My latest faves on Flickr

1. Untitled, 2. Bullfrog, 3. Lu-ce, 4. Love.........., 5. Untitled, 6. monologue, 7. The Bridge, 8. Nature's Cotton Buds, 9. Untitled, 10. she is the sea, 11. Through these grassy tracks, we will walk away from the claws of poverty, 12. patisserie, 13. la petite fille aux coquelicots, 14. J, 15. Bon Anniversaire Monsieur Bratan!, 16. Orange Glow, 17. Drowning in History, 18. untitled, 19. waves, 20. yesterday. tomorrow., 21. We live on the leash of our senses, 22. .6917, 23. The El on Wabash, 24. .SeuJorge., 25. The Seduction of Silence

My latest faves on Flickr

1. untitled, 2. 90|365 ||| grow, 3. Julia Marcell, 4. light and dark, 5. I do not love you..., 6. Untitled, 7. Screaming Only Makes the Demons Thrive, 8. Untitled, 9. I Waited For You..., 10. Week Twenty Eight. This Is A Mans World, 11. I lost the inspiration for a lifetime, 12. Don't, 13. homespun philosophy, 14. IMG_0046_web, 15. doors, 16. Boulevard l’Océan *, 17. Buzzing, buzzing...., 18. red blowing in yellow wind, 19. The North Landing at Flamborough, 20. after all these years, 21. tempest., 22. ophelia, 23. recollection, 24. I'm easy...easy like Sunday morning..., 25. Untitled

My latest faves on Flickr

1. flooding the land, 2. Baby, it's cold outside..., 3. Golden Slumbers, 4. . smile, 5. . dreaming, 6. Cloister Light, 7. ., 8. SPT: 29/01/09, 9. twin., 10. red in green, 11. Untitled, 12. PCBL1058, 13. careless, 14. Untitled, 15. Untitled, 16. Untitled, 17. throw it all away, 18. tulips, 19. The Boop Troop, 20. Tinker Belle’s Forest, 21. Every Friend, 22. red line, 23. {Week seven}, 24. Follow Me, 25. IMG_4360b.jpg

Visual Plagiarism: The Strange Case of Rosie Hardy

Last week on Flickr the floodgates opened when one of its most popular photographeress' Rosie Hardy was accused of plagiarism in a number of her photos. A person, know only as "Harry", brought it to light, posting RH's pictures on his/her own stream next to the DeviantArt and Flickr photographs that she was accused of plagarising (his Flickr account has been removed three times, but he's continuing on his blog)..he also mass posted comments in other peoples photostreams to make them aware of Rosie's crime....

What ensued was the opening of a gigantic can o' worms. Rosie mostly ignored "Harry", deleting his comments, "Harry" became more determined and rallied his troupes, discussion threads were started both on Flickr Central and the very popular Female Self-Portrait Artists' Support Group (entrance only to members) and soon contained hundreds and hundreds of postings veering from disappointment at Ms Hardy and calls for an apology, to sane discussion as to what merits visual plagiarism, to more stalker-type aggressive behavious towards the artist in question. And in return accusations of "natzism" and "bullying" hurled back by RH's supporters. The leading ladies of the FSPASG have produced (and I would like to add here rather fantastic) photographs in support of "Harry" with "I Love Harry" written across their naked chests (see Quizz... , :anna: kezzaroo ). Hardygate was born and things got kind of crazy. RH publically apologised with a suicidal type photograph and is now "taking a break" from Flickr.

Now, rather than sit on either side of the fence I put my anthropologist hat on, take a step back and look at it through my specs and say "that's interesting, I wonder why they are behaving like that" (I know, I'm so annoying). On a personal note I've been following Ms Hardy's stream for a while, and after seeing the similarities between some of the photos I have to say I am a bit disappointed, it would have been respectful to credit. I find this Harry person kind of strange, he seems to hold a personal vendetta here, and some of the posters in the forums clearly like to shout a lot (quite easily spurred on by Rosie's rather nauseating online relationship with Aaron). But what most interests me is the ferocity around this topic, akin to some kind of hysterical smear campaign that goes on and on and on....What is evident is that RH has become a bit of a scapegoat for something that has been bubbling around Flickr for a while...fear of having personal creativity or 'ideas' stolen. When does inspiration become plagiarism, where is the line drawn? And can it be drawn in cyberspace, a place that spans countries and cultures? For instance it is a misconception that plagiarism is a universal understanding. In many cultures it is regarded as a form of flattery and even encouraged. And are we now post-originality? Anyone who has any background in literary theory or postmodernism will understand the phrases 'everything is a tissue of quotations' and 'nothing is original'....In the age of the Internet is it possible to control plagiarism, is it time to move away from owning ideas to who can express it better? I'm mean...I saw a clone picture once, then I made one myself. I just searched clowns on Flickr and found some akin to my clown picture (you know people in make up and wigs).....shit!!! Am I in trouble???? Sure, I see in the case of RH there are obvious heavy influences that should have been credited, but some of the comparisons people have found are simply clutching at straws, like the paparazzi looking for anything to bring her down. Look hard enough and you will find something you could claim to be 'too' similar.

She's 18 years old, about to embark on A'level exams with hundreds of people calling for her withdrawal from a major part of her life, if I was her I'd be rock bottom, and her apologetic posting on flickr shows just that. Is it all a hoax....is it all a publicity stunt (Harry IS Aaron???) as some of her adversaries are claiming. I can't say for sure but I doubt it. It's just a kid who got it wrong in a very public way, but what do you expect if you make yourself a Flickr celebrity when plagiarism amongst artists is still seen as the ultimate crime...you are going to be sussed eventually. What has it achieved at the micro-level, they taught a young girl a hard lesson, made her cry, at a macro-level, it raises some pretty big questions.

So Harry....do I love you? In a sick way I love the chaos you have caused....am I about to take my top off for you.....no way honey.

---Disclaimer---
I would like to credit absolutely everybody in and not in my life for every photo I have ever taken...

My latest faves on Flickr

1. Vol 1.0., 2. I, 3. Poppies, 4. Gravity, 5. The Trailer, 6. Cotton Candy, 7. no reply, 8. gala., 9. black square sun hypeЯReally eclipsed by housing blocks, 10. Untitled, 11. tagged, 12. Cactus, 13. breathe, 14. yes, boss, 15. day three hundred fifty nine. a lady always dresses for her body type..., 16. if you'd just take off your mask

A woman and her cat

I have been impressed by a number of photographers on Flickr who manage to get their cats in a photograph with them. As anyone who has a cat knows, cats can not be told what to do, in fact we humour them more than the other way around. They have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind. So I love it when I find a good cat-owner photograph. Here are some of my favorites:

There's no place like home by Elle Moss (Above)
Untitled by Lenaah
A woman and her cat by MaryElise
Words fall through me by Reflecting Truth
Hey, you and me by Oladios

I also love the photo-montages of Mattijn , whose fantasy-esque images always feature his cat Pino. It's good to see a bit of man-cat love!

The most photogenic cat award however has to go to vaneska~tHOmz's cats tabitha and
charlie. How she does it I have no idea!

My cat is not one for being handsome in front of the lens. Every time I've tried something I end up with scratches all over my arms, so usually I have resorted to photo-montages too (see my blog on The Escape). Today however I was honored with some rare camera affection from my feline friend, and he even sat on my feet and kept them warm whilst I did all my photoshopping.

My latest faves on Flickr

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. Maybe I'm Just Tired 20/365, 4. matinée, 5. A Clench of the Covers (Explore!), 6. .6545, 7. day three hundred eighteen. writing your tragedy., 8. Untitled, 9. Freak Out, 10. Suspiria, 11. LastLeti, 12. 'relation intime avec le monde', 13. swoon orchestra, 14. this big cloud..., 15. day three hundred fourteen. birds on a wire., 16. i didn't know you meant forever, 17. Breathe, 18. Untitled, 19. The lookout - Sardinia, 20. Clifford Sax bird texture, 21. Untitled, 22. Soft as silk, smooth as jazz, 23. There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures, 24. There are as many kinds of beauty as there are habitual ways of seeking happiness., 25. Untitled

To branch away from Flickr?

It's not a topic I'm happy to raise! I love Flickr, in Flickr I have found a supportive community which supports my views on open content and has provided me with the opportunity to get feedback on my photography which over the past two years has become my art, and a huge part of my self expression, even at times my therapy. Without Flickr I doubt I would ever have returned to art, a subject I gave up long ago because 'it would never get me anywhere in life'. I used to 'do art' with a 3B pencil and a brush, and now I paint with a lens. So let me be clear, I have no intention of leaving Flickr, however the more lean towards trying to make a bit of a profession out of what was initially was a bit of a hobby, the less Flickr can cater towards my needs.

First off, I like the idea of password protected galleries. If I branch into doing some paid for photographic commissions, it is kind of a service I need. Secondly, I've had a few requests for large prints of my work. I don't offer high res photos on Flicker at present, i.e big enough to print more than 6x4. I'm happy for them to be used under the creative commons licence that I presently stick on them (no derivatives and attribution) and splattered across the interweb. But to be hung as an actual piece of 'art' on someone's wall, or printed in a publication, well for that I want some wonga!! So my thoughts lately have been that I would like to find an online service that will let me create showcase galleries and also sell my prints for me at a price I stipulate, and print them, and post them - the moon on a stick basically!

You'd think this would be out there.....think again.

I've ransacked the web and it seems that there are really no UK based websites that offer the moon on a stick. There is Photobox, where I order prints from (and I have generally been pleased with the results), who offer pro galleries that do the above. However, the site is not taking any new pro users until 'the future', and the old interface left a lot to be desired for - to showcase fine art photography the website should really mirror that. But then I came across SmugMug, a US centric photosharing site that offers everything I dream of - it looks amazing, unlimited storage, is totally customisable down to the domain name, offers a sale service and multiple privacy and viewing options, but...is in $. But really does this matter? In the virtual world where space is not an issue? It's not cheap, at $149.55 pa, BUT I think that's not too bad for a high quality virtual hard drive with e-commerce capabilities.

There are many alternatives to Flickr - deviantART, ZOOMR, Fotki, Photobucket, to name just a few, they all cater for different types of user. I'm toying with the idea of setting up accounts on a few to see what happens and having a test run of e-commerce on SmugMug until PhotoBox gets it's finger out...that's if anyone wants to buy anything that is!

My latest faves on Flickr

Sometimes all you want to do is hide in a big tree....

I think this tree is incredible! Serious lack of commenting on my recent photos... how can i improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong :-(

My Latest Faves on Flickr

My Latest Faves on Flickr

The Magic Donkey

Nothing new in Flickr Explore for ages now, I don't understand how the Magic Donkey works. Trying not to take it personally that non of my recent attempts are considered "interesting", humpf.

My Latest Faves on Flickr

Go to my favorites

Retro-Vintage Trailer Trash

I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do—that was one of my favorite things about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse...My favorite things is to go where I’ve never been. ~ Diane Arbus

A number of factors worked on my warped mind to produce this weeks photos. Firstly I had watched Fur, a strange but inspiring film film about Diane Arbus (well an "imaginary portrait"). Arbus took a voyeuristic approach to photographing her subjects, often circus performers, eccentrics, midgets and transvestites both as fascinating real-life personas and as mythic figures. That gave me the "performer away from the stage" idea. Secondly, two photos from Flickr have been on my mind for a while Crystal Breaking by antiskeptic and The Belly Dancer by Maria Kristin Steinsson, that gave me the "naughty belly dancer" idea. Lastly, I was going to spend a couple of days in a caravan park, you can't really get more British retro than that, that gave me the backdrop and the idea to post-process my photos using vintage retro actions.

So, in the freezing cold, in a caravan park near Skegness, I donned the performer outfit, the props (fag and wine), and spent as little time as possible getting a few pics (it wasn't really the right environment to be standing around semi-naked). In these I'm trying to capture the performer outside of the performance, as a persona with issues and an unglamorous lifestlye despite the sequins and glitter. I would have liked to have a spent longer composing these, but unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity. They are not as good as I would have liked. Bit disappointed.

The post-processing was incredibly easy after I found this tutorial on Retro Colours which uses Photoshop's "Match Colours" filter. I tried some with high contrast Black and White too, channel-mixing to monocrome from the retroized images then fading to colour and boosting the contrast. Again, I can't decide which I like best. Below are some of my attempts, the best few I've put in my Flickr Account.

My latest faves on Flickr

My latest faves on Flickr

It's been a dark month it seems!

Photography of the First World War

I have just noticed that this has made it to no.2 in Flickr Explore which is my highest ranking photo ever! I work a lot with WW1 poetry and images and I took this photo of a toy soldier reconstruction of a trench in the Flanders Fields Museum. The stretcher instantly made me think of Isaac Rosenberg's poem "Dead Man's Dump", a poem that I consider to be one of the most brilliant poems produced during the First World War.

I think the photography of this particular war is a very interesting topic. Of all the arts it was photography that failed to capture the battlefields of 1914-18. But I think of the subject - the sprawling mess stripped of colour and shape, literally nothing. Photography can not visualise emtyness. What was left was empty or perhaps it is more accurate to say what was left was full of emptyness. As Nash said "the void of war". Painters like Nash captured it better with thick paint, pigment heavily saturated with ocre and umber, a modernist representation of the swelling turbulent mass of the battlefield. May be this was because a more abstract medium was needed to try and capture the almost uncapturable nature of the war.

My latest faves on Flickr

Flickr Stats

Flickr have scored gold again and last week launched one of their most requested features, Flickr Stats. If you are a pro member you can now activate the stats tool to give you all sorts of insights into how people arrive at your photos on Flickr, either through Flickr itself or through other webistes. I've been hunting for a replacement for the flickrinspector tool which disappeared earlier this year for a while now and Flickr Stats have filled this needed gap. As well as showing you how many hits you've had on your photos and your photostream on an all time, monthly, and daily basis, one of the most useful components is that the stats show you how people have arrived at a particular photo through a referer (a link on another website) - this is often because someone has used one of your photos on their website (and credited you with a link to the original upload). This makes some interesting reading...for instance through the stats I found that Sundance had recently been used in a digital photography school tutorial, creating a whopping 576 visits to my account on the 13th December, something I wouldn't have twigged otherwise. My account in general (individual photos and photostream) has had over 52,400 hits, nice! Thanks Flickr, it gives me a bit more momentum to keep uploading my photos.