meetings are not really my thing….a career in photography has afforded me a natural escape from meetings…looking at graphs, flow charts, cost projections, etc etc. is generally better than a sleeping pill for me…if i start snoring, just roll me over!!
however, i have called a meeting..what is my world coming to when i am the one who actually organizes a meeting?? this meeting is a meeting of the minds…at my apartment this thursday…things have been brewing behind the scenes for awhile regarding our new site forthcoming …the amount of input recently by Anton Kusters, Tom Hyde, David McGowan, Kerry Payne, Marie Arago, and Pete Marovich and wife Jenny Jones, humbles me beyond belief…these forum members and friends have gone way way beyond the "call of duty" to help design a new looking, interactive "magazine" of which i believe we are all going to be most proud…
if any of you will be in New York on thursday and want to participate, please let me know…and even without actually being here , i will be expecting thoughts from you…i think it is too early to actually launch a full blown regularly updated online magazine with all of its ramifications, but what we will soon have will at least be the first stage…it will certainly "look like" an online magazine…whether or not we actually go on to a serious active online magazine remains to be seen…there are so many factors to consider, not the least of which is the time and manpower it takes to produce one…not only from the "editing team" which would be required, but from all of you as potential photo essayists…
Kerry Payne (a very astute lurker) must have spent days creating a brilliant potential business plan and our Anton Kusters (above and below design/ graphics) has gone beyond the beyond as our web design guru..David McGowan is on the case designing a print version….Marie Arago is working non-stop creating a special web page for our workshop student essays…. and the advice from Pete Marovich and Jenny, who both previously created an online magazine, American Journal, is so well taken…Tom Hyde, whose career is in publishing, has researched every online magazine out there and if he sends me one more link i will go crazy!!! you guys are just the best!! many many thanks…..by the way, both Tom and Anton will be sleeping on my floor (air mattresses) , both flying thousands of miles just for this meeting…
we have assembled here on our forum quite a team of photographers and writers…and unlike some other online magazines, i would envision some truly creative text essays to be just as important as the photographic essays….in theory, people are not supposed to enjoy reading on line…i would have been an antagonist myself…but,let's see if that is true…in any case, i want to give it a try….
right now, i need everyone's help on just one thing….a title….what do we call our online magazine??
David McGowan came up with Emerge…this is the best title we have so far..can anyone better that one?
All of you who produce fine photographic essays are going to have one really nice place to show your work, IF that work is of the highest standards…this will NOT be a site where anyone can randomly post any picture or essay…there are already a plethora of such sites and they are terrific for what they are……..but right here, we will have a carefully curated/edited photographic and literary forum…quality content will reign supreme…
kindly give us your best title thoughts….and please stay tuned….
As long as it is not limited to the “young” emerging photographers Emerge sound really good… but there use to be a mag with the same name (not a photo mag though). Is that an issue?
Actually… not sure I like Emerge that much, sounds a bit pretentious perhaps, may I say too serious… PhotoHood?
DAVID, ANTON, TOM, PETE, JENNY, KERRY, DAVID McG, MARIE, ET. AL.
Wow! Who would ever have imagined that an online blog like “Road Trips” could or would morph into such an entity as “Emerge,” an online zine devoted to quality photographic and text essays? Well, obviously DAH and you folks not only imagined but, through dreaming/researching/planning and plain old hard work are making it happen. Bravo to ALL of you!!!
I personally love the title, “Emerge,” and find the logo to be simply elegant. I like that it is green, as plants emerge from seed in the green season of spring.
I’ll be holding you in creative energy on Thursday. Safe travels to all.
gratefully yours
Patricia
How about “Insight”
VELIBOR..
how could you change your mind in just 4 minutes?? Emerge is a potential title , not the “rules of engagement”!!!…it is to be a magazine of fine work…age not a factor…hmmmm, too serious?? i will think on that one…i want it to be serious, but not pretentious…sophisticated…PhotoHood sounds too too amateur photog site like to me…anyway, the discussion goes on!! thanks for your input, and where have you been??
cheers, david
PETE…
i like Insight, but i think we already have that at Magnum..will check…does Jenny go by your last name as her byline?? let me know soonest…
PATRICIA…
i am delayed on your edit, because i got into this post…tomorrow ok??
cheers, david
David:
Jenny goes by Jenny Jones
Thanks
what about LUX? (latin for light)….. this is exciting…
can’t wait to see what transpires… ready- set- go…..xox wendy
DAVID
Tomorrow for the edit is great. I’ll be available to talk by phone if that suits you…
Thanks again,
Patricia
what about LUX? (Latin for light)… this is exciting…. can’t wait to see what transpires…. ready- set- go…. xox wendy
I am here David… Reading but not writing (until tonight)… I think it is a virtue to be able to change your mind in 4 minutes and admit it publicly:-).
It is just a title and I wouldn’t give it too much of importance, as long as it is not misleading. My English might be a bit limited to explain… Emerge is just fine but, to me, it implicates some hardship and difficult life, implicate a need to emerge from some kind of trouble while in fact no one here is in real deep shit… compared to many in this world… How is this for explanation? hmmm… Anyhow, sounds like some NGO or ‘concerned’ magazine, like Need… which is fine.
VELIBOR…
you made me laugh out loud, which is always good…everyone here is in real deep shit!!!
WENDY…
LUX would be great if it had not been the name of a laundry detergent when i was a kid…can’t shake it…
great seeing you in California, and again super congrats on your Cuba film…
cheers, david
I like the title emerge. It’s short and ambiguous. I thought of a similar title which may put emphasis on the work more, reveal. Whatever the name I know it’ll be great. A rose by any other name yadayadayda…
I like some titles panos used for himself like distixos but maybe not skata panos.
- Karim Sharif
KARIM…
so great to hear from you..what a pleasure to meet you (finally) in Venice Beach…i hope we see each other again soonest…
keep up those wonderful black & whites..
cheers, david
i like EMERGE… strong and simple!
david – i told you i would be back.
GINA…
yes, you did…i hope you got my email…welcome home
hugs, david
PETE…
yes, of course..now i remember
cheers, david
i did – thank you david. it’s good to be back.
i saw your tuesday “trolley” party (on face book) – sent it out to friends in nyc – hope that was cool. really wish i could be there.
Emerge is a great title, it isnt only short and strong, it also gets to the point. I think it will be tough coming up with something better. Great sneak peak at the future, David. Looks exciting.
Emerge – I think its great…I read the above comments and can understand everyone’s point (for and against)…its simple and to the point, I like it…and if were talking about deep shit it is the magazine industry so perhaps this will “emerge” as some sort of example of one way to create a space for some great photos : )
I added a ton of more photos to my cyclocross project this weekend – mostly in the rain – and got a bit more mud on my cameras than I would have preferred…anyhow I will finish up next weekend and get a final edit to you, David, the following week…
Congrats! on the good news and the hard work everyone has been doing.
~ chris
Wow, I really like the look of that dummy page–very elegant.
I think it’s good to stick with Emerge because it ties in etymologically and historically to the EPF fund, which was its precursor. In other words, it will have a good “story” to it, when people ask where the name came from. Also, it states the mission very succinctly. It is not about established, famous, or “young” photographers, but about photographers working to make their transition onto a bigger playing field, in whatever form that may take for them. Looking forward to meeting everyone else at the meeting:)
Um … I just stumbled in. I was following up on a “Google Alert” that I received because I’m tracking the phrase “interactive meetings” on the internets and, well, David, your post had a couple too many “meetings” in it … so here I am … with a suggestion for your new ezine (which sounds exciting). Emerge is pretty good, but it isn’t over the top imho. I once had some email list software called Emerge. Anyhow, it got me thinkin. What about “VERGENCE”. Here’s the first definition I ran across: 1 Physiology – the simultaneous movement of the pupils of the eyes toward or away from one another during focusing. Interesting, eh? It’s a little edgier than Emerge. That’s my two bits, I hope it helps the discussion. I’ve loved your work over the years (decades) in NG. I saw Gilka three times too, early in my career, which started in freelance shooting, diverged widely, and now I’m shooting again … for me. Sorry for a long and winding contribution here. But thanks for a nice diversion, a great blog site, and happy holidays to all. –Lenny
I too like the connection of this title “Emerge” with the “EPF” which it will be strongly based on/around… keep the ideas rollin’ – It’s all exciting!
What about incorporating a subtitle with “David Alan Harvey” in it, thus giving the magazine some background/immediate recognition?
Just an idea!
Cheers, Jeremy
Been reading this blog for awhile now and just want to give my congrats as well. Best of luck, the dummy page gives much hope for a wonderful online magazine.
“Emerge”sounds like a good title but not a great one. I can’t think of a great one.
How about 250th or f8? Eye? (aye aye aye)
Good Night. (not a title suggestion)
Michael
Wow, I’m really looking forward to this: to seeing the quality of work and as something to aim for myself. I like “Emerge.” It speaks to your mentorship but also to new ideas and ways of telling stories. I kind of get what Velibor said. It does conjure up a feeling of emerging from the darkness. Maybe it’s like the primal darkness where creativity finds it’s home, never fully formed.
Hello,
I like “Emerge” and the presentation of the site, congratulations for this big work ! If I can help you, it will be with a big pleasure.
Best regards, audrey
i think all the good photo related titles are already being used.. like f8, apeture.. unless it gets more technical.. burn in.. dodge.. yes, quite..
i think emerge does the job really well.. simple and quick to say, since people will be talking about it.
wish i was there on thursday..
editing..
Hi ALL!
I also like “Emerge”. For me it leads our thoughts to several different directions. Gives an idea of freedom, liberty, breaking chains (of mediocrity). Creativity with no boundaries…
Unless we have any legal issue to use it I don’t see why not.
All the best!
Ari
Emerge is good. Btw, I successfully defended my phd on tuesday. I’m more free now, but I don’t have a penny :o)
Dear David,
This all sounds really very very interesting and exciting. I’d have to concur with others that ‘Emerge’ seems quite an apt name for the site. References to photography, such as f8..aperture…etc, as stated by David B, have been done and aren’t really in the spirit of what you are trying to achieve I think. ‘Emerge’ has obvious connotations linked to the EMF, but it also acts a word of almost encouragement to the viewer. I’ll keep it in my mind in the next day or two and let you know if I can think of anything.
I really wish I could be at the meeting on Thursday. Trips to Perpignan and Virginia this year have limited my excursions at the moment from China. Any chance of getting an online presence set-up for this? I presume people have webcams, Skype etc, so I can’t imagine it would be too tricky to get something set-up. Just a thought.
By the way, I just had a dispatch published with the Digital Journalist in their December Issue on my work from Mongolia. Thought you and everyone may like to have a look…. http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0812/dispatches.html … I wrote an 800 word text piece to accompany the photos (different from the DJ dispatch i.e. not first-person). Would be interested to hear your thoughts on writing with your photo-essays. Have you ever done it? Maybe a topic for a separate post!
If there is anything you think I could help you with for the new site, please do let me know. I don’t mind being delegated some tasks, as long as I can do them from out here in Beijing!
Best to you and all,
Sean
HEY Y’ALL! :))))
firstly, what a gorgeous mock=up page…love both the aqua dream card/title and the dummy pic from Anton’s Sugar….and you, David, are in very good hands with that crew :))))…so, big ups to Anton, Tom, David, Kerry, Pete, Jenny and Marie for putting this caboose on track :))))…will be there in spirit on thursday (what the hell can a working dad do? ;)) )…may call u thursday night: is this a day or night mtg??…..
as to the title…i think it’s perfect and elegant for all the reasons sited, ….Vergence is cool too, but maybe too long….unless something strikes a cord, i think Emerge is really strong….
the only other word that comes to me, this early in the morning might be
LOOM
…
means the same as emerge, but more ambiguous…which might hold since the magazine will be both strong with visual AND written content….
so, while I totally am down with Emerge, my contribution is
LOOM
hugs ya’ll
bob
PS. ON SATURDAY NIGHT I MET AND DRANK WITH MARC DAVIDSON AND KARL (from your 1st October at-home workshop). WOW, WHAT 2 GREAT GUYS :)))…really loved both and will write both today….the beginning of a beautiful friendship :))))…or was that Casablanca ;)))
I’m not really for or against emerge. And I think that’s a good thing. You want a name that will be defined my the online magazine, rather than vice versa.
Maybe it has a bit too much of the “emerging photographer” thing to it, but seeing as online magazine’s are an emerging thing as well I don’t think that connection is too strong.
And I’m really liking Anton’s designs, I reckon even in Perpignan you could see his mind racing, full of ideas and possiblities for this site!
James
Looks cool…
Hey David,
am wrapping up here…. went really well..
I think it sounds good. Short like it should be. But there’s just something that I don’t like. Would it be possible to use emerging? just think it sounds better.. Emerge, while it’s good name sounds a bit like a parfume name or something..
The little I can see of the layout looks good. I don’t know about the line at the bottom of the word emerge. I guess it should have some sort of a symbolic meaning?
All in all, very exciting stuff!
Cheers
Exciting idea, with what seems to be a critical mass of support and willingness to help.
“Emerge” suggests that it’s about the photographers (the ones doing the emerging) rather than about the work. This begs the question of whether the site is photography for photographers — in which case it’s a fine name — or whether it hopes to appeal more broadly to people who want to see new or different work.
If the latter, then perhaps a name like “Lifescapes” might be better at suggesting something about the work (views of life, as seen by contributors) than about the people producing it.
-Kevin
Personally I really like EMERGE but how about VISUALCOLLECTIVE OR EMERGINGCOLLECTIVE ?
to me, the concept of our very own online magazine and this vibrant forum of ours consisting of the ever-evolving and organic entity of thinkers/readers/writers/lurkers/photographers/… epitomize the expression “Free World”!!! Let that be the name of our online magazine…
FREE WORLD
Emerge and Vergence both sound good to me. The name is important and it wouldn’t do any harm if it was picked up in Google easily by photo surfers.
Yes David, quality must be the criteria for accepting essays and writings even if it rules me or others here out.
If we are to have on-line and hard-copy versions of the magazine I’d like to see the on-line version updated often and the hard-copy version as a monthly bi-monthly available initially by subscription. I like the Digital Journalist but I read it in a few days. If it was updated more often I’d visit more often.
What pisses me off about the majority of hard-copy photo mags is their predictability. Spring flowers in spring, how to photograph snow in winter etc. etc. give me a break! Why are they so predictable? Why don’t they cater for people who take photography seriously?
I don’t want camera reviews; plenty of sites do these already. I would like some how-to articles or, rather, how I got the photograph articles.
Not 125th at F8 stuff but how serious photographers get access e.g. it took me six months of talking to people and showing them previous work then i had to get a visa I flew into country A first, then country B, because country A would not allow me to enter if I’d been to country B and my passport was stamped accordingly. I stayed at hotel majestic, for a good local guide telephone etc. etc and that’s how I got the photograph. You get the idea, show the hard work that put you or I at the spot where the photograph was taken.
I want to see serious essays but that does not mean that they all have to be full of doom, gloom and blood. Serious can be uplifting too.
I really want to come to New York for this one but probably won’t. Can anyone post a meeting video with sound for the non-attendees?
Good luck for Thursday.
Mike R.
The concept of ‘With’ … or Latin …’Co’ … should feature highly in such an ambitious altruistic endeavour… it will keep fresh in everyone’s mind that this new entity is predicated ‘first’ on collaboration and ‘last’ on being just another platform to release x-factor talent.
It’s also valuable to help people remember in the years to come that this was a current day version of stone soup; it’s a sad truth but it’s so easy for people to forget the founding contributors’ effort when in the future the contributions become almost entirely visual based.
Also appealing to keep in the name the idea of a destination for all types of talent, visual and text-based to cohabitate, the name of this concept should create a road-map feel forever for wide and diverse contributions.
so something more in the spirit of this…. might be more in the spirit of a perpetual partnership of talent…. a first thought is ironically a rhyme with the incumbent idea, but that’s purely incidental: Converge
Pronunciation: \kən-vərj\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): con•verged; con•verg•ing
Etymology: Late Latin convergere, from Latin com- + vergere to bend, incline
1 : to tend or move toward one point or one another : come together :Meet
2 : to come together and unite in a common interest or focus
3 : to approach a limit as the number of terms increases without limit transitive
verb : to cause to converge
..
i think ‘emerge’ is an excellent name, mine was a suggestion. however, be it clarified that it has nothing to do with the historic meaning given to the expression “free world”.
Merge , Nice but the first thing that came into my mind was the Alien birth scene in the first Alien movie , I quite like the ” Hotel Majestic ” from Michaels last post but I understand that that might be a bit too Doorsey ( Hey Panos ) , How about “Geography is not the deciding factor” ? as in geography doesnt matter when it comes to submitting or participating just good photography.
Sorry that I’ve been off the blog a while but I’d love to chip in if you need any help there Uncle!
someguy is a very smart guy :))))
just another quick thought, i think it is important (philosophically) to get beyond the idea of ‘emerging photographers’…a good photo mag or a good mag period (this this one will also emphaszie good writing) is all about content…thus, a good mag will run the gambit of photog and writing, not just showcase the new/unknown x-fact photogs/writers, etc…how lovely to have worked featuring “known” photographers/writers along side compelling work by unknown/known-less….
the magazine should not be ghettozied by an idea, but should bloom from the work. whatever work that showcases :)))))
will send u a note later in the day and will call u thursday…
running to teach
b
ALL…
so many good points from all of you..please know that the above graphic designs are just two of many many choices and nothing has been decided yet on exactly how it will look in its final form..this is just a “tease” and to get you thinking about the title..
we can legally use Emerge..for one thing, titles cannot be copyrighted…we could call it “Gone With The Wind” and be legally ok..we do already own enough domain names to have us set..we got those before i published the idea here…
let me address some of your other thoughts…
KEVIN, i am trying to get your point about “photography for photographers”…yes, we all know that the history of Emerge might come from the EPF , but isn’t that just history and a good reason to explain (if asked) from whence we came? i am not sure anyone from the “outside” who may wander in to our magazine would think “oh this work is only for the photographers who shot it”…
some essays will be more for the sophisticated viewer of interpretive works like “Bones”, others could be on complex environmental issues like “The Desertification of China”, some personal stories like “Home Sweet Home”, some straight photojournalism like “Living with the Dead”, and some”living it” essays like “Venice Beach”….also imagine Erica’s New York portraits with an essay by Bob Black…or a collection of hard times in suburbia pictures from many of you with a humorous twist text from Akaky, or Lassal’s postcard piece and Kyunghee Lee’s “Island” as a book review….
F8 and JPEG are clearly photography magazines…for and about photographers…ours will have as a base of course committed photographers, but not the kind who just take “cool pictures” or are interested more in sensors, lenses, etc than in fine work…i think we will have a much broader base…and featuring all kinds of photography, but with a real raison d’ete for all of it…
i think at first we will just look like a better version of what we already are…we already have lots of material, but much of it is hard to navigate…some stories are finished, but many are in development…one of the things we need to discuss in thursday’s meeting is how we separate out what is “in progress” and what is a “front page feature”…my editing , mentoring, may be more “behind the scenes” than it is now..but, we will see…
MARTIN..hmmmm, Emerging instead of Emerge..Emerge seems a bit more mysterious or esoteric to me, but i did think obviously about Emerging for awhile…sounds like a perfume??? hmmm, now we could make money with that one!!!
SEAN..i already had seen your Mongolia work and just not taken the time to write you..nice piece amigo, and you are really really rolling with your work…yes, we should do a post about writing and shooting..few can do it well….i continue to be quite proud that you were my first EPF recipient…you have personified in everything you have done since, your committment to your work and to social issues worldwide..
congratulation DR. KARANKA!!! no money?? hey, why do you think i am building community here?? we might all have to share more than just web space!!
JEREMY..well, i will be the lead curator/editor, but will have a lot of help from my friends..somebody always has to lead..but that somebody always has to listen as well
BOB.. i get where you are coming from with LOOM as in a weavers loom..right?? would be great , but isn’t there the problem with the other meaning of loom, as in “looming over someone’s shoulder” i.e. an unattractive omnipresence??
DAVID B…i wish you were here too..if you have any specific thoughts, fire them in by email..and remember my friend, this is the first gathering of the tribe for a magazine powwow but not the last…
cheers, david
Love the title and the design idea!
Here is another suggestion that comes to mind (borrowing Anton’s work): http://hypertexthero.com/still.gif
With eight years under my belt designing for the web, good meaningful names are important but a lot of this will come down to what domain name is available. Any one strong worded title would be good, BUT in the end it will be muttled with “extra words” to obtain the domain. I’m sure you thought of this already, just throwing that out there.
Nuff technical stuff… since were brainstorming…
“Be There”
SOMEGUY…
good thinking…as per your review of Patricia’s work..
CONVERGE does seem better than VERGENCE (which when viewed quickly looks a lot like “vengeance”)…
i do agree with you completely that this “magazine” should not be just “visually based”..on the other hand, can’t we be out there on the leading edge of emphasizing photography as its own “language” and not just “illustrating text”??
seems to me that some essays can be visually based and others can be text based and some can be a complex compound successful marriage of the two…
please join us on thursday….
cheers, david
BOB..
yes, of course we will get away from “emerging photographers” as our only concept…as i said, that is just our history..and refers to my commitment always to developing photographers and ideas (coming from folks of all ages)…
speaking of titles and their development, does anybody really remember where the name “Magnum” came from??? (champagne bottle popped in Paris) or “National Geographic” ?? (certainly the worst title imaginable!!)..i mean, “National” !!!! whew!! you can imagine all those old men sitting around a table in Washington thinking that the world should somehow be “national”…but i digress..sorry…
GLENN…
been missing you amigo…what is going on “down under”?? your aborigines work will have a place here if you want…your ideas are always most welcomed…
cheers , david
David..
How about “Focal Point”
Emerge is good but a little too poetic for me, not as atrong as f8 for photography magazine. That’s why we have “aperture”, “W&B”, or “poztytyw” (positive- polish magazine), or “37th frame” it is closer to photography than “emarge”. First thought.
But i truly have not idea. English is not my language, but I will try think about.
maybe D-range or d-max magazine or something like that? I realy don’t know. I am sorry I will not help too much.
Divided souls? ha ha
my wife said “look-sphere”
Charles
thanks for your “10 cents” :). I always appreciate. I have only one answer, if I will not die I will visit southeast asia many times for real work.
peace