Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Inspiration: Strange and Oddly Beautiful Photography 2
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Labels:
inspiration,
photography
Beth Reynolds and Documentary Photography
Friday, October 30, 2009
A lot of this work deals with courage. I'm not sure if I have that in me. And every day I find myself close to tears when I look at people's photographs. I've never been so moved by something. Every story is always more than it is simply because they compel me to be a better observer of the world. I am constantly astounded by the way captured human emotion surpasses the constraints of time and age--how I am able to share this feeling of depth and explosiveness within me with every person who has seen these pictures. These are the times when I feel like photography is not so much a thievery of souls but a preservation of it.
Read more »
Labels:
beth reynolds,
documentary,
photography
Useful wings.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
There are so many other paths to self-discovery but I had to do it by leaving. I had to leave to live. From betrayal to betrayal, I choose to be true to myself.
Labels:
leaving,
new york,
photography
Pictures of The Floating World
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Bleed into simple lines,
Which knows
Neither sadness nor joy,
Neither denial nor fulfillment,
But knows beauty—
Knows only beauty.
This is David Turner. Check out his work! It's because of people like him that people like me strive to become better every day.
Labels:
david turner,
photography,
reul de vera poetry
Leaves in a puddle.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
This is where C and I ended up the other day. I found an inky puddle on the road with fall leaves drowning in it.
Labels:
fall 2009,
leaves,
massachusetts,
photography
φῶς (phos) "light" and γραφή (graphê)
Drawing with Light
This is our fate:
to see things that aren't there.
The next movement is an anticipated
syncopation,
breaking into gesture.
A sigh, a head lays on a shoulder.
This is our fate:
To forget what we saw,
For color cannot be remembered.
Light falls differently on every eye absorbing a moment.
This is our fate:
To know the difference.
For to compose, composite, de-compose,
is to choose a story.
(They will never know.)
They should know,
that reality does not satisfy the dreamer.
This is our fate:
To blink, to lose an instant to time.
For clicking opens the shutter long enough,
only to close as quickly.
Eyes water and to dream is a forgivable luxury.
This is our fate:
to step away from ourselves.
For distance allows us to focus, unfocus,
until the decisive moment.
This is our fate:
To record history with silence.
For every print trades its lightness for gravity.
A mimicry of stories unfold in front of the viewers gaze.
(to be continued within the course of the year. probably. hopefully!)
This just might evolve into one of my pet projects. I'm thinking of taking photos to match each stanza and perhaps put together a small book.
Read more »
This is our fate:
to see things that aren't there.
The next movement is an anticipated
syncopation,
breaking into gesture.
A sigh, a head lays on a shoulder.
This is our fate:
To forget what we saw,
For color cannot be remembered.
Light falls differently on every eye absorbing a moment.
This is our fate:
To know the difference.
For to compose, composite, de-compose,
is to choose a story.
(They will never know.)
They should know,
that reality does not satisfy the dreamer.
This is our fate:
To blink, to lose an instant to time.
For clicking opens the shutter long enough,
only to close as quickly.
Eyes water and to dream is a forgivable luxury.
This is our fate:
to step away from ourselves.
For distance allows us to focus, unfocus,
until the decisive moment.
This is our fate:
To record history with silence.
For every print trades its lightness for gravity.
A mimicry of stories unfold in front of the viewers gaze.
(to be continued within the course of the year. probably. hopefully!)
This just might evolve into one of my pet projects. I'm thinking of taking photos to match each stanza and perhaps put together a small book.
Labels:
light,
pet project,
photography,
poetry
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
October 20th Morning Playlist
Marching Bands of Manhattan- Death Cab for Cutie
Passing Afternoon- Iron & Wine
Bulletproof Weeks- Matt Nathanson
On your Porch- The Format
Only You- Joshua Radin
This Modern Love- Bloc Party
The Swell Season- Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Read more »
Marching Bands of Manhattan- Death Cab for Cutie
Passing Afternoon- Iron & Wine
Bulletproof Weeks- Matt Nathanson
On your Porch- The Format
Only You- Joshua Radin
This Modern Love- Bloc Party
The Swell Season- Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Labels:
music,
photography
Dead stars
Monday, October 19, 2009
Labels:
photography,
stars
Photoshoots in the white room, almost bedroom
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Shooting on a Sunday after helping out in school. You know you love what you're doing when you can't help but do it 24/7. FOR FUN.
Read more »
Labels:
friends,
photography
Winter is coming.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Labels:
fall 2009,
photography,
poetry
Northampton
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Rode with J and them to Northampton. The assignment was to use different graphic elements to emphasize a subject.
Interrupting Lines
Contrast of Color
Using Depth of Field
Read more »
Interrupting Lines
Contrast of Color
Using Depth of Field
Labels:
friends,
photography
A Tree
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Over the weekend, between roadtrips, C and I chased after light. For our class with Greg, we had to pick an environment and take photos of it at different times of the day. We raced with the sun to catch the dawn and attempted to see in the dark when the moon rose. This tree was interesting because it's leaves were half-fallen. The ones left behind were a brilliant color..almost like a pseudo-resistance. And I thought the graveyard behind it was cool. :)
7AM
12NN
7PM
Read more »
Labels:
fall 2009,
Greg Heisler,
photography,
tree
Portraiture with Greg Heisler
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
I talked to Greg about this because I was bothered about the idea of taking someone's portrait. When he showed us a couple of photos done by professional photographers in the industry and his comments about style, gesture, and purpose, it raised several questions in my mind:
1. What makes a good portrait?
2. Does it have to be real? What about surreal portraits?
3. Does it have to tell a story? But what if a person's face is interesting on it's own?
4. How does one take a candid portrait without trespassing on someone's privacy?
5. What is good portrait lighting? Does a portrait have to look 'unpolished'?
It was an interesting conversation to say the least. I told him about my struggle with seeing and watching. I told him that I found it embarrassing to be 'photo-journalistic,' to take a stranger's portrait on the street without asking for their permission. The candidness of the moment would be ruined by awareness but at the same time, how can I just steal a picture of someone's life? It's a weird feeling: watching, loving what I see, and interrupting it with a click.
He brought up the idea of watching vs. seeing what we want to see/ imposing our vision on a scene.
"I want to stop taking pictures of pictures."
It's a challenge to distance ourselves further from the reality that we are composing to the reality that's actually there. I remember Barbara Bordick mentioning that "Every portrait is a self-portrait"--on the one hand, the photographer has a say. He/she has stake on what the photograph is meant to say. On the other hand, because of this, it brings up the question of who the photograph is really about. Is it about the subject or the artist?
Richard Avedon then talks about surfaces and how the face or a specific surface was enough to make a photograph. It's true that it seems like that's all photography is, a one-dimensional art. Flat. I still don't know how I feel about this. Is portraiture merely a means to record a surface? It seems too easy... to forget the 'why.'
"Personally, I wouldn't take a picture of someone that I wouldn't want of me." This is one of Greg's greatest advice to us, for sure. It implies the gravity of the work we create--how our pictures affect the world's way of seeing itself.
"Sometimes I wish I could just do this: (blink) CLICK."
I also told Greg about this couple that J and I saw in New York. We were walking towards the subway and there was a couple in their sixties wearing black and white. The woman was white, with snow white hair, wearing a black dress, and white shoes. The man was black, with a black beret, a white suit, and black shoes. They looked like they stepped out of a movie set. It was too perfect..how opposite they were. Coincidentally, they sat in front of me and J. AND endearingly, they were so in-love. I told Greg how I'll never forget that couple and it was during those times that I really felt the burden of ethics. It would be perfect to have a built-in shutter inside our brains when something like this falls on your lap. But, then again "if you think about it, that moment will never be lost because you'll always remember that couple on the subway. And because of that, it'll resurrect itself in your future work."
"Sometimes it's my dream to hire an artist's model. And just look. Have the pleasure of looking. Not in a creepy way. But to really see someone. I took a drawing class and it was illuminating because you really need to pay attention to the details instead of just going 'click.'"
"Ultimately, portraits should be about the subject. But that's just me."
As long as we are aware of the person in front of our lens and in control of the person behind it, then we'll be okay. It's a matter of struggling with ourselves, finding a balance between what we want to say and the story that's already there.
Read more »
1. What makes a good portrait?
2. Does it have to be real? What about surreal portraits?
3. Does it have to tell a story? But what if a person's face is interesting on it's own?
4. How does one take a candid portrait without trespassing on someone's privacy?
5. What is good portrait lighting? Does a portrait have to look 'unpolished'?
It was an interesting conversation to say the least. I told him about my struggle with seeing and watching. I told him that I found it embarrassing to be 'photo-journalistic,' to take a stranger's portrait on the street without asking for their permission. The candidness of the moment would be ruined by awareness but at the same time, how can I just steal a picture of someone's life? It's a weird feeling: watching, loving what I see, and interrupting it with a click.
He brought up the idea of watching vs. seeing what we want to see/ imposing our vision on a scene.
"I want to stop taking pictures of pictures."
It's a challenge to distance ourselves further from the reality that we are composing to the reality that's actually there. I remember Barbara Bordick mentioning that "Every portrait is a self-portrait"--on the one hand, the photographer has a say. He/she has stake on what the photograph is meant to say. On the other hand, because of this, it brings up the question of who the photograph is really about. Is it about the subject or the artist?
Richard Avedon then talks about surfaces and how the face or a specific surface was enough to make a photograph. It's true that it seems like that's all photography is, a one-dimensional art. Flat. I still don't know how I feel about this. Is portraiture merely a means to record a surface? It seems too easy... to forget the 'why.'
"Personally, I wouldn't take a picture of someone that I wouldn't want of me." This is one of Greg's greatest advice to us, for sure. It implies the gravity of the work we create--how our pictures affect the world's way of seeing itself.
"Sometimes I wish I could just do this: (blink) CLICK."
I also told Greg about this couple that J and I saw in New York. We were walking towards the subway and there was a couple in their sixties wearing black and white. The woman was white, with snow white hair, wearing a black dress, and white shoes. The man was black, with a black beret, a white suit, and black shoes. They looked like they stepped out of a movie set. It was too perfect..how opposite they were. Coincidentally, they sat in front of me and J. AND endearingly, they were so in-love. I told Greg how I'll never forget that couple and it was during those times that I really felt the burden of ethics. It would be perfect to have a built-in shutter inside our brains when something like this falls on your lap. But, then again "if you think about it, that moment will never be lost because you'll always remember that couple on the subway. And because of that, it'll resurrect itself in your future work."
"Sometimes it's my dream to hire an artist's model. And just look. Have the pleasure of looking. Not in a creepy way. But to really see someone. I took a drawing class and it was illuminating because you really need to pay attention to the details instead of just going 'click.'"
"Ultimately, portraits should be about the subject. But that's just me."
As long as we are aware of the person in front of our lens and in control of the person behind it, then we'll be okay. It's a matter of struggling with ourselves, finding a balance between what we want to say and the story that's already there.
Labels:
Greg Heisler,
photography,
portraits
ATTITUDE = 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A glimpse of the past three days
Only you know what you need. (Arnold Newman)
http://www.arnoldnewmanarchive.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/arts/07newman.html
(Greggory Heisler)
http://www.gregoryheisler.com
You can't trust your eyes if your imagination is out of focus.
Portraiture is about taking a great record of the face. You need to create defined circumstances to set up the moment.
It can completely be your thing. People don't know until they see it. Show your work. What you have to offer is your uniqueness and everyone has that already. Even twins.
If you leave me alone, I'll kill myself for you. If you tell me what to do, I can't wait to go home.
(Barbara Bordnick)
http://www.barbarabordnick.com
Portraits- You make yourself or they make you. It's about "getting to people." Find something about them that is uniquely them. RESEARCH. BE PREPARED. Motivate something to happen.
Every photograph you take is a self-portrait. What it is that you do to get something from people. It's a part of you. You are a valid person in this situation.
There's a story for every one of these [pictures]. Even if some were disastrous, they were wonderful stories nonetheless.
Critics created 'style.' Point-of-view--it's the one thing you have that makes you different.
Q. What's your 'style'?
I've always had beauty in life. I am attracted to things that have mystery. It's the sensuous aspect. I shoot "the way I'd like to be touched." You like a nude because you can't touch them. [the light touches them].
Fashion has nothing to do with real people. It's fantasy. I'm interested in photography that shows what I could or want to see on the street. It's about possibilities.
I should have the experience in the lens. Within the lens. There's something I don't like about cropping after. The subject is in my personal world. I'd like to think that I could contain them within my frame. (That's why most of the pictures are tightly cropped).
Luck is like a steamroller. You gotta be in the right path/direction. A lot of things happened because I had to find my own way. It's about having to find yourself. How to make it all yours. I also had a good understanding of the human body.
(Greg H. & Barbara Bordnick)
Contemporary portraits see to lack GESTURE. The body should reflect the face. Hands and eyes are the most expressive parts of the human body besides the obvious mouth. It's disastrous to tell people what to do. Direct them.
How does one develop taste?
The only way to get into fashion is to be an assistant. You have to be immersed in it in order to function on the level and style and creativity that the people in the business function on. You need to expose yourself to inspiring things. Go to a museum. Listen to music. You need to be curious. You need to be an interesting person. Surround yourself with people with style and taste. Develop a sense of color.
W- best fashion magazine. Next is Italian/French Vogue.
Photographing Men Vs. Women
For a man, interesting lighting. "His face has a topography that's so amazing."
For women, They want to be beautiful. Society has placed enormous value on women; it's a different aesthetic demand.
Clay Patrick Mcbride
http://www.claypatrickmcbride.com
Not to look but to see the world.
It's a process.
Be a poetic image maker.
Pay attention to the marketplace.
You don't get another chance to make a first impression.
Start that relationship with a camera that you love. Be familiar with it.
There's room for everyone who wants it.
"Darwin photographer" = ADAPT.
about lighting...He who does the most with the least, wins.
It's the journey, not the destination.
Aim for simple pictures that have some honesty.
TRUST + ACCESS = Good storytelling.
It's about Moments vs. Ideas
Photograph what you love. Photograph what you understand.
Look for a mentor.
www.eddieadamsworkshop.com
He selflessly dedicated his life to storytelling. Record life as it happens.
Read more »
Only you know what you need. (Arnold Newman)
http://www.arnoldnewmanarchive.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/arts/07newman.html
(Greggory Heisler)
http://www.gregoryheisler.com
You can't trust your eyes if your imagination is out of focus.
Portraiture is about taking a great record of the face. You need to create defined circumstances to set up the moment.
It can completely be your thing. People don't know until they see it. Show your work. What you have to offer is your uniqueness and everyone has that already. Even twins.
If you leave me alone, I'll kill myself for you. If you tell me what to do, I can't wait to go home.
(Barbara Bordnick)
http://www.barbarabordnick.com
Portraits- You make yourself or they make you. It's about "getting to people." Find something about them that is uniquely them. RESEARCH. BE PREPARED. Motivate something to happen.
Every photograph you take is a self-portrait. What it is that you do to get something from people. It's a part of you. You are a valid person in this situation.
There's a story for every one of these [pictures]. Even if some were disastrous, they were wonderful stories nonetheless.
Critics created 'style.' Point-of-view--it's the one thing you have that makes you different.
Q. What's your 'style'?
I've always had beauty in life. I am attracted to things that have mystery. It's the sensuous aspect. I shoot "the way I'd like to be touched." You like a nude because you can't touch them. [the light touches them].
Fashion has nothing to do with real people. It's fantasy. I'm interested in photography that shows what I could or want to see on the street. It's about possibilities.
I should have the experience in the lens. Within the lens. There's something I don't like about cropping after. The subject is in my personal world. I'd like to think that I could contain them within my frame. (That's why most of the pictures are tightly cropped).
Luck is like a steamroller. You gotta be in the right path/direction. A lot of things happened because I had to find my own way. It's about having to find yourself. How to make it all yours. I also had a good understanding of the human body.
(Greg H. & Barbara Bordnick)
Contemporary portraits see to lack GESTURE. The body should reflect the face. Hands and eyes are the most expressive parts of the human body besides the obvious mouth. It's disastrous to tell people what to do. Direct them.
How does one develop taste?
The only way to get into fashion is to be an assistant. You have to be immersed in it in order to function on the level and style and creativity that the people in the business function on. You need to expose yourself to inspiring things. Go to a museum. Listen to music. You need to be curious. You need to be an interesting person. Surround yourself with people with style and taste. Develop a sense of color.
W- best fashion magazine. Next is Italian/French Vogue.
Photographing Men Vs. Women
For a man, interesting lighting. "His face has a topography that's so amazing."
For women, They want to be beautiful. Society has placed enormous value on women; it's a different aesthetic demand.
Clay Patrick Mcbride
http://www.claypatrickmcbride.com
Not to look but to see the world.
It's a process.
Be a poetic image maker.
Pay attention to the marketplace.
You don't get another chance to make a first impression.
Start that relationship with a camera that you love. Be familiar with it.
There's room for everyone who wants it.
"Darwin photographer" = ADAPT.
about lighting...He who does the most with the least, wins.
It's the journey, not the destination.
Aim for simple pictures that have some honesty.
TRUST + ACCESS = Good storytelling.
It's about Moments vs. Ideas
Photograph what you love. Photograph what you understand.
Look for a mentor.
www.eddieadamsworkshop.com
He selflessly dedicated his life to storytelling. Record life as it happens.
Puzzle Project
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Just passing through one of Coney Island's streets in search of a bathroom. I marvel at this city, pulsing in color.
Labels:
art,
coney island,
photography,
street photography
Coney Island
Monday, July 20, 2009
Last Saturday, J, M, and I decided to take the E train to its last stop. It's interesting how the sea calls us still. And even if it wasn't the best beach to go to, we couldn't wait to be near the water's edge.
Plus points:
Soft-serve banana ice-cream
Man in orange briefs showing off his BALLS
Old Woman in a BRA
EXTRA white people
We have an instinct to deny our landlocked state and acknowledge the mariners that that we are. Like turtles born on land, we know that we must seek “the pounding of the waves,” the pulsing of collective memory. Not exempted from the mixing of blood and water in our veins, the sea is part of us. And though we risk the assuring concreteness of land, time and time again, we realize the need to thread through the unknown and surrender our gravity. Only then do we experience reconciliation between what we are and what we'll never completely be. And so finally we return to shore, ready to hold up our own weight, if only to wait and be called home again.
Labels:
coney island,
photography,
ramblings
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