Author photos
Robyn has added a nifty author picture feature. As with many of LibraryThing's cataloging features, users—that's you—are encouraged to help.
Here are some of the recently uploaded pictures.
Anyone can add a picture, so long as you stay within the copyright guidelines. If problems arise, users can flag problemmatic pictures. There's also an author pictures group for discussion.
As you might expect, finding a good, out-of-copyright image of, say, Charles Dickens is easy. Living authors are harder. Sometimes authors explicitly state that a set of pictures is released for promotional use. Flickr is a good source for author signing photos, although you have to be careful about the license. More often, the author (or photographer) needs to be asked. We're coming up with an image-begging form letter thingamabrarians can send to their favorites.
Without clicking, how many of these can you name?
Here are some of the recently uploaded pictures.
Anyone can add a picture, so long as you stay within the copyright guidelines. If problems arise, users can flag problemmatic pictures. There's also an author pictures group for discussion.
As you might expect, finding a good, out-of-copyright image of, say, Charles Dickens is easy. Living authors are harder. Sometimes authors explicitly state that a set of pictures is released for promotional use. Flickr is a good source for author signing photos, although you have to be careful about the license. More often, the author (or photographer) needs to be asked. We're coming up with an image-begging form letter thingamabrarians can send to their favorites.
Without clicking, how many of these can you name?
posted by Tim at 12:38 AM
17 Comments:
No THAT is one cool feature.
I did recognize: Byron, Mark Twain, Lisa Carey, Virginia Woolf, Jus Neuce, Richard Burton, and Yeats. Apologies to the others, living or dead. :)
Neat feature... the author pages should be even more fun, now!
I only recognized two: Twain and Burton. Half of them I had not even heard of. Oh the shame!
You don't have to click on them to find out the names ;-) just hover hehe...
Without clicking, I only recognized Lisa Carey (thanks to Tim posting her pic here before! LOL). I *should've* recognized Virginia Woolf ... but it's just too early in the A.M. LOL
<>< Mizbooks
That would be nice.
I am wondering how one would specifically go about finding "public domain" pictures of modern authors.
I was looking around for a shot to upload for Idries Shah, but couldn't figure (without, say, writing to Octagon Press to have them specifically send me a "promo" shot), how to make that determination.
Any suggestions for a methodology to follow in hunting down legally useable images???
Yes but how do you do it? I'd be willing to add a photo of Anthony Trollope by Margaret Cameron. It graces the front of my book. I know it's out of copyright.
However, you give no instructions on how to do it.
ellenmoody asks...
"Yes but how do you do it?"
The actual uploading is pretty simple ... go to the "author page" (easily accessible from the links on one's "author cloud" page, linked to on one's profile page) ... on the individual "author page", if there hasn't already been a pic uploaded, there will be a black-and-grey silhouette with a question mark holding space for one, with an "add a picture" link beneath it ... clicking on that link will take you to the "Add a picture for" page with options for either uploading a pic or grabbing one from the web.
The issue the I'm having is trying to determine the public domain status for various images ... as that form requires this info!
btripp asked: I am wondering how one would specifically go about finding "public domain" pictures of modern authors.
Try Flickr.com, and similar sites! (Well, not actually public domain, but usable with proper attribution.) Often people will take photos of living authors at readings or lectures, and post them at these sites, with a Creative Commons license. It can take a bit of searching to find one with such a license, but they are there.
Re: "A wiki-style 1-2-sentence discription of each author?"
We're moving in that direction. First, we're doing links in a wiki style.
Re: "I am wondering how one would specifically go about finding "public domain" pictures of modern authors."
Let's post about ways on the image discussion group.
Dear Tim,
Alas I'm very bad at this. I went to the author cloud page but saw no grey silhouette nor any question mark nor a "add pic" below it.
I have a beautiful image of Anthony Trollope as photographed by Margaret Cameron. It graces the cover of my book and is in the public domain.
ellenmoody - look on the individual author's page (clicking on the author name will bring you to it)
http://www.librarything.com/author/trollopeanthony
Coming Soon: "Author Hot or Not?" with "Hottest Authors" as voted by LT users appearing on the Zeitgeist page.
No, not HotorNot. More like http://likebetter.com/ .
Just think. Click through twenty of those and then it gives you reading suggestions!
T
Thank you. I have added two pictures of Trollope. Both are fine: Cameron's photo and the earliest photo we have. I do have a third I can reproduce, the 1864 portrait by Samuel Laurence. It's very beautiful: it captures the intelligence and deep compassion of his face, but alas it comes out so dark on the page. It is the frontispiece to my book.
E.
Thank you very much. I have added two fine pictures: Margaret Cameron's photo of Trollope (capturing his vigor) and the earliest photo we have of him (1840).
I have a third: the beautiful painting of Trollope by Samuel Laurence, 1864, capturing the intelligence and compassion of his face. Alas, it comes out too dark on the page.
E.
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