Mikael Karlsson

Mikael Karlsson is a photo.net member who can be counted on to give out accurate and useful advice in the Business forum. Which is unsurprising because he has been successful at one of today’s more difficult business paths for a photographer, rights managed image licensing (also called “stock” photography). In an era of royalty free images and microstock photographers by the millions, Mikael has created a market for his images by seeing a need and doing the work to provide images that others don’t have the experience, skills, or connections to get. His success is something for younger photographers to pay attention to because it proves that, if done right, there is still success to be had in more traditional photographic business models as well as in the newer ones.

Explain how you see your body of work and what draws you to do the photography that you do?

MIKAEL: My work is documentary. Nothing is ever faked. Part of what draws me to continue is that people in general know extremely little about the reality of police and prisons. There are so many shows on TV and movies that are so far off from reality that the general public has a skewed view of what things are really like. This poses a visual and conceptual problem because the photos need to be capable of educating the viewer and show things the viewer thinks should look a certain way in a different way. A lot of thought goes into this work but always before shooting. When shooting we’re talking real officers doing their daily work and I’m right there beside them. Things happen so fast that there’s no time to think “in the field”.

The goal of a lot of photographers in the past used to be to get into a stock photography house and be able to sell images of all sorts of things. These days, microstock and royalty free image have largely eliminated that path to success. However, at the same time, you have done well by focusing on a specific type of image and providing them to clients. Talk a little about the business end of your work and how you are able to survive in an age where stork and rights-managed sales are so difficult for many other photographers.

MIKAEL: My business basically stands on three feet. Direct licensing, agency licensing, and the writing part. Direct licensing I do working with big national US book publishers like Pearson, McGraw-Hill and similar. There are also magazines, trade publications, occasionally a main-stream magazine, and newspapers that license photos from me. By far the biggest part are the book publishers. Books on criminal justice etc where they might license 20 to 50 of my images per title.

As far as agencies go I work pretty much only with Alamy. I will be looking for other agencies shortly but haven’t had the time. It can be hard to find agencies that are suitable for me since I’m so very specialized. But I’m very happy with Alamy. Through them I reach a market I wouldn’t have had the time or resources to reach on my own.

I also write. Articles for a bunch of Swedish magazines on all kinds of topics. I write for some US trade publications as well and have a huge feature article on criminal street gangs and gang migration in the US in 9-1-1 Magazine’s January/February issue. I started as a writer/journalist and I need to know a lot about what I photograph so the knowledge needed for these trade-magazine articles is already there.

I don’t see much of an impact from the micro-agency side of the industry on my business. Maybe it’s the people I work with, maybe it’s not easy topics to photograph and get access to.

Your primary subjects, law enforcement workers, are a group that can be very suspicious of photographers and being photographed. How did you overcome this hurdle and gain the trust needed to create your images?

MIKAEL: It takes time. For example I have been going on ride-alongs with the Tactical units of the Kansas City, MO, PD Street Narcotics Unit for over ten years now. The first year or so was very different than it is now. I had to show the officers that I could be trusted. I did that by doing everything on their terms. This doesn’t mean I didn’t photograph when thing went bad. It means I’d sit and wait for 4 hours at the unit with no whining while we’re waiting for a judge to sign off on a search warrant. It means I stay out of their way and that I respect their requests. It also means that when I say I will send them a copy of a particular book I’m shooting for that time I do. By now they have a stack of books a couple of feet high featuring them doing their job. The guys love that. Now I’m treated as one in the gang.

This is the same for pretty much every new unit, department, agency I go to. Back in 1999 I was doing an article about the death penalty for a Swedish magazine and called the Nebraska State Pen. Talked to the assistant to the Warden and explained what I wanted to do. The magazine was my reference. It took almost a month but I did get permission. By being professional, personable, and having pretty good social skills that first meeting went well. Now some ten plus years later I’m very good friends with the assistant to the Warden and we go to lunch every now and then, exchange Christmas cards etc.

It’s like any other business really. Seek out your contact and grow and nurture them as best you can. Always be honest and if you promise a copy of a book or magazine or a print – make very sure you send it.

I also think it helps that I actually know a lot about law enforcement and prisons and related topics. I have been doing this for a long time now and often find – especially when I work with rural agencies – that I know more about the work, in general, than the officers. This doesn’t mean I’m better at their jobs than they are, but it means I can have an intelligent discussion with them about their daily life, problems, etc and they naturally soon realize I actually know what I’m talking about. I’m also a very good listener and that goes a very long way. Simply listening to people when they talk and show them that what they’re saying is important enough for you to give it – and them – your undivided attention means a lot.

On the other side of the coin, what advice do you have for photographers interacting with members of law enforcement.

MIKAEL: Be polite. If things are tense, try to defuse the situation by being calm and reasoned. Sure, there are bad apples everywhere and anyone can have a bit of a run-in with a cop that probably shouldn’t be a cop. But even if this is the case, right there at the scene of whatever incident we’re dealing with isn’t the time or the place. It’s a heck of a lot better to be able to walk away on your own compared to get handcuffed and taken in to the station. The vast majority of officers are simply trying to do their job and if you treat them nicely chances are pretty darn good they’ll treat you nicely.

At the same time, stand your ground if the officer is asking you to erase your photos or similar. But, keep on being calm and polite. Ask the officer to call his Sergeant or supervisor, but ask nicely. All this is assuming that you haven’t been photographing security sensitive installations or similar. Please also realize that many officers are risking their lives working undercover and you might have photographed someone who’s identity shouldn’t be compromised.

Again, listen to what the officer is saying and what the reasons are for him or her asking you to do something. Knowing your rights and standing up for them doesn’t mean yelling, name-calling or other un-pleasantries.

What legal issues do you run into regarding model or property releases with your photography? This is a complicated issue for many photographers and it must be even more so when dealing with law enforcement action. Have you ever had to deal with your images being subpoenaed for a court case (on the side of the police or the defendant)? Does that (or would it) present an ethical issue for you?

MIKAEL: Yes, images have been subpoenaed. Yes, I have been summoned to court for the prosecution a number of times. For me it’s part of the job and something I’m willing to do. It’s the price I pay for getting the access I have. In my situation it also shows the officers – and their superiors – that I will “do the right thing” and be on “their side” when needed. At the same time, had I been asked to misrepresent something or tell the story a certain way I would politely decline.

I don’t worry about model releases at all. Aside from inmates photographed in prison, I never have anyone signing a release. Inmates sign releases in Nebraska because the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services demand that they do before being photographed. It’s tricky with inmates because they are where they are and pretty much at the mercy of the officers and staff. Because of this I’m always very clear with them that if they don’t want to be photographed they absolutely don’t have to. Again, it comes back to treating people like you want to be treated yourself.

I make it clear to every client and customer I work with that not a single one of my images are model released. This has never been a problem since we’re talking editorial usage and in the US there’s no need for a model release in those cases. Had my images been used in a commercial usage (to sell and/or promote a product and/or a service) releases would have been needed, but that’s absolutely not my cup of tea.

What gear do you take with you when shooting? One would assume that the police don’t let you pack a full set of pelican cases and studio lights into the back of the squad car on a ride along.

MIKAEL: Probably a lot less than people think when it comes to camera gear. But a lot more of other stuff. When I go on a typical ride-along with the cops I have a Canon 7D as my main and a 50D body as a backup. A 17-55 2.8 IS on the 50D and a 24-70L or a 70-200L IS on the 7D. One 580EX II and lots of batteries. Loads of CF cards. Always all Canon. Not because I think they’re better than Nikon or other brands. Canon simply makes stuff that works great for me.

Then I carry a concealed bullet proof vest, boots that are safe for blood and other bodily fluids (some of the homes we end up going into are very nasty) and I dress pretty much like officers in BDU’s, black or tan. I don’t use a camera vest but I do use a 5.11 Tactical vest. Lots of pockets and lots of specially designed holders and pockets for law enforcement gear. I carry pretty much the same tools the officers carry, aside from a side-arm, with rubber gloves, microbial wipes etc.

If I’m away from the office I also bring my Macbook Pro and download cards after each shoot. The shoots normally last 14 to 16 hours at a time since I start early in the afternoon, say around 2 p.m, and go on until 6 or so in the morning the day after.

And finally, the question we ask everyone: While your professional work obviously revolves around law enforcement, do you enjoy other types of photography as well? What would be your ‘dream project’ if you could work on anything in the world?

MIKAEL: I do actually enjoy taking family snapshots. As absurd and non-photo-geekish that must sound. Capturing the happiness in the moments when the wife interacts with our nieces (5 of them) when the nieces visit us for a week in the summer, and stuff like that. Simple, very snapshot-ish photography. Probably as a counter-weight to the violence, pain, death and other nastiness I photograph all the time “for work”.

If I could I’d love to spend a year going on ride-alongs and photographing cops in the Caribbean, Africa and South America. Very different from law enforcement in the US and it would be both an eye-opener and a marvelous learning experience.

Some Examples of Mikael’s Work

Mikael Karlsson	I have no problems seeing blood and guts up front. I have no problems going into an apartment where someone has been expired for a very hot summer week or two. But no matter how much experience you have there are some places that just creep you out. For me one of those places is Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Not the military prison though. It’s in the walls. Despair, violence, dread.
Mikael Karlsson	SORT (Special Operations Response Team) member rappelling down a wall. SORT is the SWAT equivalent inside prison within the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. This is a very elite group of COs (Correctional Officers - don’t call them guards!) that are dedicated and take their difficult task very seriously. These guys train all the time. They deal with life-or-death situations involving inmates and staff. They plan and handle high-risk prisoner transports and are the only people in the system that can respond with deadly force quickly if need be.
Mikael Karlsson	CO and inmate having a bit of a laugh together in the yard. One of the challenges with the type of photography I do is to find new interesting angles to show things going on. Not many people outside prison know that good communications between staff and inmates is both very important and encouraged these days. In the majority of prisons inmates don’t hate the staff and vice versa. The movies and TV-shows are so far off from reality that I often can’t watch ‘em without wanting to tear what little hair I have left out.
Mikael Karlsson	This image, along with this one and this one, show the approach to a house serving a high-risk drug related search warrant. The older guy – who goes airborne – refused to get off the railing and onto the ground. With a less experienced and less professional team he likely would have been shot or tazered. He ended up with a bruise or two but nothing more. Kansas City, MO, PD Street Narcotics Unit tactical 1920 squad. These guys were featured in Kansas City SWAT on A&E TV a few years back. I have been riding with them for ten years now and try to spend at least three weeks with them every year.
Mikael Karlsson	Checking speed right by a school. Hand-held laser, cruiser with minimal markings and low-profile lights make the speed-check very hard to spot. It’s not always about writing tickets and pissing drivers off. Believe it or not but most officers don’t enjoy writing you a ticket – they’d rather see that you follow the posted speed limit.
Mikael Karlsson	Again, trying to find something different, some other way of how technology is used by a modern up-to-date police force. This one is in Sioux City, Iowa, and the female officer have just stopped a vehicle for speeding. Sioux City PD is very well known around the country as far as law enforcement goes. They have a training center where training is offered to officers and agencies all across the Midwest. When possible they also take the training on the road to smaller departments that can’t afford to send officers away for much needed training.

Links

• Mikael’s member page
• Mikael’s gallery page

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