“Here we are now, entertain us”
Since I started LPV and began following photography on the web, I’ve been keenly interested in the way that photographers publish and present their work. Often you’ll see a blog post pop that says, “Photographer X has some new work on their site” you should check out. I never really thought about it much until the other day when I saw that same type of message pop up several times around Daniel Shea’s new work ‘Plume.’
It’s a work in progress, so I can understand perhaps the reluctancy to promote too extensively. But as a start to a project, it’s really impressive. As I thought about it, this seems to be the type of work, from the type of photographer that should be debuted exclusively on a prominent blog or website. I would find this to be far more interesting than the typical post that presents a selection from a “photographer that the blogger loves and thinks everyone should know about.”
I’ve heard many photographers say that the web really isn’t great for presenting work and that it’s better suited for facilitating conversation. There is certainly some truth to that and to be blunt, I’m starting to consider many photography blogs to be more PR than publishing. Like, I’ve mentioned in a previous post, there are certainly some publishers and bloggers that are presenting and publishing photography in interesting ways, but for the most part everyone (including this blog) are following pretty much the same template.
I’m curious to see how things evolve. I think photographers who have a new body work that they’ve been holding back from presenting on the web should think about pitching it as an exclusive to blogs they follow and admire. These type of features would benefit both the photographer and the blogger. And I think it’d create a more entertaining blogosphere. If part of the purpose of using the web is to market and promote work, then why not add some buzz? Get people excited. Build anticipation. Teaser trailers, exclusives rolled out over a week, spanning different publications. You get the picture. Of course, you’re dealing with a rather jaded audience that more than likely has revulsion to hype, but I don’t think it has to be gratuitous. After all, it is the web, why not experiment?
On that note, if you’re a photographer with a new body of work that you think would be a good fit for La Pura Vida, please shoot us an email. We’re always on the look out.
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