Canadian Photographers Now Officially Own the Copyright to All of Their Photos

From Peta Pixel: A big win for photographers in Canada: as of today, you now officially own the copyright to all your photographs regardless of whether they were commissioned. The development comes as a result of Canada major copyright reform bill (Bill C-11) taking effect this morning. One of the stated goals of the new copyright law is to, “give photographers the same rights as other creators.” [Read more ...]

NZ Herald: Marti Friedlander Interview

United Women's Convention 1979 © Marti Friendlander 

New Zealand's Marti Friedlander is surely one of the world's great documentary and portrait photographers (of any era), but is not a household name outside her adopted homeland. The photo opposite is typical of her three-dimensional eye, which characteristically juxtaposes foreground and background subject matter, with acid wit and insight. She may not have been a Magnum photographer, but she is as accomplished as any in all of the great photo agencies of the world.

Sarah Daniell interviewed her for The New Zealand Herald.

Twelve questions with Marti Friedlander

Marti Friedlander was born in 1928 to Russian Jewish parents. She was raised in an orphanage, with her sister, from the age of 3. Marti emigrated to New Zealand from Britain in 1958 and began taking photographs of people, places and protests. Friedlander is 84 and lives in Auckland with her husband, Gerrard. 

1. What compelled you to pick up a camera and start taking pictures of faces that weren't famous?

I started because I came to a country where there was so little recognition of the arts - of artists, musicians, whatever. I decided I was going to seek out all these people who were so gifted but working alone and take photographs of them because one day people would be interested. I was trying for my own sake to find associations with people I had something in common with. [Read more...]

[Marti Friedlander Website]

Saul Leiter

© Saul Leiter

A lengthy interview with Saul Leiter is found on the Photographers Speak Blog, entitled Saul Leiter: The Quiet Iconoclast.

From Photographers Speak: Saul Leiter has been redefining the parameters of street photography since the 1940s. Working in both black and white and color, he exhibited from the beginning of his career a distinct visual grammar that features off-center perspectives, compressed spatial dynamics, and a predilection for breaking up the frame in unpredictable and exciting ways. His color work, which went unrecognized for decades, is perhaps even more radical in its asymmetrical visual rhythm and defiantly unsaturated tonalities inspired by Johannes Vermeer. Leiter’s work is further distinguished by its indifference to decisive moments of human intercourse. In fact, Leiter might be regarded as the master of the “indecisive” moment – those in-between moments when nothing of much importance seems to be happening but which resonate with a profound if understated sense of interior drama.

'....I didn’t photograph people as an example of New York urban something or other. I don’t have a philosophy. I have a camera. I look into the camera and take pictures. My photographs are the tiniest part of what I see that could be photographed. They are fragments of endless possibilities.'  [Read more...]

© Saul Leiter

From Lens Culture: 'I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learnt to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently. I simply looked at the world, not really prepared for anything.' 

'Art critic Roberta Smith wrote in 2005: .... Mr. Leiter captured the passing illusions of everyday life with a precision that might almost seem scientific, if it weren't so poetically resonant and visually layered.'
[Read full article with photos...]

In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter

A film has been made about Saul Leiter. Look out for it in your next local film festival.  [Film website]

See also: Retronaut.
 

Fotofever Brussels 4-7 Oct 2012

© Denis Dailleux - Le Port De James Town La Voile-Galerie 127

From Fotofever: For its first edition in the heart of Europe, fotofever, a contemporary photography fair, brings together leading galleries, editors, institutions, and collectors to thrill an eagerly awaiting public. In the 5000m2  space of “Tour & Taxis” and through a meticulous selection to highlight its 60 galleries, fotofever presents an unseen private collection, a solo-show of the winner of the fotoprize rewarding the work of a young European talent, fototalks, a video space, a VIP programme, etc…[Read more...]

Paddle8 offers international collectors online access to a selection of curated works from the galleries, foundations and fairs, via a 'VIP' personal account. [Create account]

Portrait de femme avec loupe, 1987 © Collection Galila Marc Le Mene

From Le Journal de la Photographie - Fotofever 2012: Diary of Matthieu Wolmark: As a sort of distant homage to the commercial evolution of our developed countries, the fair is as diverse in genre as it is in quality. From one stand to another, the works of superstars appear next to those by inspired photographers, whether or not they’re famous, like those opportunistic works destined for oblivion. Old-school gallerists speak fondly of their photographers as if they were family, and next door, young art dealers and merchants present their works like they were selling stocks. [Read more...]

From Le Journal de la Photographie - Juliette Deschodt: Cécile Shall, founder and director of the festival aims to show to the visitors the diversity of contemporary photography. She also wishes that the festival be a platform for the new artists by promoting new talents. She is thinking about expanding the festival to other continents. The future will tell. The program is mainly european, although a Moroccan gallery is also part of the exhibitors. With more than sixty galleries and fifteen participating countries, the festival is growing. [Read more...]

Adore Noir Portfolio Competition 2012 winners announced

© Eric Kellerman

From Adore Noir Magazine: We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Adore Noir Portfolio Contest! The image which will appear on the cover of "Issue 10" has been selected by Susan Spiritus and will be revealed on October 1, 2012. {Read more...] 

Jesse Marlow wins 2012 Bowness Photography Prize

Australian street photographer Jesse Marlow has been awarded Australia’s most prestigious photography award, the Bowness Photography Prize.

From Monash Gallery of Art: This is the first time a street photographer has won the $25 000 prize. Marlow’s winning photograph Laser vision is an ambiguous and disorientating image of a chance encounter during the photographer’s daily travels around the streets of Melbourne. Marlow said, “contrived photographic shoots and intricately designed set-ups have never interested me. Rather it is the uncertainty of street photography that continues to stimulate. [Read more...] [Jesse Marlow website]

Photo © Jesse Marlow