i think it might be easier if you post your suggestions for an assignment right here, along with a link to your work…of course, i will also be reading the comments and your suggestions on the previous post…i think i have seen all of the links sent so far, but i will double check…in two or three days i will finish making all assignments for this month, but will be out there ahead thinking about future projects all the time…i look forward to your ideas and your new work….please remember: keep it simple, doable…
Hi David, Thanks again for putting forth the time and commitment to do this. I am living in downtown Baltimore and would like to do an assignment on the violence that is so rampant in this city. It has one of the highest homicide rates in the US and I would like to photograph the families, hospitals, police, social workers and citizens who cope and have to deal with the consequences of such violence. I am not able to start it until June or so as I am trying to wrap up two stories as it is with a deadline for later this month. If I am not “assigned” this story, I am still planing to work on it as my summer project.
Because my website was not working for you last time, below is a link to a small portfolio of work. I can post a link to the stories I am finishing up now for you when I have them completed if you are interested in see those. I look forward to seeing everyones work and seeing where this ambitious group project goes.
Jonathan
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/11097
David:
gorgeous pic :)))))…where is this?..love that damn flash/moon and the masked face below it (behind the wing) :)))…
more later…
running
hugs
b
Anything Indian- or immigration-related in New York (though this is my comfort zone):
http://www.prestonmerchant.com/indiaworld/photos/
But, really, I would be up for anything.
Wow! First in line (at least when I started writing)… that is a first!! I’m usually scrambling at the back somewhere desperately trying to keep up!
Well, David you know my pitch (sorry to bore you again, but so as to fill in others…
I’m currently shooting in Manila in the cities (Catholic) Northern Cemetery, it is of interest in the fact that there are communities of families living there (and have been for generations). There is also a kind of interesting hierarchy in that some are paid to guard and maintain the nicer mausoleums (often these folks leave at 6.00pm) Next are people/families living actually living in the mausoleums but still caretaking. Beneath them are squatters who are just making the best of a stone structure and a roof above their heads.
It is interesting that the folks living here are far better off than those living on the streets or in the slum areas. Wells have been dug and more industrious residents are tapping into the cities electricity outside the cemetery’s walls, which means TV’s, stereos, lights, Karaoke etc. I have been told there are around 1,000 residents, but I think there are much more.
I’m sorry I don’t have any of this work uploaded on my site yet. I have a text and photo blog in development which will hopefully be up soon… so all I can offer for now is previous at http://www.jameschance.com
David I’ll send you a tighter edit of stuff shot so far in the next day or so.
Cheers all!
James
David,
As I mentioned in a previous post, I am traveling to Rome and Naples for a 10-day honeymoon at the end of the month. I of course plan to relax and enjoy the trip and time with my new bride, but at the same time plan to shoot a lot of images.
Do you have any suggestions on how to approach a vacation/photo opportunity? And also if I could impose upon you to give a bit of guidance or some sort of mini assignment for the trip that would be great!
Best
Pete
Hey David,
great photo, love it!!
for my project i have been thinking that i will most likely have to do a documentary project, for an event that will happen, and due to economic reasons, i have to do the project here in berlin. i was thinking of ducumenting the karneval, from may 9-12 (link: http://www.karneval-berlin.de/de/), or another upcoming event. But what i can do with regards to step out of my comfort zone, see in a new light, and grow, i am not sure yet…
can check out my work @ http://jarlejorg.foto.no
cheers,
jarle
It’s simple really—there’s been an explosion of garage sales here in Michigan and it’s producing two angles. One is of families selling items to make ends meet, the other is people seeing the opportunity to unload items since no one wants to (or can afford to) pay full price for anything.
It’s not like it’s observing a hyper-depressed culture, guaranteed to tug at your heart-strings. It’s more like looking at ordinary people who often have the threat of loosing their homes hanging over their heads.
I’m envisioning the work being part working candids, part on-the-spot portraiture, plus conveying the environment through shots of customers, items for sale, etc. It’s also likely that I’ll be recording sound for use when I build the slideshow. And I’ve kind of been bitten by the black and white bug.
http://www.humanfiles.com/index.htm
http://www.humanfiles.com/pages/journal.htm
ordered a book today, from amazon, after having been suggested this by a couple of polish couchsurfers, who recently stayed at my place.
Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_Lucida_%28book%29
any of you know this? according to wikipedia “It is simultaneously an inquiry into the nature and essence of photography and a eulogy to Barthes’s late mother. The book investigates the effects of photography on the spectator (as distinct from the photographer, and also from the object photographed, which Barthes calls the “spectrum”).”
look forward to start reading and getting inspired!!
namaste’
jarle
JONATHAN….
yes, i know Baltimore has a very high crime rate..i have always wondered why…
i think this is a good project…my only concern is your access…will you have the ability to go with the police?? can you then also work in the most dangerous neighborhoods?
i am assuming you have seen “Police Work” by Leonard Freed and , of course, “Cocaine Blue, Cocaine True”and “Knife and Gun Club” by Eugene Richards and “L.A.Gangs” by Joe Rodriguez…
in any case, yes, give this a go for next month…but please fly slow and low…be careful…it is an important story, but it is also important that you come home…
please stay in touch with me when you get started…i may have some more thoughts for you by then….you may realize that just one part of it is enough…
BOB…
this is from a street performers festival in Certaldo , Italy…this whole thing lasted three or four days and there were amazingly very few tourists or other photographers around considering it’s proximity to Sienna…
JAMES…
well, i know your work and how you shoot, so no problem there…can you work in these cemeteries without having problems with local authorities?? I have a friend who tried a similar story in Cairo, and ended up with a multitude of problems…
how long will you stay in Manila??
PETE…
well, it is pretty hard to go wrong photographically in either Rome or Naples, with Naples being a living breathing Fellini film set…..if you are in Naples for a weekend, then an obvious thing for you would be to shoot the incredible wedding photo business…i mean, you will not believe the scene…all around the Castel del Ovo and the main plaza just up the hill (cannot remember the name) you will see literally dozens of wedding photos being taken..by super pro wedding photogs with all of the reflectors, assistants etc etc…..Naples is the city of weddings and pro wedding photogs…and since you will have just had yours, why not photograph someone else’s?? just be sure to make friends with the pro wed photogs doing the shooting…i never had one object once they know what you are doing, but always ask…
Naples is also the city of “watch your camera carefully”….i taught a workshop class there once and a student had his camera stolen with all of us just standing on a street corner together watching the whole scene…but, he was also being careless…i shot an assignment in Naples for three months and never had a single problem, but i was also being very “aware” at all times…
Naples is an amazing city…great pizza…great ice cream…pictures everywhere all the time…Rome ain’t bad either…
cheers, david
David,
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately we will not be there on a weekend. We arrive Naples Monday and leave for Rome on Friday. Then depart Rome the following Wednesday.
I have actually been there before, a long time ago for three years as a child. My father was in the Marines and we were stationed in Naples. I have a very vivid memory of most of it, and I agree that at first it may be difficult to decide where to point the lens.
So aside from the wedding idea, which I agree would be very cool if I was there on the weekend, any ideas for a mini assignment or way of approaching it?
This does not have to be something that you post here. You have a long line of anxious participants here. But maybe something that I can show you at the Look3 workshop.
Thanks again.
Pete.
DAVID MCGOWAN…
sounds pretty interesting actually…material goods not wanted anymore and being sold to keep a roof over their heads..hmmmm..my inclination would be to just go for the strong “portraits” and/or “tableau” photographs…the “story” will be quite obvious so why not just go for the gut??? you do not need to “cover” this…candids?? maybe , maybe not…five really strong pictures of people standing in front of stuff they do not want anymore but think someone else might want it, is enough…black & white, cool….
try one or two…see if you still like it…
cheers, david
PETE…
well, ok …and i was thinking later anyway..”wait a minute, this guy is on his honeymoon”…if i were you i would just concentrate on honeymoon and forget shooting an essay until you get to C’ville…
i can just see you telling your new bride, “hey wait a minute baby, i have to go shoot this picture for Harvey”…hmmmm, bad idea…
since you are on a limited time frame and since your priority should be your new wife, why not just shoot her…hard to go wrong with that one…but, i do not mean standing in front of the Coliseum, but natural , freestyle, in travel context, and representative of your new life…your first trip after marriage…a milestone….so bring to C’ville five nice pictures of your new bride and some text from her and from you to go with the pictures somehow…put yourself in the pictures too with mirrors , reflections etc etc..
cheers, david
I hear ya, thanks.
DAVID:
Yeah, there were difficulties… At first I was refused entry, but after a 3 days working on City hall and visiting (I don’t joke) 15 desks/departments or more, often on multiple occasions (I know you have been there) I have the paperwork!! This was to get in…
Now, since gaining official access to the cemetery, I am very pleased to have built a great relationship with their security team. They even like to hang out and help with translation etc. which is often a real help!
(Touch wood) I really don’t see any restrictions right now, bar staying over night… Will be working on that though.
Will be here until the 20th.
Cheers!
James
DAVID:
Yeah, there were difficulties… At first I was refused entry, but after a 3 days working on City hall and visiting (I don’t joke) 15 desks/departments or more, often on multiple occasions (I know you have been there) I have the paperwork!! This was to get in…
Now, since gaining official access to the cemetery, I am very pleased to have built a great relationship with their security team. They even like to hang out and help with translation etc. which is often a real help!
(Touch wood) I really don’t see any restrictions right now, bar staying over night… Will be working on that though.
Will be here until the 20th.
Cheers!
James
David,
OK, I have finally stopped laughing. You are right of course. The “hey wait a minute baby, i have to go shoot this picture for Harvey” would be a bad idea. Funny visual though! And I was not looking for an “assignment” in the literal sense I guess.
But, I love your suggestion! So does, Jenny by the way. Her exact response was… ” I need to meet this guy and give him a big hug!”
I am sure she will get the chance in Charlottesville…. just watch your hands! (GRIN)
Again, I have to say, excellent suggestion! It will be fun! And I will being them to the workshop.
Pete
Ciao David,
the main plaza just up the hill on Castel dell’Ovo is Piazza Plebiscito. I see you still remember Dragos and that fantastic workshop in Naples…..so exciting, so stressing, but also so beautiful, so “open-minding”…….maybe to do again, maybe a remake……six years later….
Hope to see you this summer in Tuscany
Giulio
A project? Hmmm. How about photographs of various and sundry celebrations of various and sundry things in a small city in the northeastern United States? That sounds about my speed, I think. In fact, I have a link (see below) to show some various and sundry aspects of various and sundrey things in just such a small city in the norteastern United States. It’s amazing how serendipity works, isnt it?
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/12367
Although it occurs to me that serendipity is not really the concept I want here, the relevant concept being synchronicity, a Jungian tenet who paid a lot less than the market value of his apartment because of the rent control laws.
BOB AND JAY…
you boys used the word “coherent” when i was using the word “cohesive” in describing photographs in essay form….don’t misquote me boys, don’t misquote me!!
what i was trying to say is this: photographers should strive for primarily coherent or oftentimes incoherent photographs stitched collectively or perhaps randomly in a cohesive way which could in fact provide coherence to an otherwise incoherent assemblage of cohesive photographs in at least a more coherent way than this run on sentence with little or no cohesion….
got it???
peace, david
Good advise David to the newlywed! Talk about a near miss on that one!
I would love an assignment. I begin my summer travels May 15 with an assignment at a zoo in big bear. From there I travel across Arkansas, Kentucky and on into Charlottesville for Look3.
My teaching assignment ends next week with wonderful results from the kids again. And again I have learned something new about photography from these kids. And learned more about who I am in photography.
My focus on this road trip is to stay in small towns and talk to people about the political changes in the works, and how the recession is affecting their lives and small towns. One planned stay is the classic return to your home town that you left decades ago and see how all your friends turned out. Another is to check out areas for a possible move to the mainland US.
Another plan is 10 days of family vacation with 2 of my girls and their kids.
I look forward to an assignment. I can do the one that has emerged for me already on this road trip and/or would love to hear any variation on the theme that would push it up a notch.
I look forward to seeing you and all my photo friends at Look3.
Lee
LEE…
you are coming to Look3?? my oh my, and just when i thought the “coast was clear”!!!
well, at least there will now be entertainment for one and all…the Lee/David sideshow should at least give a few chuckles to those who are taking themselves way way too seriously…
hmmmm, seriously, let me ponder your thoughts awhile….i am not quite sure what you want to do…returning to the small town where you grew up to see how all your friends turned out sounds like good movie material , but i do not see how you do it with a still essay…elaborate please…
here we go again!!!
GIULIO…
ah yes, Piazza Plebiscito..thank you…i would have remembered EVENTUALLY, but i also knew someone here would jump in with it…i am pleased it was you!!! yes, i am wishing to see you this summer in Tuscany…
cheers, david
DAVID! :)))))))…
TOTALLY, get you: 100% :))…IS THAT A CORN-COB SENTENCE? ;)))))))…if it is it is NOT ONLY COHERENT (odd, considering it’s the middle of the day, and im as sober as a preacher before a sucking of hill-whiskey) AND COHESIVE! :))..
i couldnt agree more, which is what i was trying to suggest: that coherence is often “boring”! and (more importantly): a LIE!…is life ever coherent?…and yet, oddly, beautifully, painfully, magnificently, frustratingly, it somehow gels: is cohesive…all the parts seem to fit together, even when they look totally incomprehensible…that’s why I am so happy (and thankful) that you allowed us (ok, me) to do an edit for the Look3: it might not look coherent, but i hope folks when they see it at FOP will think: this dude bobblack is as out of his mind as Alan Harvey, but somehow it makes sense ;)))))….
franks’s Storyline book is the most beautifully fucked up book i’ve ever looked at: incoherent, and yet, as cohesive as tongue spread wide by anothers lips, tooth on taffy, cock on labia, eyelash on skin, light on knuckle, brim on braun, touch on time….:))
with u all the way Pastor, believe Us YOu! :))
running
hugs
bob
DAVID..
so…I am hoping to still talk in person about this, as one idea is smaller and the other larger and I’d really value your input as to how they’d stand with your assignment structure. Both are important to me, but I am chomping at the bit to make the larger one manifest. If you wont be in home in time to talk before dolling out assignments though, pls let me know and I’ll try to describe both, and give you a link to new work, new website which is nearly done but i’d rather not post the temp url here..hopefully will go live in a week..
AKAKY….
whew…after the 399th football action shot, i got a little worn out my friend….and i viewed your plethora of other sundry synchronicities and decided you need to make friends with an editor….actually there are some gemstones in there, but we have to do a lot of digging to find them..however, given your intellectual but often twisted prose, i think we should have you do something with your camera more along the lines of how you write..any interest in humor? yes, i know you have it in words…but i mean in pictures?? forget an essay…just go downtown and find things that just do not make sense..put visual things together out of context forming another context…just like you do with words…can you do that??? do you want to do that??? no need to apologize if you do not want to do that…i cannot project my neurosis on you or anyone else…sorry…
cheers et al, david
erica:
can u send me the url?…i promise to write tonight :)))…
….insane 4 weeks…exhausting but rewarding…
ok, running
b
david: your timing is Golden !! i have just presented work from Bhaktapur, Nepal on my blog for this month of May. i would love feedback from this community good, bad, or indifferent. to me this place was interesting to fotograph because their is a whole culture that revolves around a river and really heavy religious iconography everywhere you look. All u have to do is click on my name below..
as for a self assignment: umm thinking about the horse races and jockeys in particular. the season starts here in June so still some time to make an absolute decision.
David: any small gifts of insights into my latest work would be a godsend. i truly appreciate your constructive criticisms in the past ie.. tijuana, italy + thank you..
p.s. i love the way this forum is shaping up as of lately. so many reasons to be optimistic and excited about all of our near futures..
LEE:
I’ve heard through the grape wine that Alan Harvey can DANCE LIKE A DERVISH!!!…:))))…he could be an addition to your fine story on Whirling Dervish :)))
ok, now have to whirl away myself…
cheers
b
b
Hi David;
Just wondering if you had a chance to view the link to a project I’ll be following whilst in Timor over the next three weeks?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/asia_pac_e_timor0s_angel_of_mercy/html/1.stm
Cheers
David,
A thought…I am in the process of trying to get a press pass to shoot the Santa Fe Rodeo, end of June. It’s a professional rodeo and they are very strict about who can shoot and what they will allow to be shot but if I am able to shoot there it would be good timing for an assignment.
I’ll think more about who and what…
Part of the “emotion” for me about shooting this is that two (or was it three) years ago when they still allowed people to photograph there without so many restrictions I shot two rolls of film that I thought were among the best I’d ever shot and they were destroyed. :((
No way to ever replace them but it has motivated me to at least try to make good images in their honor, thus my attempts at New Mexico Rodeo photography last summer.
It isn’t so much a return to my home town to see how everyone is doing as it just happens to be one of the stops in my journey across this portion of the states and a natural byproduct of that is to see folks I grew up with and haven’t seen in decades. This road trip is another journey with a camera coming along. I like to drive and I like to shoot so taking a road trip in the area I am going means lots of small towns like my home town or boring interstate highways. I choose small towns and curvy roads.
I am extremely interested in the climate of America (in this area big time issues are GMO, corn vs. food, large producers of fowl and all the branches of that) and want to talk to folks about issues that are affecting our lives big time right now, one being imported oil and how rising costs that affects their energy needs. The political season is a good forum to approach people for this kind of interaction. Small towns are a great format for sitting down with locals and spending a couple days living with them-you know what I mean, you do it all the time. Not sure how an essay would form around that but I feel it would be revealed and/or some variation of it.
Bob, whirling dervishes don’t drink.
Lee
David and Community: viewing instructions for Bhaktapur, Nepal is as follows- scroll down page on the left hand side u will see Blog Archive on cover page. Please click on the current month it’s actually April and then u will be able to see all fourteen images. For a closer look click on any of the images individually and use your toolbar arrow upper left to go back to where you started. peace & love..
ERICA….
i totally want you for one of these first assignments….and , yes, i will talk to you in person this week..however, i do have a family to shoot down here in Carolina…i might also drop into the Federal Village for one night…in any case Erica, i have not forgotten you….my mother still tells me that as i kid i was always late to come home and as an “adult” i never come back to wherever i left at the time i “promised”…but, she also said that i always kept my promises…see you soonest!!!
BOB…
hey amigo, just messin with you anyway …”word” dude….however,no corn cob pipe….we need to talk soonest about what you want to do…i see something truly unique with words and pictures and pictures and words…
PRESTON….
will i see you in person soonest??? 15th?? we need to talk about what you should do…
cheers, david
DAVID..all is well then and I won’t try to scramble it into words here, will wait for your return..you make me think about songwriter Greg Brown and the concept of ‘adult dark’, as in ‘supper’s ready everyone come on in..and it’s dark outside anyway’.. but the kids playing outside can still see perfectly well, eyes adjusted to the gradually dimming skies…so tho maybe you just don’t respond to adult time, you are still perfectly on time..promises kept
ROSS…
it was taking a minute or more to load each of your pictures…i gave up after three…back to it later…must be on overload or whatever…
CATHY….
well, what is good about the rodeo for you is that it is a continuation of work you have done…how many days is the rodeo?? and are there things before and after that might be interesting…in “event” based photography, my best pictures are never from the event itself…always, or almost always, the EDGES have it all…think about it…
cheers, david
DAVID…
Oops, got properly nailed by the word quote police!
Definitely with you!!!
Yes, total coherance is boring, too literal, loses magic.
Cheers,
Jay
ROBERT W…
can’t you make this easier for guys like me???
one time when i was just chatting with James Nachtwey and David Griffin of Natgeo, we all agreed that photographers really needed to simplify their websites…we also agreed that we tended not to even look at anything even slightly complicated..there just is not enough time in the day to try to figure out someone’s website…
not trying to give YOU a hard time!! this is for everyone to read…
anyway, i never did see all 14 images from Nepal…but, lost as i was, i did see a lot of other interesting work of yours, so all was not lost…i did follow your directions (i think)…
i think it was Michael Kirchner who gave us the best presentation of his work…remember?? Paris vacation?? anyway, we all clicked on the link and nice big pictures, scroll down, easy to read and navigate etc…can’t everyone do that???
cheers, david
Hi, David. Yes, will see you on the 15th. Looking forward to it!
Hi, David. Yes, I’ll be there on the 15th. Should be fun!
David: it’s actually quite simple once you delve into the blog archives which are at the bottom left hand side of the cover page. For said month ie. Jan, Feb, March, April, May, etc just click on any month and that will enable u to see all images for that particular month. In this case put your cursor on the month of April then go to the right side of the page assuming you have an apple book then scroll up or down. Thats it although probably i’m making it sound more difficult than it really is. bummer i really wanted u too see this work as a whole.. anyway my tray at the restaurant is calling me- Waiter – there is a fly in my Soup ? (sesame street anyone )
p.s. i wish i had more control over the simplicity of my blog however it’s FREE and well you can’t beat FREE !! Thank You Google 4 EVER. Tonight i will look into how to simplify and streamline my Blog liberty pictures..any ideas ? David i sympathize with your position as my computer skills are totally inadequate o.k. computer.
ERICA..
well, you struck a chord with that one…who doesn’t remember summer nights, fireflies and yes yes that light you could barely see in, but you COULD see!!
cheers, david
ROBERT W…
i did just as you said…but, i was looking for 14 pictures of Nepal..did i have that part wrong?? anyway, i will go try it again..
David;
Not my pictures, just a news piece that describes the work being done by the Sister.
Cheers
Rob,
I think if you want David to look at your work, bring the set to the top of your blog. so thats the first thing you see. make it easy otherwise people will get impatient, and rightly so.
time is dishes and dishes is money.
DAVID:
Ok, but here’s a teaser for you…..i still stand by what i wrote on friday:
give others assignment, those who hunger, crave, long, need it…i feel extremely priviledged to have you show my pics at Look3 during your projection, and lots of folks will see those pics, including the ones not seen here, under your EPF link: im excited enough about that and waiting feedback when folk see it in charlottesville, so, i am in no rush (but always ready to produce an assignment of words and pics, pics and words)…
i’ve got 2 upcoming shoots: 1 involving more students: time spent photographing them (and my wife, who will also photograph them, so i’ll also photograph her photographing them) while they eat (traditional korean restaurant) and drink and later go photograph them at a karaoke bar….for a number a reasons….1) my korean (and others) spend alot of time in karaoke bars, and this transforms them…2) the experience of korean students in a karaoke bar are very different than “westerners” experience: this was a great revelation to me….and 3) I want to do a series of photographs that is a dialogue with Chien-Chi Chang….Chien-Chi did a series (a roll i believe) of pics in a Karaoke bar in Taiwan…I LOVE CHIEN-CHI’s work and since Taiwan is a part of my past (childhood) and i have always admired him so much, it’s my own “conversation” with him from afar…
originally, before you brought up this “assignment post”, i wanted to actually photograph a Magnum Photographer this week doing/leading his/her group for Magnum Workshop…originally, i was going to write Chris, and pitch it to him and to Bree, but sadly, i returned from NC emotionally interested in something else…and i thought Magnum wouldn’t go for it, and i didnt get a chance lunch with her about discussing….and i had no time to write Chris before he came up….someday, i’ll do that (shoot a story about all these workshops), ….but anyway…..
here are some old pics about students….they were scanned last year on our old poor quality scanner., but u get the picture…anyway…im tired…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73821181@N00/2469403200/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73821181@N00/2468574533/
emotional….i will make at least 1 picture that isn’t “blurry”…though, it will still be broken by all the grain…
have to run…
u take care of your assignments first…i am still digesting NC and my family pictures…….
ok, and some words:…i wrote a long essay-poem for your project last summer…about the immigrant students….here is part of that…will write something else, eventually too, whatever i do for your Blog Assignment: parts of this i’ve left here before…
running
b
——————————————–
“Fiction for him was never representation…It was rumination in narrative form.”-Philip Roth
I
Arisen then:
II
When the shift occurs in the morning, the exact weight of the knot behind my 42-year old knees, reminding me that I have to begin, not yesterday, nor tomorrow, but today: a recounting, a snagging of the departure of things, of thoughts that have saddled for too long. Look. Their grain, corralled and telexed, weaves upon itself like emulsion beneath a print of skin, spreading and pneumbered. How is that I can begin to convey to you why now it is not the grasping but the telling, jack-split-gone, why now not then. Not the photographs. Not the words. Not the precision of light stacked against the algebra of my life’s grammar. But something more light, spawned beneath a tree’s damp roots at the base, at the base of languages, the winsome spine of movement, the memory at the base of my son’s languorous words. The pop of memory.
III
Baited bone beat back, tipping. So: begun. Sung.
IV
Distill this life and swing-sing it wide, allow it to circle, swell, pivot and drop inside and sit for time and then ex-pell it as if a child’s winter breath, gathering heat in the gallop of joy, the sacked-packed step of snow under thunderous foot: swung up through the earth’s canopy, there, widening.
We hunger for memory, for pit of image, print of time, photograph as hieroglyph disappearance. I am photographing a group of students who have come far from their homes, carving up and out a new memory and in their steps and their tossed moments of doubt and capture, I myself begin to doubt what I am doing. To photograph someone, for what: recall, distillation, homing-hope?
The roaming, far typed and shuttled, long settling away our loam and pottery-bone life. Have what I seen what I have seen when I have chosen to photograph you.
A fecund muck of breaking.
V
I have, like moss’d age of dropped loess upon bone, been spotted by a silly propensity for quotation. Is it no wonder that I continue to shape and sting things away with a little box filled with silver and chemical and sprocket-tongues of black and grey? I can share with you that I have in the scattering time of my dalliance with middle age begun, cowardly really, to ink-blot my life with clinging: a hieroglyph of memory. Far strung across the wide and buckling place behind my eyes, this sea of memory that does not yet exist but that I wish to weary and wrestle from its place. A preposterous and pretentious act. And then there is this: a night holding two cameras, one dropped, a wind-arm broken, and I think: this, there, so it goes. There is nothing but the carve and shape and sent-scent of you amid the winding, focused-skeletal world, licked up, chewed up, taken inside like sulphur dust and phosphorous. I buckle: let that armature break, if nothing else….
Later, another memory: pivot of sadness, a far-aching sibling of words and images and flirtation: all the broken-tooth, wobbly selves, hobbled by a lacking and a quivering. Me: the he ensorcelled.
VI
Faces gather time along their edges, sprockets of light pitched around thumb-bowed shadow, the way milk rims the lip and bottom-dip of a glass, the way bone sedimentizes sentiment pitched from the age and voice of the earth, the way glass and stone color from exposure. We speak of time, we speak of faces, we seldom speak of how these cauterize and coalesce into some odd unknowing. How is it that we distinguish one face from all the others? How is it that we speak of others and ourselves through an algebra of memory, speak of the faces that we have seen or known distinguished into certainty. What else is there in our knowing, at the heart of the well of our remembrance?
Then what about the blind, what is etched upon their skull and lithe memorial imagery? You should know I am blind in one eye and as a child struggled with un-seeing. At at early age, and often to my horror, I sailed over the lakes and seas and gulfs of my own face and eventually learned that each face while navigable is not attainable. In fact, I have spent the better part of my life trying to decipher what it is that I see when I look into the mirror: how is it that this chimera, this insolvable jigsaw is possibly me. When I became a photographer this became an ethical question: if I could not understand this revenant shell as me (my face yes, but surely not the “I” that is “me.”), how then to photograph someone else, let alone their face? I have not yet solved this quandary. How to properly remember, how to remember you when hopelessly stuck in the teeth of me. How to write about this? How to right the writing?
Soon, the disorienting calculus sets in: closeness, infinitely halved. A diary of failure: how far away, how licked-over-distance in the print of a smudge of space: breath between a barracks of lens and light. We continue even when we have not yet understood how to begin. Bereft. Beating. Brook. Fall upon me.
ROSS…
ok, yes, i did not see the photog by-line first time around…and did not read the text..anyway, are you going to follow this one Sister???
WROBERT…
thanks, yes, this is what i wanted to say earlier…by the way, i see from the site that you two are friends…maybe i kinda remember reading that way back, but i had forgotten…
so, what have you got on your mind?? good idea?? i would imagine that you would….
cheers, david
Yes, I have already contacted her and she is keen. I don’t know if you remember but I mentioned a long time ago about an elderly Sister (Sister Loyola) I completed a story on? We became good friends.
Well it so happens when I last called in to visit she mentioned that there was a Sister from Timor that I should meet, who had recently stayed at their convent. By chance, this was Sister Guillermina who I had been attempting to contact. Serendipity, maybe??
The only work done on Sister Guillermina has been “once over lightly” news coverage (eg the link I gave you). I think it’s important to sometimes focus on the positive. I also want to go more than skin deep on the photo/writing coverage.
I will be doing one story on a permaculture project at a remote village aimed at helping IDPs get back to their villages. I have four mags wanting a story on that and it will only take 2-3 days shooting/writing- more news type work really.
The rest of the time (I’ll be there for 3 weeks) I’ll be focusing on Sister Guillermina’s work, and the life of IDPs in Timor (about 110,000 out of a population of around 500,000).
Sister has over 2,000 IDPs living in her convent grounds (about the size of two basketball courts). She has had a knife held to her throat 11 times and a gun to her head 3 times protecting the people from gangs wishing to kill them.
A very inspirational person, she even takes gang members in to help them.
There is one other story I may get a chance to work on, it is following a man helping street kids (11 & 12 years old) from Oecussi, who have been sent to Dili by their parents to work and send money home to the family. This story is a bit sketchier, as I haven’t been able to contact him.
Anyway, I have only 3 weeks and don’t want to spread myself too thin.
I feel very lucky to live in a wealthy, stable country…..
ROSS…
yes, just stick with Sister Guillermina…not just pictures of her, but what she stands for…the people she helps etc etc..and since we have been talking lately about strong single picture seeing instead of overdoing the “link” pictures, just go for the strong imagery…we can fill in the blanks…then, if you have four or more of those, then you will actually have a strong essay…we just do not need to see every little “point”….ok roll with it and let us see what you do….
this should be good….
cheers, david
CATHY,
Maybe you should check out the Rodeo in Galisteo, NM if you run into problems with the SF rodeo. I think it is in July, you wont have to deal with any of the PR and coverage issues you mentioned and you will be able to roam anywhere you want. I got some great work there, a single for my portfolio actually. I had a lot of fun. It starts mid day so early shooting can challenge you to work with high contrast light, maybe bring a flash and dial it down, I did not and in some of my pics, I wish I had a little to add some fill. By the time you are pulling your hair out, the beautiful NM light is glowing and will provide ample time to get some nice images. Good luck.
David;
Thanks for that. I’m going to try and spend as much time as possible at the convent and be open to the way the story runs…
I have always been a big believer in Allards words “I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don’t find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges” So am not planning to to continually photgraph her, but the “edges” (& hopefully the heart)of the story…
I’ve been absorbing Larry Towells’ El Salvador book recently, his pictures continually blow me away. If only I could capture a tenth of what he can I’d be happy… The image of the girl bathing in the stream framed by the soldiers gun seems to be etched in my mind at the moment…
Cheers
DAVID,
…in “event” based photography, my best pictures are never from the event itself…always, or almost always, the EDGES have it all…think about it…
The rodeo is four evenings, beginning at 7:30pm so I imagine the best lighting conditions at that time of year would be just before the main event takes place. I’m definitely NOT into the rodeo ‘action’ aspect of it, guy on bucking horse, etc. As far as things before and after that might be interesting do you mean dressing for the event, warming up…stuff like that? That’s usually all I care about.
I’m guessing that’s what you meant.
There’s also a little carnival going on…rides, food stands and so forth.
I’m not committed to this yet, especially since I don’t know if I can get in, but figured it was worth mentioning since discussion often leads to either clarity and/or better ideas.
DAVID,
…in “event” based photography, my best pictures are never from the event itself…always, or almost always, the EDGES have it all…think about it…
The rodeo is four evenings, beginning at 7:30pm so I imagine the best lighting conditions at that time of year would be just before the main event takes place. I’m definitely NOT into the rodeo ‘action’ aspect of it, guy on bucking horse, etc. As far as things before and after that might be interesting do you mean dressing for the event, warming up…stuff like that? That’s usually all I care about.
I’m guessing that’s what you meant.
There’s also a little carnival going on…rides, food stands and so forth.
I’m not committed to this yet, especially since I don’t know if I can get in, but figured it was worth mentioning since discussion often leads to either clarity and/or better ideas.
ROSS..
did Allard say that or did i say that?? i guess we have both said that…funny…certainly many photographers have said that…
Larry is just an amazing photographer….and i have always been struck by how interesting it was that he was such a “down home boy” with so much work and his lifestyle , but then would end up doing books on Palestine and Salvador…well for sure Larry, despite his straw hat and farmer suspenders, can move on it….
i met Larry at Bill Clinton’s first term Inagural Party..when Bill Clinton was playing his saxaphone at 3am in celebration of his presidency …. Larry and i were back a bit..could not really get close for a picture….suddenly Larry went aggressive, moved people aside and fought his way to the front…i went too…right behind Larry!! so now here we were right next to the new prez having the moment of his life and it was “aggressive” Larry, good ole’boy, who got us there!!
aw shucks!! david
David,
Somewhere about 300 messages back on the previous post (!), you wrote for me to shoot 10 icons that say “catholic”, “conflict”…and then of course I arrived late to the church on sunday, jumbled, out of rhythm and thought, uh oh…great start…but they provided me with a beer at the hall later anyway.
I’ll be working on the gallery soon (http://pa.photoshelter.com/user/jg) to delete shots that were posted for the congregation to get a glimpse of things. You’re dead right, I do the “pr” of prints, especially if I photograph someone’s kids or grandkids.
You had asked how long ago I started shooting at the church; it’s almost 6 months now, only on weekends. I have a few subjects who are going to allow me into their homes, to round out the perspective of who these people are and what they bring to the community, the parts of the whole. Each one is a different facet of the debate, at different stages of conflict or acceptance.
Don’t know what the Lee/Harvey show is, but looking forward to enjoying it…
Joan
Here I am but don’t ask me where Panos is!
Been tied down in SF since last winter, and dealing with stuff. Nothing horrendous, but keeps the creative juices to basically doing singles and shooting lilies (great subject, a perennial of photography) in the park with the odd Olympic torch run here and there.
My time will come…or not…. ;-)
Hi David
I just got back from shooting a wedding in Carmel. Its a really fabulous moment for portraits, evrybodys ready to have their photo taken.
I’ve just been digging into shooting portraits with the view camera, in the most beautiful wooded backdrops in Carmel for three days, shrouded in mist.
so I just poured out the chemistry to start running the 1st batch of 10 from 96 sheets exsposed. just taking this break to post up.
so pretty anxious to see how things looks.
To achieve a new level of wit and weirdness with my New York street photography before I leave for London and then to make the book I’ve always wanted to make of the resulting material. I might mix it up with a little video and audio too for a dedicated website.
Getting excited.
David; You probably both said it at some stage! Actually that quote is directly from Alard’s “The Photographic Essay” book.
I recently picked up an extra copy of the book from my local library. They were selling it for 50c because it was “old and outdated, not releveant & nobody got it out anymore!”- their words not mine!!! I nearly died laughing as I gave them my 50c piece!!!
That’s an interesting story about Mr Towell. I recently watched an older doco about Magnum and it had a piece showing him working in a Mennonite community. Very quiet, unassuming and seems to be an exceedingly good hearted man…
JARLE…
Camera Lucida is a great little book… big ideas. “Studium” and “punctum” changed things for me… ever since I read it, I’ve been on a continuous hunt for punctum triggers…
More than taking pictures, though, the book showed me a great way to look at them, or how to consider a photograph and its relationship to the subject, the beholder, time, reality and death… enjoy it!
Here’s a link to start with as I forgot before…
http://paultreacy.com/QuirkStreet1_2008.htm
The design is a little hectic but a new, reduced, simpler, interactive site is nearly ready.
ROSS…
Larry is indeed a good hearted man…
shocking what you say about the price of Allard’s book……but, i guess it is because it falls into the category of “how to” book rather than serious photo book..that is all i can imagine, because most respected out of print color books go for hundreds and often thousands of dollars…i am sure his book “Vanishing Breed”, which was published at about the same time, is very expensive..
cheers, david
David;
The cheapest copy of “The Photographic Essay” is selling for US$99 on Amazon, and that is fairly typical. My copy is well thumbed and a bit dog eared through use, but it’s been too expensive to replace (until now)…
I think many underate the book because it is about technique, and not equipment. You know how many photographers obsess over gear rather than results…
There is an old saying “Fishing flies are tied to catch the fisheman, not the fish” I think for some, photo gear is the same!
Cheers
JARLE…
oh yes, i forgot to mention to you “Camera Lucida”….my daughter in law gave it to me a few years ago and Barthes philosophizes a provocative way of thinking about photography..while you are at it, you should also read Susan Sontag “On Photography”…
ROSS…
hmmm, i think the opposite…i think the book is underrated because it is about “technique”..not about gear, but about process…in other words, as i said, it is ultimately a “how to do it” book..educational..rather than just a presentation of the work…if it had been literally about gear it would be even cheaper i think…
As an aside, I’ve got an old copy (1972) copy of Allards NG book “The American Cowboy in Life & Legend”. It’s interesting to compare his old and new work. Mind you maybe an editor had more of a hand in picking pics for the old book…
LEE….
in our last workshop in New York, did you see me consume even one drop of alcohol??? New Mexico three years before does not count!!!
ROSS….
i never have even heard of this Allard NG cowboy book…but, those NG books, are not considered “real books” by any of us…i did two or three myself and i swear i have no idea where any copies exist..nor do i care…i doubt Allard cares about that one either…but, interesting that you say “old work” and “new work” because all of his West work was shot within a relatively short time..i do not think Bill has shot cowboys for at least 30 years (i could be wrong)..i think you are just seeing a Natgeo edit as opposed to a Bill edit….
“i think you are just seeing a Natgeo edit as opposed to a Bill edit….” that’s what I was meaning.
I’m pretty happy at the moment because have just received (about 10 minutes ago) an email from OXFAM saying that they want to use me for humanitarian work in the Pacific and east Asia. I’ve been corresponding with them since Feb trying to get a toe in the door. OXFAM are an organisation I have a lot of respect for.
They seemed to like my Vanuatu work up on my Lightstalkers site.
Feel free to have a look and rip it to bits if you like!!! :-)
Cheers
Joan, your link didn’t really work. Was this what you meant to post?
http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery-show?G_ID=G0000tT4P4nWdstg
Hi David,
have an idea…..can we still submit ?
cheers,
katharina
Hello David –
my work is at http://www.chrishinkle.com …
I have a couple weeks – last week of May, first week of June – to work on something…as well I have set aside the month of July for a photo project, I will be on a road trip, solo (so if there is anyone out there that is on my path I’d be down for a coffee or beer), traveling from Tucson to “home”, MI, and have been thinking of using geography and perhaps Highway 191 to create a photo essay along a North South line from Mexico to Canada across the West…of course upon arrival I could work on something of an introspective look/photo essay on where I grew up and whats left, family, landscape, etc…also I will be in Guanajuato and over to Puerto Vallarta at the end of Nov beginning of Dec – not sure what I want to focus on there yet but its on my mind…
basically for any of these times or in-between I can be open and would love to work on something you feel I need, something that you think I should work on whether it be subject matter or type of photography – portraits, documentary, etc…maybe a strength that could be stronger or a weakness that needs to be up to the level, etc…
anyway I trust your eye and am totally willing to “go there”, wherever it is you think I need to “go” with my photography…
I look forward to your response.
Thanks!
Chris
Paul,
Many thanks! Yes, that’s the main gallery.
Joan
Sorry, i forgot to specify with my last post: not ready to barge in with a project like so many here. I think now this previous makes more sense.
I had intially thought that David would pretty much give the assignmments, based on sensiblitites and location, and to evryone signing in, over a period of many, many months of course.
Not a criticism at all, but as the thinking and explaining has evolved, it looks a lot like the “emerging” project of last year, only with fewer involved at a time, a shorter time period (yes?) and saying beforehand what you will shoot.
What will be your real input in evryone’s project, David?
Herve;
I’m shooting my project whether it’s an “assignment” or not. My projects are being worked on whether part of the blog experience or not.
I was just seeking a heads up on the focus of the project etc. Which, David has graciously given. All input is good…
HERVE,
Even after reading several explanations from David my original understanding of his “good idea” was that he would (privately) contact a few people each month and give them assignments and the rest of us would observe…I didn’t “get” that he was opening this up to everyone. (That’s why I was trying to find a way for the group to be involved.)
I guess as long as David knows what’s going on we’re okay! :))
JONATHAN,
Thanks a lot for mentioning Galisteo. I shot there last summer and definitely plan to be there again this year. The second and fourth images on my link are from Galisteo. I saw two from there on your site, yes? Nice! I see you assisted at the Workshops for Arthur Meyerson. I took a workshop from “Don Arturo” three years ago. He’s a sweetie…
I’d be happy to hear any other recommendations you have for Santa Fe.
P.S. HERVE,
“I didn’t “get” that he was opening this up to everyone. (That’s why I was trying to find a way for the group to be involved.)”
I MEANT TO SAY: That’s why I was originally looking for a way the group could be involved in some process while David worked with the people he had given assignments to…
Point being that I didn’t understand what David had proposed…or perhaps the original idea has changed/evolved.
David,
The assignment I would love, and the project I’m working toward, can’t be done until at least July. I have nothing to show because the initial overture to the Hutterite colony was done without camera in hand. They are open to a day, and we’ll see from there … I hope to get more access but it is up to them … and me.
I am fascinated with this longest and most successful human experiment in communal living, and the many paradoxes surrounding their culture and beliefs in a modern world. They embrace technology if it works to their benefit … bluetooth headsets now for the harvester operators so they can coordinate efforts … and the colonies in Eastern Washington have some of the most profitable agricultural operations. Historically persecuted, fiercely independent, pacifist, agrarian, “old world,” communal, successful, business savvy and technologically literate … these Hutterite colonies are islands in time evolving at their own pace on the steppes of the Columbia basin.
I know, I know … Allard’s very, very long shadow on this subject but nothing gets me going like the possibilities here … and there are a few new twists I think.
In the meantime, I continue to work on a couple of long-term projects: commuters on ferries; rebuilding efforts from Dec. flood here; and my own WASA life.
Click on my name for work since December in Kircher-friendly format … links at the top to several essays.
tom
p.s. special thanks to Bob B. for that wonderful James Agee quote you posted here some time back … “… an open palm spread frank before the sky.” Fits the west so well, the steppes, the plains, all the big sky country, so true.
David-
You should get some inspiration on my site… some ideas I would imagine. Email your thoughts after you take a look…
http://www.americansuburb.com
Douglas
I am getting more confused about the nature of the “good idea”.
The specificity of it seems gone, with people self-assigning projects, some already started, some to start, very naturally as they have done already, independantly from the blog here. All sounds great, good ideas yes, but where is the “good idea” anymore? I may be wrong, and need to read David’s OP a few days ago, but there had seem the idea that there would be a time period for these projects to be done, fairly the same for evryone, and much shorter than the emerging fund schedule (which started early July and ended mid-October or November?).
But what we have here, is 3 or 4 people starting soon, OK!, and others, starting as well, or continuing a project, AS THEY SHOULD, but totally free to schedule as they wish, and apparently free of David’s direction on the specificity of their project (save a few hints).
So again, good ideas, but nothing new here from what so many of you do or plan, already… Where is the “GOOD IDEA” project anymore?
Inquiring mind(s)……
Hello to all,
Here is the link of my last report on Rose, a prostitute on whom I worked during 2 and a half years:
http://gallery.mac.com/audreybardou#100335
I limited the access:
Nom : audreyb
Mot de passe : 15 minutes
I am sorry, I did not take charge of an order of presentation(display) yet and I didn’t finish all the editions it is little shambolic! I would like very much having your notices thank you
David,
I would like very much showing you my work “finity” in July in Arles, and discussing it with you, if you had a little of your time(weather) to dedicate me….
I think of beginning a new series on Charlène, a 16-year-old teenager, but I do not still know that it can give and also begin a small series photo ” silence, we tan! ” On a beach next to to me, of whom do you think of it? I also photograph my parents since the death of my grandfather, maybe, I scatter too much…
Thank you.
Kind regards, Audrey
Name: audreyb
password: 15minutes
without space
In three weeks I’m going back to Senegal for the presentation of my project, some exhibitions of my previous work and to start a new one. As I told you, for that new work I’m still managing the formalities processing in Dakar. Anyway, and once there, I will be in touch with a lot of people working together in different artistic workshops, like painting, music, fashion, cinema, photography… sharing their cultures and inspiration as in every workshop we are mixing artists from Spain with artists from Senegal to do a creation together. Maybe I could do something about that…. or whatever you think I can do in that atmosphere.
Un abrazo
Ana
AUDREY… I just took a look into your gallery and I just love your report on Rose. I enjoyed the frames, the textures… (amazing textures, that’s the b&w that I do like!, full of touch, full of sensations, full of life). I liked it a lot, really. Thank you for sharing! and you made me realize that I’m working “too clean”. I need to go back to my roots and do what I really like to do.
Well done, Audrey…
Thank you very much, I was very close to Rose, we were very friendly and collusive but regrettably our relation ended very brutally and I don’t know why… I admit to question a lot…
Thank you Ana,
Friendly, Audrey
Mike and David,
thanks for your comments with regards to “camera lucida”. i also ordered the book, on photography by susan sontag, that you recommended david.
been catching up on posts…but need my oatmeal and coffee now…
lots of interesting and creative projects posted, and whether they become part of the “GOOD IDEA” or not, would be great to see them…
peace,
jarle
David: okay, my site is revamped with a little help from my friends. now you can click on my name below and scroll through five months of material if you so desire. the keyword is user friendly – Now could you please give me a thoughtful analysis of all 14 images from Nepal.
Seriously i need criticism so that i can better articulate my visual vocabulary..
Herve Ç))
on good ideas–originally, i~d wanted to do an essay on this whole ^Workshop^phenomenon…here this week, 5 Magnum photographers are giving a workshop in conjunction with the CONTACT Photofestival (a annual, month-long photo bust that is now the largest photo festival in N.America)…my original idea was to pic one photographer (that would have been Chris A, since I know him) and one ^student^and shoot them shooting, as well as to explore they~re own exhaustion and difficulty about this entire process, since you usually we only get pics from participants and they all seem so feel-good, joyeous, and im more interested in the exhaustion of something like that, as well as the idea of ^teaching^someone to be a photographer (since this is such strange, alchemical magic, oui..)…then when i returned from family trip (had not seen my dad in 5 years, even though we are incredibly close emotionally), i lost interest in that idea, now after somthing else…something dramatic and traumatic happened to my son while i was away, and that has become the focus of my next project (along with dinosaur bones)…..the ^new^idea for me now, isnt about the immigrant students or karaoke (that~s an extension of this long 4 year project) but something simpler, more lonely and a reconciliation with my own past–NorthCarolina, my son and the new bones;gallery at the ROM…the first place that made me feel wonderous (nyc natural museum of history) not returned, only this time here in TO…and the bones of the south…but this isn~t my idea for David~s Assignment…I think David should, as best as he can, ideas based on locale;photographer;needs (in other words, what he things each month the blog-magazine (i use that word very very lightly) lacks in terms of locale-story-style-concept-manner-age etc etc…
editors look for photographers to produce within their ^skill^…i mean, a good PE might need a story and she knows which photographer to go to, it doesnt mean limitation but just a certain expectation…
Trying to read David~s mind, Im assuming he put out the klaxon-call for ideas because of time and effort…he~s not a PE and this isnt a magazine, so given that, he probably wants folk to deepen or challenge themselves, as if in one of his workshops…a delving that is a combination of assignment^^ and personal digging…
example–i had the great priviledge to see Erica~s new work…and it is extraordinary!!!!…both very much erica macdonald portraiture and also a deepening and saddening of her sensibilities…hoping that she~s one of the first, only cause it will set such a beautiful and high standard…
anyway, i iterate, that i am in no rush to be given an âssignment^, shit, i just did that to myself when i returned from NC ç))…
I personally would love to see something completely ^new^ from each photographer…new in the sense of not a continuation of something, something unexpected…im hoping the dinosaur bones and wedding shit will do that, but who knows…it could all end up like shit too, which happens very often ç))…
new ideas–for me often come not from pre-thought, but during something…who knew that a flamingo in the front yard with a wedding veil would ring the same to me as the bones of tyranusaurus rex…ç)))…
here~s my wish list for 1st picsÇ
1) one photographer from Asia–personalized
2) one photographer doing portraiture
3) one photographer doing color documentary
4) one photographer doing conceptual
and I DEFINITELY WANT TO SEE PHOTOS ON LILIES ç)))…
and i~ll wait until fall or next year, whenever, no needs on this end
cheers
running
bob
HERVE…CATHY..
the point of the assignment process here was to see how members of this forum formulated an idea and then went out and worked on it within a certain time frame…and using the very same “idea process” used at magazines who assign work….other magazines (like “Aperture”) do not assign, but rely on completed bodies of work…
this is why it is very important for photographers to have at least some thoughts on the table before even thinking about receiving an assignment or a grant..
there are zero talented photographers who are sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and hoping that some editor will suddenly wake up in the morning and decide that a certain talented photographer should be given funding to go off and do “the essay of the decade” or whatever…
i also want to give photographers a venue and to identify for later funding purposes exactly what the photographers in this community can do in “real world” circumstances since many “real world” editors will be watching…and obviously to give a new venue since “real world” assignment venues are shrinking…only the “thinking” photographers will survive…in either the editorial or art worlds…
what is going on here is exactly how it is done in the so called “real world”…the ideas coming in and the feedback process is an online version (albeit abbreviated) of just what happens at most magazines…
assignments are given to photographers with ideas either developing(in progress) or about to develop…grants are given in the same way…
the discussions taking place, the questions being asked, are just the beginning of the process between editor and photographer…
here is how it goes:
photographer shows portfolio…photographer shows editor what he or she is working on currently and/or what he or she wants to do…editor either rejects idea completely or modifies or asks relevant questions to help develop the idea…
this is also the way it is in most workshops…it is certainly the way it is in my workshops…i do not just give any photographer a random subject idea…nor do most magazine editors…
to best be educational for members of this forum, i thought most of the discussion on the process would take place here.. that is the very nature of the forum…both idea planning and final critique, in most cases, should be right here …. otherwise what is the point???
as it stands right now, i think we have maybe 4 or 5 developing ideas with only maybe 2 or 3 assignments…i will go back and check for sure and will publish the names of the photographers with assignments for this month within the next few days as per suggested at the beginning….
now Cathy, didn’t we chat very specifically about your rodeo idea just yesterday? and that was a potential project, by your own description, for later this summer..isn’t that correct? so it would only seem logical that we would discuss it more as the time grew closer..in the meantime, you will see how it goes for others here this month…
now Herve, i have not heard one peep from you regarding what you would like to do…have i?? did i miss something? please let me know..and send me a link to anything you have been shooting lately…this will help me to think about you…
so friends, wherein lies your confusion???
i have read several “good ideas” or at least the beginning of good ideas..have you not read the same??….right now it is all hypothetical, but we should be seeing some interesting work for us all to critique by the end of the month…
please let me know if you are still confused…i will always try to explain things in a way that makes sense to you…
cheers, peace et al, david
BOB…
yes, i think that is pretty much how it will break down or, at least, very close…i would like to give Kyung Hee Lee an assignment, but i do not think she is regularly here…do you have her email?? and yes, of course, Erica who i have already encouraged….she lives nearby, so i will be able to talk to her in person in the next few days…
the problem with finding something “new” from each photographer is that i do not even know their “old” in most cases…it is pretty hard to assign an “expansion” when you do not know where they are coming from in the first place!!! getting photographers to take their next personal step is what i am totally “all about”…doing this online is, by nature, a slower process…
what i will try to do here will be the best i can do given the time i have….
as you said several comments back “do not forget your personal project Harvey”…do not worry, i won’t, i can’t..i am shooting my family project every day now….it has been fairly slow here in North Carolina, so i have had some time to be online…it will not always be that way…
yesterday i had an easy schedule…so, i spent a solid 8 or more hours here on the forum looking at links, chatting with photographers about their work or work in progress, asking some relevant questions and starting to develop a few possible projects…end result: to have both Cathy and Herve now more confused than ever!!!
there is a natural tendency for some to want to see the “end” at the “beginning”…instant gratification or some version of it…this process does not work that way…i think you know this….
in any case, i am always open to suggestions…
i think we will have several solid assignments within the next few days…
by the way, since you brought up “new”, what would you do that would be a departure from what you do now?? i do know your “old”, so you would be an easy one to carry on a dialog for “expansion”…you would do something amazing with your work and your words…i would really like to see this…but, i am not leaning on you to do something radically different….you have your style and it works…but doing it right here and right now could be very interesting indeed….think about it amigo….
cheers, david
@David: the only short stuff I could think about are these gentlemen I see playing on the bowling green through my window. There’s a small social club attached to the green. I’ve shot there before b&w 120, but I could give a first go at colour 120. Mostly portraiture, lots of green, and old gentlemen wearing white. Well, and big black balls. It would take me about half a week to get the film, two weeks to shoot enough to have a few pictures to show, a week to get it developed and a couple of weeks of scanning and editing. Two months? :o) I am slow… I still have a queue of about 38 rolls only for processing and scanning, not even talking about editing…
David:
I totally understand and think that any variation of this “assignment” task will prove to be worthwhile and a great thing for all. I will assist in any way that I can to help out: be that long comments or questions or writing comments after submission, whatever. I think the key is not to loose your own work/time, cause there are so many here now that this float, under your helmsmanship, will keep full steam ahead. So much terrific work and ideas here already that I believe anyone you select will start the project with a bang…pushing people is critical, i agree and i think when photographers are “pushed” that is where the “new” comes from: the difficult self evaluation…i think that will happen once people get feedback…speaking personally, i always re-evaluate work after some time away and hearing what people say (mostly my wife, but other photographers who are generous with their insight)…”new” can mean something like this: shoot outside your comfort zone…anyway, i think whatever you do, IT WILL PRODUCE TERRIFIC RESULTS…that’s the level of my faith here…
as for me: well, in a few weeks, i’ll send you some pics from dinosaur bones and NC…so, i’ll make u a promise: i’ll send you something in 2 weeks, including some “words”…so much stirring inside now, dont want to take up ur time…
and lastly: remember: you got a place to stay and people to meet, when you want, in Charlotte…there is an entire group of families there who are willing, in case you need more contacts…
will write you later
hugs
bob
:))…I think you should definitely give Kyung-hee an assignment: that would be brilliant…and yes, I have her email: i will send it to you at lunch today…:))..
Bob, I would like to run something past you but don’t know how to reach you. If you’re OK with it, could you please contact me at croneart@comcast.net? Thanks.
Patricia
DAVID…
Damnit! Can’t come to NY this Thursday. It’s actually for a good reason,(shooting a story) but still…Damnit!
Will definitely see you and others in Charlottesville. Not taking a workshop but will be floating around the place with my wife the full three days.
Is there a time place where the denizens of this fine “blog” are to get together? There should be!
Have a good signing and after-party!
Peace,
Mike
David,
I want to photograph religion as a divisive force with a focus on the Vatican and the Catholic Church’s influence in Rome.
Religion and free thinking is something I’ve become more and more interested in over time after reading Jiddu Krishnamurti’s The First and The Last Freedom. I live near Rome and would get something done quickly.
Do you think this is too broad or have any other advice? Much, much appreciated!!!
I’ve rushed to the following online on my website (sorry for any browser bugs) and it is some of the same material I presented for the first ‘do your own’ essay assignment here. I’d love to give it another go now if there’s room. If not no worries—I’ll keep at it, but a deadline always helps!
http://simongriffee.com/lp/
David,
I have a few ideas that could be interesting but need to be refined to find their focus.
1. Two teenage brothers living in a group home for neglected kids. One is about to graduate from high school, and the older one is a college freshman. They have a close relationship, with the older one maintaining almost a paternal outlook on his younger brother. Could be a critical time as graduation nears in mid-June and decisions have to be made about their futures.
2. The Forgotten Neighborhood. Stamford, CT is a corporate boomtown with developers remaking the face of the city’s working class neighborhoods. In the South End, 82 acres have been razed to create waterfront condos and retail. Several streets with old row houses remain as the residents continue their lives and worry about their futures.
3. My wild Irish Dad is celebrating his 70th birthday in Las Vegas. My mind spins at what I envision…
4. A continuation of the Harlem jazz story, in which I follow the band led by Hammond organ maestro Nate Lucas and his 96-year-old dad saxophonist Max Lucas. Trying to forge the original idea of how Harlem jazz history shapes the people and neighborhood today by showing glimmers of of the past. I thought the Lucas idea would be good as it connects someone who started playing as a kid in 1922 with his son, who moves as freely in the hip-hop world as he does in the jazz world.
So true what Bob B just said about the value of the push. I’ve had a hard time getting out of the gate and shooting personal work since leaving my job at the newspaper six weeks ago. Granted, I’ve had a lot of stuff to do to understand what I’m getting myself into as a freelancer, taxes, insurance, etc., almost to the point of forgetting why I became a photographer to begin with! Now I feel an almost desperate urge to be out shooting.
Love the camaraderie and creative thought this idea has encouraged.
My work’s at http://www.andrew-sullivan.com.
andrew
That should be ‘The First and Last Freedom’ above!
The book is also online:
http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/the_first_and_last_freedom/the_first_and_last_freedom.html
David
I agree with your post to Cathy about:
“…in “event” based photography, my best pictures are never from the event itself…always, or almost always, the EDGES have it all…think about it…”
I have also found that the better images are usually around the “Edges”. Interesting though, I never really thought about it until you mentioned it. It may be a case of working for a newspaper you can tend to get tunnel vision for the event itself. But now that I think about it, the EDGE photo is almost always better as the lead and the event itself as the secondary.
On a somewhat similar subject, I was wondering if you would take a look at the recent post on my blog at:
http://www.petemarovichimages.com/37thframe/
These are two images from a recent fire. We had a big discussion about which photo was better for the front page. Both would run in color but the second image would be inside.
I would like your opinion and the opinions of the readers here if they would like to give one.
Feel free to post them on my blog unless you feel the discussion is a good one for here. I don’t want to hijack this thread.
Thanks in advance
Pete
I will tell all later which one was chosen for the front.
I’m a bit like Bob at the moment myself with “stuff so much stirring inside now” as I prepare to leave the US and move with my young family back to Europe. I have loved New York City so very much but I’m very much falling out of love with the United States as I ponder the future for my children.
It was my becoming a parent that caused me to realize how European I am and how important it is for my kids to grow up with a European sensibility. This is one of the reasons, perhaps the most important reason, that we are moving. My wife loves the Sates too but was never quite as committed to the place as I was and is somewhat relieved to be heading home. In fact, I’m just now eligible to apply for citizenship but there isn’t time to wait the 16 months for the interview and so I’ll likely return my greencard to the US embassy in London in a couple of years. I just can’t see us returning.
Before I leave I want to “finish” my New York street photography project, as I mentioned above, but with a flourish. I’ve not been shooting on the streets for ages as I’ve been spending much of my shooting time observing my two kids. So, between now and July’s end, I want to have lots of new material from the streets. Whether or not it’ll be any good I’m not sure since I’m so out of practice. Will I see the weirdness as I once used to? Will I see the wit if I’m facing such a huge life change? Will my mind be too distant from the immediacy of the street? We’ll just have to see.
As David and I previously discussed, very briefly, I would like to completely free myself to make new, intimate and telling work about the playful ways of boyhood. This is where I’m beginning to make interesting images, I think, and I want to explode on this subject and really produce some magic, if possible. Any guidance you might have, Mr. Harvey, would be greatly appreciated.
Child’s Play thus far…
http://paultreacy.com/ChildsPlay2008.htm
and also…
http://paultreacy.com/Siblings2008.htm
Here too is some of my Americana work, mostly from the streets of New York City…
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/193214
AUDREY….
absolutely terrific work on Rose!!!
you are a very fine photographer indeed…your sensitivity and your sensibility are top level….
everyone here should log on to your site to see this work….
do you want to do an assignment here now, this month?? i would very much like for you to do one…you mentioned two or three different projects, but i was not sure which one you preferred…please let me know…
i do look forward to meeting you in Arles…
‘
thank you for sharing this work….let me know soonest what you want to do
PAUL….
one of the hardest things to do on stage is also one of the hardest things to do in photography….humor…and , for some reason, humor does not get the respect it often deserves…few can photograph with humor and with wit…but, you can!! many nice pictures here Paul…
child’s play is a good project for you….the only thing i see is that you should take all of the pictures to the most sophisticated level…some are….some fall into being cute kid pictures…it is a fine line i know…one small movement, one little thing changes the picture from expressive to “cute”….all in all however, worth pursuing….definitely stay in touch with me on this one…
both you and Audrey woke me right up this morning with totally different approaches to photography….both very very good….
cheers, david
David –
more than anything, no matter what the subject is, I have felt the need to move beyond the “image”…in other words I want to explore a looser less-literal look at the world and the photo essay…perhaps something along the lines of Trent Parke’s 15 min till Midnight, or Pelligrin’s work, or Kratochvil, or Christopher Anderson, and your own work in the way that it has that magic that lifts the image beyond the everyday scene…I’m not intersted in mimicking any of the aforementioned photogs style but feel I need to tap into more depth…anyway just some thoughts…
~ chris
Hi David,..just sent you a message with a proposal.
katharina
Thank you David. That means a lot to me. I’m a little tired of the cuteness too and struggle getting past it sometimes. My new site will show a curtailed version of this material. Shooting a little video helps me to get past that cuteness and make better photographs, funnily enough.
Audrey’s work on Rose blew my mind. Wow! Rather exquisite and sumptuous. Very secretive.
KATHARINA….
yes, please tell me your idea…i only want to have a few per month, but i am not going to turn any good idea down..tell me, tell me…
ANA…
i am not sure if you have been to Senegal before, but if not, you are going to have so so so many things to think about…Senegal is rich in “picture material”…when do you go?? how long do you stay?? maybe you should wait until you get there and then tell me more specifically what you might be interested in photographing..anyway, you and Senegal are a good mix….let’s just keep talking and we will come up with the right idea for you…..
cheers, hugs, david
just did !
CHRIS HINKLE…
yes, good thoughts…and good for you…
when i look at your portfolio it seems like you are trying to be all things to all people….all of it fairly well done, but you really need to do exactly what you said you wanted to do..get loose, get in, get “down”..
so, anything specific to turn you “on” right now???
Trent’s work is all everyday stuff…at home with the kids and the dogs etc etc…Paolo is in conflict situations…so the imagery is “loose” but the subject matter very different…
so which way would you go????
david
Thank you very much…
I would be delighted to have an allocation(attribution) of your part… if it does not disturb you, I would like to finish this month this my Rose’s editions, I need to enclose my work to be able to pass in the other thing(matter)… I let you choose the subject which seems to you best…
Kind regards,
Audrey
Paul,
thank you… I have just visited your site a lot of humor in your images, I like “woofers, plastic people, quirk street…!!
Kind regards,
audrey
Audrey and Paul…
Outstanding work from both of you! I am humbled…and truly inspired.
Merci!
SIMON….
this is a tough one..and subjective…taking on the Vatican might be a big bite!! your first four pictures certainly symbolically drive home your point…but, i am not sure how you can take this forward….it is one thing to be symbolic as per some of your pictures, but to be specific is much more difficult…
let’s stay talking about this one Simon..i am not so sure…but, i am also totally up for letting a photog run with something he or she truly believes in….so i am not discouraging, just asking you to think a bit more on how you can actually make this work..
ANDREW…
my first inclination would be for you to continue with jazz in Harlem….new pictures, but adding to your already significant body of work…again, i am always thinking book, book and book, and this could eventually be one…the other story on the teenage brothers is also good, but has a limit to it i think…sounds like a good newspaper picture page, but maybe cannot go beyond…. i would forget the “forgotten neighborhood”…for some reason those stories generally tend to fall flat…of course, you should shoot your dad’s birthday no matter what!!!
cheers, david
Oh yes, I have been in Senegal a couple of times in the last months and all my latest work was done there. I am now in charge of a big cultural project there in exchange with spanish artists…
And now I’m going for the presentation of that project during the biennial (DAK’ART 08). I will go to Dakar at the end of the month (may 25th) and will stay for a couple of weeks just to attend the presentation, to have a couple of exhibitions of the work I did there before and to manage several artistic workshops with spanish and senegalese artists all together (they will create something all together sharing their cultures). Besides, I also have plans to shoot a new work but still have to do some formalities to get the permission.
Thanks for thinking that Senegal and me are a good mix. There I have access to very interesting subjects, music, health (aids, malaria…), poverty, art, cinema, fashion, religion, talibes (kids from the street)…. as my project is involved with all of it…
Un abrazo!
Ana
ANA…
can you send me a link to the work you have already done in Senegal??? you mentioned so many different subjects and i am just trying to imagine the best one for you….
never mind the link…just found it on your site…let me look and think..
cheers, david
David, you may have missed the post where I explained my situtation right now makes it impossible to devote all the energy and thoughts to such a project I will give a thought to shooting what keeps me tied down in SF, but frankly, it falls under long time, 4+ seasons assigments).
I hope to be free of responsibilities by next fall. To be honest too, I am, thanks to the richness of this blog, in a constant state of flux, ie delightfully conflicted, as to what I can propose and how to go about it.
Maybe Ross’s answer confused me yesterday, with another or 2, it seemed whatever they will do for the next months, or already started would be their “assignment” when you’d call them in.
My understanding is that you are going to play editor, but not out of a vacuum, having talked (e-mailed) to “your” photographers, knowing their work a bit, and telling them “Ok, I want you to work on this, this month”, rather than “interesting idea, why don’t you add a few pix to what you shot already and send”…
David,
I recently had the opportunity to photograph the Hozoni Days Powwow in Durango. Native American culture has always intrigued me, it is “another” culture, almost a “foreign” culture within our own. I want to take this further. I have been invited, along with my camera, to another Ceremony, another Powwow. It is still a few months out, but I see this as the perfect opportunity to “Push” myself on a short assignment. Who better to critic “Powwow” photos than DAH! Here is a link to my recent work.
http://fedoraphoto.blogspot.com/
I look forward to hearing your thoughts! -Jeremy
PETE….
clearly picture number two is the strongest….the first picture is a picture of water and sunset sky, not even any fire…could even be a training excercise…the second picture shows “reality” with smoke, fire and a “tie in” to people…
HERVE…
ah, i see maybe why you were confused….yes, i will “play editor” , and i am interested in work already shot, BUT the work presented to us here will be all new work..so the “past work” is reference and commitment and the new work will be the assignment…some of these lines will be a little blurred of course as they are in “real assignment land”…the whole point here is to show good work by members of this forum just as the whole point of a magazine editor is to publish a good story…period.
hopefully by me guiding a bit and critiquing a bit the flow of the photographers story will change and/or improve even if they were working on the story anyway…also, some photographers need one kind of guidance, others need another kind and others just need a “green light”….
for a “real world” example, my assignment for Cuba from Natgeo came after i was already working on my own in Cuba..NG had my reference material….this led them to correctly believe that i was seriously interested in Cuba.. they then gave me an assignment… financed another several weeks of work…editors love it most when a photographer is committed to a subject…conversations like the ones we are having here right now are realistic mini versions of the conversations between editors and photographers at magazines etc …by the way, several of the pictures published in the Cuba book (NG) were pictures i had shot down on the island on my own before i had an assignment…so it all rolls together when thinking of a photographer’s body of work and when publishing that photographer’s body of work…
There were some people who felt the back of the kid’s head partially blocking the firefighers was distracting. It doesn’t bother you?
DAVID,
I would like to further develop the AIDS orphan story I’ve begun. What I’ve accomplished so far is just the tip of the iceberg… simply a few days of shooting… I already have the access and a clear set of plans laid out for this work (what I intend to shoot + how I intend to exhibit the work). I could begin as early as October, but think November/December is most realistic. I’ve been working my butt off on this project by working to secure it’s funding. This hasn’t happened yet, but I’m determined it will.
A second idea is to photograph the relationship btwn my cousin’s three daughters (ages 11, 12, 14) in Florida, the oldest of whom has Down’s Syndrome. As you describe from personal experience, she is the glue. My window for this project would be June.
Here’s a link to some of the AIDS orphan pictures:
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/11163
Anna B.
**********
ERICA,
Hope you received my «thanks» to you on the previous post…
Anna B.
Hmmmm …. crickets. Not good.
Pete, tried to register to comment on your blog but didn’t work. For me, real human emotion and impact in a crisis situation trumps anything else. Composition, focus, even telephone poles sticking out of people’s heads are secondary considerations for the secondary edit. Between the two, no question, number two. The second child’s head is a bonus not a detraction I think.
Monsieur HERVE!
Put together a photo essay idea for DAH. Doesn’t have to be complicated.
Those of us who don’t have a portfolio/ body of work are rooting for you!
Use some of that gargantuan cranium of yours and dazzle us with a few
Concepts. Eh?
For instance, I might do a CHILDISH EMOTION essay on my own since I can’t find time to get out and shoot like I used to.
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4872976_f7v3u#290842553_Nj58w-M-LB
Some day, I will have time to do a real essay on The Underground Catholic Church that upholds the Traditional Latin Right and how some traditional priests who are not underground have been suppressed.
peace out,
j
PETE….
no, not at all…i mean , do i wish that maybe maybe the kids head was just a little over to the right??? well, yes, but i wish things like that for almost all pictures…
again, the first picture has no fire, no billowing smoke, no real people….just a nice cliche silhouette…
the second picture has the fire and smoke,visual layers, people and is just flat out a better picture all around, esthetically etc etc…
ANNA,
just went to it, I am glad.. and went to your LS link on the orphans in Uganda..stunningly beautiful and of course I see why they have stayed with you. I wish I could buy you a ticket and cover you expenses right now..Do see the Klich book, it’s more, perhaps, toward my visual aestetic, but the beauty and truth move beyond taste and style.
ALL..
Your ideas and expressions are beautiful. I confess I sometimes move into the ‘what for’ about photography..but I am moved by all the desire and willingness to create written before us here.
LE GRAND DAVID
(Who was the magician in my neighborhood growing up)
Do you see the length of time given in which to complete an assignment to all to be equal? Or decided case by case?
(and keeping up to speed I ask, this time a la Cat Stevens..
When you comin home, I dont know when,
But we’ll get together then,
We’re gonna have a good time then..)
Ok, I want to tackle an essay having to do with one of the myriad issues cambodians are confronted with, or simply living with, since they have long learnt to make do with them for decades now.
So, not before next fall or winter. Not reneging, Jason, just not physically possible now, and that goes along with Bob’s wishes too, and the fact that at 3 to 5 a month, we indeed have time to work on our synopsis.
Erica … Harry Chapin, often mistaken for Cat Stevens. :))
… And Chapin started out as a documentary filmmaker, nominated for an academy award … but switched to music.
– Cliff Clavin
ah! I’ll have to listen to the original version, only have known Cat’s to date, thanks..
speaking of doc films and filmmakers, and thinking of desire and dreams and projects, if ever you feel you won’t be able to make your own manifest or need a kick in the pants, watch Burden of Dreams about Herzog and the making of Fitzcarraldo…”Without dreams we would be cows in a field, and I don’t want to live like that. I live my life or I end my life with this project.”
sorry for the diversion..
David –
My portfolio definitely has the feeling of “everything to everyone”, partly borne out of trying to survive and make a living as a photographer…and much of the photography was assignment driven, thus the look that it has…the reality is that someone else has been at the wheel driving my portfolio – not the images – but the overall look of my portfolio, certainly…I’m ready to move on though, so…
I think July would be a great time for me to work on something…I am taking the month to drive from Tucson to (home) MI and have a few different ideas in mind.
1. I would like to explore the drive – perhaps Highway 191 that travels from Douglas, AZ on the Mexico border North, transecting the West, through the Navajo Nation, various geography, National Parks, small towns (perhaps a look at Main St America, West of the Mississippi, along the Continental Divide), and multiple geo-political borders including the polarized Mexican and Canada borders.
2. Upon arrival to MI I have been feeling the need to explore my past. I left home when I was 19 and have moved about 20 times since then…I grew up in a small town and was more than happy to pack my bags when it came time but most of my family and people I grew up with stayed and still live within miles of where they (we) grew up…granted I have not kept in touch with anyone really but still feel the need to “visit” with my camera…perhaps its the death of my Grandpa 8 years ago and the recent death of my Uncle that lingers in my mind and had created some desire to go back and explore, somewhat selfishly, with my camera…maybe its the image of my Grandma alone, not sure…anyhow this could be something…
3. I live in the desert, everything is dry, dry, dry, and soon to be hot, hot, hot…I crave water and am very interested in exploring some B/W landscape photography of the Great Lakes with lots of open space, negative space, open airy, loose but precise photos
4. Bike culture…I was a bike messenger for 3 years in Minneapolis…I’ve thought loosely about digging into the bike culture here in Tucson as well as a deeper investigation into it in other cities…I think this is longer than a month, however…
5. I will be in Guanajuato in Nov/Dec, I think July would be a great time to learn something here from you and the other bloggers and use my new “skills” to my favorite city in Mexico : )
— the most important concept that I want to work on with an essay in the above topics or something completely different is not an essay about the “subject” that I have chosen but an essay about the feeling of that subject, about what is there underneath it all, not where I grew up but the feeling of where I grew up, then and now, not the Highway from here to there but the emotion, feeling, the abstraction of the path…
this is a big bite to chew in one month, I’m not sure I can get there from here, right now, or in July, but this idea of abstraction is exactly where I would like to go…
If there is something here that you feel is worthy let me know, otherwise I’m sure I can come up with others…
~ Chris
ALL…
i must now get in the car and drive…listen to Cat Stevens “Fathers and Sons” and, well, i am still sad about Harry Chapin…anyway, a
family awaits me several hours from where i am…and i see proposals are flying in here faster than i can handle them this afternoon..so, please be patient, i will get to them all as soon as possible…
cheers, david
come and get in the car..we’re on the road again family, sit back and enjoy the ride
..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlGLuRlhW3c
DAVID:
sent you an email with Kyung-Hee’s email :))…cc’d her too :))…
PATRICIA: yes, sure, no problem…will write you tomorrow :))
HERVE: great!…you know that land as well as you do analytic dialogue, and i, for one, would be thrilled to see a story from your work there too :)))…
AUDREY: C’EST MANIFIQUE…it’s tender, sad, insightful work, especially the sequence and relationship between Rose, her surroundings, objects and clients…it’s really about the way each of us measure ourselves against seen and unseen things….beautiful and humane work…encore :))
ana: :))))))))…THOUGH, i’ve THOUGHT that for a while :))
ERICA: SHOW DAVID 40 DAYS (and cricket)…immediately!
ok, off for a few days..
hugs
b
Hi David ! As an assignment, I would love develop and shoot a project with people and families extremely related to biodisel production in Brasil. They are called the “Boias Frias”. As a family work, I’ll be continuing my father’s work in the 70’s /80’s so that’s a honor if I can have it as an assignment, this or next month.
Unfortunately, I didn’t start yet… I am planning to start very soon… this’s my idea. What do you think ?
Hi David and All,
This will result in many assignments and will be interesting to see the results.
However, I already have an assignment so I don’t know if I would qualify for some creative exchange of thoughts within this community since it is not an assignment given to me by DAH. I will share the info nevertheless.
This summer I am going back to Sarajevo, to Bosnia, to work in collaboration with a professor from York University in Toronto on the Middle Ages cemeteries in Bosnia. These cemeteries are unique, they go back in time when Ottoman Empire conquered that part of the world and the tombs often have both Christian and Islamic symbols crafted on the same stone. The material will end up in a book. But since her work is academic and photography needs to focus on epigraphy it will be a rather limiting creatively.
Of course, as a fan of the world of the dead, I will use the opportunity to do something for myself. This is where I would be looking fwd to some exchnage with all the nice people here. Now, these cemeteries are all over Bosnia and it is not quite clear if all of them still exist, some might be bulldozed over and the neglect (given the recent past) is ever present. The living do not have much respect for the living not to mention for the dead. Dead is dead and I have to find a way to communicate with it. This will be a great challenge for me since my photography, mostly, is about nothing and nobodies. Finding nobodies in the Middle Ages cemeteries should not be a problem though. It is finding nothing that concerns me…
I’m leaving for Bosnia mid June and coming back in September and would be happy to share here what I have, if DAH agrees… BTW here is the link to my site, http://www.veliborbozovic.com/ where you can see my work…
I’ll use this opportunity for some shameless promotion. The Lazarus Project, book by Aleksandar Hemon, is out now, it features my photographs throughout the book (as well as the photos from Chicago Historical Society). It is a wonderful novel and I really recommend it to anyone interested in displacement, immigration, identity, creative process, love, war, life and death and literature; and good laugh. The reason why I mention this book here is (since we are all photographers here) that photography has a very important role in it, since one of the main characters in the narrative is a photographer and photographs stand for him. The reviews are coming out all over the US papers and here, http://vebahood.blogspot.com/, you have some of the links if you are interested to find out more.
BOB, now that the thing is out, we got to get together again and talk about it…
On that note, I’ll be in NY this weekend to attend the reading in B&N Tribeca on Friday at 19h00. It features the slideshow of the photos from the book. Would be great to meet some of you.
Also, there will be an exhibit of my photos from The Lazarus Project starting May 19 in Madron gallery in Chicago, somewhere in Wicker park neighborhood.
DAVID, are you in NY this weekend, I would love to meet and give you the copy of the book?
And sorry for taking up the space to promote something that has nothing to do with this community… but then, it does, I hope…
DAVID,
“do i wish that maybe maybe the kids head was just a little over to the right??? well, yes, but i wish things like that for almost all pictures…”
Good to hear that…This is the second revelation you have made in the last couple days (the first was about essays really being strong singles) that has made me feel I’m not alone in the world :))
BTW, I’m not confused any longer about what is happening here. Was only sharing that with Herve to let him know he wasn’t alone. I originally thought you had something else in mind, something much less taxing on you, that didn’t involve most here on the blog…but as usual you are GOING BIG TIME!!! Beyond anything I could imagine you doing.
Very interesting to read all the great ideas and see the links. The energy and enthusiasm levels are higher than ever here. Truly a “good idea.”
David,
I’ve been away from the site over the past few months as I’ve had to take care of some personal business outside of photography but I would love to be a part of this. Please keep me posted and as always, it’s a pleasure to listen to everyones thoughts on this crazy and addictive world we call photography
DAVID,
In my blog there are only random pictures and only very, very few of them are the ones I included in my work. There is no website where I have the complete reports I did in Senegal. As I told before, I will exhibit them in Dakar during the biennial DAK’ART and that is the reason why I did not show them until now. Now I’m finishing the editing and in a couple of days will start printing and framing. In three weeks all of it has to be in Dakar!!
HERVE:
Sorry to be confusing, it wasn’t my intent… I’ll try and clarify what I meant….
I was always going to do my project; it’s been planned/booked for about 4 months. It is a self funded project for a cause I strongly believe in.
I was mostly seeking clarification from David as to the best way to work the project. His input helped me define my shooting style, and I’m extremely grateful for that.
David mentioned it as an “assignment”, not me. I’m quite happy just to put a web link on the blog for the members to view and critique the resulting work.
I don’t sit back & wait for editors to give me assignments; I believe I have to be self-motivated enough to get out there & get my own projects up & running. If I didn’t do that I would get no work at all. Sure I get some editors contact me with article ideas, but 90% of my work evolves through my own ideas.
I’m happy to leave all the decisions up to David.
I hope this helps a little….
Take care everyone.
Mr. Harvey, I suppose I could give your idea a whack and see if it works out. I’m assuming this:
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/12393
…is the sort of thing we’re talking about here. Apropos visual humor in general, does anybody know if jokes in American Sign Language count as sight gags?
David,
I think you’re right. The Vatican is a big bit—likely a project to be worked on over a longer period of time. I have to think about it more, explore ideas, something this forum is invaluable for.
Being specific is indeed difficult, a balance…too specific and maybe it begins to look trite…? Too nebulous and your point is lost…
And sometimes there are just beautiful images, with no specific ‘point’ to them other than to be looked at and pondered…Gotta strive to just get the most beautiful picture possible while staying loose, without thinking too much about the ‘subject’…as Cartier-Bresson said, I think, photography is similar to zen archery… I like how you described how you are just looking for good photos when you are out with your camera and not necessarily thinking about what you need for the project…very helpful stuff.
I’ll keep on the Vatican’s case, but will also come up with another project that I can do in a shorter period of time even if I do it in parallel to the other assignments given out here. Got to give myself my own deadline!!
Thank you for looking at my photographs and for your comments!
David
Many of us are still sad about Harry Chapin. Such a waste. I will never forget that day.
Audrey-
Incredibly beautiful…insightful, inspiring…
Erica,
I watched the Cat Stevens video…but then clicked on “Yusuf Islam Father and Son 2007.” Incredibly moving to see him sing it once as young energetic “son” and next as decades further-on down the road “father,” radiating calm.
Joan
I’d love to see Audrey’s piece, but the link plus name audrey b and password 15 minutes isn’t getting me in..thoughts?
I’d love to see Audrey’s piece, but the link plus name audrey b and password 15 minutes isn’t getting me in..thoughts?
Erica,
The password should be 15minutes with no space I believe.
Audrey,
Beautiful black and white images! The one in the café(?) with a window separating the booths is a favourite of mine.
Simon, thank you..
AUDREY..
ca fait longtemps que j’ai vu le travail qui me parle comme cela de La Vie Comme Rose..c’est dommage que votre amitié est cassée..mais le travail existe at ca c’est important aussi. Les images que je trouve la plus fortes sont celles qui sont tres près de son corps, que me faisait penser a vieux travail de quelques maîtres..votre engagement et votre intimité m’inspire vachement..merci..et pardon pour mon Francais qui est moins que parfait!
DAVID;
I’M CONFUSED:
In your first post you suggested that you would give the assignment based on your knowledge of us. Here it seems that you want us to create our own assignments. (After two workshops together you know how terribly I over complicate my personal projects and self assignments.)
Either way count me in.
SUMMER PROJECT IDEA (maybe you can help me simplify it):
The US Army is looking to expand a training base a couple hours south of here. To do that they will have to take away all or part of several small family ranches. The Army already used eminent domain to take portions of these same families’ ranches during WWII. Now they are back asking the same ranchers for further sacrifices.
I want to shoot a series of images that would help the ranchers win sympathy for their fight against the Army. (No pretense of neutrality here.) I would need a couple of weeks for research and making contacts.
Hey Erica, I like the Park slope series, and have to watch the rest of your site, but just now: is it my screen or are some of your whites blown out and losing relief from over-exposure? I am intrigued because I see very few pictures without at least a stark white feature, and the greys and blacks are so aptly exposed to great effect and expression.
oh herve, I don’t quite understand the question and am not sure we should take up too much space here..but quickly.. are you looking on photojournale, and saying I need more detail in the white areas? my real website will be ready in a couple of days, maybe wait and look there..
PEOPLE OF THIS FORUM…
I’M BACK… ( i never left )…. Two sweet people emailed me today,
just checking… if i’m still alive… DAVID A H, and ANNA…
THE ONLY REASON I’M HERE IS TO “SHARE”… so let me reveal what i wrote to
David and Anna…
“…Im in a frenzy …
I need to give “birth”.. I work around my Venice katharsis from the demons..
I’m creating a story…about
“THE INSIDERS”…
For me to do more accurate work..
I had to “get in”… To be “accepted”,
and guided by the “VENICE INSIDERS”…
That required trust, friendships, enemies, addiction, luck,..
Being Greek and naive also helped..
Now, the INSIDERS THAT I CHOSE:
4 VENICE PERSONALITIES..
Not the easy ones, not the homeless or the whores..
I found a HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER,
Bob D, the guy he produced the movie “FLIGHTPLAN” with Jodie Foster..
I also “followed” two ROCK STARS..
TONY HERNARDEZ aka. JIM MORRISON,…
And RAZOR the lead singer of the
“hair metal” band,”THE METAL KNIGHTS”…
And last but not least..
A CON MAN, a CON ARTiST…using the fake name
“Stephen Lynch”… Pretending to be the legendary guitar player from the eighties rock metal band “THE AUTOGRAPH”…
I wanted to see Venice through their senses..
I followed them everywhere…
RAZOR , for example worships SATAN.. But I also followed him in a catholic church…
Etc…
I’m trying to make all that visual and worthseeing…,David..
Thats why I wasn’t posting..
I was struggling trying to write a “, script”,
Trying to stay in touch with those “real” characters.. Even the names I used for them are their real ones..
I will, hopefuly start introducing those characters tonight in your/”our” blog…
I’m working a little harder.. These days..
I need to give birth to that “Venice baby” … It needs to see the light…
SO I STARTED DIGGING VENICE AGAIN…
I’M READY TO SHOW YOU A “PRE-VIEW”…
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/VENICE/VENICE_BEACH_PREVIEW.html
A STORY ABOUT VENICE…
4 CHARACTERS 4 INSIDERS:
A) TONY,
AND the “PEACEFROG”( BAND).
.. the ultimate “THE DOORS”… cover band…
AND ALL THAT HAPPENED AND HAPPENS AT THE LEGENDARY…
Pirates hangout
“THE VENICE BISTRO”
THE ultimate “hell”… where the “real Pirates Live….
( AND VENICE GHOSTS AROUND THEM …)
MEETING PLACE… THE VENICE BISTRO… AND THE VENICE BOARDWALK….
SAVE VENICE…
B) BOB..D…. VENICE PERSONA ( THE MAYOR )
… some call him the “mayor” of Venice…
Real Hollywood producer… His classic movie so far… “FLIGHTPLAN”.. with JODI FOSTER…
MEET “BOB”…
C) RAZOR…
… ROCK STAR WITH A FAMILY…also a great “Special effects” creator for
movies and tv…
MEET “RAZOR”
D) STEPHEN…
Lynch… the CON ARTIST… He introduces himself as
THE GUITAR player of the famous ’80’s HAIR METAL BAND… the “AUTOGRAPH”…
MEET “STEPHEN”
BOB,RAZOR,STEPHEN,TONY…
MET IN “THE BISTRO”… Venice Beach , CA
TONY- the Local ROCKSTAR… (Jim Morrison , alike…)
BOB (FLIGHTPLAN PRODUCER)
STEPHEN ( CON ARTIST)
RAZOR- ROCKSTAR ( hair METAL ) with band… the “METAL KNIGHTS”
O.K , NOW LET’S MEET THOSE PEOPLE…
“THE INSIDERS”
TONY….THE LOCAL JIM MORRISON:
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/VENICE/TONY_,_the_local_rock_star.html
BOB…THE HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER:
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/VENICE/BOB_THE_PRODUCER_OF_THE_MOVIE_FIGHTPLAN_(_JODIE_FOSTER_).html
RAZOR…THE HAIR METAL LEAD SINGER:
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/VENICE/RAZOR_the_HAIR_METAL_rock_star.html
STEPHEN…THE CON ARTIST:
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/VENICE/STEPHEN_L..html
“my LEFT FOOT”
BROUGHT ME TO VENICE…
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/VENICE/%22THE_INSIDERS%22.html
Looking forward to your new site, Erica. Good luck with it.
Paulyman.
and now back to our “EDITING” EXERCISE… below
?Follow that link and guess…
IF YOUR 5 CHOICES ( ONLY FIVE ).
MATCHES DAVID’S 5 CHOICES…
THEN YOU GET A PRIZE FROM DAVID (don’t worry, not from me…)
HE WILL SEND YOU AT HOME ONE OF HIS LEGENDARY CAMERA BAGS…!
ohhh, by the way David,
can i have one of those too??? ( legendary camera bags??)
link:
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/%22MOVIES%22/VENICE_.html
peace
Just back from Shanghai,
1. David, what did you do to piss off the Chinese government? I couldnt connect to your blog for the 3 days I was there ….
2. I see there are so many ideas. Personally I want to simply work on my home project and try to integrate the two streams into one. The one from my own home and the one from my in-laws. This is what I was telling you would be the goal of this: a study of a family, cross generational, cross ethnic. Im going to be shooting at home as well as visiting my inlaws home and then maybe getting down to doing a first edit of what Ive shot so far.
Panos… fantastic!! My picks:
“THE GANG-MEMBER”…
“Ted, the sax player from Amsterdam and MARC. C.”
“NIGHT STREET PERFORMER”
“SELF PORTRAIT and the right side of JACOB THE POT SMOKER”
“WHITE DEVIL”…. RED TREATMENT
Hey Panos,
Great to see you Venice work! Go hard, keep up the good work!
By the way, from which link do you want us to pick our top five? From all the links you list (i.e. Jim Morrison, Hollywood Producer, Hair Metal etc.) or just the last link you posted at 11.06pm???
Cheers,
PaulB
– Looking In
– Venice Still89
– Scottie entering Bistro
– Self portrait with Jacob
– fight 54
hi david. here are some photos of mine that you might want to look at.
i’ve been married for almost a year now and, going over my photo pile, i realized that i’ve come up with a good number of pics of my wife )considering that she generally doesn’t like her photo being taken). anyway here are two sets:
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/12400
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/12401
also, in that same year i’ve lived in a city that was strange to me (it’s around a thousand miles away from my hometown). i’m still getting used to my new home, though frankly it’s hard to keep up, what with lots of amazing things swirling around me. for starters, here’s a very simple event i went to late last year:
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/12399
now as to a photo project, there are so many things i have access to but am just so overwhelmed by them: the aerial spraying of pesticides in plantations that affect adjacent communities, indigenous peoples’ struggle to assert their claim to ancestral domains, etc. but nearer to home there are areas of interest too: the jeepney culture (public transport), goings-on in wet and dry markets, the local literary (and arts in general) scene, etc. faced with so many choices i find myself paralyzed and unable to shoot (at least not in a focused, get-at-a-story kind of shoot)
bj
PAULB, THANK YOU…!
LAST LINK..
.http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/%22MOVIES%22/VENICE_.html
Cool stuff, Panos, momentous, instantaneous, something to heed from you. too much planning offered by members lately. We need to plan and not plan. just like you did:
You talked about it, vaguely, a name (venice) and you did it, plunk, period. You showed us.
man, next to “Venice” your “snoopy” work was shit, you just proved us. It’s a compliment. Snoopy wouldn’t give you the time of the day, these guys did. all the difference.
We all shoot shit from morning to evening, next to the better stuff. David would concur himself, I am sure. It confuses us and everyone when we show our shitty stuff. It’s like going on stage to play scales. Unevenly. We must not.
My fav’, the dog by the swimming ppol. Shades of Harvey. Subconsciously? Whatever Don’t ever DAH it again! :-)))))
Thank you!
And now, the real shit, guitar riff for the ages…
Douglas (www.americansuburb.com)
I just looked at your site, strong personal work, I was grabbed. Great music to go with it, just wonderful to discover such personal vision, the kids stuff, obsessive at times, is unforgettable, so are some of your street scrapes. I think you know something about light that is not taught in books.
Thanks for the link.
Damned… Street scapes, not scrapes!
David, my idea –
‘The Other Half’
The modern tourist economy: overwhelming wealth and overwhelming poverty. I will be moving to Park City, Utah and want to document the dynamic between the tourists and the extravagantly wealthy folks with second homes – and ‘the other half,’ who serve the wealthy…the other half being the working class, a large portion of whom are Latino immigrants. Sort of like Martin Parr, I would shoot mostly in the realm of the wealthy. This kind of project really excites me…
Hey David,
I’m another silent observer finally entering the fray. I think you may have opened the Pandora’s box of here. I fear for you man, but I’m fired up to go at em.
I’m in Barcelona and here’s a link of my most recent documentary work on the life of Sub-Saharan African immigrants and how they are getting by. The most destitute live in abandoned houses and make money by selling scrap metal they find on work sites in the crane covered cities of Spain, a country completely dependent on the construction industry, which is now beginning to free-fall.
I’d like to take the story to a higher level, but I’m also looking for a new killer story to do hear in Barcelona, something with drama that gets beyond some of the typical cliches. You know, I’m looking for the perfect story.
In a month I’m off to Mexico in June to do the Foundry Workshop there as I won a scholarship with these images, so I’m also looking for stories there as well. I’ll be in Mexico for two weeks.
Here’s a link to my lightstalker’s gallery:
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/feed/9580
(There are some glitches in the captions that they are trying to work out on the site, but hopefully you can get through all that.)
Rarin to go,
Charlie
Panos! Two words my friend: Fuck Yeah!
You’ve really hit your stride. This is YOU! Venice, the characters, the feel, the mood, moments galore! I had been wondering where the hell you were and now I (we all) see.
My five:
– “looking in”
– “gang member”
– “private parts”
– “intoxicated pirate”
– “self portrait w/Jacob the pot smoker”
Excellent photography Mr. Skoulidas!
Oh… Panos, I almost forgot…Those five are just from that one link. I saw all the other galleries and have many favorites from them as well. Try to get you some feedback about all that soon!
Peace,
-M
brief….
DR–so happy to see you here too! Ç))….happy David will see your delerium as well…i~ve loved that Lynchian shit since the moment my eyes boogied upon that suburban delerium at LS a year ago…that~s the big creep out shit, if there ever was, and i cant think of too many photogs carrying that kind of gorgeous-inthedollhouse-dreams about America as you…the kid stuff is even more intensely highlighted against the bang-bang of the color exterior and interios…you go cold daddy, go you! Ç))))))
PANOS–
just did a quick sift through and will leave u words later, but what i dig dig swiggy dig about these Venice pics and that you aint afraid dog, you aint fucking afraid, just like here. a friend of mine (big time , multiple WorldPress Winner, photographer from russia, sergie maximishin) from St. Petersburg once said to a younger photographer–îf you cant get in the middle of things, you aren~t much of a photographer….and you~re there, unflyinchly, brazenly, not given a damn, even for the quality of light or composition or whatever, to just give us the life in front of the lens…that~s clear clear daddy-o!…these pics, to me, reflect the same left-foot-forward energy and madness that i have always loved and respected and cared about you bro…i too lots and lots and lots shoot under no light or poor light or i dont give a fuck about light conditions to see what happens, to see if i can show what i saw in all that swirl of madness life;dark, and you got that shit goin~on….im so happy to see this, you arent just a drive by shooter (i always hate those kind of folks, word), but a thang-tug shooter, in the middle and all….i~~ll give you my choice pics later today…
running
hugs
b
David, after XXX in New York and XXX in Bangkok I think it is time to have an even closer and deeper look at XXX in Jakarta, don’t you think so?
THOMAS WHITE…
how in the world could YOU of all people be confused about the assignment process?? you know very well how EXACTLY it goes…the only way that i or any editor could possibly get to know anyone here is by (a) looking at work, and (b) finding out what the photographer wants to do or on which he/she is currently working…you have been in enough workshops and dealt with enough editors to know that is the way it goes for obviously good reasons….every single truly good assignment that i have ever heard of was most certainly generated by the photographer or developed by the photographer…editors encourage and make final decisions, but they count on the intelligence and talent in their “photographer pool” to lead them to good story ideas….now, i know you really know all of this!!!!
as for your idea, i think it might be difficult to connect the Army with the fact that the ranchers are losing their land…i know it is a fact, but how do you show eminent domain in pictures??? if you are not looking for that literal connection visually between the Army and the ranchers, but just want to do an essay on the ranchers to draw attention to their life style etc etc., then maybe you can go that way…
this is one of those important significant stories that will ultimately come off better in words than in pictures….tv actually does this type of story well…
why don’t you do your research and make your contacts…and then go out to one of the ranches and see how you would do this…of course, you will have great ranch pictures, but is this all you want to serve this purpose?? stay in touch on this one Thomas…
cheers, david
PANOS…
i am rushing now and no time to look at anyone’s pictures…driving!! you understand driving…but, i did see your note about a camera bag…by the time i get to California, i will look like a traveling road show….i will open up my car and you can choose a bag…i was thinking of spreading out a blanket on the grass at Venice Beach and selling all my bags…no pictures please!!
cheers , david
Uncle Dave , What are you driving?
THOMAS PFISTER..
yes, more and more XXX….we are waiting
PANOS….AND ALL
ok, i could not help myself…still no time, but i took a quick peek at your link…
simply put, this is the best work i have ever seen from you…
“venice 69″ killer…”chippendale” hot and venice 12345 has you loose loose…i really only saw first few pictures..back later..
no time or even inclination to rhapsodize, but you are on to something here…
NOW, whatever you do , do NOT STOP….do not take Bob’s good words or my good words and think that is enough…
the real secret to SUCCESS (i should have told everyone long ago) is to totally FORGET whatever you did yesterday..yes, it hurts for just a second or two…but, get over it!!!
pretend yesterday (the work from yesterday) did not happen… and then go out with unbridled passion to “do it”…yes, relaxed…fun…not uptight…but also NOT FINISHED…
you are digging deeper…so dig even deeeeper…yes, you may get BORED…part of the deal…
IF you can BREAK through the inevitable WALL OF BOREDOM, which happens even if you are backstage with BÉYONCE, then the ENERGY you will pick up on the “other side” is better than any “high” you can get from anything….TRY IT…you will see!!
ENERGY IS EVERYTHING….
ok, now i really do have to run…i started this as a note to you..added ALL… i want everyone to read the “boredom” part etc etc
back soonest….
cheers, hugs, peace..david
GLENN…
a rental car…a Chevy suv of some sort…gas eater…i am feeling guilty….looks cool, but i need for someone to give me one of those energy saving hybrids…
david,
I’ll come back shortly with a more definite project (i worked on it yesterday but i would like to finish it with friend since it’s a joint project).
did you see the previous post where I described it shortly and the link to the pictures ?
(that’s a very modest selection wich was shot during one afternoon but which may give you the impression on where I would like to go on a longer project)
thanks everybody for making this blog a livelay place (I have no time to write but am reading and watching…. inspiring…..-))
PANOS!!! I’ll be damned, or damned boring … you’re my inspiration now, GO, GO, GO!
Hallo Thomas ( Pfister ),
Jakarta XXX. Dann mal zu !
Bob, thanks for your comment about light.
Light vs Now?
Sometimes one gets a feeling one should not take a shot,even go out with the camera, because the light ain’t “right”. WTF does that mean? For who?
Drawing with light… yeah, sure….!
PANOS! ç))
listen, i really love the photograph
“THE CHIPENDALE VENICE GUY AND A FAN..”…it~s brilliant and beautiful and ABSTRACT !!! and looks almost like a David Alan Harvey!!!…
i also think the following are terrific–
VENICE 12345
FISTFIGHT 21″
VENICE FIGHT 22 !!!!
TONY 2″
BOB D., LOVING HIMSELF
STEPHEN L’S girlfriend 2 !!!!
STEPHEN’S BIRTHDAY” …love woman with Flash face;scream!
COP, TELLING ME -POLITELY- TO MIND MY OWN BUSINESS”…?
ROSE THE HEALER GETS ARRESTED
WHITE DEVIL”…. RED TREATMENT
PITCH OF BEER
HOME
CIRCLING VENICE….
more later, gotta go gotta go!!
cant wait to see when you~re BORED! Ç))))
hugs
b
FREEWAY 105 WEST …GOING VENICE
Hello David,
There’s a group of people here whose lives are bad/sad but fascinating. All were born into poverty, are jobless and struggling to survive – many without parents or family ‘outside’ (the group). They use all sorts of methods (including lies, manipulation and extortion) to carve some kind of life. Our paths have crossed many times and I’ve come to know some quite well. Though I don’t agree with their methods, they have been dealt extremely difficult hands and I’d want to present them in a positive light.
For an assignment, as you know, I’m thinking of ‘portraits and insights into the daily lives’ of a select number of these people. Could you advise me on what would be a good number? Also, there’s the question of permission. I must have permission and can’t think of a reason why they’d want their lives (or even their identities) to be unveiled. Any ideas or suggestions?
Thank you so much,
Jenny
Herve Ç)))
You got that right brother! Ç))
light is light, including low light, bright light, poor light, absence of light–it~s all ^good^light to me, cause life aint about ^proper^light…though cameras of course are driven by light, but so too are they born and carried by the absence, the shadow, the licked penumbra of detail…palimpsest and pupil…i often often often shoot under shit light conditions (often too dark) and i often over expose and underexpose to see what happens…for light is a cell and in that tiny cell is a universe of living moments…shit, i dont even use a flash (though i want to, i want to develop work with flash to play with idea and colors and all that too)…an i never use meters, either in-camera or hand-held..i like to wing it, to guess, to challenge and to ^discover^while shooting too…sometimes, most of the time, the pics look shit, and of course i loose detail all the time (photographic detail that is), but i think often the ^absence^of detail actually can contain alot of visceral or emotional or aesthetic detail…suggestion, memory, question…all light is right, ~cause all light is of that moment…and just as life cannot be thought of and worked up within seeing;sensing;touch death, so too light without darkness…all those rules…being told by a college teacher long ago–never shoot into direct sunlight…so, one day (in florida, tropical sun nonetheless) i shoot a shot of my father, directly into southern florida lightççç…a black face surrounded by a corona of halo~d light…i loved the pic..everyone else said–i cant see your fathers face…most of the time pics look like crap (too black, or too white, or whatever), but for me, i just want to always feel the sense of discovery, re-discovery…never get bored…know the rules well, wear them, then throw them away….
moment always means more to me that the question {is this a good photograph{ …
light can make a photo spectacular and it can ruin a picture, same with ^bad light^…it often means lots of heartache when i look at my negatives…but…for that 1 picture that somehow hits home or seems to suggest what i felt or saw or what someone did….
if you look at my LS page, there is a photo of a tall tree in Portugal…i shot that pic at night with Trix, long exposure, virtually no light, but a little amber light from the street lights behind me, …4 photos of different trees–all were pitch black mud…and then that beauty appeared and i was happy…
luck luck of living ç))
running
b
VELIBOR! ç))))))
Veba, i will write you in 2 hours after i return from lab to get negs…we ARE SO HAPPY FOR YOU! (BASTARD!)…and i will begin Lazarus Project next week and give you a full report ÇÇ)))….and Im thrilled too about your book with Professor ç))..she~s a terrific person too and will be thrilled to see the pics…
As my friend (and DAH student-blogger) Mike B~s exhibition remindedÇ THE DEAD CAN DANCE….
ive cut things off with gallery…marina and i are branching out in a different direction…so…anyway…we~ll talk…
wish we could come to ny with u…money is a major major problem at the moment, but well…will write tonight…
hugs and kisses, from marina too, and to the 3 geniuses in your family Ç)
running
b
The thing I like about Panos is that he’s going out, shooting a lot in his environment, without much regard for “assignment,” then comes back and just puts himself out there. These aren’t the best he can shoot, but it’s progress.
hey david,
when you settle for a minute and have a moment, i sent you a link with a few shots to look at.
if you have time, otherwise i’ll most likely see you at look3.
thanks, natan
UNCLE DAVE – ,when you need them, you need them , I now offset my self by riding my bike as much as possible when around town and saving the 4X4 for long trips , Going to shoot the Pine Creek races this weekend only 200km away so it’s nice and local.
ALL….
i have had no time today to go over comments, ideas et al….traveling and shooting and shooting and traveling….
i will overlook no idea presented here….i will make assignments within next two days…some of you are already shooting…cool…as i have said many times, the whole point is to publish good work…the whole point is to identify the “talent pool” here…period…if it comes from my assignment and guidance , fine ,…if not, fine also…
i will return here as soon as possible….
cheers, david
A SONG BY HARVEY…. below… (P.J) though, not (D.A)…
peace…
– When The Music’s Over
David,
This is my first comment, though I’ve been reading the blog for a while.
I’m just starting a little project on some of the folks I’ve been hanging out with recently, mostly anarchist/punk rock types in their 20s and 30s. I’m interested in what they consider anarchy to be, and how they live that out.
I’m envisioning a series of portraits to run with some audio on my website. At this point, I have no photos to speak of–still pitching the story to the folks I’d to shoot, and working around schedules.
For the time being this is purely personal work, and I’d love some inspiration.
DAVID MCGOWAN…
i thought it was pretty clear that Panos had Venice Beach as his assignment based on his proposal here…there was some conversation by private email, so maybe it was not obvious to everyone…i will go back and look at the “transcript” …in any case, yes , the boy has initiative!!
i will print a list of “assignments” here soonest…work that we all can “track”…
I’m up for this. My website is a mess, but I think you can get an idea of what I’m “into” http://tssullivan.net
It would definitely have to be shot in NYC…Manhattan or Brooklyn preferably. I work everyday but Saturday and Monday, so I don’t think one week would work for me
assignment….well, you choose….this is probably my biggest failing…not being able to pick a project or even edit into project. I really do just shoot whatever is in front of me at the moment.
TS Sullivan…
Very nice work! Interesting style. One major criticism though….website! Ugh! It takes far too many clicks to get to an actual gallery. I know you said your site is “a mess”…so that’s good. Awareness! Anyway, if I had more time I’d really love to sift through all of it. But it is hardly inviting.
Hope you don’t mind the unsolicited critique. Your work deserves to be seen.
Peace,
MK
Hey all,
I just realized that the link I put up earlier was incorrect.
Here’s where you want to go:
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/9580
Thanks.
Charlie
Well it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve missed something—I’ve seen him shoot that stuff before, just not with such enthusiasm.
Panos,
Your Venice is somehow feverish, which is a compliment. Number one best thing is your guts in photographing, then the photos follow:
1. Intoxicated Pirate
2. Xenia
3. 12345
4. still89
5. Green self-portrait
5. Home
But, to me, in this work, the sum is stronger then individual pieces…
Dig Lazarus Dig!!!
Panos… I have a question… the Venice work seems like a leap from your previous work, I wonder what is the difference in you while shooting… are you thinking or feeling differently? Have you found your “zone” or getting close to it?
THANK YOU VEBA…
this one’s for you:
But, to me, in this work, the sum is stronger then individual pieces…
Dig Lazarus Dig!!!
Posted by: Velibor Bozovic | May 08, 2008 at 10:49 AM
DAVID MC GOWAN… i agree!
“—I’ve seen him shoot that stuff before, just not with such enthusiasm.”
DAVID ALAN HARVEY
and his blog, gave us ( me ) an OUTLET…
HE LET POOR, TORTURED , MEDIOCRE PHOTOGS LIKE ME…
A VOICE…
I DON’T KNOW WHAT MAKES A GREAT PHOTOG…
ASK DAVID…
BUT I KNOW WHAT MAKES A GOOD ACTOR…
Remember the black n’ white ROBERT DE NIRO boxing movie ???
the “RAGING BULL”???
HE GAINED 50 and more pounds, for that role…
He GOT INTO IT… HE GOT PASSIONATE….
HE “NEGLECTED” HIMSELF, HIS HEALTH AND blah blah…
I agree, not much enthusiasm …before…
Nobody cared before… like David or Bob… or you…
Now i found MOTIVATION ONCE AGAIN…
I DONT THINK THAT THIS BLOG MADE ME A BETTER PHOTOG…
BUT DEFINITELY A MORE PASSIONATE ONE…
AGAIN PEOPLE EXCUSE MY MEDIOCRE PHOTOGRAPHIC SKILLS,
BUT PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FEED ON MY PASSION…
BACK TO VENICE TONITE….
I WANT to see if i have the balls to stay awake all night…
or get invited to “SCOTTIE’S THE KING OF ALL HOMELESS, home down in Venice…
MIKE… leap…maybe, i hope so…
Direction ??? i was lacking and still do…
guidence..???. that’s why im here…
and ,David does his best for us…
no competitions…
I SEE US ALL HERE AS HAND CRAFTED VIOLINS AND MUSIC INSTRUMENTS….
DAVID SIMPLY TRIES TO HELP US LEARN HOW TO “TUNE”…
or “finetune” ourselves….
Think of a guitar out of tune… horrible…
that was me when i submitted photos here last year…
no connection, no story, no target, no feelings, no PASSION…
no captions, no explanations..
HOW RUDE, HOW NAIVE, WHAT AN ARROGANT ASSHOLE I WAS…
“I WAS SAYING: HERE IS MY PHOTOS…MASTERPIECES…
YOU GOTTA LOVE THEM… NO QUESTIONS ASK… IM THE BEATLES…”
Hiding behind an expensive Leica hoping that along is enough to
get me “HOME”…
“BULLSHIT”… A LIKE IS NOT A CAR… IT WILL NEVER GET YOU HOME… IF YOU DON’T START STEERING FOR YOURSELF PANOS,
motherfucker…..
that’s what i told myself last year….
and then i got the “LIVING PROOF”, i started paying attention,
to BOBB, HERVE, MICHAEL K, YOU , DAVID… YOU , YOU AND YOU…
and i came back to my senses…
I also got a great lesson from SEAN…. when he chose to speak mostly with his WORK than WORDS…
so i decided to REGAIN MY LOST PASSION BACK…
Its an endless fight though… because as DAVID SAID,
“THE WALL OF BOREDOM”… IS WAY STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT…
peace
oh.. and one last thing:
( THIS GOES TO MY GIRLFRIEND AND MY GIRLFRIEND ONLY :
…. if you think, that i’m selfish, because i shoot, i disappear ,
i spent many nights in this blog, i obsess with photos…
if you still think that i neglect you…
if you think that all i care about is being famous but i act as an idealistic good human being…!
if you think, i’m full of shit…
if you do NOT want me to go back to “Venice” tonite…!!?
… my answer is:
I STILL LOVE YOU… and you are right… I am “all” of the above…
but, only because I have to…
IT’S JUST ME… being me …)
peace
some recent kentucky derby photos..
http://rosenfieldphotography.com/data/web/KYDerby01/index.html
nothing groundbreaking, but my latest..
i’m in amsterdam w/kelly now.. we got in this morning.. serious lack of sleep and a full day walking around town and a few beers… holga fun.. should i venture out again tonight? or sleep and be full ready for tomorrrow?
assignment? i’ll be in dublin next week.. and mexico at the end of may.. lay it on me brother.. or am i confused? i’ll be shooting regardless..
peace to all,
lance
here’s my suggestion david:
Panos has been photographing Venice at night.
Venice, California.
I’d like to photograph Venice at night part 2. Venice, Italy.
What do you think?
and you, Panos?
well, it’s just an idea….
maybe you should see some of my pictures first.
It will take some time before I have a website, but I’ll start working on it soon (first thing to do: buy a scanner).
cheers
street photography, i find it very challenging yet quite interesting.
another idea that i have is to work on the manual labourers in the streets of my city.
GUIDO,…
SUCH A GREAT IDEA…
I’ve been in Venice Italy only once…
it was the CARNIVAL of 1994… february i think…
I was working for a greek newspaper…”THE EVENING NEWS”…
They bought my photos… ( six slides…)…
50.000 drachma, before the EURO dollar…more or less $125 american $(today)…
They needed “Leisure and Travel” kinda photos…
… I had only ONE FUJI VELVIA ( or who cares ) slide film…
ONLY ONE ROLL… i shot 9 FRAMES for them , the rest for me…
I didn’t know where or what to look… over there…
distracted… i did the job… but , nothing really to remember…
not focused, lazy maybe….
Yes, I’m dreaming to go down to Venice Italy and see what’s up…
but FIRST I NEED TO FIND,
MY 4 “INSIDERS”…
do you know ??????? anyone interested ???? to help me,
being the INSIDER , my eyes and guidance, …
I will sleep on the couch… 4 nights.. 4 “insiders”… 4 couches…
People, it’s not that hard…
I just go out “one” night with you, then i sleep on your floor or couch…then move on to the next “insider”…
This way i could probably be able to afford the airfare… and a bagel…
Anyways,…
peace
Subhrajit,
Your “In the name of God” images are the essence (for me ) of Mother India. I would love to see more from you on DEVOTION.
PANOS/DAVID,
“HOW RUDE, HOW NAIVE, WHAT AN ARROGANT ASSHOLE I WAS…”
Better for you to say these things about yourself than anyone else :))
I believe Guido is suggesting that YOU photograph Venice, CA and HE photograph Venice, ITALY…..
It would be very cool to see the two side by side…especially if you could coordinate your subject matter.
A couple of years ago I saw an AMAZING project done by an Indian (from India) woman where she took images of Indian (from India) women that exactly copied images of (American) Indian women taken by Edward Curtis..
Indian mother and child
(one from India, one American Indian by Curtis, etc…
Panos and Guido could do something along those lines…
Drunk at night, Venice (one from each Venice)
Men fighting, Venice (one from each Venice)
ETC….
… and now i will be an “INSIDER” MYSELF, IF ANYONE WANTS TO HAVE A BEER OR A “FIGHT”…
peace
ps: GUIDO, i will be your “INSIDER” over here…
knowwhatImean ??????
how about a review from the DAH photo community.
I would love to get some outside input
http://www.douglastitus.com
PANOS, DAVID et al…
I’m inspired. Inspired to share a little inspiration. No images…(yet)…no advice or critiques, just…inspiration.
For the last couple weeks I’ve been periodically (wednesdays or thursdays) trotting off to the river to photograph a select group of kayakers. Veterans. Wounded veterans. SERIOUSLY wounded in many cases! Iraq and Afghanistan. One fellow in particular was blown up by an IED. Fell in and out of comas, many operations, long recovery in Germany, longer rehab at Walter Reed. Actually has a photo his buddy took at the moment of detonation! “See that black, shadowy figure in the air? That’s you, dude!” He’s quite proud of it. Hell, he survived it, why the hell wouldn’t he be!?
Amputees, PTSDs, disfigured legs after many surgeries, many more scheduled, shrapnel still embedded in bodies. BUT!… get in the pool! Learn how to “roll.” When the kayak overturns you roll it back upright. Get that down and soon get down to the canal. Try it there. After that, down to the river. Small rapids at first…you will be upended! This is where learning to roll comes in handy! It’s OK, though…can’t pull it back upright, just bail! Swim! They all hate to have to swim, though. One guy was asked how he learned to roll so well. “I don’t know,” he said, “I really got tired of swimming, so I just figured it out!” Best commment of the night.
They inspire. Mostly men but a few women…Jen, you rock!
Tough bastards all. The shit they’ve been through. Not just the trauma, the pain, the struggle to rehab…but the bureaucracy as well. After all the crap they’ve been through…there’s always the bureaucracy! Lovely, huh? But despite near death and all the shit after not dying. They are there. Every week. Living! Like no others.
So this post isn’t about the photos, certainly not about me! But inspiration. Wounded Warriors…thanks for the inspiration and thanks all here for listening to this little, thoroughly inadequate tribute to a bunch of anonymous human beings, full of vigor, strength and courage. Rock on!
Oh…and I swear, last night I was driving home from the canal, turn on the radio and this was just starting! Apropos, yes?
Completely neglected to mention the volunteers! The kayakers who teach, train these vets. I mean we’re talking the cream of the crop here! Top notch competitive, Olympic level paddlers who volunteer every week their time and energy to keep this program running. I’ve seen them work (if you can call it that!) and…well, impressive! OK…that’s all!
Peace.
To all photographers in the United States:
This is WAY off topic but important.
From the NPPA web site:
In April 2007 a pair of orphan works bills appeared before Congress. Both are on a “fast track” for approval during this session and a mark-up of the House bill that NPPA objects to took place May 7. The bills would exempt from full protection under U.S. Copyright law millions of pictures – new and old, published and unpublished, even many previously registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.
The Illustrators Partnership of America has an online letter generator that can be used to send your Congressional leaders a note of objection about the two current orphan works bills. IPA has customized an individual letter for NPPA members and photojournaists to use, and it is online here.
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11348596
David, I would have just emailed this to you to post at your discretion, but I do not have an email address for you.
I felt this was important.
Pete
Hi David, I would like to work on an essay,
my idea is to develope a project on a sicilian females recovery house founded by a priest that was killed by the mafia because of his social war against “cosa nostra”.Many of the womens are affected by Hiv and most of them have childrens.Now i’m waiting for the authorization to get inside this place. What do u think about it?
grazie a presto
cristina
CRISTINA,
thats dope!
peace
The Assignment Process…from my side
David had a look at some new work of mine, and I told him briefly where it had come from.
As an assignment, I have 2 ideas that I feel connected to. The first is a bit more do-able in a shorter time frame, so I described that first. It has to do with making images of males who remind me of my now deceased father. I want to show males of all ages that reflect something of my father, as a way in part in dealing with his passing, but also as getting to know a man I knew very little.
Technically, I feel there are a few ways of dealing with the visuals..one that speaks to the sense of seeing someone on the street, even though they are gone, and another in placing that person in an environmment that communicates something about the person.
The second project has been with me for some time, but I have been afraid to approach it because of the precedents. The work of Avedon in the West and that of Penn around the world in an open air studio move me deeply – and it feels wrong to me that nothing similar has been done (to my satisfaction!) in NYC. I want to use medium and large formats and a neutral background and work from the streets of NYC. There are physical challenges..money, permits, assistants..and it will take more time than the other for sure. Avedon had unlimited resources and 6 years, assistants and such to his heart’s content, and I worry that any attempt in the same vein will be so fiercely judged and compared, especially when working without the same resources.
About the Father project, David at first thought that it could be to abstract for the viewer to digest. After all, the thing that I see as part of my father is allusive and hard to pinpoint, even for myself. How would the viewer tie the work together? David suggested writing with this piece and also using audio to do some story telling, and to connect to the sense of loss and found that we all experience in one way or another. Though unsure at first, in the end he seemed to feel that my emotional process in the project would be enough to carry it through.
Regarding the backdrop project, David asked who it is about? Avedon shot his version of the West..This would be New York as I see it..and I believe that is enough to make it worthwhile. To get those diffinitive/iconic images will take time, and money, and we discussed that some assignments just take longer, but I believe he agreed that it could be good and something I could do some justice to.
So here we are, with David having offered thoughts and reflections, but not being determinate or conclusive..The assignment process turns out to something like therapy, holding a mirror up and shining some light to bring clarity and guidance. And now I need to feel the pull of his wisdom on my own inner knowing about where to proceed.
In my ever ‘me’ way, I rushed in with thinking I could do both concurrently..and David knew enough to tell me, “No, do 1 thing really well”.. I left feeling a bit unsure – a product of having come in with expectations that David would be providing the answers. But now I am beginning to see the magic of the grain of sand in the oyster approach..and it only hurt a little, and I have faith that the assignment process does indeed yield it’s own pearls.
Douglas Titus, You asked for opinions. I liked many of your shots, and the music to go with it as well. My favs are the kid in bed within a compo built on chiarroscuro, as well as the street shot with the guy laughing heartily. For me, many have the potential of good shots, especiallly witin an essay but what is it, compo? timing? light strongly competing for our attention (in some)?
As it is, they may resonate for you but less for others, lacking visual strength or compositional “spine”.
I hate to paraphrase David, but as he says, you are almost there, but not quite. You probably need to narrow your scope of subject, and approach to them too. A perfect candiadte for one of his workshops.
mainly: IMO ;-)
ALL…
ok guys, stay with me…i have to catch a 6am flight in the morning to Memphis..headin down south for a blues fest… i just got back to New York this afternoon with so much catching up to do…so, i cannot give out the assignments tonight…there are too many proposals on the table i have not read..i must unpack and repack etc etc…, so i am a “short hitter” tonight…patience please (as usual) and you know i will be back soonest…
cheers, david
Cathy
Thanks for visting my profile, I will remember to upload a few more on what you say. Last March, I had been to Vrindavan and spent some time with the Vrindavan Widows (have you heard of them?). I am a Bengali by birth and since most of the widows of Vrindavan are Bengalis, my time was spent in the most fruitful and educative manner. I don’t know if you have been to Vridavan or not, but it is a MUST to meet these widows to understand what DEVOTION is actually is!
hey¡¡ Does anyone still waiting for the review of the submisssion to the emerging photographers fund or i’m the only one???.
David, i wrote you an email about it but it seems that you didn’t received. Please let me know somenthing. thanks
Erica,
Thank you for your description of your ideas and of the learning process with David.
I am learning by looking in the mirror and asking questions of myself after being inspired by David and others here.
I’m seeing that it all is really about knowing yourself as best as you can.
Panos,
As Cathy wrote, i meant i photograph venice italy, but if you want to do it yourself that’s fine for me.
As being your “insider” that’s ok too, I live two hours from Venice, a couch is garanteed.
Please explain me your “insiders” project better, I was thinking about something like that to make these projects more part of the community. Still very personal assignments but when possible with some links with other bloggers. I was thinking about exchanging projects, ideas, hospitality, giving assistance and so on.
For example, I had another idea, a portrait project: photograph of italians living in Paris, from the plumber to the architect to the new wife of the new french president (by the way, can anybody introduce me to her? :))))
Erica, Thanks for your comments on my work.
I do agree that the way I use light competes with the other visual message at times. Light has been dominating my work as the subject lately. I am trying to reinvent myself and open myself up to others for critique. I agree that I need to focus my work into individual essays and develop them more. My hope is make a few connections up here and get critiques from this community. I need strong critiques that make me think and force me to change some of my bad habits. So I welcome ideas from you and the community. Enjoy your weekend . dt
but it is a MUST to meet these widows to understand what DEVOTION is actually is!
Oh Wait, Thanks Herve for your comments.
CATHY, GUIDO…
Yes, great idea…
it took me only 24 hours to figure it out..
only…
I’m not afraid of dementia anymore…
it looks that it goes away by itself…
yes…
VENICE BEACH and the
ORIGINAL VENICE ITALY..
shot at the same time… Same theme..
Venice at night.. When the night creatures crawl out of their
cages..
2 photographers…
EXPOSING VENICE…
cool…
GUIDO…
with the word “INSIDERS” I mean help and guidance
from the locals… But one step forward than just help…
shoot your photos through their lifestyles , through their
eyes…
if your “INSIDER” is a fighter , follow him and get involved..
you don’t have to identify with his fights, support or fight
on his side …
but most important “respect” your insiders by not trying to
change them…
think of the book..
“LIVING PROOF”…
“UPTOWN” was one of DAH’s “insiders”…
feel me?
Douglas,
I’ll comment, so it will be like you saw the future..
What works best for me in your images is the surprising..when things are a little confusing or might be darker in meaning than expected..especially like the 2 images of (your?) boy laying down, on the ground, face down, and sleeping, and the first 4 of Identity. I suggest going deeper into this semi dark work..not just to go there, but to see what, if anything, is tugging at you in that realm, because I am seeing something, at that something is working for me..
Erica, Thank you. I will continue to investigate what tugs on the strings here. Enjoy your weekend.
Subhrajit,
Although I’ve been visiting India for 13 years I have still not made it to Vrindivan which is so well known as a place of devotion (Krishna.) Wonderful that you were able to spend time there.
Yes, I am familiar with the widows. Do you know the great book of Fazal Sheikh, Moksha? I am including a link below.
ALL,
Here is the online edition of Moksha…do not miss it.
http://www.fazalsheikh.org/10_moksha/01_online_edition_01.htm
DAVID (posted this same topic under the new string California but alos here as I was not sure if this was the best place to share the proposals…..)
I have a lot of catching up to do after being away for a whole week on business in Europe…Presumably, you are all set in terms of assignments that you want to give out for the first month but I thought that, just in case, I would share some proposals with you which may be for now, or even better in a month or two. Couple of these are natural extension of the work that I have started on the Over-the-Rhine ghetto in Cincinnati. The last one, possibly the more challenging one that may require a bit more time is an idea that came up from exchanging with Erica (Thanks Erica!) about covering the Somali Refugees that come to OHIO, mostly thanks to the commitment and help of many local Catholic organizations. I did a bit of digging on this and this certainly seems like a great topic!.. Net, here we go…three ideas…anything you see worth chasing?
PROPOSAL 1: BUS STOP IN THE GHETTO
I have started as you know a project on the Over-The-Rhine ghetto in Cincinnati (see link to my website). From its earliest development, Over-the-Rhine has served as a port-of-entry for immigrants to Cincinnati. In the nineteenth century the community was home to people of all economic classes and included the poorest of immigrants, working class families, shop owners, and businessmen of means. For a majority of these new residents, the unifying element was the German language and culture. After World War II, Over-the-Rhine became a place where migrants looked for affordable housing and where employers looked for cheap labor. Over-the-Rhine historically has been a place where people new to the area try to make better lives for themselves. African-Americans today compromise the majority of Over-the-Rhine’s population. The rapid rise of the African-American population has added a racial and ethnic character to the area. The majority of Over-the-Rhine’s current residents are poor and undereducated. Over-the-Rhine faces the same social problems that affect inner-city neighborhoods nationwide. Alcoholism, drug dependency, inadequate housing and homelessness are major concerns in the neighbourhood. Clearly, penetrating the ghetto when you are a white foreign French man is not an easy task…I today do not have any entry into the community so I have been wondering how to best “enter” into this world for a potential assignment, be able to get close to the community and have a chance to capture the inhabitants’ lives and struggles. One day, as I was just coming into the ghetto from a BUS, I loved the actual BUS stop with a street painting like I would imgaine you find in Haiti. I decided to stay there for a while, shoot different shots etc. Interestingly, after a couple of hours, I realize that everyboby was passing by that one BUS stop situated close to the Farm market, from young children playing to homeless, some isolatred white families shopping into the market to drug dealers on street near by etc….It occured to me that I could possibly cover life in the ghetto by staying at that one single spot….Clearly, not easy to create a very diverse essay staying in just one location but I thought this could be worth trying. I have not really pushed this yet but I have started to assemble a few pctures I did take in that spot on my site (title BUS STOP). Now, is this an idea worth pushing and turning into an assignment?????
PROPOSAL 2: BOXING TRADITION IN OVER THE RHINE
On August 29, 1885, Cincinnati was the scene for the first modern heavyweight championship boxing match using gloves. The Boston Strong Boy, John L. Sullivan, met Dominick McCaffrey at the city’s Chester Park that day and came away with the referee’s decision. By this time, Cincinnati had been a noted boxing site since the Civil War years, and over the next several decades, it developed a remarkable number of fine boxers in both the professional and amateur ranks. Out of the many gymnasiums in Over-the-Rhine and the West End came world champions such as Freddie Miller, Ezzard Charles, Bud Smith, and Aaron Pryor. For the proposed assignment, I thought that this “boxing” topic could be a natural extension of my ghetto story. After all, Over the Rhine is known for its violence, was subject of the worse riots in America in 2001 (after the LA riots). Many young blacks are trying to channel their energy and anger into boxing. The idea would be to follow them into the local gymnasiums and possibly then into the ghetto…
PROPOSAL 3: SOMALI REFUGEES COLOMBUS
In 1991 the central government of Somali collapsed. Civil war raged and Somali’s citizens spiraled into a nightmare of loss – destruction of homes, separation of families, famine and death. Statistics on the number of people murdered range as high as one million or more and even today this number continues to rise. Most people left all their belongings and many even left family as they fled violence and instability to live in refugee camps. The struggle of survival began and refugees entered the process of immigration. Somali refugees began arriving in the United States, and since 1995, Columbus, Ohio has been a popular destination. It is estimated that 40,000 to 45,000 Somali refugees call Columbus home and more are expected in the future. My proposal for the assignment would be to document and follow the men, women, young adults and school children that walk through our doors every day having to learn about our language, adapt to our culture and lifestyle in America. Project will include street photography pictures, following the Somali into the poor neighbourhood of Colombus, could include pictures of recent Somali refugees arriving in America and having to adjust into their new homes. Project might also include some audio if I get a chnace to have some of these Somali refugees share their stories, from the nightmare of the Civial war to their arrival in the US. Finally, I would also look at community organizations, many catholic, that extend helping hands to those immigrants who strive for financial independence through business ownership, living the American dream. As many of these refugee families, lacking basic English language skills and unfamiliar with the everyday challenges of the educational system in their new community, look to the staff and volunteers of the these community organizations to help their children with school enrollment, after-school tutoring and mentoring services. Unfortunately, high unemployment rates among teenagers and young adults are having a major impact on young Somalis. Many turn to street corner drug dealers and other opportunists who prey on the uninformed and impoverished. In a way, this project could therefore also represent also a natural extension of my work on the black Over-the-Rhine ghetto of Cincinnati (see link on my website).
That’s it David and all… 3 ideas….Some (maybe David) will say that I need to focus on just one…Yes, but I thought I may as well share the 3 thoughts that I have been playing with and get feedback. With exception of BUS stop story that I could easily start, I have not even started the other two and I do not know how easy it will be to do these. In a way, while I would love to get some perspective from you David on what to focus on from the above list, I would actually prefer to start these in a month or two as I will have more time to take away from my day job by late June or July. Anyway, enough of a long post…waiting to hear your perspective.
Cheers,
Eric
Hi All…
Slow as usual in trying to keep up with all that is going on here, I have just finished my workshop with Chris Anderson. It was a good week, but in all honesty, I am not sure what to do with my photography next. I feel I am at a crossroads….closer to where I want to go yet confused.
I have beem toying with the idea of photography one apartment building. Showing up unannounced and just start knocking on doors to see what happens. I keep looking for the right location but in some ways I am thinking it might be best to just get out and do and not even think about it.
So I am open to ideas and suggestions and link my workshop work here…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/torontogalphotos/sets/72157604998840175/
Have a good one…
Siena, Siena, Siena, one n only, thank you ;)
like always ;) everything fantastic! we are all superstars.
Hi Alan,
I am a modest (unemployed) photographer from Mexico City, I just want to know your opinion about my work. You are one of my teachers, haha, really like your divided soul book.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ernestomendez
if you need anything here in Mexico City, It will be a pleasure. are you coming soon?
be very well.
Ernesto.
Hi David,
If you remember me, Prashanth from the India Rajasthan workshop. I would be interested in shooting some topic here, but before that please have a look at my work post the workshop.There is a marked change thanks to you. http://picasaweb.google.com/prashvish/RecentWork
Regards,
Prashanth Vishwanathan
CHARLIE MAHONEY…
i could not open your link…
You mentioned in your previous post on this topic the concept of “figurative self portraits”. I think i like this idea.
Cathy…i sincerely thank you for the link…
Herve…i never wanted to “amaze” (as you suggested) anybody here by what i said to Cathy…the statement of mine what you very kindly guessed to have been made for ‘amazing’ my friends here, it was said in a specific context to Cathy, and not for any other purpose…
and if you really think that “cases of old women abandonned by their families” is a localised phenomena in India alone, i will beg to differ. in fact, in india, like in most asian countries, care for the elderly by their family members is the rule, though there are exceptions to that. i have been to old-age homes in europe, and i didn’t find anything to be proud of either. so, let’s not make generalised statements about any specific country because we all live in ‘glass houses’ in some respect or the other!
cheers,
Subhrajit