Fuck You, Pay Me
I’m contacted often from companies who are interested in purchasing work of mine that was spotted on Flickr. I have been lucky to have to make some sales independently, some sales were done via Getty Images, and other times the potential sale fell through the cracks because the would be client wants the imagery for free with the promise of giving me credit.
I have been past the “I’ll give to credit” shit for years. And of course you should give me credit because I’m giving my work to you. Are you crazy?
Air Canada has contacted me twice before to get photos with the promise of credit & I declined. Most recently, I decided to flip the script when I got a message from an Air Canada marketing rep who was interested in this red snapper ceviche photo for an upcoming spread.
I’ll stop here & let the email conversation take over. And yes, I’m still laughing!!!!!
Your response is beautiful and gives me life. The level of ego and unprofessionalism that these companies have is beyond bold and they need to be put in their place on a regular basis.
GOOD JOB! Your photograph is amazing and that is why the person felt the need to make the attack personal. They could have simply said “we cannot afford you rate at this time. Best wishes with your career.” The ignorance they displayed is disgusting.
Keep checkin them…#whogoncheckyouboo
Well, Well, Well……right now in this moment you are my f*cking hero. Who in the hell does Nick think he is…I know photography, I know good work when I see it….Love your response…..so he expects you to just give your talent away…#whodoesthat. Well, I’m glad you let him have it…I’m kind of grieving about my grandad and came across this mindspill…I laughed at the idiot who tried to get you….Oh well in other words he can kiss your A**…Love it. I love your work….you have a gift…and congratulations on your talent!!!
You.are.awesome! And the nerve of that dbag! I would forward that email right to the Director of Marketing and show them how their “professionals” conduct business.
Damnit Tafari you almost made me drop my computer. LMAO Kudos man. You paid thousands for your gear and work hard getting that shot. So you deserve compensation. The nerve.
Air Canada = Shame shame shame
Tafari,
You should contact the head of Air Canada’s marketing department and forward onto him Nick “I’m an a** wipe” Puma’s emails. The sheer lack of professionalism and downright rudeness that this immature idiot displayed towards you definitely needs to go higher up the food chain.
Love this, man. You’re my hero.
Ain’t that a B!! You tell em!! You’re awesome and your work should be paid for.
Way to go Tafari! How dare they! A big ole airline like Air Canada can’t pay for a photo and then insult you when they can’t get it for free? I’ve had my share of.. the in lieu of money we’ll give you credit in our upcoming publication but we can’t give you a free copy, or we don’t have a budget for photography but we will give you exposure.. please send us a hi-res copy, we are a non-profit and can’t pay you.. we have a deadline, my favorite of all time.. we really love your work and your photo is perfect for our CD cover, we got your invoice but we are only looking for volunteers to work on our CD project.
You did the right thing! Dirt bags!
Great fucking response… Great work and it was obvious of that because they contacted you. It amazes me that so many damn people want shit for free but when there is a fee associated, all of a sudden it aint good enough…
YOU have to be Fing kidding me that this person felt this was the professional response. I can’t deal with humans and after seeing this I won’t be dealing with Air Canada either.
Hello Tafari – I am happy that we were able to connect and smooth over the situation that took place yesterday. We’ve reached out to you because your image was perfect for what we were looking for. We suggested photo credit in exchange of the use of your image in our annual SUN Brochure which is published in a million copies and distributed across Canada. I am glad we were able to dissolve this disagreement and look forward to possibly working with you in the future.
Best regards.
Manon Leblanc
Director, marketing
and see, this is why i love you.
fuck you, pay me.
pretty useless conversation, in all fairness you shouldnt judge the entire company based on one guy
wow, the lack of any sort of professionalism from this guy amazes me. Your response and attitude is dead on, and exactly why I love you so much!
Slap a BITCH!!! That was Bee-you-tee-full!!!
I’m falling in love with you myself…
Wow! It’s sad that our works are sometimes underestimated. However, they couldn’t have reached out to a better person. You handled this very well in my opinion. But, I am also glad that the marketing director contacted you. Before reading the next post, a bad taste was left in mouth for their company. By contacting you, it shows that they do have [some] respect for artists.
I loved this. Way to stand your ground. Nice going.
“do my resume”!
I can sympathize with this…lots of people want creative things for next to nothing, and i love your responses! : )
I want more camera gear and lots of it for practically nothing so I can create great awesome, jaw-dropping photos. I really don’t have the money I need for it but I would love for [insert favorite camera store name here]to give me all that I want and I will give you credit on my websites and Flickr accounts. LOL! This may just wwork!
Wow, man. I was contacted by MTV for the use of a picture that I took of the old Cass Tech H.S. for the series “When I was seventeen”, and I was gung-ho about it until after I was informed that the department that wanted to use my image couldn’t pay me for it, I almost let ’em do it, but after talking it over with some folks, they all said “no pay, no pic”, and I declined their offer.
All that money they got, and they can’t throw a brotha at least HALF a grand for his picture. Pure horse____! I know the economy sucks right now, but c’mon. These wankers are just getting over-esp. at the expense of black artists. The only thing that I agree with that these hikers will give you credit for your work.