Topic: Why do you post your work online?

[lauraburlton]

I was just browsing a popular photo sharing website, as one does, for inspiration, laughs, whatever... anyways,  I came across something someone said that I found to be a bit unsettling and it made me think. This person said in their personal profile something like- I dont HAVE to post my work here... I do it for YOU- Not me personally(I had never seen this persons work before) but this persons "public" I suppose. I dunno it kind of bugged me for some reason. So I was wondering why do you post online? Is it for me( me me me me meeeee) or is it for yourself? Personally I post things for myself. I wont lie, I like the feedback and I guess it gives me some sort of validation as an artist to have people comment on my photos. But for some reason this kind of rubbed me wrong....so why do you post? Tell me its for me personally so my head can grow and grow and grow hahahahahaha.... Of course my immediate thought when I read this was " of course you dont HAVE to post your photos, and I don't HAVe to look..."

[seekingfocus]

For me, it's feedback. Nearly instant feedback on nearly any rubbish I want to post. It's helped me work through a lot of problem images and blow my head up about some good ones... but I love hearing what people have to say about things I am working on and the internet is just another venue. Plus, it's nice being able to reach lots of people from different parts of the world and different backgrounds- gives me a new perspective that I might not have had otherwise.

I'd say no matter what they say, if someone is posting images, it's to get them seen. Otherwise, why take the trouble to do so?

[db]

Good question Laura

My website is the only portfolio I have and photography is my only income.

My blog is more about art and having fun with a camera, and feeling a slight obligation to regular readers is incentive to keep shooting and being creative, when otherwise inspiration flags.

I really appreciate comments and feedback from people I know,  or from anyone who has something fun or intelligent to say, or people whose work I respect. Critique helps me improve or re-think what I'm shooting. I occasionally post here for the same reasons. Sharing is part of being in community.

On the other hand, I don't put everything out there. I don't want to be ripped off.  I don't do flickr and the like.  I don't need hundreds of mindless ''whoah, that's rad, dude'' comments from people I don't know or care about.

[Ed Wenn]

Whoah, rad post, Don!

 

[db]

thanks for the insightful and revealing comments, mate

[Ed Wenn]

...but seriously:

I post online for a variety of reasons:

I'm a digi-darkroom kind of person so I usually end up with a scan as  my primary end product for most of my photography. As I don't have a decent inkjet printer, posting online is the next logical step.
I'm a web geek so posting marries the two disciplines.
I like the community.
I like the feedback when it comes, but rarely ask for it.
I'm stuck at home with 2 kids, my lovely wife and a house that needs a lot of work. There's little chance for me to get out and get involved in a photo community other than online; so it's a convenience thing as well.

[Susan B.]

What DB said.  

[Dave_M]

Prior to blogging I only had one outlet for showing my work - the local camera club. This is great for the run of the mill (mostly digital!) stuff that I get bogged down with. However anything that deviates from set rules tends to get sniffed at.

Blogging allows me to get valued opinions outwith this rule-set. Plus it allows me to communicate with photographers whom I admire and have been inspired by-  which is a fantastic opportunity.

[LT]

it's all about feedback for me as with seekengfocus above - lets me know that I'm keeping on the right track.  My website is more about trying to drum up business.

[astrobeck]

I post here because I trust the opinions and appreciate the feedback from like-minded shooters.

My pro work is technical and digital so posting here allows me  valuable input on how to help my personal and more artistic side of photography develop.

Sometimes I get bogged down with techno-babble so it's nice to come here and just leisurely talk about photos and post images to see what others think or learn by looking at others work.

It's also the unclutteredness of posting here that makes it easier for me to learn.

[Skorj]

My on-line presence is my portfolio - advertising in the strictest sense.

Just call me `Nice Shot Skorj`.

[moominsean]

i do it for me. a bit conceited to think that you are gracing everyone with your online photographic presence. i juts like the social framework that surrounds the online camera communities. makes me feel like i have friends.  ha ha. but it is a nice network and a lot of good things come about from sharing your work and enjoying the work of others online. at least for me. but i don't expect that anyone would greatly miss my photos if i yanked them all from the web.

[pdewolff]

in the first place it was for me, in the second for some friends i met through posting these images. Now its a small community ( Holland and Belgium ) of friends meeting not only online but also in real life. Now halfway in publishing a new magazine of  "The Low-Lands" and sharing possibilities of exhibitions....what showing your images on the www can do !

[Andrea.]

Tis an interesting one this. I was listening to Desert Island Discs this morning - a radio programme on the BBC with a celeb of sorts selecting their best tunes and it got me thinking whether  would take a camera in such situations. Would I still want to make images with only me to see them. Perhaps I would. I enjoy all the mucking about to make them - however bad they are. Having said that, would also be nice to have a ready made portfolio when I get rescued.
Online I find a few people who have interesting angles on life far from the madding crowd as it were. And this appeals to me. I may be an ageing gay woman living on a cold and windy island with my partner but online I can be anywhere and anyone.

[Marcello]

I don't shoot a lot, so I don't post a lot on-line. I don't have any blog, I don't have a flickr page. I seldom post on tc.com forum. I don't post holyday, travel, birthday party  snapshots as so many people do on flickr.
I post only those shots I think people (3 or 4)  might be interested in and only if I really think the photo deserve a look.
 I'm not member of photoclub or whatsover. Only one friend of mine is interested in photography but mainly on the digital side. I like to read honest, and possibly detailed, feedback comments on my shot. Negative critics have been very useful to look at my photos in a different way (three of four days later, indeed   ).

[Francois]

For me, sites like this are a bit like moominsean and Marcello described.
I like the social aspect of it a lot more than the picture posting aspect. I live in a sprawling suburb and know nobody who is "really" into photography. I also like the fact that the people here are on average smarter than the people I get to meet in my city.

[kucharo]

Yeah the feedback. I'm a terrible judge of anything I do, so I appreciate any opinions at all. I'm occasionally surprised by the reactions I get, and they frequently insult what base level of personal opinion I hold about a particular piece.

For instance, this shot- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kucharo/1252140040/

  I thought it was an ok, but not thrilling bit. Some people really seemed to enjoy it which surprised me to the point where I reconsidered what I had done in creating it.

[moominsean]

i try to not take flickr too seriously. something i like a lot gets 14 views. something i post just because, even though it doesn't do much for me, gets 240 views and 30 comments. i think part of it on that site is certainly the photograph, but also other factors, like time of day, number of people posting, etc. some things i think just get lost very quickly. and, sadly, the explore feature must mean a lot, because i posted three similar rodeo pictures, got the normal amount of views, then suddenly one of them got like 500 views in a couple days. it must have been explore.
i like it for the endless storage space and audience, but i do get something different from posting other places, like here and tc.com. but i get worn worn out trying to keep up with multiple photo sites.

[formica]

i post on line for various reasons. some is just to share what i see on a daily basis. this is especially true for my friends in the states to see some of what i see here in taiwan or on various travels.  things that sometimes are hard to put into words.  some is so i have a place where i can access various pictures.  most often it's to get some sort of feedback or to share various ideas(it's surprising how many times people have emailed me asking about how do i put 35mm into a 127 camera - i think it was al that inspired me to try this in the first place). but maybe one of the most important factors is it's fun and i enjoy it. plus by posting and looking i learn.

if i was a professional and had shows in galleries and made money exclusively from my work i'm not sure i'd be as inclined to post stuff on line.

i think another reason for posting work on line is it's a way to make friends.  most of the local photographers i know now -  i met on line and for the most part these are people i probably would not have met any other way. 

                            william

[Sandeha Lynch]

I started posting online to help me compare my images (and post-proc) with whatever else was out there.  I found I could 'objectify' my work by looking analytically at the work of others, and that helped me define my purpose.

I soon found that talking with folks on four continents each and every day was illuminating and addictive.  It would be hard to stop now.

Flickr is a donkey's **** in my humble opinion, but still useful.

[Skorj]

i think another reason for posting work on line is it's a way to make friends.  most of the local photographers i know now -  i met on line and for the most part these are people i probably would not have met any other way. 

I'll be back in Taipei again one day, so hopefully you can make the trip North too?

Flickr is a donkey's **** in my humble opinion, but still useful.

That's why I call it `Fickle`...

[formica]

i think another reason for posting work on line is it's a way to make friends.  most of the local photographers i know now -  i met on line and for the most part these are people i probably would not have met any other way. 

I'll be back in Taipei again one day, so hopefully you can make the trip North too?

as long as you are not here around dec. 20th-jan 4th(when i'll be back in the states) i should be able to make it up. i just need to know in advance in case i need to get time off from work.

                     william

       

[russmorris]

Good question. All I know is this - if you folks didn't post your stuff online, what the hell would I look at? Magazines?

I do it for fun. I do it to record what's going on in my life. It's a great way to learn new stuff and attempt the shameless thievery of styles I find appealing. It's all about play for me - not business. I also get to meet people in the process of taking pictures - something the online part of this exercise falls short in. 

Another question... have you ever visited the photoblog of someone whose work you've long admired and there in front of God (whatever you consider him to be...) and everybody they've posted the crappiest piece of crap imaginable, all in the name of who knows what? Doesn't it make you want to call them on it?

If it was you, would you want it right between the eyes or the watered down version?

[db]

for many people, portfolio and blog are vastly different. blogs are often visual scrapbooks and it could be there for all sorts of reasons- a joke, an germ of an idea, a work in progress, a family snap even?

Most blogs do encourage feedback, so ask anyway... You'll likely learn something.

[lauraburlton]

In reply to Russ' question... I dunno, I think I would not mind it right between the eyes as it would help me grow I think. Mind you, on my flickr page I just had to post a bunch of wedding stuff to show a potential client, which this stuff is not what I would normally post there. I usually save flickr for my more arty farty stuff, but this recent stuff is way more conventional than I normally post, so if someone was to comment "why are you posting this pap?" well at least I have a good reason for posting it I guess. I do know what you mean though. There is this one photog whose blog I have watched for a while because  they used to have such AWESOME work, really stellar stuff, but I dont think they have posted anything good in over a year ( or what I perceive to be good- at least compared to what they used to post) but then again, if I was to comment to this person, why are you bothering to post such crap when you are so incredibly talented? it might hurt their feelings, so I guess it depends on the person and as I dont know said person, I would never.  Occasionally I think we all misplace our mojo for a while, for me to get through this, I just have to shoot on through it, eventually I will come out of it with something I like or a project or two....

[russmorris]

I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings either. If I'm in a bit of a creative slump (seems to happen around this time of year for some reason... ) I won't post as much to either my blog or flickr. I will post things that I'm sure are worthy IMHO, but I will leave out stuff that I'm feeling less adamant about. Sometimes I'll just put the cameras down for a while - do something different. Make Art, collage, paint.

Sometimes I'll take a picture that might be borderline - it'll sit on the card, in a dir on the Mac or not get scanned. My opinion of the shot might be different over time, and it could see the light of day.

 Complex beings, we humans...