Photo: Photographers outside Tate Britain yesterday after they had refused to sign a contract at the press preview of the Turner Prize exhibition
Picture credit: Ki Price
A photographer who yesterday walked out of the press preview of the Turner Prize exhibition over a controversial contract he was asked to sign has blasted organisers for ?chancing their luck?.
Ki Price, who works for the Independent newspaper, was among press photographers left fuming when Tate Britain effectively banned photographs from being used to show the gallery in a negative light, under the terms of a new contract.
Photographers also protested that the contract granted the gallery permission to copy, reproduce, record, store and disseminate their photos, without paying royalties.
Price told Amateur Photographer (AP): ?My equipment cost me thousands and after years of study and working hard it?s presumed that I?ll give away my work for free.?
Although Price works for the Independent he said he doesn?t represent the newspaper and was, therefore, not able to sign on its behalf.
The Tate eventually backed down and pledged to review the contract after ?discussions with picture desks?.
?They [Tate Britain] started off by saying that we could take out one clause, then another,? said Price who told us that reading AP helped him on the road to becoming a professional photographer.
?By the time the photocall finished, which was meant to be between 9 and 10am – and no-one had covered it – they realised the error and at 11 o?clock we went in and did the job without signing anything.?