Photographer
PhotographerMV
Posts: 122
Norwood, Colorado, US
hi all gmorning, can i get somone to explain 'tear sheet'?
i tear them before i dispose of them, those botched printing jobs i do make every so often...LOL
Photographer
Halcyon 7174 NYC
Posts: 20109
New York, New York, US
A picture that is your work, torn out of a magazine. i.e. an advertisement or editorial spread. A published work. Sometimes the magazine will give you a clean copy you don't have to physically tear out, but it's still called a tear sheet.
Model
theda
Posts: 21719
New York, New York, US
The term has been generalized to include any publshed pirnted work. It doesn't have to be printed in a magazine necessarily, but self-publishing doesn't count.
Photographer
Halcyon 7174 NYC
Posts: 20109
New York, New York, US
Right, it could be a grocery store leaflet.
Photographer
Dan Howell
Posts: 3580
Kerhonkson, New York, US
Posted by theda:
The term has been generalized to include any publshed pirnted work. It doesn't have to be printed in a magazine necessarily, but self-publishing doesn't count. Oh I just love to split hairs with Theda! What do you think about the concept of digital magazine? Not a magazine-style web site, or even a printed magazine's official web site, but an actual magazine that is published dititally. It is a subscription based or single issue purchased on-line and down loaded onto a computer. Once it is downloaded the pages turn like a traditional magazine and the content might (or might not) be identical to the printed counterpart.
One of my clients has begun to experiment with this concept, but there are currently many national magazines that offer a digital magazine option. In some cases there are extra features to the digital product like video and links.
The concept is exciting and offers another delivery mechanism for content. Currently I am familier with content that is a duplicate to the printed product, but I envision digital-only section or exclusively digital titles.
The question is: Does a digital magazine sample of work count as a tearsheet?
My opinion is that it should. There may be a greater or lesser amount of esteem to a digital tear, but there are various levels of esteem awarded to different printed titles.
Photographer
Todd S.
Posts: 2951
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
Posted by Dan Howell:
Posted by theda:
The term has been generalized to include any publshed pirnted work. It doesn't have to be printed in a magazine necessarily, but self-publishing doesn't count. Oh I just love to split hairs with Theda! What do you think about the concept of digital magazine? Not a magazine-style web site, or even a printed magazine's official web site, but an actual magazine that is published dititally. It is a subscription based or single issue purchased on-line and down loaded onto a computer. Once it is downloaded the pages turn like a traditional magazine and the content might (or might not) be identical to the printed counterpart.
One of my clients has begun to experiment with this concept, but there are currently many national magazines that offer a digital magazine option. In some cases there are extra features to the digital product like video and links.
The concept is exciting and offers another delivery mechanism for content. Currently I am familier with content that is a duplicate to the printed product, but I envision digital-only section or exclusively digital titles.
The question is: Does a digital magazine sample of work count as a tearsheet?
My opinion is that it should. There may be a greater or lesser amount of esteem to a digital tear, but there are various levels of esteem awarded to different printed titles. If you remove "pirnted" [sic] from theda's post, then your expanded definition works. what she said at the end "but self-publishing doesn't count" is probably more important. I'd be happy calling anything a tearsheet that can be referenced back to a publication to which the photographer or model contributed the work. If challenged, the model/photog must be able to produce the original piece.
This excludes those fake magazine covers and box art pieces that are so common. I believe things like that are tears when the original piece has been scanned (with permission of course) and I can see the rosette patterns of the offset press.
Photographer
Jack D Trute
Posts: 4558
New York, New York, US
Posted by Dan Howell:
The question is: Does a digital magazine sample of work count as a tearsheet?
Maybe if it is of high quality. But then we are left with the question, What is the value of a tear sheet? What does it matter? Why does it impress? Why does it make the retarded run around in circles?
I think it all comes down to the value that you have shown that you have and do work at a certain level. That is why the fakes are just that fake. For no relationship with a client is shown.
So Yes, an internet tear is a tear sheet. But it all comes down to, What can you do for me? Do you have a track record of successful completed jobs? And show me the money or at least the freebie bootie call like FHM or MTV video shoot.
Photographer
Halcyon 7174 NYC
Posts: 20109
New York, New York, US
I've seen screenshots from non-personal web sites listed as tear sheets and it gave me pause, but after a moment I thought, "yeah, ok, makes sense."
It helped that the web browser window outline was in the screen grab, not just a clean web page image. That was what sold it as a tear sheet for me.
Photographer
Todd S.
Posts: 2951
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
Posted by Jack D Trute:
I think it all comes down to the value that you have shown that you have and do work at a certain level. That is why the fakes are just that fake. For no relationship with a client is shown.
That's the gist of it right there: a client relationship. What if we forge a new definition of tear sheet based around that simple concept?
Model
theda
Posts: 21719
New York, New York, US
I am wary of considering internet publications tears, but I should really get over it. My appearance on the American Illustaration/American Photography website is really far more cause for bragging than a Goliath book, but it still doesn't feel like it.
But Jack's client relationship concept really is key.
Photographer
Mgaphoto
Posts: 4982
San Diego, California, US
Posted by Dan Howell:
Posted by theda:
The term has been generalized to include any publshed pirnted work. It doesn't have to be printed in a magazine necessarily, but self-publishing doesn't count. Oh I just love to split hairs with Theda! What do you think about the concept of digital magazine? Not a magazine-style web site, or even a printed magazine's official web site, but an actual magazine that is published dititally. It is a subscription based or single issue purchased on-line and down loaded onto a computer. Once it is downloaded the pages turn like a traditional magazine and the content might (or might not) be identical to the printed counterpart.
One of my clients has begun to experiment with this concept, but there are currently many national magazines that offer a digital magazine option. In some cases there are extra features to the digital product like video and links.
The concept is exciting and offers another delivery mechanism for content. Currently I am familier with content that is a duplicate to the printed product, but I envision digital-only section or exclusively digital titles.
The question is: Does a digital magazine sample of work count as a tearsheet?
My opinion is that it should. There may be a greater or lesser amount of esteem to a digital tear, but there are various levels of esteem awarded to different printed titles. Why would they call it a tear sheet if it comes off of the internet? Maybe you can call it a print sheet or something like that, but it definitely isn't a tear sheet! Anyone here can start an online magazine tomorrow so most are a joke. I guess if magazines like Maxim and Vogue stop their print publications and only use the internet people will accept it, lol like that will happen soon.
Photographer
PhotographerMV
Posts: 122
Norwood, Colorado, US
ok well i think that just about summ's it up. models looking for tear sheets arnt rubbing the linnen! they want somthing that is a product for publication....
Photographer
Aaron_H
Posts: 1355
Ann Arbor, Michigan, US
Like others have alluded to, it doesn't really matter. There is no tear sheet court or tear sheet court judge and no IITSS (International Institute of Tear Sheet Standards). What matters is whether or not it's going to be helpful, harmful or neutral to your book and your career.
If it looks like some low rent, rinky dink publication, ad or website it's going to make you look bad, lower or keep low your worth. If it looks cheesy and stupid it makes you look cheesy and stupid. If it was poorly reproduced/printed, poorly cropped, poorly used or the overall ad or page was poorly designed it can hurt, using a nice print of the same image on it's own would probably be better if the image itself adds to your book and fits your goals. If it's not a great photo it's a bad tear. If it's not the type of work you really want to do don't show it, tear or not.
On top of all that there is debate about whether or not you should put tears in your book at all. Some people have found that it distracts an Art Director, he critiques the design instead of your work, thinks about how he would have done it or what would have worked better, and not liking the design might reflect on your work. They think he/she should just be focusing on your work alone with the best print you can make. Some say have a separate tear book or at least a separate tear section in the back. Others like having facing pages with the original print on one side and the tear on the other.
Photographer
Todd S.
Posts: 2951
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
Posted by theda:
I am wary of considering internet publications tears, but I should really get over it. My appearance on the American Illustaration/American Photography website is really far more cause for bragging than a Goliath book, but it still doesn't feel like it.
*snip*
I am with you on this - it's a new area and subject to misuse.
If, for instance, Model X's images appear in my portfolio in site A, does that mean that she can claim them as tears in portfolio site B? Of course not, but.... every image has a client, even if it is the collaborators (model/photog/MUA) on the shoot. Or, Model X submits one of my images to Maxim's "hometown hotties" collection. Can I claim that as a tear? It depends on how impervious I am to the ridicule of my peers.
Posted by PhotographerMV:
ok well i think that just about summ's it up. models looking for tear sheets arnt rubbing the linnen! they want somthing that is a product for publication.... "product for publication" is, I think, too broad. (See my implications above.) It depends on how you define "publication."
Ideally the client should be neither the photog nor the model, especially if it's a "virtual" tear - either the image was created on behalf of a 3rd party or it ended up in a 3rd party's hands for publication. (An example of this latter category is any of the images in the AmPhoto series of lighting books where the original client was either the model or photographer - portfolio work - but after the photographer submitted the image to the publisher it becomes a legitimate tear.)
If folks want to submit bogus magazine covers, box art and iffy Internet references as tearsheets, I say let 'em. Only the gullible will be sucked down.
Photographer
Dan Howell
Posts: 3580
Kerhonkson, New York, US
Posted by ( ANT ) Mgaphoto:
Why would they call it a tear sheet if it comes off of the internet? Maybe you can call it a print sheet or something like that, but it definitely isn't a tear sheet! Anyone here can start an online magazine tomorrow so most are a joke. I guess if magazines like Maxim and Vogue stop their print publications and only use the internet people will accept it, lol like that will happen soon.
True, you can pop up a web site with infomation and images and call it a magazine, but umm...I made it clear (*or at least I thought I did) that what I am talking about is different than an on-line magazine or even a printed magazine's web site. I would be as if a magazine scanned every page and delivered it in one downloadable product.
National printed magazines such as Seventeen, Car and Driver, Redbook, a few of Playboy's Special Editions and several others are offering digital magazines that mirror the printed magazine. Obviously there is no problem calling material found in these a tearsheet since it is also available as printed content. However it is possible to offer additional material in the digital version that wouldn't appear in the printed version.
The question is would the additional content that is not printed but still appears under a national magazine's masthead considered 'tearsheet' or published material? I think it does qualify. What will complicate things further is if publishers will offer separate volumns or even separate titles for digital distribution without a printed equivilent. I am almost sure that this will happen if it is not happening already. (hint: I may actually know more about this than I can disclose)
My standard for what constitutes a tearsheet or publication is this:
If a person or committee (other than the creator) with some real investment of finance or reputation evaluates and chooses among several options of availble content whether on assignment or existing material (models, photographers, images, etc) and applies standards equal to other material pubished by themselves or other similar publications that selection or inclusion constitutes publication.
Other mediums have already faced issues of content delivery adapting to available technology. There songs and albums available for down-load only, and there are several movies that went 'straight-to-video' with out a theater release. Obviously there are different levels of accomplishment that go into those kinds of releases.
The term 'tearsheet' has been pretty rubber-y as I have observed in the industry when it is applied to fashion company style-sheets, point of purchase displays, cd cover/packaging, newpaper inserts, and various other printed pieces. The concept of a digital magazine is actually less of an absctraction of the original definition: pages torn from a magazine.
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