Flattr Profile: Oliver Fluck
“Whenever visiting another photographer’s websites for the first time, I want to know what the person behind the camera is all about. I started to understand that it is an important part of a personal page.”
I also instantly click on ‘About’ pages, whenever I find something I’m interested in. And I’m also interested in photography. Having seen Oliver Fluck’s About page I thought I’ll enjoy writing about him. Not to mention his photographs…(Don’t worry, we’ll mention them later.)
Oliver is from Germany and has been living in the U.S. since 2003. With the move and the new environment, he fell into photography and was learning and experimenting on his own. Looking at the end result is more than joyful. As he says, photography is his tool for exploration and an outlet for creativity, and we can feel that he’s found the right tool. There are three types of pictures in his portfolio: Landscapes and Cityscapes, where he often applies HDRI techniques; under the topic Street and Toy he records the inconspicuous (or sometimes conspicuous) parts of street-life; and you can meet prisoners mastering chess in his Documentary-style Portraits. All of this without using a flash.
Of course the reason why we introduce Oliver is because he is a Flattr user. In addition to his photos I was interested in his thoughts about Flattr:
Where did you hear about Flattr?
I heard about Flattr through my friend Kamih — check out his music! Usually, you don’t get me signed up for things easily, but Flattr is such an innovative concept — I jumped in right away.
What do you think about Flattr and the concept behind it?
It seems like through Flattr we now have everything in place to change the game for content creators on the internet. The next step is probably to get content consumers to use Flattr. It would be nice if we could offer something more than good karma to those who might use Flattr as pure consumers. But even if the artists themselves will end up being the only ones using Flattr, we still end up with a system that allows us to reward those who inspire us.
How can you utilize Flattr next to selling prints of your photos?
Sometimes I get emails from people who visited my blog telling me how much they enjoyed flipping through my work. Such feedback shows me how much it makes sense to have a Flattr button which works just like a tip jar. Besides that, everything I create is available to my visitors to use for their own (non-commercial) projects. I saw my pictures used in various ways by musicians, dancers, and other photographers. It’s great to see what others are doing with the pictures I take, and it’s very rewarding receiving flattrs for it.
I also have “paid-for” content on my website. It’s an online store where you can purchase art-prints for your office or living room walls. By being part of Flattr I of course also have store visitors coming from the flattr.com website. So besides the tip jar for those who enjoy the free content, Flattr indirectly supports my work by directing potential buyers to my store.
Thank you, Oliver!
Thank you everybody!
Oliver’s started a fundraiser called “Photographers for Japan”. He’s raised more than $100 in the first two days, and is hoping to keep on growing it until 14th April; you can support Japan by purchasing from one of the participants. Other photographers selling pictures are also welcome to join the initiative.
You can flattr Oliver here: Oliver Fluck on Flattr
P.S: Oliver shared his February revenue data with us, and I’ve updated our table with it. You can have a look here: February Flattr Revenue Table
