Photographing others' art work...

[sleeper54]

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hey there all...

Long time no talk...

I found I had a question that extensive 'googling' was not helping with . . .so I thought of the 'smartest' online group that I could think of to ask.

( How is that for greasing the gears..?? ...:minism:... )


So what is the proper etiquette of photographing the art work/creations of others..??

There is an art show in the city this weekend and I was considering blogging about it and including some pics of some of the interesting art. But had never really thought about the . . .'correctness' of doing so before. ( Refresh the page if the link does not work. Not sure what is wrong with it... )


So whadda ya think..?? Ask first..?? Just do it..?? Just do it with a link to the artist's website..?? Ask first with a promised link..??


Of course, amateur photographer that I am . . .I caught a photographer sound asleep in his chair earlier this evening. Thought it would be a good commentary on the grueling grind of the art show life . . .but of course the dang camera battery chose to die just then..!! ...sigh...


Anyway . . .just curious what y'all think..!!


Nice to post here again . . .not sure I need to jump-start my eaf addiction again though . . .. ...:minism:...
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...tom...

[lynnzop[$]]

It depends on what you are photographing and what you are doing with it, Tom.

(A little background...since you've been absent I've gotten pretty hot and heavy into the art fair scene - am even considering Des Moines next year.)

If you are taking general photos, like the ones in this blog (haha, second photo, you can see someone shopping at my booth!) you are perfectly fine.

If you are taking photos of a specific booth, like the one in my attachment, you'd better talk to the person running the booth. This is my booth, but I asked the folks who were shopping if it was okay if I took the photo and potentially posted it on th web. I think the rule of thumb is that if they are potentially identifiable, you are better off asking.

If you are taking photos of "human interest" (i.e., your guy asleep in the chair) and you plan on doing anything with it aside from showing it to your grandkids and friends or putting in a scrapbook, you should ask permission, but it's not essential.

If you are taking photos of specific art work....you'd DAMN well better talk to the artist. Most artists (myself included) frown very heavily on anyone taking closeups of their work. Copyright infringement, other artists stealing ideas/techniques, etc., are a big deal in the industry. I would be sincerely p-o'd if I caught anyone outside of official fair personnel or someone who identified themselves as a member of the media taking photos of my work. And even those folks had better ask first.

Hope that helps...I'm going to the Omaha Summer Arts Festival this weekend (what's left of it anyway we had another horrific storm last night!) as a looker, someday I'll make it out to Des Moines!!!

[sleeper54]

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Interspersed...

lynnzop said

It depends on what you are photographing and what you are doing with it, Tom.

(A little background...since you've been absent I've gotten pretty hot and heavy into the art fair scene - am even considering Des Moines next year.)

Absences happen . . .and if you dare come anywhere near Des Moines and do not contact me (perhaps even Kim..??) you will be in deep, deep . . .trouble.

lynnzop said

If you are taking general photos, like the ones in this blog (haha, second photo, you can see someone shopping at my booth!) you are perfectly fine.

If you are taking photos of a specific booth, like the one in my attachment, you'd better talk to the person running the booth. This is my booth, but I asked the folks who were shopping if it was okay if I took the photo and potentially posted it on th web. I think the rule of thumb is that if they are potentially identifiable, you are better off asking.

I had definitely intended to keep individuals 'unidentifiable'; well, perhaps other than in crowd shots. A closeup of two shoppers as you attached I would definitely not use w/o permission.

lynnzop said

--snip--

If you are taking photos of specific art work....you'd DAMN well better talk to the artist. Most artists (myself included) frown very heavily on anyone taking closeups of their work. Copyright infringement, other artists stealing ideas/techniques, etc., are a big deal in the industry. I would be sincerely p-o'd if I caught anyone outside of official fair personnel or someone who identified themselves as a member of the media taking photos of my work. And even those folks had better ask first.

Exactly as I thought an artist might react.

That said, ideas and examples are out there. They have to be for an artist to sell. All they can do is 'make' their product worth it ...over that knock-off that someone else creates.

But I certainly do, as a writer, understand an artist's ...your, passion to defend their creations.

lynnzop said

Hope that helps...I'm going to the Omaha Summer Arts Festival this weekend (what's left of it anyway we had another horrific storm last night!) as a looker, someday I'll make it out to Des Moines!!!

'Most Helpful' indeed. I will be going back today, I think, by myself. Perhaps I can interact with a few of them and see what they think.

Thanks for the great reply.



...tom...
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[theworm[$]]

Hey Stranger!

Hope you'll get sucked back into EA - we miss you!
I pretty much agree with Lynn.

The only thing that I would add is that if you're photographing someones art you do need permission, but I think that you also want to show it as a photo. Taking a photo of art and cropping it to the exact image can be more objectionable to taking a photo of the piece in a setting - showing the environment or people in it, etc. It's a minor point, but I think it has some importance - if that makes any sense at all.

[thinkerlady[$]]

Hey there Stranger. Good to see you stop by!!!

[sleeper54]

theworm said

Hey Stranger!

Hope you'll get sucked back into EA - we miss you!
I pretty much agree with Lynn.

The only thing that I would add is that if you're photographing someones art you do need permission, but I think that you also want to show it as a photo. Taking a photo of art and cropping it to the exact image can be more objectionable to taking a photo of the piece in a setting - showing the environment or people in it, etc. It's a minor point, but I think it has some importance - if that makes any sense at all.

Hey there wormie...

Thanks for the 'we miss you' thought..!! The feeling is mutual for all of you...

Your points about 'context' absolutely makes sense. Which is exactly what I was trying to capture.

I wound up using just one specific image. With permission (after the fact) and a link to the artist's webpage.

Another artist gave me a business card and asked me to use the images at his website. Which was cool . . .but later found his website is 'flash-based' so no real URLs to dig out. At least that I knew how to capture.

The write-up is linked at my Eps user-page 'homepage' link...


...tom...
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