#Punksnotdead
Will work for Merch!
Actually that's true, but not always.
These lovely chaps are the Useless Eaters and I've photographed them many times because they're great! (Apparently they have a drummer, but every time I've seen them a different guy is sitting behind the drums.)
I'm more than happy to support bands through what I do, assuming they're not Tories in disguise (that's a bit like robots in disguise, but without the soul of a transformer).
So I might just photograph your band for a T shirt and I do now have enough T shirts to start a shop, but that is my marketing model, daft as it is.
So, late one night I had an online conversation with someone I’d taken photos for. In this conversation it emerged that they intended to offer my photographs for sale to the bands I’d been photographing. When I questioned it, they asked me what I thought my ‘cut’ should be.
This is, of course, why you shouldn’t chat to people after midnight because this person really wasn't going to be selling my work to anyone!
So, I’ve been thinking about this - a lot.
Some time ago I had a similar conversation with a great band, so let me lay it out as transparently as possible.
First of all, as I’ve said many times, if I paid for my ticket and I’m buying my own beer I owe you nothing!
Of course it gets more complicated than that. I loved this band, I loved their look, their sound and they seemed like really decent people. Of course they can have my photos for free and as long as they credit me, they can use them for anything they want. Some of those photos are on my website. I even bought a T shirt and an album.
But as I explained to them (and they really got it) when we meet down the road if they want another shoot, there will be a cost. I already have great photos of them so anything else doesn’t really add anything to my life - I’m happy to just listen to the music.
So, what’s the cost? Well, it’s not money, and it’s nothing they can’t afford. Take, for example , the Useless Eaters. As well as a couple of T shirts and a badge, they’ve bought us drinks, got us into a festival as their ‘plus ones’ and dedicated a song to us. I cannot stress what that means to me. In return, I hope they like the photos.
Yes, the first one is for free, but don’t expect anything else unless you are giving something back. One night a band member was asking about my camera, whether or not I was the ‘official’ photographer, and what sort of pictures I’d got. I just made a joke of having the camera and he wandered off looking a bit confused.
No, I wasn’t the ‘official photographer’ and I have my reasons for not photographing his band, great guy though he seemed to be.
By the end of the year, I saw around 120 bands in 2023. I cannot photograph them all. I do not want to photograph them all. Inevitably the relationship I have with some bands changes over time. If I’ve already done the job 10 times, why do it again unless there is a reason that makes sense to me, even if it’s totally opaque to anyone else.
So going back to the top, no-one has permission to make money out of the photos I freely give. I will ‘out’ you in a way that you will not enjoy. Somewhere down the road, I’ll expect something in return. A shout out will do, but if you can’t even do that, then don’t expect me to care.
All that said, I'm very open to suggestions for gig and band shoots, so if you're reasonable human beings get in touch.
Rules
1. Credit my work. The photos belong to me, not you.
2. Don't fuck with my property. Do not re-edit, crop, or otherwise mess with my photos.
3. There is no rule 3.