Oct 10th, 2010
“Here Comes the Sun”
A couple of months ago I heard about Worldwide Moment 2010, “a not-for-profit simultaneous photography event to create international peace, art, and cultural awareness.” This year’s date-and-time combination: 10.10.10 at 10:10 a.m. GMT.
What an awesome idea.
I signed up right away and last night set my alarm for 6 a.m. I went downstairs in my dark house, set up my shot, and took the photo at exactly 6:10 a.m.
I wanted to minimize my use of artificial light, but because it was predawn (but only just–sunrise was only a few minutes away), there wasn’t any natural light available. Today is also happens to be the day after John Lennon’s birthday. So what I came up with thematically seemed appropriate to me:
This was fun. I think next year’s event will be 11.11 at 11:11 a.m. I’ll be there.
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(I’ve posted this photo to Twitter and Flickr, but I’ve decided not to post it to the Worldwide Moment website because I’m uncomfortable with the terms in their Material Submission Authorization and Agreement. I realize that WWM is a nonprofit, and I don’t expect to get paid for my contribution. But I’m not going to grant them a “perpetual” license and let them use it “for any purposes whatsoever, through any forum or media possible,” with only the possibility that they “may attribute my submission to me.”
6 Responses to ““Here Comes the Sun””
Hey, found your blog randomly searching for wwm on google. I know Brett (the Worldwide Moment founder) personally and can tell you he will not misuse your photo in any way if that is a concern to you. Last year our photos had their own show in an art gallery. A hope in the future is to sell books of our photos to help fund the project and provide cameras to students and classrooms around the world.
So it’s up to you whether or not you submit it to the website, obviously, but he’s a stand up guy and I’m sure the other participants would love to see your photo too.
Jessica :)
@Jessica: Thanks for stopping by and posting this. I appreciate your taking the time to vouch for Brett and his intentions, and though I’m sure he’s an upstanding guy with no devious plans in mind for the photos, I’m still hesitant to sign a legally binding document with clauses that I think are wrong.
As written, the Material Submission Authorization and Agreement gives WWM the right to do all sorts of things with my image, without consulting me. I’m okay with WWM using my image, say, on a website, book, or poster about WWM–a form that includes all (or many) of the other images, and something that represents the spirit of WWM.
But what if WWM decides to open a CafePress store and make money selling coffee mugs with just my photo on them? (Not that I’m saying my photo is so spectacular that it will make coffee mugs fly off the shelves, of course.) That would certainly violate the spirit of WWM by separating one photo from the many–and under the usage agreement I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Or what if WWM changes hands (voluntarily or not), and someone else assumes the leadership of it–and inherits the right to use those photos as he or she sees fit and decides to use them for something completely unrelated to WWM? (I suspect this is a long shot, but in this day of rapidly shifting ownership of IP, it’s not entirely impossible.) Again, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
If WWM tweaks the Material Submission Authorization and Agreement to address these and similar concerns (and why not guarantee attribution, anyway?–I don’t quite understand why this is currently just a possibility), I’d be happy to submit my photo to next year’s gallery. As I mentioned, I LOVE the idea of this project and really enjoyed participating in it. I just don’t want to sign any legal documents that seem unreasonable to me.
As usual, Marsha, you never fail to amaze me! Great photo!
Marsha,
Thanks for the reply and your support of the project is so appreciated!
I cannot speak for everyone who participates in this project, but for myself, I consider whatever photos I have contributed to WWM over the years to not be my property anymore. I take the picture solely for this project. I think there are many photographers, who might be considered professionals, who agree with what you have stated. They will not likely ever contribute a photo. But for the rest of us who just enjoy photography (and even those who don’t), giving up one photo (and any possible, though very unlikely, financial benefit) is not a big deal. It’s about capturing a moment that is also being enjoyed by many others…stopping for just one minute of the day to take a look around and grab hold of the beauty to share it with someone else on the other side of the earth.
Also, just to address your other concern, I’ve as yet never seen a photo from WWM that wasn’t properly attributed to its creator.
I totally respect your decision and understand the issues you have with the Agreement. Just wanted to reply to your comments.
Thanks again for participating!
Very cool event and very cool photo!
Thanks, everyone! It was indeed a lot of fun, and I hope you’ll all give it a try next year. I’ll try to remember to post a reminder as the day draws near.