Guest Shots

Photo credit: Tom Ault, 1 January 2005

My heart goes out to all those affected by Katrina. Be careful out there.

I'm taking a break from watching storm coverage and thought a serene sunset might be in order. My writing buddy Tom sent me these, taken on New Year's Day, and gave me permission to share (thanks!)....


Photo credit: Tom Ault, 1 January 2005

Been doing research on collage copyright issues, mainly using information referenced by The International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction. The U.S. Copyright Office's Circular 14: Copyright Registration for Derivative Works states, "Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work." Sarah Ovenall's information on derivative works addresses the issue of de minimis -- e.g., Circular 14 states, "Titles, short phrases, and format, for example, are not copyrightable" -- but no clear definition of the term exists. How minimal must something be to qualify as de minimis?

Ovenall ultimately recommends that collage artists take their own photographs and create their own effects so as not to violate copyright laws. She's still working on her "Theory and Reality" page, which I plan to check when it's up.

Wikipedia provides a useful collection of public domain image resources, though taking advantage of them requires some time and patience, and following some links took me off the public domain pages (usually with prior warning).

Given the caveats, I've been moseying around the house, taking photos of various everyday items: coffee cup, stapler, a hand, a foot, the ceiling fan (both at rest and in motion). In a way it's similar to my scavenger hunts along the curb and the beach up north for treasures to use in mixed-media pieces, though now I keep the clutter inside my computer. I now look at everything for its photographic and manipulative potential: fabrics, textures. Like draping a pretty scarf over my lampshade and photographing that to see how the light comes through. Pure play, especially given the vagaries of my no-frills camera and the leeway to have as many retakes as my batteries will allow.

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