rodiponer wrote:You're right. It's too easy to get caught up in a single thing that someone says online. I was really responding to Tristan, who seems stuck on seeing his work at Burning Man as a potential business.
I think it's great, admirable, and wonderful that you helped build the temple. But I do not think that should be an entitlement to recoup personal costs for attending the event. Viewing your costs to attend as 'losses' is, to me, a word choice that indicates it wasn't worth it.
I think there is a large difference between funding an art project through image sales and a person funding themselves through image sales. I haven't figured this out, but I think the difference is that the art project is participatory by itself, and the images sales are ancillary to that. By contrast image sales that fund someone taking images, well, that seems more like just taking to me.
Well, I really do agree with you there--except I never said anything about recouping personal costs for attending the event. The expenses I referred to were things that I felt I needed specifically to document this project (a pelican case, a used backup body, etc.). And as I've said--I never expected to see any of that money again--I'm really thinking more in terms of gear I'd want to get to improve my results if I were gonna do it again.
Sure, I could do it again with the same gear I have (minus what's been damaged/destroyed) and that may well be what I wind up doing. But I see lots of room for improvement, so I'm interested in exploring ways to fund these ideas next time round.