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Free Friday at the MOMA

UTNE Reader/Oct. 2007 Issue -- Bodies and Souls -- ...& A Lesson in Copywrite and Negotiation

This story, in the Mindful Living section, was written about Interplay, a dance group based out of San Fransisco who equate their practice to spiritual discipline. "An American-grown alternative to yoga provides both a way for adults to play and a serious tool for personal and social change.", states Jon Spayde, the article's author.

I had the opportunity to photograph an Interplay retreat in Asheville, where this image is taken....great shoot I might add, complete with stage lighting and a little participation of my own (I attempted to dance and flow as I shot, it was completely contagious)...recently, I was contacted by the marketing cordinator who wanted me to sign a contract for UTNE magazine to release the image...as excited as I was to have the image published in a favorite mag of mine, I was perturbed that Interplay had not contacted me before sending the image out....this was my mistake..I supplied them with the images on disc (Lou Jacobs Jr. refers to this as "photo-in-hand syndrome" in his book "The Big Picture") and told them they could use the images for in-house publication, with royalty-free use, without stipulating that outside print reproduction would require extra compensation....Dohh! They told UTNE that they could use them, luckily the magazine's policies require a release signed by the photographer/copywrite holder....well, they had already ran the image....plus they credited Paul Jackson, not my artist name of Monty Tran....both constitute copywrite infringement....when I contacted UTNE they offered a fair 1/4 page rate and I gladly accepted, excited to be in their publication....but I also run a buisiness, had I been more keen to my rights and the possible consequences of their actions, I probably could have negotiated double the rate that I recieved.

Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes in Park Slope - Brooklyn, NY

Saturday in Beacon, NY

A highlight of my short-term stay in Brooklyn, for sure.....my roommate Carla Hoade and I headed to this small tourist town on the Hudson River, about 2hrs north of Manhattan...checked out an awesome exhibit at Beacon Gallery hosted by Fovea Exhibitions entitled "It Is Our War"...begun with a heated panel discussion concerning war images in the media and how we receive them...moderated by Jamie Wellford, Newsweek's international photo editor....panel also included a West Point grad, who had served in Iraq, and the photographers whose work was featured: New York Times photographer Todd Heisler, who was awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for "Final Salute"...Chris Hondros, recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal, war photography's highest honor, for his work in Iraq..also staff photographer for Getty Images.....and Suzanne Opton, a widely published photographer with work in the collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and the Musee de L'Elysee..she also teaches at the International Center of Photography and Cooper Union in NYC......great stuff...all images having heavy impact, conveying stories of loss from both sides of the war in Iraq.

Following the discussion and exhibit we grabbed a bite to eat and then came back to a grassy field across the street from the gallery..once the sun went down we viewed accomplished photojournalist's stories projected onto the side of a building, accompanied by music...all presented by seen/unseen......photo essay by Stanley Greene entitled "Chalk Lines", Q. Sakamaki's "Rio Favela: Survival" and "Sri Lanka: War without End", Farah Nosh's "Wounded Iraq", Jake Price's "Silent Exile", Lorena Ros's "Human Trafficking", Moises Saman's "Elections in Haiti" and "La Vida por Las Maras", and Alan Chin's "Hurricane Katrina, Renaissance Village, and New Orleans"......it was fantastic work, all of it, though Q. Sakamaki's series resonated with me the most....due to the striking contrast within the images, creating graphic shapes, revealing drama.....emphasizing the injustices at hand..the extreme violence in the Rio's Favelas, or slums, to the 24-year civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka.

Afterwards at a cool little restaurant/bar called Tonique I introduced myself to Jamie, Newsweek's photo editor, and gave him a calendar from my Vietnam show as well as Stanley Green, who covered the Vietnam War, not only from the American side but also from the perspective of the Viet Cong, amazing!

After leaving the bar Alan Chin, a friend of Carla's, took us to Stephanie's (fovea board member) house where most of the photographers were....there was Chinese food, a mix of beverages, and lots of stories being told....we stayed till 2am before driving back to brooklyn...it was a good one.

desire is the currency of the bankrupt

relaxing under artificial trees

to wait is to die, while life passes you by

moth to a flame

paint the town

the ride home