RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘York’

Some of the oldest American photographs were found in a workshop in New York

16 Oct

You never know where or when significant historical artifacts will turn up. Some very early photographic portraits were recently found in an unheated shed on Long Island in New York. The found photographs may be some of the very first portraits captured in the United States.

In 1839, the daguerreotype process was introduced by its namesake, Louis Daguerre, in France. It was the first publicly available and commercially viable photographic process. Although eventually replaced by more affordable, easier processes, many daguerreotypes were made in the 1840s and 1850s. In the US, the race was on to turn Daguerre’s process into a money-making venture.

‘Henry Fitz Jr. (1808-1863). The ‘Profile View’ taken with the Wolcott mirror camera, January-February 1840. Housed in a heavy brass frame identified in pencil on verso “Henry Fitz Jr. of New York and Baltimore. 1808-1863.’ Image and caption credit: Hindman Auctions

Henry Fitz Jr., Alexander Wolcott and John Johnson pulled it off. Fitz Jr. patented the first American camera and opened the first photographic portrait studio in the country. Fitz Jr. was a telescope maker in New York City. His understanding of optics gave him a significant advantage over would-be competitors.

The trio began collaborating on their photographic venture in late 1839. In early 1840, Fitz was the subject of some of the earliest successful photographic portraits ever taken. In June of 1840, Fitz opened a portrait studio in Baltimore, Maryland, cornering the market, at least for a time.

‘The ‘Eyes Closed’ Portrait of Henry Fitz Jr. (NMAH Cat No. 4114A). Probably taken in JanuaryFebruary, 1840 with the Wolcott mirror camera.’ Image and caption credit: Hindman Auctions

Some of the earliest photos taken by Fitz, Wolcott and Johnson were housed in that shed on Long Island. The photos will be going up for sale by Hindman Auctions. The auction house says, ‘The cache of daguerreotypes offered here – along with the existing Fitz group at the National Museum of American History – is the largest group of images produced by a single photographer from the pioneering era of photography in America (1839-1842). In this regard it is unique. While single images from this period exist, most are anonymous, undated and orphans floating in the historical ether. By contrast, the Fitz archive can be quite tightly dated to have been produced between about January 1840 and the fall of 1842. It was during these 36 months that photography in America sprang to existence and emerged as a commercial enterprise.’

‘Julia Wells Fitz (1814-1892), wife of Henry Fitz. Ninth plate daguerreotype, housed in red leather side opening case, with heavy brass mat. With delicate tinting of cheeks and lips; dress with fugitive blue tinting. Not removed from case. The identification of this image is based on the similarity between the sitter and the oil painting of Julia Wells Fitz included in this archive.’ Image and caption credit: Hindman Auctions

The collection holds immense historical and cultural significance. While Fitz, Wolcott and Johnson were not the creators of the daguerreotype process, of course, they were at the forefront of its adoption and growth. It’s also one of the more complete collections of photographs from that time frame.

You can read the full details about the auction listing by visiting Hindman. A digital catalog about the listing is available for viewing here. In-person bidding will begin on November 15 by appointment only.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Some of the oldest American photographs were found in a workshop in New York

Posted in Uncategorized

 

New York Times unveils prototype system aimed at inspiring confidence in photojournalism

10 May

Misinformation is a big issue online, especially with how quickly false stories are shared. The New York Times R&D team has worked with the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) on a prototype system ‘exploring tools to give readers transparency into the source and veracity of news visuals.’ If a picture is worth a thousand words, the picture must be verifiably truthful to its viewers.

As CAI points out, it used to be a given that a ‘photograph never lies.’ However, that hasn’t been true for a long time. It’s easy for an image to be manipulated and tell a story far from the truth. It’s hard to tell fact from fiction, and a fake or doctored image can make the rounds so quickly that you see it many times on your feed before you ever see the original image. That is if you ever see the real image at all. A study by Adobe found that there’s a lack of trust in images and that people are concerned about seeing doctored content. The study also found that photographers are concerned with image theft and plagiarism.

The NYT R&T team shows their ‘secure sourcing’ prototype visualization.

For photographers, it’s not just about the honesty of an image, it’s about credit. Someone can screengrab a photographer’s image and spread it around the web before the photographer ever has the opportunity to demand the financial compensation they deserve. After the image has been seen all over the internet, the value of their work has already been irreparably damaged. Santiago Lyon, Head of Advocacy & Education at CAI, writes, ‘Regardless of source, images are plucked out of the traditional and social media streams, quickly screen-grabbed, sometimes altered, posted and reposted extensively online, usually without payment or acknowledgment and often lacking the original contextual information that might help us identify the source, frame our interpretation. and add to our understanding.’

Scott Lowenstein of NYT R&D says, ‘The more people are able to understand the true origin of their media, the less room there is for ‘fake news’ and other deceitful information. Allowing everyone to provide and access media origins will protect against manipulated, deceptive, or out-of-context online media.’

Along with Adobe and Twitter, The New York Times Co. is a founding member of the CAI. The CAI and its partners ‘are working to develop an open industry standard that will allow for more confidence in the authenticity of photographs (and then video and other file types). We are creating a community of trust, to help viewers know if they can believe what they see.’ To this end, the new prototype outlines a ‘secure sourcing’ workflow, which will preserve metadata with secure signatures at each step as an image is captured, edited in Adobe Photoshop, and published. As an image is published, links to an original image will be attached and signed by a social media platform.

Photograph by Niko Koppel for the NYT R&D project, integrated with CAI Content Credentials.

Lyon writes, ‘This important work demonstrates how a well-respected news outlet like the NYT is experimenting with CAI technology, giving us a hint of what’s possible at scale. This aligns with our goal of displaying a CAI logo next to images published in traditional or social media that gives the consumer more information about the provenance of the imagery, such as where and when it was first created and how it might have been altered or edited.’

Lyon continues, ‘This will bolster trust in content among both consumers and capture partners (such as Qualcomm and Truepic), editing partners (in this case, our colleagues at Adobe Photoshop), and publishers, such as the New York Times and others.’

Eventually, the hope is that CAI logos can be placed next to images on traditional publishing and social media platforms, inspiring confidence in the provenance of images and explaining how an image was edited before being published. Ideally, viewers would be able to click on the CAI logo and find out about the image creator and see all the edits that have been made.

For the initiative and the NYT R&D prototype to work, widespread adoption is necessary. The overall distrust in the news and images will require considerable work to improve. Reliable, secure, and accessible records of image creation and edits will go a long way toward inspiring confidence in images.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on New York Times unveils prototype system aimed at inspiring confidence in photojournalism

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Interview: David ‘Dee’ Delgado’s love letter to New York City, shot on 4×5 film

09 Apr
Genesis + Ronald, Before Prom, Westchester Ave (May 2019)

David ‘Dee’ Delgado has spent his entire life exploring New York City. Born and raised in the Bronx, in his younger years he traveled the city as a graffiti artist before transitioning into photography. “I got busted a couple of times and I got tired of getting locked up for doing graffiti,” he says. “So I started taking pictures of my friends.”

He worked as a graphic designer but says he found himself in a creative rut in a career where all his creativity was expended on behalf of the clients – “it was soul-draining in a sense.” And so Delgado found himself gravitating back to his cameras. Six years ago, at the suggestion of his wife, he quit the job that he hated and dove head-on into documentary photography.

Shot entirely on 4×5 film, Delgados project, ‘On My Block’, is an homage to the people and places that make New York City so special

These days Delgado works as a freelance photographer for clients like Getty, Reuters, Gothamist and others. He’s spent the last year very busy, on the ground documenting stories about COVID-19, the George Floyd police brutality protests and the 2020 election. In between all of that he’s continued to work on an ongoing personal project called On My Block, which he debuted earlier this year on his Instagram account.

Shot entirely on 4×5 film, On My Block is a homage to the people and places that make New York City so special. We spoke with Delgado to learn more.

Saint Guadalupe, Simpson Street (February 2019)

When did you start shooting images for On My Block?

I started photographing On My Block in December 2018, I went into it with a direct purpose, although it has morphed. In the beginning, I was thinking about it in terms of gentrification – I’m a native New Yorker, I was born and raised here and I’ve seen how much the city has changed. I turn 45 this year, so I’ve been around for a decent amount of time.

Shooting 4×5 is a lot slower, especially when you are using a field camera. It slows things down and lets you connect to people, have a conversation and an interaction

I started seeing the city change so much and was reminiscing back to when I was a graffiti writer and I would go around the city. I decided I wanted to document the city and the people in it. What they are and how I remember them and how I remember it being like. That’s when the project morphed into more of a love letter to New York and less about gentrification. It’s a love letter to the city that I love and know.

Black and his Son Liam, Barber Shop, Cypress Ave (February 2019)

What camera are you using to shoot the work?

I did not want to shoot digital for this project. I have my cameras that are meant for assignment work and then I have my cameras that are my personal cameras that I use just because I love the medium.

This gives me a break and it gives me the ability to be a little more artistic. As opposed to the hard news, with this, I can slow down and make a pretty photo

This whole project was shot on a Toyo 45A which is a 4×5 field camera. It’s not a light camera. It’s a heavy camera. Lugging that camera along with the film, film holders, and a dark cloth is not an easy task. Shooting 4×5 is a lot slower, especially when you are using a field camera. It slows things down and lets you connect to people, have a conversation and an interaction, you can make the connection through the camera in a sense. It just slows down the whole process.

Why was it important to shoot on film? How do you select what film stocks you use for this project?

I’m a big film buff and I knew I did not want to shoot this in black and white. I wanted it to look less documentary and more personal. The project was shot on Kodak Portra 160, I just found the soft and warm tones of the film leant themselves to what I wanted the project to look like.

Kayla, Malcolm-X Boulevard and W.117th St (July 2019)

How does being born and raised in the Bronx influence the way you see and photograph in other New York City neighborhoods?

When you are young in New York it’s like, ‘don’t leave the stoop,’ but I always wandered. I would always push. ‘I can make it down the block to the bodega before mom notices.’ I always pushed the boundaries of where I was allowed to go. Once I became a little bit older and I was able to leave the stoop I would jump on the subway and I would pick a stop and go there. I would end up in Prospect Park, I would end up in Queensbridge, I would end up in Washington Heights.

I was always pushing the boundaries of my borders and was interested in embracing the city for what it is: multinational and multicultural

I’ve always been the person that was talkative and I would speak to people, I would connect to people. I’d be in Queens and when I was growing up, people in Queens used to use slang that was called ‘dun language’, and me being from The Bronx, I didn’t know how to speak dun language. But then I met guys who did and I would practice my dun language with them.

Then I’d be in the Heights, you know I’m Puerto Rican, and I’d be around the Dominican community and they are having Tres Golpes for breakfast and I was like ‘what the hell is that?’ and its salami and fried cheese and yucca, and I’d try it. I was always pushing the boundaries of my borders and was interested in embracing the city for what it is: multinational and multicultural.

Monica Flores, Macy Place, and Prospect Ave (December 2018)

Do you see this work as being related to the work you do as a freelance news photographer, or is this a project that gives you a mental break from that world?

This gives me a break and it gives me the ability to be a little more artistic and have a little bit more freedom. As opposed to covering the hard news, with this, I can slow down and make a pretty photo.

What can we expect to see as you continue the project?

It’s a project that is morphing on a continuous basis. Right now I’m playing with archival photos, I may include a different factor of photography in it. Chapter 2 is something I am still playing with.

What’s your quintessential New York food and where is the best place to get it?

Oh wow. Hmm. One of my favorite things – I was raised in Little Italy in the Bronx, 183rd and Crotona – is Madonia’s chocolate bread on Arthur Avenue. That’s definitely something that if you are here in New York, you have to try.

More photographs from On My Block

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_0775908954″,”galleryId”:”0775908954″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

About:

David ‘Dee’ Delgado is a Puerto Rican independent photographer based in New York City mainly focused on documentary and photojournalism. The interest in learning and his desire to help people made him realize the necessity of documenting his surroundings and broadening the conversation with the use of a camera. See more of Dee’s work on his site, dispatch.nyc.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Interview: David ‘Dee’ Delgado’s love letter to New York City, shot on 4×5 film

Posted in Uncategorized

 

New York City map makes it easy to find historical images of NYC from 1939 to 1941

18 Aug

A newly-launched online mapping system called 1940s NYC makes it simple for anyone to find historical images of the city captured from 1939 to 1941 by the New York City Tax Department in collaboration with the Works Progress Administration. The photography initiative involved capturing images of every home, shop and other buildings in all five boroughs, the result being an incredibly detailed time capsule of the city as it existed decades ago.

These historical photographs were already available to the public, but getting them — particularly ones of specific buildings — was time-consuming. Things got a bit more simple in 2018 when the New York City Municipal Archives finished digitizing the full collection, a process that also involved tagging each image so that it could be more easily found online using the right details.

Despite that improvement, the process of browsing these images was still limited. Users must go to the NYC.gov website’s city map tool and enter the exact address for the building of the photo they want. This makes it difficult to casually browse these historical images, something the new 1940s NYC mapping tool solves.

The new and far more capable mapping tool comes from NYC-based software engineer Julian Boilen, who notes on the website that an automated process was used to place the images on the map and, therefore, there is the potential for some ‘imperfections.’

The mapping tool is exceptionally simple to use. Every black dot on the map represents a photo of that location; users can zoom in on individual streets and neighborhoods, which appear to be overlaid with historic city zoning maps. Users can also enter an address to go right to a particular building. This is quite a bit more robust than the mapping tool offered by the city itself.

Users located in New York City also have the option of clicking a location icon that will pull up their current location on the map, making it easy to see what their neighborhood looked like decades ago. As well, the map provides an ‘Outtakes’ section that is a large gallery of browseable photos. Many of these images feature black dots and NYC.gov watermarks.

In addition to serving as a portal to the 1930s – 1940s NYC images, the mapping tool also includes a link to a similar map that features the same variety of imagery, but one captured in the 1980s.

This dataset features 800,000 photos of buildings, according to the tool, as well as more than 100,000 ‘street segments.’ This mapping tool includes a ‘Stories’ feature that provides a series of images alongside the stories behind them.

These stories include things like pointers on spying interesting elements in the photos, details about whether certain buildings still stand and if they were remodeled, notable events that took place at these locations and similar information.

The website is not affiliated with the New York City Department of Records, which is the agency that owns the historical photos. Anyone can order the high-resolution digitized copies or prints of images they like from the city’s Municipal Archives, otherwise, the public is limited to the watermarked and low-resolution versions made accessible by the NYC Department of Records and Information Services.

Including these images, the NYC Municipal Archives Digital Collections website offers the public access to more than 1.6 million digital items, including photos and videos.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on New York City map makes it easy to find historical images of NYC from 1939 to 1941

Posted in Uncategorized

 

New York court rules website didn’t violate image copyright by embedding Instagram post

16 Apr

A Manhattan federal court has dismissed professional photojournalist Stephanie Sinclair’s copyright claim against digital media website Mashable, ruling that it did not violate her copyright by embedding one of her Instagram posts on its website. The legal issue arose in 2016 when Mashable published an article on female photographers whose work includes the topic of social justice, putting Sinclair at #9 on its list.

According to court documents, Mashable contacted Sinclair in March 2016 and offered to pay $ 50 to license one of her images for use in its article on female photographers. Sinclair declined the offer, so Mashable instead embedded an Instagram post of the image that Sinclair had published on her public Instagram account.

Fast-forward to January 2018 when, according to the court documents, Sinclair contacted Mashable and demanded that they remove the embedded post from the article on the grounds of copyright infringement. Mashable refused to remove the Instagram post and 10 days later, Sinclair filed a copyright lawsuit against the publication and its parent company Ziff Davis, LLC.

The lawsuit raised questions over Instagram’s Terms of Service, its right to grant sublicenses for images uploaded to its platform, and whether sharing and embedding public social media posts without permission or a direct image license constitutes copyright infringement.

Instagram states in its Terms of Use that while it does not claim ownership of a user’s images, they grant the company a license to use it when they upload the content to the platform. Instagram says that when a user uploads images to its website…

‘…you hereby grant to us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and application settings). You can end this license anytime by deleting your content or account.’

Mashable argued that based on that Terms of Use, it had a valid sublicense from Instagram that allowed it to embed the image post on its website. The defendant argued, among other things, that:

‘…because Plaintiff uploaded the Photograph to Instagram and designated it as “public,” she agreed to allow Mashable, as Instagram’s sublicensee, to embed the Photograph in its website.’

Sinclair’s legal claim countered this, according to court documents, which cite multiple arguments, including a claim that because Mashable didn’t get a direct image license from the photographer, it shouldn’t have been able to get a sublicense for the content from Instagram. The court disagreed with that argument, however, with U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood noting:

‘Plaintiff’s right to grant a license directly to Mashable, and Instagram’s right, as Plaintiff’s licensee, to grant a sublicense to Mashable, operate independently. Mashable was within its rights to seek a sublicense from Instagram when Mashable failed to obtain a license directly from Plaintiff—just as Mashable would be within its rights to again seek a license from Plaintiff, perhaps at a higher price, if Plaintiff switched her Instagram account to “private” mode.’

As well, Sinclair had argued that it is ‘unfair’ that a platform like Instagram is able to force professional photographers to choose between keeping their accounts private or allowing the company to sublicense their publicly shared content because it is ‘one of the most popular public photo-sharing platforms in the world.’

Judge Wood acknowledges the nature of this issue, but ultimately states that:

‘Unquestionably, Instagram’s dominance of photograph- and video-sharing social media, coupled with the expansive transfer of rights that Instagram demands from its users, means that Plaintiff’s dilemma is a real one. But by posting the Photograph to her public Instagram account, Plaintiff made her choice. This Court cannot release her from the agreement she made.’

The copyright claim was ultimately dismissed, a conclusion that contrasts the ruling from a New York court in early 2018 on the case of an embedded tweet that featured an image of athlete Tom Brady.

In that case, the court found that embedding such tweets may constitute copyright infringement and the fact they were uploaded to a third-party server like Twitter didn’t change that. The basis of the latest ruling is different, however, focusing on the terms of use the photographer agreed to rather than the ‘server test’ used in the 2018 copyrighted tweet case.

Both of these legal claims follow a different legal case from 2007 in which the precedent was set for how the Internet of today operates: that a person or company who embeds content hosted by a third-party source like Facebook or Twitter are not in violation of copyright, but rather that the hosting company itself is liable.

DPReview contacted Mickey Osterreicher, NPPA’s general counsel, for comment. He had the following to say about this New York ruling:

‘I have not had an opportunity to review the court’s opinion and order in this case so I do not feel it appropriate for me to comment. I will repeat something that NPPA has stressed for many years – photographers read and understand the terms of service or the terms of use on each and every social media platform before agreeing to them or posting on those sites. They also must continue to vigilantly monitor those terms as they are frequently changed and updated.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on New York court rules website didn’t violate image copyright by embedding Instagram post

Posted in Uncategorized

 

YouTuber uses AI to turn historic 1911 New York trip footage into colorized 4K/60p video

26 Feb

In 1911, Swedish company Svenska Biografteatern captured footage of a trip to New York, resulting in more than eight minutes of video that, in its original form, is quite low resolution with a low frame rate.

Various efforts over the years have attempted to improve the resolution, frame rate, colors and other details with different results, but one of the best edits thus far comes from Denis Shiryaev, who recently shared the edited video on Reddit.

According to the video’s description, as well as a comment left by Shiryaev on Reddit, the project involved four neural networks, including DeOldify. In all, the various neural networks managed to increase the framerate to 60 fps, increase the resolution to 4K, bump up sharpness and even colorize. This is one of multiple videos Shiryaev has upscaled and improved; other examples include a video from the Apollo mission and ‘Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat’ from 1896.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on YouTuber uses AI to turn historic 1911 New York trip footage into colorized 4K/60p video

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Video: Typologies of New York City: A Crowdsourced Hyperlapse

19 Dec

‘Classics are classic for a reason. We’ve all taken these photos. What happens when everything in the world has been photographed? From multiple angles, multiple times per day? Eventually, we’ll piece those photos and videos together to be able to see the entire history of a location from every possible angle.’ This is how visual artist SamTheCobra describes the inspiration behind his mesmerizing hyperlapse video consisting of some of the most well-known landmarks, along with scenes from daily life, in New York City.

SamTheCobra spent an undisclosed number of hours sifting through both location tags and hashtags on Instagram, manually, to crowdsource thousands of photos that he converted into the video, above, that clocks in at just under one minute. He spent roughly 200 hours combining his findings from Instagram in Adobe After Effects. The hypnotic soundtrack comes courtesy of a remix from Stones Throw Records, made famous by DJ Shadow’s 2012 ‘All Basses Covered’ set.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Video: Typologies of New York City: A Crowdsourced Hyperlapse

Posted in Uncategorized

 

B&H Photo releases detailed statement refuting allegations it defrauded New York out of millions in sales tax

22 Nov

Update: (November 20, 2019): We have added more details regarding the entity Mr. Gerstel claims is an ‘anonymous’ accuser and have added more context on the taxation and rebate process.

B&H Photo spokesperson Jeff Gerstel has released a statement rejecting the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit that claims that B&H allegedly failed to report and pay for additional sales tax when customers received discounts on certain purchases.

In an email sent to DPReview, Gerstel says ‘the [New York] Attorney General is trying to create a new tax on discounts [and] wants consumers to pay sales tax for what they actually pay plus an additional tax on discounts they receive.’ Gerstel adds ’this makes no sense and there is no law that requires consumers to pay this tax on discounts.’

Gerstel goes on to say that ‘these claims are without merit’ and claims ‘the entire consumer electronics retail industry takes the identical approach to what we do’ — an assertion Gerstel later backs up in his email using pricing examples from other electronic retailers. Gerstel adds:

‘B&H has done nothing wrong and it is outrageous that the Attorney General is attacking a New York company that employs thousands of New Yorkers while leaving the national online and retail behemoths unchallenged. The Attorney General wants to charge New Yorkers a tax on money they never spent. It’s wrong and we won’t be bullied. We will fight these allegations aggressively. B&H is not a big box store or a faceless chain; we are a New York institution, having operated here for nearly 50 years with a stellar reputation. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has done countless audits and never once – not a single time – mentioned any issue with this widespread retail industry practice.’

To highlight how much additional sales tax consumers could pay on items, Gerstel provided the following chart with example prices using popular items from B&H Photo’s inventory:

Under a headline titled ‘Pay Tax on What You Pay, Not on What You Save,’ Gerstel writes:

‘Consumers pay sales tax based on what they actually pay. If you buy a $ 150 item on sale for $ 100, you pay $ 100 and pay tax on $ 100. If the Attorney General’s office has their way, customers could have to pay sales tax on the $ 100 actual sale price, plus an additional tax on the $ 50 discount that they received. Common sense, and the law, says that this new tax on discounts makes no sense. That’s why virtually the entire consumer electronics industry takes the same approach to sales tax collection that B&H does.’

Gerstel provides context and precedent for his claims by showing how the same Canon EOS Rebel T7 camera kit, which retails for $ 650 and is currently on promotion for $ 499, is priced and taxed by six other (unnamed) retailers, as well as B&H Photo:

The formatting was done in tables via email, so it’s a bit messy, but you can view the full-resolution image to see the details from each of the unnamed retailers.

Following the above graphic, Gerstel explains that ‘retailers who sell consumer electronics collect New York sales tax in the identical manner as B&H, following the rule of both the law and common sense.’ He also notes that it’s not B&H Photo’s responsibility to ‘charge’ tax, but instead to collect and remit it accordingly. Therefore, he says, ‘any increase in the sales tax that retailers are obligated to collect will result in a charge that would be passed through to customers.’

It’s worth noting that just because other retailers charge the same sales tax at checkout doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not appropriately paying taxes on the rebates they’ve received from the manufacturers — income that, according to the lawsuit, B&H hasn’t paid taxes on to the tune of millions.

According to his statement, Gerstel is claiming the full tax price would be passed on to customers. However, as noted in the examples he provided, the customer is only required to pay the sales tax on the amount they’re paying for the discounted product. B&H Photo, on the other hand, would be responsible for paying the remaining difference between the discounted price and the full price, which is refunded to them through the manufacturer. Gerstel himself notes that it’s their job to ‘collect and remit’ sales tax collected from the customer, but what he fails to mention is the tax on the remaining money B&H receives from the manufacturer to make up the full cost of the products.

The email wraps up by noting B&H Photo’s ‘crystal clear’ tax history wherein B&H Photo ‘has been audited by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance regularly’ without the Department of Taxation ever once raising this issue with B&H Photo in the past. He goes so far as to call these allegations an ‘unfair smear campaign.’

Gerstel concludes with two questions of his own for the New York Attorney General. Under the headline ‘Where is the State Tax Department?,’ he writes:

‘The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance – the agency responsible for sales tax – is not part of this case. Why not? The tax department has audited B&H for years and has approved our tax reporting for many years.’

Under the headline ‘Strange Contingency Structure,’ Gerstel says:

‘In the most bizarre twist of this suit, there is an anonymous LLC accuser that could receive 25 percent of any funds recovered by the Attorney General. It is surprising that the Attorney General is trying to create a new tax on discounts, which would enrich an anonymous entity. We believe the Attorney General should disclose who stands to gain financially from this action.’

Gerstel’s assertion appears to be that B&H Photo is playing by the rules every other electronics retailer adheres to when collecting sales tax on items with discounts in the form of instant rebates, and for unknown reasons B&H Photo is being singled out.

In regards to the ‘anonymous’ LLC Gerstel mentions, the lawsuit notes the entity is RD Litigation Associates, LLC, a domestic limited liability company registered in Monroe County, New York. No registered agent is given, but the entity’s address is listed as 1600 Bausch & Lomb Place in Rochester, New York (Google Maps).

The lawsuit specifically labels RD Litigation Associates, LLC as a ‘whistleblower’ in the lawsuit. New York takes part in the SEC Whistleblower Awards, which can distribute between 10-30% of the money collected if the lawsuit is successful and fits a number of critical guidelines. Thus, Mr. Gerstel’s claims that the noted LLC is ‘anonymous’ is a bit of a stretch and the 25% the LLC gains to stand falls within the 10-30% as laid out in the SEC guidelines. Yes, B&H might not know the alleged whistleblower, who appears to be represented by RD Litigation Associates, LLC (if it’s not RD Litigation Associates itself who filed the complaint), but the LLC itself is rather well documented as required by law.

We contacted the New York Attorney General’s office for comment and were directed to the press release the New York Attorney General’s office published last week regarding the alleged sales tax fraud and told ‘[the New York Attorney General does] not have any further comments beyond what is mentioned in our release.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on B&H Photo releases detailed statement refuting allegations it defrauded New York out of millions in sales tax

Posted in Uncategorized

 

New York Times Lens photo blog will enter ‘temporary hiatus’ starting in late May

15 May

The New York Times photo blog Lens will go on a temporary hiatus starting later this month, the publication’s Director of Photography Meaghan Looram announced to staff in a note that has been shared on Facebook. Looram praised the photo blog, saying it ‘set out to showcase work that risked getting lost in the digital blizzard.’ However, Looram notes, ‘Lens was founded during a different era,’ and it seems it is time for the photo blog to evolve.

Looram’s note explains:

‘Lens was founded during a different era. Digital platforms were presenting new challenges to the industry, and Lens provided one of the few dedicated showcases for photography. But since then, the means of consuming photography have changed and expanded. We believe that this is the perfect time to take stock of and celebrate what Lens has achieved and to give serious thought to how to better position Lens for the future.’

The photo blog isn’t ending, but will instead return as an updated offering that better suits present needs. ‘We want Lens to evolve into an unrivalled source for those who want to read about and think about photography,’ Looram said. The team plans to solicit ideas from readers regarding ways to reinvent the brand as ‘a dynamic space to highlight more of the incredible photography that all of you produce on a daily basis.’

Looram concluded her note, stating:

‘There will be time to celebrate Lens and its wonderful run. In the meantime, a final nod to the creators, producers and caretakers of Lens: What an extraordinary thing you created and produced for a decade. You have our deepest admiration and gratitude. Onward.’

Though Lens is temporarily ending, Looram notes that The NYT is still accepting pitches and the annual New York Portfolio Review that Lens helped launch will continue in the blog’s absence.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on New York Times Lens photo blog will enter ‘temporary hiatus’ starting in late May

Posted in Uncategorized

 

The New York Times opens up free applications for its 7th annual portfolio review

14 Nov

Tomas Roggero

The New York Times has opened up applications for its 7th annual New York Portfolio Review on March 30 and 31 in New York City, New York.

The applications, which are free to submit, are now open on The New York Times’ website for the review, which is put on by The New York Times Lens column, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and United Photo Industries.

So long as the applicant is over 18 years old, they’re free to apply. The New York Times says “all types of photography will be considered.” The deadline for applications is December 10, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

“The first session, on Saturday, March 30, will be for photographers 21 and older,” reads The New York Times announcement post. “Each participant will receive six private critiques. The second session, on Sunday, March 31, will be solely for photographers 18 to 27 and will consist of at least four private critiques for each participant, as well as free workshops on how to best present, promote and publish photographs. We will screen all applicants and choose 100 participants for Saturday and 60 for Sunday.”

The New York Times specifically mentions anyone who attended last year’s review is ineligible to apply. Also, if someone has attended more than twice in the seven years the portfolio review has been going on, they too are ineligible.

When a photographer is chosen for a portfolio review, they will be able to requiem their top choices for who is to review their work. The New York Times has provided a partial list of the reviewers on the bottom of its announcement page.

To enter, head over to The New York Times’ application page and fill out the required form. In addition to personal details, such as first name, last name, age, contact information, and a short biography, applicants can upload up to 20 photos from one or two projects. The images must be JPEGs and no more than 1,200 pixels across at 72 DPI.

Applicants who have been selected will be notified by January 12, 2019. The New York Times warns “Be sure to triple-check the email address you submit, because in past years some people were accepted into the review, but couldn’t be contacted with the good news because of a typo in their address. Don’t be that person.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on The New York Times opens up free applications for its 7th annual portfolio review

Posted in Uncategorized

 
« Older Entries