Tomorrow night I will be attending a memorial service for a fellow photographer that passed away last week. He was a member of the National Zoo FONZ Photoclub and an active member in the Flickr community. About a month ago Takuma and I carpooled together to the Gettysburg Photowalk and it was a shock to learn about his death last week. He will be missed.
When someone that you know dies, you start to think about your own situation. My wife and I started working on the legal documents for an estate plan at the start of the year and it is about 90% done. It has been sitting there waiting to be completed and this was another reminder that we need to finish them. If you don't have any type of estate plan in place, I recommend that you work on that first before you even think of creating a Photography estate plan.
I also recently listened to George Jardine's podcast with Jay Maisel, Greg Gorman, and Seth Resnick (episode #42) and they briefly touched on some ideas of what happens to your photography when you die.
This got me to thinking that I need to create an estate plan for my photography. It maybe the case that when I die, nobody cares about my photography. However, as a photographer that cares a great deal about my work, I feel it is important that when I leave this life my family would know where to find my work and also more importantly where to find what I consider is my best work. This is the same concept that Jay Maisel mentions in the podcast interview.
Well known photographers (the Jay Maisel's of the world) are represented by agencies and have staff with a knowledge base about the work and how to find it. These same people have worked with them for years and have come to understand their wants, needs and wishes. They understand the photographers' aesthetic and can continue to maintain these works after they are gone.
However, I would estimate that 99% of the photographers in the world don't have this type of support infrastructure. Basically we are sitting out there alone creating tons of work (some of it may actually be good work.) When we die, does it just sit there waiting for the eventual bit bucket or can it continue to live on for the people that care about it.
In the world of your finances, when you pass your family should know how to access all your various financial accounts. Does your family know how to find all your photos? Have you taken the time to document where you are storing the gigabytes (or terabytes) of photo files you have created in your lifetime? Do they know how to find your best works? As I type this I know my wife wouldn't have a clue to where to find my photos.
After Takuma's death one of his co-workers contacted me to find out how to get the photos off his work laptop so he can burn them to a CD for his family. He was stumped since he had no idea how to open an NEF file (Nikon RAW file) or if that was really a photo file.
I can imagine this will become a common occurrence in the future. As we photographers have moved away from the photos and negatives in a shoebox to a world of bits and bytes our heirs may not know how to deal with our files. These digital files have become our legacy. When someone stops by to look at your computer in the future, if they can't open a file, does it just get trashed or forgotten?
What about another practical application? What if your wife wants to find the photos you took of your newborn child that were taken 10 years ago so she can make prints? Would she know how to find those photos and open them?
This brings me back to my need to create an estate plan for my photographs. I don't have an egotistical idea that my work will be valuable after my death by the world at large. However, it will be valuable on a personal level to my friends and family. The photography estate plan doesn't have to be a formal legal document. It just has to be a letter that documents the following:
Since you are creating this document, you may also want to list where you have your photos posted on the internet (i.e. Flickr, iStockPhoto, etc.) and how to access those accounts as well.
Once you are done with the document, it would also be a good idea to walk through it with your family and show them where files are stored, how to open files, how to search, etc.
You should also review and update the document on a regular basis as well (maybe yearly.)
You never know when your time will come up and it is best to be prepared.
When someone that you know dies, you start to think about your own situation. My wife and I started working on the legal documents for an estate plan at the start of the year and it is about 90% done. It has been sitting there waiting to be completed and this was another reminder that we need to finish them. If you don't have any type of estate plan in place, I recommend that you work on that first before you even think of creating a Photography estate plan.
I also recently listened to George Jardine's podcast with Jay Maisel, Greg Gorman, and Seth Resnick (episode #42) and they briefly touched on some ideas of what happens to your photography when you die.
This got me to thinking that I need to create an estate plan for my photography. It maybe the case that when I die, nobody cares about my photography. However, as a photographer that cares a great deal about my work, I feel it is important that when I leave this life my family would know where to find my work and also more importantly where to find what I consider is my best work. This is the same concept that Jay Maisel mentions in the podcast interview.
Well known photographers (the Jay Maisel's of the world) are represented by agencies and have staff with a knowledge base about the work and how to find it. These same people have worked with them for years and have come to understand their wants, needs and wishes. They understand the photographers' aesthetic and can continue to maintain these works after they are gone.
However, I would estimate that 99% of the photographers in the world don't have this type of support infrastructure. Basically we are sitting out there alone creating tons of work (some of it may actually be good work.) When we die, does it just sit there waiting for the eventual bit bucket or can it continue to live on for the people that care about it.
In the world of your finances, when you pass your family should know how to access all your various financial accounts. Does your family know how to find all your photos? Have you taken the time to document where you are storing the gigabytes (or terabytes) of photo files you have created in your lifetime? Do they know how to find your best works? As I type this I know my wife wouldn't have a clue to where to find my photos.
After Takuma's death one of his co-workers contacted me to find out how to get the photos off his work laptop so he can burn them to a CD for his family. He was stumped since he had no idea how to open an NEF file (Nikon RAW file) or if that was really a photo file.
I can imagine this will become a common occurrence in the future. As we photographers have moved away from the photos and negatives in a shoebox to a world of bits and bytes our heirs may not know how to deal with our files. These digital files have become our legacy. When someone stops by to look at your computer in the future, if they can't open a file, does it just get trashed or forgotten?
What about another practical application? What if your wife wants to find the photos you took of your newborn child that were taken 10 years ago so she can make prints? Would she know how to find those photos and open them?
This brings me back to my need to create an estate plan for my photographs. I don't have an egotistical idea that my work will be valuable after my death by the world at large. However, it will be valuable on a personal level to my friends and family. The photography estate plan doesn't have to be a formal legal document. It just has to be a letter that documents the following:
- Where the photos are located.
- How to open the photo files.
- How to find photos in your catalog.
- How you mark, rank, or tag your best work.
Since you are creating this document, you may also want to list where you have your photos posted on the internet (i.e. Flickr, iStockPhoto, etc.) and how to access those accounts as well.
Once you are done with the document, it would also be a good idea to walk through it with your family and show them where files are stored, how to open files, how to search, etc.
You should also review and update the document on a regular basis as well (maybe yearly.)
You never know when your time will come up and it is best to be prepared.
Leave a comment