Lowell Sun just ran a story about my show

Maxine, the Loading Dock Gallery curator, just told me about this story in today's Lowell Sun, in the "Steppin' Out" section. This definitely ups the anxiety a bit. I actually haven't been anxious that much, but something like this means a lot of people I don't know will pick up the paper, read this story and show up with their critical eye, so there's that voice in me that says "friends will say your work is nice, but strangers can be honest if it's not", so I'm really hoping people enjoy the show. I've been very busy getting ready. And of course the whole crew at the Loading Dock Gallery have been busy as well. I'm pretty excited about tomorrow night. Everyone is invited to the show at 122 Western Avenue in Lowell. The reception is Friday night, from 6-9pm. And I still need to figure out food!

If you're on Facebook, you could put it on your calendar here

The "Impossible" is about to become possible

When Polaroid announced several years ago that it would be hanging up film products for good, the world responded with a resounding "I though you were already dead?" There were a few folks, like myself, who were still using Polaroid and buying up stashes of Polaroid, but most people weren't too alarmed. Those that were alarmed wiped away the tears and immediately jumped online, started blogs, Flickr groups and even companies devoted to satiating Polaroid fanatics.

Sites like "Save Polaroid" led to sites like "Unsaleable.com" where you could buy all those crazy film fantasies in the form of Lomo and Holga cameras, Polaroid films and more.

Then something interesting happened. Unsaleable magically became Polapremium.com. This new Polapremium company specialized in only Polaroid, but not only that, they offered films unavailable and even unknown to the majority of Polaroid fans like myself. "Blue" Type 100 Polaroid film? "Soft focus" Spectra? Even "Chocolate" Polaroid, previously only available to those wealthy enough to afford the 8x10 positives and negatives which ran about $200 a box, but now available for less than $20 a box for your Type 80 or Type 100 camera.

Around the same time, a story came out about some Dutch Polaroid ex-employees who got together to buy up Polaroid's equipment and lease their factory to do what seemed the impossible: bring back Polaroid. This endeavor became known as the Impossible Project, a name coined from a phrase said by Dr. Edwin Land, founder of Polaroid, who said "don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible. This group at the Impossible Project decided they were going to make new Polaroid film and even try to make it easier to manufacture since the old Polaroid films used dozens of resources just to make one print. The folks at either company didn't make a big deal about it, but a lot of people noticed that the people with the Impossible Project were connected to Polapremium. Not only that, but Ilford was involved.

Today, we see that this wasn't just talk. Polapremium has changed its name once again, and this time it's "Impossible", a clear connection to The Impossible Project (even the URL gives it away). While much of its stock is depleted, it is clear that Impossible (Project) is serious about an announcement they'll be making in late March, apparently about some new developments they've made for future Polaroid films. 

All I can say is if they announce new large format peel apart film -- especially my beloved Type 55 -- it'll be a great birthday present! Otherwise, I'll be content with some new film for my Onestep.

Imagining Past and Present: a Photo Retrospective by Jeffrey Engel

Not too pretentious a title hopefully! I'll have a solo show from March 3 through 28 at the Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell, MA. An opening reception will be held on Friday March 5th from 6 to 9pm. Some of the work that will be in the show will cover a wide range in terms of age as well as media. I'll have photos from the early '90s, and I'll have recent Polaroid emulsion lift pieces. There is no over-arching theme other than most of the pieces tend to be landscapes or environmental photos.

I'll also have a few hand-made silver-gelatin prints available. I made these at Bill LaPete's lab in South Boston. Bill is a master printer, a genius at his craft, and he'll impart some secrets you never learn in art school if you use his darkroom.

Other Photographer turns down a model who wants full editing rights

I wrote this in response to someone in the General Industry forum on Model Mayhem.

Depending on the model, I might sign like this (release where the model wants full editing rights, ie. she wants to be able to say yea or ney on whether any of the photos get published). If the model wasn't worth it, you did right by not agreeing. But I could think of situations where it might be worth the risk of the model nixing all your photos. In fact, you hear about this more and more with celebrities or models who know they have leverage with a photographer who really wants to get known. If I were a rising or established celebrity, I may be trying to control my "brand" and how I'm perceived in the media. The successful brand are the ones that are professionally and closely managed. Know what I mean. Your model friend may be trying to do the same. She may want to make sure none of your photos that get released have some expression or whatever that she does not want to make public.

I worked with a model once who asked me to not publish any of the photos that had her in profile. Everything else was OK, but she was really concerned with the ones that had her looking to the left and where we could see that her nose was a bit long. I complied because I respected that she was trying to create a persona and her profile expressed some things that didn't fit into that persona. I can respect that.

I encourage models to really think about what THEY want out of the model release, not just agree to my terms but really think about what they're saying and cross out the things they don't like and add in things they want. Then I read it and do the same.

Most of the time, models just skim it and sign the release.

Models, you DO have power here. You are 50% partner in the endeavor.

Negotiation is an art.

Kevin Kelly's 1000 True Fans: a Method to Success for Creatives?

This is about an older article from The Technium, but it's so good that I just have to talk about just how great it is. Kevin Kelly says people who make things should stop trying so hard to get a few wealthy patrons and also not count on trying to sell a gazillion cheap items. He says what creative people like us should be doing is looking for 1000 true fans. These 1000 true fans are people who are willing to spend a day's wage, once per year, to support your endeavors.

Graphic © Kevin Kelly

Kelly goes on to say that true fans are people who:

...will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

I bolded one of his sentences above for a reason. You see, at first some might say that his theory is a pipe dream, and that it's actually quite difficult to get 1000 true fans. In fact, some people like John Scalzi have really pointed out some major obstacles and roadblocks to attaining this goal, and they have a pretty good argument, I have to admit.

However, as I mentioned, I bolded a line above about people watching items in eBay. This is because a young woman is doing exactly what Kevin Kelly talks about, and from what I can tell, she started doing it before Kelly even wrote his article.

Abbey Ryan paints small oil paintings once a day and puts them up on eBay where they are selling for $80 to $250 each. I don't know exactly how successful she is at making a living at doing these paintings, but she is actively engaged in what we're talking about here: getting true fans and she's generating a buzz, so it's definitely working for her in that respect (not to mention that her paintings are actually pretty cool as well). In fact, some of you are going to go to Ryan's site right now and be amazed at what she's doing. You're going to bookmark her page, blog about her, and maybe even jump on eBay... just like Kelly said. This is how it happens, folks.

Back to Kelly's article....

Kelly knows he's making it sound easy. He writes that it does take time and that it is hard. But isn't this exactly what it's all about if you make a living being creative? You work hard to appeal to your true fans. One cannot just take a photo or make a painting, frame it, and expect people to want to buy it. There has to be a reason, an appeal, an affinity, and all creatives have the tools available in this day and age to attain a steadily growing fanbase of supporters by building that affinity, but you have to use the tools and you can't stop. If you want this to be your living you have to make it your living and that means working hard to get those 1000 true fans, because they are out there!