Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long. -- Walker Evans

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Steve McCurry: Food for Thought

Steve McCurry has published an essay entitled Food for Thought on his blog, which looks at food as the universal experience which binds humanity on a daily basis. Three of the image are below, followed by a link to the full essay.

Bakery run by widows, Kabul, Afghanistan  © Steve McCurry

Priyadarshini Park, Mumbai, India  © Steve McCurry

Tibet  © Steve McCurry



[View Food for Thought essay

An Al Jazeera interview with McCurry is below.



From Fotoflock's Interview of the month: Steve McCurry: Immortalized by his iconic photograph of an Afghan refugee girl in 1984 which has become the world's most recognizable photograph, leading documentary photographer Steve McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including 30 years of conflict in Afghanistan. He focuses on the human consequences of war, not only showing what war impresses on the landscape, but rather what it shows on the human face. The results are thought provoking photos that move and inspire viewers. He is also an articulate social commentator on the cultures and subjects he photographs.

Could you describe your shooting philosophy?
I like to celebrate people, places and culture through my photography. I also like to tell stories about my subjects through my photographs - especially those I have shot in areas of conflict; and I think this is an important aspect of photojournalism - to show people what is happening.
[Read more...]


[Steve McCurry's Website]

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Erik Johansson: Impossible Photography

Arms break, vases don't © Eric Johannson
Erik Johansson is a Swedish surrealist photographer based in Germany. 

From Eric Johansson's website: At the age of 15 I got my first digital camera which opened up a new world. Being used to drawing it felt quite strange to be done after capturing a photo, it wasn't the process of creating something in the same way. Having an interest in computers made it a quite natural step to start playing around with the photos and creating something that you couldn't capture with the camera ....

Deep Cuts © Eric Johansson
Today I work with both personal and commissioned projects, in 2011 I also started doing street illusions and in 2012 I plan to move on to motion pictures as well as starting with a book project. In November 2011 I spoke at the TED conference in London about my images. I've been working with clients such as Google, Microsoft and IKEA. But the personal work and concepts will always be what's most important. Growing up on the Swedish countryside had a big impact on my visual style. A lot of the environments in my photos are captured near places I know, around my parents' home with wide open landscapes and small red houses. Inspiration is everywhere and this is just the beginning. [Read more...] [View portfolio]

In 2011 he gave a TED Talk:

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Bert Stern: Original Madman

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Weinstein Company
From Stuff.co.nz: August 5 marked the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death and, for several weeks, there has been extensive media coverage about the screen legend. But for years photographer Bert Stern has been used to people asking him about Monroe.

Stern - a legend in his own right - took the last photographs of Monroe only weeks before she died. Now 82, he's not just being asked about them because of the anniversary. It's because Stern's own career is the subject of a new feature-length documentary Bert Stern, Original Madman.
[Read more...]

Monday, August 20, 2012

Martine Franck Dies

Martine Franck in 1972  © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos
From PDN: Magnum photographer Martine Franck, who was best known for her portraits of artists and writers, died in Paris yesterday at the age of 74. The cause of death was cancer, according to a family friend. Franck became a full member of Magnum in 1983, and was married to renowned photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who died in 2004. [Read more ...


Balthus © Martine Franck/Magnum Photos
From The GuardianMartine Franck, who has died aged 74, was a photographer of great contrasts. She started out by taking pictures in Asia, a continent she revisited for weeks at a time, but she also devoted herself to documenting daily life close to her homes in Paris and the Luberon, Provence. Her work is characterised by a fascination with the little intimacies and interactions in the lives of anonymous poor, marginalised and elderly people, yet she also assembled a matchless portfolio of portraits of famous authors and artists, including Seamus Heaney, Marc Chagall and Diego Giacometti. [Read more...]

A Magnum in Motion slideshow narrated by Franck, entitled A Way of Communicating, is worth watching. See also her Magum portfolio.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Simon Wheatley Interview

In April I blogged about Simon Wheatley's book Don't Call Me Urban, but failed to include a link to an excellent audio interview with him by Martin Fuchs. [Audio Interview]

From Martin Fuch's blog: "Maybe the most important thing I ever did was get away from England and that idea of having a career as a photojournalist. It's very competitive of course and I don't think that's a healthy environment in which to learn." - Simon Wheatley [Read more ...]

From Dazed DigitalOver the past few years, urban subculture has seen a magnificent rise from low-end silhouetted darkness to a bright, brilliant and powerful artform, through the mediums of music, (Dizzee Rascal, Tinie Tempah) films (Kidulthood) and now art. Photographer Simon Wheatley has recently released a book (titled Don't Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime) documenting the often controversial and always stunning culture of urban life. Arriving at his Bethnal Green studio, Dazed sat down to speak to Wheatley about art, culture and of course, snapping photos.


Dazed Digital: First up, why's the book called Don't Call Me Urban?
Simon Wheatley
: It looks behind the glamorisation of urban life which has arisen. To be urban is not a joke, to be born urban is not a joke and in the context of at least this country its a harsh reality and I think that the mainstream media have been shallow in their portrayal. It's an attempt to go a bit deeper into a complex issue and to go beyond the stereotypes of the right wing media.
[Read more ...]