Friday Happy Hour: Lady Gaga Owns Your Photos & More

The photo industry never ceases to surprise us. This week Allen posted his so-called rant, “Why I Love Photography“. The post has attracted over 1k Facebook likes, 1,200 tweets, and 120 comments. Clearly he hit a chord. Other topics this week that were worth paying attention to? Just check out our roundup below.

The “Fame Monster” owns your soul (and your photographs)

Sure, one look at Lady Gaga and you can tell that she’s a little ridiculous. (A dress made of meat? Really? We still can’t get over this.) Now her latest media stint is hitting the papers – that is, Lady Gaga demands that photographers surrender ownership of their photos of her.

Concert photographers may be used to signing Photo Release Forms that limit how close they can get to the stage, which songs they can photograph, etc., but Lady Gaga’s release form takes the cake. Now this story is from last spring, but we thought it deserved some attention; according to TBD, a local news site for the Washington D.C. area, their photographer Jay Westcott was required to sign this form in order to photograph Lady Gag’s concert last March:

In short, by signing this form, your photos belong to Lady Gaga. TBD editors told Westcott not to sign the agreement and not to shoot the concert. Apparently other “big name” artists have similar agreements, like the Foo Fighters and the Beastie Boys. But seriously, how big is too big? Perhaps this is what we’ve come to with stars who know that the media needs them way more than they need the media.

Cowbird to change the way we use photos to tell stories

A Jonathan Harris project – the man behind Today (1 photo everyday for 440 days) – Cowbird is simple: 1 photograph and accompanying text/audio to tell the story behind the photo. The goal is to pioneer a new form of participatory journalism, and build a long-term library that documents the human experience.

You currently must request an invite to Cowbird, but once inside you’re encouraged to use it as a visual diary of your life and add your stories to the library for public viewing. Cowbird automatically finds similar stories by other photographers and authors in the community, so that you can discover like-minded individuals and follow their stories.

For those not interested in signing up for another service (though it’s free!), simply browsing the library by themes and topics like mystery, euphoria, Africa, hopelessness, and wisdom is enough to keep you enthralled for hours. Learn more about what Cowbird has to offer and take a look for yourself.

Creative Freelancer Conference – discount!

We’re pleased to share with you our “tell-a-friend” discount to this year’s Creative Freelancer Conference in Boston from June 21-22. This $50 discount off the full-conference rate gets you two days of workshops and speakers on the best tools to maximize your freelance income.

You’ll get expert advice on money management, marketing, client relations, and more. Plus, the chance to connect with fellow freelancers.  We attended last year and this was once of the best events we’ve ever participated in. Visit the event website to see who’s speaking (including our own Allen Murabayashi) – and don’t forget to apply the coupon code CSPKR for your discount!

Emiliano Granado’s portraits featured in Men’s Health magazine

This is the stuff of dreams: PhotoShelter friend and Argentine photographer Emiliano Granado was working on a personal project, Time For Print, when the photo editor at Men’s Health commissioned him to take some sexy Polaroids for the magazine. You read it right – real Polaroids! Here are some shots from behind the scenes that Emiliano shared on his blog:

Last fall, PhotoShelter hosted a live webinar with Men’s Health‘s Senior Photo Editor Michelle Stark. Watch the video recording and get tips for what photo buyers like Michelle are looking for and how you might get picked up by magazine editors.

1x.com – an online gallery

Have you heard of 1x.com yet? We recently stumbled upon this online photo gallery and social network, which curates photos from around the world to publish in their galleries online. They claim to take only 1/20th of the photos uploaded, which makes it sound pretty exclusive. Photographers are enticed by the exposure offered by 1x.com’s 150,000 daily visitors, and art collectors are drawn by the option to purchase premium art prints. There’s also a photographer’s community where you can solicit feedback and participate in online discussions.

Check out the images – what do you think of their collection?

Sheri Lynn Behr awarded a 2012 Individual Artist Fellowship

A shout out to PhotoShelter member Sheri Lynn Behr who was awarded the 2012 Individual Artist Fellowship grant for Photography from the New Jersey Council on the Arts! Sheri has been photographing musicians and celebrities in the New York area since the 1970s. Some of her photos of The Ramones, David Bowie, and the Rolling Stones are now collected as fine art photographs. Congrats, Sheri!