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FINAL DRAFT COPYRIGHT PETITION for Those WHO HAVE NOT SIGNED YET
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NOTE: IF YOU HAVE SIGNED UP ALREADY THERE IS NO NEED TO DO SO AGAIN. THIS IS JUST FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET SIGNED UP. Those of you who have signed already, we are keeping your names on a separate list. WE JUST WANT PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT SIGNED UP YET:
This is the final draft of our prologue and petition against the forthcoming Orphan Works Bill. We have 376 signatures so far which I am not reproducing here, because it slows the download too much. We hope to gather more, but time is short, so please talk to everyone you know and ask them to sign on. we are closing the other threads and advising everyone to add their names here only. We are told that this thing could become a reality so it is imperative that EVERYONE add their name. Thanks for putting up with our constant notifications, but you must realize that this is in your interest. We have something like 4 or 5 % of the entire membership signed up. What are the rest of you doing? It does not matter where you live, you must take an interest. Other countries are following suit and if this precedent is set you are all seriously screwed. If you sell anything in the US market, you are screwed. UK too,for that matter, becuase they have a similar bill up and pending. Get with the program folks. You all complain about no work, no money, etc. Well, take charge of your life and stand up for you rights.
We, the undersigned members of an international network of photographers, journalists, filmmakers, documentary makers, visual artists, and writers, are collected together here to make known our profound concern regarding the content and consequences of the proposed Orphan Works bill.
We believe that a free society flourishes in relation to its intellectual freedoms. In order for a free society to benefit from the creative efforts of its members, and to guarantee the fertility and integrity of such works, these efforts must be protected as rigorously as our fundamental rights of free speech, free assembly, and a free press. At the heart of the Amendments to the Constitution rests the incontrovertible belief that the tyranny of unchecked powers and interests is a threat to just governance and the social good. As such they must be subject to the rule of law and prevented from transgressing the rights of private individuals or groups of people who do not exercise great authority politically or economically.
In order to form a more perfect Union, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity, we must ensure that the vitality and integrity of the Imagination not be infringed, and that the life of the mind be given adequate scope and protection for it to continue driving the technological and humanitarian progress of all societies.
The American Constitution states that one of the duties of Congress is “ “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;” (article 1, section 8, clause 8). This providential clause has ensured the progressive development of what was once a small and defenseless nation, pitted against the seemingly unlimited power and resources of the European industrializing nations, and virtually guaranteed that the new ideas and innovative vision of its pioneering peoples would be nurtured, propagated, and guarded for the common good of the nation. There is a clear and vital relationship between our ideas and our social growth: the health of the body politic depends upon preserving it.
In this epoch of increasingly intimate and consequential global ties, we are faced with momentous decisions that test our most fundamental beliefs and traditions. New technology, new means of communication such as the worldwide web have raised issues hitherto unknown and unlooked for. Are we to discard over two hundred years of experience and wisdom, and fiddle with laws that heretofore have assured that we all enjoy the fruits of our artists and scientists while respecting the individual garden plots from which they have sprung? Must we now trespass on these grounds and steal the fruit, while the owner is looking the other way? How are we to ensure for our children that which we have enjoyed for ourselves? How are we to pass on to them the means whereby providential and life-sustaining ideas be given a chance to take root? The freedom to think, to create, to imagine greater possibilities exists only if we provide for the creators a life that affords them the scope needed to exercise these vital powers. Ultimately, we are talking not only of the livelihood of the artists but of the quality of life of all humankind.
The decision rendered by Congress on this matter would affect not only the citizens of the United States but creative artists and inventors around the globe who depend on the substantial US market and bring to that market their fresh perspectives and ideas, which we in turn need in order to make sense of the new world that confronts us. The world’s leading nation cannot act on this without taking into account the effect it will have on everyone, and the precedent it will establish for other nations to follow. Conscious of this momentous role, and conscious as well, by virtue of our membership in the global network made possible by Lightstalkers, of the many filaments of our vital interconnectedness, we who present you with this petition wish to declare with one voice that the Orphan Works bill contradicts the spirit and the letter of the Constitution. It condemns a large portion of the intellectual patrimony of humanity to ignoble servitude at the behest of capricious market forces whose motives practically guarantee that the intent and aspirations of the authors of these works be thwarted, perverted, and degraded. This bill will not provide for freer use but for the abuse of these works. Respectfully, we submit that the Congress of the United States firmly reject this proposal and wait for the promulgation of a bill whose language is more in keeping with the original intent of the Constitution and which provides a solid foundation for the liberal and justly controlled enjoyment by all of our best creative inventions. By Jon Anderson.
by
Jon Anderson
at
Tue May 09 14:22:01 UTC 2006
(ed. Mar 12 2008)
Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic
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Delmi Alvarez Freelance Photojournalist Riga, Latvia
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jake price photogrpaher new york, ny
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Jake we got you already no worries. Those of you who have signed, there is no need to sign again. I left out the entire list of names becuase it was causing the LS server to slow down too much, so this way we can have a faster download and quick response.
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Stian Lysberg Solum Photojournalist Oslo, Norway
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Micky Modo Freelance Photographer Milan, Italy
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Luis Andrade Writer/Photographer Philadelphia, PA USA
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Kristine Nyborg Photojournalist New York, USA
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Tomas Reyes Artist – Photographer Tokyo, Japan
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Francois L. Delagrave photojournalist Montreal, Canada
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Tom Swain Photographer London, United Kingdom
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Anderson Schneider photojournalist Brasilia, Brazil
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Anderson Schneider photojournalist Brasilia, Brazil
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François Carlet-Soulages Photographer Paris, France // Hanoi, Vietnam
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Alan Chin Photographer New York, NY
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Becky Holladay Photographer Brooklyn, NY
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Omar Felgentreter Photojournalist Ventura, CA
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Natalie Behring Photographer Beijing, China
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Victor J. Blue Photojournalist San Francisco, CA
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William L. Schneekloth Photojournalist, Student New Brunswick, NJ
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Darren Nanos Photographer New York, NY
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Dan Perez de la Garza Photojournalist, Filmmaker Brooklyn, NY
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Paul Foley Photographer Sydney, Australia
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Steven Coleman Photojournalist | Designer Bangkok, Thailand
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Mike Long. Photographer, Retoucher. San Francisco, USA.
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Jon Gordon, Photojournalist. Perth, Australia.
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Hi, I have just PM,d all in my personal network asking them to sign if they have not already. I also asked them to PM all in their Personal Network. Let’s all do this, and spread a wildfire, and maybe we will end up with more than 5%. best thoughts simon
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Viviane DALLES Photojounalist Paris, FRANCE
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Ryan M. Miller Writer/Photographer Boston, MA
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forgive me if this is a stupid question but how do people sign the petition if they are not members of lightstalkers?do they have to join up or is there another way?
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Olivier Asselin Photographer Accra, Ghana
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ethan rafal artist/photographer/ontologist planet earth
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Sean Davey Photographer Sydney, Australia
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Sean Davey Photographer Sydney, Australia
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Michael, they can join LS or find friends who are already registered and ask them sign their names.
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Roy Feldman Photojournalist Detroit, Michigan
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Julien LEVEQUEPhotographer Brussels, Belgium
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Gary Austin Photojournalist Derby, UK
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Jan Michalko Photographer Berlin, Germany
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Just sent an email about this to the 700+ member aphotoaday list Hopefully that’ll add a few members to the site and a lot of signatures to the petition.
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Florence Weintraub Photographer, Graphic Artist Brooklyn, NY
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Elissa Eubanks photojournalist Atlanta, Georgia
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Bartek Wrzesniowski photojournalist Katowice, Silesia Poland
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Its not only medical illustrators. Recently a photographer found an image he’d shot being used on a Far Right website. The picture had been digitally manipulated.
But the damage to the photographer, and the models in the picture is already done.
In a digital age, the integrity of photojournalism as a record of events is continually under threat. The technology no longer establishes the images veracity anymore, rather, it’s the photographer and their organisation (if any), who must establish an ‘aura of trust’ so that people take the image as an honest representation of events.
This is why in recent years, some US newspaper and wire photographers were fired after allegedly manipulating the content of their images. A competition winner even had his prize removed after accusations that ‘excessive burning in’ and darkening of his images had essentially changed their meaning. And photographer Leif Ericksson is still in legal pursuit of several culprits after one of his images of Jane Fonda and John Kerry was manipulated for political ends.
Those organisations and individuals simply cannot tolerate their images being seen as ‘false’, as it cuts to the very heart of what they do.
A lot of the argument which lies behind the OW Bill is echoed by the free software, copyleft and creative commons crew – that is, that creativity should exist as a ‘free’ artifact to be used and built upon by sucessive generations…and indeed, we can already see its manifestaion on the internet and in popular music in video, music sampling and ‘mash-ups’.
The problem for us as photographers though, is that our particular genre rests on the principle that our work should NOT be overly manipulated, even by ourselves. If it is, it not only damages us, but undermines the whole assumption that what we all do can be trusted at all.
Existing copyright law allows for image manipulation etc for the purposes of satire and parody, and even this is a grey area depending on your sense of humour – one man’s gentle joke is another man’s Danish cartoon…but that principle already exists in law and should be defended.
What we’re talking about in our case is a law being passed which essentially makes wholesale copyright abuse and image manipulation for whatever ends, legal.
I could already make an argument that digital manipulation of images has already badly eroded trust in photography and photographers already. Take your camera out near a school or a childrens playgound, if you’d like to test that theory…
Trust is very important for us as photographers. In our images, and in ourselves.
Lose that, and we’re fucked.
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Marius Nemes Photojournalist Bucharest, Romania
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Robert Marquardt shutterbug Barcelona, Spain
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Jerome A. Pollos Photojournalist Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
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gayle and sions last posts have set off a lateral thought.it probably has a number of holes in it but if the core of the idea is sound perhaps the rest of you can refine it. behind this bill is the spectre of big business,if they can use images for free they make more money,so they like the idea,obviously.so,why not try to add aclause to the bill saying the owner of the work must be credited.ok,you will all say they will just claim they searched for the author and did not find him.so,add a clause saying they have to prove they made the search,before publication,not afterwards.this is easy to control.any images that is uncredited can be gathered and the user of that image then has to prove they made the mythical search.and here is the good part!you use examples such as pornography.there would be a lot less porn on the net,something all legitimate business men hve to agree is agood thing,if the makers were identified.also,if you had to really search for the author before publication that would cost money,thereby making illegitimate use less attractive. as i said,this is just the kernel of an idea but i thought i would get it out there in the hope someone with a more ordered thought process than me can refine it.(or shoot it down in flames).i am in a bit of a rush,work to do ,so sorry if this is difficult to follow.
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Anthony Tomlinson Photographer UK
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Kit R. Roane writer/photojournalist Brooklyn, NY
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John Trotter Photographer Brooklyn, NY
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Radhanatha Jakupko Photographer Alachua, FL
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Jonathan Warren Photographer London, UK
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Mary Sue Connolly Documentary Filmmaker/Photographer New York, NY
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[unverified member]
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10 May 2006 13:05
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United States
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Mary Sue Connolly Documentary Filmmaker/Photographer New York, NY
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[unverified member]
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10 May 2006 13:05
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United States
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Dmitry Chebotayev photographer Russian Federation
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Oscar Hidalgo Photographer Los Angeles, CA
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Oscar Hidalgo Photojournalist Los Angeles, CA
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Jason Pagan President Anarchy Images, Inc. New York, NY
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Jason Pagan President Anarchy Images, Inc. New York, NY
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N.D. Koster Freelance Photographer Sausalito, CA
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Jason Bye Photographer United Kingdom
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Denny Simmons Photographer Newburgh, Ind.
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Juan Carlos Photographer-Fotógrafo San Francisco, CA United States
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Juan Carlos Photographer-Fotógrafo San Francisco, CA United States
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Natinderjit Atwal Photographer London United Kingdom
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Natinderjit Atwal Photographer London United Kingdom
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Eric Grigorian Photographer Los Angeles. California
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Ramin Rahimian Photographer St. Paul, Minnesota
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Hugo Infante Photojournalist Santiago, Chile
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Michael Rubenstein Photojournalist Portland, Oregon USA
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Travis Dove Photojournalist White River Junction, VT
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Travis Dove Photojournalist White River Junction, VT
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Retsu Takahashi Illustrator Brooklyn, New York
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John Roark Photographer Portland, Maine
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Stuart Isett Photographer Paris, France
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Susana Paiva Photographer Paris, France/ Lisbon, Portugal
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Mark Gong Photojournalist Washington D.C., District of Columbia
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Gerald W Homeyer Photographer Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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Tim Matsui Photographer Seattle, Washington, USA
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Piotr Slosarski Photographer Warsaw, Poland
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Stalingrad O’Neill First Floor 27 Grantham Rd Sparkbrook Birmingham UK
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[unverified member]
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11 May 2006 05:05
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United Kingdom
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John Chapman Photographer UK
Jonathan Keenan Photographer UK
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Tony Sleep Photographer London UK
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Tony Sleep Photographer London UK
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James Winspear Photographer UK
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Chris Howes Photographer and author Abergavenny UK
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Daniel McCabe Photographer Woodstock, NY USA
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Jamie Simpson Photographer Glasgow UK
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[unverified member]
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11 May 2006 08:05
| Glasgow, Scotland,
United Kingdom
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Hazel Dunlop Photographer London UK
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Roberto Guerra Photographer Boston, MA USA
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What does “Good Faith … ” really mean. This change would open a big can of worms, tie up years of court time, and cost those that least afford it! Bruce Sdunek Photographer Howell, MI USA
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Matthew Rosenberg Photojournalist Philadelphia, PA
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Laurie Phillips Photographer Durham, UK
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Matt Weber photographer NYC USA
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Jane Stockdale Photographer London, UK
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Kevin J. Miyazaki Photographer Milwaukee, WI USA
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Nina Alvarez Documentary filmmaker New York, USA
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Jared Will Photographer Pennington, NJ, USA
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Jared Will Photographer Pennington, NJ, USA
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Christopher Phillips Photographer Kansas City, MO USA
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[unverified member]
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11 May 2006 15:05
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United States
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J.Ed Baker Photogrpher N.Chili,NY USA
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Trevor Snapp Photographer San Francisco Ca USA
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Chris Hinkle Photographer Tucson AZ USA
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Richard Humphries Photojournalist Bangkok, Thailand
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Keith Bedford Photojournalist New York, NY USA
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Alixandra Fazzina Photographer London, United Kingdom
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Jean-Marie Antoine Photographer Brussels, Belgium
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Michelle Woodward Photo editor, photographer Baltimore, Maryland, US
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Jennifer Fiore Photographer-artist
Brooklyn, NY
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Mike Marlow Photojournalist London England
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Jerome Pennington Photographer Los Angeles, CA
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Julian Russell Photographer Boston, MA
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Frank Huster Photographer Seattle, WA
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Tobin Brogunier Photographer Minneapolis, MN
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Soledad Aznarez Photographer Buenos Aires,Argentina
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Juan Antonio Serrano photojournalist Guayaquil, Ecuador
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Luiz Maximiano Photographer Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Luiz Maximiano Photographer Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Rick Valenzuela US citizen Chiang Mai, Thailand
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Jonathan Wilson Photographer Tampa, FL USA
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Evan Sisley Photographer Washington D.C.
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Martin Beddall Photographer United Kingdom
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Mihai Vasile Photographer Bucharest, Romania
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Kirill Surov Photographer Toronto, Canada
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Showwei Chu Writer & Photographer Toronto, Canada
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David Carr Photographer Paris,France.
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Kate Flock Photojournalist Boston, MA
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David Bristow Photographer QLD,Australia
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Anamitra Chakladar Photojournalist New Delhi INDIA
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Mitch McNeil Artist – Photographer London, Ontario Canada
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Bryce Krynski Photographer Calgary, AB Canada
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