[WikiEN-l] NYT: Wikipedia May Be a Font of Facts, but It’s a Desert for Photos

[Carcharoth]

On Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 8:38 PM, David Gerard<dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/arts/20funny.html
>
> One error on licensing. Claim that Wikipedia requires you to give up
> your copyright unchallenged. Otherwise, pretty good! And should have
> the right effect in terms of promo photo donations.

The bit I found most fascinating was the professional photographer
explaining how Wikipedia can help his career, but can also reduce his
income (from resale of his pictures).

"He said that having his work on Wikipedia has increased his online
visibility [...] but that the costs are potentially high. “This is the
lifeblood of my career,” he said, noting that photographers may get
paid very little for a celebrity shot for a magazine. They make their
money from resales of the image."

Earlier in the article, his contributions to Wikipedia (Commons) were described:

"Jerry Avenaim, a celebrity photographer. He is unusual in that he has
contributed about a dozen low-resolution photographs to Wikipedia"

It would be interesting to compare why low-resolution is considered OK
here, to support and encourage the revenue stream of a professional
photographer, but not in the case of the National Portrait Gallery
(where the underlying works are public domain), and the revenue stream
is (in theory) supporting the digitisation costs.

I should disclose here that although I am not a professional
photographer, I do work in the photography industry, and I'm aware of
some of the ins and outs of how photographers (and others) earn money
from their services, skills, and the end products of photographs and
images.

It usually comes down to access and opportunities, in this case to
celebrities, in the case of the NPG, to a collection of public domain
artworks. For news photographers, it is being in the right place at
the right time. For nature and landscape photographers, it is funding
trips to far-flung landscapes or having the patience and skill to
find, photograph and identify an animal or plant. And there are lots
if niche photographers as well, that specialise in certain areas,
which may require specialised and expensive equipment.

Carcharoth