Would you Pay a Photography Tax?
I have been thinking a lot about the quantity and quality of pictures that I have been posting on-line recently and am concerned that self publication and self promotion might all be a little too easy. I take a lot of photos I generally have at least one film camera with me when I leave the house and my iPhone is an extension of my hand. I can’t remember the last time I was not able to capture something that I found interesting.
I develop the film or empty the memory cards and look at the images. I am past the stage where I tend to get shots that would be unfit for viewing, blurry, lack of composition, boring content, incorrect exposure etc. This means I end up with a lot of pictures and I am never really sure what to do with them. I post a lot to flickr or my Facebook page and some help me fill this blog.
In the interest of trying to improve the quality of the photography that I show to other people I have been floating the idea of a photography tax. Assume that you have spent the day shooting pictures and are now trying to decide what to publish. You could just upload everything to any photo sharing site and the world will have access to them to enjoy, comment on and critique. Therefore I am suggesting that in order for me to select what I consider the best shots there should be a price attached to uploading then.
It will be a two tiered system for publishing photos on-line. Option one will be just upload any shots I want and pay in the region of €1 per photo to display them on-line. I think even at this small charge it would make me very selective about what gets posted. The second option would be that I can publish the photos for free but I will need to defend the image in front of a judge. This person will not judge the merit of my photo but whether or not my explanation of motives for taking and displaying the photo are rational and compelling. It is my belief that either the monetary cost of up-loading or the emotional cost of having to explain my photography would instantly improve what I choose to display to the world.
I would love to hear if you have a process that helps you decide what to post on-line and how you select your images. Would you consider paying a photography tax? Should it be mandatory?
by: Aware of the Void
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