CAMERAWORK: A JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS is SF Camerawork's twice yearly magazine devoted to presenting quality reproductions and writing that reflect contemporary issues in the photographic arts. It is distributed to Camerawork's members as well as museums, libraries, arts organizations, and universities nationally and abroad.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Four Reasons to Consider Working for Free
The U.S. stock market has been cut in half. And some countries have it worse than we do. Companies are shedding jobs like there is no tomorrow. And heaven help you if you work for a newspaper or a magazine.
The US auto industry is on the verge of imploding. People are losing their homes to foreclosure. And, on the off chance that you had the nerve to try to buy something, credit is almost impossible to come by.
It is against that backdrop that I would like to talk about working for free.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Nick Turpin Ditches his SB-800s for a Cell Phone
(RSS and email subscribers may have to click on the post title to see the video.)
Remember Nick Turpin, who did those beautiful SB-800-lit street portraits of thriller writers for Arena Magazine?
Now, he has ditched even those and is shooting his current month-long campaign for Samsung using only a cell phone. No DSLRs, no flashes, no female assistants holding long poles. And he is not even in control of what he is shooting -- you are.
Your clicks on each new photo in the the evolving site decide where he is going next. It is live now, at The Photographic Adventures of Nick Turpin. You can follow his cell-phone video diary from his trek via his YouTube Channel, too.
British photographer Martin Parr, whose work straddles documentary and fine art photography, argues that photojournalism "has to get modern" to regain the attention and support of mainstream magazines. In this month's "State of the Art Report: Photojournalism Survival" (PDN August), Parr asserts, "You have to disguise things as entertainment, but still leave a message and some poignancy." In a recent interview, we asked him to elaborate on his theory.
1854 brings you a daily dose of photographic news, from the latest gear to the best exhibitions to the best insights on ongoing and upcoming trends in the industry. 1854 is written by the editors of the British Journal of Photography, the world's oldest photography magazine
In the first years of the Iraq war, Noor co-founder and Time magazine contributor Yuri Kozyrev travelled behind enemy lines, following the conflict from both the US military and Iraqi insurgents' perspectives. 'I spent a lot of time with both sides,' he says. 'I would be with the rebels and then go across the road, knock on the doors of a palace, go inside and find myself with the US military.'
Philip Jones Griffiths (b. 1936) is a Welsh-born photojournalist known for his coverage of the Vietnam war. Griffiths studied pharmacy but started as a freelance photographer in 1961, traveling to Algeria in 1962. He arrived in Vietnam in 1966, working for the Magnum agency. Magnum found his images difficult to sell to American magazines, as they concentrated on the suffering of the Vietnamese people and reflected Griffiths's view of the war as an episode in the continuing decolonisation of former European possessions. He was able to get a 'scoop' that the American outlets liked, photographs of Jackie Kennedy vacationing with a male friend in Cambodia. The proceeds of these photos enabled him to continue his coverage of Vietnam and to publish Vietnam Inc. in 1971. The book had a major influence on American perceptions of the war, and became a classic of photojournalism. In 2001 the book was reprinted with a foreword by Noam Chomsky.
As one of the world's preeminent photographers, Sally Mann creates artwork that challenges viewers' values and moral attitudes. Described by Time magazine as "America's greatest photographer," she first came to international prominence in 1992 with Immediate Family, a series of complex and enigmatic pictures of her three children. In SALLY MANN: WHAT REMAINS, director Steve Cantor follows the creation of Mann's same-named series on the myriad aspects of death and decay. Never one to compromise, she reflects on her own personal feelings toward mortality as she continues to examine the boundaries of contemporary photography. At her family farm in Virginia, she is surrounded by her husband and now-grown children, and her willingness to reveal her artistic process allows the viewer to gain exclusive entrance to her world. Spanning five years, SALLY MANN: WHAT REMAINS contains unbridled access to the many stages of Mann's work, and is a rare glimpse of an eloquent and brilliant artist.
"One of the most exquisitely intimate portraits not only of an artist's process, but also of a marriage and a life."
- The New York Times
As one of the world's preeminent photographers, Sally Mann creates artwork that challenges viewers' values and moral attitudes. Described by Time magazine as "America's greatest photographer," she first came to international prominence in 1992 with Immediate Family, a series of complex and enigmatic pictures of her three children. What Remains-Mann's recent series on the myriad aspects of death and decay-is the subject of this eponymously titled documentary.
Photographer and artist Cindy Sherman uses her self-portraits to highlight stereotypes of women that exist in film and magazines. In an extended interview, she talks about her artistic inspiration, the evolution of her photographic style, and what her photography is meant to accomplish.
Photographer Annie Leibovitz has produced some of the most memorable and iconic images of the last 30 years, from her work with Rolling Stone magazine through to her Hollywood cover portraits at Vanity Fair. She has also recorded the horrors of war in Rwanda and Sarajevo and taken intimate shots her own friends and family, including Susan Sontag. This documentary, directed by her sister, is a fascinating portrait of a great talent, featuring vintage footage of Leibovitz in action during the 1960s and contributions from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hillary Clinton, Mick Jagger and George Clooney.
Kathy Ryan, photography editor at "The New York Times Magazine", Peter Galassi, chief photography curator at the Museum of Modern Art, and photographers Jim Nachtwey and Gilles Peress discuss the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition for which "The New York Times" gave 300 of its photographs. note this comes at the end of the video
An interview with Steve McCurry, a documentary photographer famous for his portraits of Asia. Since the 1980's he has been a frequent contributor to National Geographic Magazine. This interview is part of a larger work in progress called "Cultural Expressions: Conversations with Photographers".
please watch these in advance of the session
-Take Care by MediaStorm because of it's great use of stills and video to combine for a moving and aesthetically powerful visual narrative, it's great character development and that fact that within a short time frame you get transitions and a transformation within the story. I'm impressed that this project came out of a one week workshop, which is testament to the collaborative effort that so often is part of a successful multimedia work, but also to Gillian Laube's visual sophistication. http://mediastorm.com/training/take-care
-Blanco- by Stefano de Luigi is a great example of multimedia that is more conceptual, evocative without being journalistic and visually stunning. While the reliance on special effects might turn off some, I find it quite effective in this case. As multimedia developments and evolves as a new medium in the context of photojournalism and the profession of photography, we must remain open to using the new tools and techniques available to us. http://magazine.viiphoto.com/feature/show/267
-50 Milligrams Is Not Enough- by Bob Sacha and Scott Anger, produced by Pam Chen for Open Society Foundation. This marvelous piece highlights a worldwide issue in healthcare, told in an intimate, moving, visually lush way. This piece is a great example of visual storytelling and advocacy journalism, done with the highest aesthetic qualities. Great character development, in a wonderfully told plot, with sensitivity and high journalistic standards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWeUDNyqo1I
-Leaves Keep Falling- by Ed Kashi, produced by Talking Eyes Media, is a short film and strong example of advocacy journalism. About the lingering impact of Agent Orange on the children of Vietnam, it mixes stills and video in a linear narrative to keep a story that seems old alive and relevant for new generations to remain aware of. It was produced for a foundation in cooperation with an NGO working to support families
A Gear Guide For Going Freelance
By David McIntyredavid-mcintyrecloseAuthor: David McIntyre See Author's Posts (2)
Recent Posts
* Nine Essentials (Besides a Camera) You'll Need as a Freelance Photographer
* A Gear Guide For Going Freelance
David McIntyre is a photographer for Black Star based in China and Hong Kong since 1995. Prior to becoming a freelance photographer, he was a staff photographer for The Phoenix Gazette. He has also worked for UPI, the Associated Press, EPA, Asiaweek Magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Baseball America, and the minor league baseball teams in Denver and Phoenix before they had Major League teams. Visit David's Web site. in Business of Photography on March 13th, 2009
I've read the articles and postings about newspaper layoffs, and I've gotten my share of e-mails from former staff photographers asking for guidance. As someone who's been freelancing for most of my career, what's the first advice I would give to those of you striking out on your own?
Get the right equipment.
A lot of corporate and editorial assignments require portrait work, for example - which requires lighting gear. But most new freelancers don't realize they will need more than their one shoe mount strobe.
Others may have more or less gear than what I find works best. But here are my recommendations for the equipment you'll need to fulfill the majority of requests from potential clients.
For two hectic weeks between the US presidential election and the inauguration, one photographer was invited to make portraits of every member of Obama's new incoming administration. The result is a series of 52 unlikely semi-formal portraits that reveal a refreshingly diverse, young, energetic group of the people who will be key to helping forward Obama's agenda.
This series of portraits originally appeared in The New York Times Magazine, in print and online. Now, for the first time anywhere, an exhibition of life-size prints of these images will go on display (not in America) but in Birmingham, UK.
UK-based photographer Nadav Kander talks with Jim Casper of Lens Culture about how this daunting project came into being, and provides some very interesting personal observations about his brief encounters with the new power-brokers of America. See some of the images, and listen to the interview, here in Lens Culture.
NEW YORK-The panoramic photograph of a bootless soldier, sprawled almost gracefully in death in Afghanistan, might have made readers pause for a moment if it had appeared in a newspaper or magazine. But when "Taliban Soldier" filled a New York City gallery wall-blown up to near life size-it made the art world take note.
Taken with a large-format camera, the monumental 4- by 8-foot print was presented for $15,000 four years ago at the Ricco Maresca Gallery, a Chelsea stop usually favored by folk and fine art collectors. It catapulted the Paris-based photographer Luc Delahaye, who shot the image on assignment for Newsweek, into international prominence. And it signaled a turning point for a small club of international war and "conflict" photojournalists, who now see their images appearing regularly in gallery and museum shows.
Suddenly, the reality of war, famine, poverty and pain has turned into fine art.
"Great collectors are always looking to be delighted by something that they don't know about, and this excites some of them," says Bill Hunt, the former Ricco Maresca co-director of photography who introduced Delahaye to gallery crowds.
Renzo Martens' Episode 3 : Analysis of a Film Process in Three Conversations
Els Roelandt
first published in A Prior Magazine #16,
February 2008
I.
Last summer, during my trip to Kassel for Documenta 12, I spoke with the young Dutch artist, Renzo Martens (b. 1973), who was barely known to me. To be specific, I had already met Martens, at another point in the summer's so-called 'Grand Tour'. Martens and I had shared a small apartment in Venice with some other colleagues and artists. I saw very little of him. As the only man in the group, he kept conspicuously to himself. He was quiet, ironing his shirts or practicing yoga. He barely spoke and impressed me as one of the most detached individuals I had ever met. Ultimately, thanks to our - coincidentally concurrent - visits to Documenta 12, we only really began a conversation somewhere near Duisburg , on the drive from Kassel back to Brussels .
