The perennial question...should I give away photography for free or not?

[Iluvmycam]

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/07/14/should-i-work-for-free-or-give-away-photos-for-free/

[Otto Phocus]

You sure do like pimping your own blog don't ya?

[spidermike]

you already know you do so why are you bothering to ask?

Still, I guess the question is meaningless when the aim is pure self-promotion. Have you ever thought of actually entering a discussion?

[RogerGW]

If your photos aren't free, you can't be said to be giving them, can you?

[Paulo Bizarro]

Have you been kicked out of all the other fora in the internet?

[Jimbo57]

I am not going to be lured into reading his blog but the basic question, on the surface of it, is fairly easily answered. Photography is no different to any other commodity - you can use it as a gift is you wish.

Some of us may be more or less generous than others, but I am sure that we all give gifts to friends and relatives - or to the wider community - when our generosity or their needs so dictates.

And because, oftentimes, the marginal cost of making an extra copy of an image is negligible, a photograph can often be a gift that will be valued by the recipient but costs the donor little.

[Tim Lookingbill]

This guy is an image maker who thankfully isn't shy about sharing them.

It would be refreshing if there were a few more like him here.

He's also having to become a "Digital Marketing Strategist" which apparently according to the article on the subject linked below doesn't require a lot of skill...

Lichtenberg said her new skills didn't come from college, but rather from on-the-job experience. "Here I spent the first six months reading a ton of blogs and watching online videos to try to train myself," said Lichtenberg.

http://www.kens5.com/story/news/local/2015/07/06/tech-jobs-san-antonio-college-graduate-entry-level/29797607/

[Tim Lookingbill]

See, I just performed some "Digital Marketing Strategics" by placing a link to an article no one would've ever found out about if it wasn't for my actions.

Only I'm not getting any money for it. CRAP!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...a photograph can often be a gift that will be valued by the recipient but costs the donor little.

Things that are given away for free can hardly be seen as valuable by anyone, including the recipient. Unless you are a Picasso, of course.

[Alan Klein]

Slobodan:  I believe Jimbo57 was referring to photo gifts given to family and friends.  Those could have more value than anything you can get from a sale. 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Slobodan:  I believe Jimbo57 was referring to photo gifts given to family and friends.  Those could have more value than anything you can get from a sale. 

I got that, Alan. My point still stands. They might like it, but still not value it much. We humans are hardwired to associate value with the cost, monetary or otherwise, in obtaining it. And scarcity. If we know that the marginal cost is negligible, so do they.

[tom b]

Things that are given away for free can hardly be seen as valuable by anyone, including the recipient. Unless you are a Picasso, of course.

I must admit that I have given away tens of photographs in my previous position as an illustrator for distance education in NSW. I would like to think that providing to this disadvantaged group of students could be seen as valuable!

[Jimbo57]

I got that, Alan. My point still stands. They might like it, but still not value it much. We humans are hardwired to associate value with the cost, monetary or otherwise, in obtaining it. And scarcity. If we know that the marginal cost is negligible, so do they.

Oh, how desperately, desperately sad.

When you receive a gift, does it not convey anything of the love that the giving symbolised? And do you not then value the gift for that love, rather than for any monetary value?

If not, I can only repeat: How desperately, desperately sad.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Oh, how desperately, desperately naive.

[tom b]

I must admit that I have given away tens of photographs in my previous position as an illustrator for distance education in NSW. I would like to think that providing to this disadvantaged group of students could be seen as valuable!

Slobodan, WTF, you really have been seduced by the capitalist marketing machine. Looking after disadvantaged groups is a problem!

Cheers,

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Looking after disadvantaged groups is a problem!

Why would that be a problem? Or you have a problem expressing yourself clearly?

[tom b]

Things that are given away for free can hardly be seen as valuable by anyone, including the recipient. Unless you are a Picasso, of course.

Your quote, I must have misread it, my giving away my images to disadvantaged students was not valuable!

Cheers,

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Tom, for me to make a specific comment about your gift, and just how valuable it was, you need to be provide more details about it. What did you give away? Were those limited editions of your prints? Are you otherwise selling them? For how much? What was the cost to you? What role did it play in the students education?

The very act of giving away to those who really need it is, of course, highly commendable. But we are talking about how valuable it is, or how valuable it is perceived to be, and the degree of it. And that depends on context and many other factors.

[tom b]

You have got to be kidding!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

You have got to be kidding!

Well, that is an irrefutable argument.