Tag Archives: pay

I love roller derby girls. Every damn one of them! I want the Atlanta Roller Girls to be successful and roller derby to be recognized as a real sport and not just a fad. For the past 5 seasons I have given a day or two every month to document and record the action, the people, the faces, and the fun of roller derby. In fact, it can be argued that I spend more hours taking pictures of derby than pretty girls in bikinis or less. I don’t mind. I love doing it. Already I’m wondering what I’m going to photograph during the off-season.

You, Big Shot Corporate Marketing person or Book Author – you have seen my roller derby photos. You have seen the girls in the photos. If you come to me asking to use a photo of my friends to promote your product or sell your book, please be prepared to offer compensation. And I mean real dollars here. If the face in my photo is going to help with your product sales, then it is worth paying us for it.

Roller Derby does not need “exposure” anymore. The sport has been featured on a reality TV show, countless TV news features, magazine and newspaper articles. The Atlanta Roller Girls do not need “exposure”. They sell out every bout. I do not need “exposure”. I have been published in international magazines, book covers, and on award winning DVDs.

Exposure doesn’t pay for the team’s travel expenses or venue rental. Exposure doesn’t pay for a skater’s out of pocket expenses to be a derby girl. It doesn’t pay for her skates, her uniforms, her league fees. Exposure doesn’t pay for my equipment insurance or credit card bills.

Derby is no longer a curiosity. It is is a commodity. If you want to profit from the athletic skills of our skaters and the artistic skills of our poster creators and bout photographers, be prepared to cut us in on the deal – fairly.