hot dog


for Americans tomorrow is a day for a full on meal….no fast food….an actual sit down relaxed meal with your family is what Thanksgiving is all about…..and for me a more enjoyable holiday than Christmas since it is  minus a whole lot of pressure and a whole lot of commercialization….i cannot really think of anything wrong with Thanksgiving (except for when my friend Medford and i accidentally set fire to the turkey)

however,  in the culinary sense Americans are still most famous for their penchant for fast food….take a butchers scraps, press it all together,  put some onions, ketchup, and mustard on it and you have our most significant contribution to international cuisine.. the hot dog….while we are embarrassed that we invented the hot dog, we all want one every now and then …as i did right after i made the snap above in Oaxaca, Mexico….i actually took the picture so i would have an excuse to buy a hot dog in the land of tortillas and black beans..

i always regret or feel guilty  eating one, but i think it is the mustard and onions that gets me…the actual hot dog rarely has much taste (except in New York)…in my world travels , i do not think i have been to any country where i could not get a hot dog somewhere, somehow….fast food for folks with no time to eat…no time to digest….no time to enjoy and savor flavor …no time to talk with your friends….just no time…..

what does a hot dog have to do with your photography? maybe everything with so many of us looking like the guy above…i sense a desperateness among so many photographers…rushing….trying to keep up ….get ahead fast…..websites up, websites down…internet gobbling pictures…no time to actually savor photography….no time to talk about pictures…no afternoons with just one book…just business…fast…gone…just no time…get to it later…uh huh…

just fast photofood….i am getting  indigestion just thinking about it….

what about you?  does photography seem like a relaxed way to live life?  or are you scrambling to keep up? mustard or pickles?

361 thoughts on “fast food….”

  1. Great shot! I have one very similar to it, of a pho ga (chicken soup) stand in Hanoi (on my site, #3 in the travel gallery). I also have a shot of some young girls waiting for hot dogs in La Paz – I LOVE mexican hot dogs (and corn on the cob). Also vendor shots in Istanbul, Morocco, etc etc. I almost always/only eat fast food when abroad and practically never in America. What does that have to say about the state of things here?

    Okay, time to fix some breakfast, have some coffee and then possibly back later to muse about the state of photography. Food first!

  2. OK, as someone who still hears her mother’s thick-accented Israeli voice yelling into the phone at incredulous customer service people, “FRANK-fOOR-TER! FRANKfurter – like the hotdog!”, I just gotta jump in on this one. Also, as someone who is in the middle of an ambitious Search Engine Optimization makeover project. The fact is, I get tired of shooting for a living, but it’s the only activity that provides sporadically sufficient income and, more significantly frees up enough time for me to indulge my 20-year habit of shooting personal projects. I like large and medium format film because it’s precisely the antidote to the Fast Food Nation approach to everything. The film, the format, the B/W aesthetic transports me to another time and a completely different mindset. To me, there are two kinds of pictures: pictures of and pictures about. The “about” picture is something layered, complex, and allegorical – also more elusive, more difficult to net. But there it is, the still image. Perfection, like something preserved in amber.

  3. Photography does not seem at all like a relaxed state of life for me. But I think that’s what draws me to it. I spent the first part of my adult life working in a lab or the classroom. I had to get out. I had to see what other people were doing. And that’s what I love about it. I can spend a few minutes, hours, days..etc. and see how people live, and what makes them different (ultimately showing me how similar we all are).

    But the business indeed seems like (almost) too much to keep up with. Fortunately I have a FT job at a paper. The flip side is that I have 2 days a week + some spare hours during the week to work on my personal business. Website, Marketing, new ideas away from the paper…I’ll get to it right after spend some time with my wife, fix my lens, drop off the car for repairs, and upgrade software that seems like I just bought.

    Photography is supposed to be easier than ever to create, to publish, to share. But so much of my time is dedicated to everything but photography.

  4. Sooo, besides NOT being a photographer (not making a living out of what is simply a passion to me), being one that shoots film, develops and prints in the darkroom, buys tons of books and goes to whatever exhibit even if that means to travel half of Europe (ok, almost), I guess I don’t qualify as fast photography consumer.. and am happy to report that McD in our city has closed down… David, you sure you got a hot dog over here? No pizza instead?

    Ah, onions, pickles and mustard, por favor ;)

  5. Yes!

    The famous hot dog man

    Though seeing this man did not make me hungry for his product this post may remind me of times when my photolife is so unsettled and rushed that I fail to even make a proper shot and still then rush home to blog about that unacceptable shot on six different sites.

    Perhaps my photography is like a Vegan Hot dog?

  6. I think photography is as stressful as you let it be. I’ve always been fairly protective of it, in the sense that I rarely if ever take any work that would infringe on my enjoyment.

    Although, I don’t do it for a living, so I enjoy that luxury more easily..

  7. Funny Nathan. Vegan Hot Dog! Even more disgusting than a hot dog. I am not a lover of hot dogs (not even NYC dogs) and absolutely refuse to eat them. At Whole Foods (we have a new store on our island–first one) they offered buffalo dogs. I thought, there’s a dog I could eat. However, disgusting. I can’t quit imagining what is dwelling in the confines of their skin every time I see a vendor selling them. Each to their own food passion.

    Photography, ah now there is something I can sink my teeth into. My background in photography was zero (except for family snapshots) until 2002. Then bam. Total change in my life. Turned my life around. The way I see even the smallest moments in life is different now that I have begun capturing them with a camera. My knowledge base is still in baby steps in many areas but I seem to have a flair for some of the elements of photography and that keeps me going.

    I do not have the pressure of making a living from my photos, and sometimes that can be a drawback because it is easy to get distracted when your stomach doesn’t depend on your passion to feed it. Currently, I am editing a collection of photos I took over a period of 6 years and haven’t shot any new ones for it in a couple years. So it was hard to really get back into them and DO something with them, but I am making good progress.

    But, I am scrambling to keep up and I do feel pressure to shoot. The other pressure is to “do something with it” that has pushed me for years now. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have not done more with my new love but then I remember that this is a gift that as of yet has not fully disclosed itself to me and I find I enjoy the mystery of that every time I shoot.

    And now I have a dark room and a mentor helping me to shoot and develop b&w film with a Rolleiflex and what that has done for me in my understanding of capturing light and shadow is exciting. Plus, the thrill of seeing that photo pop out on paper in the developing concoctions still gets me every time.

    The best part of photography is the connection you make with your subjects (cause I fall in love with everyone of them) and the mysteries that are revealed about them when you are editing the work. The last few weeks I have been obsessed with capturing Maui’s rising and setting moon and the mountains behind my house. It also keeps me at home to work on the project and still allows me to shoot. Shooting landscapes and nature is relatively new as I have mostly shot people but there is amazing revelation in the moon and one day I will discover something totally unknown to anyone but me if I just shoot enough. LOL

    So I am not pressured in the same way as those that have chosen photography as a means to make a living but I am pressured to do something with my skills I have spent many hours and dollars learning. Frankly, I can’t imagine anything worth doing in life that doesn’t have pressure associated with it so it is just part of life.

    Pick up a new passion, pick up a new pressure.

  8. That is HYSTERICAL Mr Harvey, and spot on! Having said that, I defy anyone to find a hotdog in New Delhi! I must admit that being food crazy and partial to a hotdog now and then, I am feeling keen to sink my teeth into one right now! What AM I going to do?… when we have fish, we have chips, we have curries and we have pizza but, there are no hotdogs in this town!

    My personal feeling is that photography, as a way of life, is terrific… so long as you avoid any attempt whatsoever to do anything with the photographs. The moment you contemplate that, the stress levels get so high that you realise the only way to relax is to… carry on taking photographs. What a relief to hear about the man who finally published his decades of work on Lens blog yesterday! Very nice work too, I thought.

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAVID! ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!

    Jenny

    PS Please try your best not to cremate the turkey – don’t let it’s life be taken for nothing!

    And NEVER be embarrassed for inventing the hotdog – it is a million times better than inventing the atomic bomb…

  9. I remember the old adage, If you ever see how they make hotdogs you’ll never eat another one! Well, I saw how they’re made on some food show once and, well… I thought, that’s it? Heh. Big deal, pass me a Nathan’s! (the best, BTW!)

    Also, once you see how and what the rest of the world eats your wariness for certain foods start to seem a little silly. Have at it, I say! Live a little.

    Oh… and photography is a very relaxing way of life to me.

    Happy Turkey Day to all ya’ll in the States!

  10. A friend of mine used to stay with his aunty and uncle when they were young. When they got home his parents always asked what they had for tea; he always replied “Sav (saveloy) soup”.

    It took quite a few visits before his parents realised that the aunt and uncle were eating saveloys and the kids were getting “sav soup”. In other words; the water that the savs were boiled in! Mmmmm, food colouring, fat and water… yum…. !

    Needless to say, they didn’t stay there very often after that!

  11. As for photography; I suppose you have to find a way not to make it “fast food” because otherwise you end up turning out work that is similar to fast food; not very satisfying.

  12. a civilian-mass audience

    Food for thought…Fast , BURNED, Well done…it’s your choice!

    Happy Thanks and giving…to ALL of you…

    Nice to see new faces …welcome my New BURNIANS.
    Hot dog with feta cheese and tzatziki…am I in…?:)))

  13. Hot dogs give you cancer taste like shit and you need about 4 to fill you up. Without looking you can find a lot of photography that is similar.

    I find photography both the most frustrating and relaxing thing I do, a bit like trying to cook something complicated from a cook book when you don’t have all the ingredients and the shops are shut. Either you end up making something wonderful or it turns out to be a pile poo. Always trying to catch up, learning FCP at the moment and just when I think I’m getting good someone will produce something amazing that makes me realise just how much better I could be if only I just worked harder or could see better.

  14. a civilian-mass audience

    FROSTFROG…
    Speechless…we are here for you…
    We LOVE you…you have to be strong…
    Circle of life
    Circle of friends…

  15. Frostfrog, thanks for sharing your muse with us. What a life story. And 20, 40, 60 calls would not have made a difference I think. Broken hearts are powerful motivators to do drastic things. There is nothing as painful as a broken heart. As you know from personal experience. Your blog really touched me today Frostfrog. Enjoy your family this holiday. I will be thinking of you and yours. And the connection that holds us all.

  16. Civi, what is tzatziki? Feta cheese and if tzatziki is good stuff gets you in but leave the hot dog at the door! Funny topic, hot dogs and photography. Like it. Off to get food for tomorrow’s feast. First time in years that Thanksgiving is eaten at someone besides family member’s home or my own. Still making my cranberry salad and sweet potatoes and then letting someone else do the rest. Yea.

  17. hot dog? never ate one…… there are things as lukewarm dogs, tepid dogs, rabid dogs, etc………… my dog Gu is a hot dog in summer but he is not for consumption, even though he is named after Gu Noodle + Bar.

    As for photography……. I don’t have enough discipline to make sense of what I do

  18. best fast food?
    hmm
    fresh cooked omlette at a train station in india..
    falafals.. anywhere in europe..
    fish n chips+..
    ahh.

    photography is to be savoured..
    photography is disposable..
    it’s a crappy hotdog and an a la carte mouthful¨.
    why not?

    even if the shooting is intense / distructive, the subject disposable and the life passionately chaotic, the savouring over time can be an unexpected pleasure..
    and the best considered and planned ¨career building¨ contrived stories become dishwater after a year, or after they have served their purpose.
    all can be everything over time.

    the ¨rush¨ you mention could be both a construct of the photo industry and the minds of young hopefulls who would populate it.. with the industry so very ¨competition¨ driven at the moment..

    if the intention is to spend a lifetime what is the rush?
    panic stations.. red alert..
    need to BE..
    ego..
    ambition..
    ??
    blow all yer chips on one hand hoping for ¨21¨, to feel crushing defeat on the flip of the final card.. then quit the game..?
    it’s not a linear career with a heirachy in any real sence..
    accounting.. bankers.. photography.. seems a stoopid trio.

    perhaps many imagine a career ladder.. yet it is more of a meandering flight climbing over mountains and diving into gorges on occassion.
    the goal is to create work and show it.. FEEL it and want others to FEEL what you FELT.
    badges and trinkets, even agencies, are relatively meaningless compared to the DOING of it.. helping hands, rather than goals.

    the connections.. the understanding of ourselves which is unavoidable if photography is entered into with eyes open, hearts wide..
    seeing the kindness of strangers and tackling the ethics of our collected moments.. yesyes.

    photography must be about reflection as well as storytelling.. a profession must be something which teaches us about ourselves as we progress through it.. fashions fall and gimics loose grace.. no hurry..

    websites come and go.. for every 1000 snappers looking at the same thing there is one looking at it differently.. rushing to ¨show¨ makes no difference.. what speaks loudest speaks LOUDEST.

    the only rush i ever felt was in the moment – trying to plan a shoot, trying to carry out a shoot, trying to deliver an edit.. trying to get PAID so i could do it all again the next week.

    ¨i want me MTV¨,
    yet i don’t want to be on it..
    i’ll happily watch others grow grey over a constructed sence of competition…
    jeese – so much feels like a competition, looking at the photo industry from the inside..
    a competition to win competitions in order to gain the name which will enable you to win the next award or exhibit in a french town, which could even lead to a chocolate confectionary.. blahblahblah.

    since it began to eat itself, the photographic industry has become like the music industry .. insatiable appetite for the newest pretty war or darkest soul expressed in tried ways next to text which has become somewhat formulaic.. SAFETY in familiarity.
    those who start out with the unreal goal of joining an agency or winning WPP are a bit wonky.
    the preasure to keep up is nonsence.. self constructed.

    since photography became as accessable as picking up a guitar, with instant results and no great outlay of cahs required, everyone is sending in their demos.. quick quick.. catch that flight.. bang bang.. in three years i can have 6 website rooms..
    from bristol? sound like portishead.
    from manchester? .. primal scream.

    much better to remove oneself from the ¨photo world¨.. construct your OWN criteria for preasures and timeline.. construct your OWN life.. live it.. love it.. forget the greater competition.. and relinquish fears of not reaching anyones targets but your OWN

    do musicians start out to join a particular label / win a number one / triumph in competition?
    yesyes.. of course..
    are they influenced to the point of being derivative?
    yesyes.. of course..

    what is the point of shooting?
    to earn money?
    win an award?
    to join an agency?
    have a book?
    climb an invisable ladder?

    .. i think it is a compulsion, and a completely overwhelming one, quite aside from the ¨business plan¨.. much like wanting to stuff yersen a hotdog, knowing that when it repeats on you it could be as ugly as it was tasty.. compulsion nontheless.

    i’d love a book..
    an agency..
    some money..
    love to have all of my work and stories online…

    i’d love that almost, (not quite), as much as i would love to photograph for 14 hours tomorrow..
    which i might actually do..
    and none of it will look like soth..
    and none of it will be online tomorrow.

    one more red wine and bed..
    good topic harvey..

  19. a civilian-mass audience

    LEE…as soon as you arrive in your Greek home…tzatziki will be the first plate …
    waiting for you…:)))

    I see an analogy as a shared abstraction…
    Mustard or pickles…relaxed or Scrambling…photofast food…
    Oh… my photo philosophers…!
    Soul time
    Enjoy!

  20. a civilian-mass audience

    Red wine for me DB…oime, you can write…!:))))))))

    Goodnight from slow BURNING Grecolandia.

    I love you Alllllllllll

  21. a year…..

    my younger brother had a heart attack, my father left his job, home, friends and move only to struggle to survive in a new home and city, unemployed tired and often thought-forsaken, my best friend’s wife takes her life leaving her husband and young children in grief, blackened and broken, irreparably, my son is attacked by a gang of 15 kids, beat up, knocked unconscious, taken to the hospital in the middle of the night, 5 steel stitches in his skull, concussion, and movement toward healing, my boss’s wife stricken with Stage V cancer, 1 young child, inconsolable, my sister-in-law suffers a miscarriage after trying for 2 years to conceive, i struggle to make sense of of this past year and then…

    my nephew is born, 6 1/2 weeks premature, 2 days ago, born into the world alive and screaming with breath and potency and extraordinary vitality, born to my brother and sister-in-law who lost their first child earlier in the year….and all swells into life….

    what does any of this have to do with Fast Food, with Fast Photography…for my own individual suffering, just as my own individual joy (and this has also been a great year of joy: marina’s big exhibition and awards, our family trip to nova scotia, work on 2 big projects, joy joy with students and friends, blessed with health and love and great moments) is simply part of everything else….

    it has, as it has for most people in the world, a year of living…a magical year of living, to steal from Ms. Didion, that has dealt with both loss and with celebration, a year like most years, and as I ache-age forward, a year filled, it seems, with more loss then with accomplishments, but the accomplishments (to live simply and lovingly) seem to be much much more important and much more powerful than even those dark, spotted places of grief….

    as for fast photogrpahy…i dont give a fuck about it ;))…i never have…i shoot, as I explained once to Charles Peterson, as if i am breathing….photography, like writing, like reading, like eating, like speaking, like listening, like thinking, like humming, is simply a part of my life, my self….nothing more, nothing less…an integrated part of my head, heart and hearth….

    I don’t chase after photographic goals (win this award, get famous, want that), i dont care if i finish an essay by tomorrow (i still owe David and Anton 2 essays), and I dont even care if my book is finished this year or next or the year after….because, in truth, for me, it’s all the same:

    we are here to matter….we are here to thrive against all that disappearing…as Sabbath notes at the end of Sabbath’s theatre, it is impossible to leave this place, even if filled with things you hate…there are things i loathe, categorically about the photoworld, but i love photogrpahy, i love making pictures and thinking about work, looking at pictures and thinking of work, i love helping and talking and even forgetting photogrpahy….

    for me, it is as important, in my own practice, not to care about anything, as best as possible, but that it is a part ….i dont care about emerging or not…about fame, agency, whatever…

    i once vowed that if i ever made a picture or story i truly loved, i’d put my cameras away…and i believe that wont happen because telling stories with pictures is simply the way i ruminate, the way, or one way, i fix this wild and wielding life into some kind of embrace….

    shit…it is all about what gatters…i still read…still make time for Proust (though it’s tough)…still make time for using film…for not entering competitions, for just making pictures when it feels good….

    and all that is small, so small compared with the living…

    life is fast, getting faster…

    but god damn, is the meaning and the impact slow and stunning….and so, i need slow photogrpahy…because the end, all ends, are close enough…

    i want to wade, for just that little bit more, into the world as it surrounds and for that I need something old-fashioned:

    home-cooked life….

    as Herve wrote under John V’s story, we msut not forget the way others life and survive in this world…

    and that needs some calm and some time to digest…

    hugs
    b

    ps.. Nathan’s Rule….though Hotdogs are out of my life for good

  22. MOST IMPORTANT, THIS I WANTED TO WRITE:

    I, Marina and I are THANKFUL to have David in our life, a part of our family..and I am thankful to have BURN has a part of our family…

    as the birth 2 days ago of my nephew reminds, live is for the living and for the continued opening…this has been a magical year for BURN…BURN, BURNO1..BURN02…AND all the great success that ALL OF YOU have accomplished…

    please be thankful for yourselves and for each and every one of you…

    who needs fast photogrpahy, as long as we have each other slowly, deeply and thoughtfully…

    raise high the roofbeam Burn

    thank you so much to david and anton..and everyone else….

    ok, gotta scatter…

    life, the living….

    remember all those who forget that for a moment..thoughts in cambodia as well..

    running with love and life and light

    bob

  23. Bob, reading through your thoughts I kept seeing it all documented, the sorrow, the endless searching by your dad, the fear and pain your son experienced with those thugs, the joy of the new birth along with the struggle she must have felt by having a new baby when her other child had died. But photography did not document these events your words did. The grief and joy was obvious without a photo to show me because it formed photos in my head.

    And I realized that this was possible not just because the words described it so well but because these are events that are happening to people all over the world at different times of their lives, some of it to me and some of it to my friends and family. Mid-life crisis, infertility, suicide, cancer taking away parents and children–all things that connect us with their commonality. If this was all I saw in life I think I would have to join the statistics that Kerry shows us on occasion and say to hell with it. But I see joy, love of life and community carrying on, just like humans have for eons. I want to see it all documented and be able to say I don’t want to see something because it is too horrific and cry at the photos of Frostfrog’s muse, or smile at the beauty of Jiwon Kim’s art. Because we are here and we have purpose whether or not we know it or not. Maybe that’s why I keep shooting–hoping to figure out the purpose of shooting…that and I absolutely LOVE it. Which is a purpose all in itself.

  24. Sam Abell once said to me,
    “there are 2 kinds of photographers. For some, their life is photography and for others, photography is their life.”
    mmmmmm…….
    It took me a while to grasp what he was saying, and then I got it… And understood…. And knew exactly what he meant.
    I started taking pictures when I was 8 years old.
    At times relaxed,
    and
    other times scrambling….
    I see photographs every day,
    whether or not I have a camera….
    Photography, for me,
    can be a wonderful passionate love affair,
    or a frustrating battle….
    Depends on the day…..
    :)
    **

  25. Bill…
    You messed up my day…
    sorry for what happened and thank u for sharing..

    and as bob said : I’m happy that David is part of my (our) family…

    (btw I had 2 hot dogs for breakfast which I’m not guilty about… what sucks is that I had no excuse for that hot dog abuse, because I had all the time in the world to cook and I didn’t .. at least they were turkey dogs- mustard was the best part)

  26. Here dogs are eaten hot.

    But not in a sandwich. In a soup.

    Fastphotography? Between 1/4th and 1/250th there is an inherently fast component. Maybe that’s why it is easy to get carried away…

  27. I watched National Geographics The photographers last night on Netflix. Nick Nichols was right; I would not be able to be a photographer like a lot of the Nat Geo folks. I saw in the credits that Bryan Harvey was part of the film crew; I think it was the part where he went with Nichols when he went on that amazing journey with
    Fey.

    What a surprise today; Divided Soul was in my mailbox. Yea.

  28. “Exile has helped me.
    When, at some point in our lives,
    we meet a real tragedy-which could happen to any of us-
    we can react in two ways.
    Obviously , we can lose hope, let ourselves slip into discouragement,
    into alcohol, drugs and unending sadness…
    Or else,
    we can wake ourselves up, discover in ourselves an energy
    that was hidden there
    and act with more Clarity, more Force.”

    Dalai Lama
    (the path to tranquility)

  29. Bill, I’m sorry to hear you have lost a friend…it’s quite evident from your words and photos of Soundarya that, even though her life here ended much too soon, her presence made this world a better place…may her good energy continue to flow and brighten this world.

  30. Jessie Marchessault

    As a young photographer I feel this pressure in relation to photography every moment of every day. Especially with the internet I often don’t have time to really chew and get to the bone of an image before 50 more have bombarded me. Photography reminds me of language in the way that the beauty of it is easily missed and most people are too ready to classify it. It has become a quick and easy equation that individuals plaster in neat rows over flickr and endless blogs. There is a light and dark side to the accessibility and expansion of photography; it is a good thing that opportunities are readily available everywhere to those who seek it, but this has also caused a surge of works that I don’t think anyone can quite keep up with. Photography is the thing that causes the most anxiety in my life in the way that I often feel like I am falling behind, like I cant send my work out into the world fast enough. By the time I’ve successfully uploaded an image, it has already fallen into the background. In relation to fast food, I am literally gorging anything in sight because I feel my time is limited somehow. I am not sure if anyone else feels this way, but when I am in one place appreciating one set of images, everyone else seems to say, “What? You haven’t seen X’s new work?”. And I think this disordered attention is the problem with my generation especially. The word, ‘appreciate’ has come to mean 10 seconds of someones time. Why would I stick to this medium if it causes me this much anxiety? The answer is age-old: I am relentlessly and indescribably in love with this medium and frankly it is what frames the way I see the world. I wouldn’t have eyes without it!
    Maybe this need-for-speed mentality is a plague pertinent to my generation. I don’t remember a time where there wasn’t internet or cellphones; and by the time I had my first computer images were already easily-accessible. These days, I avoid the internet when looking at photography because the moment I open one page, a frenzy of desperation and thousands upon thousands of images are reaching out to me, screaming CLICK ME, LOOK AT MY WEBSITE. I would have to be on my computer all day and all night to keep up. In order to ward off these often pointless image binges, I have found myself turning back and trying to recapture the old way of appreciating images. Once I get my hands on photography books and step away from the infinite scope of images on the web, I find myself able to breathe once more.

    Now I am not saying that i believe photographs found on the internet are less valuable or are not good, but that because of the ways in which speed is (especially in North America) part of our everyday (like fast food), the method of consuming images in the newly born flow of the internet is truly nauseating! I find that it not only causes me great deals of unnecessary stress, but also effects the way I photograph because there is constantly a pressure to GET OUT THERE. During the Oaxaca workshop David taught be something very valuable and also very relevant to this precise topic. He told me to slow down and to wait for my images. Seems so simple! But deprogramming myself from the tense velocity that I have been working for isn’t as easy as it sounds!

    David Lynch purposefully excludes the option to select chapters in his films, and this is because he values the cinematic experience. He believes that we must watch a film start to finish with no breaks. simple as that. It therefore becomes an experience, it takes us on a nice stroll and ultimately allows us to really absorb what we are perceiving past the level of simple appreciation . I think this idea is exactly what photography these days is lacking. And as much as, like Bob said, I really don’t want to give a fuck about what everyone else is doing, I find myself worrying that I am not on the right path. This Lynchian notion of really experiencing a film relates directly again to my, and many other peoples, ADD methods of photographing, making it a chase, a burden.

    I think personally I am willing to unload that burden bit by bit, seek but not rush. Indulge but keep it sensible. There are great things happening in the world of photography. But WHO is the world of photography? I guess that doesn’t really matter, but accepting the challenge of taking a deep breath, sitting on a couch, and opening a photo book, is something I am willing to accept.

  31. Panos
    I’ve had the burn 01 for a few weeks now, but only today spent some time with it. Gotta say, your essay is one powerful piece of work.

    DAH
    Fast food, fast food photographs…got me thinking about why I make photographs.

    You are so right on, like youv’e been reading my mail. “rushing….trying to keep up ….get ahead fast…..websites up, websites down…internet gobbling pictures…no time to actually savor photography….no time to talk about pictures…no afternoons with just one book…just business…fast…gone…just no time…get to it later…uh huh…”
    Yes, yes, yes,…I get it. That is me, trying to make a buck, trying to keep up, trying to get organized (hopeless), trying to get another customer in the door, make the morgage payment, pay my taxes, keep my shit in a pile and ducks in a row.

    I am lucky/foolish enough to make a living with my camera. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do. I make beautiful family portraits that remind people of what is truly important in their lives. They will become heirlooms. I make portraits of beautiful children. I make many portraits of elderly people, very often the last portrait they will ever have made..they know it, I know it. I am very fortunate and blessed to do what I do. I’m very good at it.
    This is not fast food photography.

    Getting back to the food analogy. My wife Martha is an amazing cook. Every night, I eat an amazing gourmet meal. I don’t tell Martha, but for lunch I sometimes go to MacDonalds or Tim Hortons, and if I’m in Nanaimo, for $1.99 you can get a great hotdog and a pop at Costco.

    I make photogaphs every day, some for money, some for me. Some of the photographs I make for me are fast food photos. I know I am not going to make a 24in print to hang in my living room, but I make the photograph anyway. I have literally tens of thousands of personal negatives which have never gone beyond the contact sheet stage. It is how I relate to the world. It’s how I make sense of the world. Sometimes I’m just playing, sometimes it’s more deliberate. In any case, making a photograph is often just a way of focusing my attention, a meditation, an exploration, an expression of joy, wonder, confusion..whatever. The ACT of making the photograph is the end in itself.

    But, I do need to step back. I need more time to reflect, spend an afternoon with a book, re-focus. One day, before I become too old, I need to set up a darkroom, or buy a decent scanner and visit my past.

    On the other hand, I’m loving my busy life of the present so much that I am hard pressed to keep up with the work I am doing now.

    Thanks for the question.

  32. I really like fast food, and I’m eating too much of it.
    On this year’s Paris Photo, I learned that fast food doesn’t to be cheap (Croque Monsinieur 15,– Euro) and slow food doesn’t to be expensive (Entrecote grilled 10,– Euro). This also applies to photography. Especially at the offprints fair, I saw a lot of young work, which was not fast food.

    Regarding my own photography, I once heard “Thomas, you are to slow for street photography”, well after the trip to Pars, I think, I was not focused enough. I need to take time, slow down and let go.
    My real photographic development started in February 2009, when I decided to join a portfolio review session in June 2009 in London. Since that day in London my learning curve is immense, having a new peak in November 2010 in Paris.

    I’m not sure if here some Mustard or pickles need to be added, it just takes 3 Minutes of your time, so it is considerable fast, hoping not to waste your time:

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    (Bill – big hug, there are no words to describe these feelings)

  33. a civilian-mass audience

    THOMAS…

    Bonjour …Paris…Universe…
    You are focused…you have …a soft approach blended with some surprise elements…
    Hmmm…anyway…
    J ‘ ADORE…
    J’ ADORE…

    J’ ADORE you ALLL…and THANK YOU
    Thank you ALLLLLLLLL…
    My BURNING Circle of Friends!!!

  34. I thank all of you who left comments about Soundarya.

    I like junk food, too and eat way too much of it.

    Especially Taco Bell. Dairy Queen foot long hotdogs are the best.

  35. I am proud to say that I have never eaten at McDonalds though I do ust their toilets ………. Had some Killed Fuckin Chicken once smelt like a politicians jockstrap.

  36. “In relation to fast food, I am literally gorging anything in sight because I feel my time is limited somehow.”

    Your time IS very limited. It was 50 years ago when I got seriously into photography, and it really does seem like only moments ago! But I’ve never looked at the end when shooting photos, only the moments. Regardless of how fast those moments pass by (and they pass by all too quickly), you have to be in that moment intently. Focus on the moments. Trust me, the years will take care of themselves. :)

  37. BILL …

    so sorry to read about the death of your soul-friend….sorry i didnt read comments last night, just wrote before eating dinner and off into the night to spend some slow time with my son…

    nothing i can write that can remedy your hurt but please know that the truth is that she still remains inside you and will continue to define you…and that is a greater gift from her as well…

    and this for you, i poem I read for my grandmother at her funeral….:

    I Think Continually Of Those Who Were Truly Great

    I think continually of those who were truly great.
    Who, from the womb, remembered the soul’s history
    Through corridors of light where the hours are suns
    Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
    Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
    Should tell of the Spirit clothed from head to foot in song.
    And who hoarded from the Spring branches
    The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.

    What is precious is never to forget
    The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
    Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.
    Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light
    Nor its grave evening demand for love.
    Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
    With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.

    Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
    See how these names are fŠted by the waving grass
    And by the streamers of white cloud
    And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
    The names of those who in their lives fought for life
    Who wore at their hearts the fire’s center.
    Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun,
    And left the vivid air signed with their honor.
    –stephen spender

  38. I’n no fast food person, I am a eye-nose person, and fast food usually neither looks nor smells fine to me.
    First and last time I had a hot-dog was in Iceland many years ago – and that was because I had no alternative.

    As for photography … it is just as relaxed or non relaxed as I am at a certain time and space. The BUSINESS of photography though, seems to have become quite hectic, like most businesses, I fear.

  39. Hot dog photography? Not sure if that is what many of us aspire to; more like gourmet photography – you know – like the meal, the fussy presentation; those carrots peeled to look like flowers and the gravy (but you call it sauce) dribbled around the plate to look like tears. It tastes ok and costs a fortune but, after you have eaten it, your still hungry!

    Perhaps we angst too much over our craft as witnessed by how many “essays” we see here as opposed to collections of random photographs that are just great photographs with no common link to each other.

    On the subject of hot dogs – German, Austrian “Wurst” take some beating!

    So sorry to hear your news Bill.

    Mike.

  40. Gourmet photography as opposed to fast food photography? None of the two, just old fashioned, home made, down to earth photography, food for the eyes, the heart and the soul, and not necessarily in this order..

    Bill, so sorry..

  41. Bill – my heart is with you. I lost a soul friend some weeks ago and have met no other person who appeared to see the world so closely as I do. I’m sending you a hug, feeling your grief and pain, with my own tears, for the loss of those we love… people who touch us on a deep level are hard to find which is why it is so important that we cherish those we love while they are still alive. Never forget that your friend lives on within you…

    I sent a message to a mutual friend last week in a moment when I was feeling particularly low and alone without that ‘soul friend’ – in a moment of grief, that sometimes comes from nowhere.
    He replied:
    Jenny, you forget how magical this world is? Anything is possible…
    “Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.” — Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

    Feeling your pain Bill, please know you will not always feel the way that you do now…
    Hugs, Jenny x

  42. When I stop rushing I will simply be dead. If I go gripping my camera with my family around me, it will surely be heaven. A slide show of my children growing up, my husband embracing me and all the people I have photographed will guide me into the light. Until then, it is the rush that keeps my blood pumping.

  43. I agree with Lassal on photography when it comes to ‘the business’ – but the very process of taking pictures, when I am fully immersed in it, relaxes me completely as I forget everything including myself. It brings me totally into ‘the moment’ to a place where the past and the future disappear… or where past, present and future are ‘united’ or converge, it depends on what you believe…

  44. Can anyone help me with the name of a New York photographer who was the antithesis of the hot dog photo? Some years ago (probably many) I watched an Arena arts programme on BBC television about a photographer who, basically, photographed NYC and sold b&w prints on the streets. One day he was “discovered” by some editor or other who propelled him to photographic stardom. As I remember he photographed for fashion magazines (Vogue etc.) but eventually became disillusioned with the business of photography and returned to the streets. I think of his story on occasion and wondered a. what happened to him b. is he still selling prints and c. where I can get a DVD or download of the Arena programme.
    Anyone heard of him?

    Mike.

  45. It’s a powerful photo, David.

    Bill, you are an incredible human. How right that you and your muse found each other.

    Fast life, pressure, photography, yes, and this too shall pass.

  46. Mike, I think you’re thinking of George Forss, whom David Douglas Duncan discovered selling his prints on the street in Midtown back in the late 70’s. He did a book of his New York prints, got on the Today show, and the BBC did a documentary on him in the early 80’s, if I’m remembering the info in the book correctly (great book, by the way; the title is eluding me at the moment, though)and he eventually moved upstate, I think to the Finger Lakes region in central New York. You can buy his prints online now; just google his name and you’ll find out where.

  47. Akaky, Eva, Gordon, yes, George Forss! I had totally forgotten about the link to David Douglas Duncan and had superimposed his role onto some fashion editor. Late 70s, early 80s – don’t ever say that I forget a good photograph (laughing). Eva, I’ve looked at the video and will look (and listen) again. Thank you all.

    Mike.

  48. Bob Black,

    Wonderful…my thoughts entirely. Thank you for putting into words my own thoughts. You indeed have a rare gift with words.

    Imants,

    How did you get that close to a politician, where did you put your nose ?

    Pete

  49. OK, time to savour.
    Just picked up Bruce Davidsons boxed set from the post office. Almost needed help carrying it to the car. Had a quick look through the first book. Awesome. Spectacular reproduction on lovely off-white paper. I cant wait to tuck in.

  50. harvey.. dancing and photographing.. one of the great pleasures in life.. fantastic opportunity.. rare glimpses into others joyous personal spaces.

    gordon..
    your garden looks very familier.. something i notice about the snow.. heavy snow.. everything changes, not just visually.. sounds become more muffled.. different sounds abound.. light changes.. otherworldly..
    love it.. just not for 3 months of the year :ø)

    bill..

  51. a civilian-mass audience

    Hot Dog
    God…T.o.H ( tales of hearts )…
    Blame the wine …where are you KATIEE,My GRACIE…HERVE…
    Guess who is dancing…again?:))))

    Happy Everything my beloved BURNIANS…you are indeed …photo philosophers!!!

  52. Take the cameras away and a heap here will cease to function properly maybe some of you have forgotten how to be a human and rely on being tethered to a box

  53. ..are you taking about harvey, imants?
    or the fisherman on my island who, without a boat and the life spent persuing fish, would strugle?

    thing is – to be a good communicator with photography you have to be human first and formost.. openly human, faults and all.

    i think of the celebrated snappers following the struggles of US soldier after comeing back from iraq, having killed 6 civilians for every 4 iraqi combatants.. human.. maby not humane nor criticle..

    or the snappy snapper who wins credit on NYT lens blog for using an iphone.. the ultimate affluent pasttime in one of the poorest countries on earth.. snapping away at an occupying force using a fashionable technology..
    while the lens blog says ¨equipment doesn’t matter¨ the fact is that if a nokia N72 had been used it would not have grabbed the headline.. a self defeating article.. equipment does not matter.. but by the way, it was an iphone.

    i think there is more in human thought in this blog than in the wider world of the photographic ¨industry¨

  54. ..are you taking about harvey …..I didn’t realise that harvey was a heap in your thought pattern,
    wider world of the photographic ¨industry¨..that’s very small world

  55. a very small world which dictates what most of the world sees.

    by a ¨heap¨ i presumed you would be coragious to mention who your accusations were aimed at this time, so that some right to reply might be afforded.

  56. So what I get afforded with what you say here as well at times so relax you have a long winter to get through

    a very small world which dictates what most of the world sees…. don’t put too many tabs on yourself and photography, the moving pictures dictates a lot more

  57. a civilian-mass audience

    I guess some of us…don’t celebrate Thanks and Giving…hmmm…:)))

    LEE…I am thinking to postpone my trip to Maui…again.
    You are shaking …like Californians…

  58. :ø)
    you want to project that i am somehow disrespecting harvey? – i’ll leave that for him to decide..
    he’s a big boy.

    yet imants – i remember you once stating that, for you, taking a photograph was much like taking a shit… perhaps you are as tethered to your own ¨box¨ as anyone you read here..

    ¨don’t put too many tabs on yourself and photography, the moving pictures dictates a lot more¨
    whether i agree with that or not seems superfluous to your purpose, which is much less interesting.

    is the heat getting to you?

  59. Please back it up with a reference before you write make sure your research is right maybe it wasn’t me ‘taking a photograph was much like taking a shit”
    “whether i agree with that or not seems superfluous to your purpose,”.. a presumption on your behalf

    I never bought David H into the conversation you did that

    Actually it is a very mild morning yet to have a hot day as yet

  60. hha
    laughing now..
    so who are you insulting this time.. not harvey.. the big ¨unknown¨?
    what was your statement of fact linking photography to shitting?
    surely you have a ¨witty¨ pun linking to your site, and google analytics, ready by now?

    :ø)

  61. a civilian-mass audience

    THODORIS…hey mate…
    Where have you been…?

    Are you in Athens…traveling…?
    Hope all good…ouzo on me !!!

  62. Civi, are you postponing due to the earthquake? It was so weird. Just moments before it occurred a bevy of rescue and fire engines drove screaming through my neighborhood. The earthquake was followed by this very loud bang that shook my windows. I thought a house had exploded. I did not feel the earthquake this time although my granddaughter was in the tub and got thrown around in her house below and my neighbor said “earthquake” to his wife right before the loud noise. What I like about the reporting on the quakes here is the quotations they get from the citizenry about the effect of the quake. This time a woman said she felt it a bit and her cat ran off. Oh and an athletic event was not disrupted. 4.7 or 9 this time, 3.9 a few weeks ago, and 6.9 I believe 3 years ago. I’ve lived in Maui almost 21 years. No earthquakes until the big one 3 years ago.

    Is that why you postponed your trip???? Some theorize that Haleakala is going to start spewing again, after being dormant for hundreds of years.

  63. a civilian-mass audience

    LEE…I was kidding…I am immuned to earthquakes!
    I survived a big one…
    I am alive…
    But many civilians died…my fellow civilians…
    Earth is dancing…nothing we can do…
    Circle of life

    LEE…please,have your flashlight …near by…just in case the Haleakala decides to dance like
    MR.HARVEY…you never know :)))

  64. a civilian-mass audience

    Well,I guess…I am not gonna sign…

    Goodnight from Ellada (Greece)

    I love you ALLLLL…and I mean …ALLLLLL of you
    Thank you

  65. Black Friday…

    “I’m a little guy—I weigh no more than 120 pounds and I’m 5-foot-6. So, yeah, it could turn deadly at any moment, but that adds to the adrenaline rush. As crazy as it sounds to most people I would rather not be anywhere else but in that crowd of customers beating the crap out of each other for an item. If you can grab that item you feel like a million dollars. I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it’s true.”—John Daggett, a 21-year-old Black Friday expert who lives in Milford, Conn

    Slate.com

  66. Haleakala?! My knees will NEVER forget Haleakala, nor Mount Fuji for that matter. Why on Earth do volcanoes need to be so steep? And why are they so difficult to descend in flipflops, at night?!

    Now about the matter of Mr Harvey dancing like a volcano – I witnessed it once, many years ago, and am wondering if it is yet documented? We have ‘the Bag Video’ so it could be what is required at this juncture, is: the Dance Video! May those with video equipment be on high alert from hence forth.

    Civi, if you would kindly sing…
    <3 to all on Thanksgiving
    less commercial than Christmas IS a very good thing!
    (which reminds me that I must start planning my escape…)

  67. it seems to me as if everything is speeding up, time itself is running faster…
    but is that just the way it is… as we get older time runs faster?

    internet… fantastic, revolution, infinite possibilities… industries changing,
    death and re-birth, one door closes another opens… the internet is a black hole…
    so much we can do, so much to do… options, opportunities, deadlines… try to keep up…
    try again, rejection, celebration, special dedication… friends, family, commitments…

    “does photography seem like a relaxed way to live life?”

    or perhaps – does life seem like a relaxed way to photograph …

    time and how we spend it, slowing down, taking time… these ideas motivated me to make changes in my life… has it worked? out here in the aussie bush as far away from London as can be… but i still have the net, the new frontier is in my mac, not out west…

    my approach to photography has changed a lot as my life has changed over the past few years.

    I try to balance my time, take time to slow down… I cannot live without the occasional/regular lazy day lost in a book, listening to music… it’s nurturing… and from that headspace (or is it soul-space) I can photograph best, no need to rely on my old formula, try and ‘see’ things fresh. PLAY… stretch a little, try and surprise myself…

    if as photographers we are time capturers… then maybe we need time to take time?

    but now I’ve spent time writing this I’m late on the day : ) last nights washing up to do, veggies to water, photos to edit and send, breakfast…

  68. Never mind fast food.

    You all need to go here http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Davidson-Outside-Inside/dp/386521908X
    and hand over your credit cards. I’ve just finished my first much too quick run through of Bruce Davidsons Outside inside. Amazing, incredible, life changing. Up until now, I’ve only been familiar with Davidsons work through my collection of old Popular Photography and Modern Photography annuals. Amazing stuff. Amazing stuff, I have no words. I have a lot of books of photographs, but this…

    Look, forget the new lens, the new flash, the new camera, the night out, order this now.

  69. Ah Marc. A new baby. An announcement of a birth on this day means another special Thanksgiving baby in my thinking. My daughter was born on Thanksgiving 36 years ago. So sorry to hear the news of your wife’s passing. I’m sure you miss her terribly. I am glad you see the silver of light or did you mean sliver?

    Some deep sharing of personal lives today here on Burn. Bill, Marc with your very personal sharing of loss and gain.

  70. In a few hours Black Friday begins..
    I wish Akaky would write something about it..
    But Akaky loves Walmart..
    And Walmart sent me a brochure 3 days ago..
    If I can wake up at 3:30am and wait in their parking lot,
    And when they open their (Walmart) door..
    If I rush into their store, and if I fight and punch the old lady next to me,
    Get in her way, cut her off then, maybe, maybe (no guarantees)
    I might be able that Chinese laptop for only $198..
    And of course there are only 3 laptops on that price ..and of course there
    is no way to outrun that determined old lady next to me,
    that keeps hissing and showing me her dentures ,
    and of course there is also no way to outrun the 15 year old pregnant girl with her
    2 year old in her arms.. !
    Well, blame it on smoking, blame it on lack of determination..
    Blame it on anything u want..
    I can’t get ahead.. No cheap laptop,
    But maybe , maybe I can lay my hands on that $300 LCD 45 inch tv..
    Or even that lazy boy chair..
    Wish me luck .. Only few hours left.. For the Battle of all battles..
    Viva consumerism…
    Well I’m an American and I love thanks giving mostly because of the Black Friday..
    What do u expect me to say anyways…
    The most “spiritual” days of the year dawns in couple of hours!
    (I stopped believing that we need a new calendar that starts counting from the day Jesus died
    and I also think that Black Friday should be Enforced as a global Holiday especially in countries like China and/or Iraq , Iran, North Korea and definitely Uganda.. We did it , why can’t “they” follow our bright example?)
    Consume, it’s Patriotic!!!

  71. Marc, my condolences..
    The last 24 hours it was lots of “heavy” stuff from couple Burnians here..

    Pretty soon I’ll tell u what has been going in my miserable life too lately..
    I’ll share, but hopefully my “case” had an unexpected happy ending..
    Phew!

  72. a civilian-mass audience

    MARC,
    I have feta cheese,olives and handmade wine…come over to Grecolandia…
    …I promise…You won’t have to share the same room …with DAVIDB and IMANTS…:)
    Be strong ( whatever that means)
    and of course…we Love you!

    LEE…you have a thanksgiving baby…then you have …a treasure!!!

    Viva AUSSIES,AMERICANS,EUROPEANS,AFRICANS,ASIANS,NORTH&SOUTH POLIANS…
    Spread the news…
    From dark to a silver of light!

  73. Lee:)
    Haleakala ? Sounds like “Malaka” in greek..
    I bet u it has the same meaning like in Greek..
    Malakas= a special friend, spirituality and love for god=godlike…
    Laughing.. I hate volcanoes as much as I hate politicians..
    They pretend they are “cool”… But they are sneaky..
    Volcanoes to me represent schizophrenia and mental illness..
    I was in a relationship with a “volcano” once …
    Very dangerous, very manipulative and ferocious..
    They smile at your face but they stab u at the back with first opp..
    F**k all volcanoes..
    They are unpredictable just like psychotic ex girlfriends..
    You know, the Stalker type…

  74. Civi..
    Sorry but the earth is not “dancing”..
    Earth is that unpredictable freaky blue ball..
    That keeps spinning in relatively irregular
    speed around itself, carrying on it 4 billions (6 pretty soon)
    of terrified selfish lunatics that insist god created it to ease their fears..
    Glamorizing this “perfection” , god’s creation is not only inaccurate
    but also naive..
    Im always suspicious of folks that glamorize their
    self importance by being tree lovers/huggers..
    Trees are meant to be Smoked.. Not hugged..

  75. Is it the 26th? Some years ago, I remember like it was a minute ago, a doctor told me, just after the birth of my first son: do not become affectionate to it (yes, it), chances of surviving are very very low, and if it survives, we do not know how it will be.. nothing they could do to stop the cerebral haemorrhage in act..

    Well, of course neither me nor my son did listen to that doctor, nor to others later.. two weeks ago, in Paris, that same stubborn kid has won two bronze medals at the fencing world championships, category A, wheelchairfencing.

    All I had in the first days was a photograph, superfluous so the rest of the world… so Imants, yes, I probably should or could put down that box.. but I prefer a box to a shrink ;)

  76. a civilian-mass audience

    Oy, yeah…earth is dancing…
    …and when you try my handmade wine…
    PANOS…you will dance too…:)))

    …My perspective is different…
    I see…”perfection” everywhere…
    I believe in the imperfect perfection…

    Hmmm…I BURNED my brain cells…:)))

  77. a civilian-mass audience

    EVA…
    the imperfect perfection…is working…
    Thank you,thank you…
    You have a treasure too…

    I know that I am getting tedious but hey…

    I LOVE YOU ALLLLLL …And I mean ALLLLL of you

  78. And Civi how can I forget the Greeks..
    The creators of philosophy?
    Like Socrates for example?
    “Socrates once said that there is no more empowering
    experience than caressing and mentor a young boy, in their teens,
    right when their first facial hair come out”..
    Now if someone tries those “actions” today they he will probably serve 20
    years in a federal prison on a criminal paidofile charge..
    But ancient Athens was thinking a little different back then..
    Socrates and most upscaled Athenians(who was legally married with his old lady),
    he was also “allowed” to keep a lot of love affairs with younger boys..
    For later installed Christianity was clearly a pervert but for the “advanced” Athens
    of the 4th century BC it was a normal thing to do!

    Moral of the story: “right or wrong, good or bad,
    High or low is absolutely depending of the type of society and the level of maturity of that particular point in history and time..

    ( think of matriarchic socity of the Minoan civilization .. Where women were on power, where women would walk around with their breasts exposed , that symbolized fertility.. Minoan civilization was so powerful that no man could beat or alter..except.. Except from that deadly eruption of the Santorini Volcano that wiped out that particular civilization .. And then , men came to power.. And u all know what happened..
    Don’t listen to what they say.. Dinosaurs were cool and harmless..
    Hollywood got it all wrong.. Dinosaurs were cool, humans are lunatics and volcanoes suck .. Because they always erupt and explode at the wrong place at the wrong time)

  79. Eva, not that I was there but did the doctor said “affectionate”??
    Or “attached”..?
    Coz it’s a big difference..
    I don’t think anyone would suggest that..
    Being “attached” and dependent to ones own kid is not very healthy..
    but affectionate??? It’s kinda too much to suggest to anyone Not to be..
    Regardless … Your story had a happy ending.. and that’s good news..
    Big hug

  80. Point of view.. Standing point.. Where one is standing at is very critical for ones judgments..
    Einstein ‘s theory of relativity proved it..
    If you standing on the port then u consider your self still, at zero speed therefore the ship passing you by is moving with an “x” speed.. But if you’re on that boat, then your point of reference changes, everything else moves but you..
    It’s all related to our point of reference..
    (although I have to admit that , the above smart ass theory still doesn’t change the fact that my ex was a psycho..;)
    Somethings still remain the same any way u see them..
    But then again, I could be wrong;)

  81. Ok y’all … Running to my local Walmart ..
    Putting my nike’s on so I can outrun any enemy and hopefully I’ll finish the race first..
    Eyes on the prize.. Maybe that $198 lenovo or a $400 Canon Rebel with that 14-1000mm zoom that got me drooling , or that 45inch LCD/plasma tube will be mine ..
    Who cares about a few bruises..
    Proud to have battlescars..
    Running..
    Once again happy Black Friday America!

  82. Mankind has become “disconnected” from the Earth…
    resulting in increasing mental illness in our times…
    but the good news is that spending time in Nature can heal almost anything!

    Please don’t forget Burnians that: you are what you see…
    dangerous, manipulative, ferocious and… paranoid???
    talking like fishwives
    spreading gossip, rumours and lies
    behind others backs,
    and for what? and for why?

    it is your choice…. darkness…. or…. light…

    Flashback to the ’70s and some whispered words of wisdom:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9SgDoypXcI

    LET IT BE…

  83. Civi – sign? could it be a typo? perhaps try transposing the letters?

    VIVA photographs as language…

    PEACE

  84. What a Perfect Day – but I had never seen this version. It is MAGNIFICENT!
    Off to share it now… thanks Civi!

  85. oh my God… it is HYSTERICAL Imants!!! Ok I think this is my quota for the week… I am not allowed to take up too much space… it is the rules…

  86. EVA…

    i know you are so proud of your son…through adversity comes the greatest strength…when we meet in Tuscany this summer, i promise you a fine family portrait….

    cheers,david

  87. Imants – first prize, spot news, world press awards – without a shadow of a doubt!

    Don’t you just love breaking rules???! okay, off out…

  88. David,

    yup, the kid kicks ass (can I say that here??).. a family portrait by you.. now that’s talking!! Grazie :)

  89. Apologies David, but just one more before I go out:

    I would like to see you again. It has been 5 or 6 years since I saw you. I have been doing as you advised – finding my ‘photographic voice’.

    ———————————————————————————————————–

    Marc – sending you a hug. I will think of you, and pray for your heart to heal day-by-day, as I walk… I find walking clears the mind, listening to one’s breath, getting into a rhythm that fits with your footsteps.

    walker by name; walker by Nature…

    LOVE : )

  90. ALL…

    before the new year we should have Burn mobile device compatible..8 million iPads have been sold with 40 million estimated to be out there by mid 2011…not counting all the other companies that have mobile devices as well…we will also try try to have Burn with a new design component ready just as soon as we can afford it…we are limited a bit on so many ideas we have with this WordPress platform …

    as part of becoming mobile device compatible and perhaps eventually with a Burn app , we may also change drastically the nature of our forum and interaction here on Burn…now, our comment section is looking a bit like a Facebook page…i think all would agree that a different format is required for whatever blog interaction is possible and/or desirable …

    one of the things we did in the early days here on Burn, and i think a good idea again, is to give assignments to various readers here…our earliest essays from Patricia , Panos, Eric, Erica, and Audrey all came from ideas submitted to me and i went back and forth with each photographer over a period of weeks until the essays were all finished…it was the best use i think of everyone’s time and gave us a real reason for interaction…we should indeed make the interactive part of Burn , or any internet medium, to actually make something productive actually happen in a real way…certainly it worked for us then….

    three of those five essays ended up in Burn01 and all are moving towards individual books to be published…this does not at all eliminate the submission of material that just is totally produced by the photographer and comes to me as a “done deal”…no doubt that 90% of what i publish here will have been initiated indeed without my knowledge…that is just perfect and i would expect and appreciate more photographers who are able to finish on their own…..however, there are many readers out there who do need some guidance (like that i am giving Ross right now and whose work will soon appear)…

    all of us at Burn, Anton Kusters, Anna Barry, Diego Orlando, Kerry Payne, and yours truly feel a real sense of responsibility to our readers here…we have set ourselves up for this responsibility by creating grants, have an educational motive, and giving young photographers some hope for their future….

    i think the point is making the best use of our time here…taking advantage of what the internet has to offer, and yet trying our best to keep from becoming a bulletin board blog…..there is a place for the bulletin board blog of course…Lightstalkers for example just has to be the best for this…but i can imagine a Burn with thoughtful dialogue forum of interest to many…one of the things we have talked about for a long time, but just have not had the time to do, is to edit down the best comments over the last two years…these indeed are jewels…perhaps editing comments should be done the same way we edit pictures…i mean, we are not a photo sharing site…we throw out most of what is submitted photographically and publish just the most provocative or interesting….an edited vision…yet with words anything goes…again, isn’t Facebook just better for that? perhaps we make our Facebook page the “gossip” section? what do you think? edit words and comments the same way we edit pictures and let the “ramble” go to Facebook?

    as you all probably know , most of my colleagues in the biz recommended from the beginning that Burn be comment free…the staff who work with me now on Burn is recommending the same…perhaps with a blog loosely connected but not right quite as in our face as it is here now..i have mixed feelings about this..some terrific discussion does no doubt happen, but it can turn into the proverbial “bulletin board”…again , with a place for sure on the net…maybe just not here that’s all….

    it is not at all about freedom of expression…we want freedom of expression…i would like to see more freedom of intelligent expression as a matter of fact……we just do not want one individual freedom to interfere with another individual freedom ..this is always a misinterpretation of “freedom” in general…obviously my personal freedom to swing my arms in any direction ends when someone walks up close…

    my contribution and legacy will be two things i imagine..my photographic work, and my mentoring of others…pretty simple and basic…so for me personally the time i spend outside my own photographic work needs to be carefully placed..so that i can be helpful at least to some….working through a photographer’s career, edit their portfolio, getting them fired up to go do their best, or literally helping them to get a book published is where i want to be…again, no wine spilled on the ground…

    so whatever happens here on Burn will reflect those two elements….for many of you another type of website will be more attractive and you will move on…i never have and never will ever ever ever feel the need to appeal to all..matter of fact, i am just the opposite..i figure all of us must do our own thing and let the chips fall where they may…this is the only way to live…respectful of others and yet honest and respectful to your own values as well…having a mass audience presence does not mean one must try to satisfy everyone…a fruitless pursuit for anyone who tries…

    please enjoy your day, your weekend, and your life…you only have one…make it count….

    abrazos, david

  91. FROSTFROG…

    Bill…no doubt in my mind that the spirit of Soundarya will somehow lead you to another “muse”

    as per your request, no words of condolence, just a knowledge of what will come your way sooner rather than later…

    and i am sure we will meet in 2011….counting on it..

    cheers, david

  92. I think you have a conundrum. The freewheeling nature of the the comments on Burn are likely a reason for its success. But, obviously, the “next step” requires that it become commercial and civilized. Burn will succeed when it transitions, of course, but will appeal to a very different audience than a bunch of rowdy photographers. :)

    It’s been an interesting ride, though.

  93. “in other words, we will now pay $1000. for stories which appear in Burn before publication elsewhere…. we will ask for a 5 day exclusive after which the story may be picked up in other media…we realize many sites will just steal the story…but as time goes on and cooperation between serious entities increases, we feel the honor system will prevail as it does today in the top print houses…”

    David;

    I’ve been thinking about this since you posted it. I feel that a 5-day exclusive is being way too generous. A one month exclusive (similar to magazine publishing who would demand 3-months from publication) would be fairer (to Burn).

    It’s not as though you are planning to publish without payment anymore; you will be paying a solid amount. Because of that I feel that the featured photographers should show a similar respect (and time frame) of exclusivity to Burn as they would to a traditional publisher.

    I know there are others who will steal the essays to put up on their sites to “promote” the essay and photographer. But I suppose you can’t do much about that. There will always be those who ride on the coat tails of a successful venture.

    It’s just a thought; but I know what a publisher would do to me if a similar essay appeared in a rival magazine within a month of being published. I’d be gelded and they’d be using them as earrings! :-)

    I know internet publishing is different to print, but I still feel that there should be some sense of fair-play involved.

    I maybe completely barking up the wrong tree here; but my thoughts are that if you pay a fair wack of money, you should receive a fair period of exclusivity.

    Cheers :-)

  94. – those were Panos words …
    ———————–

    Flashback back to my school days.
    ( he did it! He said this & that )
    Well in Californian schools this type of behavior is called: (Snitching)
    google it coz I don’t want to translate this in “English”;)

  95. Jessie Marchessault

    David,
    I 100% agree with the editing of comments, but it is after a discussion starts that the best comments tend to come out… Maybe waiting a couple of days to see what is sent out there?

    I really really like the idea of giving photographers essays to go out and shoot for a few weeks, i’d like to hear a bit more about how this works…

    Great idea on hooking into the ipad/iphone phenomenon–now is the perfect time to ride that wave.

    jessie

  96. a civilian-mass audience

    Times and Timing…Revolution…Evolution
         
    “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
     T.S. Eliot

    We have been warned…:)))))))))))

    I am the happiest civilian in the world…
    Life goes on
    You got to move on

    I love you all…new era…BURN is the place to be…
    I really have enjoyed the ride…yeap, JIMMY…    

  97. DAH,

    what I appreciated most during this two-years long ride here on Burn was the crowdsourcing approach that inspired the whole adventure since the very beginning (I still remember the brainstorming on Road Trips that led to the choice of the newborn “thing” name ;). Now that Burn has grown up and a further step is needed (I agree on this), why not try the same approach? Maybe a trick could be to open a dedicated thread (or use this very one, smelling of hot dogs ;) and use it as a sort of sandbox to collect the (civilian) mass audience ideas about Burn 2.0?

  98. Jim, “I think you have a conundrum. The freewheeling nature of the the comments on Burn are likely a reason for its success. ”

    I agree. I does tend to get out of hand however. We’ll see what David and the team come up with.

  99. Bravo, David! I thought I was the only one irritated by the constant BurnScout jerk-circle of esoterica witnessed here. Yes, definitely things have to change, but at the same time, to fore go such brilliant discourse as recently witnessed in ‘Destino’ would be a tragedy. (On the other hand, my sympathies to emerging photographers, who, once published here, had to suffer the indignity of allowing follow-up comments to dissimulate.)

    How about adding a complaint button to each comment, and allow the college to self-regulate/self-moderate? Set some rules of conduct to eliminate the insider-like blogging of Kalamata olives and dancing in the streets, and maintain the illuminating discussions like those we sometimes had, and which I’m sure you originally wanted. Should be easy to program, and it means you’ll only be the executioner, not the judge.

  100. The idea Panos had of a submission fee is a good one. That would help with workload and funding. I can understand the concern about dialogue being open. It can get wild and hairy here on occasion, plus YouTube really gets a lot of face time here. I really enjoy when a question is put out for discussion and we get some really good talking going on about the subject. I have learned a lot and it is a good place to relate to other photographers and their common issues. And a great way to bring in new ideas to people about their work. I especially like the discussions under each new essay featured. They seem to end naturally and stay on topic more so than the dialogue posts. I am as guilty as some re: “gossip” and chatter. That is going to be something I work on from this point on.

  101. I wouldn’t mind seeing the comment threads under essays and singles limited to discussion of those works, by registered, name-giving participants. The free-flowing stuff and youtube links can go in other threads, like now.

  102. DAH…

    Regarding the comments on Burn…

    It only depends on what Burn’s function is supposed to be…
    If it’s only (or mostly) about showcasing interesting work, then certainly the comments are a distraction… But then again after the elimination of comments, what would differentiate Burn from Lensculture or any other similar site? The name of the editor?

    What your colleagues (and anyone who advises you to clean shop) might not grasp is the life altering experience that the simple (albeit time consuming on your part) act of opening your door to me and all those (relatively) young photographers from around the world to interact with you and each other offers to us… the fact alone that you’ll take the time to read and respond to this message is one of the things that make Burn unique…

    Editing comments after a discussion has run its course is one thing, shipping the whole thing off to facebook is another…

    Goodnight from Cyprus,
    Thodoris

  103. a civilian-mass audience

    I cannot agree more JEFF…I haven’t see you around…for a long time…
    You are right…BURN is a model…the bar has been raised…up…up
    You don’t need the …kalamata olives and the street dancing…It’s a destruction…
    I admit that …and I am responsible for some of the mess…
    But you have to give me credit…
    I never ever…ever interfered with the …essays nor the selected photos…
    I said from my first post …I am not a photographer …I am very grateful,thankful…
    that MR.HARVEY and the other BURNIANS…let me …share their dreams and their visions…
    I found a long lost family…
    Now, I totally understand your point of view…not” the executioner,judge..”:))
    And with all my respect… Kalamata olives are very good…

    New beginnings…BURNIANS …please make me proud…
    I will be watching you…closely…:)))))))
    You ALL deserve the best…

    ABELE…:)))

  104. First it was Roadtrips, then Burn,
    Time for a new thing.. And it will happen as things evolve..
    Nothing to worry about.. Comments or not, Facebook or not,
    Mr and mrs INITIALS or not, psychotic behavior or not,Trolls or not..
    We survived it all..
    Utube or not.. It is irrelevant … No worries..
    Burn survived worst times and we learned a lot..
    Burn Book came out.. Some started careers , some found themselves and
    Many lost themselves.. All fair enough..
    Great ride..
    Time for the monkey to evolve and become a homo sapiens

    One thing never changed.. The core.. The center..
    Which is expression through visual medium..
    Photography, film, slideshows.. Photos , photos..
    We have it, gained it.. deserve it..
    Time to rediscover ourselves and stop the boring repetition
    when it comes to egos and self importance..
    Travels to new open seas and oceans..
    Time for a new pirate tattoo …
    DAH, so far u steering the Ship in the right directions..
    Most pirates are now dead, yes we had casualties..
    Folks hiding their names and become INITIALS..
    ( and I’m not talking about Akaky or Civi.. They both deserve
    Their personal column in the new Burn)
    It was fun.. But rock n roll is now dead..
    Time for some new music..
    And it’s coming.. And it seems that 2011 will be brighter than 2010..
    And I can’t wait..

  105. Ohh Jeff.. You sound tired..
    tired of reading things u don’t get but u insist reading..
    Yes , folks that have no self discipline demand censorship ..
    They blame their bad parenting skills on tv and they act like their tube has no on/off button..
    But that’s pretty common over here and everywhere

  106. Ahh Civi u simply wasting your time apologizing to the priests..
    For them u were born a sinner..
    That’s why Akaky is published and they re not..
    And that the definition of jealousy..
    Cmon on Civi u worked hard in here:
    As David said u should be happy u don’t apply to everyone..
    You’re not for everyone.. U r unique.. Not a follower..
    Let them hate u.. Trust me it’s good for u!
    The mass is not suppose to understand or accept..
    U maybe love everyone but very few love you!
    Don’t follow Jesus .. He tried to share his love with ALL and
    All he got is: crucifixion ..
    Don’t follow that path.. Not good for you..
    Many DON’T love u! Great.. Be happy for that

  107. People just want to be published everything else is secondary…………… not being published and still posting comments eventually leads to frustration by some

  108. By all means attack my thoughts if you wish, but for every one of me, there are perhaps dozens or hundreds who feel the same. And, if I must take the lightning for David, so be it. Please appreciate that for those without the intestinal fortitude to complain, they may just remove themselves from the arena – I don’t think David wants that.

    Tired? Maybe, but it’s Friday night, I have a cranky cold, and I simply don’t have the intellectual dexterity to figure out how Paul McCartney signing “Let It Be” figures metaphorically in the discussion of fast food photography. As an example…

  109. but for every one of me, there are perhaps dozens or hundreds who feel the same…….. Jeff I always love this part when an argument is backed up with mystery supporters. Just stand up for yourself that is enough

  110. a civilian-mass audience

    PANOS…:)))))))
    I am just a civilian…come on,mate…
    In a way I wanted to give …voice to All the civilians that are next to you…
    I wanted to give voice…To the mass audience…
    I wanted to give voice to the silent readers…
    Just that…

    And I am aware …what happens to civilians…oime
    But enough with the mass audience…
    Focus now…focus on you and your vision…
    The Universe is working…
    Viva!!!

    You are All amazing…

  111. a civilian-mass audience

    IMANTS…
    JEFF is right…
    His name is out there..
    But he has to give voice to the people who feel the same…
    We need to listen …there is always the other side…

    Now, I think it’s time for some ouzo…
    And JEFF you can have some Greek chicken soup with augolemono…if you are still in the Toronto area

  112. a civilian-mass audience

    Back to our regular program…

    ”  does photography seem like a relaxed way to live life?  or are you scrambling to keep up? mustard or pickles?”

  113. Jeff;) feel better and remember nobody forces anyone to read anything..
    And nobody can guess what is good to be read by u or me..
    Still missing the point ..
    ( and -smiling- I also missed that LET IT BE bullshit reference but trust me I never clicked that utube link nor that it bothered me at all… We are at the fast food open forum section talking about politics, philosophy , music and human behavior.. Now essays are in the next building over)..
    Roadtrips started this way and it became Burn..
    And it all worked fine.. Now what is the next step DAH will take it’s not my business to judge..
    I will be here with not complaining..
    The day I won’t wanna be here I’ll wear my “I’m Leaving Burn” shirt and I’ll go to hell..
    But no way I’ll disrespect DAH and the crew telling them what to do or not..
    No reason to reopen that Patricia’s Panforas Box again..
    Let’s sum it up once again:
    1) you have the right to not read anyones comment
    2) you have the right to speak
    3) you have the right to remain silent
    4) you have the right to get involved to a forum talk
    5) you have the right to speak for yourself
    6) you have the right to submit photos or info and educate the crowds
    7) you have the right to hate Utube FB or Lightstalkers
    8) you have every right to be a republican
    9) you have the right to hate the Dalai Lama
    10)you may enter or leave anytime you like..
    11)you also have the right to hate olives… I just added that due to Olive complain ..

    But you don’t have the right to hate on the Lakers..
    (see how many rights u have? Appreciated it)

  114. Civi it just dosen’t stack up it is like saying hundreds of people saw him steal the bread so convict him on my heresay. ……… back the world of Charles Dickens??

  115. DAVID,

    Hope you had a great thanksgiving…. Just read your long message to us about potential future Burn plans and felt a bit nostalgic somehow… thinking about the early days that you refer to… the way you did send several of us on what was our “dream assignment”… you are right that it worked for us back then… very memorable indeed David and a productive interaction for sure… this time will always have a special place in my heart and I am very thankful that you have accepted some of us along that journey… As far as Burn is concerned, whether to keep open comments or not, I am not sure what you will eventually decide to do and whatever you decide will be just fine… it is your house at the end of the day, even if you have invited many others on the ride by now… What I can say is that what drew me back and back and back to Burn was always first and foremost the prospect to read what you had to say, the constructive and insightful perspective that you have on the work of others, your own work, the profession, life in general…. Sometimes the open comments are not so interesting but sometimes, there is a spark, you time in and a great conversation starts whether with Bob or Erica or many others and then I think there is no other place like this one on the net… So think about it…

    Finally, your last sentence was rather “deep” for me tonight… “Enjoy your life… You only have one… make it count…” It almost resonated a bit like the end of a chapter… a final advice… as if we were not going to be able to dialogue with you anymore and then again…made me sad… Maybe this is because I am being tired after a long intense week… maybe, this is because I just came out of a seminar at work today with a strong business leader who asked me about what personal legacy I want to leave behind…. Daunting question really… what do I want to be remembered for???… Never really thought too much about it… Why do I have to answer these questions today???? Uncomfortable questions as too often, I tend to go with the flow as opposed to feel totally in control. So your invitation to make our life count was like a second direct punch today… I did not answer the legacy question today… I am not as clear as you are about what I want my legacy to be… The one thing I am sure is that I am not too worried about your own legacy David… Your books are there and will always be… But beyond the books and even the mentoring which has been so precious, you have touched and inspired many of us… This is priceless… Very few can do this… This business leader at work today in the context of inviting us to inspire our organization also asked me directly another question…. have I been fortunate to meet some individuals who are bigger than life, radiates energy and that whatever they ask you, you know that you would do??…. I knew the answer to that one…. Now, just need to figure out the legacy one :):)…

    Cheers,

    Eric

  116. a civilian-mass audience

    Respect is what I am looking for…IMANTS…you know…since there are no boundaries…
    I am looking for respect…
    JEFF…expressed his feeling…
    I didn’t like his comment…but I try to see farther…
    I imagine all of us …in one room…we would all have some olives and some feta cheese…
    and we would share some visions …laughing…
    That’s how I see it…
    Some of us can write and express themselves better…BUT in the end we are ALL one…

    Respect…my BURNIANS…

    P.S webefreud …check your blog…:))))
    LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL

  117. And (smiling) please please represent yourself only..
    Don’t act like you are endorsed to represent the silent masses of the unhappy
    ( that comment : for everyone of me is the voice of dozens and thousands etc it was kinda hilarious and sounds like “serial killer” way of thinking).. And if Burn loses some from the audience..
    Actually DAH said earlier that Burn is not intended to be liked by everyone nor to be preached in churches or studied in religious schools..
    It’s all good relax.. And we maybe even agree .. I don’t like reading comments all the time..
    In fact sometimes I go without comments for days.. But that doesn’t mean that if I’m tired talking everyone should shut up and go to bed!
    Take that amazing conversation in Destino for example..
    I enjoyed every word without posting once..

    But new days coming ahead .. And I don’t take sides comments regarding!
    If DAH closes comments soon , perfect for me..
    If DAH leaves comments on, also perfect..
    I think I promise: that I won’t stop shooting no matter what..
    But I gotta say this last:
    I made some amazing friends in here (met in real life) from many different countries..
    and some even more amazing enemies and haters..
    But hey, it comes with the territory , ain’t it?

  118. his is because I just came out of a seminar at work today with a strong business leader who asked me about what personal legacy I want to leave behind……. Probably because he is a control freaks and wants others to remember him on his terms only……. usually society/others dictate legacies not individuals …….

  119. I love Kalamata olives, and wished I danced in the streets this one particular time when I had the chance. Ouzo rocks too, of course. But I think David wants to work out the post-cognitive dissonance many of us have with this site; he is not interested in my eating or dancing habits.

    Imants – I’m one of his mystery supporters, don’t you see? Is there a way BURN can be prevented from being at the ass-end of the avant-garde as it moves forward?

  120. a civilian-mass audience

    I made some amazing friends in here (met in real life) from many different countries..

    Priceless…priceless!!!

    Listen …and respect…
    Life goes on
    We have to move on
    BURN is the place to be
    No matter…if we agree or disagree…

    Ambrazos,antios,goodnight…
    ACMA

  121. Sure Jeff I can see you are one but why do you need to have mystery backers, I have no qualms about your feelings on the subject but to back.

    Civi reply left at webenfreude

    The dialogue is just reflecting the title

  122. This site is under threat from the far right conservative elements who want photography to stay the way it used to be before the digital age be and for every one of me, there are perhaps dozens or hundreds who feel the same.

    ……………….grin

  123. “, most of my colleagues in the biz recommended from the beginning that Burn be comment free…the staff who work with me now on Burn is recommending the same…” …..as good a way of killing it as any I suppose.
    ….or worse, making it conform.
    I would suggest that your colleagues should get out more.

    With regards to fast food: From skip(dumpster to you yanks) food scavenged from the back of supermarkets, to dover sole and lobster tails at the best fish resturants, its all the same to me.
    Hotdogs? absolutely. Imagine what a privelige it is to be able to turn our noses up at perfectly edible food because it somehow ‘offends’ our ‘palate’.
    Anyhow I dont get the food/photography analogy. Food is comfort and sustenance..a pleasure.
    Photography is fixing crack: ..need…..anticipation…excitement…pain…nausea..intense intense intense vacuum……glimpses of the shapes inside the shapes …nausea..dissapointment…depression
    …need
    (repeated endlessly)

  124. This site is under threat from the far right conservative elements who want photography to stay the way it used to be before the digital age …… and for every one of me, there are perhaps dozens or hundreds who feel the same.

    ……………….grin

  125. “I made some amazing friends in here (met in real life) from many different countries..”

    Me too! Even Skyping with that wierd bandanna clad guy from Greece on New Years Eve with Chucky hacking and murdering on the TV in the background wasn’t a bad way to spend the evening! :-)

    As for comments; I don’t really think the comments under essays has ever spun too far out of control. And let’s face it; if you put your essay up there and someone doesn’t like it, so what? It’s got to be better than the “Aww cute photo”, ” I really love that” “Will you join our group…” comments on most other photo sites.

    As long as criticisms are well articulated, where’s the harm? If you are that badly put of by a critique (if it’s a fair but honest one), give photography away. I’ve found that it is the hardest critiques that have been the most benficial.

    I’ve learnt a ton from the essays, but I’ve also learnt a lot and been exposed to a lot of ideas, work etc through the general comments. And as David has said; most people don’t go anywhere near the dialogue anyway.

    I do think that the recent heartfelt posts about personal loss has shown how strong the “virtual” community is here. No way wou;ld you post such stories if the bunch of posters here were a bunch of rogues..

    Anyway; whatever way things go is fine with me! Onwards and upwards I say…

  126. “As long as criticisms are well articulated, where’s the harm? If you are that badly put of by a critique (if it’s a fair but honest one), give photography away.”

    The “you” in that statement was generic; not aimed at anyone in particular!

  127. Thanks, folks, for the continued comments about Soundarya and for the poem.

    David – Thank you for those words of encouragement – and I hope it does prove true that we meet in 2011.

    I will miss this comment board when it goes – although I have never had the time available to really keep up with and contribute to it to the degree that some do, but I always enjoy reading it. I have made some friends here.

  128. DAVID, FAMILY BURN!

    “Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but is also their means of communication…”-simone weil

    “Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.”-kurt Vonnegut,

    “It is fun to have fun
    But you have to know how.”
    -Cat in the Hat, dr. s

    I wrote David quickly this morning and promised that I would write something tonight, so i’ll try and make it semi-brief ;). To me, the question about comments is an important one, and has come of many times before (during the formation of Burn from Road Trips, during the growing stages of Burn, and of course, during the many times when problems seemed to arise via-comments) and probably will never go away, but I want to posit that the answer/solution is quite simple :)

    Comments should NOT disappear, not ever, period, full-stop.

    But, let me take a small excursion first.

    BURN is unique, absolutely unique. I say that not because I’m a David Alan Harvey sycophant, not because I’ve been around Road Trips/Burn from almost the beginning, not because I’ve had a photo essay published and a written ‘photo-prose-poem’ published in Burn01, not because I write ridiculously long comments about pictures, not because David is a personal friend, but because I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY AND I LOVE BURN, period.

    I’ve had the great fortunate of having a story published during Burn’s first year, a story i made exclusively for David, for him, my dad and my son, which came as an idea when Burn wasn’t even a glimmer of an idea, but was born of a conversation during Road Trips. I’ve also had the honor to had work published in other on-line photo magazines. There are a lot of brilliant on-line magazines and blogs which showcase a lot of great photography: Andy Levin’s important 100Eyes, Adriana and Graham’s magnificent VISURA Magazine, LensCulture, foto8 (their online magazine as good as their important real-life magazine), Private, Blueeyes, flak, 1000 words, Vewd, Fraction, lunatic, 37th Frame (another kind of outlet that promotes Burn), Elllen (which i think is now defunct), Still-dancing (saal-ball), etc etc…lots of great blogs out there as well, like G.Hill’s blog showcasing ‘young/emerging’ potographers (david b: brother, are you emerging? ;)) )…..

    They all produce great work, showcase fantastic work, and i try to look at many of them….but, there is only 1 Burn…

    Burn is NOT only about good, inspired, challenging and interesting work. BURN is about DIALOG and conversation. It is as much an outlet for learning, reflection, challenge, as a showcase for photography. This is an important part of Burn that I think many often overlook or mistake and I also think that many of the ‘pros’ and the people chewing on David’s ear often forget. I know, I was one of his friends who behind the scenes, vocally, chewed on his ears (too much?). The conversation is as much a part of Burn as the photographs and there is very good reason for this. When Burn was in the gestation period, I tried strong to pitch for the open, all the way, idea. The reasons were many, some of which until now I have not shared in public.

    To begin with, David is a talker. He’s a beautiful, voracious, life-driven, brilliantly beautiful talker. I don’t mean a bullshitter, I mean an engager: of language, ideas, people. He loves conversation (it is the writer in him) and never walks away from a conversation. Part of this is also his brilliance as a teacher. I know too, personally. I’ve seen david operate in NYC and I’ve seen him here when he was teaching the CONTACT Magnum workshops. While I have never been a student of David’s, I have been a friend, colleague and observer. David animates and inspires whatever room/group he’s in the middle of. After first meeting him in NYC, I wrote about that (at Road Trips). David is very much like a beaming lighthouse: it’s his head turning, watching/listening that always seems to keep the place inspired and animated. Not all photographers are capable of talking, of sharing their experience and their knowledge. Not all great artists are good teachers. David is, clearly. While his photography work is important and is part of his important legacy, to NG, to Magnum, to young lyrical colorists, his work as a teacher is no less important and valuable. In many ways, I feel it is MORE important, because he can make, directly, the difference in people’s lives. Part of David’s pedagogical method is just that: engage in ideas, in conversation, in argument, in challenge: get people to think and talk about it.

    I completely believe in that method as well.. Get people talking about their work, about others work as a way to get at the heart of your own thinking. Talk, if even to yourself and in your head.

    BURN’s comments serve this purpose. BURN is not simply a magazine for photography. BURN is actually an educational tool, and educational place, a meeting place, a lyceum,…shit, i mean we’ve got so many Greeks here, this is Socrates Academy, isn’t it?…the dialog serves that. Photographs need not be spoken about in order to empower them, of course not, but photographers need to talk about things, and often love to talk and argue (love you Jim P, and love your rowdy comments too :)) ), and that’s the nature of us all…we need to talk, sometimes loudly, sometimes calmly….

    I’ve always tried to write under the essays about what the work does for me, as a photographer, a writer and a lover of photography. MW suggested to me, under Michelle’s Destino, that my overly long positive supporting analysis was ‘useful’…i told him that i think that ALL discussion is useful and important. I loved, using that example, that Pete, Michael and others challenged the essay, just as Jeff’s had been challenged, and that this created a spark, often heated, but a lot of great ideas and discussion emerged: this is the VALUE of Burn. It is a real academy, including with all the graffiti and bullshit that accompany all such beautiful, mad places of learning.

    Honestly, i don’t understand those who suggest shutting off, or editing, the comments. I KNOW that David’s staff has the best of intention. Shit, I once also worked with David and Anton as Editor-at-Large in the beginning, but just didn’t have the time to devote as much as was necessary, plus i was wacko with other issues, and i almost drove those 2 beautiful people insane. But I believe that the current BURN staff and other professionals and friends want to protect Burn and protect David from over-stretching himself. I often feel this way too (and tried to do this when he is here, ’cause he’s like a rock star with all the people who need/want something from him). But I believe that in truth, as long as the CORE of BURN remains the same, there is nothing that can break this beautiful and always evolving creation.

    As Panos pointed out, this ship has weathered a lot of storms and has only grown stronger, better, more ‘important’. It is because BURN IS UNIQUE: the dialog makes that and that dialog is David Harvey in person. For those of you who haven’t met David, I can just tell you that he gives it his all, every moment, and especially to people around him who work and want to make pictures. He is tireless, sometimes giving himself to others too much, too easily, too trustingly, but there it is, he’s too old to change, sort ot ;_). This magazine reflects david’s gift and belief system.

    How to deal with the bullshit that comes up? Forget it, honestly. I don’t spent too much time any more following the dialog section (no time) and I also do not personalize anymore, just focus. I think the dialog section works as a COMMUNITY BOARD, a orphanage of sorts for all the folk who want/need that. That is totally cool with me. I don’t need it that much, but when i do, I am thankful it’s here.

    I would LOVE more conversation/argument under the photos. When bones was published, I tried to get that section wild and loud and interesting and as the photographer I answered everyone and talk also about the work and all kinds of other things (blindness, my own, for example). I know that Panos also did a brilliant job of creating conversation under his. I loved that Michelle was such an articulate and passion defender of her work and also that she wasn’t silent….it made me so happy to see so many comments and discussions….we need more of that, because, shit, tht is our passion….athat’ david’s passion…ask any of his students….

    and we learn….I learn……i am not a student….i am photogrpaher, a writer and i continually learn here…even when i’m writing about work, its challenging and inspiring….even when i read arguments, it inspires, makes me work hard….

    I think a link to facebook is totally fine too, but it will lose one aspect: the proximity of language, the fire of conversation…that is the odd thing about Burn, the barriers were removed and it doesn’t seem artificial (like facebok), but real….real time…real people…real personality….

    Burn will continue to grow and evolve as work grows and evolves…as Burn02 comes…as the magazine incorporates other ideas…but in truth, the comments, good and bad, are as important to this magazine as the pictures…as much as i love all those other magazines, there is only 1 BURN…my home, our home….and who ever lived in a home of silence….

    For me, the responsibility most always rest with the audience….that is OUR responsibility…it is like 1st Amendment…no speech should ever be abridged, not matter what the speech, even hate speech, because there is a more important underlying principle….we must speak, we must banter, we must negotiate meaning and civility and respect through the knowledge that by listening, we begin to reflect, that by allowing others to speak, we begin to build connection and community, to understand what separates and what divides…we must learn that collectively and individually…and only in the most open of societies and homes and communities can that happen….

    no editing of the comments but from the writers themselves….

    maybe one solution is just make different pages (so that one must go to that page, knowing they’re entering that part) rather than eliminate or edit or change…

    I am willing to take the bad with the good…because honestly the bad is not that bad, compared with the largess of the good that happens here…

    This is David’s home and David’s legacy, but we’re all part of this and we owe it, we owe our thanks to David and Anton and to all the rest who’ve worked tirelessly over the last 2 years to make this place the best and most inspired Photo Magazine/Academy/rodeo possible….

    and David, Anton, as I’ve mentioned the Landscape Essay is being done solely for Burn…no one will see it but you guys, and you can have rights to it for as long as you want…

    Let everyone remember what makes this place so special….and let everyone remember what makes David so special and unique…

    answer that question and you have the solution to this question :))

    hugs
    running
    b

  129. Jeez, I go away for a week and the place gets burned down. I don’t even wanna know why, so I guess I’ll just exercise a bit of free will and not read comments I may find distasteful.

  130. And hey, I didn’t mean that comment to be disrespectful in any way. I understand that the free will necessary to ignore the comments is not available to everyone and that the authorities must protect us from speech that may be deemed offensive. The burn staff is very wise and capable and if they feel that communication must be one way, like holy writ handed down from on high, well, I’m sure they are right. Democracy is fucking sloppy. Off with it’s head!

  131. HEY ALL,
     
     
     
    BURN was born out of dialogue…
     
     
    good dialogue is the one thing in BURN we hold highest…
     
     
    “dialogue” (in the meaning of “a thoughtful exchange of opinions”) is crucial to BURN, as opposed to “commenting”, which i believe we can do without
     
     
    The dialogue here was THE reason why i came to here 2 years ago (road trips), and i believe it is the heart & soul of what we have here…
     
     
    I believe that strong well funded dialogue will self regulate the “commenting” by its mere existence here, we have nothing to worry about but bring back good dialogue…
     
     
     
    hugs to all…

    a

  132. I enjoy the dialogues very much, and gain much from them. However it is not possible to ignore toxic posts, and they set a negative tone which clearly turns people off. You have to read a post to recognize the toxic ones. You can’t “un-see” something.

    It becomes like a situation in which you are trying to have an intelligent discussion with a group of people and there is a heckler in the crowd with a chip on his shoulder. He does not contribute to the conversation, but is continually sniping and making rude and cynical remarks. If you ignore the heckler, he will often get bored and go away, but if he persists you have several choices. You can ask the heckler politely to either desist or leave, or if that fails you can leave the discussion yourself.

  133. John Gladdy, Bob Black, perceptive comments.

    Of course, we who comment here want to keep the comments. The vast majority of people who visit Burn don’t comment or, we are told, don’t read the comments. I don’t usually read the comments anywhere else. Is it possible for us to have some data r.e. visitors to Burn essays / Burn comments?

    DAH, Anton, if you HAD to name another site that you wanted Burn to look most like, which would it be?

    Best, Mike.

  134. a civilian-mass audience

           
    “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new… There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”

    We are not afraid change…come on BURNIANS…let’s embrace…
    BURN is the place to be…
    Revolution…Evolution!
    Empower yourselves…!

    Now, I need some time to read the above posts…I am excited…
    Cause you don’t let my inner fire go out…
    hat not to LOVE…

  135. a civilian-mass audience

    Hat not to love…and you are telling me that you don’t want stuff…to change…
    Oime…you must be…out of your minds…:))))))))))))

    Ok,back to my reading …

  136. change is always a pain, unless oneself is one one changing something. :)
    I learned in my life that decisions should never be cast in concrete, but one should give time to test and learn.

    big corporations like the one I am working for embrace “Web 2.0” these days. The listen to Twitter, Facebook, read blogs and many more in order to understand what their customers are saying about them. Additionally, they open forums on their own sites, to have their customers comment in their face (site) instead of their backs (other sites).

    When I had my essay published, I got comments. Some were nice, some were harsh some were painful. (Yes, David, you got lots of them, too) – but the ones, which were written outside the comments and dialogue, were the most painful. I would not want to have a discussion about burn on facebook, or flickr or any other site.

    Big corporations change, as creative websites, too. In 2010, we had 5-6 organisational changes, to adapt to different situations on the market or on the officer level. We call it flexibility.

    That also means I am open to change – change, watch, decide, change or keep. It is a circle.

    Last year I read a book about a person, who build a business out of scibbling pictures on the back of business cards. The book’s name is “ignore everybody”. :)

    Well, I’m going back shooting. :)

    What not to love.

  137. FROSTFROG..

    we have all made a lot of friends here…..there is no reason to think this will change….as you well know if i am anywhere near my computer i will answer all questions and i try to be as helpful as possible….and i hope that part of my point was that a lot of good work has been produced as well…it is that part that i want to increase…simple as that…the best use of my time…there can always be a “bulletin board” somewhere for chit chat…i have no problem with that of course….

    JIM POWERS..

    the “next step” will definitely not be for commercialization…we just think being iPad compatible makes sense for many in our viewing community…

    and who said that discussion would end?? i want discussion, interaction, serious editing of work and maximizing my efforts as i think they can best be used for young photographers…

    i think the rowdy photographers will always be here one way or another..after all, what the hell do you think i am??

    JOHN GLADDY…

    you said with reference to my Burn colleagues who are recommending changes to our comment system… “i think your colleagues should get out more”

    what a flat out rude and disrespectful comment John…would i or anyone here EVER say something like that to you?? honestly ?? has anyone on this Burn staff ever treated you , your comments, your work , with anything other than respect?? and do you really believe that i would ever conform to anything? give me a break my friend… i think you are the one who might want to “get out more” and get some fresh air…

    nobody ever said that comments and discussion would be over..we are simply trying to keep it away from the bulletin board/Facebook/personal blog concept…this very different from eliminating free discussion…and you well know that!

    you win the “selective reading” award for the day….

    however, i DID read your ENTIRE COMMENT and the last part of it was brilliant…thanks for that…

    ABELE…

    we only want to make that part of free exchange better…

    MW…

    the end of democracy? are we voting on something? c’mon dude…YOU have an intelligent very well respected voice here…you will always have a voice and a place here with no editing or changes of any kind…you well know that too…so are you not being just a wee bit dramatic?? ….hmmm, no i am not suggesting you change, just an observation… :)

    by the way, i do think democracy is certainly my preferred method for running a government of the people , by the people , and for the people…i do not recall those principles however to have ever been highly regarded as any part of the creative process…

    MIKE R..

    when i started Road Trips/Burn i was not a participant in the net world myself…i had never seen any other online publications…i do not now emulate any other publication…

    GORDON…

    yes, exactly….

    BOB…

    thanks for thinking…you always do…very interesting perspective on this…thinking

    THODORIS…

    of course, that is the good part…the part Bob refers to and i thought exactly what i was trying to say..maybe i was not clear…the primary function of Burn is for education and exchange and actual production…we HAVE actually produced…guidance for essays, a grant, payment for photographers, and a print magazine…just simply trying to make that part better and even more significant..cutting the bullshit might be a crude way of saying it, but that is really how i feel…i have a low tolerance for the bullshitters out there with nothing to say and no pictures and yet i will give so so so much of my time to those who really care, really think and really produce…..like YOU

    ERIC…

    i am ALWAYS energized by new work and new thoughts from people like you….i will never get tired from looking at new work…finding the nuggets is always inspirational…..from my mentoring perspective it is simply a matter of time management….i can really only manage a few at a time in terms of really being able to help….so picking and choosing whose work i support at any given time usually just works out in the flow of things…

    this has never really been a problem because frankly even though there are exponentially many more photographers, there is not a proportional amount of great work to see….but, that is another discussion… in terms of answering serious questions here, i do not believe i have ever faltered…serious questions, like serious work are stimulating for me and not at all tiring…

    we always move forward and the more really good things we do , the more we automatically become “nostalgic” for what we did in the past…this a a good thing…if you are nostalgic it means we succeeded…IF we stayed there, then we would become stagnant…..this is a journey Eric…..i am having the time of my life…..i always have wanted to share the ride…..the whole point of Burn from day one and the whole point now….so be nostalgic for what we did…but please gear up for what we will do….the ride ain’t over yet!!

    cheers, david

  138. DAVID :))

    ALL:

    THINK…think of another ‘magazine’ that not only pays their contributors, but inspires/creates photographic projects and essays: produces original work made specifically for that outlet…on top of that, what Photomagazine works as a learning tool, a place to discuss and DO editing with a master photographer/editor…what other magazine serves as a on-line seminar…what other magazine produces funding for photographers, not only through a grant it created itself and grew through it’s own funding/sourcing, but also inspired other outlets to join and support/fund…what other outlet actively works toward growing/nurturing photographers and more established photographers…i think folk get it wrong when they think it’s only about David’s magazine: David’s insight and brilliance was to create a kind of Foundation which produces brilliant work (look at the diversity and strength of the last 10 pieces alone…look at that list…and look at the award winners …look at what Sean (1st epf) has accomplished, and i remember the discussion when he and david worked, here,out editing schemes….this is a school….and a funhouse…and a magazine…and a photofestival….and a printhouse…and a valued place of learning…and a party….think big picture…..look what BURN has accomplished….

    keep the eye on that prize, and i just dont mean money folks :))….

    think of the tireless work being done here, inspired and directed and coached and helped by David…and by anton….and diego and anna-maria and mike and young tom and lassal and vivek and everyone….

    dialog is the key, but remember, BURN is more important to all of us then just a place to hang….

    don’t make me tell you how much it has helped my life and marina’s life as photographers! :)))

    ok, gotta run…

    hugs/cheers
    b

  139. Well, guilty as charged for the private/blog type postings as of late.. hoping to have contributed with some other usefull stuff as well.. and for sure one of those going out and shooting, if not specifically for Burn (as what I started I did way before burn or even road trips were born), at least with that bar raised higher set in mind.. and trying to actually finishing work.. hanging out here has indeed been a push in that direction, so thanks for that :)

  140. Change isn’t the worst even if one sometimes only realizes ages later Thomas :) :) Curious to see the next step …..

  141. ~ Thoughts on the issue of ‘Dialogue’ ~

    (in the words of BURNIANS that resonated with me most)

    What drew me back and back to BURN was always first and foremost the prospect to read what YOU had to say, the constructive and insightful perspective that you have on the work of others, your own work, the profession, life in general

    YES

    Not all photographers are capable of talking, of sharing their experience and their knowledge. Not all great artists are good teachers. David is, clearly.

    YES

    You have touched and inspired many of us… very few can do this… this is priceless

    YES

    BURN is not simply a magazine for photography. BURN is actually an educational tool, an educational place, a meeting place, a lyceum

    YES

    BURN was born out of dialogue

    YES

    I don’t usually read the comments anywhere else

    YES

    Part of David’s pedagogical method is just that: engage in ideas, in conversation, in argument, in challenge: get people to think and talk

    YES

    2 You have the right to speak
    3 You have the right to remain silent
    4 You have the right to get involved in a forum talk
    5 You have the right to speak for yourself

    YES

    The authorities must protect us from speech that may be deemed offensive

    YES

    You can’t ‘un-see’ something

    YES

    Some were nice, some were harsh, some were painful… but the ones which were written outside the comments and dialogue were the most painful…

    YES

    I would LOVE more conversation/argument under the photos

    YES

    They seem to end naturally and stay on topic more so than the dialogue posts

    YES

    It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure to embrace the new…

    YES

    We owe our thanks to David and Anton and to all the rest who’ve worked tirelessly over the last 2 years to make this place the best and most inspired Photo Magazine/Academy/rodeo possible

    YES

    There is only one BURN

    YES

    Your last sentence was rather ‘deep’ for me tonight… enjoy your life… you only have one… make it count… it almost resonated a bit like the end of a chapter… a final advice… as if we were not going to be able to dialogue with you anymore and then again… made me sad

    YES

    Whatever you decide will be just fine… it your house at the end of the day…

    YES

    What not to love?… you ALL deserve the best… we are not afraid to change… let’s embrace…

    ———————————————-
    I reserve a life-long, non-exclusive right to 5.

  142. a civilian-mass audience

         
    “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
     William Arthur Ward

    BURNIANS…I think…I BElieve…I am sure…you have…

    A GREAT TEACHER…perhaps…a rowdy one…but…definitely a Great Teacher
         
    “I feel a very unusual sensation – if it’s not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude”
    Thank you all…don’t take everything for granted…

    “the ride is not over yet” …
    Hiii…I am glad cause I have one way ticket…:)))))))))))

  143. CMA : “The great teacher inspires” YES.
    “…I feel a very unusual sensation – if it’s not indigestion..” ( hopefully no farting :) !

  144. a civilian-mass audience

    ALL…

    Please,don’t forget…MR.VINK and his exhibition at Bophana Center during Photo Phnom Penh festival organised by the French Cultural Center, opening officially on Nov. 28th.

    I will be watching you…ALL of you
    Don’t you dare…not to dare…:)))

    Your civi

  145. a civilian-mass audience

    KH…I did it…how do you know…???
    I tried to be silent…
    …I tried hard…It must be the Hot dog…:)))

  146. e·volve (-vlv)
    v. e·volved, e·volv·ing, e·volves
    v.tr.
    1.
    a. To develop or achieve gradually: evolve a style of one’s own.
    b. To work (something) out; devise: “the schemes he evolved to line his purse” (S.J. Perelman).
    2. Biology To develop (a characteristic) by evolutionary processes.
    3. To give off; emit.
    v.intr.
    1. To undergo gradual change; develop: an amateur acting group that evolved into a theatrical company.
    2. Biology To develop or arise through evolutionary processes.
    [Latin volvere, to unroll : -, ex-, ex- + volvere, to roll; see wel-2 in Indo-European roots.]

    The Free Dictionary.com

  147. JESSIE…

    yes, let’s find a good project for you in Toronto…stay in touch here or by email and we will find something that will reflect your most immediate world…

    KATHARINA…

    i will start looking at your new links on monday…

    JLW..

    thanks for the synopsis…funny how the discussion on comments has brought out some of the best comments!!

    EVA…

    i think i somehow did not make myself quite clear…my fault if there is misunderstanding….two things are at play here..first, i think that any kind of chatter is totally cool…we just need to find the right location….second, my time will best be spent mentoring those who are either working or seeking books to be published OR are asking relevant questions leading to those things…there is nothing WRONG with any kind of comment…i chatter here sometimes too….i honestly was only speaking of my time management and trying to find the best PLACE for the bulletin board chat..

    cheers, david

  148. Please only if you really have time David ! Otherwise forget.BTW: Lately some ” people ” were thinking that the BKK workshop already was 3 years ago. It’s amazing to see what ” some” participants, eg, James Chance , have done since then ( and there’s more).

  149. Hello DAH. Here is a question for you in relation to photography. I received Divided Soul and since then have been really studying layout and reading all three of yours side by side, looking at the style and trying to determine reasoning behind sequence of photos.

    In Divided Soul there are many of the photos that are in your book Cuba. I was wondering (and don’t take this wrong I LOVE BOTH) why the overlap of Cuban photos in DS and then a book on Cuba? Know there is a good answer.

    Also, in Cuba, there is the photo of the elderly woman with white hair standing before a mirror in what appears to be her slip and in her bedroom. What is the story of this photo? There are many stories that I would love to hear and I have heard a lot in your workshops, but this one really struck me as odd. How did a very tall white man manage to take a photo of a little ole’ lady in her slip in her bedroom????

    Lee

  150. LEE…

    the Cuba book came first in publication as a book, but the Divided Soul concept had been around for at least 15 years before i even went to Cuba…i took assignments from both Time Magazine and NatGeo in Cuba to round out my DivSou concept l and was also simply curious about Cuba…NatGeo gave me a lot of time in Cuba…we shot a film there, three different magazine stories..we had obviously enough material for a book , so NatGeo offered me a book…i was reluctant since while i loved the Magazine, i was not so fond of the book division for the kind of books i wanted to publish…they had a whole new bunch of folks on board when they made this offer and so i decided to go for it…as NatGeo books go we got a whole lot of things we asked for…no yellow logo for one…clean cover…and a whole new look…still DivSoul was on my mind and Phaidon came along about 2 years after Cuba…Phaidon is my most favorite publisher….and has a totally different audience than NatGeo..so i looked at DivSoul as its own book and a seminal book….i did not feel that way about Cuba……..if i just had to choose one book it would be DivSoul…one cut above the Cuba book imo….many photographers use pics from one book in another….

    i shot the one vertical picture in both books from the apartment of the little old lady with the slip…she called to me from her apartment above as i was walking down the street to see if i wanted to shoot from her balcony….i had no interest really, but was just being polite, so i went up….and shot the bluish vertical street shot with the old car which has ended up being one of my biggest selling prints…so, it always pays to follow suggestions!!! …on hot summer days and nights , most Cubans wear little, so it was not at all unusual for her to have been wearing a slip and not at all be embarrassed by it either….the young girl doing her homework by candle light is the same kind of situation…invited home by my taxi driver friend, and with no electricity that night, and it being about 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity, nobody cares about being scantily clad….

    cheers, david

  151. well, I am really curious which way Burn will follow. always emphasized I was a child of Road Trips.
    I always see the same names commenting. Why the rest don’t want be a part of dialog community? Do Burn need a dialog community?

    If free dialog will be stopped burn will have to change, especially layout. More like others magazines like foto8

    well, good luck, I’ll be a reader anyway

  152. Ah, I should have looked at publication dates. Now I remember some of this info from a workshop you shared about not being happy with Nat Geo books and getting it the way you wanted without logo, etc. Thanks for answering.

  153. MARCIN…

    we will definitely move to a new layout as soon as possible..to be able to expand the things we do…there will always be some form of dialogue community , but i do not know if it needs to be set up quite the way we have it…i am much more interested in using Dialogue as a way of getting things done, but others are interested in dialogue for other reasons…we just have to figure out the best way for what goes where..the dialogue community on Road Trips and Burn has always been a fairly small percentage of the overall readership, yet Bob makes a very good case for keeping it…his theory is that basically more good than bad comes out of it…we will see how it all shakes down….i do not want to be like Foto8

    cheers, david

  154. LOOKING FORWARD

    <3 <3 <3

    Your interest here has always been for others and the outcome is oft in the happiness and betterment of others; let the changes come, the good will continue.

    Thank you DAH

  155. ERICA…

    thanks…the whole point is to make this better for those who are actually either making photographs or editing or are writing seriously or trying to do so…and the “bulletin board” will exist…we need it for some things…we just can have it in a separate room so to speak …..this does not prevent anyone from saying whatever the hell they want…anyone who misinterprets that just did not read what i wrote slowly enough to digest….or, perhaps i wrote poorly….but since this IS the dialogue section, it is dialogue…a conversation..nothing set in stone yet….i am always always welcoming your ideas and those of others…

    cheers, david

  156. David,

    Nobody want to be a copy of someones ideas, but for now the layout of Burn was focused on comments and I am sure the comments part should be changed soon.
    For me burn was always more community than magazine. I was always felt odd knew I am grain of sand in this huge dune of real (hidden) audience of burn.

    Well, all I can say it’s I learned a lot being a part of road trips and Burn community. And especially I learn most when I discussed with you.
    priceless

    It is something I miss most.
    But I am sure, burn have to change.

  157. Lee – More questions like that about individual photographs please! : ) I so enjoy the answers. You cannot tell it in a caption and, especially with street photography, an amusing incident or a random meeting can lead in some convoluted way, to an image being made… a kind of synchronicity. I love hearing the stories behind other people’s photographs – it fascinates me how they came to be. I think it dates back to my grandmother who used to show me slideshows of her travels when I was a child and perhaps, because how, where and with whom I make a photograph means a lot to me.

    David AH – In case you end Dialogue suddenly or we are restricted from adding songs which ARE totally unrelated to photography, here’s one I’d like to share with you. I had not heard it until Thanksgiving Day when a new friend I have made on Facebook (I know you don’t like that place!), just a few months ago, put it on my page with such a beautiful message. It had me in tears. You may know it:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSlv_n-gBmk

    Looking forward to whatever the changes on BURN may be…

    Civi – What not to love???

  158. That’s it.. I decided, from now on I’ll change my name to
    PSGMNMSG

    that translates to:
    PanosSkoulidasGrandeMalakasNoM.S.G

    MSG is a chemical that many Chinese restaurants used to add in their food (in California )
    to add flavor..MSG finally banned from the Golden State almost 10 years ago due to many with allergic reactions or possible deaths.. So I remember the time u could see posted signs everywhere in those restaurants declaring “No MSG”…

    Sincerely yours
    PSGMNMSG
    “Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin..”

  159. JLW…

    there will never be restrictions and Facebook is cool…there just might be different rooms for different kinds of conversations, that’s all…but, who doesn’t like music, particularly Ray the man? thanks

    PANOS..

    good quote from your good friend….

  160. “Blake said that the body was the soul’s prison unless the five senses are fully developed and open. He considered the senses the ‘windows of the soul.’ When sex involves all the senses intensely, it can be like a mystical experience. ”
    Jim Morrison

  161. Jim Morrison’s thoughts on Burn Magazine

    “I like any reaction I can get with my music. Just anything to get people to think. I mean if you can get a whole room full of drunk, stoned people to actually wake up and think, you’re doing something. “

  162. Thomas sorry, I know very well that your question is directed to DAH
    but my 2c is that find something you love, that inspires you and excites you and
    then Self Asign …
    Like poetry… Do your own poetry and then give it to us (the drunk and the stoned)
    and seek for reaction.. Poke us, wake us up..
    You already qualified..

    (from my past experience on RoadTrips was that DAH with his Socratic methods of teaching,
    Helped me find out what’s in me, get in touch with my subconscious .. He never told me to go to venice or anything in particular .. Dig deep, do some drugs if u have to although it’s not the most recommended way, not suggesting drug addiction but mind expansion.. Yerba Mate can do it also or plain meditation)

    Jim Morrisons thought about drugs:
    “Drugs are a bet with your mind. “

  163. David; Just wondering if you had any thoughts on my idea of the longer exclusivity time Burn should receive for essays. Also; did Martin Parr’s Walmart shoot ever get underway?

  164. so are you not being just a wee bit dramatic?? …

    Well, gotta admit that’s always a possibility. Democratic was the wrong word, shoulda been something more akin to anarchy. Same old story. Forts get torn down, their power structures overthrown, then the insurgents end up building their own fort and defending it. I was a little wasted when I posted last night, but still managed to not be as incendiary as was my wont, first thought being that if the staff was really so against comments, maybe it was time to fire the staff, put Panos, Imants, and Ross in charge. Watch them build their own fort. Not a bad idea? Ummmm… nevermind.

    I’m in an even weirder mood than normal. Out working on a meth story. Had an interview set up with a guy that cooks it and is pretty much consciously committing slow suicide and had a ride along set up with the narc force if a lab were going to be busted while I was here, but the addict wigged out, which was predictable, and the cops spent a rare week without busting a lab so all I got is people talking about it. But funny thing was, the story everyone was telling me was different than the one I planned on telling, so I think it’s all good, got a better story than meth.

    Anyway, about the comments. Whatever. My serious two cents is that when it’s good, it’s the back and forth that makes this site special. I hope you can find a way to make it work, but if not, you already done good. Thanks.

  165. Panos, Marcin, Ross,

    thanks for your answers. That is what I thought, too. However, I read from one of David’s posts, that Burn also gives assignments. Maybe a misunderstanding :)

    The self-assignment route sounds good to me, I’ll have some more time around in a few weeks, and will compile something. All of what I have in mind is just a start, but maybe good enough to have a start for an essay.

    I’ll come back to you :)

  166. I have read most of the comments here and I have something to say:

    1. Mustard on a hot dog is vile and unnatural because mustard is vile and unnatural in much the same manner as soft-boiled eggs, liver, and broccoli are vile and unnatural, although mustard does have the virtue of not having your parents saying that you have to eat it, it’s good for you. The hot dog is designed for ketchup or chili with onions only.

    2. No matter what you do, there will be comments. Comments are like relatives; everyone has at least one, and that one is usually an asshole.

    3. Unique is a superlative and therefore does not take a modifier. There is no such thing as absolutely unique, since something is either unique in the first place or it isn’t at all. You cannot be somewhat unique or a little unique; you are unique or you aren’t.

    4. In reading these comments I detect a certain distasteful warm and fuzziness creeping in, and I want everyone to know that if for Burn 02 we must all gather at the kibbutz for a group hug and a chorus of Kumbaya, I am going to open a vein and go out like Frankie Pentangeli-I don’t think my liver can stand the stress.

  167. I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos-especially activity that seems to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road toward freedom…

    MW,
    Do you still think I should be “in charge”?
    :)

  168. Akaky said:
    2. No matter what you do, there will be comments. Comments are like relatives;
    ————-
    Akaky , many (always peace enforcers and/or intellectuals and other kinds of vegetarians ) here
    occasionally demand moderation, delete/snitch buttons, manifests, good manners , order, tranquility and good behavior..
    Those folks just because they have good parenting skills they think they also are good parents..
    But:

    “The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder. ”
    Jim Morrison

  169. And I love Patricia and her kind of pacifiers , vegans ,etc…
    But I usually prefer:

    “I like people who shake other people up and make them feel uncomfortable. ”
    Jim Morrison

  170. a civilian-mass audience

    BURNIANS…

    Did you see the workshops 2011 aisle…!!!is there a waiting list???
    LIGHTING…
         
    “Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is LIGHTING that does all the work”
     Mark Twain

    Oime…we Greeks …really talk a lot :))))))))))))

  171. I had to repost above, adding M. coz if I just say Jim , Burnians might think I’m quoting Jim Powers..
    (whom I love to death coz Jim P. Is more interesting and weird and honest than most tranquilizer tree hugging type of folks that post here, preaching Jesus , love and Kumbaya)

    Isn’t it funny that Jim P. Is way more famous than Jim Morrison in this forum!
    I dig it!

  172. a civilian-mass audience

    AKAKY…
    Group hug…avoid it by all means…
    It’s recommended only for civilians…

    BURN is the place to be…by all means…!!!

  173. a civilian-mass audience

    Cause…If we have time…

    I will stand my ground
    I won’t back down…
    I mean what I wrote…
    We talk much…
    And I won’t blame my dyslexia
    This time around…

    With all my respect…
    A Reborn Civilian

    Oime…nope,I preach love, I cut trees, I kill chickens,I eat kalamata olives,I fart a lot
    And
    I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLL!!!

    Who knows…I might be back…
    Don’t forget the lighting 2011…keep shooting …I will be watching YOU!!!

  174. Civi,
    Be you, a sinner that talks too much, that eats olives, kills chickens , cut trees and promotes ouzo (alcoholic beverage).. Civi you’re weird ..
    And that’s great!

  175. I vote for a ‘Mexican wave’ since we’re global!

    Going to do two right now… one East, one West……

    Done!

    And… they’re BURNING their way around the world @ the speed of LIGHT! we ALL like light!

    Love & light! : )

    Now I’m going to lie down because I have a stomach ache… too much Mexican wave perhaps?

  176. MW,
    Do you still think I should be “in charge”?

    Yea, definitely. Here’s to the new fort, same as the old fort.

    But what I meant to say when I went off on the personal anecdote is that with all the horrible suffering I (most of us) witness in this work it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of a few internet characters in a comment section don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that. [Ilsa lowers her head and begins to cry]

  177. MW – that sounds like a rude comment to me but as I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to put a rude comment in at this point, I am going to take it that I misinterpreted it. I just took a peek at your website again and love that opening image among others in the opening sequence. I didn’t see work containing ‘horrible suffering’? Did I miss it? Where is that on your site?

  178. “put Panos, Imants, and Ross in charge. Watch them build their own fort. Not a bad idea? Ummmm… nevermind”
    “a few internet characters in a comment section don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that”

    Sorry; But I may be a bit thick, cos I don’t really get that? My comments would be about 2-3 a day (at most), and i do try and make them positive. And yes; I do agree; they don’t amount to a hill of beans. I do know that I have never posted anything vitriolic, not my style really. Lifes too short to be a “post in haste and then have to apologise later” sort of person!

    As for being in charge; I’m happy with whatever the Burn team do. I’m only in charge of what I shoot, that’s enough for me! :-)

  179. As an aside; I do try to post positive stuff; another reason I am not afraid to post under my own name. I’m not worried that my comments will come back to haunt me…

  180. And now for something completely different…

    Bedbugs are all the rage in New York these days, in the same way that radical chic and mau-mauing the flak catchers used to be. There’s scarcely a day goes by any more without some new report of bedbugs showing up in the local media and sometimes in their beds as well. And now I hear that there’s even bedbugs in the Waldorf-Astoria, and you now that when the grande dame of Manhattan hotels bows to a passing fashion then somehow or other we’ve reached some sort of very important cultural milestone and nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever be the same way ever again. The bedbug has become so popular here that there is even a movement underway to get Albany to declare the bedbug the state insect, a job Joel Steinberg has held for many years. Strangely enough, I have not heard that the bedbug craze has reached Albany itself, but then bloodsucking is an old habit there and the arrival of a fresh batch of parasites would not unduly alarm the inhabitants.

    Why bedbugs should be so popular this year is something of a mystery. Granted, fashions in insects change, just as they do for women’s hats and men’s suits (single breasted or double breasted, sir, or do you even care?). Only a few years ago, anyone who wanted to be anybody had spiders in their houses and made sure all the dinner party guests saw the creepy little things whenever the guests came for dinner. Spiders were the thing to have in your house, no doubt the result of the Spiderman movies, and the rarer and more dangerous the arachnid the more chic you would be. The traffic in black widow spiders alone almost brought that species to the brink of extinction and many arachnid counterfeiters did a booming business in painting funnel weaver spiders, an altogether harmless species, black, and then selling them as black widows to an unsuspecting public. This sort of thing would have gone on for years, had it not been for one more of the fickle public’s sudden twists and turns, a pivot that dropped spiders like a Pet Rock and made the praying mantis the headless king of fashionable insects. With the meteoric rise of the praying mantis, a phrase I’ve never really understood, given that meteors don’t rise, they fall, bathrooms all over New York resounded with the sound of the fashion conscious flushing their now terribly passé spiders down the drain. Not all the spiders died in their sudden descent into New York’s sewer system; I’ve heard stories that many spiders survived and flourished in the lower depths, with generations of spiders leaving behind webs so thick they ensnare rats the size of small dogs and even the occasional baby alligator now and again.

    And before the spiders were all the rage, there was Beatle mania, which flourished for a few years in the 1960’s, and before that Crickets were big, at least until Buddy Holly died, and before him fleas were wildly popular, for reasons I am not sure I fathom at the moment. You would think that after all the misadventures the fleas caused in the fourteenth century, what with the little critters spreading the bubonic plague throughout the length and breadth of Europe and killing a quarter of the continent’s population, people would regard fleas as something horrific, something no sane person would ever choose to get involved with, like hard drugs or devil worship or the life insurance business, but you would be wrong. We are talking fashion here, boys and girls, and if fashion dictates that fleas are in this year, then fleas are in and you’d better have your fleas out where the cognoscenti, a word that does not come with a side order of marinara sauce, which is a bit of a cheat, if you ask me, can see them. Yes, fleas were everywhere in those days. There were flea markets to shop at and fleabags to put your flea market purchases in while you took in a flea circus and wished everyone a Fleas Navidad, which I always thought was a good name for a stripper. Vanessa Cardui is another good name for a stripper, combining, as it does, choreography and lepidopterology, but I digress here.

    The spider rage lasted until the late 1990’s, when it faded from view at about the time the Lewinsky scandal struck. With a distracted press and a polarized political situation in the country, the spider went the way of the Nehru jacket and the liberal Republican. After that, the bug craze ended for a while. There were a few attempts to resurrect it; for a while everyone thought that the deer tick was going to be the next new thing, but the tick didn’t really go anywhere, despite all the type, and most of the best minds in advertising slowly, and very reluctantly, gave up and came to the conclusion that America’s long love affair with the bug was finally over. Bugs had finally worn out their welcome and gotten stomped on once and for all.

    And then, just when bug lovers everywhere were about to despair and turn to quilting or collecting 15th century sports memorabilia, the bedbugs arrived on the scene, years late, to be sure, but still incredibly welcome, nevertheless. They are everywhere now; even the New York Public Library has bedbugs the size of the Cat in the Hat in all of its branch libraries, and the Met, the Met, and the Mets, have bedbugs piled up to a second violin’s knees. There are some holdouts—the Yankees will not abandon spiders and neither will the city’s Department of Corrections; the inmates on Riker’s Island apparently love their spiders more than life itself—but every other major institution in the city is laden with bedbugs and more than happy to let you know about it.

    But the Yankees and the inmates will eventually surrender; the wave of bedbug mania seems too strong for any institution to stand in its way for very long. I’ve seen a good many bug crazes come and go, and to date I’ve never seen one with this kind of staying power. Of course, if DDT makes a comeback this craze will disappear almost immediately, but DDT is on the environmental movement’s list of seven deadly sins, which is good news if you’re a bedbug, but not if you’re a spider-loving Yankee fan. Now if the Yankees could find a bedbug with a great slider and willing to pitch middle relief, well, that would change everything, wouldn’t it? The Yankee management couldn’t let the little bug sign with the Red Sox, could they? No, they couldn’t: that would be stupid.

  181. I’m sorry, but as many Burnians are not New Yorkers, or even Americans, I should point out what Albany is. Albany is the capital of the state of New York, the seat of New York state government, the cornucopia of corruption, the palace of peculation, the Versailles of malfeasance, and New Yorkers, especially those of us who do not live in the city or its suburbs, use the word Albany to, as one political commentator recently put it, denote a criminal enterprise run out of Manhattan. The Met is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the Metropolitan Opera, and the Mets are allegedly a professional baseball team that plays in a brand new stadium in Queens, although this is a bit hard to believe; coming in fourth in your division (out of five) is not a good sign

  182. Akaky – I would just love to print this out, take it to down to my lounge with a cup of coffee and read it under a lamp, to savour every line… but, alas, my printer and computer are no longer compatible, my eyes are tired from looking at a computer and it’s getting late in the day… I will copy and paste it onto my desktop so I can find it with ease in the morning. Can’t wait – cos I love your quirky way of seeing, you insight and turn of phrase. Hope you avoided the pistachios!

    Albany is the name of a top security prison in the UK… ha!

  183. MW – that sounds like a rude comment to me

    Don’t like it? Take your authoritarian ass back where you came from. Then take a flying fuck at a rolling donut. Take a flying fuck at the moooooooooooon!

    Vive la insurrecion!

  184. THOMAS…

    what i did before, and what lead to some amazing essays, was to just listen to about 20-25 ideas and then just chose 10 i believe..out of those 10, i think three just never materialized, but 7 did…it was great for the readership here because everyone watched Patricia shoot Falling Into Place, and Panos shoot Death in Venice and Eric shoot boxers and Audrey decide to shoot her parents instead of the teenage girl she was also thinking about…it all came together in about 6 months of work between them and me …..

    ROSS…

    yes, i did ..thanks for thinking…i am reconsidering based on what you said…although i want to make as fair a deal for the photographers as i possibly can….i am a photographer first, and an editor/publisher second…

    MW…

    you made me laugh out loud…well, yes , i am always all for the insurgents of course…remember amigo it is THIS rebel army that is trying to shame the real ESTABLISHMENT into taking good care of photographers…it is to this end that we are working…so the enemy is not thee or me, but THEM!! smiling..they are not the enemy either actually…some really nice folks are just in a jam themselves and belong to large corps that are like super tankers trying to spin on a dime…they cannot do it…so we gotta cut em some slack…

    and yes, in the larger scheme of things blogs of every size and shape are not very important…and we as individuals are but a grain of sand on a very large beach…ok, great, now see if YOU can do something for heavens sake!!! (Ilsa crying harder runs to Michael’s arms)

    sorry you missed the meth lab shots…be careful, doesn’t that stuff explode from time to time?? also the cops might not think you are just a dispassionate reporter…in any case, i am all for anarchy ..but put Panos in charge?? isn’t he already in charge?? hmmmm, well, can’t we come to some sort of middle ground??

    cheers, david

  185. David – what are there rules as far as language and the content of comments are concerned? the use of the f-word for instance? perhaps i should have asked that first, apologies…

  186. we as individuals are but a grain of sand on a very large beach…. exactly…. what is the point of all the rudeness????????

  187. JLW…

    we have never had language rules before, but then again we have never had such colorful language used here before in quite this context…my impression was that Michael was tongue in cheek up until he wrote to you and was seriously peeved after your first comment to him and you just flat out upped the ante on “the F word” actually written in anger by a heretofore proper English lady…hmmmmm…both of you must now stay in detention after school….

  188. AKAKY…

    seems to me i left new york just in time…all quiet bugwise down here in Carolina…well except for the brown recluse spider which will cause you a world of pain should you decide to make one a pet…it is hard for me to imagine i have never been attacked by a bedbug…i have slept in some pretty weird places in some pretty sketchy environments over the years….only to return to the United States of America and now live in fear of bedbugs in New York City home of the free and land of the brave…as you can tell from the comments here, that is not all that is going to hell….alas, i just want to live a simple life, but seems not to be…worse i cannot even blame W anymore for everything….so right now, as much as i hate to say it, under these dire circumstances, i say bring back W and DDT…you never really appreciate anything until it is gone…

    cheers, david

  189. “Violence isn’t always evil. What’s evil is the infatuation with violence. ”

    “We fear violence less than our own feelings. Personal, private, solitary pain is more terrifying than what anyone else can inflict. ”
    Jim Morrison

    People that get easily upset with others are in a personal turmoil..
    They blame others for everything and anything and most of the time can’t see that they, themselves is the problem.. Problem is within .. The hand that stabs them is their own hand..
    All of those that seek tranquility , peace and harmony and rules and police are terrified by their own abyss..

  190. DAH, Anton, All,

    I hope that a comments section can be retained on Burn. Even though I don’t write here very much, I check the comments at least every other day as it has become a virtual salon to me for all things photographic. I have learned enormously from posts here, and I thank you all for sharing… I used to read David’s posts on Road Trips – but not the comments, as they seemed hard to follow due both to the format and the “clubby” atmosphere. For whatever reason, when Burn went live I began to follow the comments and realized how much I was missing.

    To me, the major problem with comments on Burn is the software format. I can’t help but feel that we are asking WordPress to perform outside its intended use. The main problem I see with the dialogue comments (aside from unsavory posts) is that they are in a chronological linear format, regardless of content or context – this fact makes it hard to follow the multiple conversations/threads that may be addressed on any given day. Moving discussion to Facebook would probably result in a similar problem…

    A dedicated forum host would allow Burn discussions to exist in multiple threads, search postings by individuals, allow users to block posts by certain users, et cetera. (I don’t know how many times I’ve struggled to go back and find a certain post without much work.) Perhaps a link under each essay could re-direct to a new thread for discussion. Those of you who use the Rangefinder Forum or APUG or many other photo forums probably know what I mean.

    Anyway, this is my 2 cents presented humbly and with a thankful heart to those that have made Burn what is today… but I can say that the comments/dialogue/discussion is part of what sets Burn apart and I will not visit as much if we lose them. I think lively discussion is vital to the heart of Burn.

  191. a civilian-mass audience

    I will take a bite out of a bedbug before it bites me…

    Those poor creatures…were before me in this Universe and they will be around…
    when I will go …but I will fight them …and I will avoid them…
    by all means…

    Just to let you know…since we are in an international arena…
    Some of us who are ESL readers and posters…
    Have problem with some of the written expressions…
    For example…I tried to translate…”have a flying fuck…but up…oime…we gotta cut em slack…
    2 cents…channel a man…etcetera”
    Therefore…there might be some misunderstandings …and we better resolve them…

    MR.VINK …we will be there…

    P.S 3rd round of drinks …on me!!!

    In private or wherever it might be appropriate…IMO

  192. a civilian-mass audience

    And we better resolve them…in private or wherever it might be appropriate…

    We can All do better …
         
    “We all leave footprints in the sand, the question is, will we be a big heal, or a great soul.”
    Love you all…

  193. David – “the F word” actually written in anger by a heretofore proper English lady…
    What gives you the impression that I am a ‘proper English lady’ and do you usually categorize people like that and how would you categorize yourself in three words? Actually, the comment wasn’t written in anger. I felt it was the ‘appropriate’ response under the circumstances to ‘mirror’ the language…

  194. DAVID,

    thanks for the insight.
    I currently have three projects, in which I already took some pictures. However, I’m a bit stalled in each of them. Within the next days, I’ll prepare some pictures and some explaining words what I want to achieve and where I am stuck. Do you want me to do this here in the dialogue or is an eMail easier. I’m fine with both.

  195. JUSTIN SMITH…

    i think yours is a brilliant idea…that would solve many problems at once….let me look into this with more detail….

    JLW..

    i do not think i could not have been more obviously tongue in cheek with the “proper English lady” bit :) …yes, i categorize the hell out of everyone…isn’t that equally obvious? myself in three words? poor white trash… :(

  196. THOMAS…

    the best use of the comment system is when used for actual dialogue…so throw out your three ideas right here…succinct please…pitches for magazines are generally just a paragraph or two for the initial pique….

    IMANTS…

    once you get that Alice song in your head you cannot get it out…gee thanks, now i gotta spend my whole morning walking around my house singing Alice…

  197. poor white trash?… why would you say that?… i am not good with sarcasm or cynicism… i don’t understand… we are all equal – ‘one people’ – the same beneath the skin… as grains of sand on a beach… isn’t that right?

  198. a civilian-mass audience

    JWL…

    Are you in the Europe area… ???
    You should come and visit me…
    You can help me with My English and I can introduce you to my easy going … Let go..breathing way of life…along with some ouzo, feta cheese and olives…
    You are a Special person JENNY like All of my BURNIANS…
    If I were you I will let my hair down…I will grab my camera…and I will hit the road…
    And then I will come back here and share my vision…
    Hmmm…but I don’t have hair, camera…:))))))))

    We love you JENNY…defend yourself…by all means… but let go and laugh      
    “I am serious, so I laugh a lot. You need to laugh. You don’t laugh enough. I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.”
     Maya Angelou

    Come on BURNIANS…go out and bring your vision…is that why this place is all about…???
    Focus, refocus…do something…your time is limited…

    Thank you
    Your civi

  199. a civilian-mass audience

    JLW…it’s a typo …there is no hidden message…

    Just to clear the air..:)))
    Love

    P.S MR.HARVEY…can you open some windows…I had beans and broccoli …:)))

  200. MW – I think you misinterpreted my initial response to you. No sarcasm and no cynicism were in it – only a genuine interest.

  201. Civi – Thanks a million for the offer, I’d really love to do that one day! And thank you for your advice but you appear to have forgotten that I have been traveling and taking photographs for the past 4 years! Getting some of that work out must be the priority at this point. Thanks though.

    Hugs to you, Mr Harvey and the crew. xox

  202. David – you are amazing, love you to bits! : ) it’s a pity the screen doesn’t refresh when a comment is written cos it means i miss when new comments appear, like your comment just now… i only just saw it now… i think it is because i am on such a tiny computer screen so i only see the last comment that is posted!!! hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday! i have a LOT of equipment problems that seems to cause confusion… also VERY difficult to go back and forth to read comments so i miss a lot of them… :(

  203. CIVI and David

    Please would you not offer unsolicited advice. Civi, you know your problem… we already discussed it…
    If I want your advice, I will seek it… my God, you are WORSE than my own family!… outta here…

  204. a civilian-mass audience

    JENNY,
    Thank you …I can’t talk of behalf of MR.HARVEY…but I am your family,I am your civilian next to you…
    Yes, we have discussed lots of stuff…in private…
    And I am hurt now…cause I don’t like advices …I don’t do advices…
    I do suggestions…as you would to your friend…
    Your words really hurt me JENNY…

    Oime…I am here to thank you …that’s the truth…plain Greek …
    I am here to Thank MR.HARVEY, the other BURNIANS…cause I feel it…
    I am here for your journey and my journey too…

    I LOVE YOU ALLLLL…and thank you…new era is coming…Can you Feel it??? :))))))))))

  205. a civilian-mass audience

    Ohh…by the way…

    One chicken dead…lots of rain here…hmmm…
    Life goes on
    We got to move on…

  206. Civi… I love you to bits and there is nobody, at all, that I have met on BURN that has offended me – yet. It takes time to get to know people, that is all. YOU are the most loving person on BURN and I know that 99% of your comments are conveyed with LOVE. You like to tease me and no doubt there is something in my character that encourages that in you – this thing about a typo what was mentioned yesterday or the day before that you brought up again today for instance? i’m not sure why you would bring it in – entertainment value? anyway, I’m sending you a smile – and EVERYONE a smile – because the windows are open and isn’t it just an amazingly beautiful day?! : )

    As far as I know, we have not discussed anything in private that you have not discussed on here. If you recall, some time back you mentioned that you thought you could be ‘co-dependent’. You said you felt it was a problem and needed work on it, or? I did feel your comment went beyond banter and towards control – not to say that I do not give that feeling on here to others, clearly that IS the case, but you know my situation with a lot of work on…

    The truth is that I would love to go somewhere wonderful right now – to be where you are drinking wine, ouzo and eating feta sounds amazing as does Maui and the Outer Banks and Italy and just about everywhere I hear that Burnians are… but I am where I am… my heart always wants to respond on a heartbeat, jump on that plane… I wish I could be everywhere at the same time… sorry for any confusion.

  207. a civilian-mass audience

    JLW,
    I am a human…like you and like all BURNIANS…
    I wish I have a switch to turn off,on my feelings…
         “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
      Maya Angelou
    Regarding typo: I am dyslexic with ipad…
    Regarding co-dependency: I am a survivor of an abusive relationship…and I am proud of me:)
    I believe in you…you are a hard working photographer…
    My door will be open for you…and for all of you.

    .but I will not abuse anymore the open window policy.
    MY sincere apologies to BURN and All the BURNIANS for misusing your time…
    BURN is for YOU…the photographers…

    P.S I had to clear the air…
    BACK TO OUR REGULAR PROGRAM…THOMAS I am proud …
    I just received an email from REIMAR…he is fine, he is busy shooting…
    He has amazing photos…
    Come on MY BURNIANS…
    Surprise me…:)))))))))
    BURN is not a place

  208. I would be the last person in this hotel to call the cops but I’m calling right now..
    Tired of domestic violence and abuse..
    People drink and keep slapping their wives kids friends etc..
    People apologize , avoid jail time, they already know they are on probation and they could care less..
    And all that ironically while we are talking once again about banning comments or not..
    Ok then you asked fir cops? Cops are here!
    You act like a child that needs too much attention time,
    Time Out time then ..
    Life with no sense of humor is worthless!
    Like I mentioned earlier , nothing evil in violence,
    But your infatuation with violence is evil indeed..

  209. I remember a few ago I was in a mall trying to find a pair of converses Rouges to buy..
    Then I saw a family of three ..
    Mom, dad and in the middle a 4 year old little boy..
    The boy seemed to be pissed of and grouchy..
    And then I read the logo on his T-shirt:
    “he doesnt play along well with others”..
    I thought it was funny back then,
    But I don’t find it funny anymore:(

  210. Panos, you might know.. or anybody else here:

    is there a site/program/something out on the net where pictures can be dragged and dropped around and put into folders? Not only by myself, but also by others? Something that makes edits easy and fast?

    Thanks!

  211. EVA…PANOS

    Eva, you forgot to mention, easy and fast on skype edits..Panos it seems when i worked on Picasweb with you it was better than what i just tried with Eva…didn’t we drag and drop? anyway, looking for ANYTHING that keeps me from spending the first half hour trying to figure out the system..

  212. Picasa (it’s free-still free)
    Put photos in folders , people can see and if u give them your password they are able to edit ..
    If u don’t they can simply view..
    Now another way to edit in picasa without giving your password is by
    name your photos with numbers in sequence
    (1,2,3…etc) and picasa creates a link for you..
    Then copy and paste link in your skype window and send it to
    me (which I happened to be the best editor in USA -laugh with me here- and editor tells u..
    I like numbers 3,4 and 6 for example..
    Photosheltet can do the latter too, but only picasa as far as I know
    can let the editor edit if he/she has your password..
    (I’m sure the tech wizzards out there anton, haik and rest they know
    Numerous new software etc)
    But picasa comes first in my mind as for today :)

  213. Copy the link and paste in skype window..
    But don’t forget to number each photo
    (drag and drop works well in Mac but not in old pc’s-unless they have windows7..
    Just copy and paste link

  214. Sheesh, could have thought of that, I mean the password thing.. thanks.. still no drag and drop on picasa, and putting photos from one folder to another is a pain… there MUST be something better..

    Thanks, and thanks David.. I see what you see/how you see it.. gotta work from there :)

  215. If anyone knows more please chime in..
    I by no means am an expert on computers..
    Nor I’m enforcing/advertising picasa as the ultimate tool or
    anything like that..
    Please all help out.. That’s a good “problem” to solve..
    Any other free programs to send links (foldered) to an editor?

  216. Ok again, if u password protect your photos then the editor needs authentication password key..
    U also have the option not to put any password at all..
    The best way for the Editor not only just to choose the best photos,
    But also TO MOVE PHOTOS AROUND AND CHANGE SEQUENCE is for the editor to log in
    Into your account just like u do..
    Using your user ID and password..( this only if editor needs to move stuff around or even delete)
    But I’m sure there must be something else out there..
    We’ll have to wait until all tech wizards wake up)

  217. Yep.. right, one can sequence thumbs in picasa, forgot that.. thing is that they’re crops of the pics only.. still better than nothing though.. good thinking..

  218. Eva, yes picasa is a pain..
    Best way to do is create the folder in your DESKTOP first..
    Then drag and drop “anywhere” in picasa..
    It will copy your folder asap..
    Do NOT try to import your photos..
    1) create folder on Desktop first
    2) then drag and drop anywhere ip picasa
    3) click “view online” and u done..
    Link will be ready (just don’t click on Slideshow-u don’t want that link unless u posting it here for us to enjoy- but the editor does not need a slideshow)
    I think I should do a picasa workshop;)

  219. David, taking notes.. now sticking that pencil behind the ear, gotta make dinner NOW.. people always eating here, uffff…

  220. Eva , yes , sequence your photos first in the order u like, then double click the first one and NUMBER THEM.. (edit button down below).. Then u do the “view online ” thing

  221. Eva cool:).. U put the fine Italian wine on the table and I promise u I’ll bring two fine American McDonalds plastic cups to pour it in!
    (like they say: don’t sit on the table if u bringing nothing to it ;)

  222. Panos.. might keep that wine to myself.. found this:

    http://www.fotoalbum.eu

    There you can drag around pictures, delete them clicking on an icon near every picture and even move them to another folder, by just clicking on another icon near the pic.. and it’s for free..

    Ok, you’ll still get a cup of wine for the idea of sharing the password ;))

  223. Picasa is better for number of pictures in one folder, fotoalbum.eu allows only for 40 (free version), but you can have up to 25 folders/1000 pictures.

    Fotoalbum.eu is better for drag and drop and delete, plus thumbs are bigger (the slidebar function to enlarge thumbs in Picasa does not work when in the folder where you can sequence pictures).

    Perhaps there’s a program that encompasses all of it..

    Who can’t say no to a McD plastic cup from the States?? ;)

  224. BURN NOTICE !!! Erica MacDonald & Andrew Sullivan both have photos published in today’s New York Times — separate stories — NY region metropolitan section. prob online as well. just saying.

  225. It’s such a funny coincidence (speaking of McDonalds and then EMCD with same last name gets published )
    ..lol.. No pun intended..
    So Eva yea, McD cups go up in value as we speak;)

    andrew, EMCD , congratulations :)

  226. EXHIBITION NOW ON IN LONDON:

    Just a reminder that my exhibition “Field Works: Photographs from East Anglia” is now on at Eleven Spitalfields gallery. Details as follows:

    11 Princelet Street
    Spitalfields
    London
    E1 6QH
    http://www.elevenspitalfields.com

    The gallery is open 12 – 6pm Tuesday to Sunday, and by appointment.
    For further details phone: 020 7247 1816

    Further details about the show and the “in conversation” event on 7 December can be found here:
    http://www.elevenspitalfields.com/shows/field-works-photographs-from-east-anglia/

    The gallery is a lovely intimate space located in a Georgian house originally built in 1720.

    If any Burn readers are coming along on the 7 December or would like to try and arrange a time to meet me at the gallery please get in touch.

    Cheers,

    Justin

  227. DQ, Panos – thanks for that…

    My piece (Bingo in the Blood, written oh so well by N.R. Sonny Kleinfield) is in Sunday’s printed paper (today), 5 photos, exciting :) in the Metropolitan section for those who are in the area – or there is an online component (slideshow at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/28/nyregion/28bingo.html?ref=nyregion, full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/nyregion/28bingo.html?emc=eta1)

    Feels great to have such a wonderful layout for my first piece for the New York Times, and to have had such good people behind it.

    Will look for Andrew’s – or if anyone has a link?

  228. a civilian-mass audience

    The Universe is working…!!!

    Bravo BURNIANS…EMCD,ANDREW…JUSTIN…
    and I know…you are more out there…

    Where did I put this wine…I kept it in my cellar…The year 1974
    Hmmm….I haven’t seen it since then…
    Well…time to celebrate…
    Viva !!!

  229. ERICA…ANDREW

    congrats to both of you for your play in the NYT today….i have seen Erica’s bingo piece (i wondered whatever happened to Bingo), but not Andrew’s…will snoop around for it….clues anyone?

  230. Eva
    Just checked out photoalbum. Perhaps it is easy to edit, but it’s pretty ugly layout, the photos seem to load slowly, and the ads and pop-ups are very annoying.

    I like the look and speed of pbase, and the layout is very customisable, with no ads, however editing is not easy, and changing picture order seems impossible once they are downloaded. I’d love to find a site that offers the best of both worlds.

  231. GORDON

    still seems like picasweb the best although not great…yea the photoalbum site crops the picture which is totally annoying..pbase sounds like the worst if hard to edit and you cannot sequence…seems like the best has yet to be invented…

  232. Bob;)

    ALL (in the Americas) please do not forget to watch RESTREPO (by Tim Hethrington),
    National premiere in the National Geographic channel on cable.
    Check for local time.. I think it’s around 9pm ET

  233. Wrong line to pick up a stripper:

    “Sex is full of lies. The body tries to tell the truth. But, it’s usually too battered with rules to be heard, and bound with pretenses so it can hardly move. We cripple ourselves with lies. ”
    Jim M.

  234. a civilian-mass audience

    All…(outside Americas) please do not forget to BURN ( by MR.HARVEY and the Incredibles)
    Universal premiere…in the local Internet coffee shops…
    24/7…MR.P…can you beat this one?:)))))

    BOBBYYYY…thank you…:)
    How do you manage to surprise me…and only 16 words…!
    I know…you will be back to compensate…:)))))

    Shall I eat the drowning chicken…?
    Hmmm…its a rhetorical question…I am in my philosophy mode!

  235. Hey Ross, sorry, no disrespect was intended. I see you as one of the good, very good guys here and honestly can’t think of a negative thing to say about you (help me out here, Imants)(no, on second thought, don’t). I was just riffing off David’s recent quip that more people read the blog than Panos, Imants and Ross. But I see why that would be upsetting. Kind of like referencing Moe, Curly and Larry, which is totally unfair to you. Should be more like Moe, Curley and Marcus Welby M.D. You probably don’t get that, eh? I know I make too many obscure references, especially for non-Americans. Marcus Welby M.D. was a very respectable character, so comparing you to him is a great compliment. If I knew any respectable Kiwi characters, I’d compare you to one of them instead. Is there even such a thing as a respectable Kiwi (besides you and your family, of course)? I’m sure there must be, but who knows? And no disrespect to you either Panos, or Imants either. Big hug, Panos. And a big hug from behind for you, Imants. You know, I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back. If my mother knew I was a commenter on the internet, she’d kill me. She thinks I’m selling dope. I’m playing the Catskills all week, so come around for a show. Last night there was a girl knocking on my hotel room door all night! Finally, I let her out. Is that your hat or are you wearing a cabana?

    Anyhoo, I wasn’t angry when I told Jenny to take a flying fuck. It was just more Slapstick. On the rare occasions that I get angry, I tend to take a more oblique approach than the time honored “fuck you” retort. And the flying fuck quote can be used with a lot of nuance, so rather than explain it concisely, I’ll just recommend that you read the novel. You may find this difficult to believe given the content of the post, but I have a policy that I try real hard to adhere to of not making personal attacks, so that was not a personal attack on Jenny. It was a multi-faceted joke about the whole doing away with comments thing. David got most of those jokes and references, which I found heartening given my track record in these matters. Or maybe he’s just mouthing soothing sweet nothings while backing slowly away from the crazy man? Hard to tell. Anyway, I left out the punch line for the flying fuck post as per the aforementioned policy against personal attacks, but would be happy to share it irl. I’m pretty sure you all would chuckle appreciatively, if not laugh out loud.

    What else? Ah, more seriously. Most of the regular commenters here, certainly those of us who cause most of the trouble, are very adept at internet knife fights. Of course slicing and dicing the occasional tourist that walks up the wrong alley is not the least bit of a challenge, but on the other end of the spectrum, you’uns can’t really do all that much to get through each other’s formidable defenses. So it tends to be the spectators that get splattered. Can’t blame them for fleeing in disgust, though I guess we can blame them for wanting to assert authority to censure speech. Nevertheless, pity we can’t talk more about photography. That would solve so many problems. Speaking for myself, I promise to try harder.

    Finally, Panos, since you’re officially in charge now, I suggest that you ban all comments that don’t contain at least one of George Carlin’s infamous seven words, or something at least equally offensive. Whaddaya think, motherfucker? [Meanwhile, Monsieur Ric smiles slyly, a twinkle in his eye, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his lip. Play it again, he says. Play it again]

  236. a civilian-mass audience

    MV…
    628 words …and counting…!:)
    Thank you.

    Location Bophana Center
    #64, street 200, Oknhia Men
    Phnom Penh, Cambodia
    Created By
    Bophana Centre
    More Info PHOTO PHNOM PENH Exhibition
    From 28 November 210 to 2 January 2011.
    John Vink, Photographer and freelance journalist.
    Opening: 28 November 2010 at 2 pm (Tuk Tuk from one venue to another)

    To mark his twenty years of life in Cambodia, a selection showing his characteristic approach to composition, at once firm and fluid, among the thousands of images he has devoted to his adopted country. Pure black and white, and part of a beautiful tradition, he chooses subjects that are cultural, political, and social.

    I will be back

  237. MW; no worries, things get easily get taken out of context when seen in black and white.

    Just watched a Brit movie called “Boy A”. Great stuff, the sort of movie the Brits do so well; mixed emotions for a character that you don’t know whether you should be liking or not etc… Well worth watching.

  238. I am sure most will be happy with the changes in that direction. My opinion…………………….. the “far right wing” wags it’s tail and rips out the soul.

  239. What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…………..the comment that I responded to went AWOL ………………. just goes to show chaos shouldn’t be abandoned

  240. Gordon, agreed, the ads are annoying, wouldn’t want that on a site, but it only serves for editing purposes, nothing else, easy shoving around of pictures.. the crop is much more annoying, and the limit of numbers of pictures on one page and in one folder.. wiil keep on searching..

    It’s frustrating to waste someone’s (David’s) time on logistics.. already feel ‘guilty’ to take up time, always figure I should be able to do it on my own..

  241. Might have found something:

    http://www.myphotoalbum.com/

    Free version (with and ad) allows you to:

    – create folders and display all of them on one page

    – batchupload or single upload (where you already can give titles/numbers to pictures)

    – change the layout grid in order to have 100 uncropped thumbnails on one page

    – resize thumbs up to 200px

    – delete, drag and drop and/or put pictures in other folders

    – make other users to admins for one or multiple folders, so they can do the same, if you don’t want to share your password

    It is a bit of work for the one creating the album, but the essential thing is it to make it EASY and FAST for the editor.. overall seems better than fotoalbum.eu and picasa so far..

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