Inspiring Photographers
Photo District News has now posted the winning images from The New School of Wedding Photography Contest.
The only desi image in the collection is of this anonymous couple by Alam-Willett Weddings. There are other great images of desi weddings – made in the documentary style on his web site. The image you see here is a very special moment suggesting fertility and progeny. Correct me if I am wrong.
If PDN hosts this contest next year, I'll be sure to enter it.
Via Sarah Bachman:
Child Labor & the Global Village: Photography for Social Change is raising money to send its 7th photographer to Central America. We've already sent 6 photographers to India, Nepal, Cambodia, Peru, Burundi, and Haiti. The next one may go to Central America. Their stories about children working, surviving, going to school, and growing up have been featured in newspapers (L.A. Times), magazines (Rangefinder, PDN), and radio (NPR). Help us send out the 7th photographer!
I have mentioned Julia Dean here on Tiffinbox more than a couple times. She is a a documentary photographer in her own right. She is also a wonderful teacher. Her workshops in Los Angeles are life-changing experiences. Her project to document the lives of children and the problems they face around the world have lit a fire under 11 enterprising photojournalists. But they all require your financial help to complete this project.
Will you help? To find out more on how you can support this important and worthwhile photo project, click here.
Former Barney's store in Chelsea reincarnates as the largest art museum in the nation devoted to Tibetan and Himalayan art.
“The art that fills this handsome new museum promises to reveal what we already know: that images, even those arriving from the ends of the earth, can tell us tales we recognize from the universal human mind.”
Worth a visit when it opens on October 2.
I take some pride in saying that I was responsible for introducing Jasmeen Patheja to Fotolog. But the way she has taken off with the opportunity to photograph and post images on that site is simply stunning. Check out this archive (six wholesome pages) of nothing but images of her perspective of the world. Take the photo below as an example. The juxtaposition is terrific. Well seen, beautifully crafted.
I heard the 900th American GI died in Iraq today. How many other people have died since the start of this maddness? It has been an expensive war for George W. Bush. I hear even the Republicans are starting to back-paddle; fearing their own short tenures in office perhaps. We sure have been through a lot in these four years. I can't say that I would want to do that again. I was thinking the other day that Bush's way our of this mess would be start a more sincere campaign against Osama bin Laden. In my opinion, he went after the wrong guy. Like father, like son.
Meanwhile, here is a web site that allows you to throw onto your site a little bit of code to track the financial cost of the war.
An internship with Brian Storm and MSNBC.com several years ago knocked into me the notion that if journalists were to survive in this tumultuous media business they had to evolve. It's as simple as that.
For some time now I have wanted to post this link to an article by Storm (it's a bit dated in only one small fact – Brian Storm is no longer with MSNBC.com) so that you too will see the writing on the wall.
Evolve or evaporate.
Via Laura Taflinger
The BBC carried this report about an enterprising journalism project. Something almost revolutionary about a popular newspaper produced by slum dwellers, for slum dwellers. While circulation numbers aren't going to threaten the Deccan Herald in Bangalore, Slum Jagathu, or “Slum World,” promises to address the often muffled voices of the poor and disenchanted.
Keeping in line with the paper's motto, I wondered if there could be a way to teach kids and adults to use cameras so that they could document their lives and the image published on a regular basis in their own newspaper. Question is if they would even consider an outsider stepping into their lives to teach them? Treading social class dynamics is a tricky business, but it can be done gingerly.
Via Anne Conneen
I never got into drawing or sketching as it just took so much time and well, my representations of people would have set you all off on a laughing spree.
But I have temporarily set my ego aside thanks to Mr. Picassohead. Mr. Potatohead meets Picasso? Well, you have got to try it out.
Here is my attempt at Art with a capital A!
As you can see, I am sure glad I took to photography. I really enjoyed creating this for this site, so much so that I am experiencing the pangs of a growing addiction. So, yes, you will see more of this here. I even told my father in India about it, and he heartily welcomed the idea to sit and create something out of nothing. The interface is intuitive; all it takes is some patience and a pinch of creativity. I am sure you can all do it.
I'll be happy to post the first twenty links you send me (one per person only please) after you have had a chance to create something of your own. Email me at: tiffinbox AT pipalproductions DOT com. Deadline is July 31.
I am curious to see what people conjure up. Aren't you?
Via Melissa Lyttle
If you are a photographer who has ever been harassed by the cops or other “authorities” raise your hand (I am raising mine). Yesterday, via Aphotoaday.org, I came across Ian Spiers' blog Brown Equals Terrorist. Spiers outlines the ways in which his civil liberties were deep-6'd while on an ostensibly innocent photo venture to the famous locks in Ballard, a burb of Seattle.
Today I learn from the same incredible source (thanks Melissa) that Kevin Bjorke began a resource for freelance photographers called PhotoPermit.org on July 4. The forums (to discuss your woes) and other links provide an outlet, should you need one to vent your frustrations while working in the field.
Take a load off; you will feel better once you have shared your story.
Via Donald Winslow
New York Times photojournalist Stephen Crowley's “Campaign Moments” debuts today on the NYT's web site. It's his first-ever Web show, and the photographs are compelling and the accompanying audio narration is great behind-the-scenes information from a veteran of covering national politics but with the intimacy of a grass-roots campaign. Crowley's photographs are known for their unique perspective and angles, his sometimes off-kilter view of things, and their “moments.”
The multimedia gallery “Campaign Moments” compiling twelve years of political coverage is online here. Click on “Photographer's Journal” towards the top of the page.