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An acquaintance of mine, top advertising photographer in the UK recently uploaded an image to another photography sharing site. It got three points and a few comments. One of the comments accused him of plagiarism. The funny thing is the shot was used by Time magazine for one of their covers.
Rather wistfully he declared that all of those photographers who upload images and don't get much attention, should take heart. The online voters clearly have something else in mind.
No doubt context and the purpose of an image play a role. And yes I know this topic has been covered umpteen times but I'm sure that some of my fellow photographers here will take heart in the fact that one of best UK advertising photographers, with more awards than you can shake a stick at, didn't manage to get anyone interested in a shot Time magazine considered good enough for their cover.
Nobody buys time magazine on this site, cos the photos they use are rubbish. 
But doesn't this assume that the art editor (or whoever) who chose the photo for the cover was right and that it actaully was good? Maybe the people on the site were right and it didn't really warrent attention. I wouldn't always agree with the cover choice of a magazine. Like people don't agree with my choice of EC.
Well I did say context and purpose play a role. The image was chosen to illustrate anxiety so it probably didn't have the appeal of Kate Moss on the cover of a fashion mag.
I'm tempted to mention his name... but I won't because that will shift the debate to personal level.
Not everyone agrees with editors. Each has their own taste and a job to do as well ie sell the publication. Again it comes down to context.
Thinking back on the debate here about a category for photojournalism, perhaps epz isn't the right media channel. We view images with particular expectations and preconceptions. It's value is not just technical or pictoral.
Quote: Nobody buys time magazine on this site, cos the photos they use are rubbish.
Well, excuse me but I have had a picture published in Time Magazine and it's one of my Claims to Fame - So ya boo sucks....... but I still don't actually buy it..........
))))
Quote: a category for photojournalism, perhaps epz isn't the right media channel. We view images with particular expectations and preconceptions. It's value is not just technical or pictoral.
No reason why it isn't the right media channel. If the photo is strong and works its quality will be recognised. We have enough experience amongst our members to spot quality. Maybe the person in question should post the image on here and see what happens.
I'll ask him Pete.
What I meant about photojournalism is that although an image can be appreciated for its inherent qualities, epz is not a news outlet where photojournalism is photojournalism ie an image to illustrate a news story.
We simply HAVE to post that somewhere in the critique gallery .. i was having a similar conversation over the weekend about people moaning about blown highlights etc ... photography is about emotion, and creating art .. its about telling a story .. yes there are technical points that can be brought to bear however there are times when the light, subject, time or situation demand an unusual or unorthodox approach. There are also times when its totally ok to blow highlights, have the shot out of focus, or provide an unusal composition. IF it improves the shot .. its no excuse for bad photography .. it's actually a celebration of SUPERB photography!
Dan
This highlights why i think the EC is a great counterpoint to an RC, neither is a perfect way of choosing the best image.
It's great to see what one person picks as worthy against what a lot of people think is worthy.
Your fiend should comport themselves with being published, if they're a commercial photographer surely that's the ultimate goal?
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