Street Art

Quick, post that pic… Now who owns it?

You know the feeling, you just captured this great image from your smart phone or digital camera and want to share it with the world  your friends so you post it to Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or another one of the bazillion social sites on the Web.

Not big deal. Right? Usually not, but you still need to be aware of the shift of ownership on the interwebs.

Twitter is now partnering with Photobucket to improve the sharing and posting of pictures on twitter.com. I have to say it’s a big improvement with the interface when compared to the original twitpic app. Although my Blackberry twitpic API still needs attention.

In the announcement, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said, With a “Twitter native photo-sharing experience, users will own their own rights to their photos.” Wait. What? I thought I already did. They’re mine. I created it. I posted it to my account. While this is true with Twitter’s Terms of Service (TOS) it’s not always a given at other places on the Web.

From flickr and yFrog to MobyPicture to Lockerz, the proliferation of picture sharing/social sites is growing so this article from MediaShift is a detail read of what happens to ownership and the revenue stream potential of your images. The full article is here→

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”

The concept of shooting to a brief, fascinates me. I think as photographers, we tend to immerse ourselves with specific themes or subjects. The challenge to find inspiration by the challenge of being given “your assignment” is such a great way to break away from old ways and technics of capturing images. Breaking out of our individual comfort zones.

This wonderful article from the BBC News in Pictures site is about a 52 week challenge for street photographers sponsored by The Photographer’s Gallery  of London.

Follow the jump to read the article→