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« March 2013 | Main | May 2013 »
It's a momentous day in the Netherlands and we are all out celebrating.
Some Dutch people are dressed properly for the occasion...
...while the rest of us make do with touches of orange and try to attend as many festivities as possible in one day! Back soon with more photos. (Meanwhile, see more of my photos of the day's events in The Guardian).
Images above taken at Edam and Marken, the Netherlands.
Seagulls on a foggy day at Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands. Click images to view detail.
North Sea waves roll in, with accompanying fog and mist making the temperature seven degrees cooler than Amsterdam.
A child plays in a tidal pool.
My husband David walks in the distance.
Sand dunes, furrowed by the wind.
Seagrasses line an uphill path leading to more rolling sand dunes.
Here's hoping you and yours enjoy a relaxing weekend!
1930s WPA mural, Coit Tower, San Francisco.
On April 15th I wrote about Nikken Europe using my copyrighted photo for advertising and publicity. The company now has accepted that it used my photo without permission, apologised and paid the token compensation fee I requested. Nikken EU also has closed its Pinterest account.
I don't think this matter would have been resolved so readily, if not for the power of the pen (magnified via the internet) and the oxygen of publicity my article received via Twitter, Facebook, Etsy and various photography forums. Thank you for helping spread the word.
This is just one example of an ongoing battle photographers, writers, artists and content creators face to protect our original work. Personally I despise the watermark that defaces my photos (along with another watermark, embedded within the images). But as long as people carelessly cling to the delusion that anything they see on the internet is free for the taking, such (semi)protective measures must remain.
Due to a current Typepad problem of excessive spam, comments are closed beginning May 1st.
Angel, Saint Louis Cathedral, New Orleans.
whose cynical leaders
line their pockets with blood money
and act against the public interest;
no safety for children.
---------------------------
Khalil Gibran's Pity the Nation, 1934:
Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,
eats a bread it does not harvest,
and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.
And San Francisco's own Lawrence Ferlinghetti's ode to Gibran - in his version of Pity the Nation - is here.
This is my photo. I'm reclaiming it, after it was posted, "reblogged" and "pinned" over 10,000 times without permission or credit.
To me, this image taken in November, 2010 at Swayambhunath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal suggests hope for a better world. Each of these flickering flames represents someone's prayers; somebody's hopes; someone's dreams.
One of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday was eight-year-old Martin Richard, wise beyond his years. His "No more hurting people: Peace" sign is especially poignant in light of his untimely death.
As the late Robert F. Kennedy (himself felled by violence) noted, "All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity."
Nobel laureate Mohamed el Baradei said that "a durable peace is not a single achievement, but an environment, a process and a commitment." Each of us has a role to play in shaping a more peaceful planet. Rushing to judgment or repeating tired stereotypes ad nauseum advances no one's cause.
One of the 19 windmills at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Molens van Kinderdijk, Zuid-Holland. Click photo to view details.
One minute it's grey and cloudy; the next semi-warm and sunny - followed by wind and rain! It's April 16th and the central heating is still on...
Of course there are a few hints of spring in our garden ...
...and orchids have arrived to brighten the gloom.
Meanwhile, I'm still battling copyright violations, the latest on Tumblr. I've issued a DMCA takedown notice for my copyrighted photo, which has been posted and reblogged more than 10,000 times - without permission and without credit! I really don't understand this attitude of entitlement that so many people seem to adopt while using the internet. How many times do internet users have to be told that photographs, artwork and articles are not gratis to use however they like??!!
Today a package arrived from Paris, containing the latest addition to my black-and-white photography collection. It's a 1958 photograph by Christian Lemaire; an identical silver nitrate print recently sold at auction for €1,200. Yes, there's a price to be paid for copyrighted photos!
Pinterest encourages its users to take photos from anywhere and everywhere, with its latest initiative: "Did you know you can pin from anywhere on the web, even if you don’t see a Pin It button on the site?" its latest blog post asks. It's no wonder Pinterest users seem confused about copyright, with such mixed messages.
But internet etiquette and copyright law are easy to follow. It's good manners 101: ask permission before using someone else's work. Don't be lazy and grab something you like, without consulting the source and content creator. Otherwise, you may find yourself with multiple copyright infringement strikes against you - or even worse - a lawsuit! Haven't we all learned by now that nothing in life is free??!!
Boston
Thinking of all those affected by the dreadful bomb attacks Monday at the Boston Marathon. Such violence and extremism has no place in society, yet keeps rearing its ugly head in unlikely places. As always, it's the innocents who suffer. So many tragic, heart-breaking stories...
As for those politicians and hucksters trying to push their own agenda via vulnerable victims and their pain - shame on you! And this moron and his insane ramblings ought to be taken off the air, Rupert Murdoch!
A marble turret and "Juliet" balcony at Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batlló on Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona, Spain. All photos © Tara Bradford. Click images to view detail.
Later this week, my daughter will be traveling to Barcelona and Madrid for the first time. She hopes to visit the usual tourist haunts, including Antoni Gaudi-designed houses (Casa Batlló and Casa Milà or La Pedrera) and of course the work-in-progress UNESCO World Heritage site: La Sagrada Familia; Catedral de Barcelona, etc. I suggested Jordana "look up" at the architectural gems comprising the Barcelona skyline, as well as the artistic attention to detail lavished on many "ordinary" buildings. No doubt she will discover her own hidden gems.
These photographs are from my last trip to Barcelona. A "wedding cake" cupola centers a grand building on Passeig de Gràcia.
A 19th-century zinc decorative weather vane on a grey, cloudy day.
On a sunny day with blue skies, this cupola topped with an eagle and a winged figure caught my attention.
A bird pauses on an ornate post.
Hand-cut stone and a door appliqued with bronze flowers.
A colourful mosaic above an entranceway.
Handcarved flowers enhance a building's exterior.
Similar carved flowers adorn this facade with Art Nouveau balcony grillwork.
Elaborate plaster carving, wrought-iron grillwork and antique azuelos give this building a striking appeal.
My friend Gabrielle lives in a gorgeous renovated chateau near Versailles, France. This is just one elegant corner of her home, which is filled with character and an artful blend of modern items with antiques. I'll be photographing her chateau soon for a magazine feature.
Gabrielle is a former antiques dealer, with superb styling skills. The coral on a Napoleon III stand was a gift from me. The nacre fish inside the antique globe is from the same period. The framed 19th-century plant examples are from a French pharmacy.
Photos in Bhaktapur, Nepal © Tara Bradford. Click to view detail (and - alas - the distracting signature).
After yesterday's post about Pinterest, I've discovered numerous instances of my Nepal photos (and others) pinned without permission. In none of these examples was I credited as the photographer, nor did any "pins" or "re-pins" link to my photography website or blog. Instead I found many "uploaded by user" instances, with no link to the original source.
Sadly, it appears the new reality - thanks to Pinterest and too many thoughtless users - must include a hidden watermark and big signature scrawled across the middle of every photo. It's disappointing that such action appears necessary, to help guard against copyright infringement.
From my observations over the past 15 months or so, copyright infringement is rampant on Pinterest. And many, many Pinterest users could care less. They pay attention only when Pinterest issues a "strike" against them for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Don't let that happen to you! Please ask permission before pinning someone else's photos. If that seems like too much effort, try to imagine how much work went into creating that photo or artwork you've admired enough to pin. Better yet, create original work of your own and "pin" that to Pinterest boards!
Meanwhile, this tongue-in-cheek piece about Pinterest is food for thought. Bon weekend les tous!
P.S. This short video should make you smile. It makes me happy to be living in a country with such creative and imaginative thinkers.
It's not you; it's Pinterest. I've written a few posts about Pinterest, photography and copyright infringement. I've written about why I don't want even one of my photos on Pinterest. Yet few people seem to be paying attention. Within the past 18 hours, I've had to issue Digital Millennium Copyright Act (copyright infringement) notices for each and every photo which appear in the 19 screen shots (below) and more. This tedious process required hours of my time and effort.
While linking to each instance of my copyrighted photos - used without permission - I discovered that in numerous cases, credit for my work was claimed by naturaldetails.tumblr.com and midnightcurls.tumblr.com. Other Tumblr accounts also claimed credit for my work. In other instances, no source was provided. In still another example, a photograph of lit candles in Nepal erroneously was referred to as India and repinned over 150 times! (I had to provide each of those 150+ links that I could find to Pinterest, to have them removed). (And on Tumblr itself, this image has been reblogged over 10,000 times, with no credit to me).
One of my copyrighted photos pinned without permission was taken from a book already published. Two other copyrighted photos which are appearing in books later this year also were "pinned. And photos taken from a book that I publicized on my blog were listed under my name.
I am not interested in negatively impacting Pinterest's business. I am trying to prevent my original work from losing its value by being pinned (and uncredited) numerous times on multiple Pinterest boards, amidst groupings of dubious quality and origin. Pinterest is a big company with massive funding and I am one small business owner, simply trying to protect my livelihood. I receive no benefit whatsoever from my photography appearing on Pinterest. Quite the contrary: it costs me time and money trying to combat hundreds of copyright violations!
I've deleted my Flickr, Tumblr and 500 px accounts to stop my photos from being pinned on Pinterest. After seven years of blogging, must I stop that too?
I urge all you Pinterest fans to act responsibly and seek permission from the photo source before you pin. Would you want someone else appropriating your work without permission??!!
Click to view screenshots in detail.
Further reading:
