The Right to Choose

I have chosen, over the past 15 years, to concentrate my photographic activities as a professional freelance photographer to the Australian Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding Industry.  I've been told, both directly and indirectly, that I'm one of the best out there.  That the images leap out at you, and can on occasions take people's breath away.  And that people can feel the connection I have with each horse I photograph, and that they love the way my love of the sport and the horse comes through in each image.

So here's a tricky little issue.

Question:  Say you, either as:
  1.  a member of the public that either liked racing in general, or had a real fondness for a particular horse, jockey or trainer; or
  2. a member of the industry, be it trainer, jockey, horse stud, etc; or
  3. the owner of a horse that you paid good money to race
were  told that you were only allowed to purchase an image from one photographic source.  What would you feel about this?   And what if, say you had a particular horse or race you were after, and you carried out an exhaustive search on images available, including those provided by the 'approved' source.  What is, during the course of this search for an image you like, you came across my work, and my images leapt out at you?  What if you found an image that was exactly what you were after? And what if no other photographer had an image that you liked as much, or wanted as badly?  

The question is - AND I'VE LOVE TO INVITE COMMENTS HERE FROM MY READERS - should you be allowed to buy that photograph?  Either as a print to hang on your wall for personal purposes, or to put in your stud's annual stallion book, or on your training website, etc?

And if you said yes to the above questions - AGAIN, COMMENTS WOULD BE TERRIFIC - what would your response be if you were told that you HAD to purchase a different image from the 'approved' photographer, even if you didn't like it as much?

And, final question, again, as either an occasional or regular visitor to either this Blog or my website: would the Racing and Breeding Industry be worse off if it was no longer viable for a photographer such as myself to continue to work within the industry?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.......

So You Think.  2010 WS Cox Plate.

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