Via NEXT@CNN

PhotoStamps is a new form of postage that allows customers to include their favorite digital photographs, designs or images on valid US Postal Service postage. Customers design state-of-the-art, professional-looking postage from the PhotoStamps web site by simply uploading pictures from existing image files, digital photographs, and original graphics. An intuitive interface allows users of PhotoStamps to flip, rotate, and zoom in and out of their images, as well as add colored borders to create harmonized themes.

Sure it costs extra. It's a business for crying out loud. But does the extra charge mean my mail will actually be delivered on time now?

Fifty Crows, the institution that organizes the annual documentary photography fund award has a page dedicated to those interested in collecting photography.

Fotovision is a new Bay Area nonprofit created to support photographers interested in documenting their world. The curriculum fosters an environment in which photographers can create and edit a body of work and then learn to fund and distribute it. Special workshop projects will focus on the creation of books as well as in-depth photo projects in the Bay Area.

Coming up to teach at FOTOVISION in October is one of my favorite documentary photographers – Eugene Richards. Wish I could go!

Robb Hill, a friend of mine from my days at Indiana University and an incredible photographer in his own right, recently attended one of “Gene's” workshops at The Maine Photoworkshops. Robb was kind enough to pick up Gene's new book, Fat Baby, on my behalf. I'll post my review of it here real soon.

Back to FOTOVISION – it's directed by the legendary Ken Light whose book Witness in Our Time you should all read. The book gave me a much needed wake-up call about the often romanticized lives and choices of documentary photographers. It's not for the weary.

I was on a very interesting photo shoot for India Today on Friday. It is likely to be another cover image but I am not terribly sure till I actually see it. The journalism business is sure fickle and things can change at the drop of a hat. I can't say much more about who or where I was as things are still under wraps. But it was a thrill nonetheless. I'll reveal all in a few days.

On a whim to do something totally out of the ordinary, my wife and I woke up early (I woke up at 3 a.m. for some un-Godly reason) and opened the doors at our local Border's bookstore. While I am not terribly keen on corporate bookstores (prefer smelly second-hand bookstores), the coffee and the array of magazines is always a great draw.

So, thumbing through PICTURE magazine today I came to know about the Lucie Awards for new and emerging photographers. Definitely worth taking a look. If you apply and win, do let me know. I would be happy to feature your work here on this site.

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Via Steve Outing (on Poynter.org, quick link: A69743)

New-media pundit and author J.D. Lasica and software pioneer Marc Canter have come up with what looks like an interesting and worthwhile endeavor: the Open Source Media Project, which they announced on Monday. The quick explanation: It's an open-source repository of digital media projects — especially video, but all sorts of multimedia content. The idea is that we're coming out of a media world where a few moneyed players produce nearly all the content content, and we've arrived in a world where new technologies allow anyone to produce digital stories. Open Source will provide a place to store, index, and distribute all that “citizen content.” Canter explains what they're doing this way: “Basically we're making sure to make it REAL easy for folks to utilize media in their everyday lives, school, and work.” Storage space (and a massive amount likely will be required) and bandwidth is being donated “forever” by Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive.