicity till the end of my life!!!<br>

So I just got fed up.<br>

I believe that public and private institutions don't play their role into supporting the artistic life through the artists essential needs: money, grants, whatever you want to call it.<br>

So my work has to be for free! All right! As it has no value I don't see the need for it to physically exist much longer.<br>

I'll wait for the end of the centennial year and then burn the entire serie. Of course, I'll keep the set of these 12 large format silver gelatin prints, hoping they might (then) start to represent "something" on the market.<br>

Of course, the destruction of the negs will be done in public, filmed, displayed on medias like YouTube. I will even sent an invitation card to all these people and structures involved in such a fiasco. Don't think they'll come, don't even think they'll learn something about it :(<br>

Cheers<br>

JB</p>

"mass murders of Serbs in Kraina province of Croatia and the total destruction of the serbian population in Kosovo" ???

the point is not to count who's fault it is, but just to find out why?

From my own point of views, someone using a fake identity to collect informations has nothing to do with someone using the skills of his profession in order to report. No reasons to mix it up...

My previous point was just to mention that forces on the ground (and Bosnia was about the first case to that extended level)use nowadays all possible means to stop reporters to work.

During the Vietnam war, reporters had more access to the field than high ranked officers. That is obviously different by now, unfortunatly for the public :((

While I was working as a photographer in Bosnia, it used to be said that serbian snipers

had 500 Deutch Mark per reporter killed (just another way to stop the press). The fact is

we had then more reporters killed during the first year of conflict (about 70) than during

the all Vietnam war...

There is a price to report nowadays! A reporter has to have some kind of ties with one or

another side of the parties engaged in a conflict, that doesn't make them collaborators in

any ways.

Reporting in Irak is more and more (photowise) the business of "stringers" as international

photographers have more difficulties to get in the field. Their agencies and insurrance

compagnies are also quiet reluctant to send them in the field. That might make it easier

for international forces in Irak to assimilate them to local terrorists...

AV camera used to do it when I lived in BK.

Khun Chana is the owner, down Silom, not far from the oriental

Just a personal opinion...

I posted yesterday an old pic from my days in Bosnia wich I called "last minutes", about a poor kid about to

die in a Sarajevo hopsital. Almost 300 viewers, 4 ratings...

Nowadays, people buy a camera, and thank's to digital, shoot and shoot and shoot again. In the older

days, when films were expensives, people really cared about commiting themselves to record something

they tought really valuable.

Nowadays, CNN and all the crappy medias bring to out homes all the sillyness we can afford to watch, with

confort, on our plasma big screens while preparing dinner for the kids. I'm afraid we lost the sense of

"raising our voices".

Photography is a commitment, let's not forget that, and let's ourselves face this fact and take

responsability for it...

JB

Never hide the cameras, unless you really want to "steal" a picture.

By doing this, your purpose is obvious and people will then have the choice to accept or

refuse. You'll feel that right away.

In the case it looks obvious from your subject, you wil have (body language, eyes contact) to

make him understand that HE has something important you want. If you move and look well,

you might get it from him...

Most of my work in architecture (especially page 3) on my website (http://www.jb-avril.com)

is done with the 24 TSE.

Amazing with film cameras, it's definitly not as good with full frame digital. Distortion,

ellypses... I personnally stoped using it with my 5D...

The lens itself is just great! Sharp, easy to use, good contrast etc...