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“Good photography is critical to business. If you want to portray yourself as a professional, you need a professional photo.” That’s where Bob Giglione comes in, having spent the last two decades photographing nearly every major corporate event and business leader on Long Island. Making his way from film to digital technology, from joining the then-fledgling Long Island Business News as its primary photographer in 1997 to operating his own successful photography business today, Giglione’s vision has remained the same: showcase Long Island success stories, and make the people behind those stories look good, portraying them as happy, successful, and seen. By spotlighting the best of Long Island business for so many years, the man behind the camera became the most important person in the room. And as he went from boardroom to ballroom and back over the decades, he observed: “There are a lot of great leaders on Long Island – more than people realize.”

An insurance executive for 20 years in his “first life,” Giglione always enjoyed photography, but it wasn’t until his wife gave him a book about becoming a professional photographer that he considered making a career change. He stopped by local photography studios and started getting work shooting weddings on weekends in the early ‘80s. By 1987, he had left the insurance industry and was photographing 100 to 150 weddings a year, but still felt that he wasn’t getting in on the goings-on on Long Island.

Looking to meet people and build his client base, Giglione got his feet wet covering ACIT (Advancement for Commerce, Industry, and Technology) events at the invitation of board member John Kominicki, who had taken the helm at Long Island Business News. Giglione’s artistic focus officially shifted to the business world when he joined LIBN as its primary photographer in 1997. For the next 20 years, Giglione used his art to bring a face to Kominicki’s vision for the paper: celebrate the innovation and accomplishments happening in Long Island’s office towers, research labs, farms, factories, wineries, and town halls. His mission is the same now that he’s out on his own: through his photography, Giglione seeks to expose Long Island as the untapped resource and hidden jewel it is.

While Giglione’s tenure at LIBN included photo shoots with major political figures (he covered presidential debates at Hofstra) and celebrities, the subjects he’s most enjoyed photographing are the businesses and leaders driving the Long Island economy. Tired of the constant cycle of negative news and focus on problems, Giglione used his camera to highlight the positive, business-oriented Long Island headlines that don’t get enough press. His photography focuses on high-profile networking events and business news, corporate movers and shakers, and what politicians are doing for you – not the scandals. Even his Hurricane Sandy work took a business angle, focusing on how businesses would recover from the devastating storm. His job at LIBN was to create images that would draw readers into these optimistic stories, catching key people in action and sharing their accomplishments. Now doing private business photography, Giglione’s goals have remained constant.

As a photographer, Giglione has adapted to rapidly changing technology: he started shooting film and switched to digital in 2006. He embraces new technology (“With digital, you can see your mistakes quicker, so you can make real-time modifications”; Instagram also serves as his current portfolio) but still respects the classic tools of the trade (“Pictures taken with a phone have their place, but professional photography requires the best equipment and lighting”). He also got an early taste of social media by posting event photos on the LIBN website the same night, upping the anticipation among attendees all vying for a shot. Through the years, he also learned to trust himself as the creative decision-maker (“A photo of a lawyer in front of the firm logo or a factory owner holding a widget don’t always make for the most exciting shots”).

Giglione, who recently chatted with CMM Managing Partner Joe Campolo about the parallels of their career paths (using different media in their own way, both seek to promote all that’s positive on Long Island), says he still enjoys the solitude of “imagining photos and seeing places.” When he’s not on assignment, he takes pictures walking around NYC. He’s passed down his love of the camera to his children, with two daughters who became photographers and a son who became a cameraman for CBS News (and another daughter who became an accountant!). The insurance executive-turned-photographer has no regrets about starting over in his career: “Photography isn’t what I do, it’s who I am.”

Learn more at https://www.bobgiglionephotography.com/.

Bob Giglione and Joe Campolo; Randi Shubin Dresner of Island Harvest.

Former Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy; Rep. Tom Suozzi.

 

John Kominicki; Rep. Peter King.

 

Left: news anchor Ernie Anastos.

Former Senator Al D’Amato; former Rep. Steve Israel.

Esther Fortunoff; Judge Leonard Wexler.

 

By Christine Malafi

Laws constantly evolve to adapt to modern society. Situations that were once impossible to imagine (such as buying hand soap from a distant warehouse at the click of a button and having it appear on your doorstep the next day) are now routine. As such, it is impossible to craft legal rules to anticipate the future. The power of the internet has amplified this discrepancy, and its ever-growing presence has sent shockwaves through the legal system. In this altered landscape, many existing legal rules no longer achieve their intended purpose and must be adapted to address the rapid advancement of technology and the growing e-commerce world. Sometimes, this may require long-standing precedent to be discarded, as we saw in the recent United States Supreme Court decision South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.[1]

What Happened?

Prior to this Supreme Court decision, states were prohibited from collecting a sales tax unless the seller had a physical presence (e.g., an employee or a building) in the state where the item was sold.[2] In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed its prior decision and overturned 26 years of precedent, holding that a state can require internet retailers to collect sales and use tax even without a “physical presence” in that state.  Through this decision, the Court leveled the playing field and decided the “physical presence” rule was no longer tenable in our technology-driven society. The result for in-state merchants (who had to compete with online retailers who didn’t have to charge sales tax) was a win.

How Did This Happen?

The case began in 2016 when South Dakota enacted a law that required out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax “as if the seller had a physical presence in the state” if they sold more than $100,000 of goods or services in the state annually, or engaged in 200 or more separate transactions with in-state residents. Given that South Dakota does not have an income tax, it relies heavily on sales tax for revenue, which was eroding each day.

For decades, the “physical presence” rule has enabled online retailers to avoid charging sales tax, thereby depriving states of an estimated $8 to $33 billion each year in revenue. Not surprisingly, this rule has been adamantly criticized for providing out-of-state businesses an opportunity to exploit a tax loophole – colloquially called the 8% advantage as per the average sales tax rate across the country – and gain a competitive advantage over in-state merchants. Indeed, 41 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia have sought to overturn Quill. Ultimately, South Dakota initiated an action in state court to seek validation. Opposing South Dakota were online retailers with no physical presence in the state who, unsurprisingly, contended that South Dakota’s new law was unconstitutional.

These online retailers sought to uphold the “physical presence” rule articulated by the United States Supreme Court in 1992 to avoid having to charge the tax (and thus appeal to customers). The Supreme Court pointed out that internet sales giant Wayfair (the defendant in the case) actually flaunted its ability not to charge state sales tax in its advertising by stating, “One of the best things about buying through Wayfair is that we do not have to charge sales tax.” Wayfair’s principal argument was that small businesses, by not paying a sales tax, can leverage the internet to expand their small businesses nationwide. While the Court acknowledged that some small businesses may be adversely affected, its 2018 decision applies only to businesses that conduct a significant amount of business in the state—a larger business. The Supreme Court focused its analysis on the “physical presence” rule and highlighted the change of circumstances over time which led it to its new decision.

In 1992, when the Court’s decision was to not permit states to require collection of sales tax without a physical presence, less than two percent of Americans had internet access and Amazon and eBay did not exist. Fast-forward 25 years, and now 89 percent of Americans have internet access. The Court pointed out that in 1992 it did not “envision[] a world in which the world’s largest retailer would be a remote seller.” These days, consumers have little reason to leave the comfort of their home to go shopping, as they are “closer to major retailers” than ever before. Accordingly, the Court found no reason to continue to support the artificial distinction between being physically present in a state and conducting a significant amount of virtual business in a state.

How Does This Affect My Business?

With the “physical presence” rule now buried among other Supreme Court holdings that no longer fit in modern society, the shackles have been released for states to pass legislation mirroring that of South Dakota. States will now be able to require online retailers to collect sales tax from their customers and in turn, collect the millions of dollars in revenue that has eluded them for so long. Small businesses with limited multi-state sales could be burdened by state tax systems, but it remains to be seen how states will set the minimum requirements for sales tax collection. Only time will tell just how onerous such burdens will become. If you have questions regarding sales tax collection requirements for your business, please contact us.

[1] South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., No. 17-494, 2018 WL 3058015, at *12 (U.S. June 21, 2018) (“What may have seemed like a ‘clear,’ ‘bright-line tes[t]’ when Quill was written now threatens to compound the arbitrary consequences that should have been apparent from the outset.”).

[2] Quill Corp. v. N. Dakota By & Through Heitkamp, 504 U.S. 298 (1992).