Photojournalism has changed incredibly over the past decade and in many ways we have been bombed back to Year Zero. The thing is that most of us have been forced to reinvent ourselves as visual storytellers and for many (including me) this transition has not been easy.
Personal Work Is What Recharges Us
there’s nothing more liberating than shooting in a new place, spontaneously, without planning, lighting or agenda. It’s what drew us to photography in the first place. Personal work is what recharges us.
More is almost never better; more is usually just more
All my tricks and gimmicks were nothing more than window dressing, but that was the seductive allure, the madness in the method. It’s fun to dress windows, and easy to get lost in them, and I did for a while. And in the commercial photography world, the urge to use tricks and gimmicks never dies. Technique for technique’s sake is more prevalent than ever, thanks to retouching and the ease of digital capture. Using the same “dramatic” lighting setup for everything and dropping a set of curves on a mediocre shot won’t make it into something good, it will just be a mediocre shot in fancy, desaturated, over-sharpened clothes.
via planet shapton.
Cosmopolitan Says It Has 100,000 Paid Digital Subscriptions
Cosmopolitan magazine has reached what appears to be a milestone: 100,000 paid digital subscriptions. The Hearst Magazines title seems to have beaten other brands to the mark, reinforcing the idea that digital will be a big platform for Cosmopolitan. But it’s also a good sign for magazines’ digital ambitions in general.
Does Your Personal Aesthetic Affect Hiring Decisions?
Absolutely. It is to learn to separate my personal taste from what the client needs and wants. I also believe in meeting photographers for a sheer fact that a good percentage of the experience is what kind of person photographer is. They can be brilliant but hard to work with which is very unfortunate.
— Ilona Siller of DraftFCB NY
How Do You Create Long Form Visual Narratives?
Working on lengthy efforts as a photographer, compared to producing single images, is the difference between writing a paragraph and writing a book. To conjure a subject worthy of such effort, to figure out a structure for the coverage, to get know subjects intimately with a camera, to edit the work into something greater than its parts is alone the worth the effort. But only if you care about growing as a photographer and therefore as a person.
via Blog – Mike Davis.
We live in a post-photographic world now
I’m especially keen now at looking into how Europeans edit photographic stories because the have a very different point of view than us Americans. It’s a bit more existential and less obvious. In many ways, it’s liberated from structures that we impose on our storytelling. I love tradition, but if we are all telling stories in the same way, I think we do our subjects a disservice as well as the public.
Maggie Steber via La Lettre de la Photographie.
Has the advent of digital photography been a good thing for the art form?
Yes, an incredibly good thing. I photographed with film for many years; now that I work in digital, the difference is enormous. The quality is unbelievable: I don’t use flash, and with digital I can even work in very bad light. Also, it’s a relief not to lose photographs to x-ray machines in airports.
— Sebastião Salgado
via The Guardian.
LA Times Joins Digital Paywall Stampede, Cites NYT As Proof It Works
Fast on the heels of Gannett announcing its paywall around 80 community newspapers, the Los Angeles Times (LAT) on Friday announced it will launch a metered paywall on Monday, March 5.
via MediaBuyerPlanner.
Most Think Its Easy
Lots of people are driven to celebrity photography, most think its easy, just be there and get a picture and you will make money, sadly that is not the case. There are thousands of mediocre and ordinary people out there with cameras,thinking they are photographers, photographing and complaining about not making money, submitting pictures to various publications and photo agencies and waiting for great payments that do not come, why ? The photos are not good or the subject matter not interesting, to be a great “pap” you need all the skills a great photographer has…
On Being An Artist And A Mother
…I have to say that it completely depends on how you define success. If success is defined as a mad dash to the top of the ladder and whoever gets there first is successful then yes having children definitely interferes. But if success is defined as quality of life as in being loved and showing love and having deep, long term relationships that cause you to question the meaning of life and love and art and help you to look at the world through different eyes well then I would say that having children helps you to be successful.
Oscars: Cinematography nominees discuss film versus digital
“I think this is a wonderful time for a cinematographer,” said Emmanuel Lubezki, who shot “The Tree of Life” and is a four-time previous nominee. “You can have 65-millimeter, 35, 16 and so on, and then you have all the range of incredible digital cameras that are not like film but allow you to create wonderful images.”
via theenvelope.latimes.com thx again Steve.
Any words of wisdom for the up and comers?
Lots of people have talent, but it’s the hard work that sets you apart.
Bob Croslin via this is the what.
What it Takes to be a National Geographic Photographer
intellect, passion, maturity and drive.
…I would rather have a photographer whose eye was not the best, but who worked very hard, rather than the person with the best eye in the world, and who was lazy.
Shouldn’t We Be Taking Pictures?
There is no way anyone can win the social-networking arms race. It’s time to scale back. It’s time to realize that social-networking sites come with only one guarantee: You’re going to spend a lot of time on them – time that you could have spent on your own photography.
via Conscientious.
Clearly it is open to the copyright owner to adopt the position that we have “violated” their copyright
…it is not always possible to secure copyright clearance before pictures are published. Our industry therefore adopts the stance that if a picture has no overwhelming artistic value and if there is no issue of exclusivity (ie it is already being published online or elsewhere) then no reasonable copyright owner will object to its being republished in exchange for a reasonable licence fee.
via Land of Oak and Iron.
David Mamet: On Directing Film
…being unprepared on set will not cause you to be creative, at the best you can copy something that you know works or do something interesting that may not be right for the story… directing is all done before the cameras and crew show up.
via Winokur Photography.
Ipad v Print Portfolio
“I vote for an iPad when an agent comes to see me and wants to show me books of multiple photographers and/or artists. However, I still prefer a big, beautiful printed book for presentation. I know our Creative Directors still want to see a well-put-together printed portfolio when they’re deciding on shooters for upcoming projects”
via blog.imagebrief.com.