This Friday evening Tony Mott (music photography legend), Joe Ferrara (Art Director of Rolling Stone Australia) and little old me are talking at the Australian Centre for Photography about “Rock Photography“.
Tony will give a 30 minute presentation which will leave you in awe of his career and give you plenty of chuckles – then it’s over to a panel discussion with all three of us which is chaired by Tali Udovich from Blender gallery.
Some of the things up for discussion will include:
- How to get started as a photographer?
- How do unknown photographers get their work published?
- When does the artist pay? When does the record company pay? When does the magazine pay? When don’t you get paid?
- How much can you expect to be paid for an image?
- On a technical level, what are the basics that you must ensure are in place with each image?
- What makes a great image?
We’ll be taking questions from the audience, so it’s your chance to find out from those working in the industry whatever you want to know.
I know i’ll certainly be keen to hear from Rolling Stone how you get an assignment from them these days. And how a freelance photographer can compete with the Getty behemoth.
If there’s anything in particular you’d like to ask, leave a comment here and i’ll make sure it gets addressed.
In summary:
- What: Panel discussion on Rock Photography
- When: Friday 19th February 2010, 6-8pm
- Where: Australian Centre for Photography, 257 Oxford St Paddington
- Why: Everything you ever wanted to know about rock photography and tales from the frontline
- How much: $10 for ACP Members, $20 for non-members
RATS! I live in Melbourne and no way I can go. Any chance someone can film it so it can be podcast? Pretty please with sugar on top can you ask ACP to do it? Or someone transcript it or something?
I’m with Natalie..
Please let me know if this is podcasted or transcribed!
I’m not aware of it being recorded – but if it is i’ll let you know.
Hi Dan,
Would love to hear the your opinions on the following:
* Release forms. When is it resonable/unreasonable to sign (recent examples Them Crooked Vultures, Taylor Swift)
* Agencies. Advantages/disadvantages of joining one? Which ones are reputable? Is there an increasing instances of promoters/management on insisting no access to agencies?
Looking forward to hearing you and Tony speak. Cheers!
Hey Johnny. Good questions.
Before the night, here’s my quick take on those things.
I think i made my position quite clear in this post about photo contracts. I don’t like them under any circumstances, but i especially don’t like the copyright claiming ones – unless i’m being paid well.
But this is an issue that really needs to be discussed not just with photographers – but with concert promoters, band managers, artists, and publishers of music photos.
Photographers grumbling about contracts is just preaching to the converted.
That’s a big question. Here’s my quick thoughts.
Advantages of joining one are:
– potentially more lucrative as it opens you up to a global market and more publications
– access to shows
– career opportunities to move around to other positions (sports, events, other celebrity stuff, etc..)
Disadvantages
– up to 80% commission goes to the agency
– some shows don’t allow agency photographers
– if you’re working freelance, you only get paid if pictures sell – and by all accounts, performance photos don’t sell a lot
There’s a number of agencies, but the main game in town is Getty. They’re the biggest and seem to acquire smaller agencies all the time. Plus most publications already have accounts with Getty and often have subscriptions which tie them to Getty.