I've been patiently awaiting the first moment when I would see my name in lights (or little black letters, if you will) for a while now. Today was that day. About three months ago, I got a call from
The Stop telling me that Food and Drink magazine was writing a piece about 'the slow food movement' and that they would be running one of my photos of Chris Brown (their chef), alongside the article. As I drove to the LCBO, reminding myself not to get my hopes too high and to continue breathing, I couldn't help but be excited about seeing one of my photos in print. Even as small as I knew it would be, I was totally stoked. As tempted as I was to rip into the magazine as soon as it touched my hands, I decided to be patient and wait until I got home so that I could ceremoniously open the magazine. I found the article in the index and then decided that the best thing would be to arrive there page by page. As I quietly turned the pages, I knew I was getting close. Suddenly, there it was on page 148, my photo... with someone else's credit!
Bah humbug. My initial reaction was to put in an angry call to the magazine. Heads would roll! After stewing in my own anger and disappointment for a while, I realized that it wasn't really worth the energy. Honestly, what would come of it? An apology and a possible retraction that I'm sure most readers would skip over anyway? In the end I decided that it was better to put my energy into continuing to work on my photography, and to keep pushing forward onto the next project.
Ah well, C'est La Vie....
Looks like I'll need to continue waiting in quiet anticipation until the day my name is written in lights (instead of blue ink).
I'm still working out why exactly I was so upset to see the credit given to someone else. I'm kind of stuck here... consciously, I'm not sure that it really does matter that much, but emotionally it really stings. Is being credited just a matter of ego? While I think it over a bit more, I thought I would throw this out there: Do credits matter?
Posts
David Via Facebook:
ReplyDelete"Hells yeah credits matter. I'm sure only people who work at magazines take time to check the gutter credits, but then they're the folks who do the assigning. I think you should phone/email and politely explain that they got it wrong. All you'll get is an apology, but at least they'll know who you are and that you aren't a pushover."
Carrie Via Facebook:
ReplyDelete"Agreed. I've had pics published with the tag 'photo provided' it stings."
Chris Via Facebook:
ReplyDelete"I can totally appreciate why you are upset. I would get in touch with them about this and let them know. You may not get a retraction, but they will know of the error. You're a rockstar girl! Beautiful image."
Robin Via Facebook:
ReplyDelete"you should get in touch so they know to also be careful in future. whether or not they credit you at all is different, but giving the credit to someone else I think is unfair."
Ryan Via Facebook:
ReplyDelete"I say you burn the place to the ground.
Then they'll know your name.
Or you could look at it as only a select few know the true story behind the photo and you're the leader of this exclusive group.
...Either way, nice work. I'm sure more will come."
Forget this one, try and get more work with them, that would help right?
ReplyDelete