Philip Quirk and Margaret Cameron
COPYRIGHT BUS

ACMP always welcomes members who are prepared to take the plunge and "put something back" into the industry that has provided them with an income and, frequently, an enjoyable lifestyle.

Copyright issues have been high on the ACMP agenda since the inception of the organisation. The hard work of many ACMP volunteers and board members, in particular Chris Shain and Nancy Cohen, was highlighted by landmark changes to Australian Copyright Law in July 1998. Their hard work deserves admiration and thanks from all Australian photographers. However the changes did not signify the end of the battle for commercial photographers trying to protect their rights. It simply sent the campaign into a new stage. In order to maintain the momentum, ACMP canvassed the membership for individuals willing to take on copyright responsibilities.

Copyright has been likened to a bus. It's big, slow, carries lots of baggage and seems to stop a lot. But also riding on board are photographers hopes for artistic control and for future financial returns from their images. Enter, a new bus driver. Well to be precise, we have two bus drivers. Philip Quirk and Mary Cameron.

Philip Quirk is based in Sydney and is a long time member of the ACMP. He is also a founding member of Wildlight Photo Agency and specialises in reportage and documentary photography. His concern for the well-being of the industry and particularly because of his involvement in the editorial, book and corporate markets, have led to his preparedness to drive copyright forward on the next stage of the journey.

Philip contributes to many of the worlds top magazines including "Travel & Leisure USA", "The New York Times Supplement USA", "National Geographic Publications", the German "Stern" and "Der Spiegel" magazines and also "The Observer" and "The Sunday Times" in the UK. He has contributed to many significant book titles including "A Day in the Life of Australia", On the Beach, edited by Geoffrey Dutton, "Surprising Lands Downunder" by National Geographic and the "Wine Atlas of Australia and New Zealand" by James Halliday. Philip's own titles include,"Wildlight- Images of Australia", "Farm - Life on the Land", "Sydney" and "Across the Top". In addition Philip is the co-publisher of "Australian Faces and Places"- a diary which each year showcases some of Australia's best and most well recognised black and white images.

He also exhibits personal images regularly and is represented in many public collections including, the Australian National Gallery in Canberra, the Art Gallery of NSW, the Queensland Art Gallery and the South Australian Art Gallery. Philip's current personal project is a new collection of Landscapes of Australia. He is the Chairperson of The World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterdass (AustINZ) committee. Held annually in Holland, the masterclass seeks out young and talented photographers.

Mary Cameron is the manager of Wildlight. Having come from a background in the personnel and commercial real estate industries and then owning her own small business in Melbourne, Mary went on to develop her knowledge and interest in photography through studies at PSC and by working within the industry. Mary relocated to Sydney in 1998 to join the team at Wildlight. There she runs the day to day operations of the business.

Wildlight was founded in 1985 and now represents over 20 photographers around Australia in a range of specialities. They also run a stock library of over 300,000 images. The emphasis here is on reportage style images of Australia, South East Asia and the Pacific that supply clients worldwide in either digital or transparency form.

Mary's involvement with both clients and photographers has provided her with a rounded perspective on issues relating to the photographic industry in general.

Philip Quirk

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