TraditionalPhotographer.NET / On Photography / General Photography

PBS Documentary: Recalling a Mission to Capture an Era’s Misery

roteague — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:49:15 GMT

You might want to check this out if you are available. It's on Monday night on PBS:

"Recalling a Mission to Capture an Era’s Misery

“Migrant Mother,” Dorothea Lange’s image of a weathered, grimy Depression-era woman in California surrounded by her children, is one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century, as is “Fleeing a Dust Storm,” Arthur Rothstein’s shot of a farmer and his two young sons in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl whipped by the wind, a shack in the background.

The politics and the photographers who shaped those images under the auspices of the federal Farm Security Administration come to life in “Documenting the Face of America: Roy Stryker and the F.S.A./O.W.I. Photographers,” an hourlong documentary on most PBS stations Monday night. The film shows how Mr. Stryker turned a small government agency’s New Deal project to document poverty into a visual anthology of thousands of images of American life in the 1930s and early ’40s that helped shape modern documentary photography; more than 160,000 are now at the Library of Congress."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/arts/television/18pbs.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Photography as Weapon, the latest fake

roteague — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:38:07 GMT

A lot of food for thought here:

"Photography as a Weapon

As almost everyone knows by now, various major daily newspaper published, on July 10, a photograph of four Iranian missiles streaking heavenward; then Little Green Footballs (significantly, a blog and not a daily newspaper) provided evidence that the photograph had been faked.

...

Hany Farid, a Dartmouth professor and an expert on digital photography, has published a number of journal articles and a recent Scientific American article on digital photographic fraud."

http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/photography-as-a-weapon/

I've long considered the rise of digital photography as a point in time where we begin to no longer trust photography. Would the work of William Henry Jackson still move us to sociological changes as they did in the 1860s and later? Would those images stir us enough to set aside land for a national park as they once did?

Food for thought, indeed.

Is the Passion still alive?

roteague — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:35:46 GMT

I've been reading a book, "The World's Top Photographers: Landscape", and as I flip through the book, reading about the different landscape photographers around the world, I realize that what I want out of life isn't behind a desk, it is behind the lens.

So, I ask the question, "Is the Passion still alive in you?"

I know it is for me.

When Images Galvanized the Nation

roteague — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:33:31 GMT

There was a time when people believed images they say, and they moved us to action. Sadly, now the first reaction seems to be "Was this photoshopped?".

"If ever social change was propelled by photographs, it was during the civil rights movement. Burning buses and raised batons, snarling police dogs and blasting hoses, the young black girl in bobby socks and gingham trailed by a group of sneering white girls as she tried to enter high school — the images spurred a national reckoning in a way that words could not."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/us/20civil.html

Jamie Livingston

Toffle — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:39:09 GMT

I heard this story on the radio yesterday:

In 1979 a young film student began a project that would last him the rest of his life. Read about it here:
[url]http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131[/url]

The collected project itself is here:
[url]http://photooftheday.hughcrawford.com/[/url]

Cheers,
Tom

Lost Negatives found - Kulwant Roy

roteague — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:36:06 GMT

Fascinating story:

"The yellow crates haunted Aditya Arya. A successful advertising photographer whose clients have ranged from India's luxury Oberoi Hotel chain to Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, Arya inherited the crates from a family friend, an old photojournalist named Kulwant Roy, in 1984. And for more than two decades, Arya had hauled the increasingly dusty trunks around a succession of studios, stashing them in out of the way corners and closets. He had a vague sense of what the crates contained - bundles of prints and negatives - and at least once a year his mother would nag him about them. But he was always too busy with his own assignments to spend time pouring over someone else's fading pictures.

Then, in December, Arya finally opened the crates...."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/18/arts/roy.php

Making Disaparate Pieces Fit Together - Damon Winter

roteague — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:30:56 GMT

Interesting article about a photographer in NYC:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/nyregion/18lenstext.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"...

The best way to accomplish this is using a large-format camera and sheet film, which can be loaded into the camera, exposed, safely removed, stored and loaded again.

After taking the first photo, I usually draw a sketch of the image from memory showing the light and dark areas and the position of the main subject in the frame. When I am ready to make the second image, sometimes hours, days or even weeks later, I reload the film into the camera and use the sketch of the first exposure as a guide for composing the second.

..."

This is what I call dedication.

Photography - Lifestyle or Hobby?

roteague — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:27:34 GMT

Listening to Brooks Jensen and his Podcasts again has got me to thinking about how others view photography. So, my question is "Is photography more than a hobby for you?"

Iconic Second World War photo of the fall of Berlin - Staged!!!

roteague — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:26:13 GMT

An interesting article about an iconic image from WWII:

"It's an iconic image of the Second World War: Berlin has fallen and Soviet soldiers are hoisting the red flag over the Reichstag.

What most people don't realize, however, is that the photograph isn't capturing the historic moment.

Yevgeni Khaldei staged the scene on May 2, 1945 - three days after the Soviets captured Germany's parliament building.

...

But the Reichstag image was heavily manipulated: Smoke in the background was etched later on the negative, to create the impression the battle was still unfolding."

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/06/15/5887301-ap.html

Schneier on Security - The War on Photographers

roteague — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:26:25 GMT

A very interesting article, with some very interesting points. This article was just published on 5 June, but originally appeared in The Guardian newspaper.

"The War on Photography

What is it with photographers these days? Are they really all terrorists, or does everyone just think they are?

Since 9/11, there has been an increasing war on photography. Photographers have been harrassed, questioned, detained, arrested or worse, and declared to be unwelcome. We've been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.

Except that it's nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn't photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren't being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn't known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about -- the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 -- no photography."

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/06/the_war_on_phot.html

Working in Projects

roteague — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:45:28 GMT

I know a lot of photographers work in projects, but I would like your thoughts on how you structure your projects. Do you have a list of goals, in this case images, that you make for the project? Or do you just identify the types of images you need?

I've given this subject a lot of thought. Being that I live on a fairly small island, I get bored rather quickly with the photographic subjects at hand. I've found the only way around this is to develop a set of projects to work. For example some of my current projects:

Ka Iwi Coast project - this is an area around Koko Crater and Sandy Beach. I first came upon this idea while looking a book of B&W photos of the area. I envision this as a LF project, both color and black and white.
Beaches of Oahu - this project is to document all of the public beaches on the island. I envision this as mainly a 35mm project.
Native Hawaiian artifacts - this is a project to document religious and historical artifacts of the Hawaiian people. A lot of the locations in this project are difficult to get access to. I envision this as both a LF and 35mm project.
Murray River, Australia - this project is to document the flow of the Murray River, the second longest in Australia from its source high in the mountains of New South Wales, to its outlet in South Australia.

I try no to have more than 4 or 5 project going at anyone time, simply because I have trouble deciding which one to work on.

Please let me know your thoughts on this subject. It is something I've been thinking about for sometime and a subject I would like to write about.

Thanks,

Thinking Creatively/Thinking Photographically

roteague — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:23:53 GMT

Many photographers express surprise when learning that even the masters experienced periods of disappointment and frustration with their work. Those of us, who don't consider ourselves masters probably go through these periods even more frequently. I guess it is hard to keep your spirits up, without a way to show you work and without the uplift that encouraging feedback provides. Without the uplift, I think we find that creativity slips away.

Just today, on another forum I occasionally participate in, TrekEarth, a fellow photographer came on and basically blasted almost all of the work that I had posted there. I'm not bothered by what he said as much as I am bothered by the attitude that seems to be to tear others down, rather than try to build others up. I've had the philosophy since I started this forum to do the best to help my fellow photographers. That is the reason I've spent so much time and energy on this site, and the reason, I've never highlighted my own work.

I've given a lot of thought these past few weeks on how I can think more creatively in my photography. I've come to the conclusion that all true creativity begins at some deep tranquil center deep inside our beings.

My question, is what do you do, to try to keep the creative juices flowing in your own photography.

Show us your favorite images

roteague — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:15:07 GMT

How about showing us your favorite images, and telling a little bit about the story behind it?

Here is mine:

[img]http://www.visionlandscapes.com/Images/AU4034A.jpg[/img]

This image was taken along the Murray River in the state of Victoria, Australia, near the town of Echuca. I remember I was rushing looking for a site to setup for the sunset, and stumbled upon this spot. What I like about this image is that it reminds me of the peace I felt sitting along the river, hearing the birds singing, and remembering the color of the light, as the sun went down. It may not be my best image, but it is my favorite.

Photography Log

roteague — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:21:35 GMT

Hi All,

I just thought I would drop a few notes here, to go along with the poll I created the other day.

I've been trying to spend more time each week shooting. This morning, I went out to photograph the sunrise with the Chamonix 45N-1. I managed to get a couple of images before the sun went behind a bank of clouds on the horizon. Then shortly after lunch, I again took the Chamonix to a local botanical garden. I've got a new Nikkor 120mm HM lens, and wanted to practice shooting some large format macro. The garden near my house isn't very good, but I did shoot a couple of images (I've got some out of date Astia I'm using for this purpose).

In another hour or so, I'm going to Haleiwa on the North Shore to shoot the sunset. http://www.gonorthshore.org/.

All in all, it has been a great weekend.

How many days a week do you photograph?

roteague — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:22:10 GMT

I was reading an article on writing, and it talked about setting aside a certain amount of time everyday to write, even when you don't feel like it. It got me to thinking that we should do the same with our photography.

So, I ask, how many days a week do you photograph? Is your shooting ad hoc, or do you set aside specific times and days for it?

Carson Camera Expo

allen — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:36:34 GMT

Hello,
On Sunday I went to the Camera Expo in Carson (this is a once a month camera show). I have not been to one in about 6 months and the first thing I noticed was that it was at least 1/3 smaller. There was a lot of nice traditional gear, mostly 35mm. I picked up a nice old square series 6 lens shade a nice Anvil type case that fit my 4X5 Cambo with 30 inch rail.
I like going to camera shows better than ebay, I like seeing and talking to the sellers and seeing what the other people are into.

Allen

Photo Labs List

Admin — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 23:27:56 GMT

I'm putting together a list of photo labs, that will be displayed on the Resources page. If you have any suggestions, please post them here.