Sad news today that Martin Elliott, who took the world-famous Tennis Girl photograph in 1976, has died at age 63 after a 10-year battle with cancer.
Something I've learned from the coverage of Mr Elliott's death is that the girl in the photograph, his then-girlfriend, 18-year-old Fiona Butler, wasn't paid for her work. And this wasn't merely a photographer taking a random spur-of-the-moment shot of his girlfriend and then getting lucky with sales. It was a planned shot, complete with borrowed tennis dress, racket and balls, and Ms Butler was very much acting as a model. Yet she wasn't paid, while Mr Elliott went on to reap huge financial rewards from a photograph that still makes money today.
Like many iconic photographs, I'd say that it's the subject of the Tennis Girl photo that makes it what it is. The photographer, aside from some technical competence, didn't play a big part. So it hardly seems fair that the person in the photo didn't make money from it, while the photographer got rich.
‘Tennis Girl’ photographer Martin Elliott dies
Sad news today that Martin Elliott, who took the world-famous Tennis Girl photograph in 1976, has died at age 63 after a 10-year battle with cancer.
Something I've learned from the coverage of Mr Elliott's death is that the girl in the photograph, his then-girlfriend, 18-year-old Fiona Butler, wasn't paid for her work. And this wasn't merely a photographer taking a random spur-of-the-moment shot of his girlfriend and then getting lucky with sales. It was a planned shot, complete with borrowed tennis dress, racket and balls, and Ms Butler was very much acting as a model. Yet she wasn't paid, while Mr Elliott went on to reap huge financial rewards from a photograph that still makes money today.
Like many iconic photographs, I'd say that it's the subject of the Tennis Girl photo that makes it what it is. The photographer, aside from some technical competence, didn't play a big part. So it hardly seems fair that the person in the photo didn't make money from it, while the photographer got rich.