Anyone doing work in a creative medium has had a conversation like one that someone I know just told me about. A person, perhaps a friend or acquaintance or possibly someone with a “cause” that is interesting and worthy, asks to use a photograph for free “just for my own personal use, and maybe to share with a few friends. I’d like to print up some cards and use it on my website. Just send me a high res file…”
Sigh.
This is one of the toughest requests to deal with, especially when it comes from a friend or valued acquaintance. The request seems so innocent, especially when it comes from people we know and especially when they are generally well-meaning. In fact, they often regard their interest in our work as a compliment. And it is a compliment on some level, and artists do appreciate it when others are moved by their work and are willing to say so.
(In truth, there are occasions when it is appropriate to ask, and there are some when which it is appropriate for us to say “yes.”)
From the perspective of the person making the request, it probably feels something like this:
I love your beautiful work! It moves me and I would like to share it! It is so beautiful that I would like to use it for my [insert proposed use here]. I want others to see your work. Can you send me a copy of the image that I can use? A high resolution file would be great! It will just be for “personal use” (broadly defined… ;-), so can I use it for free?
Here is what the artist hears:
I love your work! It moves me and means the world to me! It is wonderful and powerful and beautiful! But it isn’t worth anything and I think you should give it to me for free! And because I know you, I think you’ll feel obligated.
Ouch! I know you didn’t likely mean it that way, but think about how it sounds from the artist’s perspective!
And as an artist and a friend/acquaintance of such folks — who often really are friends — we find ourselves in a tremendously tough spot. We don’t want to seem like jerks, but the person making the request has, on some level, inadvertently told us that our work is worthless, not even the few dollars it might cost to buy a print or acquire a license. We don’t want to offend, even though we are perhaps (for reasons that much make sense if you think about them) entitled to be a bit upset at the notion that our work is worth nothing and that we should give it away.
How can it both be wonderful and worth nothing to you?
Beyond the intrinsic value of the work itself — its power to affect you as a visual image should have some value — there are substantial costs to producing this stuff. In this regard, we are no different than doctors, home builders, plumbers, attorneys, accountants. We have overhead. It costs quite a bit in time and money and experience and practice to make photographs, especially beautiful photographs. For example, during the past two months I have probably spent nearly four weeks on the road, with all of the costs of travel and lodging and transportation. I travel with many thousands of dollars of photographic equipment, rising before dawn and returning after dark every day, sometimes in rain or snow. I do love what I do, but it does have its costs.
If you love the work of a photographer or other artist, and this work truly moves you, acknowledge the value of that art in your life and, when your circumstance permit, considering a purchase rather than asking for a freebie.
Thanks for listening…
(I have written a bit more about this subject on my Sales page, which also includes a link to a statement on the issue that many artists and photographers ascribe to.)
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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I completely agree with your comments. I’d like to add another possible reason this happens.
As with ANY bit of work that requires skill, some of us just don’t have the skill (or equipment) to be able to produce the end product. Thus the asking of the item (for free) sometimes might be because we’d love to be able to make it, but don’t have the skills. We would do it, if it was possible for us. Granted, that does not negate the fact that we should offer to pay for it, but sometimes people just don’t think of that or understand that.
The effort, skill, and equipment that goes into making one of your absolutely beautiful photographs is far beyond the capability of the vast majority of the people in the world. So the only way to possibly get such a photograph is to ask for it. Unfortunately there are people/organizations who will do that without offering the just compensation.
Of course, that goes right back to the whole article you wrote above….
Ernie: What I like about your comment is that it reinforces my point about what goes into producing such photographs. We do it for love on some level, but we also are practical people who recognize that a) this has costs and b) the product has real value.
Thanks!
Dan