Blessings all over, seen …

Blessings all over seen is just one of the many greetings that can be heard on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica (seen in patios means, “do you understand”). The saying is more common in the Rasta community and has a dual meaning, one is to bestow blessings upon another person while the other calls attention to the blessings that are all around us.

This is a photo blog showing some of my images taken over my years of working, living and traveling in Jamaica. Most of these images have never been seen or published before, that’s one of the reasons for this blog. In my 25 years of photographing in Jamaica, I have taken well over 30,000 images from around the island, mostly in Kingston. A small portion of these images have made it onto (more than 50) CD covers and into magazine  articles & covers, websites in books and films, the rest sit in a safety deposit box and in numerous boxes on shelf in my office. I thought others might enjoy seeing some of the pictures and hear what was going on when they were taken. Is figured it is better than just sitting in boxes, right?

My plan is to post a few different images every week along with a little comment about the image, some will include notes directly from my photo diary written the day the images were taken. Most of the photos will be black and white with occasional color photos. When I was shooting in Kingston most of my work was in b&w, people always would ask “why shoot black and white when Jamaica so colorful?”  I would then take out the envelope of 8×10 black and white prints I carried with me in my camera bag. When I showed them most of the time they would smile and say “The real Jamaica dat”. It was after seeing the prints they could see why I was doing it, it looked like the real Jamaica. To me it was as much about Jamaica as it was about traditional black and white photography, the light, tones, textures and of course the subjects.

Also I might add that this blog and all the photo’s in it ARE copyrighted material. Using them for your website, blog or anything else is NOT allowed without my permission. Use without asking permission and that’s stealing. If you decide to use one of my photos on your website and include my photo credit, without my permission, that does not make it OK, it’s infringement(see below). Cropping out or removing the copyright notice is an even bigger no no. If you want to use a photo all you have to do is send me an email. Please read these excerpts from the copyright law:

“The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material.”

“Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission. The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission.”

“quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.”

I hope you enjoy the photo’s, feel free to leave a comment let me know what you think.

Blessings all over, seen ….