This week I’m going to take it back a little bit to one of my all time favorite photography pairs of all time. Jeremy and Claire Weiss are a husband a wife team of photographers that I have known about for quite some time now. I first found out about them from a old photo website called The Paper Brigade (R.I.P!) where I found some of their images they shot of one of my favorite bands, Piebald. They always have really interesting projects and outtakes on their blog over at DAY19. Definitely an inspiration of where I want to be a few years from now and the the type of work that I would like to be shooting.
Back in the saddle for another installment of Photo Friday. I have always been a fan a telling stories; one’s that are worth hearing. My apologies if you have already heard this one:
When I was a student at Portfolio Center, I was handed a rather interesting assignment: Contact your hero (a photographer), and create a photo in his honor. How do I do that? The pucker factor on this was pretty high, but you would be surprised how easy it is to get your idol on the phone. After just one email, me and Hans Gissinger scheduled a phone conversation (while on vacation with his family in Miami no less). At the end of our talk, I asked him why he agreed to speak to me. He simply stated, “I like to talk.”
Hans Gissinger is the man! Currently represented by Stockland Martel, shooting both portrait and still life for such clients as Nike, Conde Nast, Cartier, and Ford; with his lastest project, TARTAS (exploding pastries). So here’s to one of my heroes; enjoy.
Hello and happy new year to everyone out there that is reading this right now! I hope everyone had a great holiday season with their family and friends. I would like to say thank you to everyone at EL Bar for setting up an awesome celebration and it was great to see everyone there!
Most of you out there have been spending the past week or so looking at end of the year top ten lists and best of 2008 lists on various blogs and so I figured I would follow in that vein and put up some of my favorite images from the year.
This is the first picture we ever took for our Christmas cards.
So this week I am bring a little something special to the table, kind of like a little Christmas present for all the people reading out there. Now that the holiday season is upon us I am reminded of a little tradition that we have in my family. Every year, for the past few years, my parents and I get together for a family photo which is then turned into a Christmas card and sent out to all of our family and friends. The scenario is usually the same. We get together in front of the house and pose with the dogs for a few pictures (usually 10 max) at which point we pick the best one. Looking back at these pictures always crack me up and now I share them with you. Read the rest of this entry »
So this week I went up to Ruin with Larry to check out the selection of SB’s and while I was there I came across something pretty awesome. It was the Lakai Fully Flared shirts that were shot by Atiba Jefferson. Atiba is one of the most famous skateboard photographers out there and has been killin’ it for a while now. He has branched out into basketball and football over the past couple of years but always keeps the best stuff of his skateboarding pictures. Either way here are a few of my favorite images of his. I hope everyone out there has a great Christmas next week and I will have something pretty awesome for you coming up next week!
Hello everyone and welcome once again to another installment of Photo Fridayz! I want to first start out by giving a little bit of notice to everyone out there about the postcard show that is coming up this Saturday night at Mint Gallery here in Atlanta. The show is open to the public and it is recommended that everyone participate! You can present up to 4 pieces up to 4×6 in size. It should be a fun time with good people so everyone should check it out.
This week I wanted to share with you someone who I find a lot of inspiration from. William Eggleston is a photographer from Memphis and is credited with making color photography a legitimate form of art. He was the first person to have a solo color photography show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and since then has continued to create images up until this day. His images are beautiful in terms of color and composition but are also comprised of the most mundane subject matter. I could go on and on about how amazing I think he is as a photographer and it still really wouldn’t do much justice. If you like what you see in this post I would strongly recommend going out and renting William Eggleston in the Real World. Its one of the better documentaries I have seen in regards to photographers. It gives a very indept and personal look at Eggleston and his process and the steps he has taken over the years to get where he is. Very impressive and well worth the watch.
So for this week I would like to start with a special shout out to one of my best friends, Alex Liebold. I have known Alex for a good bit now and the one thing I know is that this is one of his most favorite times of the year. Perfect example, his Last Christmas dedication website. For those of you who don’t know, Last Christmas was a song done back in the 80’s by Wham!. Alex just started it up again and his current count is up to 331 different versions of the song. Either way I am looking forward to seeing what kind of awesome versions Alex comes up with this year and if there is anyone out there that has a version that he doesn’t have send it to him and add to the list!
Now its on to the photo showcase. This week were gonna take a look at Richard Avedon. Most people out there will be familiar with his work but it is always worth taking a second look at. Avedon started his career as a photographer for the Merchant Marines back in 1942 by taking identification photos of the crewmen. A few years later he was working as an advertising photographer for a department store where he was picked up by Harper’s Bazaar which led to a staff photographer position at Vogue up until the late 80’s. He was most notable for his portraits taken with a large format camera on a white background. Avedon was the best at capturing the most revealing aspects of his subjects weather it was celebrities or the working class in the American west.
I recently came across an article on NPR about the responsibility of a portrait photographer to portray their subject in the right way. It was something that made me think about Avedon and his work and some of the complaints that people have had about him over the years. If anyone wants to hear the article you can find it here. Personally I think that the responsibility lies in the editors hands that chooses to run the photo. The photographer is simply doing what he is hired to do and that is take a photograph. Either way Avedon is a legend no matter what way you look at it.
I would like to start by saying thank you and big ups to Jorge for his Photo Friday entry last week. His in-depth and insightful look at Horst was awesome. I know some of you out there may have missed me and I apologize for missing out. So this week is somewhat of a shameful self promotion as well as a look at one of my favorite cameras out there.
This week we’ll take a look at the LOMO and the style of photography that goes with it called Lomography. Lomo (Leningrad Optical-Mechanical Amalgamation) started back in World War I as a Russian optical and mechanical company and is still working today. One of their most popular and my favorite camera was the Lomo LC-A. Its a simple little camera with a dial to change the focus and exposure but its small enough to bring around with you day to day. This camera and style of photography has become very popular these days with several different models now being produced by the company and even a “set of rules” to follow. Its an interesting way to look at including photography in your everyday life and produces some interesting results.
After coming across the camera for the first time I was hooked because of the unexpected results (you never know when its actually in focus, you kind of have to guess) that you get as well as the colors the lens produces. I have to admit that I don’t take my camera with me as much as I should but as part of my new resolutions with myself to get me shooting more I’m starting to bring it with me more and getting some really interesting results. I just wanted to share with everyone out there some of my favorites from the time I have been using this lil’ guy as well as some more of my recent results.
Also on a side note I’m going to be beginning a portrait project once the new year starts and I am looking for people interested in getting in on the project. I’m still working out all the kinks but if there is anyone out there who is interested please contact me! More details to follow at a later date!
Salutations! Jorge here, filling in for Ross-ome for this week’s photo Friday. DISCLAIMER: I am not a writer, I am a photographer. Here we go!
Some of you may know me and some of you may know of me. What most of you may not know, is that under my boyish good looks and charming wit, is a die-hard traditionalist, and an old-fashioned softy. I have always had a strong connection to the past and a real love for history. That’s why this week’s post will focus on one of my heroes, coincidentally on the anniversary of his death, Horst P. Horst.
So the weather is getting colder out and its past the time of summer road trips across the country. I remember the time I took a road trip across the country. 10 days on the road with two of my friends in a car that was too small, smoking way too many cigarettes, and eating possibly the worst food that I could eat and having the time of my life. My road trip was something that I will never forget. What I could never imagine doing though is taking a road trip across the country and being naked while I do it.
I have to admit that I am really excited about the election results. I’m sure that most people out there are in the same boat as I am but to finally see something happen in politics that doesn’t frustrate the hell out of me is a truly satisfying feeling! Of course, it is now time to wait and see if PRESIDENT Obama can bring about the change he has been talking about his entire campaign.
That leads me to this weeks topic. Its pretty interesting to look at the way images work to influence people especially when it comes to a political stand point. With the rise of digital photography to the point that it is at and how demanding the internet can be for a constant update of content and images it has pushed photographers to create new and compelling images that have broken outside the box of normal (and in my opinion boring) photojournalism. If a candidate makes one wrong move and its captured on film it can change the face of the entire campaign. Since PRESIDENT Obama (I love the sound of that!) began his campaign almost two years ago there have been some amazing images of him working so hard to earn the votes that he did. This week I share a few of my favorites with you.
So this week Photo Friday falls on a great holiday, Halloween!! I have decided to share something special with everyone this week. It is one of my favorite things and hopefully everyone out there enjoys these images as much as I enjoyed finding them. I now present to you hilarious dog and cat costumes!
So this week were gonna come back to Alec Soth. To give a bit of basic background, Soth is a photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a member of the highly acclaimed Magnum Photos agency. His work ranges from landscapes to portraits but the best part is there is a coherent look to everything that he does. Most everything he shoots is done with an 8 x 10 view camera and done using mostly natural light.
To me Soth is one of the most interesting photographers that is working right now. His approach to photography is certainly not a conventional one, especially with how popular and easily accessible digital photography has become, but because he uses such a unique approach his work stands out. The really awesome thing about Soth, and one of the things that makes me motivated, is that he actually has something to say. His blog just started back up after a brief hiatus and so far he has had some interesting things to say.
So I have to admit. I’ve been super busy this past week! Not only mourning the Cowboys loss on Sunday (don’t worry Larry, its only one game) but being busy in general with work. Just to give you peoples out there a little insight, I work as a freelance photo assistant on a full time basis. It is an awesome job and I get to see something new almost ever week.
But that’s not what I’m here to talk about this week. This week I want to fill everyone out there in on a pretty big even going on here in Atlanta right now. This October marks the 10th annual Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival. I seriously can’t tell everyone out there how awesome it is to have something like this at your fingertips, especially if your passionate about photography. Last year Alec Soth rolled thru and gave a pretty amazing (and FREE) presentation at the High Museum. I would highly recommend everyone who is reading this now to watch this little video of Soth before his speech last year and if you like it then take the time to check out the schedule and go to some of the events they have coming up. Not only are most of the events pretty quality but almost all of them are FREE!
Hey everyone my name is Ross and some of you might know me as the one who is obsessed with Katy Perry. I wont deny that, but what you might not know is that I’m obsessed with photography also. Larry asked me to take some time to talk about photography and photo related subjects here on the blog so here it is.
For this first installment I would like to talk about Chuck Close. Some of you out there that already know about Mr. Close might be saying to your self, “Chuck Close isn’t a photographer!” and this is true, but one of the major points to his work is the use of photography. Close is a photorealistic painter who creates images on a large scale. The subjects of his work, usually friends and family, are first photographed and then a grid is placed on top of the photograph. That grid is then translated onto the canvas. Close’s earlier work was much more detailed because the grid used was smaller. In 1988 his work changed completely after he suffered a catastrophic spinal artery collapse which left him paralyzed from the neck down. After extensive rehab efforts Close was able to move his body from his waist down and continues to create his large scale works but uses a larger scaled grid.
