This exercise calls for a review of online photography galleries. I've taken this to mean the websites of professional photographers, which quite naturally feature image galleries. The purpose of this review is preparation for establishing my own website, an optional activity that I am forgoing for reasons explained below.
For the review, I have chosen to look at the websites of four professionals discovered while researching my latest assignment on trees. All are engaged in some type of nature photography: Clive Nichols is known for his garden and flower images; James Balog most recently for his work on the disappearing ice of Antarctica; Edward Parker for his travel and nature images; and Charlie Waite for his landscapes.
Clive Nichols http://www.clivenichols.com/
Front page takes about 20-30 seconds to load and features a horizontal scrollable gallery across the center of the page. Below this is the word Portfolio and the hyperlinked numbers 1,2,3,4,5, each corresponding to an image collection that will load in the central gallery space. The front page also features a logo; search tool; the following tabs: home, about us, recent images, prints, contact; and buttons for linked-in, facebook and twitter. Clean and uncluttered. Gray background with white text makes for a suitable neutral color scheme highlighting the color in the images.
About
Features short bios of Clive and his staff: his wife, a technical assistant, personal assistant, and an interior stylist. Same gray and white design with black&white images of the staff.
Events
At present the only listing is for a photography class at the RHS Garden. Images on this page in color.
Recent Images
Presumably what it describes. No descriptive material beyond image tags and captions. At this time this section consists of 1998 images. Thumbnails can be displayed at 8-128 images per page. Thumbnail displays can be enlarged to only 400x267. They can also be selected and added to a lightbox, basically a page of selected images.
Prints
Opens to Surface View, a third party retailer printing on everything from paper to canvas to vinyl.
Contact
Telephone, fax and email. No email form, only an address.
Impressions
Clean, uncluttered, simple, direct, quick to load, easy to navigate, no wasted space. It is clear that Clive specializes in flowers. His logo says as much. But you have to dig around a bit, or infer from some of the galleries, which you have to click on to load and then peruse, that Nichols might do something other than flower photography. Instead of numbered galleries, it might be preferable to name them, giving the visitor immediate understanding of the photographer's range of subjects. Uses his FB page as a blog or diary to post updates on latest projects. However, there is nothing on the website to let you know this, only a FB logo. It might be helpful to let visitors know that latest news and updates can be found at FB.
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James Balog: http://jamesbalog.com
Front page takes less than 10 seconds to load. Features 860x570 set of nine rotating images, including landscape and wildlife. No logo. Horizontal menu bar across top includes: Home, Multimedia Presentations, About JBP, About James, Portfolio, Nikon, Contact. Above the photo are also icons for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and RSS. Below the photo, and requiring scrolling to access, are three illustrated tabs: Portfolios, About James, Presentations. These seem superfluous as they link to the same pages linked in the upper menu bar. White background with blue text makes for neutral background to highlight photos.
Multimedia Presentations
This page outlines Balog’s availability for speaking engagements on his Extreme Ice Survey project and contains a link to a sample of a presentation give at a TED forum. That link is now dead. Also contains links to two projects with which he is connected, Earth Vision Trust, and the Extreme Ice Survey. Text plus two small images of Baylog, one as presenter, one as subject of a television interview.
About JBP
A statement of purpose in using photography and other media for environmental education. Text with a couple of small images.
About James
Short biography with list of major publications and awards. Includes three images: the photographer’s portrait, a movie poster and book cover.
Portfolio
Opens to a page with 7 lines of text, each linking to a portfolio. Each link opens a new page with a collection of approximately 20 images. Slideshow begins automatically. Two to three paragraphs of text below the slideshow describe the background and contents of the images. Captions appear immediately below each image, but a pointing device must be moved over the image to reveal the caption. There is no button to return to the list of portfolios. Hovering over the Portfolio tab on the top menu bar reveals a drop-down menu allowing direct access to each portfolio.
Nikon
I guess this is where Baylog fronts for his gear. The text here notes his selection as a Nikon ambassador and goes on to extoll Nikon’s commitment to the photographic community.
Contact
Includes a web-based email form, as well as a physical address and telephone number.
Impressions
Clean, simple, easy to navigate. Would get rid of the extra illustrated tabs on the front page. These are already taken care of in the menu bar at top. No way to order prints or materials without first contacting the photographer. Uses his FB page as a blog or diary to post updates on latest projects. However, there is nothing on the website to let you know this, only a FB logo. It might be helpful to let visitors know that latest news and updates can be found at FB.
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The most immediately notable feature of Parker’s website is its size and position within the browser. The content is pushed up into the top left and is rather small. The site is copyright 2012 but appears to be a bit older in design. Copyright on other pages is 2008. No logo and no links to social media. Three vertical columns: left is a selection of four portfolios illustrated by thumbnails; in the center one static image (no slideshow or flash) with a bit of text introducing the photographer and his website; to the right a menu bar including: Latest Books, Contact, About EP, Photo Course, Photostories, Travelogues, Exhibitions, Latest News, Terms and Conditions.
Latest books
Features two covers with descriptions but no links to retail.
Contact
No web-based email, but includes physical address, email, and telephone.
About Robert Parker
Bio with portrait, plus thumbnails of six books with links to Amazon.
Photo Course
Includes six thumbnails linked to galleries, as well as a link leading to another page with details of workshops and exhibitions. Latest listed event is January 2014.
Photostories
Page includes text links to eight stories. Each link opens to a new page with a description of the article plus a few sample images, but not the entire article. Presumably, these have been published elsewhere, though no such credits are listed.
Travelogues
Functions the same as Photostories. No new content.
Exhibitions
Includes information on one exhibit, plus contact details for purchasing prints, cards, and books.
Latest News
Same as Exhibitions.
Terms and Conditions
Opens a pdf with booking conditions for courses, exhibits, and print orders.
Galleries
Approximately 250-300 images sortable by theme and location. Images are somewhat small.
Impressions
This website requires serious revision. It looks out of date. The newest information appears to be months old. There are repetitive links. The images are small. There is no personalization, no blog, or news from the photographer. There are no links to social media. A search at FB returned no page for the photographer.
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One large image centered in the opening page. Logo top left, six-item menu bar top right: Home, About, Gallery, Exhibition, Store, My Items [Shopping Cart]. Banner announcing new exhibit bottom left. Bottom right, links to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Email.
About
One b&w portrait with short bio. Includes links to his photographic tour company, information about individual tuition, and contact details (postal, phone, and email).
Gallery
Just over 100 images, most in square thumbnails, making for an even and symmetrical layout. Must scroll to view more than the first 10 thumbnails. Clicking on one launches a photo viewer with an enlarged image with caption. Unfortunately, images cannot be scrolled through the viewer. You must close and reopen each image individually. Purchase button attached to each image for prints drops selection into a shopping cart.
Exhibition
Description, venue information, and city map for only current exhibition.
Store
Seems a bit odd not to include book covers, dvd covers, or poster thumbnails, but this entire page except for a video trailer is text. Buttons to drop items into shopping cart.
Impressions
Simple, clean, direct, mostly easy to navigate. Would consider some way to scroll through full size gallery images rather than having to click on each thumbnail individually. Uses his FB page as a blog or diary to post updates on latest projects. However, there is nothing on the website to let you know this, only a FB logo. It might be helpful to let visitors know that latest news and updates can be found at FB.
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Summary
These four sites are alike in many ways. They feature a simple, clear aesthetic, easy navigation, and limited purpose. The website is akin to an electronic portfolio, a display of the photographer's interests, abilities, and availability. Social media is used as a means of maintaining contact with clients and others interested in the latest news of the photographer’s work. The websites also function as e-commerce portals, linking directly to online retailers.
These are all factors to keep in mind when creating my own website. I must also be mindful of a number of services and products, including domain name, server space, site design, logo design, shopping cart and payment service. These can be purchased and created individually, or through specialized all-in-one packages, such as those provided by Site Welder. For a first-time site, this may be the best option as the process has been designed for easy set-up.
The danger, of course, is that your site may look like that of hundreds of other photographers. One way to find out if this is likely to be the case is to look through the site referral list. I did just that, selecting several sites at random (there are hundreds listed). While there was some sameness to the sites, it is not clear this is the result of limitations of Site Welder and not the limitation of how photography websites are conceived. Not everyone on Site Welder is an amateur. There are plenty of professionals using the service. One I found quite by accident is that of Reuven Kopitchinski, obviously a well-connected photographer who has produced portraits of Israel’s political elite.
In considering how I might conceive of and build a website, I have also had the opportunity to reflect on the purpose and function of the same, and more broadly my reason for practicing photography. Adding a shopping cart to a website, for example, presumes one has something to sell, and perhaps more presumptuous still something others may find worth buying. My practice seems very far from commercial concerns. I am not motivated to do photography to make money and I am certainly not interested - at least at this time - in a commercial practice. (My photography nightmare is having to produce thousands of catalog images, or regularly attend weddings.) I see my practice more as a means of self discovery, of helping me see in new ways, of helping me pay attention to the unfolding of experience. It is most certainly not a way to glorify products or romanticize relationships. I am more interested in stripping away, in revealing, than in enhancing.
Anyone with a computer can display images on FB, Flickr or Instagram. Creating one’s own website seems to project an image of independence and perhaps a seriousness of purpose. My feeling is there is a threshold of respect inverse to technical and financial requirements. That is, so long as it is technically difficult and expensive to establish a website, there is greater return in professional prestige for owning one. As soon as it becomes available to everyone there is much less to be gained as any website will be just one of thousands, or even millions. That’s not to say I should not establish one, only that owning a website is perhaps of no more advantage than owning a business card.
Setting aside commercial motivations, why might I create a website? I now share images with friends through FB, and more widely through Flickr. The major difference between Flickr and my own website is perhaps the perception of professionalism, of giving others the impression that I have something to say. At present, I really don’t feel like I do. Photography is more a conversation with myself. If others care to have a look, that’s fine, but at present I’m not seeking them out.
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