In “Moscow Nights” Antonin Kratochvil takes us on a journey into a sphere of decadent sensuality that instantly transports the viewer into a dark, dingy, salacious, circus-like combination of nudity, lust and raw sexual power. It is a view of Moscow’s underworld and, as its voyeurs, it is hard not to be touched by the lonely, drugged, almost hollow emptiness lurking beneath the external atmosphere of fervent sexuality. It is also hard not to feel the raw edge and danger that exists in the world of “Moscow Nights”.
As part of CPN’s educational interviews Eugene Richards, the celebrated American photographer and writer, gives a fascinating insight into his famously hard-hitting and compassionate documentary work.
In this exclusive video interview he reveals how he thinks photojournalism has changed in recent years, the ways in which his work has sometimes had unintended consequences, and the challenges photojournalists now face in the ever-changing media landscape.
To me, this is what documentary photography is all about. The photographer as a fly on the wall…seemingly unnoticed by his subjects…who perhaps either ignore his presence, got used to it or tolerate it….and from these frames, one can build a storyline
fine art photography requires a lot of money to produce. I spend a lot for films and prints and also traveling. I work full time 5 days a week and I don’t do anything else. My expenses are almost as high as my photography income and I have so little left at the end even when I am lucky. So, maybe I am not qualified to answer this question. Then why am I doing photography? I think it is a combination of passion and stupidity. For me, photography is intellectual, artistic, and curiosity fulfilling. I love making photographs.
On 1 May, during the Awards Days weekend celebration, US photographer Eugene Richards delivered the World Press Photo Sem Press Lecture to a full house at Felix Meritis.
In the 75-minute lecture titled ‘Books’, Richards discussed his career in photography and the reason he publishes much of his work in books. He put an emphasis on two of his recent works The Blue Room and War is Personal.
be aware that every person out there with a digital camera is your direct competition, and the quality of your work isn’t really a huge selling factor. Obviously you have to be good at what you do, but most people don’t know what a good picture is – as long as it’s in focus and has a lot of color people think it’s fantastic. A good example is MSNBC.com’s Week in Pictures (which is great, by the way). The picture with the most votes is consistently the cute one, or the one with the most color – not necessarily the one that took the most photographic skill to produce.
‘I had a number of topics and ideas that I wanted to photograph and I tried to put myself in the situations to make those images, but it was all un-posed for, with the exception of a couple of portraits. Even those were made in the scene that I saw them’.
[slidepress gallery=’markgong_cubanlife’] Hover over the image for navigation and full screen controls Mark Gong Cuban Life play this essay I wanted to do one last great backpack…
Cuba resonated with me like no other country I have traveled, and reminded me of what life was like being raised in Communist China. From the red handkerchiefs tied around the necks of students to the bicycles on the street, at almost every turn I experienced déjà vu. Scenes from my childhood came to life, lifted from memory and morphed into my surroundings, replaced with Spanish and colonial buildings. With this feeling of nostalgia, I began to capture settings that reminded me of the life that I once knew.
48-year-old Fabio Polenghi was shot as Thai military forces stormed a “Red Shirt” protest camp in an attempt to end a weeks long stand-off involving anti-government protesters and government forces.
Earlier today, soldiers from the Thai Army broke down barricades and entered the fortified camp occupied by anti-government Red Shirt protesters for the past several weeks in downtown Bangkok. Several clashes took place, and Red Shirt leaders announced to
Earlier today, soldiers from the Thai Army broke down barricades and entered the fortified camp occupied by anti-government Red Shirt protesters for the past several weeks in downtown Bangkok. Several clashes took place, and Red Shirt leaders announced to their followers that they were surrendering to police as the soldiers approached. Many protesters dispersed, but some continued to battle with grenades, guns, slingshots and fire, setting as many as 20 locations ablaze in central Bangkok. At this stage, it is unclear how many have been killed or injured, but at least five are known to have died, with dozens more injured. Thai authorities have imposed a curfew as they battle fires, process detainees and clear the rest of the Red Shirt encampment. (39 photos total)
Lunatic, the online magazine for up-and-coming photojournalists, recently launched its fifth edition, featuring this image by Nino Bartuccio. It’s taken from a story on baseball in the Dominican Republic, whose cheer charm proves that classic photojournalism has lost none of its appeal. But Lunatic is anything but traditional. Launched by photographer Karl Blanchet in 2007 in the face of declining mainstream media commissions, it was an idea ahead of its time. BJP caught up with Blanchet to find out more.
Increasingly dissatisfied with the single frame as “the carrier of information and the definer of context,” Robbert Flick developed a breakthrough grid format termed Sequential Views
Here, we will post stories from around the world from Leica photographers, and insight on their photography techniques. You can also expect to see the latest news on Leica’s product development and related events. Our hope is to present you with words and images to complement your Leica experience.
This was my main aim when I decided to quit my job at the Associated Press. I wanted to go back to taking pictures and telling the stories of people whose lives had changed forever because of the war, especially the 2006 summer one. In a way I wanted to tell my own story with the war, during which, the country was packed with local and international media covering the daily events, but then few weeks after the war ended, they all packed their stuff and went back home to rest, while I stayed at the office working, of course with other local colleagues and very few international photographers who came each for few weeks.
I happen to think there was a wide-range of photography represented and far more surprises than one would find in most publications. There are photo festivals that focus on much more traditional documentary work but that’s not what the New York Photo Festival is trying to do.
