There are others, many of which provide support to also start your own photoblog,
including www.buzznet.com which also supports moblog functions. Buzznet contains
a lot of blogs from young people with camera phones from all around the world.
Much of this activity is, of course, motivated less by an interest in photography
than it is by what young people find most interesting—other young people,
you know, the whole boy/girl thing. Another site, that also has strong international
participation and a lot of social activity can be found at: www.fotolog.net.
But even though the social connection is an obvious and significant motivation,
peppered among the snapshots of myriad faces are many, many interesting images
which comprise a nonverbal dialog depicting many different, individually experienced
worlds, a kind of graphic, off-the-cuff poetry in often abstract colors and
shapes, sometimes humorous, cynical, wondrous, or melancholy. It reflects not
just the diversity of people in the world, but a plurality of different worlds
of experience, thoughts, and feelings. This virtual photoblog environment of
pictures is in its infancy and evolving. Some have even taken it upon themselves
to encourage cultivating the perception through a camera’s eye into an
organized garden of graphic dialog. A striking example of voluntary, organized,
and free participation can be found at: www.mirrorproject.com.
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URL:
www.pixelbrand.org.
“My first motive of course for running a photoblog is that
I like photographing. And then, I do not wish that these photographs
disappear into a drawer. Another reason is the possibility to
communicate with other photographers and photo enthusiasts. Sure,
this is possible in Internet communities or discussion forums.
But, within my own photoblog I have control over presentation
and selection of the photographs. A less important but significant
reason is the pleasure in receiving responses to my work.”—Danny
Otto
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In addition, there are many who have particular interests that use a photoblog
to communicate and connect with others with a similar interest. One such interest
is food. You can find quite a number of individual photoblogs that are devoted
to someone’s daily diet. That may seem terribly banal and boring, but
there is a rather large group whose interest in food and photoblogging involves
a more sophisticated gastronomic adventure. And, of course it originated in
Italy. Where else is there a keener interest in food or a greater diversity
to explore? And, the Italian food photoblog community has become so well developed
that there are now both Italian and English language editions. Just about any
photographic subject of interest can be pursued through the photoblog world
and you will find someone, somewhere has a blog that involves a subject or interest
like your own. Eventually everything that photographers are and do will be reflected
in some way in this worldwide community of photographic bloggers.
How To Get Started And Involved With Your Own Photoblog
In my exploration I was quite amazed at how much support for photoblogging is
already available, even though photoblog popularity has grown substantially
over a rather short span of time. For instance, websites like buzznet.com and
fotolog.net both offer easy means to get started with full support to create
your own photoblog. However, with these easy full-support options you are pretty
locked into a limited format. So if you want some individuality and independence
there are other ways to go. Obviously to do a photoblog independently requires
a domain (name) and server space, as well as software to create the pages for
a photoblog website.
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URL:
www.hchamp.com.
“I’ve maintained a personal website for just over
10 years. The advent of weblog technology has made it far easier
for me to publish my photography online. I like to think of my
photoblog as a sketchbook where I can share the small moments
that catch my eye.”—Heather Powazek Champ
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The domain name and server space may be already available if you have an online
connection, particularly if it is broadband cable or DSL. The Internet Service
Providers (ISP) usually offer website support either free or for a small additional
fee, and to some extent there may also be some specific support for a photoblog.
Whether you get your Internet connection through AOL, Yahoo!, or any other ISP,
go to their main website and do a search on what is available for personal websites
and even photoblogging.
Most of the photoblogs that caught my eye, such as those I have included as
examples with this article, use either their own individual design or one of
the many different software packages that support photoblogs, all of which are
readily available on the web. If you are like me and have no experience creating
any kind of website, you may want to go to www.photoblogs.org
and open some of the Main Menu items. These contain a forum about photoblogging
as well as a Help and FAQ resource that covers most of the issues that may be
questions as to how to proceed. And if you are a bit of an individualist and
persnickety, also like me, the software resource to support putting a blog together
that I found most appealing can be found at the www.moveabletype.org
website. Then go to the TypePad section for software support for photoblogs
for individuals.
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URL:
www.chromasia.com.
“Quite a few people have asked me why I started Chromasia,
and even with the benefit of hindsight I’m not really sure.
I guess the most important thing for me, other than having a means
of presenting my work, is that Chromasia is somewhere I can discuss
my work—what works, what doesn’t, and so on—and
I’m really lucky to have a good number of regular visitors
to critique my work and move me forward. One of the things I think
is great about photoblogging is that you have complete control
over how you present your work. I suppose I could have joined
a photography club, or sought out opportunities to display my
work, but, in the middle of everything else—job, kids, and
so on—that never happened. A great aspect of photoblogging
is that you get to meet like-minded people from around the world.
I’m based in the UK, but I regularly e-mail other photographers/
photobloggers in Australia, the US, Ireland, and various other
countries in Europe and even farther abroad. As to what I want
to achieve, I guess, first and foremost is that I want to be a
better photographer.”—David J. Nightingale
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Parting Observations
It has been my experience in over half a century of photography that past venues
available to show and share photographs, like exhibits/shows, galleries, publication,
all have serious limitations that impose costs in both effort and money. They
also may have inherent restrictions on what and how a photographer may present
photographs. In the first half of my career I participated in just about every
venue that was available and gradually lost interest, not because of a lack
of acceptance or that doors were closed, but because the effort and cost was
not justified by the quality of the experience.
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