I know you probably meant well and wanted to help out the hospital, but this is one of those truly disgraceful moments in photography. A hospital with a budgets in the millions of dollars wants free photography to hang on their walls?
I've seen this before, and believe me it is not something anyone should partake. They will not display your name with the photos. They will not include your website address or business cards. In fact, they specifically state that the photo becomes their property which means you can no longer sell or reproduce the photo, while they have the right to use it anywhere they wish.
Sure, it's great to have your photos hanging in an art gallery for people to see. But this is nothing more than a way for a business entity to get free photography from people who don't know better. I'm teaching you better.
@jasonbarnette First, I am not associated with this hospital in any way and am not even within a reasonable distance to utilize their services.
I am not a professional photographer and have never sold a picture for anything near what I see on gallery walls. I am an amateur that would be proud to have his work displayed in a prominent location.
I would hope that they would include the photographers name since it clearly states: "All finalists will be featured on the Parkview Whitley Hospital web site. Photographer names and information about each photo will be included."
I don't know if it would change your opinion but Parkview is one of the only not for profit health care groups in the area. http://www.parkview.com/
I am interested in what others think, before I spend a day driving around taking possible pictures to submit. Right now I am not convinced to change my mind.
While Jason makes a great point about some contests, where you submit the photo and they obtain the rights to your photo it seems that in reading the rules and how it is worded, they Hospital only intends to own the actual print, mat and frame (since they are paying for those items) and will give credit to the artist. I do think that the Hopsital is looking for more local participants than the larger 365 community.
And trust Jason's advice on reading in detail all the fine print. I once wanted to submit a photo to Budget Travel for a contest, and saw that they would own the rights to my photo and could use it however they say fit, they could make money on my photo, but I would never be allowed to.
So sometimes there a contests that will give you photo and let you keep your rights (never give them up), a large majority actually have you giving up all rights to your work.
@michaelpage
Personally I think it is a great idea! As someone who has spent more than the average amount of time in doctor offices/hospitals, I can say that having peaceful/cheerful scenery greatly improves the morale, which has been proven to improve a person's overall health. @jasonbarnette- A truly disgraceful moment in photography is when a photographer is more concerned with their pocket than making an impact on and connecting with people through their art.
@mej2011 Actually, I do regular work with Habitat for Humanity, the Grand Strand Humane Society, and just volunteered my time to shoot prom-style photos for Katie's Project. I do a lot of work with non-profits for which I do not charge them for my services.
However, hanging photos in a hospital is not connecting you with anyone. This is exactly what is killing photography as a profession: too many people are willing to give their photos away for free.
Everyone's photos are worth more than free. You don't have to charge hundreds of dollars for prints and get greedy, but every time a hospital opens and receives hundreds of photos for free, some professional photographer loses his job.
What do you do for a living? For a career? How would you feel if the person across the street offered to do it for free just to get their name hung on a wall and you lost your job?
@jasonbarnette I am confused as to how you think that hanging photos in a hospital is not connecting you with anyone. How is a hospital different than a non for profit, especially if this particular hospital in a non for profit?
I am currently a college student in the process of obtaining my associate's degree in psychology and am not employed, which is a personal choice. Why do you assume that person's who enter this contest or volunteer their photos to hospitals are doing so "just to have their name hung on a wall"?
Please do not misunderstand me, I am not saying that everyone should go out and give up whatever their job is to do work for free, I realize that the ways of the world are not conducive to such a theory, but maybe the world would be better off if more people did things for free occasionally instead of always worrying about their bottom dollar. As the old saying goes "money can't buy happiness."
@mej2011 Photographers around the world are losing their jobs every day. Sure, economic times are tough and the newspaper industry is about to tank. But that's not what is killing them.
In the last few years hundreds of businesses, newspaper, magazines, and organizations have started running contests to display photos and "connect photographers with an audience." These people are not so much interested in connecting photographers with an audience as they are about getting something for free.
The sad thing is that thousands of people with anything from a point and shoot to fairly decent prosumer cameras are submitting photos, for free, to events just like this one. These organizations gamble, and win, that they can get free photos and save their money for something else.
How much do you think the doctors are being paid in this non-profit hospital? I bet they aren't volunteering. I bet the hospital itself costs upwards of $50 million to build. And yet when it comes to the photography they put out a cute, clever "Calling all photographers" ad to solicit free photos. People submit photos because they don't know how much they are hurting someone else.
@jasonbarnette
So the hospitals should spend their money on art instead of trained doctors and equipment that save lives?
If said people are willing to enter contests or whatnot in which they will lose the rights to a photograph, then what is it you? That is their right and choice.
I dont have a problem with this. I hear you over losing work Jason, but not everything is about this and I think its totally up to people if they want to submit. Am sure you're doing them a disservice to think they cant read the rules!
As for connecting a photographer with an audience as being their main concern, well, its a hospital, not an art gallery. Of course they have their own motive first! Its a competition for local photographers, yes they get free images, but with their promise of having names, its not so bad... And just sometimes, people want to give something back.
For me the amount of photo libraries around now that are more harmful. Why will anyone send someone out on a commission when they can pull a stock image out of a library for a couple quid? Its happening here with newspapers and magazines more and more and so many prof photographers put their images in those without a second thought - to earn a few pounds a year if lucky?
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I've seen this before, and believe me it is not something anyone should partake. They will not display your name with the photos. They will not include your website address or business cards. In fact, they specifically state that the photo becomes their property which means you can no longer sell or reproduce the photo, while they have the right to use it anywhere they wish.
Sure, it's great to have your photos hanging in an art gallery for people to see. But this is nothing more than a way for a business entity to get free photography from people who don't know better. I'm teaching you better.
I am not a professional photographer and have never sold a picture for anything near what I see on gallery walls. I am an amateur that would be proud to have his work displayed in a prominent location.
I would hope that they would include the photographers name since it clearly states: "All finalists will be featured on the Parkview Whitley Hospital web site. Photographer names and information about each photo will be included."
I don't know if it would change your opinion but Parkview is one of the only not for profit health care groups in the area. http://www.parkview.com/
I am interested in what others think, before I spend a day driving around taking possible pictures to submit. Right now I am not convinced to change my mind.
While Jason makes a great point about some contests, where you submit the photo and they obtain the rights to your photo it seems that in reading the rules and how it is worded, they Hospital only intends to own the actual print, mat and frame (since they are paying for those items) and will give credit to the artist. I do think that the Hopsital is looking for more local participants than the larger 365 community.
And trust Jason's advice on reading in detail all the fine print. I once wanted to submit a photo to Budget Travel for a contest, and saw that they would own the rights to my photo and could use it however they say fit, they could make money on my photo, but I would never be allowed to.
So sometimes there a contests that will give you photo and let you keep your rights (never give them up), a large majority actually have you giving up all rights to your work.
Personally I think it is a great idea! As someone who has spent more than the average amount of time in doctor offices/hospitals, I can say that having peaceful/cheerful scenery greatly improves the morale, which has been proven to improve a person's overall health.
@jasonbarnette- A truly disgraceful moment in photography is when a photographer is more concerned with their pocket than making an impact on and connecting with people through their art.
However, hanging photos in a hospital is not connecting you with anyone. This is exactly what is killing photography as a profession: too many people are willing to give their photos away for free.
Everyone's photos are worth more than free. You don't have to charge hundreds of dollars for prints and get greedy, but every time a hospital opens and receives hundreds of photos for free, some professional photographer loses his job.
What do you do for a living? For a career? How would you feel if the person across the street offered to do it for free just to get their name hung on a wall and you lost your job?
I am currently a college student in the process of obtaining my associate's degree in psychology and am not employed, which is a personal choice. Why do you assume that person's who enter this contest or volunteer their photos to hospitals are doing so "just to have their name hung on a wall"?
Please do not misunderstand me, I am not saying that everyone should go out and give up whatever their job is to do work for free, I realize that the ways of the world are not conducive to such a theory, but maybe the world would be better off if more people did things for free occasionally instead of always worrying about their bottom dollar. As the old saying goes "money can't buy happiness."
In the last few years hundreds of businesses, newspaper, magazines, and organizations have started running contests to display photos and "connect photographers with an audience." These people are not so much interested in connecting photographers with an audience as they are about getting something for free.
The sad thing is that thousands of people with anything from a point and shoot to fairly decent prosumer cameras are submitting photos, for free, to events just like this one. These organizations gamble, and win, that they can get free photos and save their money for something else.
How much do you think the doctors are being paid in this non-profit hospital? I bet they aren't volunteering. I bet the hospital itself costs upwards of $50 million to build. And yet when it comes to the photography they put out a cute, clever "Calling all photographers" ad to solicit free photos. People submit photos because they don't know how much they are hurting someone else.
So the hospitals should spend their money on art instead of trained doctors and equipment that save lives?
If said people are willing to enter contests or whatnot in which they will lose the rights to a photograph, then what is it you? That is their right and choice.
As for connecting a photographer with an audience as being their main concern, well, its a hospital, not an art gallery. Of course they have their own motive first! Its a competition for local photographers, yes they get free images, but with their promise of having names, its not so bad... And just sometimes, people want to give something back.
For me the amount of photo libraries around now that are more harmful. Why will anyone send someone out on a commission when they can pull a stock image out of a library for a couple quid? Its happening here with newspapers and magazines more and more and so many prof photographers put their images in those without a second thought - to earn a few pounds a year if lucky?