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April 09, 2008

Photographers, we've got to find a better way.

Photographer I don't know about your inbox, but mine usually nets around 200 emails a day. A majority of those are work-related, some are from friends and a few here and there are from businesses (newsletters, notices, etc.). With [approximately] 200 emails sailing in, I rarely have time to read/respond to the ones that I REALLY want to.

These days, there's a new beast adding to that volume -- emails promoting the new shot from so-and-so. I knew that I was going to get an email, since I signed up at a few of our friends' book showings. When the emails arrived, it was good to take a quick glance at work from friends I may haven't seen yet.

Then, the emails kept coming. And then, even more arrived. So much so that I'm receiving about 15 emails a day from photographers from around the United States (maybe beyond). A majority of them are from people I don't know and/or have never heard of. Either way, I KNOW I didn't sign up for these emails -- which I'm now calling spam.

I've recently chatted with a local photographer and have heard their recent troubles of connecting with today's creatives. In a world where iStockPhoto and Shutterstock exist, our photographer friends are probably feeling the squeeze some.

I feel your pain. Really, I do. But we've got to stop sharing email addresses. It's not okay. What makes it worse is that I've "unsubscribed" to about 20 of them already.

Maybe we should come up with a large web site, much like Flickr, that photographers are able to upload their shots and tag them, group them, etc. Also included on this site could be an RSS feed, maybe a featured artist section, too. Then when anyone is looking for a particular style of photograph, or a certain person's work, they could go there. It could be the end-all, be-all spot.

Who's in?

Posted by SethyG on April 09, 2008 at 06:01 PM | Permalink
Categories: Web/Tech

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Comments

I'm a broadcaster and a photographer, and all I ever hear is people whining about crap like this (the microstock argument - not the solicitation issue). In radio, people complain about how voicetracking "ruined" the industry. In photography, people complain about how iStock and other microstock sites "ruined" that industry. This is a fast-paced, ever-changing world. If you can't keep up with the times and the technology, figure out a way to make yourself indispensable, and earn money through the different evolving channels - then you shouldn't be working in America.

Progress is what we do, baby.

Posted by:Fuzz Martin | April 09, 2008 at 08:18 PM

RSS should solve most of the problem. Can't you just use flickr, instead of coming up with something "much like" flickr?

What about CreativeCommons?

Posted by:pat smith | April 09, 2008 at 08:40 PM

AMEN brother. I just checked my work e-mail and there were two more messages like this waiting for me. I also get a lot of junk from reps and post-production houses. I have no idea where they're picking up my address, either.

I'd be really interested to hear what (if any) positive feedback they get from these e-mails.

You mentioned Flickr. I can't believe more professional photographers aren't using this resource to get their images, names and URLs in front of more eyes. This may be an over generalization, but it seems that photographers much prefer the 'walled garden' of their own personal website which they have to endlessly promote.

Posted by:Chris | April 09, 2008 at 08:57 PM

i also get quite a bit of photographers sending me postcards… ones I don't even know of. I have a sneaky suspicion these are linked!

remember the black(or was it work?) book. we just need an online aggregate of photographers and their work. RSS feed would be sweet for the new stuff we might miss.

Posted by:shaun Crockett | April 10, 2008 at 08:39 AM

Funny that I ran into this blog by accident. I've been aware of this problem for some time, and joined a company that is working on a solution for photographers. Not just a place to tag and group, etc, but a place to do it and get paid for it. Feel free to hit me up with questions, or go to photrade.com to sign up for the private beta. (if you email me, I'll make sure to get you an invite asap.)

Posted by:Chris Bergman | April 10, 2008 at 09:10 AM

lost in my book marks was this site, which is another good one.

http://www.inpholio.com/index.php?id=news&no_cache=1

Posted by:shaun Crockett | April 10, 2008 at 10:32 AM

It took all of 5 work days at Barkley for my inbox to start getting filled. All from attending one showing on my second day. The deluge has yet to cease.

Posted by:Jeremy Fuksa: Creative Generalist | April 10, 2008 at 11:27 AM

Soooo annoying. The worst for me is the illustrators. Their bloated emails full of image PDFs make my close-to-bursting inbox explode.

I know it's hard to get your work in front of us. But sending it to us, unsolicited, is a sure way make us never use you out of spite. Bring your book in. Bring some muffins. Talk to me face-to-face. That's the best way.

Some things the internet just isn't suited for, yet.

Posted by:Stephen Land | April 10, 2008 at 05:11 PM

You've got two main culprits:

http://www.agencyaccess.com/
http://www.adbase.com/

They call every agency in North America every six months and ask for an updated list of creatives (check out the listings with a free search - normally you can do this). You can probably tell these services to mark you as unavailable via email or at least tell the receptionist to do so. When I've had people tell me to advertise this way they always reference one of those sources.

My reaction (based on a LOT of comments like yours) is that this spamming concept sucks - it doesn't promote me but would make me a pest. What I do is I created a blog of new work (quick plug):

http://blog.alistairtutton.com/

I get about twenty hits a day (and it's not just my Mum - she's still figuring out the interwebthingymejig) and I do it as a chance to show a much deeper body of work, a place to publish brand new shoots, a place to show new genres (like the food work I just started doing in the last few months.

Posted by:Alistair Tutton | April 10, 2008 at 11:32 PM

There are a few sites that exist with the basic premise that you have laid out. Workbook.com and altpick.com are two examples. They can be searched by location, speciality, and they have featured artists.

Don't believe they have the RSS capabilities though which is a great idea.

As a photographer on the other side of the fence this is interesting reading. Particularly since I moved to a new market (Kansas City) about a year ago and am trying to get out and show my book and build some relationships in town.

Some folks just don't want to take the time and effort to personally build a list of contacts because of that I don't see the spam going away anytime soon.

Posted by:Ryan Nicholson | April 10, 2008 at 11:37 PM

This may seem like a step back into the last century but how about sending an old-fashioned Greeting Card with one or two of your images and a personal note?

Guess what gets opened and looked at: another email or a personalized greeting card that arrives in the mail with a handwritten font address, postage stamp and your own handwriting on the inside?

And it takes you two minutes to create and send and costs you less than a dollar!

Please, be by guest and check out and test drive this awesome system at http://ActOnYourPrompting.com

Posted by:ValueYourNetwork.com | May 12, 2008 at 11:14 PM

Can you tell me who to ask for permission to use the sillouette of the photopgrapher taking a photo? I would like to use it in a brochure on wildlife classes for children and would be happy to give credit. Thank you --cool site! Cay Cross

Posted by:cay cross | June 17, 2008 at 07:55 AM

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