LightVision

Time to deck the halls again as another New Year approaches, an auspicious one for Wildlight Photo Agency, which will mark its 25th anniversary in 2010. With your support, we look forward to a great innings for our quarter century milestone…

Tips for Blissful Holiday Touring

Australians are used to spending a lot of time behind the wheel, travelling great distances for work or play. Doing this frequently means the charm of the scenery may wear off pretty fast, but there are blessed diversions.
We’ve gathered a few such images here for your enjoyment and as a mental oasis for instant recall following that inevitable moment of holiday motoring when a chorus of little voices chirps ‘are we there yet?’ which might just about push you over the edge. Steady on, pull over, lie back and think of Wildlight!

Laughing at letterboxes

No matter how far out your outback is in Australia, there is a constant — the national sense of humour — a wry reminder that it’s unwise to take oneself too seriously. Bill Bachman’s recent collection of quirky mailboxes and roadside driveway markers can bring smiles to the faces of even the most jaded of road warriors.

Season’s Greetings and A Happy 2010

All of us at Wildlight Photo Agency wish you good cheer for the Yuletide Season and health and success in the New Year. We appreciate your business and look forward to working together again in 2010. Jean-Marc is in Europe freezing with family, and I’ll be roasting in country New South Wales. So, you can blow canon balls through the office over the holidays, feel free to use the website and hit the credit card. We’ll be back on deck around 11 January, unless it’s a beach day…

Photographer Central

Stand to Applaud!

A retrospective of the work of the late photo legend Rennie Ellis earlier this year staged by the National Gallery of Victoria was accompanied by the limited edition publication ‘No Standing Only Dancing‘ which won a Ruby award for book and slip case at the recent Victorian PICA judging in Melbourne reports Manuela Furci from the Rennie Ellis Archive, see details here for more info and orders.

16th Joop Swart Masterclass

Wildlight founder Philip Quirk informs us he is the local chair for this annual World Press Photo event held in the Netherlands. The Masterclass is a one-week session with a group of the best photographers, photo editors and agency directors from around the world. The award winners receive an all expenses paid trip to Amsterdam to participate in the Masterclass.
There are 12 places awarded to photographers from the nominations made by regional committees. The Australia/New Zealand committee will finalize its nominations by the end of January 2010. If you think you fit the criteria, contact Philip as soon as possible. You need to provide a current portfolio by CD or email, plus details of your web site. The committee in Australia comprises Philip Quirk, Michael Amendolia and Robert McFarlane. Check all the details as well as the criteria for Masterclass nomination at the home page for World Press Photo.

Sharing Stories online

Liz Thompson reports on a new cyber medium for children in remote locations and tells us, “We’ve just launched the new SharingStories Digital online site www.sharingstories.com.au and the young people would love to hear that you’ve looked at, listened to and enjoyed their work. Please take some time to check it out  and leave them some comments. For more information about this novel eCommunity you can contact Liz.

News from Hermit Park

Andrew Rankin who flies the flag for Wildlight in far north Queensland, tells us he’s just published a book from a bi-annual shoot that he does for Catholic Education in Townsville. It’s a 292-page hardcover tome covering images from 30 schools. See a preview here. More info from Andrew Rankin Photography.

Enduring vision

When we launched our LightVision ezine last year, we told you that its source inspiration was a bi-monthly magazine of the same name that had its origins in Melbourne in 1977 under the editorial stewardship of Wildlight director Jean-Marc Le Péchoux. Then as now the publication provided a snapshot of the history and techniques of photography with an emphasis on people in the business. Back then, well known photographers like Philip Quirk, founder of Wildlight Photo Agency and Rennie Ellis, later a contributing photographer to the agency, were typical authors of the articles. The modern day electronic version carries on this tradition — co-incidentally, with both these photographers still represented in the library—with the added benefit that in its blog format we can receive your feedback and ideas. Who better than Jean-Marc to note these 32 years on: plus ça change… as much as the times change things stay the same at Wildlight, the standard bearer of high-quality Australian photography for almost a quarter of a century. After such a tangent of self-congratulation, you must be wondering, where’s this all leading to? Look here at the scanned pages of LightVISION #1 Australia’s international photography magazine, dated Sep/Oct 1977 (captured as a pdf with searchable text) and you’ll be comforted by the knowledge that nothing has passed you by, corduroys are still the rage and real estate in South Yarra is just as likely to break the bank now as it did back then. Relive that seminal moment on a summer afternoon in the 1820s, when the first photographic image of a French garden taken by heliograph process, introduced what was to become an all-encompassing medium. And to cap the retrospective, this stanza of verse by Minor White, surely will leave us with little doubt that things are bound to be the same in 2041 (but don’t hold your breath!):
“Count inhalations
 Count exhalations
 Count nothing
 Be Breath”

New takes on Suburbia

Refresh your stock of home soil images, covering anything from cliff-top washing lines to ferry commuters to perambulating mums to period pubs, by paying a visit to our new features section where you’ll see that we’ve recently been out and about in the burbs capturing the latest esoterica from everyday life. Remember, Wildlight is pure Oz with an emphasis on ozone (there’s a lot of sea air in our picture library at wildlight.net). Let the spray lash your face and rejoice that you’re experiencing the GFC in a sun-filled place.

Going for the Big Picture…

Ever wonder how a small tranny blows up for use in large format installations for offices, displays and so on? See for yourself: Eight massive scenics from large format Wildlight panoramas cover feature walls in the newly fitted out Hyundai Motors head office complex in Ryde, Sydney. The project was handled by George P Johnson, a specialist design firm that also causes big things to happen at trade shows and exhibitions.

Go overseas with Wildlight

Pictures from our library now grace two pages of the new ‘N’ Series Australian passport produced by Note Printing Australia. Colin Beard’s lively image (Page 10) of a stockman driving cattle in the Victorian highlands as well as yachts (Page 35) on the Huon River in Tasmania by Tom Keating are among images of Australia printed throughout the document making every visa page unique. This has resulted in a passport which is very difficult to falsify through page substitution or tampering, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who launched the new document at the end of May.

Wildlight standard bearer and Australian trade power broker, Ernst Graf von Schmeckle, was one of the first to be issued with the paw proof passports, he immediately headed to the ‘drome’ to attend the G8 conference.

Hail Virtualisation!

After editing 300,000 ‘trannies’ in December, I spent January denying that photography existed. We kept only 3% of the analogue library, the rest were sent, all 500 kilos, back to photographers. Moving the business to a smaller space couldn’t have come at a better time - significantly reduced overheads; getting back to core business - an online picture library, not a storage facility for analogue IP - hail virtualisation! We have thousands of premium images from our photographers around Australia in the production pipeline and outstanding new collections have recently been uploaded.

New Collection

Pilbara Paradox

It’s like having a great lawn and inviting a puppy over to play; almost certain physical carnage. That’s the paradox facing the Pilbara, one of Australia’s most pristine and remarkable landscapes and also the one with the most mining and developmental activity. We thought it would be a good idea to preserve the memory of the Pilbara before it becomes too full of holes.

Hugh Brown and David Bettini our intrepid photographers from way out west have done just that with this updated collection of some pretty amazing images. These two WA pros capture the region from different  angles. Hugh’s recent pictures shoot, for the mining giants, are now available online. Hugh has clocked many hours hanging out of choppers over Port Hedland, covered in dust in the open pit mines and lost himself in the boondocks looking for exploration rigs.

As he scans across the open plains, David has concentrated on the ancient beauty of the Pilbara, from the emerald green waters to the coast to the red ragged ranges of the interior. All his recent online images can be found in his latest hard cover landscape book, Pilbara, Western Australia.

Editor’s Choice

Hope Springs Eternal

As history repeats itself with a season of horrendous bushfires, we at Wildlight are reminded of the recurring scenes of hardship, courage and heroism. We also see the benevolent signs of hope as  communities face the daunting task of rebuilding, in some cases starting over almost from scratch. This striking image by the late  Rennie Ellis taken six weeks after the devastating Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 near the Great Ocean Road , Victoria, is a timeless reminder of nature’s powers—good and bad—and a symbol of renewal in the face of destruction. Just add your masthead and gutter!

Early Australian Female Photographer

This month we feature Muriel Mowbray Stephenson, an early Australian female commercial photographer. Her interest in photography began in her native Tasmania at the beginning of 20th century and continued in Sydney, where she moved at the start of the World War I. She worked first in the Darlinghurst studio of C.S. Beers, who published under the title Carlton Series. In the 1940s, she took over the business and published as the Mowbray Series. Her studio was located right in the centre of Kings Cross, Sydney, next to the historic Darlinghurst fire station. Her studio was demolished in the 1970’s to make way for the tunnel. From the balcony she captured the changing face of Kings Cross over the years, including historic events such as the Queen’s visit in 1954.

Muriel’s distinctive cursive handwriting appeared as title information on the face of thousands of photographs and postcards distributed in Australia for decades.

Click here for a preview of her iconic images, now presented as the Mowbray Collection by Wildlight. These include historic Australian subjects; building stages of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, city trams and views of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. It is interesting to note that Muriel, who was my great-grand aunt, rarely took credit for her work in her own name; so I am pleased to now give her the recognition she so readily deserves.  Thousands more of her black & white images are still to be scanned. Enjoy a piece of Aussie history!

New alliance -Today we can announce that Wildlight will be distributing the Photo New Zealand collection in Australia! The Photo New Zealand (PNZ) collection features real Kiwi people, amazing scenery and enviable model-released lifestyle images, shot by leading Kiwi photographers. PNZ is a niche, premium library, that shares many core attributes with the Wildlight library. So for the best of Australia and New Zealand you can head to Wildlight. We’ll be launching the new partnership at the PictureHouse Sydney event next Wednesday 17, so pay us a visit. I’ll let you know once the Kiwi collection is available through the Wildlight website, in the meantime go here.

Pictures just in - I’m very happy to say that unlike our competitors we have not uploaded 2 million images this month. Instead we’ve uploaded premium Australian imagery by all rounder, Bill Bachman, tourism, lifestyle and housing pictures by Phil Quirk and iconic beach snapshots by Sheridan Nilsson. See the latest uploads here. Next month we’ll have a fantastic retro collection from the Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive to coincide with a four month long retrospective of Rennie’s work at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne - so dust off your flares or whip into ‘Vinnies’ for some tight fluro slacks and prepare for a flashback!

PictureHouse - Visit us there….

Wildlight will be an exhibitor at the Picturehouse Australia exhibition in Sydney next week on Wednesday, 17 September. Come see us at b2 photographic studio. Unit B2, 46 - 62 Maddox Street, Alexandria, NSW

Picture buyers can register now for a free admission ticket here.

Picturehouse events offer a unique opportunity to discover new sources of imagery, meet the people you only normally contact by phone and email, and network with peers in the industry — all in one location, all in one day! Hope to see you there. We’ll try to sneak in Ernst, the pug!

Hey, don’t take photos! I’ve only been bailed up like this a couple of times, and admittedly I knew I was in the wrong - I was standing on private property taking pictures. I’ve had a few enquiries from photographers, friends and parents at my son’s school, as to what you can and can’t take pictures of without being arrested or called a ‘rock spider‘ and driven out of town. Over the past 10 years there has been such manic social anxiety and political correctness, mostly misguided, regarding the rights of a photographer and the subject. It’s absurd that there should be such uproar about privacy, just look around at all the cameras hanging from street lights and buildings, heck, even at the cafe at lunch, Jean-Marc and I were being watched. Who looks at all this footage, where is it kept? is it safe? Is it already online?

The good news is, you can photograph anything (except military installations) and anybody you like from a public space - man, woman or child. Of course there are some reasonable exceptions, you can’t photograph in an inappropriate way, or with the intention to be subversive or obscene or use a photo in a defamatory manner. In addition you can’t photograph a person for commercial use without a signed model release. Commercial use means using a person’s image to promote a product or service. No surprise; you can’t photograph on private land without permission. There is especially fierce paranoia over images of children. Two excellent articles have been written, NSW Photo Rights: Australian Street Photography Legal Rights by Andrew Nemeth BSc (Hons) LLB, the second, Photography is not a Crime by Fairfax Media contributing photographer, Jon Reid. I suggest you read them right through. They make fascinating and informative reading and go a long way to correct the misconceptions about taking pictures in public. On Andrew’s site there is also a helpful fact sheet, which summarises the rights of the subject and the photographer. I recommend everyone print it out and keep it in their camera bag, download it here. Remember this info applies to New South Wales in particular. I’ll check if there are similar handy fact sheets for the other Australian states and territories.

So from a picture library point of view, we can publish pictures of anyone on our website. If we don’t have a model release, the pictures must be marked ‘editorial only’ - our customers can then only use them in magazines, newspapers and book publishing, including online versions of these.

So what about photographing in NSW public schools? As a parent with my son in public school, this is particularly interesting. Today, I called the principal of his school and had a long conversation about photographing the students. I could gauge from the conversation that there was a lot of grey areas, and plenty of individual interpretation. The principal is kindly finding out some info from the Department of Education, and I’m going to be talking to a couple of lawyers for their views. This topic needs much more examination, I’ll post my opinion next month. Hopefully next time you go to your child’s school, you can take a camera without being stoned by the town mob! But just remember it’s a sensitive issue.

What turns you on?

We need feedback about incentives, although we’re not going to offer an incentive for your feedback! What incentives would you like to be offered? Do they really motivate you? How many iPods does anyone need? What loyalty does it gain and at who’s expense?
Some of our competitors use mp3 players, department store gift cards, tropical holidays to gain customer loyalty, however for us at Wildlight, these kind of consumer items have nothing to do with the business of licensing pictures. Other competitors also use big discounts, like buy three get the forth free — we have too, in the past, however, I feel it’s a bit crude and only a last resort. So what tickles your fancy? Basic marketing principles suggest that the incentive must have some relevance to our business and the services we provide. Some of our photographers have published high-quality books, like Richard Woldendorp and David Bettini, do you really want these? They are beautiful and will last countless more years than an iPod. Some of our photographers, like David Moore, Rennie Ellis and Phil Quirk have fine art prints collected by public galleries around the world, worth thousands, are these objects of desire? Would you like to see a valuable framed image on your wall? Is it that photography is not seen as being an art form, and particularly so now that stock pictures are worth as little as $1. Is it just a trade, if it was I’d make more money being a plumber!

In the second edition of LightVision, I ran a promo, for a signed book by Richard Woldendorp worth $50, a great book, by one of the Australia’s greatest photographers, all that was required was to write a humourous testimonial about Aussies and Wildlight. I didn’t think it was too difficult, however, I didn’t receive a single entry -not one! I’m still unsure as to why it was a resounding failure, perhaps the prize wasn’t sexy enough, perhaps it targeted the wrong demographic, or perhaps it was too much work for a low value product. My reasoning was for my customers to be creative by using some witty copy, not just to whack down the plastic and purchase. So it’s encouraged me to call for your valuable feedback on this nettlesome topic. Leave a comment below and tell me what incentive would or would not instantly make you purchase a picture licence.

New light source

G’day lightseeker, it’s been a while and there’s plenty happening at Wildlight. I’m excited to say that this is the first edition of LightVision–a must see news feed from the editor’s desk at Wildlight. It’s a terrific news source to learn more about Wildlight’s great Australian content, find out more about the people at Wildlight, our talented photographers, read our opinions and find out where to see Australian visual art. We’ll also have discussions on copyright and licencing, and hilarious promotions, interviews and updates on the whereabouts of our photographers. Because its dynamic, you can keep coming back to LightVision by subscribing to an RSS feed. Just click here to stay focused.

Featured collection

We know you’re always looking for new stuff, so we’re giving you an instant replay of some of the most recent additions to our library. There’s a big mix because our photographers have been active around Australia, committed to providing up-to-date content of Australian people and places. Here’s a mid-year sample covering the Gold Coast, RF and RM images of Melbourne and a great spread from the still warm North Coast of NSW. And just in today, amazing shots of the Illawarra, including the spectacular cliff hugging bridge along the coastline above Woolongong. Click here to see the collection now

Meet the team

There are actually real people behind the brand, Andrew, Jean-Marc and Ernst, the pug. Yes we really are ‘two and a dog’. Young fathers, except Ernst, who’s had the chop! We work in Redfern - the Paris end of course. Jean-Marc, he’s the Frenchman writing lines of code to make the whole show work, he has been busy virtualising our business so we can spend more time on the road meeting you. Meet the team now.

Exhibitions and new books

Wildlight photographer, Richard Woldendorp, has just released another quality hardcover book, Abstract Earth: a view from above, coinciding with a new exhibition at the S.H Ervin Gallery at Observatory Hill, Sydney. I went to the opening and the images were breathtaking. The unique abstract perspective afforded from the air caused many observers to guess several times before understanding the subject of the images. The exhibition runs until 3 August. Next month you’ll find out how you can win a complimentary signed copy of Richard’s book, which sells for $49.95.

Burning question
Does licence duration really matter for brochures and annual reports? I received a call from a corporate graphic designer here in Sydney who had this burning question which has been unanswered for so long. The question came at a good time as we are soon to begin the process of simplifying our licence calculator; do I hear a collective sigh of relief? He felt that the total print run was more important, and that the duration was an unrealistic component in the licence. We had recently licenced a package of nine Richard Woldendorp aerials for a corporate brochure. He felt that after the initial mailout, the finished product sat in the client foyer for an indefinite time or in a box under Wendy’s desk, slowly collecting stiletto heel damage. I have to agree with him, it’s unrealistic and unenforceable to track the licence beyond a one or two-year period. Is the end-user going to pulp the brochures just because the magic time period has expired? Are we all that organised that we send a Google calendar reminder to ourselves? Then what happens when a person leaves the company? You can see, and most probably agree that having a fixed time period for brochures and DM in general is unrealistic and should be removed from the licence.
Have you got a questions about licencing which has been bugging you? Email me.

Get in step with our Walk on the Wildside promo.

To take advantage of this once in a lifetime offer, just purchase a licence worth more than $7 before the 17th of July and you could walk down Oxford Street–darlo or paddo end, no matter–with ERNST the Pug. As you’ve undoubtedly read in Our Team, he’s a ‘deal clincher’, but out of the office he’s a chick magnet and man puller. He’ll make sure you’re the center of attention, he pulls old and young, guys and girls. Act now and we’ll even wash him before the big day! You’ll be striking up a conversation with the person of your dreams before Ernst sniffs his first pole! He’s deaf as a post and completely motivated by food, so carry a dried pig’s ear in your pocket for his undivded attention.