i probably am going to have to neglect you for a bit…perhaps not much posting in the next two weeks…yes, i am off to shoot "youth culture" in seoul, starting today in earnest…i suppose i will be shooting mostly in the afternoons and evenings, because i suspect "youth culture" is not a sunrise shoot…
but, i could be wrong….this is an industrious, hard working, on the case, high tech culture…the Koreans do not mess around…they really do "just do it"…in any case, whether i can post some mornings remains to be seen….if i can, i will…
now another thing to think about….as far as i can see, the men and women in the "youth culture" in seoul are all photographers….i mean all….i have never had my own picture taken so much in my life!!! maybe i should just edit all of the pictures that they are taking all the time!!! that would indeed be seriously interesting….but, that leaves me with a question for you…
since everyone world wide seems to be taking pictures all the time with mini digis and cell phones etc etc…and photo sharing websites are collectively taking in a million pictures or so per day, where does that leave serious photographers?? do we get "lost" ?? it is raining pictures out there…so how do we stay high and dry??
i have been thinking about all of this for a long time and have my own answer and perspective….but, as usual, you go first…
“We all have had keyboards for a while. We all have pencils, paper and know how to write for an even longer time. It doesn’t make all of us poets.” Tomé, you’ve said it all.
“The best food I ever had was in the kitchen of a woman who had never cooked professionally … she just cooked.” Tom, maybe you’re right (about the food) but you forget an important thing: that woman IS a professional. Even if she’d never been paid for that, she knows all the tricks for making an wonderful meal, like my mother and my grandma… My actual girlfriend, though, knows how to use the oven, but she’s not even close to be a professional. (But i am: if anyone’s thinking about to come to Madrid, please contact me. I invite you to taste some of my sea food specialities).
I think that what really matters isn’t if we’re paid or not for our photographs, but how much of us we can put inside them. And i think everyone here at the community agrees with the fact that even when every single person in the world have a camera there will be still place for professional photographers. It’s not about how to shoot. It’s about what, and when. It’s about why.
It’s good to be back after some time out.
Cheers, David.
hello all…
well, well…this was one of the most interesting discussions yet…and all of you continue to be the best writers in blogland….this is quite the collection of comments…thank you…
one way or another your collected writings say it all….i can only summarize….
photography, because of its mass appeal, is now an accepted “language”..often poorly spoken, mis-used, misunderstood, improperly applied, and sometimes cheapened by overexposure is nevertheless a form of “speech”…
but, as several of you have pointed out, just because someone can write a grammatically correct sentence, does not a novelist or a poet make…
the proliferation of imagery actually creates a better environment, in my opinion, for work that has intrinsic merit..for example, the great photo essays of w.eugene smith now look even better than they ever did back in the 1950′s….the over abundance of mediocrity makes the great work look even greater…
i have seen some strong individual pictures on the photo sharing sites….and the Tate show was actually pretty interesting…but , it was not about “photographers as authors”, it was about “photography” as a mass phenomenon…two totally different things..and it was about the Tate…it was curatorial creativity…an art in and of itself….
authorship cannot be mass produced or mass edited nor curated…authorship , in any form, comes from having something to “say”…and the “importance” in what you have to say will not be judged by you or by me…but by time and history…
one thing for sure…a collected “body of work” comes from feeling and from heart and soul and the ability and talent to express this in coherent fashion… no small task…it cannot be random, nor can it be a happy accident…
this is the very nature of creativity….it cannot be legislated nor can it be manufactured nor can it be rendered simplistically….
if you really have something to say, you will say it….you will have to dig deep….open yourself up, face your worst fears, and allow “you” to be free….no new technology can help you there..
those insignificant little cameras we have are just potential tools…potential tools…in and of themselves they only “get in the way”…a pain really…a barrier between us and the image or the manifestation of the image….
when you think all of this through and obviously all of you are “thinkers” to be sure, then you will start using photography not only to show what your world “looks like” but what it “feels like”…
this will not happen everyday even if you are “serious”…this will happen rarely even if you are working on it 14 hours a day , 7 days a week..what true artist ever thought he or she ever really “got it”??
but, the beauty of the pursuit is everything…when, and if, it does “work” to at least some degree, you will have created something well beyond the “white noise” of so many “clicks” going on around us all the time…
david
hi all, finally after some months I am able to post..hi david, didn’t disappear, but technology can surely be a b%7#h…in response to lee’s question about the flatness of digital images, I thought i might to the advantage of all reading this to explain that this is a structural element with regards to Bayer sensor design due to the low-pass filter incorporated to direct the light in a ‘straightish’ fashion onto the photodiode..
you should see a remarkable increase in the quality of your images if you apply the following….
BEFORE FINAL PRINT SHARPENING, AND AFTER LOCALISED TONAL ADJUSTMENTS, IF REQUIRED, APPLY:
* flatten image in order to create a new file (simpler) and “save as…”
*duplicate background layer
*go to Filter>Other>high pass and apply, typically a setting of between 1.8 to 3 is enough, change the blending mode to “hard-light”, you should at first see a grey funky image after the blending mode change this step restores the loss of micro-detail in the image due to blur of the low-pass filter and the effect can be adjusted through the opacity slider amount
*now duplicate both layers and merge into a new layer that incorporates the micro-detail
*on this new layer, apply a unsharp mask or smart sharpening filter with amount between 35 – 50% and radius of 100 – 150 with a threshold of 1 – 3 and all its multitude of variants, play around…this restores the loss of local contrast and removes the “smudging” and “film” of flatness that hangs over a digital capture..remember the effect of this can be altered through the amount of the opacity slider, and the blending mode should be on luminosity to avoid any unwanted color changes..also, in the beginning you tend to overdue this…remember Cartier-Bresson’s saying: “a soft hand and a velvet touch”..you’ll quickly get the hang of it
*for final print sharpening, flatten all layers, resize and interpolate, and sharpen with normal tools used…you might find you need a little less sharpening
The above is the simple version of my postgraduate thesis on fixing the problems that sensor design bring into play through a basic Photoshop protocol and holds also for film scans,just in smaller amounts, as the sensor have similar problems…
sorry for the extensive post on which might seem of topic, but as most of us will be submitting digital images, you will be amzed at what this does for your images..
saludos
….. then take two aspirin and get some rest. wow, now that was changing gears. i think you said it in your first paragraph, ‘technology can surely be a b%7#h…’
i find utter joy in making pictures, making stories, the journey to ‘getting there’, and exploring and honing my ‘vision’.
the the digital processing afterwards is a real pain. changes in technology are a distraction. however necessary. if you fight it, you will lose, i’ve been told. so, i try to think of it as the same labor of love that used to exist in the darkroom… and in the end, the results are very satisfying..
but still… it is the ‘being there with something to say’ that is paramount. low-pass this and 50% that and threshhold this.. where are those aspirin??
hi david, you wrote:
“if you really have something to say, you will say it….you will have to dig deep….open yourself up, face your worst fears, and allow “you” to be free….no new technology can help you there..”
On an assignement such as the one (Seoul) you are working on these days, how do you know if you have someting to say about this subject? Is there the possibility that you come back with empty ends because you didn’t believe you found something to say that matters (really matters) to you.
I am trying to better understand the creative process. The lens you choose (therefore technology) will impact your pictures. the flash you use will impact your pictures. Even the film you use will impact your pictures….so to me the technology is a part of the creative process (am I wrong?)….
Arie
jakob…
good ideas…i think…no clue from my end..i mastered black & white fiber paper printing, but never went much further into the technicalities of image to paper…i just figured out early on that my time was going to get divided up so many ways that i had better choose those ways very carefully….i do know what i want in print, but i try to surround myself with good people who have the tech expertise and who can “interpret” for me ..like you…thanks
lance…
you know very well that the only thing i can do with photoshop is drop in the pictures to be re-sized for this blog….
but i think that basically what jakob was saying in “film parlance” is that if you purposely overexpose the b&w negative, and then under develop a bit, and then print on #4 paper you get a better tonal range than if you did it “normal”.. with this over-exposed, under developed neg you have a solid base from which to jump…do i have that right???
arie
good question..and good time to ask it…
i will have 20 pages to “play with” for the book as part of this magnum group project on Korea..and traveling exhibit…i have total shooting and editing freedom..two weeks shooting…dream project and also hanging with my magnum friends who are here…i will need about 10-15 good pictures…maybe 1 or 2 really good pictures,
but this is not an easy “nut to crack”
i know i cannot “get into” the Korean psyche in just two weeks…but, that is where my efforts go anyway…i do not need to visit many places…i just want to capture a microcosm of “who are the Koreans?’ what makes them “tick”? how can i capture a moment or define a space with just a little tweak of what this culture is all about..very specifically Korean “youth culture” is my theme….i tried this so so much yesterday…looking for the gesture girls make often when they speak..covering their mouths gently…softly..respectfully…
i put “concepts” into my psycological hard drive…i think Korean history…a country that has been attacked from every angle, but has never attacked…a country where everyone works so so hard for one simple reason…self defense…Korea is surrounded by potential “enemies” both militarily and with business competition..and yet , this is ironically combined with an asian gentleness..these two images come and go quickly….i must be “on” to capture either one or both …these two things are “personality” and i am trying to come to grips with this in visual terms…but i cannot be visual until i “feel it” and here it is very hard, because this is a “closed culture” compared let’s say to sicily where i was just a couple of months ago..there are few “outsiders” here…Koreans mix with Koreans…
i often compare this kind of work to “method acting”…you must “become the character” to do really good work…i cannot do that here…but i am getting closer…making very good friends who totally “get” what i want…they are my key..without them i could do nothing but take well exposed “nice pictures”…
it is the friends i have made here that make me feel “at home and a part” and will lead me into a little karaoke bar some night and i will get a moment that captures some aspect of Korean personality…with light, with gesture, with moment and in “context” with who Koreans really “are”…
in all of this effort i must show patience…i must appear relaxed at all times…showing frustration would set me back for days….”go with the flow” but “make it happen” all rolled into one…
david
Hi David,
I hope things are clicking (no pun) as every day passes. I bet you already have a few good pictures, and actually, maybe a stupid question, but are they only rolls for the duration of the trip, or already being processed in Seoul. Do you need to see first “rushes” so that they reveal something you can start pursuing, hanging on, or inversely, make you seem as if you are still too clueless?
I was also wondering if what you know of other photographer friends of you, like the ones on the K. assignment, or Thailand before, makes you think sometimes a certain subject, a certain locale is better cut out for him or her, according to personality, familiarity to the locale, or the way they usually approach a subject. Or do you think it matters little, every photographer worth its agency signature, can bring his angle, his edge, and most likely only him/her can do it the way it will come out. last, did you have a say which one would take on a different aspect of the country you are covering?
Thanks,
H
Hello
It was great to read your comments David.
Hi David and all;
Sorry ‘bout the bad grammar and I know the HCB quote is actually ‘a hawk’s eye and a velvet glove’, but 72 hours of shooting and only 10 of sleep plus the late hour took its toll; some interpretation leads to the same conclusion however.
With regards to the process explained above, it is actually very simple…the complete workflow is however quite extensive (300+ pages) but is based on the principles of the human visual system, it’s requirements in terms of photographic imagery and how we make the “technology” that we now end-up using do that…make nice pics (he-he)
David, for example, many of the images printed in NG since they switched paper substrate seem to be missing the “vibrancy” and “crisp punch” that the magazine had in the late 90’s; and many photographers blame the printers, or magazine, in a vicious circle I suppose; unfortunately it is the fact that digital technologies have different reproduction requirements that result in this and if photographers fixed at least the abovementioned we should see a return of that beauty to the printed page…
If you guys are interested I will write the above up as a Photoshop action, then you just press a button, and it will ask you to adjust the effect’s strength…if you are interested in receiving such an action plus instructions as to how and where to put it and use it, e-mail me at jacobd@vut.ac.za
Please bear in mind that this is not manipulation, it is merely fixing the inherent problems that a silicon-based light-sensitive material have inherently; the net result being a loss of fine detail i.e. micro-detail and overt smudging due to mostly excessive in-camera noise-reduction, especially on JPG-files, low-pass filtration and anti-aliasing. This the one-step fixes. The lackluster appearance of digital images, what Alex Majoli called the ‘lack of blacks’, commenting, ‘I need the blacks’, if I recall correctly, is actually the slope of the tone transfer function that manufacturers built in to protect the sensor from overexposing, combined with the low-pass filtration that actually ‘flattens’ local contrast; which is what the next step takes away…
Lance, you are quite correct…I spend my time making images, that is the most important thing, but needed to fix the inherent problems with digital capture before I switched in order to get the results that I was always getting with “good ol’ tranny”, and David, in that sense, your comment goes in the right direction…
Again, any who read the above, DO NOT OVERDO IT, ESPECIALLY THE LOCAL CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT, 20 – 40% SHOULD BE ENOUGH.
Sorry for staying off-topic…
blessin’s…
herve…
each magnum photographer picked his or her own topic…yes, it does matter..certain photographers are attracted to certain subject matter….i could probably “craft” a science story if i had to, but i would rather not..others would be better at this than i…my “professionalism” could kick in, but my heart would not…it would make a difference….i enjoy certain types of stories and make every effort to get those stories or those projects…i either turn down projects that i am not suited for or, more likely, i am not asked to do them in the first place…
jakob…
i totally believe in what you are saying even though what you are saying is way over my head!!! like alex majoli (who is asleep now in a room just down the hall) i need the blacks!! always did need the blacks….grew up printing like eugene smith and loved the old kodachrome which is the only tranny film that had BLACK…well, velvia too…
i am not a tech guy …and we rarely talk tech stuff here…but any help we non techies can get to help us deliver our “message” in the way we intend is totally appreciated….
david
frank….
i am still wrestling with this one….sometimes i think that film is mostly a “sentimental” journey….i mean, isn’t the photograph, what is pictured, the “message” or is the “medium the message”
other times i think exactly as you…i sometimes just want to walk away from all the hard drives etc etc and just pick up a linhof panoramic and make 12 carefully crafted images instead of 1200 electronic files….but would the actual pictures be any different???
i do not however think video will replace stills any more than television replaced radio or the movie theaters…..it didn’t…just another way to communicate… maybe stills and video in conjunction with each other???…saving this thought for a new post…
ben…
i totally agree with you on total involvement, but one small correction please….robert frank did not do “tulsa”… larry clark did…
Hi David;
a small leonard cohen hallelujah to you brother; the first photography book I read was Gene Smith’s ‘Let Truth be the Prejudice’ and the second was William Klein’s ‘New York Rome Tokyo’; and after that apparently to all I know I was lost to photography…me thinks not..boy could they print emotion out of those blacks…\
The only reason I commented on Lee’s question was because indirectly it pertains to the question of where we see our role as photographers…the new technologies demand of us to change and educate both ourselves and our clients in order to attain the best quality, which I believe coupled with a strong sense of self and purpose in your photography will create a niche, always, for the professional photographer…
As with regards to the action, it is now available, with the disclaimer that though it has gone through proper testing, is used as is and I cannot be held responsible if you should lose data…
hope the shooting in Korea is singing; and a small hello also to Alex
regards;
jakob – i’ll try it! you’re most gracious with your tech knowledge.
cathy scholl..
yes, i agree….everyone who whacks away out there on the golf course only appreciates the meticulous consistency of tiger woods even more…
aga…
yes, too many young photographers are going off to cover war to get “famous fast”…dangerous mistake for one thing and shallow for another…
jim nachtwey and i met in a war zone in nicaragua years ago..we have remained good friends…however, two other young photographers i met at the same time were killed within a couple of weeks of the time i met them…
one of them, richard cross, who was down there “trying to get a break” was standing with me in the hotel breakfast buffet line the morning he was killed…. he asked me if i thought he could get invited to the natgeo seminar that year..i said sure…we shooks hands, he waved goodbye…..and john hoagland, a more seasoned vet than richard, and more “known” than nachtwey at the time and who looked like errol flynn, and i had been through a couple of “sea stories” together just days before he died in salvador…
there were many others i did not know who died in a war that most of you cannot remember and the rest of us only have a vague recollection…
so nachtwey “made it out” and became nachtwey…i am sure none of you have ever heard of cross or hoagland….and both were as charming and macho and brave and eager as they come…
the glamour of war photography in particular creates all kinds of negative aspects which i will save for another post…and copying both the actions and the styles of certain photographers who have “won prizes” and gained acclaim is both dangerous personally and artistically….
yes, aga….the capa’s, the mccullin’s and the nachtwey’s are few and far between..
ben huang…
i missed seeing your site the first time around..sorry…and i could not get it to open totally either, but i did see some nice street work albeit briefly….
bartek and asher….
you said it all….first!!
tom hyde…
all of your points are well taken…and true
but, i sing in the shower!! sounds pretty good…to me!!!
giancarlo…
yes, yes..the journey…enjoy it…you only have one…..just “play your best hand and let the chips fall where they may”…i do not know who said that, but it is true…
Hi David, Cathy, I disagree a bit about the myriad photographers out there getting to know more about the craft, its history, its masters. The only people I know who care that much are people passionate about photography. And maybe, what we talk about here is not photography but taking pictures, millions of them every day. yes?
On the other hand, David, you must be in contact with so many amateurs who show how devoted they are about this craft, you may have an embarassment of riches as regards passion and depth of involvement.
herve…
well, i do not think the myriad of photographers out there necessarily study the craft..and i am often shocked at some students that enroll even in my workshops who barely have a clue about the history of photography…
but, when they do see “better” pictures than the ones they are taking, they do pick up on it quickly…and are eager to learn once they realize there is something to learn!!
serious amateurs have a lot to offer once they “see the light” and realize that their freedom from needing to be financed by photography can lead to some very productive work…and the rest are just having fun shooting their memories….nothing wrong with that!!!
i always thought a nice exhibit of refrigerator doors would be pretty interesting…i think it has been done, but i cannot remember where….photography serves many for many different reasons…i am sure professional race car drivers do not worry at all about all the drivers out there on the highway stuck in gridlock traffic….
David:
I am reading the post, very concentrated, but I think that lot of people here miss the point that it is not a problem for “serious photographers” but in fact a challenge to stand aside of zillions of images in the web, in a cellphone or anywhere. I do not consider myself a serious photographer, and I don´t want to waste time trying to figure out what it means to be one of them. I prefer to work and to bring something interesting, at least for me. It´s very dissaponting to see artists worrying about how the secret knowledge of photography/equipment/technique alchemy is now commonplace. It is better to raise the standards for ourselves and for anyone who really cares about art.
Best Regards,
Felipe
Thanks David, for staying in touch while currently on assignment.
Yes, it’s quite possible that as more and more people handle cameras for more than just taking pictures of the last vacation and family gatherings, they will be more apt to appreciate other works than theirs, in stance, quality or subject.
And how right you are in seeing the greatest opportunity for creation when we don’t have to please anybody, and make a buck with it. I mean, total freedom, gee, how bad can it be?
After that, to get more than 20 people to know about you, I think it’s always been a tough proposition. And I have no idea if the huge consumption of image, and image-taking, out there will run down voices that cry to be heard.
It’s pretty much one of the challenges of the new millenium for everyone: to make sure we are still heard as individuals. On your marks!
JORGE :
Could you please tell me more about this letter by Sergio Larrain as he’s had a huge influence on me ???
my email is
pyracine@gmail.cm
thanks a lot !
@gmail.com … sorry