Michael Ventura Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Please don't take this as criticism in any way, just curious. I have noticed over the years that many contributors from Europe use aliases or screen names, here on the forum and even as a photo credit name, while the photographers from North America tend to use their actual names. So again, I am not saying there is a right way and wrong way but just curious if there is any reason for this, cultural or otherwise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 13 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said: Please don't take this as criticism in any way, just curious. I have noticed over the years that many contributors from Europe use aliases or screen names, here on the forum and even as a photo credit name, while the photographers from North America tend to use their actual names. So again, I am not saying there is a right way and wrong way but just curious if there is any reason for this, cultural or otherwise. I do it to make it easier to find my images. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Clemson Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 UK based. I used my real name as when I signed up so many years ago, it never occured to me to do any other. I have one pseudo which is not based on my name but the name I trade uner (JYImages). If I were signing up nowadays I might well choose a name which does what Geogphotos suggests - whenever I search for my real name I end up looking at many, many photos releated to Clemson university whose football team have/had a player called Joseph . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ognyan Yosifov Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) Somebody has suggested on this forum that by having a unique pseudo it'd be easier to track down your own images on the net. As Joseph mentioned, using your own name would lead to unwanted hits. Recently, in my country, a politician with similar to mine name won the elections - guess what's happening when I do a search! Edited August 22, 2021 by Ognyan Yosifov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abiyoyo Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Although I use Abiyoyo my main Pseudonym is my real name. The image selected is how I will look like very soon 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnans Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Born in South India and living in UK. I chose pseudo as my full name is 24 character long including the spacing between first and last name. Not an easy one to pronounce as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 One thing I have noticed when searching for Alamy photos used in American publications (not just my photos), is that the longer pseudos have a bigger possibility of just getting an Alamy credit only. These are with pubs that will credit photograper/Alamy or Alamy only. It may be how much space they have for credits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 North american. Main reason to use pseudonym is my name is actually long, include a typographical character that some English market historically have had issue with (ç) (kudos however to Alamy for supporting it) , and once i realised it was an easier search for credit (my last name is common) it became the main pseudonym. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Always used my own name. It is short and to the point and means something. Allan & ITMA🤪 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 My name is just unusual enough that searching for my photos via Google, I get mostly my photos in the first few pages. I guess ever since taking photos for my high school newspaper and yearbook, I always got a kick out of seeing my name in print and after getting into photography as a profession, my parents got some pride from seeing my name as well, in magazines. They would have dinner parties and would invariably show their guests what I was up to...they kept a small stack of magazines in which I had photos. I think at first, they were disappointed that I never had a "real" job but later saw that I really loved what I was doing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) I'm not saying. Yours sincerely, Montague Ronald Standfast Edited August 23, 2021 by Mr Standfast Typo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 4 hours ago, Ognyan Yosifov said: Somebody has suggested on this forum that by having a unique pseudo it'd be easier to track down your own images on the net. As Joseph mentioned, using your own name would lead to unwanted hits. Recently, in my country, a politician with similar to mine name won the elections - guess what's happening when I do a search! Have you considered running for office, Ognyan? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaniMarkus Hasa Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) I use mostly my own name although it contains letter Ä (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ä). It's unique, so not much false results when googled. I use pseudonym when I'm not particularly proud of the image or to avoid the angry mob (candid images, especially with children) or when there is a logo of my employee in the image. Problem with my pseudo is that it's way too common in Finland - didn't think that through when I started to use it. Edited August 23, 2021 by JaniMarkus Hasa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb photos Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 5 hours ago, Joseph Clemson said: UK based. I used my real name as when I signed up so many years ago, it never occured to me to do any other. I have one pseudo which is not based on my name but the name I trade uner (JYImages). If I were signing up nowadays I might well choose a name which does what Geogphotos suggests - whenever I search for my real name I end up looking at many, many photos releated to Clemson university whose football team have/had a player called Joseph . Same here. When I signed up with Alamy I was an effective photographer, but didn't realise the advantages of using a unique as possible name rather than my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ognyan Yosifov Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said: Have you considered running for office, Ognyan? I'm a pacifist, Ed! 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Hatton Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 If I get a credit I want to see my own name! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) With a generic WASP name like mine, it doesn't really make much difference what name I use. There is an army of us out there. I currently have four pseudos -- my own name and three others that use my initials (JSM) instead. Interesting aside, when I first started contributing to Alamy, a cantankerous contributor (or would-be) actually telephoned me (don't know how he got my number) and complained because I had the same name as his. It was a bizarre conversation. No, I'm not a former Attorney General of the USA who did time in the clink, although I was around back then. 👴 Edited August 22, 2021 by John Mitchell 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 2 hours ago, Nick Hatton said: If I get a credit I want to see my own name! Me too. In Europe, more or less I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell Watkins Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 My name isn't that common but I know of at least two other photographers with exactly the same name, one of whom is an award-winning international documentary photographer. It's him I feel sorry for, if anyone does a name-based search... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colblimp Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 I used my own name from day one, which was a mistake, as there’s a rather famous US country singer with the same name as me… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Richards Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Google my name and I'm in illustrious company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Chapman Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Colblimp said: I used my own name from day one, which was a mistake, as there’s a rather famous US country singer with the same name as me… 2 hours ago, Dave Richards said: Google my name and I'm in illustrious company. My namesake shot John Lennon... Another reason for me creating some unique pseudos that had, at the time, no hits on Google. Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Estall Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) For years, Radio Hams used "handles" and then came Social Media where so many things and people are not quite what they seem to be, It seems to have become the way many behave or look at things. Not too sinistre! My name doesn't look very unusual, but there aren't many Estalls about. There is one other much younger Robert Estall who was up to no good in Las Vegas and may still be in The Slammer. Not me, honestly Guv. I'm not sure how or why the middle M got into my handle, I'd take it out if I knew how, but not losing any sleep over it. Edited August 23, 2021 by Robert M Estall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) Oh, well. When I was young, I was told by an employment office guy once “with a name like yours, you should be a bubble dancer”. So be it. I restrained myself from slapping the @%#& out of him. But there are some LaRues who come up in Google. Not a lot, though. No bubble dancers. Edited August 23, 2021 by Betty LaRue 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokie Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Searching for images using my real name causes me problems - no, I don't want to search for John Keats! Yours sincerely, John Keates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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