The Silent Crime

It has happened before... where I discovered one of my photographs being used commercially without the correct permissions and credit, and it has just happened again... Gawwwd it gets under my skin.   Usually it is a quite innocent misunderstanding, and the images are removed without question or complaint, but this latest case is beyond belief.    The photos in question were captured during a commission from a good client - a large super yacht shipyard, and were processed with the utmost professional finish and quality.   Then someone sitting out there decided to take them from the internet, and upload them to the web site MarineTraffic as their own.   Now take into consideration that MarineTraffic is a worldwide website with thousands of members, and watched carefully by the Super Yacht industry, and you get the picture.

For some reason, out there in the electronic interweb world, people either professional or not, have the idea that if an image is there, it is 'free use'.   This is especially if it appears in a Google image search result.   Google has tried to combat this with a little fine print 'copyright may apply' which is easily overlooked, if understood at all.   Copyright of a photograph remains with the person who pressed the shutter button to capture the image, and does not matter who owned the camera, or who was paying the photographer.  Copyright of the photograph also remains for 70 years after the death of the photographer, and then is passed to next of kin.   Even if the photograph is sold as prints, or electronically, this never transfers ownership of the copyright.   I have however heard of limited agreements where the photographer sold the copyright, which was only the case because the photographer was not interested in the end result at all, and paid handsomely for the work.

There is still the strange myth alive and well that a photographer will be happy with exposure by any media if they are credited, and Photographers should be happy for the privilege of having our work exposed.   As flattering as it may be, there is nothing further from the truth, as only amateurs would really be the one's needing this ego rub.   The automatically perceived notion that exposure has some financial gain to a photographer is an extremely selfish and naive attitude that too many low budget web sites believe justifies their actions.   But then take the individual who claims the photograph from another, and this becomes theft of intellectual talent and is quite simply committing fraud.   Yet this type of person for some reason believes they are immune or can get away with it, and how they find peace in their mind to undertake such an act is beyond me.   There was one famous case in the U.S. where a Photographer used another's work to promote her Wedding Photography website.   The Photographer was found out, very easily, and not only flamed by the industry, but lost all credibility to the point of shutting down her business, even after she apologised.  It is a pity that I can't take the same action towards the individual who stole my work...  the combination of a very generic name and no contact details on the MarineTraffic website returns no supporting evidence I can use to point blame.

Since finding the stolen images, MarineTraffic has removed them and allowed me to re-submit.   But the person gets away with a crime that is all too silent, damnit!

The Power of the People

Living in Sweden and coming from Australia, the word 'Immigration' is always hot topic... whether it be through the normal legal channels (such as my presence in Sweden) or refugee claims, it can be considered a big issue both politically and socially amongst the 'local' population.   However my perspective on this changed rapidly during a recent work trip to Qatar for the boat show.   You see, Qatar is not a big Country as it is, with a population not much bigger than the total of Brisbane or Stockholm, it was a little shocking to learn that the 'local' Qatari population is an extreme minority... with different people telling me it is between 250 thousand to 400 thousand.   So what makes up the difference?  And why?   High end industry surrounding the Natural Gas mining and supply does add cause to the growth, as well educated, experienced workforce is limited in Qatar (with no disrespect to the Qatari people), and I was even told (unsupported) that the Danish Immigrants number approx 200 thousand alone.   The rest however vary massively, from Egypt, Kenya, Germany, Netherlands, UK, India... you get the idea.

So it would appear that the Qatari people are being overrun by immigration, and their Country taken over by non-Islamic beliefs and more importantly, dress.   Flip this around, and I know that the biggest concern I hear from Swedes and Australians is that the Burka is everywhere, and growing in appearance in these Countries.   Here I will have to touch on another small education I received - the 'Burka' is not what people assume... the level of head cover varies in name and type, from the Hijab, Chador, Niqad, and then Burka which is very seldom used, even in Qatar.   Then you have the dress, which can be labeled as demeaning to the women who wear the full length black garment, socially forced and lacking the beauty that women so rightly deserve to display.  But then the men in Qatar (and other Arab Countries) wear the full length plain white garment and white headdress in similar numbers to the women's dress code.   So it is quite an even keel in their society.

The most important fact to come out of Qatar is this... with a massive majority of people living and working there who do not wear the traditional dress, does not mean it is becoming less amongst the locals.   The Expats dress how they wish, and the Qatari people do not judge them or try to change them to wear what they do.   There is some respect given in society if foreign men and women do wear traditional local dress, but it is definitely not forced or looked down upon if not done.   So business goes on as usual, with professional relationships both between women and men alike not affected by the appearance of one's outfit, or inner religious beliefs.   Christianity accounts for 14%, along with Hindu at the same numbers.  Considering the small population of the Country, this is quite high, yet is not diluting the Islamic beliefs and strength.

So while some may sit in Sweden or Australia and worry that we are being overrun by Islamic ways and people, with the numbers growing constantly... there should not be any fear of dilution of local culture and beliefs, because if Qatar can hold on to their identity so easily with such a vast majority of outside influence, then so can we.   The power of the people is on one hand just as small as it is large on the other.

Twisted reality

As a Photographer who has done a few maternity photo shoots, I was shocked when I came across a post on Facebook today displaying another maternity Photographer's work...   And it was not the photos, but the comments by other women.   The Photographer in question has the concept of photographing pregnant women underwater, in quite a stunning and surreal way.   This is beautiful technique and illustrates the female body and personality wonderfully.   However as I read through the comments more and more, the overall reaction was negative and judgemental almost beyond sense.    Saying that the women in the photographs were 'sexualised' because they were wearing bikinis... well, to start with, they are underwater.   But the harsh criticism that arose just over some high heels appearing in one photograph was astonishing... with other women stating that it can't be comfortable while pregnant and pregnant women only want to wear baggy clothes and not look sexy.

Then there are the comments that the 'male' Photographer would have only chosen 'beautiful' women to photograph... How naive and again sexist.   Our clients choose us, we don't choose them.   They wear what they feel comfortable in, and we never tell them what to wear or make them wear something they don't want.  We may suggest some poses, which is only natural for a Photographer to do.   Mostly they are 'every day' women, not models or women who want to appear sexualised, etc.  Oh, and they all love the finished product.   Then look at some of the worlds most successful maternity photographers, and they are women (a good friend being one of them) photographing in a similar beautiful style (although not under water - nice idea! :) ).

Any maternity photograph is a celebration of femininity and new life - something that should be embraced by all women, especially one's whom have lived through pregnancy.   It is a gift women have, and no photographer in the world would intentionally put a women down because they don't feel or look as beautiful as others do.  Fashion and style is a conscious choice, as I know some women who never wear heels, and some who have a hundred pairs.   It is absolutely appalling to read some comments by women in that post who conclude that a woman who wears heels and a bikini for a maternity photo shoot is asking for sex... honestly I never thought women could be so sexist or superficial... really sad, and such a twisted view of reality.

Footnote: There are some women in the FB post who have also expressed the same opinion I have, but unfortunately a minority.

Spinning backwards

In this day and age with the wonders of technology and a camera in everyone's phone, the ease of photography has changed.   I am guilty of it as well... picking up my iPhone to grab a shot, or using it when I am just too damn lazy to carry around 1.5kg of Pro DSLR camera and lens on a walk, and then I end up capturing an amazing sunset with only 8mp and quite a crap processor.   More recently though I have managed to use my iPhone for more serious work with my RF stock portfolio, and getting away with it, actually selling images... and I start to wonder why I own all this huge, heavy, pro equipment... it looks all very impressive, so my friends say.   So today I found myself in an Apple store, dreaming of owning a glossy new piece of fad that must be able to improve my life - the iPhone6.  Well, it's camera must be an improvement over my big, slow, and heavy (relative) 4S... I hoped.   Bitterly disappointed I walked out of the store... admittedly I looked at the camera specs before entering, but trying it out I resolved that it is still just a phone, and not a particularly good one in my humble opinion.   "But it is an iPhone, with all that cool connectivity", I hear you say... true, the new operating systems and clouds hanging above us with so many silver linings can sway me... maybe.   It is however, not the technology that is wrong, but the designers (and I fear, the consumers) that have gone wrong.  Why?  It is just too big now... not heavy, but bordering on impractical for what, in essence, is still a mobile phone... not even talking about the 'plus' version, it will now barely fit in one's pocket, and easily aid a woman's (or metrosexual man's) handbag towards point of critical mass.

I wonder where the day has gone when we strived to make technology more practical on a physical level?... now you cannot operate Apple's smallest iPhone6 with one hand (unless you have a very long thumb).  From the home button to the top of the impressive Retina display is just too far without shuffling the phone around in your hand.   Didn't Apple designers think of this?  Try it?  Or did they simply conclude that consumers will be happy using two hands to operate it?   And here I feel the world is beginning to spin backwards... where we as a consumer are happy to accept devices larger and larger in size (mostly for viewing pleasure), that in our SiFi dreams should be getting smaller. There was only one other time I felt the world spin backwards, when a local French train actually departed the station early... but now I fear I will feel it more and more. I'm just glad that no one has tried to make DSLR cameras bigger just to incorporate a larger viewing screen on the back, and therefore still happy to carry mine around... most of the time.

Footnote: I actually like Apple products and have several, and I am aware of iPhone6 having a feature called 'reachability'... but the need to make software to overcome the size just reconfirms my point :)

A slice of heaven

Fortunate enough to be doing a small job for a friend, I wrestled my way off the Autostrade (Italian for 'Get out of my way motorway') into the delightful backroads of Tuscany.   I have been here before, but it was a while back, and faded somewhat from my memory... but as I sat eating breakfast at a stereotypical Tuscan B&B, it all came flooding back.   The soft morning breeze moves the leaves on tall trees, like a thousand hands waving back at me across an empty field once filled with a flourishing Summer crop.   I drive past old cottages, stone walls, and down lanes lined with cypress trees standing to order as if greeting me on my journey... and now a few days in the medieval village of Metato, perched high on the side of a mountain overlooking Camaiore and the Mediterranean sea.   The houses and villas here are but only a handful, still though interlaced together like a puzzle gone wrong, creating meandering stone pathways and little arched entrances to multiple doorways.    Too cramped to be relaxing... maybe, but here is the thing - you don't actually look into another window, and at night there is just pure peace, like you are the only one in the village.   The wine is local... very good and very cheap.  The pasta is home made by the neighbour literally 5 steps down the path, and you can go for a stroll through olive trees growing on what seems to be an impossibly steep farm.  If you get bored with this, pop in to the local town in the valley, where you are flooded with choice of very good and original Italian cuisine - not like how the French do it ;)

So what is the catch?... well, if you ask any local about actually living here, the first things to voice are about the Italian economy almost beyond rescue or the corrupt Government, and fuel prices are even higher than Sweden (which is high).   But if you bury yourself deep enough into a silky smooth panna cotta, it doesn't really matter :P Tuscany is a real slice of heaven.

A different world

Winding down after the whirl-wind that was Monaco Yacht Show 2014, and processing the conglomeration of video and photos allows me to reflect upon this intriguing event.   This is my 4th year in a row attending as a photographer, and my work here has been evolving with new clients and cool experiences which make the show a must for my business and reputation.   "Ahhh... Monaco",  I hear you say... and well justified, as I am surrounded by exotic supercars, superyachts, and most likely some of the best dressed people on the planet.   But this is all just a facade hiding many things very wrong with this place... a tax haven of a bygone era, being held together by the rich and not so famous.   Here is the largest Yacht show in the world, and yet the WiFi internet speeds remind you of how it was to surf in the late 1990's... you walk down to a well established restaurant, stepping over crap left behind by some small trinket dog used more as an accessory than a pet, and when you do sit down to eat, you are hard pressed finding anything but the finest Italian cuisine (what is 'French cuisine' here anyway???)...  Yes, I am aware that many years ago Italy occupied this part of France ;)    And while you soak up this atmosphere, you are listening to a chorus of rather delightful exhaust notes spelling out the hundreds of thousands of Euro's spent on 4 wheels with Monaco plates, only to be annoyingly drowned out by the near continuous emergency vehicle sirens echoing through the streets - honestly... what is going wrong so often!!??   The pretentiousness can be cut by a knife in all directions, with a 'get out of my way' attitude only stopped by someone walking across a zebra crossing.   4-Euros for a coffee so bad they should be ashamed of serving and never sleep at night... and don't get me started on why, at the show, the food and drink venues don't accept ANY credit/debit cards... such an arrogant French attitude piss-take!

Now it is over, all the yachts of various sizes disembark to destinations scattered around the Med to get ready for the Caribbean season or just finish some final charters, Port Hercules returns to normal, crowds vanish, and I wonder why I am still here... might hang out in Nice for a few days... at least the pizzas only cost 10Euro.  I chuckle to myself a little, knowing I will be back next year, and remembering what an Exhibitor said to me in the elevator during the show, "we should stop complaining... god we are spoilt working here".   So true, so I will shut up now :)

German efficiency...

Sitting here now resting in Annecy France after blasting across the German Autobahns over the last two days, and I can't help but feel a little cheated.

Usually when the word 'Autobahn' is mentioned, men (and some women) start to melt at the thought of no speed limits and endless lanes of driving bliss... But after today and many other tens of thousands of klms I have spent traversing Germany, it is unfortunately proven once more a myth.   You see, the 'unlimited speed' idea is just not possible.   Yeah, sure, you can max out your car's speed without being arrested, and therefore (theoretically) get from point 'a' to 'b' very quickly, but it is far from the perceived German efficiency.   For a start, there is only a limited amount of Autobahn with no limit, and then the weather must be perfect, and the traffic too, otherwise they change the speed signs back to 120, etc... which brings me on to the traffic - if you managed to get up a good speed, it is only a matter of minutes (if that) before you are cut off by an Eastern European truck driver deciding to overtake another travelling 2km/h slower, or some old man in a 20yr old VW 1.0lt who decides he must pass a 30yr old Mercedes... you get the picture.   Then you have the contra-flows, where the roadworks dictate ridiculously narrow lanes (usually 2.2m, where a car is approx 2.0m wide incl. mirrors) and 80km/h speed limits for km after km.   And finally the traffic jams... everywhere.  "What does this all equate to?", I hear you ask... well, an average speed of only 111km/h from Nth to Sth of the country.    Quite sad really... Oh, but I haven't mentioned the roads yet... you would imagine that the Germans have roadbuilding down to a fine art, but you are wrong.   Much of the Autobahn network is a patchwork quilt style of aging concrete, some of which is back breaking at speed.   So you dream of taking a sports car on the Autobahn?  My humble Beema with sports suspension, 18inch wheels, and shockingly hard Run Flat Tyres made some of the road feel like corrugated iron... give me Swiss roads any day ;)

Okay okay, there are some good points... mostly the drivers themselves.   The traffic is beautifully organised, with no passing on the slow lane side, and courteous merging, activating the hazard lights to warn other drivers behind of fast decelerating and stopped traffic.   I have rarely seen any accidents either, amazing taking into account the high speeds.  Most of the cars travel between 140 and 180km/h, maybe to do with comfort (on the bad surfaces) and mostly to do with fuel economy.   All this actually makes the Autobahn more relaxing, and a joy to be a part of... And there are some small moments of brilliance, when the new road surface appears, the traffic thins, and the sun shines... then it all starts to make sense.

So has the romance died?   Yes, it has... but if I dig deep enough, many years ago, I can remember falling in love, on a small section just outside Chemnitz... keeps the hope alive that the pain is worth the reward ;)

In the beginning...

Welcome to my first blog post... exciting I know, and wondering where I start???

I'm a professional photographer... and Australian one... living in Sweden, and as many Swedes ask me, "why would an Australian choose to live in Sweden?"  Three guesses I say, with the first one usually the right one - a girl, Swedish at that :) but that is another story which could easily make a large book in content and explanation... one day maybe :)

So here I sit, with the relationship now long gone, still in Sweden, and people ask me again "why?"... and I reply with the suggestion that Sweden can actually be a nice place to live, and have good business prospects, contrary to many Swede's attitudes.   Upon starting my business here as a test idea back in 2011, I have since grown this with many new clients every year while also growing my specialty - Super Yacht Photography.  But there are no Superyachts in Sweden they say... true, with the exception of 'Vibrant Curiosity' which cruised past Malmo in 2011 giving an amazing photo opportunity you can't get almost anywhere else in the world.   Then I enlighten people to the fact that the majority of leading Super Yacht shipyards in the world exist in the Nth of Germany and Netherlands, so Malmö is an ideal hub not only for driving to continental EU but also flying out of CPH.  Much easier than from Australia!

"Super Yachts... wow... must be exotic", some say... true, but the work is very incestual, few and far between, and the work is very high demand in both time and quality, so it is not all Sunglasses and Autographs :)

Stay tuned for more...