March
19
I don’t usually post my magazine shots, however I’m a huge fan of this brand and the professional Ironman, Tim Berkel. Blinq photogtaphy has done a lot of work with Tim over the years and it’s great to see him sign-on get a fantastic sponsor such as Science in Sport (SiS). This picture was taken during the 2010 Geelong 70.3. I’ve posted both the original and the final version.
Tim Berkel in action during the 2010 Geelong Ironman 70.3
March
18
If you want to celebrate your great travel images, consider entry into Intrepid’s annual Travel Photography Competition.
Intrepid, Lonely Planet Images and Kathmandu have announced their annual competition yet again in 2010 with entries closing on 30 June. The competition is open to anyone, both pro and amateur, to submit photos that embody the travelling spirit. Categories include real life experiences, landscapes, icons and families. Winners receive prizes such as Kathmandu Travel Gear vouchers, Lonely Planet titles and Intrepid tours.
Previous winners include David Lazar’s prayer image in Egypt and Sudip Roychoudhury’s photograph of women washing in India.
March
17
If you ever wanted an insight into the life and times of New York City residents consider this fine multimedia collection by the New York Times. The “One in 8 Million Project” combines black and white images of local residents with a voice over of their life.
The goal was to profile a different individual from New York’s 8 million residents during each week of 2009. And the collection of stories representing all of New York’s five boroughs is an incredible and colourful array of lifestyles, interests and struggle.
There’s a story about Joseph Cotton, the grandfather who frequently minds his four grand kids taking them on walks to appreciate nature and cooking good meals together. Joe Manniello came from a town near Naples in Italy and has been cutting hair inside the Port Authority Bus terminal for 36 years. He describes the customers he’s had; crazy people, prostitutes, a woman who urinated on the floor and another that stole his chair. While Maggie Wirth is a waitress who has worked for three decades at Marie’s Crisis piano bar. There are no microphones or lights at Marie’s Crisis and the action starts when people get there. Maggie is known as the singing waitress.
To look and listen to the narratives click here.
The following images were taken by “One in 8″ photographer Todd Heisler and are all part of the collection.
Joel Karp opened Columbia Drugs store on the Lower East Side because he didn’t want to work for anyone else. That was 45 years ago. Now 71 years old he is still the general manager.
Freda Degannes,39, is considered a medical miracle. She was admitted to hospital in 2007 with a rare blood condition that hospitalized her for three months.
Mr Termitiere is a graphic designer who helped deliver their baby when his wife went into labour. They could not wait for the ambulance to arrive and delivered the baby in their house.
March
13
We do our best to share as many photography tips as we can with you for a good reason. To a fair degree, photography is a science. It involves techniques that can be studied and learned. But as our photographers will remind you, photography is more than just about techniques. It likewise involves heaps of judgment as to what exactly to do with the techniques and how and when to apply them. Photography is thus equally an art. It is in that critical interface between science and art where greatness comes and the perfect shot happens.
If there is anybody who understands photography as both a science and an art and can tell us more about it as an authority on the matter, it is a photographer like Walter Iooss Jr. A master of light and composition, Walter is a highly respected and much admired photographer. As a longtime photographer of Sports Illustrated, Walter enjoys a great deal of artistic freedom on the job. Steve Fine, the director of photography of Sports Illustrated, has called Walter the foremost sports photographer of his generation.
Walter has soared to great heights in his four decades as a photographer. He sums up the attitude that has helped bring him to these heights in these words, ‘…wherever I am is the perfect picture…It’s not that I’m positive of it deep down inside, it’s that I have to believe it…’
We can safely say that, as a photographer, Walter has good instincts or that, at the very least, Walter trusts and believes in his instincts strongly. We feel that there is something to Walter’s attitude. It is important for photographers to have good instincts. We concede that we are born with our instincts. But we do not agree that those of us whose instincts are not readily apparent at the beginning are totally and irreversibly doomed. Rather, we are of the opinion that, in time, through perseverance, we can become better attuned to our instincts that have been there all along. In any case, the real wisdom behind Walter’s attitude could lie in our wholeheartedly trusting and believing in our instincts in whatever shape they might be.
It is difficult for a photographer like Walter to go wrong. Here, Walter reunites two fierce rivals Ali and Frazier long after their last fight.
From the vault of Sports Illustrated by Walter Iooss Jr.
We ought to acknowledge how powerful photography can be. It can move people in different ways. Like the words of a poem or a song, images can have a great impact on people. Indeed, photographers are a talented lot who have a great deal to offer.
Even more, just as photography can be a tool for generating earnings, it can also be an instrument for giving back to the community. Photographers are in a unique position to make a difference in other people’s lives.
Christina Dickson lists five ways to reach the community. Christina is a gifted wedding photographer who takes time out of her busy schedule to inspire people in her own personal way. She shares some advice on how we can inspire people in our own personal way too. Her five suggested ways to reach the community are:
1. Host an art fundraiser
Sponsor an art fundraiser by bringing together artists who may be willing to donate a few pieces to a selected not for profit organisation.
2. Donate a family portrait session
Identify a deserving family who may appreciate a free photography session and complimentary portrait from you.
3. Volunteer to shoot a holiday program
Set aside around four hours of your time to shoot and edit photographs for a holiday program for free.
4. Write a story
Choose a worthy event, interview people about it and create a photo story to inspire others.
5. Hold a workshop
Be an educator. Teach those in your community who might be interested to learn a few pointers from you on photography.
These are Christina’s five suggested ways. Perhaps there are quite a few other ways that could be added to Christina’s list. If it is not too much of a bother, we would like to trouble you with just two more ideas of our own that we might add to Christina’s list of ways:
6. Promote a not for profit organisation
Offer your services for free to a not for profit organisation looking to promote itself or one of its activities.
7. Join a photography contest
We have posted quite a bit of information about ongoing photography competitions on our website. Most of them have worthy causes to which part of the proceeds will go. Joining any one of these competitions will contribute to a worthy cause and in the process give back to the community.
We wonder if it is our place to say what reasons exist why we might want to consider giving back to the community. There must be something about the way we are all built. In our journey in this life, we are all still trying to find ourselves. Strangely enough, it seems to be in losing ourselves in giving that we get to find who and what we truly are and in the process locate our way back to from where it is we all came.
Iconic photographer Steve McCurry’s exhibition “A Common Faith: Steve McCurry’s Travels through the Muslim World” opened in Malaysia on January 7 in association with Epson. The exhibition running until April 8 is being hosted at the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur.
The 80 large format images document the more candid, every day images of Islamic believers such as a foodstall holder reading the Qur’an and a brickmaker at prayer during a short break from production. McCurry has always been interested in people and the images here are designed to show Muslim people as individuals going about their lives.
On January 7 the public was treated to the Exhibition Launch and Public Talk with McCurry and on January 8 he held a Photographic Workshop with 50 students imparting some of the tips he’s learned in the past 30 years.
February
27
Steve McCurry is one of the world’s most iconic photographers and this May he is offering budding photographers the chance to learn something from the master himself. A limited number of participants will spend time with McCurry learning to take magazine quality images and observe him at work.
The 2010 Weekend Workshops with Steve McCurry will take place in May, and registration for the May 27-30 workshop is now open. On-assignment shoots, discussions and workshops will be held with just six other photographers.
For more information on the Workshops see Steve McCurry’s website or click here to book.
McCurry is perhaps most famous for his image of an Afghan girl (pictured below) that featured in the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine. He has since published a number of books with Phaidon Press, calendars with Amnesty International and has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986.
February
24
If you haven’t purchased a calendar in 2010 yet, consider Steve McCurry’s latest Amnesty International offering. The world renowned photojournalist has put together a moving collection of images containing intimate portraits of Tibetan women, Indian women huddling from a desert dust storm and young men at the Niger marriage festival.
The calendar contains 12 images and large spaces for writing in appointments. Sales of the calendar benefit Amnesty International programs.
Amnesty International campaigns for internationally recognized human rights and has more than 2.2 million members in 150 countries.
Steve McCurry is one of the world’s most recognized photographs with classic reportage of major conflicts and human struggles. He has worked for Magnum Photos since 1986.
For a fantastic mosh pit view of some of Brisbane’s most exciting live shows, music and concerts head to the Brisbane Powerhouse in March. Booth’s images of punk rockers, U2s extravagant performances and grass roots music will take you on a musical journey through the last 10 years of Brisbane’s growing music scene.
Booth has been to Splendour in the Grass nine times, ten Big Day Out Festivals, five Livid festivals and shoots regularly for Jmag, Timeoff and Rolling Stone Australia.
If you’ve been to any of the concerts yourself the shots may invoke memories of music days past. Head to the Powerhouse from Tuesday March 2 to Monday April 10. Entry is free.
February
16
Stephen Booth is an acclaimed music photographer based in Brisbane who has been documenting the music scene in the Queensland capital for the last 10 years.
Booth has been at all the major festivals in this part of the country photographing a swinging Nick Cave in full action mode (see picture below from January 2009), Moby giving the peace sign (Sunset Sounds 2010), crowds hamming it up, punk rockers in carparks, drummers and guitarists moving to the beat and more.
Booth’s images capture the intensity of the performance, the energy of the crowd and something of the character of the events he is covering which could be anything from a backyard gig to a major festival. With credits that include bands and performers such as Powderfinger, The Go-Betweens, Megadeth, U2, Jarvis Cocker and Robert Forster; magazine shoots for Timeoff and Rolling Stone magazines and clients like EMI, Sony and Capitol Records; Booth has made an real impact on music photography.
His favourite 50 images from a collection of more than 30,000 will be on show at the Brisbane Powerhouse (Tuesday March 2 – Monday April 5). Otherwise keep an eye out in the photographer’s pit for Booth at the next big Brisbane event.
