Highly Subjective

If you go to the homepage for this site (highlysubjective.com), you'll see a brand new landing page. It's kind of a showcase, or portfolio.

When I stated this site, it was not meant to be a portfolio, it was strictly a log of what I was shooting. Now, 2 years later, as I find myself dealing with models and directing people to my site, I've found that I need a little more.

I realized that when I send someone to my site, I had very little control of what they first saw. It all depended on what I had been shooting recently. If they didn't take some time to dig around, they may get the wrong idea of what my photography is all about. So, I decided to make the homepage more of a showcase.

The page is actually still in development in terms of the structure of the galleries, and the exact images and text I intend to use. but, I thought it was at a point where I could make it live. There will probably be some more changes in the coming days (or weeks).

The overall purpose of the site isn't changing. It's still primarily a photoblog where I can show what I'm actively working on. Now I just have a little more control over a visitor's first impressions.

On the technical side, I wanted something that was easy to implement and update / change. I chose the combination of SlideShowPro and SlideShowPro Director. This software is really incredible, and powerful. Once set up, it's extremely easy to manage your images and albums (add, delete, change order, etc...). I highly recommend checking them out of you're in need of building some online galleries or slideshows.

If you subscribe to the feed and haven't been to the site in a while, you may want to come check out the new Links page. I've been gradually adding links for photographers I like, and the list got a little too long for the sidebar. I now have over 100 photographers listed.

At some point I may try to categorize them, but for now the list is just alphabetical. Check back regularly as I'm always adding people to the list.

If you own (or are considering buying) a Canon EOS 40D, 5D, or EOS-1, you may want to check out these Masterclasses by The Canon Professional Network. They're a FREE series of videos that take an in-depth look at the cameras.

I actually upgraded to a 40D a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I've hardly had a chance to use it due to work and bad weather.

I watched the 40D masterclass. The presenter is a bit stiff, but overall he had some great information. I learned a few things about my new camera. Hopefully I'll be able to find some time soon to actually put that knowledge to use.

I've only just begun to poke around the rest of the site, but it looks like it has lots of helpful content to offer.

found via Richard's Notes

Location: San Francisco, CA - Edge Studios
Model: Iona Lynn

This afternoon I posted this image (without the star) over on my JPG Magazine account. A few hours later they pulled it off the site and sent me this email:

Dear paul,

Thanks for participating in JPG, but your photo, "Iona Lynn #1," had to be removed from the site. The reason for removal was:

*Inappropriate content: Your photo had content that is inappropriate for JPG Magazine. We're okay with artful nudes, but do not allow photos where the genitalia region is visible or photos that are explicitly pornographic. Do not upload the same photo again -- that's grounds for account termination.

Please be sure to read the photo guidelines before uploading again. You can find them here: http://jpgmag.com/about/photos.html. Note that once a photo has been deleted from the site, it's gone and we can no longer access it for review. Please don't take this personally - it's not! We just want to keep the JPG site focused on the kind of photography that we print in JPG Magazine.

Thanks,

My initial reaction was, WTF! But, I decided to go check out their Photo Guidelines before getting too pissed off. Ironically, their Photo Guidelines don't mention anything about nudity. However, if you dig a little deeper into their FAQs, you'll find this text:

Q) What about nudity?
A) JPG is okay with artful nudes, but please keep it professional. Anything overtly pornographic will be removed. We know the difference and we know you do, too. If that's not clear enough, try this: No penises, no vaginas, period.

Am I reading that correctly? Is JPG actually claiming that any image that shows a penis or vagina is pornography? That's a pretty broad definition! It's also one that the Supreme Court of the United States would NOT agree with. Nevertheless, JPG has apparently judged my photo to be, "overtly pornographic", because they did remove it from the site.

Debating this definition is a discussion that could go on for a long time, so I'm going to put that aside for a moment and concentrate on what their official FAQs state... "No penises, no vaginas, period." Technically speaking, my image does not show a vagina. It shows pubic hair (click the image for the uncensored version). So, it does not violate their posted policy. Although, it appears that they can broaden that policy, without notice, to include, "photos where the genitalia region is visible", as stated in the email I received. Apparently they think any image that shows pubic hair is also pornography.

I have to say, I'm pretty annoyed (and disappointed) in JPG's attitude. Not only because they pulled an image from the site that I personally don't believe is pornographic, but also because they say, "once a photo has been deleted from the site, it's gone and we can no longer access it for review." Apparently, JPG isn't interested in providing any channels for appeal. Once it's gone, it's gone! They actually went as far as to threaten to terminate my account if I uploaded the photo again. I wouldn't really be angry at all if they had simply posted their policy as something like, "it's our policy not to publish pictures containing genitalia or pubic hair", and left it at that. But, that's not what they did. They went one step further when they stated that any pictures containing those items are pornography. That's hardly an enlightened attitude for a photography magazine, especially one with a tag line of, brave new photography.

I'm really wondering if this was the act of a single overly-sensative individual, or is this the philosophy of JPG? Fortunately, their offices are here in San Francisco. I think I'll be taking a little field trip down to their office to try to talk to someone about this. I'll update this post after the trip.

I'm also going to forward this post to them. I'm hoping they'll reply in the comments. I invite all of you to tell me what you think too, is this image pornography? It's OK, be honest.

UPDATE (2.10.08): OK, so it looks like JPG didn't actually call me a pornographer. Their policy isn't as rigid as it sounds in their current FAQs. JPG Business Director, Devin Poolman, left a comment clarifying their position. Check the comments for the full story.

Yes, I'm still here. I know it's been a while since I posted, but I just haven't been able to make the time to go out shooting lately. It's been totally bumming me out.

I don't know how much time I'm going to have in the near future, but I do have some things coming up that will yield some new images.

The first is I'm attending another Nude Photography Workshop on January 20th. Based on my last experience I wasn't sure if I would be doing this again, but I decided to give it another shot (no pun intended).

The second isn't so much an activity, but a new toy. Anne Marie (my girlfriend) gave me a Holga for Christmas. It means going back to film for a while, but I am looking forward to playing with it. I'll probably take it with me on the nude photo shoot too.

I'm also hoping to make a few changes to this site this year. My original intention was to show what I've been shooting, but to also profile other photographers and write about some general photography topics. I'm hoping to start doing that in the near future.

Stay tuned to the site for more to come.

If you've ever visited the Contact Me page on this site and recorded my email address, you should toss that address. I'm no longer using highlysubjective [at] mac [dot] com.

In fact, if you have any email address for me that ends in mac.com, you should toss it. I cancelled my .Mac account.

I have a quick question for new and returning visitors to my site... do you generally click on my images to view the larger version?

Personally, I like to see the detail in the larger version of the photos, but I wasn't sure how many of you feel the same. Please leave a comment on this post and let me know. ~Thanks.

Location: Chicago, IL - Museum of Science and Industry

We're back from vacation. We had a good time, but it's good to be home. We visited Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. We spent much more time in the car than we originally planned, but I still found a little time to shoot.

If you think the image above looks a little odd, you would be correct. It's not actually Chicago, it's a model of chicago that was displayed in the Museum of Science and Industry (in Chicago).

I'll be posting images from our trip as I go through them.

We're heading off to a well deserved vacation. We'll be spending the next week in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. I'm hoping to come back with a lot of new pictures.

I may post some from the road, if I get access.

In early June I submitting some images to possibly be included in an exhibit at City Hall, here in San Francisco. I didn't make it into the show. If you're a regular reader of this blog you may recall I posted my rejection letter a couple of weeks ago... it was my first.

Today, I received a really nice email about the images I submitted that made me feel really good...

"Paul,

Greetings.

Finally getting around to organizing things from the Our World show. Wanted to send along a thank you for submitting, and a note that it was a challenge to select the work for the exhibition- City Hall is a BIG building, but the gallery space is quite small.

Just wanted to say that even though the whole group didn't select the work, that I really enjoyed your spontaneous and connected images- and appreciated their joyfulness and quirky relation to the street.

Keep makin' the stuff, and always interested to see more.

Best,

Thom

--
Thom Sempere
Executive Director
PhotoAlliance"

Thanks for taking the time to email me, Thom. It made me feel really good knowing you liked my images.

If anyone is interested in checking out the show, it's in City Hall, and will run from July 13th to September 21st. You can find more details on the PhotoAlliance website.