Messing around with bulletin boards

(Click on photos to enlarge)

A portion of my business involves taking pictures for use as stock images. This type of photography involves shooting pictures and sending them off to various stock photo agencies to be displayed on their websites. When magazines, businesses, ad agencies, textbook companies, etc. need photos, they often will purchase existing images from one of these stock photo agencies. This saves them the expense of having to hire a photographer to shoot new images. When the stock photo agency sells a photo, the payment for that sale is shared between the photographer and the stock agency.

Some of my favorite places to look for stock image possibilities are in empty schools and colleges during the summer and on weekends (because I teach photography classes at these places, I'm allowed to do this). And, I especially love searching out bulletin boards. They’re usually scattered throughout the buildings, often in hallways and classrooms. Most boards are made from corkboard or, sometimes, burlap cloth, and are enclosed in a wood frame. They range in size from very tiny to huge. I've seen all sorts of things pinned to them - staff or faculty notices, announcements about upcoming events, postings by students looking for roommates, and even pieces of artwork.

​Occasionally, what's attached to these bulletin boards is interesting enough to photograph. But not often. So, using one or more of the props I carry with me, and sometimes including a note I've written, I’ll try creating something that’s hopefully intriguing, humorous, and realistic enough to seem legitimate. Coming up with these phony bulletin boards is a lot of fun. I highly recommend trying it yourself. If you don't have access to a bulletin board, one can be purchased inexpensively online or at office supply stores. Or, an empty wall can work just as well, using tape instead of pins. The images above and below are a few examples of my work.

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