Via Hemali Dassani

“From who-knows-where, a sudden wind blows grit into my eyes. When I raise my hand to rub at them, it snatches away the paper I am drawing on. I lunge for it but the wind is too quick. The sheet tumbles over the sill and disappears under the feet of the multitude of passersby below. Involuntarily, I shiver. Is this the Bidhata Purush’s chill, vindictive breath warning me not to stitch my life into patterns he has not placed there?

Stubbornly I pull out another sheet and begin to draw again. I WILL prove myself. I WILL be in charge of my fate. I WILL pattern a new life for myself. I swat away the superstitious unease that buzzes in my ear like gnats.

The new design is even more beautiful than before. Concentric circles of lotus buds, the spiral of death and
rebirth, and in the center, a single opened flower to symbolize freedom from this earth-bound life that we humans have crowded with our complex sorrows.”

“Sister of my Heart,” pg. 273
Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni

The timing couldn't be better. I always wanted to teach photography. Remya Thomas, whom I have never met, wrote to me the other day inquiring about where she could take a basic photography course in the great city of New York. There are several fine establishments in the city that will cater to your needs – International Center of Photography, School of Visual Arts, New School University, among many others. But they are all a tad bit expensive and beyond the budget of a student or a serious hobbyist. And so, I am launching Tiffinbox's first workshop in basic photography. Read on to see if this piques your interest.

Background: Apart from blogging here at Tiffinbox, I am a freelance photographer and a photo editor for a major sports network. I have taught basic photography at Indiana University's School of Journalism and have conducted two photography workshops for children in Seattle. I am also responsible for producing SAJA's photo exhibit at its annual convention.

What, When, Where, How Much: The workshop will meet on October 1, 8 and 15 at 10 a.m. The cost will be a modest $250 per person for three sessions (not a bad deal at all). Four people are needed to make the class. Six people maximum. Deadline: September 23, 2004. Only cashier checks will be accepted. No personal checks and no PayPal payments. Sorry, no refunds will be granted. If you are a full, associate, life or student member of SAJA you will receive a 10% discount. Sessions will take place rain or shine. So, pack an umbrella and a light jacket. Your other expenses will be: travel to NYC, food, film, processing and printing. This workshop is ideally suited for those of you in New York or New Jersey already. Based on the success of this workshop, I'll see about expanding it to other cities.

For the first meeting on October 1, we'll gather at Grand Central Station's main concourse at 10 a.m. sharp and go from there. Here is what I will do in the first class: teach you to correctly operate a SLR camera, explain to you the nuances of film ISO, apertures and shutter speeds and how they all work in tandem, introduce you to some of my photography and make you aware that photography is about appreciating and capturing light. This class will last up to five hours. Please don't cut out early.

Between the first and second sessions, I will expect participants to have shot at least two rolls of film and have one set of 4″x6″ prints from the two rolls. During the second session on October 8, photo students in the workshops will edit and select 10 images from their two rolls, based on the principles laid out in the first class. We'll discuss and critique as many as six of the images by each photographer.

We'll also recap some of the principles of basic photography we discussed and select images based on those lessons. In this second session, we'll try and get out onto the streets of NY to photograph just about anything that catches our attention, again paying attention to the things you have learned in the sessions so far. So, bring three rolls of unexposed film to the second session. The film can be of differing ISO (speeds); 100, 200, 400 or 800. The second session will also run about five hours. Start time: 10 a.m.

The third time we meet on October 15, we'll have another edit session, so you will be responsible for processing and printing your film by the third session. We'll go through each participants top 10 picks and discuss their selections. This session will last about three hours and will start at 10 a.m.

Each participant's work – six of her or his best images from the three sessions – will be exhibited as a slide show on Tiffinbox.

Why film and not digital? Well, if I had my way I would have started you all off with a pin-hole camera, but that's overkill. If you want to learn the basics, there is no better way than to expose film and look at prints. Film, you may or may not know is a whole lot more forgiving if you make mistakes. Digital chips can be brutal to the ego. Go with film for now, transition to digital eventually. So, it goes without saying – you will need a SLR (single-lens reflex) camera, with at least a 35mm lens. If you have a zoom lens, leave it at home. If you have a 24mm, 28mm or a 50mm, that's just fine.

One quick tip about photography – you have gotta expose film! I have heard people tell me that their film is still in the camera (sometimes over a year after an event) and I have to really wonder about their drive to learn photography. Don't be a slacker; shoot film and get it to a lab pronto!

A coffee-shop yet to be decided will be our meeting place. Just be sure to buy a cup of coffee or we'll get booted.

Legalese: Please remember that your personal safety and your personal belongings are your own responsibility. I am not liable nor will you and your kith and kin ever hold me responsible for anything. The images you create are yours to keep and you will own the copyright to those images. By signing up for this workshop, you agree to allow me to publish your images on Tiffinbox or any other web site that promotes the photography workshops conducted or sponsored by Tiffinbox in the future. To that end, I will have to borrow and scan your negatives at the end of the third session. You will receive full credit on the image and a link to your web site, if you have one. I will FedEx/DHL your negatives back to you as soon as I am done scanning them.

These three sessions are for beginners ONLY. If you know that f/2.8 at 1/60 will yield the same exposure as f/5.6 at 1/15, you don't need this workshop. If that last line was just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, you gotta sign up!

Email me at tiffinbox(at)pipalproductions(dot)com first to indicate your interest. Include your name, phone number and a convenient time to call you. Subject line of the email must read: NYC PHOTOWORKSHOP. Emails not bearing this subject line will be summarily spliced, diced and automatically deleted. I look forward to hearing from you.

Via Harikrishna Katragadda

Harikrishna Katragadda shot this image with a Holga, a camera made entirely out of plastic. Goes to show it's not the type of camera you use but how you visualize the scene in front of you that is most important.

I'll post one image a day for the next eight days. Tempted to post them all here and now, but gotta have you coming back right?

If it isn't terribly obvious from this post's title, this image and the rest that follow this week were all made during the heavily suppressed Republican National Convention protests in New York City.

Credit Hari for being able to make these images in some very difficult circumstances. Those of you who have used a Holga will know of its ubiquitous light leaks. The film, too, needs to be loaded in darkness. Add to that mix the fact that you get only 12 frames per film roll. It can get tedious.

Srinivas and Anna were married on August 12. Congratulations!

Via Harikrishna Katragadda

Set aside the obvious fact that Alex Webb is a Magnum photographer. That association alone is liable to get some people weak in the knees. He is also a maven of color. Take his now out-of-print book, “Hot Light/Half-made Worlds.” It's as if a painter's color palette has run amuck but has been somehow corralled into forming shapes, juxtapositions, people and even emotions!

Catch Mr. Webb in NYC at a gallery opening on September 9 and a talk he is presenting on September 11. The show called ESPERANDO highlights Webb's work in Cuba over the last 10 years. What a treat! If any one makes it, please email me your thoughts on his talk and the exhibit. I'll be happy to post it here. I sometimes live vicariously through your experiences.