Len Spier shot Burlington before he presented a talk to members of Meet Up, “Art in Photography,” entitled, Watch Your Back. Now 83, he now aims a G10 due to a stroke suffered five years ago. Energetic and poised, he hasn’t lost his love for images or his desire to educate photographers that they are artists whose work is worth protecting, even if they aren’t professionals. Trained as an attorney who made a living at litigating and shooting, he is uniquely qualified to speak on the interstices of art and law.
This being his first visit to Burlintgon, everything attracted his attention. Aware no train service serves the Queen City and hailing from a subway driven metro area, he shot a freight train from in front of the antique store on Flynn Avenue.
Seen here in front of his the Dark Room Gallery where he would deliver his talk, he posed with one of his pictures, Polka Dot Woman, that hung during a recent Photo Space Juried photo competition. Ken Signorello, director of the Gallery and the event coordinator for the lecture stands behind the image.
27 people showed up to hear him, despite snow and sleet. “The copyright law is in the Constitution….Make sure to put your copyright on your works. Your rights accrue when you create the image. Protect them.” He gave examples of clauses to put in contracts when selling rights to the images…. Be aware of all the social networking possibilities.” “You need to get a release if you are going to use the image for trade or commerce.” More time was needed, but he covered a lot in a clear, concise, understandable way.
He had the floor. So, after talking about copyright and the rights of street photographers to shoot, unimpeded in public areas, he showed some of his works. Here, he discusses dueling toilets he discovered in the lavatory at a Court Street Law Office in Brooklyn. “I’d seen toilets next to one another in the army without anything between them; … but here, I picture the lawyer and the secretary facing one another, one talking and the other pen in hand.”
The next morning, Ken and Len share thoughts about the previous nights event. They look happy, because the message was delivered so generously and in good humor. Very well received, if you look at their faces.
A pure tourist, he visited Middlebury, Addison County to experience rural VT. He looked at cows, a covered bridge, an abandoned house (not that all unfamiliar to a New Yorker), and lunched near the angry Otter Creek.
Before returning to the Big Apple, Len examined an old Russian Camera that Dan Scott bought on E-Bay. They discussed film, 120 film.