A New Space
I’m not quite sure how it’s already March, but I’m assured it is. Not least by the abundance of daffodils at our new studio space. By the end of last year it became clear I was, unfortunately, growing out of my desk at The Papered Parlour. I had an absolutely wonderful time working there and made fantastic friends but simply had too much ‘stuff’ to stay.
So, along with Kareena Zerefos, Daisy Tempest and Kate Underdown I’ve moved to Parkham Street Studios in Battersea. Located in the former Salesian College and earmarked for demolition (eventually), the space is providing temporary refuge for lots of artists and designers. We’re lucky enough to have a large classroom overlooking the beautiful gardens. The space itself is a work in progress (well, mine is, the others are far more organised) and as soon as it’s camera ready we’ll take some photos. In the meanwhile here’s a sneak peak (taken by Kareena Zerefos). If you need us, we’ll be having a picnic.
It’s Christmas? So soon?
It’s nearly the end of another year. 2011 has been in turns difficult, manic and a lot of fun. Since moving in July I’m completely settled into my studio space at The Papered Parlour (and by settled I mean that I spend more time there than in my flat). I’ve made some wonderful studio friends who are just as dedicated to long lunches as I am. The Parlour open studios in October was a great success with over 600 people visiting in two days.
The last few months have been full of projects and I’ve only just managed to find time to shoot my own Christmas card collaboration with Chris Turner. He’s busy making the photo look wonderful and it’ll be ready to wish you all a very Merry Christmas next week. I’ve also been working on a Christmas card for The Quarry. This week they filmed me at work to accompany the card and you’ll be able to see the outcome as soon as it’s edited. To have the 1000 cards they needed made I worked with the excellent CutLaserCut who did a brilliant job.
There’s already a few things lined up for 2012. I’m very excited to say that you’ll be able to see some of my work in the March issue of UK Vogue. Also in March, my collaborative work with fellow studio artist Kareena Zerefos will be on show at the NG Gallery in Sydney’s Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Life’s Fragile Nature exhibition alongside paper giants including Peter Callesen. But before all of that I’m looking forward to a Christmas break in Sussex with my family without a scalpel in sight.
Fighting your corner - Clients who won’t pay
Most clients are great to work with; honest and really appreciate the work that freelancers do for them. I usually blog about new projects or work I like, but a recent experience has compelled me to write about a problem that you might come across as a freelancer: a client refusing to pay.
I was commissioned by a well known womens’ style magazine to create sets for a luxury watch shoot. I proposed a concept and, as the deadline was short, spent the weekend working to have everything ready for the shoot. The photographer, myself and the stylist were all very happy with the images. The magazine decided against sending anybody to the shoot, so to make sure they were aware of what what they were going to receive, I sent them a detailed written description of what I had planned for each image. In addition, I also sent a mock up of the proposed shots using my own, non-model like, arm to illustrate the idea. They were delighted with both.
A week later, after an ominous silence, I received an email. The editor was unhappy with the images and felt they ‘didn’t quite fit the brief’. Be cautious if somebody uses this phrase. What it really means is ‘You haven’t done what we asked, therefore we don’t have to pay you.’ There are two important things to remember at this stage: 1. The magazine had been sent, and approved, a written description of each image and the final images matched these exactly. 2. They had been given the opportunity to attend the shoot and had decided not to.
Cue a standoff. Unhappy with the images, the magazine requested that we (the photographer and I) send them the sets; however, they would not tell us what they planned to do with them. The photographer on the job was one that I often work with and we agreed that we were not happy to have our work altered when we had no control over the final result. We eventually told the magazine that we would release the sets on the following terms 1) We DID NOT want to be credited for any altered work 2) ONLY if we were sent written confirmation that we would be paid in full. Cue a second ominous silence.
A week later the magazine was published with (big surprise) the images that ‘didn’t quite fit the brief’. Not only this, but the images were printed slap bang in the issue’s centre pages (did I mention that it has a readership of half a million). All of the images had been cropped and one had been photoshopped; some of the watches had been repositioned, but they were definately our images. To their credit, we were credited. You would be hard pushed to find mine which had been relegated to beneath that of the hand model’s manicurist, but still, childish but not illegal.
To recap:, 1) They’ve used the images, and 2) They’ve photoshopped them without our permission (they look fine, so we’ll let that go). Excellent, so everything’s ok - invoice sent. Cue yet another ominous silence.By this stage I was so used to them that I didn’t pay much attention to what was quickly becoming an integral part of our communication. However, after another two weeks that silence was broken. They were regrettably unable to publish to their high standards with the alleged low quality images we had supplied them with. As we would not participate in rectifying the situation, they were forced to take expensive measures in order to avoid killing the story completely. At this point I started to wonder whether they had quite grasped the concept of a photograph? When the items are still real (ie. on a set) they’re pretty easy to move around; trust me, I’ve tried it. Once they’ve been photographed, it’s a little bit more difficult. You’d think they’d have wanted to have been around at the real stage to avoid having to ‘kill the story’.
What to do? They’re a big company, probably with their own legal department and they’re refusing to pay for work they commissioned. This is the point at which I started to, and you need to, learn your rights. I spoke to the lovely people at Consumer Direct, a free legal advice line funded by the government, who told me that the commission fell under the ‘Supply of Goods and Services Act.’ This states that when someone pays for a service it should be carried out with reasonable care and skill. If it is not, they are potentially have the right to ask for compensation from the person supplying the service. In this case I had written proof (the description I had sent the magazine) that we had fufilled our contractual obligations to produce the images as requested and agreed. The magazine had been given the opportunity to direct the images on the shoot and had declined. Therefore…
1) We could not be held liable for any costs that fell outside the contract, ie. the repositioning of the watches.
2) We had therefore successfully fufilled our part of the contract, which meant that by law they had to pay us for our work.
It is important to note that when you reach this stage, you should avoid talking to anyone on the phone; you need to have everything in writing. If you’re at this point remember that when you send an email citing the Supply of Goods and Services you must:
1) Explain that you will also be sending the email in writing by recorded delivery through the postal service and make sure you do this. When something is sent by recorded delivery (and is signed for) it’s proof that they have received it.
2) Set out exactly what you promised to supply and what was supplied - be detailed.
3) Describe the reasons the company have given for non-payment and your reasons that these things aren’t in the contract. In our case it was that they had approved a written description of the images, which matched the images they received exactly. They also passed up the opportunity to attend the shoot, where changes could have easily been made prior to photographing, rather than having to resort to photoshopping post-shoot.
4) Give them a deadline to make full payment seven or fourteen days.
Inform them that if the money is not paid by this deadline you will send them another letter warning them that they will be taken to small claims court if the amount remains unpaid by the new deadline outlined in the document. This is known as a ‘letter before court action.’
5) Back everything up with evidence. Make sure you attach all your evidence and include it with your email or letter. This will most likely be copies of email correspondence. If you don’t have written evidence, state the date of the phone conversation in which something was said. A verbal contract is a contract too, although much harder to prove if they then deny saying something.
6) Be professional and polite, only state the facts. You might think the company is awful, but that won’t matter to the judge hearing your case if you do go to court.
It sounds like a daunting prospect, fighting your corner, but it’s well worth it. Bigger magazines sometimes seem to feel they have the right to bully freelancers, hoping that you’ll give in so that they can avoid paying you; however, showing them you know your rights and aren’t prepared to be bullied can go a long way. After sending my email I received a one-liner in return informing me that the invoices had been signed off and were to be paid in full. I’m sure I’ll never work for them again; I don’t need and wouldn’t want to. I have plenty of lovely clients that I’ve worked for many times and I am very glad that this experience has been very much the exception. And after all this, you have to wonder whether they paid the hand model’s manicurist? She did get a better credit than me.
