Microsoft Doesn't Care About Black People

As you might have noticed from my Kanye West/Katrina/Bush reference in this post's title, I and many others are annoyed if not angry at this Microsoft race blunder.

Here's the situation as described by CNET:

In a photo on the company's U.S. Web site, three businesspeople--one black, one white and one Asian are shown as part of a pitch for Microsoft's business productivity software. In the same photo on the site of Microsoft's Polish subsidiary, a white head is placed over the black person's body, although the hand is not changed.

WTF were they thinking?!?!

Clearly the original photo was intentionally shot to portray diversity (of race and age) in the workplace - why was it not acceptable for use as a Microsoft marketing communication in Poland? Are there no (professional) black people in Poland, and what does this say about Microsoft's vision for who their consumers should be?

There's no avoiding the natural questions that come up in this situation, like what made them decide to white wash the African American versus the Asian? Ah yes and clearly the white woman's head couldn't be swapped because the female hands would be a dead giveaway. Ugh! Just makes me wonder what the thought process was behind this photoshop of horror...

Using Twitter as a quickie press conference for handling PR disasters, here's the 140-character tweet/apology from Microsoft. Such an obviously corporate and non-transparent response - I would actually applaud Microsoft if they just came clean about what the decision-making process was behind this race change.

Honesty is the only moral pillar that will sustain the global conversation on racism and clearly there's a need for it in media and corporate communications.

Want a laugh? Check out this sarcastic Media Assassin blog post, Microsoft Introduces Its Most Advanced Application, Yet: Windows RaceChange Suite Express for Vista.

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Digital has Democratised the (Stock) Photography Industry

The digital photography (r)evolution may have increased competition for photographers but in a significant way it has also leveled the playing field for those of underrepresented ethnic communities.

Excerpts from the Red Box interview with Paul Foster, Director of Content for Europe, Getty Images

PF: The Internet has made it easier for us to find talented photographers or to find imagery.

RB: What exactly do you mean by that?

The option that everybody can upload pictures whether it be my mother or someone in Vietnam has democratised the industry. For us at Getty it means we have millions of photographers based all around the world. And it is the logic of crowd sourcing that some of these photographers are very talented. And their material is extremely commercially viable. We have now photographers in 95 countries, from Antigua to Vietnam. Whereas before you had a predominance of professional photographers based in Europe and the US.

Continued...

RB: What about the developing markets like China, India or Russia? Is that a topic for you as well?

PF: Yes, it is in those markets where we have always struggled to fulfil the demand. We have a big client basis there. We were of course always actively recruiting photographers in those countries. We go into partnerships with specialized stock agencies that may be based in Japan or somewhere else. But Flickr again offers the opportunity to fulfil the regional needs. This is really exciting. We now have a photographer base that is no longer Eurocentric or US-centric but truly global.

Read the full interview on Red Box.

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Photographer Interview: Rushay Booysen

Rushay's has gotta be one of the coolest dudes I've never met. He's a South African who tweets in Spanglish, calls himself a "freemason of the voiceless", has much respect for women and seems to always be globetrotting with his camera.

Hopefully one day our paths will meet, until then I stay connected to Rushay's photography on Flickr, tweet him up on Twitter and follow him on Facebook. And you should too, Rushay's one to watch...

D&B: Where are you from?
RU: Howdy folks (Southern accent), I am from South Africa a small city on the south coast called Port Elizabeth aka Nelson Mandela Bay. I think Google maps should have us on so go out and search you will find me!

D&B: What kind of photography do you shoot and how did you get started - any "formal" training?
RB: I'm more into photojournalism. I have always had a interest in documenting what I see around me. I have no formal training whatsoever. It's just been blogs and searches online that have been my basic training. Other than that it's been intuition. I just want to capture pure emotion.

© Rushay Booysen

D&B: What cameras or techniques do you use?

RB: I use a Nikon D80 - its a nifty tool very compact and I'm able to maneuver myself through society without much hassles and constraints. I want my focus to be on the image as I see it so any changes are very minimal.

D&B: Who are your mentors (in photography)?

RB: A mentor, Hmmm... that one is bit difficult as I never sit down and just focus on one individual's work. There are so many people out there that inspire me from the professionals to the amateurs. I'm trying to eliminate this line because I feel so many people limit themselves by the categories and equipment that they use. Everybody that's on Flickr: you're my mentor!

D&B: Have you experienced any setbacks or different treatment along your photography career that you would attribute to being a photographer of color? (this question is optional)
RB: Different treatment... I never really looked at that because there are different challenges from all ends. When I was schooling we had no introduction to a lot of artistic mediums. Apartheid kept a lot from us, so not having any form of introduction to various outlets I had to search for that myself.

That search often took me to communities where I stood out like a lion amongst a herd of sheep. I very seldom shoot in the community I grew up in because of crime, so its been a continuous journey of defining myself and where I place myself within society. I would just love to break down any "ism's" that we find in this given time.

D&B: When did you realize you could have a career in photography? Describe your journey towards becoming a working photographer.

RB: I never noticed the potential as I was just snapping away and it was really something i enjoyed doing. The more people started commenting on my work the more I realized the potential in actually pursuing this as a career. I've been receiving requests to do weddings but I don't feel that [weddings] test my creative ability and also my mind state.

The Internets been great gateway just getting the exposure and building upon that exposure. Recently I was featured on CNN's iReport and some international publications have used my images.

D&B: What do you hope to achieve with your photography

RB: I have always been raised with a culture of sharing. If I look back at the struggles of my parents and the generations before them, I see how dependent they were on each other not because they couldn't accomplish anything but because of the constraints placed around them. I would like to view my achievements and future goals as a paradox to these constraints. I hope to share with the world, that would be my ultimate achievement.

© Rushay Booysen

D&B: What's your dream photography project?

RB: I'm currently working halfway on a dream project: a book with a partner. Partner sounds so formal so I would have to say a friend, Danya Steele from New York. The idea is for us to co-create a very inspiring and powerful photo essay/photo book that showcases many of South Africa’s young leaders and top talent: entrepreneurs, musicians, social change agents, writers, reporters, artists, academics, civic leaders - people coming out from all regions of the nation today.

What we want to do is document who they are, where they’ve come from, and how they see themselves and their role in reshaping the country, the conversation about Africa at large, and what it means to truly define one’s own destiny against any odds. I would love to tour Africa after that and share with various youth and allow them to hold a camera and share with me what they see.

D&B: What's the biggest (life) lesson you've learned through photography?

RB: If I sit down and think, I think every frozen moment is special and being able to share that with generations to come after me... that's an amazing thought for me.

There is one image that seems stuck in my mind and that's the image of a young Hector Pieterson shot during the apartheid years. The image itself reminds me of what humanity should never become and I strive to be part of a solution to some of the problems in our world through sharing some of my images.

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Photographer Interview: Aida Muluneh

Aida Muluneh is an award-winning photographer based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In her photography book Ethiopia: Past/Forward (Africalila, 2009,) Aida explores the country through, identity, personal journey and family nostalgia after a 30-year absence. The photographs are a collection of images that show cases a return to a society juxtaposed between past, present and future.

Aida is founder of D.E.S.T.A FOR AFRICA, a non-profit cultural organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. D.E.S.T.A FOR AFRICA stands for Developing and Educating Society Through Art, it also means "happiness" in the Ethiopian language Amharic. D.E.S.T.A FOR AFRICA promotes cultural development through the use of photography by providing workshops, exhibitions and creative exchanges.

Follow her on Twitter @aidamuluneh.

D&B: Where are you from?
AM: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but I consider myself to be global and local.

D&B: What kind of photography do you shoot and how did you get started - any "formal" training?
AM: I started photography in my high school in Canada, we had a small darkroom and a teacher who was willing to show us darkroom basics. I was hooked after I saw my first print. Now I shoot mostly people in their day-to-day living; I guess it would be considered editorial.

D&B: What cameras or techniques do you use?
AM: I recently started shooting digital after many years of having issues with it but I am still a fan of shooting analog. It is hard to part with my Hasselblad. But I am a believer that, it's not the camera, it's your eye.

Woman In Doorway, Dese, Welo, Ethiopia © Aida Muluneh

D&B: Who are your mentors (in photography)?
AM: My first mentor is the late Harlee Little, Jr, an African-American photographer who was based in Washington, D.C. I really learned the art, craft and business of photography through him. The second is Chester Higgins, Jr, who has always been supportive of my work and I consider him to be the hardest working photographer!

Last but not least, Dudley M. Brooks, he got me in at the Washington Post and basically kicked my butt to become a better photographer. He is an amazing photographer and was able to come back from assignment with incredible images - a true artist.

D&B: Have you experienced any setbacks or different treatment along your photography career that you would attribute to being a woman and photographer of color? (this question is optional)

AM: As an African and a person of color, it is hard to deny the challenges that we face as image producers. I remember once, I went to show my work to a photo editor and he told me that I had too many "black" people in my portfolio. On the other hand living in Africa, the challenges are tripled because photography is still not considered an art forum.

I don't believe being categorized based on the origins of my nationality or culture. A good photographer is a good photographer. Of course our backgrounds shift the realities of what we choose to capture, but in the end it's a ridiculous to pigeonhole photographers based on superficial things, which is a standard that still exists everywhere.

Also, as a woman I feel that I have better access to my subjects and any challenges that I might face is set by my own limitations.

© Aida Muluneh

D&B: When did you realize you could have a career in photography? Describe your journey towards becoming a working photographer.

AM: Being a photographer and dedicating your life to this crazy passion is a great challenge. As you know, its not easy to make money but it is easy to make an image. I knew early on that I would pursue a career in images but I went to college thinking I was going to be a lawyer and ended up in the film department. One of my professors Haile Gerima would tell me that "Cinema doesn't like a mistress", so I had to live in between filmmaking and photography.

Regardless, my photography has always remained with me and in the end I had to find a balance. I worked at the Washington Post for a few years and realized that I didn't like the limitations of photojournalism. I ended up moving towards exhibiting my work instead and eventually got into my first major show at the National Museum of African Art Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

However, my biggest break and truly fulfilling experience was exhibiting at the Bamako Biennial held every two years in Mali. I won the European Union prize for my work on Ethiopia and it basically gave me the exposure that I needed for my career.

D&B: What do you hope to achieve with your photography?

AM: I want to offer a balanced perspective on the image of Ethiopia. I am not here to save the world, I just want the rest of the world to realize that the image of Africa needs discussion, participation and exchange.

D&B: What's your dream photography project?
AM: Bridging the gap between photographers in Africa and those in the Diaspora.

D&B: What's the biggest (life) lesson you've learned through photography?

AM: 1) Patience: Things can't happen when you want them to so you have to persevere because everything is about time.

2) Humbleness: I find a lot of photographers have big egos! Someone is always smarter and better.

3) Persistence: I have learned that I would rather spend the rest of my life pursuing my dream rather than settling for an empty existence.

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