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Sharing Your Art
In case you’ve never read any of Seth Godin’s books, I dare you to choose any and get back to me in a week to see if any of his statments has modified your perspective on life in any way. If it does, then it means his work as an writer has translated flawlessly and for me, that same influence in this particular paragraph has opened up the chance to do something nice with my photography -
Some people think that you can’t be generous until after you become a success. They argue that they have to get theirs, and then they can go ahead and give back. The astonishing fact is that the most successful people in the world are those who don’t do it for the money. - Linchpin
Being compensated for your work is a sign of value for your craft but there’s times when the mere appreciation of your work is enough payment if the art has caused the viewer to step back a bit more to admire it. That extra step counts.
I’ll admit to being proud of having the opportunity to monetize some of my favorite photographs at Thingsshot.com but it’s not always about the hard cash.
Friends often comment how they like a particular photograph I’ve mine and I’ve surprised them by having it professionally printed, framed and ready to hang and their reaction has been one that I don’t think would have been replicated if money was involved.
With that said, I would like to give away 5 of any of the prints I have curated at Thingsshot.com. You select the one that most resonates with you, I have it printed with the great folks at Mpix and they ship it to you.
How to Win
Three 5x7 prints will given away and two 8x12. How will you know which format you’ll be receiving? It’ll all be dependent upon answering one question and sharing one photograph.
The top 2 submissions will receive the 8x12 prints and the 3 runner-ups will receive each a 5x7 print.
The Queries
- What initially interested you into photography?
- Share with us your most meaningful photograph and describe it’s significance.
This small contest will be open for a week, starting today and ending on July 8th. Send your replies and images to contact[at]jorgeq.com with the subject title “Things Shot Giveaway”. Please ensure to include your name and also a website URL if you have one.
All the winner’s questions and photographs will be published here. In the end, it’s all about sharing each other’s art. You don’t have to be a professional anything to create art. You just have to have confidence in that you’re a creator of it.
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3 Days Without an iPhone
It suddenly stopped working. The screen persisted in being off and unresponsive and no trouble shooting tactic seem to revive what now was my dead iPhone. If you ask me, I think the combination of too much jailbreaking and just the life of the battery all contributed to its death.
What’s interesting is that making phone calls was second to everything else I accomplished with the device yet to make up for the inability to now make a phone call, I resorted in using this cracked Razor flip-phone that we had laying around the house. I quick SIM card swap revived it.
This may seem a bit overboard but being without my iPhone for 3 days has completely made me feel disconnected. The days seem one-sided, half-completed but mostly disoriented because I have zero access to online content that generally keeps me in touch with what’s transpiring in the world. Even standing on line at the supermarket feels unfamilar.
Staying in communication with my wife consist mostly of SMS throughout the day but I refused to put so much effort in trying to text on a phone that doesn’t have a full-blown keyboard like I’ve been accustom to already. It’s a complete hassle.
The device has not only changed my communication habits but it’s brought a new level of excitement and enthusiasm that apparently can easily be taken away from going a fews days without a technology that has forever changed me.
Art Changes You
Whenever an author decides to mention in their book successful companies, it’s almost a given that Apple will be included in that inventory. I’m half-way through Seth Godin’s Linchpin and there’s a chapter where he touches on how we can all be creators of art but not if what we create doesn’t instill some form of change to the recipient and this particular entry resonated with my current plight -
The design of the iPhone is art. It changes the way some people feel. It changes the way they use the device. It changes the way they communicate. And there is a gift as well. People who see the iPhone but don’t buy one still receive the gift. An ugly iPhone would cost as much as the beautiful one. The beautiful part is the free prize inside, the bonus, the gift to us from the artist who designed it.
I was among the few that pre-ordered the iPhone 4. I’m excited beyond belief because the device no longer acquires its popularity based on the bragging rights that comes with owning one but on the integral and emotional relation that you develop with a technology that enables you to be more attached with things you care about. It’s no longer an ornament to what you already own, it’s an integral part to what you want to accomplish.
I’m ready to get back to normal. Normal for me means keeping up on Tweets, Facebook, feeds, reading and texting all of which seems like normal habits for any Mac and web enthusiast.
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Antitrust ★ ★ ★ ★
As a techie, one my favorite geek movies is Antitrust starring Ryan Phillippe. It’s a film that presents a rather credible technology-oriented story line that can be enjoyed by the general public but even more so by those who have a more direct connection to the software/computer industry.
I have absolutely no programming knowledge but a great selling point for me was seeing how the movie showed many aspects of the current computer industry and if you’re the type to embrace the future, specifically in how a device like the iPhone has revolutionized the way we communicate and share content, then you’ll love this movie.
The basic plot is this:
Milo Hoffman and Teddy Chin are two of the brightest minds in the computer programming world and also best friends. Their views are very close to being the same when it comes to the world’s knowledge. That it should be free.
But one day Milo lands a job as an elite programmer for the most prodigious technology firm in the world (clearly patterned after Microsoft). His tech genius friends are disappointed that he sold out to the corporate giant.
They believe that all source code should be non-proprietary (translation: programs that programmers create should be free for everyone to use) and this is where the story gets juicy. The program that they’re both working on will let every device such as cell phones, PDA’s, laptops, and computers transfer and broadcast media such as pictures and videos.
It may not be the most accurate movie in terms of technical details and user interfaces or in how computers communicate, but all of that doesn’t matter. The movie is suspenseful, exciting, and highly entertaining and Tim Robbins plays a very convincing bad guy.
I can’t help imagine how well received this film might have been by the Open Source Community. I rarely ever buy DVDs. I’m more of a renter or streamer of content but I actually own this one.
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The Adamant Guide
For me, going on an organized all inclusive resort is not traveling. At best, it’s all a relaxation, food and alcoholic consumption adventure that characterizes what it’s like being on a cruise ship, unless you choose to participate in other more life changing experiences.
Travel is more than just going to a destination. If that were the case, can you imagine running errands as as a form of saying that you traveled? But then again, travel can mean different things to everyone.
In my eyes, travel is about going on journeys to experience new things, people, and places. It’s about gaining insights into new cultures, trying local food and leaving the place with some knowledge of the rhythm of local life and cross-examining their circumstances with yours and feeling a sense of transformation inside because of it.
Booking the Alternatives
During our Carnival vacation, at every port we docked, there was little escape from local tour guides trying to coax us to take part in one of their many private excursions to tour the island. The best you can do with that many people talking to you is to politely voice your disinterest and walk away.
While in St.Kitts, I recall saying to one guide that kept flashing his brochure to us, “We’re just going to walk around instead but thank you for the offer” and to that he replied, “You can walk around all day but nothing of what you see will mean anything if there’s no story behind it”.
What bothered me about the statement was that he was right. Generally speaking, tour guides are expected to know a city intimately and offer guests interpretive information such as history and anecdotes on all sites and after some haggling, we were fortunate to book one that offered us all that plus more.
Minor showers were experienced as we toured the island of St.Kitts.At $25 a person for a 3hrs tour, he was adamant in not being paid until we were brought back to the ship and at that point I sensed his commitment to his profession and not because he marketed himself as “being the best” of what he did but because he wanted to focus on what the tour offered and not on how much it would cost.
All the islands we visited, tourism contributed as the number one source of revenue to the economy, second to coffee and bananas and 85% of workforce depended largely on these cruise ships to unload hundreds of eager tourist ready to spend money.
All 6 of us getting back into the van to continue the tour. No need to wait for other couples.We did spend a fair amount of it on tours, food and souvenirs but the adventures that were intertwined amongst all of it was memorable. Tourism is almost identical to any other business, like music or magazines. There’s something more formatted and unsurprising to please the majority, and there’s an alternative to please the minority and sometimes, it’s the former that will make more of an impression on you.
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Getting Your Photography Content
I read a lot about photography and I found out that the further I extend my knowledge, the more I step outside of the box and away from my comfort zone. What’s important though is that the actual reading never surpasses the amount of time spent on shooting which is essential so as to put in practice what you’re learning.
It’s also fair to say that I write about photography a little but from my experience, very few of the content I take in is acquired from magazines.
At best, the most interaction I have with them comes from routine visits to Barnes & Noble when I know new issues will be put out but I hardly ever make a purchase. Not to say I don’t consider their content worthy of any compensation but the ones I’m mostly attracted to (Practical Photography, Digital SLR Photography and Digital Photographer) are all UK-based publications which means they’re rather expensive in the states.
Their budget for producing these magazines must be massive because they bare no expense in ensuring you get your money’s worth in every edition. Like any other publication, they’re all heavily packed with advertising, but don’t let that fool you because what makes them effective and unobtrusive is that they are all relevant. I always walk away with a minimum of 5 URLs I’ve written down of products that were advertised and post them to Fotovine.
Wired’s recent Magazine App for iPad has had heads turning and I would love to see that same advance towards digital publishing adopted by others especially if it involved any of these 30 Photography Magazines. I think that’s probably what it would take for me to actually purchase a magazine again.
Until then, I have a plethora of blogs to supply me with a diverse reading list of photography content with some of the most influential ones being Digital Photo Experience, PetaPixel and of course The Digital Photography School.
