December, 2011 | Re-photo

Archive for December, 2011

Shooting Under Fire

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Shooting under fire gives a disturbing picture of the dangers faced by photographers around the world, too many of whom get killed or wounded covering the news.

After you’ve looked at t he pictures, you many also want to look at the web pages of the Committee to Protect Journalists, where on the front page it informs you that 43 journalists have been killed this year so far, and 890 since 1992, 556 “murdered with inpunity” and that 179 are in prison worldwide.

The CPJ, an independent, non-profit organization, was founded in 1981 and promotes press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. They also have a very useful Journalist Safety Guide on working in hazardous situations, which can also be downloaded as a pdf.

In the UK, events are seldom life-threatening, although photographers do get assaulted, injured and threatened. But the only image in the 39 in Shooting Under Fire shows a football photographer at Anfield kitted up for working in driving rain. Uncomfortable perhaps, but hardly in the same league.

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How To Steal Like an ARTIST

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Thanks to duckrabbit for letting me know about How To Steal Like an ARTIST, in which Austin Kleon, a writer and artist from Austin, Texas, and author of the two books, Steal Like An Artist and Newspaper Blackout, reveals and explains “10 things I wish Id heard when I was in college.”

It’s a useful list and a clear and amusing presentation of some very good advice. But you really need to read it rather than read me writing about it. But I’ll just steal one little bit, where he talks about what you learn from a couple of guys you may have heard of who decided they were going to be artists (and later Patti Smith wrote about it.)

Patti Smith and her friend Robert Maplethorpe dress up in all their gypsy gear and they go to Washington Square, where everybodys hanging out, and this old couple kind of gawks at them, and the woman says to her husband, Oh, take their picture. I think theyre artists. Oh, go on, he shrugged. Theyre just kids.

Of course neither Austin or I suggest you should all dress up in gypsy gear and nip up to Washington Square, but as he says “Fake it til you make it.” And read his post to find out more. Mapplethorpe never became one of my favourite photographers, perhaps because I always felt he was faking it, but he certainly made it so far as the art world was concerned.

And when you get to the bottom of the page there are other things to explore, including a page of some great quotes on ‘stealing’, a few of which may be familiar.

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Fukushima

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

One item of kit I’ve never packed in my camera bag is a Geiger counter, though I have used one, in a previous life before I before I switched to photography, and I learnt some of what little physics I knew sitting at the very bench in Manchester where in 1909 Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, working under Ernest Rutherford “first split the atom”.

But for Italian photographer Pierpaolo Mittica it must be a pretty regular item of equipment. I read on Lensculture his story about his several visits into the No-Go Zone around Fukushima to document the situation there, before looking at the series of black and white images there. Certainly they catch the idea of an abandoned area – a bicycle thrown down, a teapot inside a former home with the words (in English) ‘TAKE IT EASY’, residents in masks and protective suits going back to reclaim belongings (although he also shows pictures of properties looted and wrecked by thieves), a worker from the plant praying at his family grave and more.

Missing from the presentation – and perhaps for good reason – are pictures of those “many people, most of them elderly, are still hiding out inside the zone, some of them with no visible protection” who he met.

Previously Mittica became well-known for his Chernobyl The Hidden Legacy (2002 – 2007) and you can see work from this as well as a number of other fine projects, including some in colour on his web site, which he dedicates to “Walter Rosenblum my great friend and mentor.”

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Christmas Cards

Friday, December 16th, 2011

When I followed a link from EPUK to a page of the worst 53 family Christmas cards (French text), my first thought was of the image selected by David Cameron for his card this year. While I wouldn’t want for a moment to be rude to the photographer, who I’m sure didn’t take it to be used as a card, the image by Stefan Rousseau does seem a little close to those included in that list, most of which came from another site, BuzzFeed, in a feature The Most Awkward Family Holiday Photos, who credit most to the awkwardfamilyphotos site, which has quite a range.

Of the three main party leaders, the one who wins my vote for his card is definitely Nick Clegg, who used a drawing by his kids. Miliband’s family snap, again by Rousseau, is a nice happy family snap, though considerably dragged down by a border of Xmas clip art.

It’s a long time since I felt it appropriate to send out a family picture as a Christmas card, and the only time I can recall doing so, it was a very straightforward and old-fashioned group, more or less one that could have been made as a daguerreotype, and its circulation was restricted to other family members who might have had an interest in how the kids were growing up.

Photographer’s Christmas Cards, sent out mainly to other photographers and possibly clients, are a good opportunity to use your own work, though most of mine have not been even remotely Christmassy. I’ve kept quite a few that I’ve been sent over the years, and have often threatened to post a selection of them on the web.

This year I’m sending a postcard with a detail of one of the images in the Secret Gardens of St John’s Wood show which I just happen to have around. The full image would have been better, but has an aspect ratio that doesn’t fit a standard postcard well. Just so that no one feels left out if they don’t get a print copy, here is the full image now:

Some years I have tried harder and found a suitable Christmas theme in an image. Here are some that I’ve used:

(I can’t remember now which of the dozen or so images I have that I used of the Santas engagement in Trafalgar Square. There is a different one in the 2006 book.)

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Everybody Street

Friday, December 16th, 2011

If only there were more hours in the day I would spend much more time on American Suburb X, particularly on ASX TV, where every time I visit I find more things to watch ‘later’. One particular series that I have found time for some is ‘Everybody Street‘, segments of a documentary about photographers who have used New York City street life as a common thread in their work. Director Cheryl Dunn was commissioned to make it by the Seaport Museum, New York and it was first shown at the museum in September 2010 in conjunction with the exhibit Alfred Stieglitz New York. Although I don’t really buy the link the museum and film-maker try to make between Stieglitz and street photography – although he was one of the first photographers to take an often hand-held camera out onto the city streets, his intentions were so very different – it is still well worth watching. On the museum site you can view the film trailer and links to clips showing Joel Meyerowitz, Bruce Gilden and Mary Ellen Mark.

ASX has a longer piece on Bruce Gilden, which near the beginning shows him being attacked by a woman who doesn’t appreciate being photographed as well as on Meyerowitz and Bruce Davidson.

Other photographers in the film, some of whom appear briefly in the trailer include Martha Cooper, Rebecca Lepkoff, Jeff Mermelestein, Clayton Patterson, Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabazz, Luc Sante, Tim Barber, and Bonnie Yochelson, and there are links to their work on the Everybody Street page.

Bonnie Yochelson, formerly the curator of prints and photographs at the Museum of the City of New York, is also the author of the book Alfred Stieglitz New York which was brought out to accompany the show, the first collected exhibition of his work on the the city since he organised his own show in 1932. As someone who owns the heavyweight two volume collection of his best works, and greatly admire a few images such as his Terminal I’ve never thought his pictures of the city of New York were his strongest hand, and certainly not the best images of the city architecture (the link to this picture in the Getty collection gives the photographer’s comments on why he took this image; it is difficult for us to look at it as he did then because of the enormous load of nostalgia; years ago I wrote about it being like going down the local bus garage to take photographs, though now I might even need to revise that term to ‘transport interchange’.)

Yochelson was of course also responsible for the fine ‘Changing New York‘ showcasing the work of Berenice Abbott, another photographer like Stieglitz I’ve written about at some length in the past (no longer on line, but you can read a review of the 1997 edition by Elsa Dorfmann) as well as viewing a fine selection of her work on-line at the New York Public Library. Berenice Abbott: American Photographer, with text by Hank O’Neal has of course been on my bookshelf since soon after it was published in the 1980s.

Posted in Photo History, Photographers | 1 Comment »

Press Freedom In Court

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

This morning, NUJ London Photographers Branch member Jason N Parkinson is in Chelmsford Crown Court along with BBC, ITN and Sky News resisting a production order application by Essex Police to hand over all his footage taken during the Dale Farm eviction on 19 and 20 October this year.

It is a vital case for the freedom of the press, as Jason explains very well in his post on the LPB web site. Jason is there with full backing from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and legal support from Bindmans Solicitors. Several fellow branch members are in court to observe the proceedings, and have been allowed to Tweet from the court – and I am following these on #productionorder as I write this. At the moment the court is being shown some of his published footage.

Press freedom is vital for democracy, and under threat from various directions here – including at the Leveson inquiry. The case also demonstrates how vital it is for photographers (including videographers) to belong to a union which will support them personally as well as fight for the principles involved.

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Stop The War: 2006-2009

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

These are the final set of my pictures that went into the final edit for the Stop The War book, several of which were used. There were probably more pictures sent in for these later years, although I think the coverage of them in the book is weaker.

There were three pictures from the wreath-laying by military families on Remembrance Day in November 2006, with Rose Gentle and others laying wreaths. They weren’t actually my favourite images from the day, but ones that I thought represented the event better – I think my best work concentrated more on the people involved. Two of these in particular I think are critically dependent on being in colour, making use of the wreaths of red poppies. Take away that foreground wreath in the lower image and you are left with a very ordinary view of a line of people that would certainly have ended in my reject bin.

‘Stop The War – 10 Years‘ is I think an important book about an important subject, and one that is in general terms a very handsome volume, with some superb art work and some pretty decent snaps. One that I’m sure many people will buy and enjoy. It’s a book that I’m pleased to have my work in, although I wish some of the images had been treated with greater respect and sensitivity; a couple in particular were used so badly that on looking through the book I actually failed to recognise them as mine.

In some respects – as might be expected – this is a very political book, one that treats its subject from a particular sectarian viewpoint, and one which is not shared by all who took part in the events it depicts. As well as the stories it tells there are also people and stories missing from its narrative almost as if by a Soviet ‘airbrush’ ; ‘Stop The War’ was a coalition but one largely dominated and driven from a particular perspective which was only a part of a wider anti-war movement. In some ways my own files over the period tell a fuller story, and perhaps one which may emerge before too long on Blurb.

Many other photographers also produced notable images of some of these events. Some have told me in no uncertain terms that there was no way they would donate their work to ‘Stop The War’, who on at least one occasion generated a photographers’ protest, when along with others I sat down on Park Lane in front of one of the march, disgusted at the treatment of photographers by the march stewards, demanding that we be allowed to work. Along with other photographers I’ve been pushed, threatened and assaulted on various occasions by ‘Stop The War’ stewards (and often had others apologising to me for the way I was treated) and I once narrowly avoided serious injury when sent flying backwards.

This is also a book that records and celebrates what was a failure. We didn’t stop the war. Despite getting millions out a a march and the support of a majority of the British people. Despite fighting speeches at events by Tony Benn and some others, ‘Stop the War’ failed to think and act in a radical fashion at the critical times and seemed locked into outdated modes of action; ‘Stop The War Dinosaur‘ when we needed ‘Stop The War Uncut‘. It was a battle where we had the support of the people and we could and should have won.

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Stop The War Oct 2002-March 2005

Monday, December 12th, 2011

Continuing from the previous post, here are more of my pictures that made the final edit of ‘Stop The War: A Graphic History‘ and some of which are in the book (I think 4, though not always too easy to spot.)

I’m not sure whether the fewer pictures selected after 2002 represents a greater number of photographers taking (and submitting) images or just that most of us do find work we shot on film rather harder to fined than digital images. I took rather less in the first few months for health reasons, missing the major event in February completely. The black and white Halloween image was taken using flash and I suspect I probably used an Olympus OM4 which had better metering than any of the rangefinder cameras. At the time I was also probably using a flash meter, though there just isn’t time to do this when things begin to happen.

All of the colour here is digital, and I started working with a Nikon D100 in December 2002. At first my choice of Nikon lenses was very limited – just a Nikon 24-85mm zoom. Back then too, sensors seemed to pick up dust with ridiculous ease, and we didn’t like to change lenses. By 2004 I also had a Sigma 12-24, for the D100 which I was used for the two pictures above from that year, both at 12mm. The 2005 images were both taken with a Nikon D70 and the 18-210 Nikon, with the ‘coffin’ picture using its 18mm (27mm equiv.)

I think that the rangefinder cameras were better for my coverage of events such as this, and it took me a while to get used to the difference. But being able to see clearly the area surrounding the frame in the optical viewfinder is really a great advantage. It also took me quite a while to build up the set of equipment that let me really bring out the potential of the Nikons.

I still have the D100, though in recent years I’ve only ever used it as a pinhole camera. The viewfinder was really small, dim and poky compared to film cameras. The D200 was a great deal better but still poor. Although I don’t think you need ‘full-frame’ to actually take decent pictures, the larger sensor also results in a much better viewfinder in the D700.

Although the D100 was only a 6Mp camera, the files it gave with a good lens at low or moderate ISO were good, and with good software to increase the file size can give some pretty impressive big prints. One of mine has gone to 2.3 metres wide, and doesn’t look bad, though probably the D700 would have done a better job with its 12Mp. Above that size I have a feeling that unless you can get better glass there probably isn’t much to be gained.

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Stop The War – Nov 2001-Sept 2002

Sunday, December 11th, 2011

I think I have around a dozen images in the published version of the ‘Stop The War‘ graphic history (see previous post), around half of those that I was asked to send in as high-res for the final edit. I’d covered many if not most of the events that took place in London over the years, though I had to miss the huge event in February 2003 as I only came out of hospital in a very weak state the day before and could hardly walk.

A crop of the image above, taken in November 2011 is at the start of the section of photographs, although for me it still works better as the full image. When we were first asked to send in small versions of our files, we were told to limit it to at most 3 pictures from each event, and this was sometimes difficult, though there were other events I’d photographed for which I didn’t feel it worth sending in any. There were also some events, particularly local ones – for a time a small group of us protested every Friday evening rush-hour on a busy local road with slow-moving traffic – that I don’t think I took any pictures of. There I was more useful holding a placard.

I thought I would post my own pictures that are in the book here in their original state -without cropping and in colour where they were taken in colour. I’m also thinking of putting together a Blurb publication showing rather more of my work over the ten years of Stop The War, a kind of personal companion to the official publication. I thought first of using the selection of pictures that I made initially for Stop the War – around 75 images – but on reflection I think I should go through my files again using my own criteria for choosing the images rather than theirs, though I’m sure most of the pictures will be the same.

In this and the next couple of posts I’ll use the set of pictures that made it to the final edit, and of which around half were used. If you buy the book you can see which of them made it there, and also how they were used. There are a couple I didn’t recognise as mine when I first saw them.

I think most of these black and white pictures will have been taken using either Konica Hexar F, though for some I might have used a Leica M2 or Minolta CLE or the Konica Hexar RF. They were all taken on Ilford XP2 (by then it might have been ‘Plus’ or ‘Super’ or something), about the only black and white film I used for quite a few years, usually developed in normal C41 colour neg chemistry along with my colour film.

The Hexar F had a fine fixed 35mm f2 lens and had a virtually silent shutter mode. My only problem was knowing if I had taken a photo or not! If you were happy with the 35mm lens, it was an ideal street photography camera, and had virtually zero shutter lag if used (as I normally did) with manual focus at around 2 metres and a sensible aperture and shutter speed. If time allowed the autofocus was reasonably fast and accurate. One thing that had me fooled for years is that it was only too easy to hold it so that a finger obscured the exposure sensor. I had it serviced by Konica three or four times because of incorrect auto exposure before I realised what was happening.

The Hexar RF I more usually had loaded with colour neg film, typically Fuji 200 or 400. It was in most respects the camera the Leica ought too have made as the M7, with better film loading, much improved exposure metering, motor wind on (you could even shoot at 2 fps) and a more modern shutter with faster speeds and flash synch. The shutter was however noisier than a Leica, and although it was solid, the build wasn’t quite up to the old M series (more like the M8 in that respect.) It also didn’t match the huge price of the Leica, though it wasn’t cheap. But I think it was more responsive than a Leica and the viewfinder seemed more accurate. Despite rumours spread among the Leica forums at the time, it worked perfectly with every Leica and Leica-fitting lenses I tried on it.

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Stop The War – 10 Years

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Stop The War held a launch party for their new book, a profusely illustrated graphic history of their 10 year campaign, at Housemans radical bookshop last night. The event was attended by many of the leading figures in the campaign, including Tony Benn who contributed the foreword to the book ‘Stop The War: A Graphic History‘ and made a short speech at the event. The book should be available now at all good bookshops, as well as direct from Stop the War.

In time I’ll put a few more pictures on line from this event on My London Diary – the site is currently running about a month behind GMT. Perhaps too I’ll post here my own contributions to the book, as well as possibly some of those that in the end didn’t get used.

Housemans is a fairly small shop with some narrow areas and at the start it was far too crowded to be worth making pictures, although I found myself standing next to Tony Benn when he made his speech and took a few frames. But most of the rest are from later in the event when numbers had thinned out considerably, apart from some of us photographers making the most of the free wine. I think the wine had slightly affected the D700 too (I had it with me from an earlier event I’d been covering) as rather fewer of the pictures that I took – all with the 16-35mm f4 – were as sharp as usual and the framing lacked the kind of precision that I usually aim for.

Many artists and photographers have contributed to the campaign through their work over the years, and have continued that in making their work available for this volume. A central section, ‘The Art of Politics’ includes images by such well-known figures as Banksy and Ralph Steadman, and throughout the book both as illustrations and in many of the photographs we see the work of David Gentleman, whose graphic posters have inspired the movement.

The book, produced under the editorial direction of Andrew Burgin, with Marie Gollentz as editor and design by Peter Palasthy is a fine piece of work and should win prizes.

There are photographs by around a couple of dozen photographers, including Guy Smallman who responsible for photography research (Ruth Boswell for the art research) with most of the pictures coming from from half a dozen of us, including some fine work by Paul Mattsson and Brian David Stevens as well as Guy himself. Many of the photographers and some of the artists were present at the launch, and several of us took pictures.

Fittingly the first section of the book is given over to photography, and after the art section the final part of the work is a ‘Graphic Timeline’ which attempts to list all of the many actions organised by the national movement (of course there were many more local events), illustrating many by posters and photographs, as well as thumbnails giving page numbers of photographs in the initial section.

Of course no photographer is ever entirely happy about how their pictures are published, although I was very pleased to have a few of mine included. But editors often prefer the wrong images, insist on cropping them, even take colour images and convert them (sometimes not particularly well) to black and white. The only way that photographers can get work treated exactly as they want it is to publish their own work – which is why I’m so keen on Blurb!

And after all I’ve been producing my own ‘graphic history’ of Stop the War, along with other protest movements for over ten years on My London Diary. I was amused when one of the other major photographers told me that he had used my site to identify the particular events where he took some of his pictures in the book.

Posted in My Own Work, Photographers, Political Issues | 1 Comment »

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