WTF? Not Even A Plug?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

A few days ago, and such a beautiful summer morning it was, I get an email from someone (a writer) who compliments me on my photographs, and asks if whether I'd be amenable to send one of them to illustrate a European blog (whose link was provided). It was implied there would be no payment for the  photograph.

Before emailing back in a caustic tone (as I usually do to such emails), or ignoring the implied message and provide the contractual terms and pricing tariff for the photograph required, I checked into this European blog and saw it was beautifully crafted...a sort of a compendium for fine arts, culture, photography and other high brow stuff...and if statistics were correct, has a decent readership. And it was based (despite it being in English) in a country from which I have no clients for my photo expeditions-workshops.

So I swallowed hard, and replied to the request, in essence agreeing to provide a photograph on the condition that it was (1) properly credited to me, (2) that my two main websites and this blog would be highlighted, and (3) a paragraph about me and my photo expeditions-workshops (a paragraph that I would write up) be added at the bottom of the post.

Yes, I know...this is a lopsided exchange, more advantageous to the European blog than to me. It'd get a lovely image for nothing...but I reckoned this could've advertised my photo expeditions-workshops to a 'new' country, and to a well-heeled demographic/readership interested in arts and cultures. It would have been a one-off thing...and perhaps it would've paid off...or maybe not.

The response to my generosity? Something to the effect that it would only be a copyright notice...and nothing more.

Whoa! Isn't that the ultimate chutzpah?

So readers of this blog post...what should be my response? I have my four-lettered response ready to go....but if you like, make your suggestions on my Facebook page.

POV: WTF? Will They Change?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

"...the lack of grace by the surly keepers of the Cheraman Juma Masjid was jarring..."

I can hardly be described as a critic of Islam, since I've always been constructively supportive of its world-class religious traditions and its admirable moral values, and of Muslims in general. 

However, I must say I was spectacularly discomfited by the reception and attitude of the individuals involved in the Cheraman Juma Masjid; the oldest mosque in India and in Kerala's Kodugallur district. On one of the last days of my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™, I decided to take my group to visit and photograph this historical mosque.

We were coming from an indescribable "high" from photographing the Bharaini festival of the Oracles, (not too far away from the mosque itself) for two solid days, and where we had been welcomed by the excitable crowds of worshippers, helped by self-appointed guides, and always smiled at. Not once was I (or to my knowledge, anyone else in our group) treated brusquely or rudely.

Not so at the venerable mosque.

I was brusquely gestured at by the security guard to go to an empty office...directive that I ignored. He wasn't pleased, and was nonplussed when I asked him if he was a Muslim. He wasn't, and the question stunned him long enough for me to continue walking towards the mosque itself....leaving him scratching his head.

The women in our group wore the required head scarves, but were prohibited from entering the main hall of the mosque, and shunted to a dingy side room where there was nothing to see.

Our driver, a Muslim himself, was roughly scolded by a couple of Islamic scholars who were passing through because he was removing his shoes where he shouldn't have. Actually, his "trespass" was about two inches in.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Now, here's my take on this. The Cheraman Juma Masjid is the oldest mosque in India and worthy of  pilgrimages and visits by Muslims and non-Muslims for its venerable history and status. It's also in dire need of donations and of funding. One would think that the peptic keepers of this moque would exude charm, hospitality and proffer a welcome mat to all visitors alike...in the hope of donations.

But no. Quite the opposite.

So here's what I would tell the keepers of this mosque, and beyond. Fatimah, the favorite daughter of the Prophet of Islam, prayed alongside him in Mecca. His wife, Khadija, was a self made business woman. To treat women of whatever persuasion as inferior is anti-Islamic and in direct contradiction to the actions and values of the Prophet himself. They can disagree all they want...they can risk a collective apoplexy...but that's the truth.

Here's what I would tell the two scholars who chided our driver. I would tell them that God is all forgiving, and it would have been more in keeping with Islamic traditions to be gentle if someone made an unintended mistake. And minding their own business would be even better, since it would avoid having others like me chiding them for wearing unkept beards, and lecturing them on real Islamic values.

How could I explain to the members of my group why we were welcomed with no discrimination at Hindu religious gatherings, but faced with surliness and boorish behavior at the Cheraman Juma Masjid?

I couldn't.

So the question of this post is pertinent. Will these delightful young boys who were so pleased to see us, and excitedly pose for us at the nearby Islamic medresa, change when they get older? Will they also be surly and unwelcoming to non Muslims?

And if yes, why?

POV: WTF? "Dear Travel Photographer Blog"

CLICK TO ENLARGE & READ

Oh, what fun! I received one of "those" cheeky emails again. I get a few every month, but this one in particular prompted me to write a WTF? post. It's been awhile since I've written one...I don't want to get rusty.

So yes, I got an email from someone assisting a travel photographer (possibly well known, but one I've never heard of...not that means much anyway) who asked me to post a banner and a press release advertising this travel photographer's 2012 photo tours. Yes, you read that correctly...a banner!! A banner of the photographer's photos on my blog!!

There are a couple of rather obvious gigantic WTF?s here.

The first is that I am a travel photographer who creates, plans and leads photo workshops, so why would I want to advertise someone else's trips? Yes, my photo workshops are certainly different from many others, since my niche is in combining documentary photography with travel photography throwing multimedia coaching in the mix, and generic or other travel photography tours wouldn't be real competition, but what's in it for me? Nothing. And why would I endorse photo tours I know nothing of?

The second WTF? is that there was no indication that if I were to do this, I'd be compensated in any way. There was no request for my advertising rates for example, nor an offer to reciprocate the favor on the other photographer's website/blog. No, it's "just do it for free".

I replied, as politely as I could, saying I wouldn't do anything of the sort, explaining why using the simplest words in the English language.

This brings me to a larger question, and one that has been raised by other photographers who author popular blogs.

Here's some statistics: The Travel Photographer's blog gets anywhere between 80,000 and 90,000 unique views a month. PDN's monthly print circulation is 20,000.

If I were to say that ad rates in photo magazines' and their websites are in the $500-3000 range, would I be far from the truth? I don't think so. Of course, rates depend on the size of the ad, frequency, color or B&W...but who reads print magazine these days? Not many, but many more read blogs...a lot more.

So why shouldn't individual popular bloggers expect and get similar revenue streams to advertise products and services? The Travel Photographer blog and other popular photography blogs reach a much larger segment of consumers than most photography magazines, and we are still played for suckers when it comes to adverts.

WTF?! Be A Sucker And Publicize A Book...For Free.

 

The pre-ordained order of my posts was upended!

It's been a while I haven't ranted, and I was a little worried I had lost my acerbity. But the gods of mean answered my prayers, and the provocation for ranting appeared in the form of an email...perhaps not as good as a live real event, but close enough.

And since nothing turns me on as much as an opportunity for a juicy rant, here's the story in some detail...

A few days ago, I got an email from a book publisher (its website claims it's the world’s leading publisher of books on visual arts) asking me to feature a just published book of images by a photographer, enclosing a bunch of pictures of the book, and some background material.

Now, I occasionally receive such requests from book publishers who inquire whether I'd like to receive a book, review it and then post comments. This time...nothing of the sort....no book to review, no freebie of any type...just do it because it would make the corporate publisher and photographer happy. Truth be told, I've seen the work of the photographer ad nauseam, and if I had been sent the book, it would end up being a door stop...or prop a rickety desk...if not worse.

That being said, I figured that it was perhaps an opportunity to make money....and with whatever paid, I'd sponsor a deserving photographer to attend the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. So I drafted a sweet short email that went like this...

"thank you for the email. i'd be glad to consider it against payment for ad space. you can choose either a post about the book, or a side bar advert. Let me know if you want me to send you my rates."

The response came in rather promptly, and it said that the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts didn't have any budget for advertising at the moment. 

Funny, huh? No, not funny at all. They ought to be ashamed of themselves....because they do and must have the budget. If not, they wouldn't be the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts.

For those who love analogies as I do, here's one that seems perfectly suited for the situation. I own a small modest building, and a large for profit conglomerate asks me to stick an enormous billboard for one of its products on the side of my building, and wants me to tell my tenants what a great product it is...and wants me to do it for free....and perhaps because they think I'm a sucker,  or because they believe they're entitled to exploit others, they won't pay for the privilege of using this space and for my time. An apt analogy, I think.

I should have suggested an alternative to the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts. In consideration of my hyping its book on my blog, it could market my own books, and peddle them on its own website and online stores. You see, it's because The Travel Photographer has no budget for advertising...just like you.

For all other buyers who are interested, my two books Bali: Island of Gods and Darshan can be found here. By the way, sales of these two books have exceeded my expectations (and were achieved without the support of the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts).

WTF! The NYPD Hates Chinese Opera?

Photo Courtesy The Gothamist

One of my favorite photographic destinations in NYC's Chinatown is Columbus Park, where large number of Chinese residents and non-residents congregate during the weekends to play xiangqi, a board game similar to Western chess, mah-jong, and cards while listening to cacophonous Chinese opera performed by two groups of amateurs (most of whom are senior citizens).

But now I'm seriously pissed off. Here's why:

The Gothamist recently had an article with a video featuring the NYPD arresting an elderly man at the park on May 8 when they tried to stop a group of senior citizens from playing Chinese music...presumably he was a member of the bands that accompany the singers.

It may have been caused by a noise complaint by a resident, but it's more likely that it was that these bands of amateurs did not have the requisite permits that all street NYC performers need to have before playing in the streets.

Having said that, there's no doubt the NYPD crossed the line in how its officers dealt with this. On The Gothamist site, there's a short video that shows how the Chinese and others were brutally dispersed...the use of mace and batons was threatened, and the man arrested was thrown to the ground, then handcuffed.

These amateur Chinese opera singers (more like classical Chinese karaoke in my view) were certainly cacophonous, and perhaps even discordant to Western ears, but they brought in a lot of tourists and residents alike, and didn't harm anyone...quite the opposite.

So it's either that the NYPD has no ear for Chinese opera, or they really have nothing else to do. Since Osama Ben Laden was killed last week or so, I suppose they can now focus their efforts on arresting harmless senior citizens who speak no or little English.

The NYPD ought to nab the marijuana peddlars in Washington Square Park instead...or the vendors of counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags on Canal Street...and leave me the Chinese opera singers to photograph.

I wrote a number of posts on the Columbus Park Chinese opera, but this one describes the setting, while this following audio slideshow I produced is of one of the bands.

POV: Hipstamatic...OMG! It Looks So Retro!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved (Pseudo Hipstamatic LR Preset)

I've been scratching my head at the sudden flurry of Hipstamatic and/or Instagram "photography". I've seen well-traveled photojournalists and conflict photographers featuring images made with iPhones, and simultaneously processed using Hipstamatic or Instagram apps. Images from the Yemen uprising, the Egypt's Revolution, the Afghanistan conflict and Libya's rebellion are virtually flooding photo sites and blogs.

To me, these apps spice up photographers' standard fare...that's all. Certainly, the images do represent what photographers see and what's in front of their tiny phone lenses, but unless these images are able to be presented to form coherent documentary story-telling, I view them as a fad...a sort of fashion statement...or cute postcards without the scribbled messages in their back.

While the photos made using iPhones capture the instantaneous immediacy of events, let's smile at the retro, cool and Holga-ish look...but focus on how the photographer using an iPhone is able to present compelling content for viewers...or not. That's the litmus test.

In the long run, that's what viewers of photojournalism care about...content...not whether an image looks retro or not. And so should photographers. Pretending that using an iPhone loaded with these apps is the next new "photo thing" is silly...because it's not.

The above image was processed in Lightroom using a Holgalike-preset. The original is in the post below this one.

WTF?! The Entitlement (or The Me Me) Syndrome

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Perhaps fearing I had mellowed, I was prompted by a number of readers to write an acerbic rant, a pontificating diatribe, a raging soliloquy about something and/or stuff that irritated me. I really had an embarrassment of choices...I could've ranted about the tourists who abruptly stop and just gawk on the narrow sidewalks of the West Village...I could've raged about the mindless people who walk while texting on their Blackberries and bump into me...or I could've complained about the combative mothers/nannies who propel their prams/strollers into my shins because I hadn't promptly jumped out of the way when we meet on the same sidewalks....or of course, about the dog owners who encourage their best friends to take gargantuan dumps near my building but don't clean after them; perhaps hoping that the unobservant step on it.

But these are small annoyances that are part and parcel with living in New York city, and are undeserving of a monumental rant...and also have nothing to do with photography.

No, my plump and juicy rant is on a misplaced sense of entitlement that some established photographers seem to have.

Let me begin with this preamble....I've started The Travel Photographer's blog four years ago, and since then, it attracted a healthy number of readers and visitors. It established itself as a blog to read amongst a certain segment of the photography industry, and earned me the attention of many photographers (pros, semi-pros and non pros),  photo retailers and industry experts.

It's no secret that I use this blog to publicize my photography and my photo~expeditions, however I mainly use it to give exposure to emerging photographers. Like me when I started some 10-12 years ago, these emerging photographers, especially if they're not Westerners, have a difficult time getting recognition for their work, especially in the environment we find ourselves in.

I knew no one in the photo industry when I started my photography...I knew very few photographers when I started The Travel Photographer's blog...and I started The Travel Photographer's Photo~Expeditions on a whim, not really knowing what I was getting myself into. To this day, I never asked a photographer or photojournalist for help in promoting my business....I never asked any of the hundreds of the participants who joined my photo~expeditions to refer my trips to their friends, family members, etc. I never uttered/wrote the words "if you know a friend or two who's interested in my trips or my photos, pass my name/website along". All I've done is slowly build the brand brick by brick.

I have no sense of entitlement...I am not entitled to anything...I do my own thing without burdening people with requests for introductions, for referrals, for links to my website/blog on others', for freebies, etc. With the exception of being part of the terrific Foundry Photojournalism Workshop "family", I haven't joined collectives...I haven't joined pseudo-clubs. I could have...but didn't. I am perfectly content with what I am doing and achieved so far.

It's perhaps because of this that I find the attitude of a few photojournalists-photographers to be really puzzling. They ask me to feature their work on The Travel Photographer blog...which I gladly do. Then they ask again...and again. And I do and do again. But then it hit me...why do they think it's okay to ask me to feature their work, to spread the word about their photo workshops and their inflated resumes...but have no intention of ever reciprocating that courtesy in any fashion? Is it because they have an overdeveloped sense of entitlement, a narcissistic personality disorder? Is it because they think they're doing me a favor? Is that what they think 'networking' is? I just don't get it.

Let me be very clear...the likes of John Stanmeyer, Gary Knight, Ron Haviv, Phil Borges, Maggie Steber, etc are the most gracious photographers I've come across (and none of them asked me for anything)....and I've had immense pleasure to showcase their incredible work whenever I come across it, and to learn from it....and I'm happy to continue doing so.  Many photographers (Chico Sanchez is one of those) are equally generous with links and coverage of my work on their own websites and blogs, and many others are appreciative of being featured on my blog. No, this is about a few others...some I met personally and others I didn't...who seem to think that I am somehow obliged to show their work, expected to praise it, and publicize their workshops/activities. This sense of obtuse entitlement drives me bonkers.

I repeat: I Am Not Obliged To Feature Your Work And Your Photo Workshops Because You Think I Ought To.

What I mostly do on this blog is publicize and give exposure to the work of emerging photographers...some of whom are in Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, etc....it's the work of those photographers that I care about, and what my readers appear to be interested in. And if I do feature the work of established and renowned photographers and/or photojournalists, once, twice or a million times, it's because I'm impressed by it.

Capice? Good...now let's move on.

End of rant.