’Net gives camera bugs a new playground

by Linh Ha

With the development of the Internet, more and more Vietnamese photographers, professional and amateur alike, now know better ways to share their hobby with others though online communities specifically for photography-lovers.

At first, "playing photos online" was just an idea tossed around between people who share the same hobby.

Today, there are about 20 Vietnamese websites about photography. Some of them run like online newspapers with photo galleries and comprehensive information sources about photography, such as: www.nghethuatnhiepanh.com; www.photoworld.com.vn; www.photo.net; and www.photo.com.vn. There are also smaller forums on photography included big forums like Nghe Thuat Nhiep Anh (Photography Art) at www.ttvnol.com and www.hanoicorner.com.

Members of these forums vary from amateurs to professional photographers and journalists.

Photo.com.vn, which just came on-line a year ago, now has 5,000 members, the biggest number for Vietnamese websites on photography. Also quite new is www.photoworld.com.vn, which has attracted more than 2,000 members, including many famous professionals.

The number of members are increasing day by day as more and more people find advantages in attending this kind of online forum.

"Creating online forums on photography is very useful. This a good way to popularising photography," says photographer Vu Duc Tan, chairman of the Ha Noi Photographers Association.

When joining a forum, every member can post their "hottest" products right after shooting for others to see and make comments and suggestions.

None of this mentions the happiness people experience when their works are contemplated by others; comments and suggestions often help edify photographers, who can then make better products. The members can exchange technical views on shooting, photo layout, light use, etc. For those novices out there, it’s a good chance to learn precious lessons from more experienced people.

"Many pro members are very supportive. They never hesitate to share their knowledge and experience when I post a question in the forum. I can learn a lot from them," says architect Nguyen Hoang Hieu, an amateur member of www.nghethuatnhiepanh.com and www.photo.com.vn.

Most web sites even have bazaars where members share information, sell and buy cameras and camera equipment. With the usual motto of "not expensive, not cheap, but credible," these bazaars offer a convenient way for members to get updated information on the latest camera products and buy what they need from people they trust.

"Beside sharing information online, we also self-organise offline activities like field trips where a group of forum members go out together to find inspiration for shooting. Many good photos are from these trips," shares Truong Van Vi, a member of www.photoworld.com.vn and the forum Nghe Thuat Nhiep Anh of www.ttvnol.com.

After every field trip, photos are posted in the forums for comments. More interestingly, sometimes there are awards for photos based on member votes.

Photoworld.com.vn has recently launched a contest called Photo Essay, where, instead of winners and losers, all contestants gather together to share and discuss.

However, online activities also have some disadvantages.

Some see the forums as free reign to harshly criticise each other.

"Some people send private messages to insult each other while some others do it openly in the forum, which annoys other members. Sometimes it’s really irritating," Vi said.

On the other hand, "sky-high" praises may delude people about their capabilities.

Another important matter is copyright violation.

These online forums are mostly open, which means people can freely upload as well as download data. Thus, it is very hard to control whether the information, especially the photos posted online, is reused for other purposes without permission from the photographers. Photos are all resized before being uploaded (which causes difficulties when reusing); nonetheless, the violations still occur.

In fact, many members of these forums have become victims while violators are mostly online or printed newspapers. For example, last year, a nude photo of a member on www.photo.com.vn was used by an online newspaper to illustrate prostitution. In another case, a photo of another member’s girlfriend was used to illustrate breast cancer.

As legal proceedings are often considered too complicated to pursue, most people tend to let things pass by.

"They don’t want any trouble," said architect Hieu, "but incidents like that make me hesitate to publish some of my favourite works. Sometimes, I keep them for myself."

Meanwhile, lawyer Pham Thanh Long, the founder of www.photo.com.vn, bitterly resents this matter.

"As the administrator of the forum, I officially requested the newspaper and information networks who are illegally using images from photo.com.vn to officially apologise to the authors and correct the wrong information in your publications," Long writes in a letter to the violators published on www.photo.com.vn.

The reaction, however, only offers a myopic solution to the problem.

"It’s crucial that they (the violators) raise their awareness and respect for the law and other people’s work," Long says.

"Self-protection is the best way," he concludes. — VNS

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