Free Images?!?! - A Commentary on Getty’s ‘Embed’ Feature.

Last month Getty Images, arguably the world’s largest provider of stock imagery, raised the ire of thousands of photographers worldwide while simultaneously gaining praise from social media pundits and bloggers alike. The move was to open up some 35 million images for free usage by certain users in certain contexts.

Essentially social media and bloggers have access to a vast library of images that they can now embed on their sites for free. The catch is that the images have to be embedded via an iframe which essentially links the image to the Getty hosting site. The actual image isn’t actually stored on the blog page or website that is showing it. A further rub is that Getty is able to track and store information on the IP addresses that access that image link, Creating something of a headache for Google and future link protocols, Getty is able to ‘see’ whoever opens a page that contains an embedded image.  This is a vast amount of information that can be extraordinarily valuable for marketing. In addition Getty have been coy over potential plans to monetise this system through advertising. It also happens to be a blaring siren over issues of privacy. 

The Power Of Line In Composition

 In discussing lines in composition, there are two broad meanings attached to the concept of line. First is the physical phenomena or shapes that create the illusion of what we call a line (literal lines do not exist in nature). Second is the line that our eyes travel when viewing a composition. The former can be things like railway lines, power lines, the vertical trunks of trees, roads, con trails, the curving path of a river,  an extended arm...anything that reminds the viewer of a line. The latter type of line is implied and guides our eyes in a very definite fashion from point A to point B in the image. This line can even meander around the image, but the implication is still that the eye stays fixed to the perceived ‘route’.

Flowing Rivers - March Drakensberg Workshop with African Impact

I kicked off on the first Drakensberg workshop of the year with African Impact last week. A fantastic group joined myself and Nick van de Wiel from Tailer Made Safaris in the Royal Natal and Cathedral Peak Sections for a weekend of walking and photography. Unusually, for me, the weather was fantastic. Artfully clouded skies meant there was always interest up in the air and recent rains meant that the rivers were in near full spate.

Commentary on the World Press Photo Of The Year

(Image links were correct at time of writing)

This year’s World Press Photographer of the Year has been named as John Stanmeyer for his image of African migrant workers. Taken in Djibouti the workers are illuminated by moonlight as they stretch their arms into the air in an attempt to capture cheaper cell signal from neighbouring Somalia.

Controversy swirling around the image for once doesn’t relate to the actual capture of the image and its post-production - of which there is reportedly none. Rather, it revolves around Stanmeyer’s close association with one of the jury members of the awards, Gary Knight, both of whom are founding members of the VII Photo Agency.