Yesterday, someone added one of the photos I had taken on Flickr, so I did what I normally do when this happens - I went and looked at that person's photos. One of the images, used with permission, is off to the left - and one is lower down on the right.
Having looked at his photos, I saw he was an artist - in Trinidad and Tobago - and that his site was hosted through Pixelstation, run by an old friend (who is probably one of the nicest people you could ever meet). So I looked at this person's art, pulled up their profile and - tada - pulled up the website of Adam Williams. So I contacted him, and we chatted a little through Flickrmail. We chatted about using Flickr for his art. And he said - quoting him with permission -
Posting my recent work on Flickr is not my first preference. I'd rather my site be the home to all my images but the older I get the less picky. I now realize the more people see my pieces, regardless of what site, the more pots I can sell.
This is not a revolutionary way of thinking - it is very grounded, stable and yes - mature. It also, as you can see, works - Adam and I touched base. I'd never heard of him before, he had never heard of me before, I looked at his stuff online and he suffered some of my writing and offered no complaint but some compliments.
What's fun here is that:
- Adam isn't on a media blitz. His stuff is just there, and he focuses on what he likes doing.
- Adam doesn't have a marketing firm working for him - like most individuals, the cost is probably too high.
- Adam is an individual in a global marketplace.
Adam's not alone. I've sold commercial rights to some of my photos for modest sums (while retaining a Creative Commons license, I might add). There are other artists on Flickr doing much the same thing. Individuals.
The story is not so much that Flickr is being used for such things. The story is that individuals can benefit - and why shouldn't we individuals benefit? Why isn't there more focus on that? I'll withhold my opinion. A rarity, I know, but I will substantiate my opinion better when I do make it known.
I'll tell you what I want 2008 to be in the blogosphere and on the web. I want it to be about the individuals who are using technology to get themselves seen. The people with what it takes to put their work out there and have it be seen - not the companies, the people.
And I know a few people...
This could easily go into a rant, but I accidentally stayed up all night working on some graphics and code for a Drupal theme. Expect more posts on things like this for the rest of this year.
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