http://www.walkingphotographer.co.uk/leeds-walks/sticks-and-stones-oh-and-some-sheep/

The Renaissance Photography Exhibition will be at the Mall Galleries, London, 11th-16th June 2012. You can see the exhibitors on the Renaissance Photography Prize exhibitors page.

Regular as clock work, at the end of almost every talk, workshop or lecture I’ve ever done (and many that I’ve attended) someone puts up their hand and says something along the lines of “How do I stop people stealing my photos online?”

It is very rare for me to use my blog to vent angst at a particular topic, but this has been eating away at me for a while and all the recent talk and speculation about Pinterest appears to have reaggravated that nerve!

Watermarks are the obvious answer to most. I stopped watermarking my photography many years ago, for the simple reason that I want people enjoy my photographs. Not that watermarking would stop someone intent on stealing the image anyway. I have entered into many discussions on this subject and the only vaguely valid concern is that of people editing or defacing your work. That said only last week I emailed an image to www.projectphotodoodle.com so Phil (the artist) could deliberately use my work (free of charge! ). Whatever the arguments, problems and solutions there is only one fail-safe way to stop people using or “stealing” your imagery and that’s to not publish your photos online.

I genuinely struggle to find sympathy and time with people who appear to get obsessed with protecting their photos. I create photos because I am in love with the process of creating photographs and I relish any opportunity for those images to be seen. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy getting paid for my work too, but in reality, it’s very unlikely that someone is going to make a fortune out of stealing an image that is a maximum of 900 pixels wide and if they do, that is the time to start thinking about lawyers etc. The only certainty is, that if no one can see your images you wont make a penny from them. I get at least two enquiries a month from parties interested in purchasing image licenses, all from seeing my images somewhere on the web (I don’t use photo libraries). What I am saying is, when you restrict your images you restrict their visibility and it’s visibility that is key to making money from photography.

Visibility brings me to what sparked this impromptu rant / blog post… I keep seeing in my Twitter timeline ‘how do I stop people pinning my images?’ To which, if I could be bothered (or more honestly, if I had the guts) I would reply: Why would you want to block something that is reported to be generating "more referral traffic to sites than Google +, YouTube and LinkedIn combined"!

To conclude my advice to anyone worried about protecting their images is: don’t worry about it. Spend more time on something positive like creating photographs, if some blogger uses your photograph take it as a compliment, may be ask for a credit and a link (if they haven’t already provided one) and smile because you never know who might be looking at that blog post or ‘pinboard’… and as for future Q & A sessions, from this point forth I propose any questions on image rights can only come from people who can provide proof of purchase for all the software they use for their photographic practice.

I love the Shard, even though it isn’t finished yet and a lot of my friends think its awful, I think it’s great and will be awesome when finished! Having been based round the corner in borough for several years I’ve been watching the impressive construction of the Shard and I always try to steal another look when I revisit London. Amazingly I’ve never taken a picture of the Shard; this is the first photo I’ve taken of it!

“So it’s pretty serious then?” appeared to be the common response from the remainder of people I had left to tell. An awkward and self conscious grunt of confirmation seemed suffice. Appeasing anyone unclear on the sincerity of the evidently ambiguous action of moving 195 miles north of the city I have loved, loathed and breathed for as long as I can remember (that’s London by the way).

I’ve only been living with Caroline, in the centre of Leeds for a couple of weeks now, but I really love it. It feels as busy and active as London but with a more friendly, less aggressive twist. It’s a city that seems free from the tuts and toots fired ferociously and indiscriminately from pedestrians, commuters and drivers alike.

While I remain excited at living in this new, cultured, urban environment so close to some of the most amazing rural landscapes available in England; as I sit at the desk of my new ‘home office’ I wonder how my perspective and relationship with London will change as I adapt to life with Caroline in Leeds and continue my brief but frequent trips to London.

There is no doubt that the rich cultural offerings that the numerous London boroughs provide will be something that I will greatly miss. First Thursdays, film and documentary screenings, private views and talks put on by organisations like the Photographers Gallery, Jerwood, Whitechapel and the Tate (to name a handful) are all things that I have enjoyed on a regular basis.

Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to be based near Tate Modern. This has enabled me to frequently seek sanctuary and solace in the vast building, hoarding great artistic treasures, so vast and eclectic, that I defy anyone to visit and not find one piece by which they are captivated. Browsing around the exhibitions has replenished enthusiasm for my own work uncountable times; but a lot of ideas and inspiration actually come from watching people who move around and interact with the Tate Modern space and it is these moments of people watching that will be the biggest void for me to fill in Leeds.