In their series, Scenes of Life, Lucie and Simon present moments we’re all familiar with: a breakfast, a nap on the sofa, a swim in a pool. All of the mundane clutter of everyday life is there in abundant and clear detail. What gives the viewer a real jolt of delight, however, is that all of this is seen from directly overhead, looking straight down — a seemingly impossible perspective, especially for the photographs made inside the rooms of their home.
What skeptics fear is that reporters come to identify with the military to such an extent that they no longer have the will, even if they have the means, to report bad news. Whether conscious of it or not, they self-censor.
via At War Blog: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/embedistan-2/
What such skeptics fear is that reporters come to identify with the military to such an extend that they no longer have the will, even if they have the means, to report bad news. Whether conscious of it or not, they self-censor.
Certainly anyone who has embedded for any length of time is familiar with remarks such as: “You didn’t hear that/You didn’t see that…”, “Do you have to use that…?”, “That’s not what he meant to say…”, “That was off the record…”, “Can you leave that out…?”.
Leon Levinstein’s black-and-white pictures of New York from 1950 to 1980 look at the grittier side of the city.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/arts/design/25hipsters.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
There is a paradox in Levinstein’s approach that is shared by legions of greater and lesser street photographers: he was hunting for the poetry of real life, but what he shot was generally the sort of thing that street photographers generally shoot. Not the types of people or situations that you barely notice because they are so ordinary, but people who seem strange, marginal or ridiculous. The Beat generation’s coolly noirish, anti-bourgeois spirit animates his work.
When you think of Polaroid, you probably picture the SX-70 OneStep Land Camera above, once the best selling camera in the US. If you had been awake yesterday, you could have bought one. Not any old reproduction, but a factory original, put together from r
via WIRED: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/06/new-vintage-polaroid-cameras-sell-out-in-hours/
There is a paradox in Levinstein’s approach that is shared by legions of greater and lesser street photographers: he was hunting for the poetry of real life, but what he shot was generally the sort of thing that street photographers generally shoot. Not the types of people or situations that you barely notice because they are so ordinary, but people who seem strange, marginal or ridiculous. The Beat generation’s coolly noirish, anti-bourgeois spirit animates his work.
Rupert Murdoch’s Times newspaper has instituted a registration wall as a preliminary step toward a full-blown paywall. Readership of the online edition immediately dropped by 50%. But, accord…
There is a paradox in Levinstein’s approach that is shared by legions of greater and lesser street photographers: he was hunting for the poetry of real life, but what he shot was generally the sort of thing that street photographers generally shoot. Not the types of people or situations that you barely notice because they are so ordinary, but people who seem strange, marginal or ridiculous. The Beat generation’s coolly noirish, anti-bourgeois spirit animates his work.
The classic F/1 lens is the Leica Noctilux. For those lucky enough to own one, its huge weight and price tag bought passable sharpness wide-open and creamy, buttery-smooth rendering of out-of-focus areas, worthy of any dairy metaphor you cared to heap on it.
Leica recently upped (or downed?) the ante by producing the fantastical 50mm f0.95 Noctilux. If the Leica 50mm F/1.4 ASPH is the Ferrari of fifty-millimeter lenses, the 0.95 is the Bugatti Veyron.
Link: 50mm f1.1 Nokton
Thirty years ago, a murder occurred about every five days on average in the 46th Precinct in the west-central Bronx (Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope). There were more detectives than on any other squad in the borough, but the precinct felt enough under siege to be nicknamed “Alamo.” Angel Franco, a freelance photographer who had grown up and lived not far away, made it a mission to accompany officers and detectives from the Four-Six every day he could, from 1979 to 1984.
Link: Cops, Neighbors and a Camera in Between – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com
Sunday Afternoon by Margeaux Walter Inspired by Georges-Pierre Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. Related links Margeaux Walter
via burn magazine: http://www.burnmagazine.org/photographs/2010/06/sunday-afternoon-by-margeaux-walter/
Thirty years ago, a murder occurred about every five days on average in the 46th Precinct in the west-central Bronx (Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope). There were more detectives than on any other squad in the borough, but the precinct felt enough under siege to be nicknamed “Alamo.” Angel Franco, a freelance photographer who had grown up and lived not far away, made it a mission to accompany officers and detectives from the Four-Six every day he could, from 1979 to 1984.
Google-owned YouTube won a major victory Wednesday when a federal judge ruled the video-sharing site was protected under U.S. copyright law. Viacom, which vowed an appeal, was seeking $1 billion in damages in a case testing the depths of copyright-infring
In short, Wednesday’s decision says internet companies, even if they know they are hosting infringing material, are immune from copyright liability if they promptly remove works at a rights-holder’s request — under what is known as a takedown notice.
This Friday, June 25th, it will have been sixty years since the beginning of the Korean War in 1950. After decades of Japanese occupation, Korea was divided in two by Allied Forces at the end of World War II, with the south administered by the U.S. and th
via Boston.com: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/remembering_the_korean_war_60.html
This Friday, June 25th, it will have been sixty years since the beginning of the Korean War in 1950. After decades of Japanese occupation, Korea was divided in two by Allied Forces at the end of World War II, with the south administered by the U.S. and the north by Soviet Russia. Deep divisions built over several years, leading to skirmishes and finally an invasion by North Korean troops on June 25th, 1950. The United Nations sent troops and support from 21 countries to support South Korea, primarily from the United States and Britain. The war lasted for three years, with large advances and retreats on both sides, and many casualties. Over two million Korean civilians lost their lives, and nearly two million soldiers from 17 different countries were killed. The two Koreas are technically still at war since hostilities ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty in 1953. Though it is often referred to as “The Forgotten War”, I hope this collection of photographs helps us to remember the events of 1950-53, those involved, and the legacy that still remains, sixty years later. (48 photos total)
James Hill arrived in Kyrgyzstan after the violent clashes started and tried to make what sense of it he could, as David Furst and Kerri MacDonald report.
via Lens Blog: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/assignment-40/
Nearly everywhere he goes, Mr. Hill encounters amateur photographers documenting the same stories he’s covering. It’s a phenomenon that has accompanied most violent conflict in recent years, underscoring the power of images.
“Every side in any conflict is very, very aware of the opinion that is being shaped in their world and in the outside world,” he said. “People photograph this because they’re trying to make a point.”
Eric Bouvet:
Deep within the treacherous terrain of the Uzbin Valley, young soldiers of the French International Security Assistance Force had a mission to fulfill: to take the valley, the same valley that saw a dozen French soldiers killed in an ambush by Afghan militants in August 2008. During the course of six months, the troops took the valley and every last village within, using what little mental and physical strength they had left. Not once during this time had they used their weapons, nor had they seen a Taliban. There had been an occassional attack upon them, but no one knew from where. Most days, the valley was hauntingly still, like a ghost, heightening the tension and fear of confrontation–as though scenes from Dino Buzatti’s “The Tartar Steppe” had come to life.
Link: Photo Essay Uzbin Valley
With the premier nearing of his documentary, “Restrepo,” Tim Hetherington takes time to talk with Michael Kamber about the future of photojournalism.
via Lens Blog: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/behind-44/
The documentary “Restrepo,” directed by Mr. Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, will open Friday. Last week, Mr. Hetherington sat down with Mr. Kamber in Midtown Manhattan to talk about the film — and much else besides. Their remarks have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Instead of relying solely on the decisions of editors and publishers to tell the stories they discover while cycling across the country, Tim and Noah Hussin are seeking funding from the general public.
Bedknobs & Broomsticks by Trent Parke Published by Little Brown Mushroom 40 pgs, 6.625 x 7.875 in. custom side-stapled Numbered edition of 1000 Designed by Hans Seeger ISBN#: 978-0-615-37550-2 …
via LITTLE BROWN MUSHROOM BLOG: http://littlebrownmushroom.wordpress.com/2324-2/
Instead of relying solely on the decisions of editors and publishers to tell the stories they discover while cycling across the country, Tim and Noah Hussin are seeking funding from the general public.
Photographer and educator Joe Deal, who was instrumental in the development of the landmark exhibition “New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” in 1975 and was the subject of several solo shows, died June 18 at a hospice in Providence, Rhode Island.
Link: Obituary: Joe Deal, New Topographics Photographer, 62 – PDN Pulse
Michael, of course continues to work with a full range of cameras, as readers here well know. I have sold my Canon gear in favor of Leica body and lenses. And how is the change working out?
Stephen Crowley may be a bit shy in person, but he’s taken some bold gambles with traditional forms of photojournalism.
via Lens Blog: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/showcase-175/
Stephen Crowley has spent most of his career masquerading as a newspaper photographer while producing idiosyncratic projects that push the boundaries of photojournalism and reveal unvarnished truths behind his most frequent subject: Washington politics.
Mr. Crowley, 57, a staff photographer for The New York Times, consistently takes risks in his photography. He was employing complex compositions in newspaper photography long before the style became trendy.