Something I want to get in front of before someone mentions this: There's likely someone who would ask the question, "What about photo contests? You have to submit your own images to those, should a photographer not be excited or label themselves an award-winning photographer simply because they submitted their own work?" Someone may also ask the question, "What about the Oscars and other movie awards, they have to submit their movies by a deadline to be considered for winning, does that not count?" My answer - it ultimately comes down to standards and predefined qualifications, and the reality is quite simple, the easier it is to enter, the less prestigious it is. Take for example the photo contests associated with WPPI versus one hosted in a Facebook photography group; the WPPI contest will have strict rules and guidelines on what can be entered, how it needs to be entered, and how the images are judged and selected, whereas the Facebook group contest would likely be much more loose, with the winner being selected by peers versus a panel. There's no one answer, every situation is different, but I think it's important to understand context. All publications are not equal. All photo contest are not equal. Winning an award at an indie festival is not the same as winning an Oscar. It's not to say there isn't meaning and value in the indie award, but it would be silly to say the two hold the same amount of weight.

I’m so glad you said something on this. I talk about this all the time. These are not real magazines. These photographers and models claiming to be “multi published” by magazines on IG that make money off of your images or Kavyar making you pay for publications is just an ego boost and nothing to stand on. You’re just letting someone else profit off of your work instead of a real publication paying you.

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

And that's my biggest problem with these vanity magazines, they are exploiting creatives and veiling it under the excitement of being published. And most of them are just a printed version of an online photo gallery - no articles, no true structure, just a bunch of photos printed in one place.

💯 When I first started at this I was one of those so excited to get published. I'd go to Kavyar and search for publishing calls. At some point I realized a few things. 1. Although I was "published", the work in the same publication wasn't of high quality. 2. Some of the publications wouldn't even send a tear sheet. 3. One magazine I worked with accepted my shots, but it took months for the issue to come out. The magazine was edited and published by one guy, who was in the hospital at the time. There's no team behind many of these publications. It's one person profiting off of those who are excited to see their work in print. I think the value of being "published" in a no circulation, print on demand magazine is next to 0. No client will care if your work is published in a magazine they don't know of and can't see at Walgreens while checking out.

@AnthonyToglife

5 ай бұрын

You said it my guy, mic drop.

Thank you for speaking on this!!!!

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

That’s what I’m here to do in 2024! And I actually spend quite a bit of time researching the topic before I record these videos.

I agree with this on a major level. I have had representatives of magazine companies reach out to me stating that they like my work and wanted me to submit 5+ images to be featured in their magazine. I’ve had popular media sights use my images in their post but honestly, I’ve never cared for it or the cringe “I’m published” slogan that some photographers use as a badge of honor. As long as my clients love what I do for them that’s all the recognition I need.

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

I agree, I have never seen the allure in it personally, and have never strived to be "published". I have never once agreed to any site or account using my images because I always feel it's likely exploitative; they're not using them out of the kindness of their heart, they stand to gain something without giving me my fair share. In the spirit of Shark Tank I tell them, "for that reason, I'm out!" Lol.

In my situation, when my disability made it so i couldn't actively shoot as i once did, i paid to enter a contest to be exhibited in my home city of Philly and I was picked. For me, it was a bit of self-validation and when i showed up at the gallery(walker now, and all) with my friends and family, it was a proud moment for me. I loved the other people asking, "You took this?!" lol. Yes, yes I did thank you very much! (It was a Milky Way shot over a lighthouse, not an easy location to get to in pitch black conditions lol.) In the end it is, was just a hobby for me, but I always felt I had skill. I just had to try/see.

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

I respect this 100%, and what I value most in what you said is that you understood your reason/purpose, and it was gratifying for you. I could never, and would never attempt to, take that from anyone.

@JayDowney

6 ай бұрын

oddly, my most gradificating situation was when a canadian vacation rental website/ company stole one of my photos of an iconic row of multicolored home on the Outer Banks on NC. Haha, all I could think was, "Your renters are gonna be Pissssed....!" hahaha@@AnthonyToglife

Facts... I feel the same way about repost pages. If I pay a model, rent a studio, bring my equipment, and put in weeks of coordination. I don't see why I'd just allow someone else to grow their page with my content. Models may get some benefit from repost pages but as photographer/dp, I feel reposters should commission work for their pages. Magazines as well.

@AnthonyToglife

5 ай бұрын

Great point and I agree. Another issue with those repost pages is that they tend to only repost images from creators who already have a large following. It's rare to see an image from a smaller creator, and when they do, they're usually a non-US creator. I've always taken issue with that because you've built your account off the backs of other creators, yet you don't put on smaller creators.

I was about to say congratulations strictly based off the title. But, when you got to the meat of it, it’s quite eye-opening.

@AnthonyToglife

5 ай бұрын

I think the title got one of the viewers when I first dropped it, lol, but yeah, I don’t really buy into the whole published thing. 🙂

Facts!

@AnthonyToglife

5 ай бұрын

💪🏾🙏🏾

Reminds me of elementary school teams where all the children got a blue ribbon just for playing. No 1st,2nd or last place. Just equal awards all across. You really did a great job explaining these facts. As much as reality hurts at times, we all need a reality check from time to time.

@AnthonyToglife

5 ай бұрын

I appreciate the comment @minuteman2006, thank you!

Spot-on my friend. It's all relative, isn't it? Being "published" as a photographer is ambiguous. And, I think you're correct -- especially if we're talking about online publications -- in that THE one benefit may be that you can use that with your future customers/clients. But if you're not a pro (and I'm not) being published in something that's "not major" doesn't carry much weight (to me) especially if you're paying to have that. I wrote a book and became published in November 2023. Man -- talk about a great feeling? About 2.5 years of work but something I've been passionate about for some time -- which is totally different than being published with an image or two in an online publication. Putting a book together -- something tangible; physical -- is something I'd recommend for photographers of all levels. Physical media is dying. Most photographers shoot for an end-state of something online -- whether it's social media or sometehing similar, it's something that's not physical. I think your take, here -- is correct -- and that's not a knock on anyone who's willing to pay an online publication to put their image in their product. And hey - you struck a nerve with your example. I've been a high school basketeball coach for 27 years. Just retired, in fact. And you couldn't be more correct in that -- at the public school level, I would field the best team I could at that time -- as that's what I was there to do. But make no mistake -- my state championship level teams (2005-2012) were cut different than the teams of 2022-23. Doesn't make it a bad thing but lets not get it twisted. Many of the kids playing today would have been first-day cuts on my teams of the 2005-12 era -- just being honest. Doesn't make today's kids bad, just as it doesn't make today's photographer's bad -- but it's critical that we keep it 100%, right? Love this kind of content -- this kind of discussion. Hope to see more of it in 2024!

@AnthonyToglife

5 ай бұрын

I'm sure you were a GREAT coach Rusty! As always, I thoroughly enjoy your comments and your perspective. They're always enlightening and an absolute pleasure to read. Thank you so much for leaving them. I always feel bad because my responses are always so brief, but you usually leave nothing more to be said, so I salute you and keep it moving. :-)

Thank you Tog! Ive been waiting for someone to shine a light on this. These fools here all be trying to use this to lure clients or models. But i've always had the mindset of your last comment whenever i see them do it.

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

2024 is gonna be a year of shining light! LOL! Side note, we'll have to link up when I'm out that way for Imaging.

@randallroutt5829

6 ай бұрын

@@AnthonyToglife imma try. I got a few shoots to get around but imma try and come down that way.

Interesting subject. I think when we are relatively new to photography we are looking for positive feedback to stroke our egos. I'm sure guilty of that. Getting published kind of affirms our belief that our work is finally " good enough " particularly if our intention is to make photography our living. Clients do see some weight in hiring a published photographer in my opinion. It's as much an ego trip for them to tell everybody that they employed the services of a professional published photographer over asking " Uncle Bob " the enthusiast to take the pictures. From a marketing point of view I'd say it's advantageous to promote yourself on the basis of being published even if it was via a relatively unknown publication. Maybe it's not at the level of Vogue but hey, it's something I guess. I have purchased publications that my work has featured in so yeah, guilty as charged lol 🤪 That said, I've never paid to have any of my work published so I guess I ain't that desperate 😁 I do see your point however and totally agree, being the best of a bad bunch is hardly something to shout about. I mean I could " technically " be called the fastest man on earth if I was the only guy who turned up at the 100M Mens sprint at the Olympics 😂

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

I don’t disagree with any of this. If there’s one thing I would want people to take away from this video, it’s that, you can have whatever motive you want behind submitting to these publications, but understand that 1) you’re being exploited; once they have your money, that’s guaranteed, exposure and potential clients is not, and 2) being the “best” when there’s no discernible standard or prerequisites for entry isn’t something that carries much value or weight.

These magazines stay in my DM's to submit. Like you said the entire business model does not make sense to the creatives. You don't even get exposure from being publish because these so-call magazine's have so many fake followers.

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

You hit the nail on the head with the fake followers! Before I recorded this video I did some extensive research on these vanity mags and I visited their social media platforms. Many of them had 6-figure subs, yet post after post barely broke 100 likes. Now I’m not saying they should have 6-figure like counts, and to be transparent, big magazine socials don’t even have 1% of their following count in likes. But, historically, smaller accounts with real followers tend to average at least 2-5%, especially when it’s a model/photo based account. But even if we give them the benefit and say they’re following is legit, it’s highly unlikely that all of their followers are seeing and/or paying attention to their posts. So this idea of exposure is a fallacy.

Thank you for speaking on this. I got so called "published" twice before and started asking myself why do I have to pay for a magazine or certain sections and such if you guys are reaching out to me? And when they did select the images they cropped certain things that took away from the image.. I had a few more reach out to me about the same thing and never even open them to be honest.

@AnthonyToglife

3 ай бұрын

That’s the main part that irks me, that they won’t even provide a free copy to the owners of the images they publish. It’s kinda like extortion really, just on a smaller scale.

Something that the record industry and book publications been doing for decades. It's all about bragging rights, rapper can say my latest EP sold X I'm number one but what the layman don't know the artist took their money to buy those EPs and redistribute them via a clearing house and Viola I'm the greatest...😁 As for some photographer who gets published it's proof for the potential client and their followers that their the professional so what I say is Gospel because my work been published.

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

This just gave me a video idea, I’m gonna poll a bunch of people who have hired photographers to see if them being published would have any bearing on their decision to hire them. I’m curious now, lol.

They got me with that scam!

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

I’ve had several reach out to me about submitting images and I have always asked “do I get a copy of the publication for free?” Never once received a “yes” to that question, lol. I personally have never strived to be published, anywhere.

This is why I've never sent my photos to get published. I completely disagree with a publication using my images to make a profit and I make nothing, in fact, I lose money. Even if it didn't cost me to submit. Because I had to get to the shoot, get the model paid (if it wasn't TFP), run my computer and office setup. Charge my batteries. This is all without even talking about time as everyone values time differently. And now they make money off that? I've never been a fan of vanity magazines. I was always more of a fan of things like Guitar World that has teachable things in it. They pay their photos suppliers. Like the old Skate magazines that paid to get photos. Not a lot, but at least it was something! I excited about being featured by Canon Canada occasionally. But there's no money being made by Canon for it. And no money by myself. But I can show how they feel about my photos from a top name, worldwide brand like Canon, even if it's just from the Canadian branch. But I've never labelled myself as award winning. I label it as Featured by Canon Canada. Because it's not really a contest. It's more of a weekly feature that I occasionally submit to. It's not prestigious and I know that. But that's one where I enjoy doing it. And if someone enjoys these vanity magazines, I mean, all the power to them. But that's not really for me either. I'm with ya on that.... Wow that was a paragraph and a half

@AnthonyToglife

5 ай бұрын

Ya know, I would actually respect these publications more if they were actual publications, with articles, structure, and things of substance. Instead, they're literally just an online photo gallery in print form. If you're going to profit off the backs of creators, at least provide something meaningful outside of just displaying images. But they won't do that because that requires work and effort and they have no desire in putting in any kind of work. I don't think there's anything wrong with submitting images, whether it be to these vanity magazines, or to a social media account, or anything in between, but I think people, as I think you understand, need to be realistic in the true meaning and value. Everything in this life carries weight, but sometimes it's only a feather's worth.

@brad_in_yyc

5 ай бұрын

@@AnthonyToglife I love the end aboutweight. It's so true. One thing I do have to remind myself of, is what weighs like a feather to me may have the weight of a boulder to another in their journey. Sometimes that's hard to remember, especially that far back in my journey when I started. I think the weight also changes with knowledge and time and what you're willing to put up with or deal for certain "prices" (including free).

Yeah everybody got published in their Instagram bio

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

To the point where it doesn’t carry much weight even if it’s legit.

Wow. I thought everybody got paid for their images being published in a Magazine.

@AnthonyToglife

6 ай бұрын

Nope, most don't, sadly.