I think I’ve mentioned before what a fan I am of Jason Lazarus’ work. His current show up in Chicago, This is gonna take one more night is full of smart, endearing, compelling and the Jay-Laz-brand-of-humor images that have come to define him and his work. I decided to do ask Jason some questions about his show.
Check it out here.
Our general consensus is that it is in the eyes. It has to be, for there is nothing else to offer up that feeling of wrongness in the art of Marion Peck. Her palate is sunny enough, her subjects innocent enough, her landscapes full of greens and lights and other indications of virtue. But the eyes – the eyes hold none of those characteristics.
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I thought I’d post a short Q&A session I was lucky enough to have with Antonin Kratochvil. Kratochvil, if he’s new to you, is a Czech-born American photojournalist. He is also founding member of the VII Photo Agency. His career is rather epic at this point
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Think back to the year 1981, some of us were still pissing ourselves, or not even born. Rick Springfield was singing Jesse’s Girl, Blonde was rapping to Rapture, Regan was doing some acting in the White House and Blek Le Rat was painting the streets of Paris. Unknowingly becoming one of the first pioneer stencil artist of the modern street art movement. Often overlooked by more well known media savvy stencil artists, Blek Le Rat was clearly behind many of the styles we see in the streets today. Although much of Blek’s early work was in the streets of Paris, It was not long before he was traveling the globe and leaving street pieces at every stop, and he still is today. -Manuel Bello
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George Pitts is an industry mainstay, and a classy, classy gent. I mean, look at him!
He was kind enough to answer some questions I had for him about this crazy photosphere we live in. Listen to him, he knows some stuff.
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Thank you all for your support, emails and comments. I have had received a lot of emails about my project, Trapped: Mental Illness in Prison, with similar questions so I decided to answer them here.
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When asked how he first became interested in photography—and photojournalism in particular—Jay Dickman replies, “I think a lot of it was the product of growing up in the 1950s and ’60s when we had LIFE and National Geographic as our ‘windows’ to the world; they were our TVs.” This brought coverage of the Vietnam War, moon missions, civil rights issues and world stories into people’s living rooms. “Looking back, I didn’t realize how this was forming my direction and energy.”
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Bill Armstrong: I don’t think of my imagery as soft focus, in fact, I call it extreme blur to distinguish it from soft focus. My concern is not to make “soft” or impressionistic images of the real world, like the early pictorialist photographers, but to make de-materialized or ephemeral images that represent a completely different world—a spirit world, if you will, or a parallel universe.
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What has actually happened is many photographers have evolved beyond the wants and needs of the newspaper. We are shooting stories that don’t get published and shooting personal projects to keep our brains stimulated. The ‘cat sat on the mat’ images pay the bills. In many ways it is a sad reflection of photojournalism today, there are so few places where top end photojournalism can be seen.
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any minute now, William Albert Allard will walk through my door….i have not asked him, but i will put him on the spot with any of you who happen to be “on” right now….he will probably be here for a couple of hours or so…since his name comes up quite a bit here, most recently on the previous post, i thought you might enjoy having a word with him…so ask the boy a question or two…i will try to keep him here as long as possible…..
Check it out here.
You have heard by now that Polaroid film is dying. Rightfully, no, but inevitably, yes, and we have few words to appropriately state our reaction (of the few we have, the following do share company: appalled, mystified, f*cking pissed).
Of course, while we are all justified in experiencing some emotion over this unnecessary loss, there are those among us who have even more right to mourn (see also: picket, riot, send death threats, etc.). One of them is Grant Hamilton, an Iowa City-based professional photographer who cites a 1975 Polariod SX-70 as his camera of choice – and who will, come next year, be to find a new medium.
Join us as we A) Take a moment of silence for a great thing lost; and B) Chat with an artist who is approaching some serious changes.
Check it out here.
Then, the business starts to struggle and stock sales start to crumble and suddenly divorce. And, wham, the money is all gone and the business is really drying up and suddenly you’re a 49 year old former wunderkind thinking “what in the hell am I going to do?” If you’re Chip Simons you hit the effing reset button, sell all your gear, pack your shit in the car and drive from New Mexico to east 13th street in NYC and start pounding the streets again.
Check it out here.
Bert Teunissen’s Domestic Landscapes is one of my favourite photography books, and I had wanted to talk to Bert about his work for a while. A little while ago, I finally sent him an email to ask, and he agreed to an interview.
Check it out here.
This month we focus on John Moore, a senior staff photographer with Getty Images based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Before joining Getty, Moore was a staff photographer with the Associated Press, and was on a team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography for their coverage of the war in Iraq. Having lived in Nicaragua, India, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt and Pakistan, as well as the United States, Moore estimates that he’s worked in over 80 countries throughout his career. Most recently named Magazine Photographer of the Year in POYi, Moore was awarded two first place prizes at the 2008 World Press Photo Contest for his coverage of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Taking some time while on a layover in Johannesburg in route to Zimbabwe, Moore provides some insight into what it’s like to work as an international conflicts photographer.
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Alyson Fox likes doing things. In her case, ‘things’ mean drawing, taking pictures, designing clothes, making shop windows pretty – and probably one or two more ‘things’ since we last talked.
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In honor of this tenth anniversary, we went back to a few PDN’s 30 photographers and asked them to once again share some advice with the next generation of photographers. We asked each of them: What is one of the most important lessons you’ve learned? How have your career goals changed? And, of course: What have you been doing lately?
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I love the craft of creating. That something can affect so many people is a great feeling of accomplishment. It happens so quickly that we tend to take it for granted and it’s really very special. 40 million people will see these pictures in the Geographic, that’s terrifying.
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I met Ofer Wolberger in the Artist in the Marketplace Fellowship program at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in 2003. It was all too apparent at the time that he was headed for great things, while I was headed for Crown Heights and a cabinet full of ramen. Ofer was shooting lustrous and large 4×5 and 8×10 imagery at the time, and had few commercial clients.
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I met landscape photographer David Hibbard in 2003 during one of Brigitte Carnochan’s portfolio workshops. David consistently presented beautiful prints of his quiet, contemplative coastal landscapes. I was impressed with both the images, and his meticulous craftsmanship. Eventually the conversation turned to workflow — David was shooting slide film with a Pentax 6×7 camera, scanning on an Imacon, and using either Epson or Lightjet output for prints (depending on the print size). Recently David has added a Canon 5D digital SLR to his toolset. I currently shoot with a 5D and 6×7 film as well, and David agreed to conduct an interview to talk about cameras, workflow, and his forthcoming book. The interview was conducted via IM on 3/5/2008.
Check it out here.
Since I’ve never worked on the advertising side of this industry I called up a friend and offered her anonymity if she would speak honestly with me about that side of the business. You’ll have to trust me that this is a good source and I’ll go so far as to say, if you can imagine the biggest advertising agency in the country and the biggest “named” photographers then that’s where she’s worked and who she’s worked with.
Check it out here.