Uncommissionable

Pete Atkinson · Issue 112, Jan/Feb 2020 · pp. 69–73

Products mentioned: Nikon F4, Nikonos 13mm fisheye, Subeye Reflex camera, SB-24 flashguns, Fuji Velvia, 18mm lens, 105mm micro lens, 55mm micro lens

Some of my favourite photos are those that can’t be copied. Or at least can’t be copied without a huge amount of effort and expense. This used to be the value of rights-managed stock photography (before Getty Images killed the market), enabling a client to license an image, exclusively if necessary, knowing that they can’t commission another photographer to go out and shoot substantially the same image. Often they are created by hanging out in the same place for many days, habituating animals to your presence. At other times it’s just a question of Uncommissionable by Pete Atkinson waiting for the right conditions. During five visits to Beveridge Reef in the South Pacific over a period of 20 years I had these conditions only twice; low water, almost no wind, a biological slick coming off the reef to windward, and exceptionally clear water. Think 60m visibility. I would love to go back, b…