Rogers and Henry's to launch new magazine for photo enthusiasts

Rogers Media and its NEXT Content Studio has partnered with Henry's Camera Store, theCanadian camera chain, to launch The Lens, a new national photo and video magazine for photography enthusiasts. It is aimed at photographers, videographers, cinematographers and other content creators, from hopeful beginners to seasoned pros. 

The magazine which is to be released May 15, will be available free in all Henry's locations and distributed via Canada Post to select communities across Canada, with a total controlled circulation of 120,000.

"The Lens is a way for Henry's to share our passion for photography, video and content creation with our customers in an exciting new way," said Jeff Tate, vice president marketing and eCommerce at Henry's. "For more than 100 years, we've prided ourselves on delivering an exceptional customer experience and being part of the creative community. Now, with the help of Rogers Media, The Lens will bring our customers even more information and inspiration, shining a spotlight on Canada's finest content creators." 

 Each issue will have a themed contest for readers and Henry's staff with the theme "Reflection," The Lens Contest challenges readers – as well as Henry's staffers – to submit their creative/unique images for the chance to be published in the next issue. The overall winner from all eligible submissions will also be awarded a Henry's gift card.

The debut issue features award-winning Canadian photographer Chris Gordaneer, Toronto photographer and social influencer “Soteeoh,” as well as well as a variety of other industry experts.

enRoute collection of photography being sold to benefit sick children

Elizabeth Weinberg, NYC 2013

Fliers, frequent or otherwise, will be able to buy limited edition prints about travel subjects from enRoute magazine in support of the Air Canada Foundation. It's a partnership with The Print Atelier, an online gallery offering photographs for delivery to your door and Boston's Flash Forward Festival (May 1 - 4 at Fairmont Battery Wharf, Boston). 

The enRoute Collection contains photos commissioned by the inflight magazine between 2009 and 2014 and features Grant Harder, Kari Medig, Eamon Mac Mahon, and Elizabeth Weinberg, The show is curated by Adam Cholewa, who is the art director of enRoute and was former associate art director at The Grid, Ilana Weitzman, the editor-in-chief of enRoute and Julien Beaupre Ste-Marie, the managing editor of books & exhibitions for The Magenta Foundation.

Proceeds from the sales go to help connect sick children to the medical care they need, alleviate child poverty and make the wishes of ill kids come true. (The print above in a 30x40 inch format is priced at $1,450.)

Photojournalist Peter Bregg to be given CJF Lifetime Achievement Award

From copy boy to lifetime achievement winner and it only took 50 years. Peter Bregg, the well-known and -respected photojournalist, is to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award June 4 at the 17th annual Canadian Journalism Foundation Awards. He is the first photographer to receive the award.

Bregg was chief photographer and photo editor at Maclean's magazine for 17 years and has worked with Canadian Press in Ottawa and The Associated Press in Ottawa, Boston, London, New York and Washington, D.C. He has shot eight Olympic games, countless Stanley Cups and World Series games and covered the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001. He has also cut a stylish figure wherever he and his moustache has gone. 

Trudeau by Bregg

"Peter's body of work has been an extraordinary composite sketch of Canada in the last nearly-half-century," says Kirk LaPointe, a jury member who is also adjunct professor and executive-in-residence at The University of British Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. "He has been one of the most generous, consummately professional journalists in my experience, a mentor to newer photojournalists and a trusted source of advice and leadership in how great journalism is generated. He has remained true to the principles of high-calibre journalism while being an early adopter of modern, digital methods to tell visual stories. He exemplifies what a lifetime of journalism should be: constant renewal, consistent excellence, high integrity and a commitment to community."

Bregg is a member of PhotoSensitive, a photo collective that uses photography to support charitable causes, and he continues to take freelance commissions while teaching photojournalism at Toronto's Ryerson University Journalism School. Samples of recent work and his archives.

Getty Images is making most of its picture library free to use

Getty Images, the world's largest and inarguably one of the best photo services, particularly for historical photos, is making most of its picture library free to use. The images were previously watermarked and you had to pay to get the watermark removed; now, a magazine or a blog could use the images without watermark, providing they agree to appending a credit and link to the licensing page. 

Howcum? Well, according to a story on The Verge

"Look, if you want to get a Getty image today, you can get it without a watermark very simply," says Craig Peters, a business development executive at Getty. The way you do that is to go to one of our customer sites and you right-click. Or you go to Google image search or Bing Image Search and you get it there. And that's what's happening...Our content is everywhere already."

Essentially, Getty is acknowledging reality and gambling that the embed program will give it much more control, meaning it could insert ads or collect user information. Getty still actually makes money on its sales, mostly through digital licensing. But it is accepting that a lot of small, lower-end sites can't or won't pay, but will use pictures anyway.

"Peters' bet is that if web publishers have a legal, free path to use the images, they'll take it, opening up a new revenue stream for Getty and photographers....

"The principle is to turn what's infringing use with good intentions, turning that into something that's valid licensed use with some benefits going back to the photographer," says Peters, "and that starts really with attribution and a linkback."

Kingston Life features an inside look at KP, Canada's most notorious -- now empty -- prison

Kingston Life has a spread of haunting photos taken inside the recently decommissioned Kingston Penitentiary by photographer Tim Forbes. The assignment was is an auspicious start for new editor Danielle VandenBrink. 

The limestone pile has been around 180 years and has housed some of the most infamous prisoners in Canada, including Clifford Olson, Paul Bernardo and, more recently, Mohammad and Hamed Shafia. The e-edition of the magazine is available online. 

Alberta Venture celebrates top 250 companies issue with homage to iconic Fortune cover image

The homage

In a bold and complicated homage to an iconic magazine cover image, Alberta Venture is unveiling its September issue with its annual list of Alberta's 250 biggest companies. The windows of Calgary's Bow building are photographed lit up at dusk to spell out the number 250. It was, said a blog post from the magazine, "a symbol of Alberta’s rise to prominence on the national and international scenes and a poignant reminder of the spirit that allowed this province to recover quickly (for the most part) from the devastating June floods." In this it is giving full credit to the July 1964 cover of Fortune magazine which arranged to light up the windows of New York's Time & Life building (where the magazine was headquartered), a tour-de-force which has been long remembered by magazine mavens everywhere. The idea of the homage came from associate publisher Joyce Byrne and art director Kim Larson.

Unlike the art directors then, today's art directors have Photoshop and could have merely spliced the whole thing together on the desktop, whereas their inspiration had to be achieved by having the huge Time & Life building all dark then arrange to have only those offices lit which spelled out the number 500. In AV's case, the whole building was to be lit up, then windows would be darkened using the software to leave only those lit which spelled out 250. 

The inspiration

Read more »

People shares royal baby cover coup with Maclean's and Hello! Canada

Media maven Keith Kelly of the New York Post claims that only People magazine, among weekly titles, has the picture of the royal George on its cover, completely ignoring the fact that Hello! Canada (see earlier post) and Maclean's do (see right). Had he said only American title, of course, he'd have been correct.

People Managing Editor Larry Hackett gambled that his man on the street in London, Simon Perry, was correct in that the royal baby would be presented to the public on Tuesday — allowing him to hold up publication just long enough to include the photo on the cover. 

Rival celebrity weeklies, including Us Weekly, Star, In Touch and Life & Style, will acknowledge the baby’s birth with small “chips” of the happy couple on the cover, but no photo of the newborn prince.

“The timing was perfect,” said Hackett, who held up the magazine’s print run by a couple of hours to get the photos of daddy William, mom Kate and their 8 lb., 6 oz. bundle of joy on the cover. Inside are 19 pages of royal baby coverage.

Only Canadian National Geographic photographer to give talk in Toronto in November

Paul Nicklen, the only Canadian photographer for National Geographic magazine, is to present a talk in Toronto this year on November 11 and 12 at Roy Thomson Hall. Nicklen,44, a former biologist whose home is Nanaimo, BC, says that climate change is at the heart of every project he proposes and each lecture he gives; he therefore find his constant travel ironic.

“I like to be quiet in nature,” he [said in an interview with the Toronto Star], on a rare two-week visit home. “When I’m on assignment in a remote area, I’m happy — not just on airplanes increasing my carbon footprint and trying to get my message out about climate change. 

“It’s what I’m constantly trying to remind people through my visual storytelling,” he says. “Nothing really matters if we lose the ice on those polar systems.”

Gallery celebrates four decades of Horst Ehricht's photojournalism

David Lewis & Tommy Douglas
photo: Horst Ehricht

In an era when most mobile phones have a camera, it is possible to forget that great photojournalism is more than point-and-click. It can result in moving, amazing works of art. Case in point is the show Photography: Horst Ehricht, May 28 to June 21 at the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto. 

Ehricht was, among other things, director of photography at Maclean's magazine from 1965 to 1972 and a prolific freelancer for publications ranging from Time, Life and Sports Illustrated to The City (Toronto Sunday Star) , Reader's Digest and Chatelaine. 

"In a career spanning over four decades, award-winning photojournalist Ehricht took tens of thousands of photos that appeared in leading newspapers and magazines throughout North America and Europe," said a release from the gallery]. The Aird exhibition focuses on four key themes in this body of work: Kensington Market in the 1950s; Homesteading in Alberta in the 1960s; the 1967 Detroit Riots; and Politicians and Personalities. From Lester Pearson to Oscar Peterson and Marshall McLuhan to Bobby Hull, this last category includes some of the biggest names ever to emerge from Canada."

Ehricht studied photography at Ryerson Polytechnic, graduating in 1955 to work as a freelancer. In 1991, the National Archives of Canada acquired Ehricht's entire collection of works in black & white -- 450,000 of them. He won the lifetime achievement award of the Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators (CAPIC) that same year.  

Breaking cover rules pays off for East Coast Living

[This post has been updated] Taking a chance on a cover has paid off for East Coast Living magazine, whose Winter issue had a single copy sell-through of 64 61 per cent. The cover features a contemporary California-style beach house in Long Harbour, Newfoundland.

Shot by Kenneth Harvey, a Newfoundland filmmaker, journalist and bestselling author (it was his first time working with East Coast Living), the cover is a brooding, stormy shot with roiling dark clouds in the background.

“I generally go for a stark, dramatic look,” Harvey says. “It is compelling and creates a need in the reader/viewer to explore, to want to know more. This is a trick I learned from writing novels; drama is a major force."

The magazine's editor, Suzanne Rent said:

"It certainly was a different cover for us, but being bold and not playing by the rules can pay off.” 

East Coast Living is published by Metro Guide Publishing of Halifax. The magazine underwent a major redesign in 2010.

TIME marks gay marriage debate with edgy foldout cover

Henry Luce is probably spinning in his grave. TIME magazine has keyed its coverage of this week's two days of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court concerning gay marriage with an edgy foldout cover. According to Mashable, the magazine has been trying to push for more provocative covers lately. The cover features a gay male couple and (separately) a lesbian couple in a full-on mouth-to-mouth embrace. The arty black and white photos are by Peter Hapake. 

Photographers get opportunity to have projects reviewed, new work developed

Documentary photojournalism is not seen as frequently as it might be in contemporary consumer and cultural magazines, but it is still seen and is well worth cultivating. 

That's why the portfolio reviews in conjunction with the CONTACT Photography festival are so valuable. This year on May 4 and 5 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, a number of reviewers will be participating, giving guidance to established and emerging artists looking for opportunities to publish and exhibit projects in the advanced stages of development. Among the reviewers are Daniel Neuhaus, photo editor of Toronto Life, Meeka Walsh, the editor of Border Crossings, Popyu Sibamoto, photo editor of Monocle magazine  and Natalie Matutschovsky, senior photo editor of Time magazine. The fee is $200 for four reviews.

There is also the Magnum Photos Workshop offered at the Ryerson University, School of Image Arts and The Chang School. The five-day workshop runs Monday May 13 to Friday, May 17 and is taughty by Dominic Straus, Moises Saman and Zoe Strauss and culminates in a screening at the Stephen Bulger Gallery of participants' work created during the workshop.  http://www.magnumphotos.com/events

Ricepaper magazine launches new photo blog to feature pictures by, about Asian Canadians

A woman makes waffle cones at La Casa Gelato, an ice cream factory near Commercial Drive in Vancouver.

Ricepaper magazine, the Vancouver literary and cultural quarterly aimed at Asian Canadians and those who presumably wish they were, has launched Ricepaper Shutterbox, a three-times-a-week posting of photographs taken by staff, local photographes and sometimes readers.

"If you have any photos that you feel would fit the blog and inspire us, send them our way! (photo@ricepapermagazine.ca) By showcasing the creative, diverse talents of our community, we hope to visually immerse you in culture and challenge notions of what it means to be Asian Canadian."

 [Photo: Stephanie Fung]

Maclean's profiles little-known, ubiquitous photographer George Hunter

Photo by Simon Bell

Maclean's has published a profile of "the most famous photographer you've never heard of" -- George Hunter. Jody White writes that if you grew up in the '70s and '80s, you've probably seen on of Hunter's pix, whether on   the $5, $10, and $50 bills as well as two stamps or in public places and private galleries. Among his most famous magazine work was a 12-page portfolio of the U.S. photographed from the air at night for TIME magazine.

Photographers get a raw deal in Canada, where they’re just barely more famous than poets. Apart from the late Karsh brothers or Ed Burtynsky (of Manufactured Landscapes fame), the average Canadian would have a hard time naming a top photographer. Despite his extensive body of work, Hunter is as inconspicuous as they come.

Hunter, who is 90,  lives in Mississauga now, where he maintains a studio.

Getty Images offers new Eurostyle fashion and lifestyle line of syndicated photography

Getty Images, the photo agency that specializes in celebrity portraits through its Contour by Getty Images, has now launched Contour Style, which provides high-end fashion, travel, interiors and lifestyle imagery to art directors and publishers. It has an exclusive distribution agreement with  Figaro Photos – Le Figaro, Le Figaro Madame and Le Figaro Magazine.

Paul Rockett, magazine fashion photography trendsetter, dies at the age of 90

Paul Rockett, a magazine and portrait photographer who changed the face of fashion and magazine photography across North America, has died in Vancouver at the age of 90. According to a story carried by the Canadian Press, Rockett brought a European sensibility to his fashion shoots, capturing models in motion and with naturalistic lighting and attitude. Toronto Life at one time dubbed him "Canadian photography's only star" with the exception of Yosuf Karsh.

He started as an office boy in the darkroom of the Toronto Star, went on to be a photographer for the Royal Canadian Air Force and eventually shot more than 100 magazine covers. However he is perhaps best known for his series of Glenn Gould portraits, now on display in the National Gallery. He also took many photos of national and international celebrities.
Photo: Elliott Contemporary

Photographers tell People magazine "When you put our photos on an iPad, you have to pay"

In a tussle that may have implications for Canadian magazine publishers and their freelance contributors, Time Inc.'s People magazine has apparently had to postpone the launch of its iPad app because photographers want additional payments for use of their images.

According to a front page story in the Hollywood Reporter, more than a dozen agencies representing photographers are balking at the reuse of celebrity shots.

While the standoff centers on one publication for now, just about any other brand that makes photos of the rich and famous their stock in trade is watching nervously from the sidelines. Whatever deal they strike could set the terms of trade for the industry going forward.

Negotiations are scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) in New York.

"I do think it's an important moment as far as the photo-agency business model," said Jill Stempel, New York bureau chief for World Entertainment News Network, which on Tuesday was considering joining the agency alliance. "We need to take a stand."

A People spokeswoman refused to comment beyond offering the following statement: "The People iPad application launch date has absolutely nothing to do with photo agencies."

Photo agencies see the tablet market as a game-changer, the story said.

"They realized that in most cases People.com was not making ad revenue or subscription money off extended use of their photos," said Brandy Navarre, vp at X17, a photo agency that plans to negotiate separately from its unified front of competitors. "But when you're talking about paid apps supplemented by advertisements, that's something different altogether."

People wants free use of photos, saying the app (which costs consumers $4.99) essentially replicates the print magazine. It is also arguing that photo use is covered by a clause in overall licensing agreements that allows for promotional repurposing.

Sports Illustrated magazine compiles every cover it ever published into one book

Sport Illustrated magazine has compiled every cover it ever published into one book. There are more than 2,500 colour photographs in the 208-page Sports Illustrated: The Covers. [from Folio:]

According to Sports Illustrated group editor Terry McDonnell, the book is more than just a simple collection of covers. He says it “chronicles the changing sports panorama and landscape over the last 55 years. An SI cover often becomes an instant pop icon and this book features some of the most loved, memorable and controversial cover images over the decades.”

Tweaking reality -- Photoshop turns 20

It's a birthday that art directors and editors will wish to mark -- next Friday is the 20th anniversary of the introduction of Photoshop. The ubiquitous image manipulation software has been used for good in the magazine business (but also for some not-so-good purposes, including cover shot makeovers on fashion and celebrity titles. The example below shows actress Keira Knightly before and after.)

[photo: Splash News]

As Charles Arthur notes in an article for the Guardian, the proprietors of Photoshop (Adobe) decries use of the brand's name as a verb, but nevertheless it often is, usually as a term of abuse. And he points out that photo manipulation has always been with us.

But it was Photoshop that made ­altering images routine. It began ­circumspectly as a program written by Thomas Knoll, who, in the ­autumn of 1987, was doing in a PhD in computer vision but for fun wrote a program to display images with grey in them on a black-and-white monitor. Knoll called the program Display, writing it on his Mac Plus computer. Then his brother John, who worked at George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic company, which did the visual effects for the Star Wars films, noticed its potential. They collaborated, bought a Macintosh II – capable of displaying colours! – and set to work; the program's name mutated until they hit on Photoshop.

There's a dedicated Photoshop Disasters website that compiles visual disasters.

CAPIC hosts panel on image licensing

CAPIC, The Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications, is holding a seminar on January 26 at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto called No Uncertain Terms, devoted entirely to the simplification of image licensing in Canada for those who sell images and those who buy them. The entire seminar will be web-cast, including the Q & A. Moderator Heather Morton will have the ability to accept questions from those who log on across the country. More information. [Thanks, Jess]