Interview Series II: Guess what? Etsy and Self-Portrait Photography

Suspect: Sami from Everythingok
Crime: Making amazing self-portraits
Following: Learn with us about how this all came about!

(La Cometa Lab.): Hello Sami! Thanks so much for accepting to do this interview. To start with, how did the idea of self-modelling for your products came about?

(E): It was really the first thing that sprung to mind. I didn't really have anyone else I could ask to model for me, and besides, I prefer to work alone.

(LCL): In your case, do you think that the fact that you are the model helps somehow enhance the product you’re selling and how?

(E): I think when you're shopping online and don't have the chance to actually try all these things on for yourself, it's important to see how they actually sit on a human being, how they fit, where the print is when it's being worn, in the case of t-shirts. As a consumer, I find myself more drawn to handmade sellers who seem to have a well-established personality. I think it's nice to know that the person behind the item you're buying actually does exist, and self-portraiture is a pretty clear affirmation of that.

(LCL): Do you think that by making self-portraits this can be an extension of your self-expression with links to the creative of your handicrafts?

(E): Absolutely. The photographing and modelling of the things I make is an important part of the creative process, so I like to get creative with it.

(LCL): In the other hand, do you think that by using yourself as a model for your pictures, the product you sell somehow enriches as well from that?

(E): Most definitely.

(LCL): Are you interested in photography as an art form and are you aware or have been influenced by other artists who’ve taken self-portraits?
 

(E): Photography is one of my greatest passions in life. I'm never without a camera. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of getting to know so many wonderful photographers, some of whom have been self-portrait artists as well. It seems to be becoming a more and more popular practice these days, and it's wonderful seeing so much creative self-expression coming from people.

(LCL): Now, how do you prepare yourself to take these pictures? Do you have in mind what picture you want to take before getting yourself in front of the camera and organizing the set-up?

(E): I usually have a vague picture in my mind's eye of what I want to do, but for me the process is generally a fairly intuitive one. Mostly I concern myself with making sure the lighting is good, and going where the light is.

(LCL): What’s your usual procedure to organize this and where do you take your pictures?

(E): Most of my pictures are taken in my kitchen. This is mostly for pragmatic purposes: the light from the kitchen window is good, and there's a microwave on my counter that makes a decent impromptu tripod. A lot of people are surprised that, after all these years of photographing, my equipment is less than professional, heh. Some of my colleagues joke that I should carry a microwave with me in my camera bag.

(LCL): Did you have any previous experience with the camera?

(E): I've been shooting for about 15 years now. It's what I do.

(LCL): Do you have someone helping you with this, p.e. to press the shutter?

(E): The most I've ever asked for help with regard to a self-portrait was probably asking someone not to actually walk through the background of my shot. (Which sometimes happens anyway!)

(LCL): Any technical tips you want to share? What equipment do you use?

(E): For my etsy work, I shoot on two old Minolta XG-1 SLR film cameras, one of which I got from a fabulous vintage seller on etsy, to replace my first XG-1, which is now sadly defunct. I'm probably one of the few sellers who shoots her merch photos on film, but I'm just too much of an anachronism now to switch to digital.

(LCL): Sami, thanks so much!!! I can relate to all of your answers and also had so much fun listening about your experiences and advice... I think people will also enjoy it. And hopefully it will encourage others to be a little more creative when taking their etsy pictures!

(E): This was fun! Thanks for thinking of me!


Interview by: Yours truly, (La Cometa Lab.)

Your New Year's Surprise: Launching New Interview Series

I thought that there wouldn't be a better way to say goodbye to the year, and of welcoming the newly 2010, than by launching the première of my new Interview Series: Guess what? Etsy and Self-Portrait Photography. The Interview Series will be appearing periodically on my blog, so watch out for them!



The first protagonist of this Series is Etsy artist Yokoo. If you know her work, you will immediately understand that if she has been chosen to star on this important role is not at all by mere chance. Yokoo represents in perfection the work of an Etsy artist who has been able to create for herself a "persona". She's as much well know for her creations as for the character (or characters) she performs for the camera -an image that she has carefully mastered through her very imaginative and charged of personality photography self-portraits-.
She's the living proof that Etsy sellers have a vast action camp ground in which to be creative, and that photography, by presenting our creations and, in this case here, together with the use of self-portraiture, can be an incredible tool in promoting them to the outside world and taken them to another much more creative level.


Now, welcome in and I hope you enjoy and learn as much as I have while working and making these new Interview Series!!!

Suspect: Yokoo
Crime: Making amazing self-portraits
Following: Learn with us about how this all came about!

(La Cometa Lab.): Hello Yokoo! Thanks so much for accepting to do this interview. To start with, how did the idea of self-modelling for your products came about?

(Yokoo): I simply try in earnest to be original. It was something that very few sellers were doing at the time that I began on etsy.
In truth, it gives me more pleasure as an artist to create ideas that inspire me, then the selling of the product itself. Challenging myself to continually think of new ways to connect to the world is far more exciting then the predictable shoplifting of someone's format.

(LCL): In your case, do you think that the fact that you are the model helps somehow enhance the product you’re selling and how?

(Y): No. But that's what a lot of sellers tend to think. In reality, it's that I candidly admire and love my customers. You know, when someone parts with Seventy Dollars, or even Twenty Dollars, that's nothing to take lightly! That means that person has mulled over this idea of me. They are really connecting with me. That’s wonderful! I'm really honoured by that. And I try to establish an ongoing relationship with that customer to show that understanding. This is why I never turn down magazine interviews or blog interviews. Even if it is the tiniest, "no-name" blog. It's still another chance for me to connect to at least one more person in a way that is new and inventive.

For example, I just finished this interview with Mint Magazine. Very few people know this, but I spent about ten to fifteen hours on that interview alone! And then another two hours blogging it. But it’s not work to me, because it was a completely original way of speaking within this ongoing conversation.

(LCL): Do you think that by making self-portraits this can be an extension of your self-expression with links to the creative of your handicrafts?

(Y): For me it is not. For other sellers it may be. For me, if many artists began producing self portraits, then I would begin using elderly men and women, or little kids, or whomever. It’s the notion of being original that lies at the core of self-expression.

(LCL): In the other hand, do you think that by using yourself as a model for your pictures, the product you sell somehow enriches as well from that?

(Y): To tell you the truth, if I used a model, I would probably sell a lot more products. But I would rather continue to appeal to my core audience. It just allows me to control the outcome or the "larger picture" more precisely.

(LCL): Are you interested in photography as an art form and are you aware or have been influenced by other artists who’ve taken self-portraits?

Like Woody Allen, someday I would love to direct and star in my own motion picture. I mean, really, who wouldn't love to be filmed telling the men of the world, "... it’s true, you're great until you start to show your age, and then they want a newer model."

(LCL): That was amazing, thanks so much for your time and wish you the best for the New Year. I hope that we will have the chance to keep enjoying for a long time of your work and fantastic self-portraits. Oh, and congratulations on your recent feature on the New York Times!

Interview by: Yours truly, (La Cometa Lab.)

Paris Etsy Meeting!!!

At the end of the meeting, a few of us took the change to take a group picture. Starting from the left: Malam, Liz , Maria, (xxxxx), monamivie, TortillaGirl, and yours truly, LaCometaLab.


Hello all, I'm back in Paris and, the Spring is definitely here to stay :)

This week has been wonderful due to one very special event: On Wednesday, April 1 we were very luck to welcome in Paris Maria Thomas, Etsy's CEO, and Liz Wald, Director of international business development for Etsy. The meeting took place at the lovely Petula Café, a restaurant next to St. Germain that I highly recommend visiting. It is actually owned by the husband of Etsy seller monamivie (Gillian), who was actually kind enough to open it up just for us in order to host the meeting. Gillian, thanks so much!!!

First of all, let me say that this was an amazing opportunity to meet in "real" life, face-to-face, Maria, Liz, but also some wonderful people -amongst sellers, buyers and friends- of the Etsy community. As soon as the gathering started we realized what truly a international community we are: the range of nationalities was quite impressive, there were people from the US, Switzerland, Argentina, Norway or Spain, and some of them had come from different locations in France to be just there. As many of us exchanged cards, let me name a few of them:

Malam
Fée à Bastille
TortillaGirl
Matilou
Anasousa
lespetiteschoses
ArtyTom
Arianelulu
kariusdeparius
monamivie
collectedorange
FascinatingHobbies
and a great blogger:
http://mimostyle.webblogg.se/!

(please, if you were there and want to see your name added here, do contact me about it!)

The meeting started with a introduction from Maria and Liz, and then everyone presented themselves.

Maria and Liz explained that the the main reason of their trip to Europe was to enrich and further develope Etsy's goal to really become more global. They wanted to meet with as many of us as possible, hear our opinions, hear what we had to say about the various possibilities to improve the site, the buyers and sellers's experience, etc.

They started by acknowledged right away many of the problems and suggestions that many of us have been pointing out during the last months and which of course were again brought up on the meeting:

- The need to clarify that dollars on the Etsy site are US Dollars: apparently that will be dealt with very, very soon!

- The need to add more shipping options: The happy news here is that they announced that an European or UE category shipping option will become a reality in the next 3-4 months!!!!

- Inclusion of Euro or of a currency conversion tool

- Multi language support

- Metric/inch converter

Unfortunately, although we understood that these three last demands are also very important to Etsy and on top of their list of things-to-do, we learned that we will need to have a bit more patience, as it is still unspecified the timing for any changes here.

Liz and Maria were also very interested to hear what are the trends/blogs/magazines in Europe in which we thought Etsy could be focusing on in terms of marketing. Please, if you have any suggestions do not hesitate to contact them. They really welcome any feedback from us! They also made it very clear, and this is something many of the people attending did not know, that although marketing is something very important to Etsy, for the time being they do not have a PR or Agency for the media who works for them. We mentioned how in Europe this is something which really needs to be developed as, unfortunately, Etsy is still quite little known over here.

- Etsy will be exploring in the near future the possibilities of gathering support from National Arts Councils and institutions of the same sort. We all thought it was a very good idea.

In all, I think it was a very interesting meeting. Maria and Liz were fantastic and very open to discussion and positive criticism. They justified the slow step-by-step case problem solving that they have to go through due to the company being so young and still not making profit... Whether this seems a fair or not excuse to many, trying to make the most positive out of it, I believe that Etsy is still the only selling handmade site which can offer so much for so little. By coming to Europe they did give us a good signal that they DO think about us, and that WE ARE indeed in the company' strategy plan to continue growing up and developing.

On my side, it was also a fabulous experience to meet face-to-face with some of the Etsy community, buyers and sellers, including some of the great members of the European Etsy Team and the Etsy in Spanish Team! I hope we can all have a similar gathering not too long in the future.

To finalize this little report, here are a few pictures I took at the meeting. Excuse the poor lighting conditions and probably me being more concentrated in what was being discussed that in the results of this photo documenting!

On the far right, Matilou followed by TortillaGirl, monamivie and Maria, seen taking a snapshot.


Maria, starting the presentation, and very concentrated looking, Liz, Samantha and Mimo.

Sweetest Anasousa and her cutest smile :) .

Love these Etsy shops!

Featured:
fricdementol
krisblues
TrackandFieldDesigns
estatesale
stepanka
yellowmonday
ashleyg
ModishVintage
Lotuslulu
singlestonestudios
matteart
krize

Featured:
iamsnizzle
Friendlymade
fruitflypie
LunaParkProductions
shehitpausestudios
SherriConley
paperpanache1
SRHarris
MrPs
amberalexander
gemmy200
hideandpeek

(La Cometa Lab.).... nice surprises

The last days have been really busy doing orders for two shops in Madrid. I have also created two new brooch designs which I will be posting very soon.

But, now what I really want to share with you is my happiness because in the last two days I have seen my work featured in two amazing spots on Etsy.

Etsy is currently running a series on Gift Guides Suggestions and guess, what, (La Cometa Lab.) has been included in their amazingly cool "Modern Design" Section:




My brooch is sure well accompanied by some of my very own favourite sellers on etsy!

But this is not all, as (La Cometa Lab.) has also been included on a Etsy article devoted to "New Fresh Talents"... what can I say :)))

Check it out here in their Storque Spotlight: Etsy Finds. Fresh on the scene!!!