Sleight of hand

A contact juggler performs in the streets of the medieval citadel at Carcassonne, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, France

Click here to licence this image and for more photos of Carcassonne.
D700 + 70-200/2.8
Photo © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

Unable to photograph Femi Kuti at Koko

Disappointingly, I was unable to photograph the great Nigerian musician Femi Kuti at Koko in London tonight as planned. When I arrived at the venue to collect my photo pass, I was told by the artist’s management I’d have to sign a form (which hadn’t been mentioned before) agreeing to send in all my images from the show, and giving consent for them to be used for any purposes, for an unrestricted amount of time, for free – in return for an ‘appropriate’ credit line.

I refused. As a professional photographer, giving someone all your images and granting them unrestricted rights to use them in perpetuity as they see fit makes it unlikely that you’d ever make any money by selling the images yourself or through a library (it would also make any exclusive sales impossible). And unfortunately, credit lines don’t pay bills.

I was told by management that their grounds for imposing these restrictions were that they had to ‘protect their artists’ (perhaps they think I’m going to attempt to take a bad/unflattering image, and then an image library is actually going to accept it or an editor want to buy it? Or that I’m going to attempt to sell an image for commercial as opposed to editorial use, without a model release?), and that photographing musicians had to be a ‘two way process’, otherwise I would be ‘making money from using the artist’s image’ and they would be getting ‘nothing’ in return…. Quite what the photographer is supposed to get out of this arrangement is anybody’s guess.

There’s nothing ‘two way’ about this though. It means the photographer shoots and edits for free – as opposed to ‘on spec’ for a freelancer – but is unlikely to be able to sell their work since they’ve already given it to someone to publish, use in advertising, resell, or give away for PR use; while the artist/band/label or whoever else is enforcing this policy gets professional coverage of a show for free, and unlimited use to the images for free, instead of either licensing an individual image, commissioning work or paying a day or half day rate. Last time I looked, CD sleeves and promotional material in the music business still used images which had been commissioned or licensed. Though such restrictions/protocol are not entirely unknown, none of the other international artists I have photographed have ever attempted to impose similar conditions.

Of course, they’re the management so they’re quite within their rights to impose whatever conditions they want – though it might be more professional to make these conditions known in advance (I had simply been told the usual restrictions applied, ie first 3 songs or first 10 minutes, no flash), which would have saved me time and money travelling to a gig which I then didn’t photograph.

Update (10/05/13): I was originally led to believe it was the venue which was imposing this demand, but after a couple of enquiries today I’ve found this was quite wrong (so my apologies to the venue, Koko) and it was the artist management. I’ve now altered the text of this post slightly to reflect this fact. And I guess I’ll never be photographing Femi Kuti, which is a shame.

May Day Fair

May Day Fair in Lloyds Park, Walthamstow, London E17, UK (6 May 2013)

Donna Maria’s Maypole Extravaganza



Lilian Dalton, who was May Queen of the former borough of West Ham (now part of the London borough of Newham) over 80 years ago in 1931, watches the May Day Fair in Lloyds Park with her great granddaughter.
Click here to licence any of these images and for more photos of the May Day Fair in Walthamstow.
D700 + 14-24/2.8 & 70-200/2.8
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

Vaisakhi

The legendary Heera Group perform at the Vaisakhi Festival, Trafalgar Square, London, UK (5 May 2013). Vaisakhi is one of the most important days in the Sikh religion, and also marks the beginning of the New Year. Heera Group formed in 1980 and are one of the pioneers of British Bhangra music.

To license this image or view more images from the Vaisakhi Festival in London click here.
Nikon D700 + 70-200/2.8
Photo © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

Low

American Indie rock band Low performing at the Barbican, London, UK (30 April 2013). Alan Sparhawk (vocals, guitar) and Steve Garrington (bass, keyboards).

Click here to licence this image and for more photos of Low performing at the Barbican in London.
D700 + 70-200/2.8
Photo © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

March of the beekeepers

Protest by beekeepers and members of the public against DEFRA minister Owen Paterson’s opposition to a proposed EU ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which many leading scientists (including those on the House of Commons’ own Environmental Audit Committee) believe is killing bees in alarming numbers. The protest was organised by Avaaz, 38 Degrees and several other organisations, who have been campaigning on the issue for many months, with public petitions in support of a ban on neonicotinoids already reaching over 2.6 million (Avaaz) and 300,000 (38 Degrees) signatures. Parliament Square, Westminster, London, UK (26 April 2013).

Malcolm Lee, a beekeeper from South Africa (right) stands with a protester from Australia. All of the beekeepers who I spoke to today have seen a significant increase in deaths among their bees.

You can sign the 38 Degrees petition here, and the Avaaz petition here.
Click here to license these images and for more photos of the protest on Parliament Square in London against the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.
D700 + 14-24/2.8 & 70-200/2.8
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

Mile 23 – London Marathon

This post is dedicated to the 36,000 individuals who ran the London Marathon today, raising millions of pounds for charity in the process (over half a billion pounds have been raised since the first London Marathon in 1981), and the 70,000 spectators who came out in force to support them, cheer them on, yell, offer orange segments to outstretched passing hands, line the streets and generally make this part of London feel as much like a festival as a major sporting event – all less than a week since the fatal bombings at the Boston Marathon. The following images were taken around mile 23, on Tower Hill and Lower Thames Street.

Click here to license these images and for more photos of the London Marathon.
D700 + 14-24/2.8 & 70-200/2.8
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

La Linea Festival (3) – Ana Moura

Acclaimed fado singer Ana Moura, performing live at the Barbican, part of the La Linea Festival, London, UK (20 April 2013). One of the most hypnotically beautiful voices I’ve ever heard.

Click here to license these images and for more photos of Ana Moura at the Barbican.
D700 + 70-200/2.8
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

La Linea Festival (2) – Buika

The outstanding flamenco singer Buika, performing at the Union Chapel in Islington, part of the La Linea Festival, London, UK (18 April 2013). The daughter of political refugees from Equatorial Guinea, Buika grew up in a gypsy neighbourhood in Majorca. Her album El Ultimo Trago won a Latin Grammy Award, her unforgettable, smoky voice featured in the Pedro Almodovar film The Skin I Live In, and she has recorded duets with the Portuguese fado star Mariza. This was her first headline London show since 2008.

After Buika I dashed from the Union Chapel to Village Underground in Shoreditch to photograph another la Linea gig, Latin Hip Hop singer Mala Rodriguez….
Click here to license these images and for more photos of Buika at Union Chapel.
D700 + 70-200/2.8
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.

Baroness Thatcher funeral

Images taken during the funeral procession of Baroness Thatcher, London, UK (17 April 2013), outside St Clement Danes Church and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Click here to license these images and for more photos of the funeral of Baroness Thatcher in London.
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorised use.