Mostly True: The Lady GaGa Generation:
Making lasting images is a full-time job. There’s just no way to do great work if you’re a photographer only 40% of the time. You can’t do it if you’re worried about transmitting as soon as you have something that is “good enough”. That’s how standards get set, and now “good enough” is where the photojournalism bar is stuck.
Blind Photographers Use Gadgets to Realize Artistic Vision | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:
When a brain tumor caused professional photographer Alex Dejong to lose his eyesight three years ago, he turned to gadgets to continue making his art.
GeekFest 2009:
It’s that time of year again for the best little underground photo conference out there – GeekFest. St. Petersburg, Fla. is the place to be September 11-13. $100 is a low price to pay for inspiration and motivation and fun.
Showcase: Extremely Large Format – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
Shaun Irving, 34, has always been into photography. So much so that for the past six years, he has been taking photographs from inside his cameras: old delivery trucks he’s turned into mobile cameras by tricking them out with surplus military lenses and heavy doses of ingenuity.
Thus, the “world’s largest traveling camera,” which has taken photos from Virginia to Spain and back again. The proof can be found at cameratruck.net, a Web site dedicated to all things camera truck.
E-Project: Michal Daniel’s “In Your Face” – PDN:
Michal Daniel’s street portraits of unsuspecting subjects add up to a compelling and provocative body of work. With spy-like stealth, he gets as close as he possibly can to his subjects and while pretending to be distracted by his digital organizer, he photographs them with an outmoded and rather shoddy mini camera.
RESOLVE — the liveBooks photo blog » Archives » Ed Kashi Travel Notes – A return to the Niger Delta reiterates the challenges of overseas photojournalism:
After publishing Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta in 2008, Ed returned to the Delta in May for nearly seven weeks to shoot a video for the State of Bayelsa. Despite his extensive experience in the area, the experience was a constant trial. For photographers who have worked overseas, this will no doubt sound familiar — for those who look at their images, it’s a compelling glimpse into how they are made.
Nikon Will Fix Dead D5000s, Free | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:
If you have Nikon’s new flip-screen DSLR, the D5000, and it won’t switch on, it’s because Nikon didn’t make it properly.
Man accused of extorting money in punk rock scene — chicagotribune.com:
A founding member of a group that allegedly uses violence to control the punk rock scene in clubs and at concerts in major U.S. cities was charged with extorting a Chicago-area recording artist, federal authorities said Tuesday.
Elgin Nathan James, identified by authorities as a founder of a street gang called FSU, was arrested Monday at his Los Angeles home after a federal criminal complaint was unsealed in Chicago.
Leica S2 Makes Debut at Fotocare:
One of the most anticipated cameras of the year, the Leica S2, made a brief debut at a Manhattan photo retailer Monday, albeit in a still pre-production yet close-to-final form. The 37.5-megapixel DSLR/Medium Format S2 was on display at fotocare as part of a special event to promote the re-opening of the store which moved to its new location at 41 W. 22nd Street in May.
Click Note: Make sure you’re watching the Half a Tank blog. Michael Williamson/The Washington Post is building an amazing body of work with every post.
Half a Tank: Along Recession Road
– Searching For Life In Dead Buildings:
“Outreach–anybody here?” Shamus Rohn shouted. “Hello? Anybody here?”
No answer. The only sound was the glass crunching under our feet as we walked through a dark hallway and up the stairs, guided by Rohn’s flashlight. The light bounced across endless piles of refuse, stopping occasionally on objects that hinted at the gutted building’s past: A rusted wheelchair, adjustable metal bed frames, boxes upon boxes of latex gloves. Lunch menus were spread across two rooms.
AMERICANSUBURB X: THEORY: “Point and Shoot: How the Abu Ghraib Images Redefine Photography (2005)”:
The Abu Ghraib photographs were taken with commonplace “point and shoot” digital cameras owned by at least two of the alleged participants in the abuse. Being digital, the cameras recorded the scenes as arrays of pixels that were instantly compressed into a near-universal format called “JPEG.” The advantage of such compression is that it makes it easier to store pictures on a hard drive or memory card and to send them via e-mail and the Internet to friends and relations. The sharing of e-mail photographs has become the common coin of today’s image economy, and it has contributed to a proliferation of all sorts of photographs, from shots of cars for sale on eBay to explicit pornography. The Abu Ghraib photographs are, as Michael Kimmelman, the chief art critic of the New York Times, has remarked, “the visual equivalent of cell-phone chatter.”
Transform by Zack Arias is must-see video from Adorama Learning Center:
Every photographer should take ten minutes to watch this powerful video about the creative process
via apad
Who Will Succeed Kim Jong Il? – washingtonpost.com:
Recollections of teachers and former students at a state school in Switzerland may offer a glimpse of the young man some say is destined to lead North Korea.
Arca Swiss Rm3d Review – Luminous Landscape:
This is going to be an unusual review of an unusual camera from an unusual company.
nicola lo calzo – inside niger | burn magazine:
The cultural project ‘Inside Niger’ is a photographic reportage that started after a meeting with the humanitarian association African Pan Project, which is active is Niger since 15 years.
The reportage, committed by Paris city council and Conseil General de Val de Marne, is taking place for one month in the region of Tillaberi and Dosso in the Niger. Its main focus is the population that lives and works on the borders of the Niger River, where most of commercial activities take place such as universities, public work, markets, fishing, slaughter house, vegetable gardens, and tannery.
Origin II from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
Origin II « Keith Loutit PhotoBlog:
This was shot by me from 2 vantage points in Sydney’s ANZ Stadium. New for me is the extended reach using tilted lenses, as well as a faster shutter rate to capture action without having to shoot video. I’m shooting timelapse so have taken some liberties in recombining the footage to tell my version of the story.
NPR: NPR’s Photographer Reports From Afghanistan:
NPR staff photographer David Gilkey says that the number one rule for a photographer is: never abandon your equipment. But he decided to do just that — leaving most of his things behind except a camera, a lens and a bulletproof vest. What was supposed to be a brief patrol with the Marines in southern Afghanistan turned into a 7-day trek through the surprisingly lush Helmand River Province.
Trekking in temperatures well over 110 degrees, the Marines abandoned almost all of their belongings except their weapons, and dodged almost constant fire with only the clothes on their backs.
via apad
