this afternoon i had a "crazy" idea….i get crazy ideas sometimes…spontaneous…ideas for me come from being happy and "playful" or they can come from being "down"….this one comes from the afternoon sun streaming through the window and lighting up the room….good light..happy…great light….
i am chatting with some friends and i literally jump up in the middle of the conversation to come over here and get this thought "down on paper"…sometimes ideas that come to me this way go away quickly…other times they "stick" and i act upon them…
ok….so how about if i were to start "publishing" some of your work here?? as i do with my workshop students….maybe on a new page…
so many of you are asking for online portfolio reviews, but this is getting impossible for me to do properly …simply, there are a lot of you….opening a website and navigating through takes so much time if i am really going to give a photographer an honest appraisal…besides, this online review concept will best be done through the upcoming Magnum program…
surely we have an astute audience …just read the mail..magazine editors, established photographers from all the best agencies, some gallerists and a plethora of emerging photographers…..we have a sophisticated international community….not hobbyists….not "gearheads"….but thinkers, conceptualizers
again, this is part of my overall concept of letting the "readers collaborate"…..the "inmates in charge of the asylum"…..yes, crazy just like i said….
well, this will not be a contest…..because there are no prizes and i will be the only "judge"…..and i will publish randomly either one picture from a photographer or an entire essay…. i promise to pay you nothing, because i simply have nothing to pay….at least, for the moment….so, this would be just an "experiment"….to see how this audience really "looks" ….we already have a pretty good idea of how we think with words…
i must now work on submission parameters and create or use an existing uploading site..something that makes it relatively uncomplicated to view large quantities of work….PLEASE do not send me anything yet….and i have no idea from a practical standpoint how much work this will draw or how much work it will be for me…..so maybe i will just try this once and see how it goes…after all, i am only "a one man band"….this could be daunting or it could be fun….i will only do it if it is fun….
what do you think???
I dont know enough about the technical side of this sort of thing to make an intelligent comment about it, so I will leave that to others who do know, and just say that I agree with the idea of limiting submissions to a certain set number, perhaps centered on a theme of their own or selected for them by Mr. Harvey. Without some sort of limitations on the number of submissions, I think Mr Harvey will eventually come to feel like the sorcerer’s apprentice trying to turn back a sea of incoming images. And if it’s not fun, then why bother?
Hey Harvey -
I’d say go for Photo Shelter – it is super easy to use! If Grover can do you a favor – that is killer.
I’d love to see how this develops and to contribute to this little online venture. Could be very interesting and hopefully, some fresh new talent will get a chance to show work to a much wider audience.
Great Idea!
Cameron
Daivd, I’ve re-read the comments above, and I think you already have the best plan in which you select representative shot(s) to post in parallel with your comments, on this outstanding blog. Moving this endeavor elsewhere would be counter-productive. It belongs here. It’s a great idea!
Asher
> @giancarlo: Flickr photos can have different privacy levels – Public, Visible to friends, Visible to family, or Private.
Nick, of course, but it would be a bit peculiar to use a site that was created for open/indifferentiated access/traffic to restrict it. also, the email system on Flickr is rudimentary at best, which would make communication very awkward.
In any case, if there were no other options I’d possibly agree with you. With the many different choices that have been brought up here, I think Flickr is the least appealing.
Asher is probably right and this site is, if feasible, the most appealing avenue.
GC
Grover and David … i was useing photoshelter and it’s really nice thing, i agree with you Grover…customization can make it looks as pretty website… btw nice to see you here! :-)
davidalanharvey is ABSOLUTE
Hi Aga! Looking forward to Barnstorm XX? I am! See you there!
– Grover
Grover… nice! :-) There will be also Lance Rosenfield from David’s blog :-)
World seems to be so small :-)
Hi David,
How about starting another entry on the blog to get a rough head count of the number of people interested in this.
Prehaps anyone interested could enter their name, location, interests/subjects. And the number of comments would give you an idea of number of people who would send you work.
So you would have some idea of the scale needed to get this up and running.
Hope your having a fantastic holiday,
All the best,
Pete
hi grover…
i am going to try kite boarding right now, but will check out your site tonight if i survive the former..
you’re gonna be fine
http://unconfirmedsources.com/nucleus/media/3/20070526-Rudy-Kite-Surfing-Accident.jpg
Hola David,
Photoshelter is a great tool.
saludos.
Carlos
Ciao David,
hope you are enjoying your holidays! Just back from my trip to China, and wanted to let you know that your blog is unaccessible from there, not sure if you already knew it!
As you know I spent two weeks in Shanghai, and tried several times to connect to your page (for my daily break from business troubles), but i never succeeded. Internet is heavily censored (especially with news websites), but I am surprised you are too!
a presto
gianluca
Hey David,
As long as you are evaluating professional photo management tools, the comparison wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t throw SmugMug into the mix. http://www.smugmug.com
I work at SmugMug and would love to offer you a free Pro account for life to host this. It could be customized and integrated completely.
Ping me if you are interested.
Markham
Just for fun…how many ways can NG spell the Alan in David Alan Harvey? Click link below to find out. I count three.
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0708/feature4/fieldnotes2.html
I count three, too.
wow! cowboy pilgrimare.. we have something similar in Poland – horse pilgrimare :-) (David…when i will come to NY i will show you some pictures)
I am very much looking forward to participating in whatever it is we are doing! I am noticing conversations about (at least) two different types of submissions…people are mentioning portfolio reviews or “best of our best” work but also being discussed are assignments where we have time to go out and create new work for the site. I hope there is an opportunity for both but if it truly is a one time thing my vote would be for portfolio reviews. Even mini ones. At workshops a portfolio review often starts the relationship between teacher and student…getting to see where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing and where we need to/want to go. I recomment this as the starting place for us as well and from there if it continues new assignments can be given.
Hello, Cathy!
I agree with you. A portfolio review allows us to show what we want to do, what we are able to do at the moment, the way we edit photos, everything at our rhythm. I know it’s different when we receive an assignment, that we’ve got to work against the clock and everything, but i think that at this point we still consider ourselves students, nah?
I think there is also a room for a 3′rd idea. As Chevy Chase said in Three Amigo’s: “PRUNING OUT THE VILLAGERS”
David repeatedly mentions here and there the importance of excluding photos from our portfolios or to show less to be more effective.
The idea is similar to a Portfolio Review but a visual approach could be used. Where in a portfolio review we are expecting words of explanations of what works and what does not with our photography – a visual approach to this would be simply submitting a portfolio of 100 images where the reviewer could simply delete those less effective, repetitive, lousy as related within the framework of the theme. For those who are intuitive and visual learners it might just be a great help and an opportunity to draw conclusions from the excluded work.
I’m glazing over the last paragraph. I hope it’s not too long winded as I’m not going back up there to correct it. ;-)
hi cathy….
i totally understand your thinking about portfolio reviews….they are certainly a part of my teaching process always, but my experience shows me that portfolios have little to do with what a photographer will produce “on demand”….that is in the context of an assignment or commission…
i have seen photographers with great portfolios fall “flat on their face” when confronted with producintg good work “now” and conversely i have seen the most unlikely portfolio “owners” do amazing work on demand…
that is why magazine editors have such a difficult job of picking photographers for assignments….they know well that a photographer with a “great portfolio” does not mean that they have a candidate for an assignment…before they are going to “risk” their funding , they really need to know if someone can produce on demand…just as a champion golfer like tiger woods….sometimes i can hit a shot that looks just like a tiger woods shot…but, not consistently…not under pressure…not day after day…
for one thing, very few photographers know how to edit..including some very famous names you know…..i can “fix” most portfolios quite literally in minutes…
ok, i must rush off now…but i will come back to this topic…
good thoughts cathy..
Dear Mr.Harvey,
since i learn to using internet, i always open up your blog after my office hour. for me,as a newbie in photographi world,who try to learn how to make good photograph, your idea is great.i’ can’t wait to see how it will be grown up.sorry i can not give you any suggestion,and sorry for my not so good english.
with love from indonesia
uyat
David, would it not make sense to merge your blogs into one blog with categories? Just a thought
MAS
I was reading this post again befor uploading pictures and feel I must tell you this:
I like you and the idea is great
Noushin
This is very kind of you. A great idea and I’m sure it’s a lot of work to put up the submissions, but still, I bet it’s worth it. We will appreciate it and take part, I know I will.
- Mattikk