priorities…sequencing….what comes first, what comes second, what can wait for later….priorities in life and career and priorities in the sequencing of photographs….what applies to one, may quite apply to the other…the decisions we all make are as important as the actions we take…and it is the decision making process and the prioritizing of actions in fluid sequence that often seems oh so painful to achieve…
as i work with my students at home now, it is quite easy to see that these factors are the single dominant hurdle towards the building of a photographic essay…and the single dominant hurdle for me in life and in my work….maybe some of you feel the same….once the decisions are made and once the priorities are sequenced, then the "actions" are easy by comparison….
many of you have asked about the importance of sequencing the photographs in your essays….i will not judge you on this, because there are no rules….no formula…..nevertheless, the sequencing is so so important, as is the rhythm in a musical score or the juxtaposition of words in a poem…all a part of "visual literacy"….all a part of the "medium is the message"….however, in the case of your essays here, do not worry too much…i well know that few have confidence in sequencing….i will work with you on the final edit and sequencing, so when your work is shown it will be a collaboration between thee and me….
in the meantime, see how others do it….look carefully at the photographic books you admire most….watch carefully the editing in fine films you enjoy ….listen to classical music and feel the "blues"…..be instinctive, be yourself….make small prints of your work and carry them around with you…spread them around…play with the sequence….tack them on a wall…play with the sequence…this is very difficult to do on a computer screen regardless of the program…be tactile with your work…touching your photographs makes a difference…
if you have specific questions, now is the time to ask….
Hi everyone,
somebody told me yesterday, that my new website (still being programmed) has a slight resemblance with the magnum site (on a much smaller scale, of course). I was curious and this let me to the magnum site and from there I got to this blog. ;-)
Wow!
I am doing a lot of photography lately myself, but I come from the illustration side. And from architecture. Mostly I draw storyboards for movies and commercials so I am quite familiar with storytelling, with rythm, with contrast, scale and repetition, with so much that comes together when you want to do a good sequence, regardless if there is an actual story behind it or not. I never tried to put it into words and I guess I’ll fail now as english is not the language I am fluent in.
But in photography I usually do slideshows too when I want to find a good sequence for a book. I love it when the images just fly by and leave me the opportunity to swim with it. As soon as something comes along that does not fit – for what reasons ever – I trip over it and the magic is gone. Just like when you listen to music or poetry or good literature and someone misspronounces a word or gives it a wrong intonation. Or choses the wrong word altogether. You notice. And it annoyes extremely.
I stop the slideshow, go back to where the problem was, have a look at what could be the cause, change the arrangement respectively and try the slideshow again. Over and over.
Yes. I think sequences are very powerful. A good sequence underlines good work. Carries it on the top of a wave. A bad one … well.
On the other hand side, I always find there is a risk of the sequence to get too sweet and shallow, people will remember it was nice but they won’t remember any specific images. Or maybe only a very few. You – like in a movie – need some contrasts! Something that keeps the audience awake, and lets them recall every individual picture.
This is why I like a slideshow for a test. Maybe too, because with a slideshow I am not distracted by searching for this print or that print around me, I can just concentrate on the flow of the sequence. And it works very fine for me. Guess everyone has to find his own method there. As long as it works and gives you the desired results in an acceptable timespan, it is good. If you feel great doing it in your specific way, all the better! ;-)
I knew someone who insisted he had to be taking a hot bath to get in the right mood to choose his picture sequences. I do not know HOW he did it but the results were quite impressing.
I used to like having prints in my hands during the process of arrangement too. But … things change. And my schedule got so tight that the only way of being able to go on with a fair amount of photography, was to pay the price of working on the computer. And I got used to have everything digitally now during the process. I have to admit, I do not miss the prints anymore during the preparation time. But I just HAVE to have someting printed as a final result. I have to have something for my hands at some point.
But I guess everybody is different here, and that is good. It can lead to very different results and none of them have to be bad.
As to the cropping, I got an interesting remark from a photographer friend not so long ago here in Germany, who mentioned he would always crop his (digital) pictures before he publishes them (wherever he publishes them), so he could always proof that he has the original. I guess he has made some bad experiences on his way with people “stealing” his work. But just as he said that, I noticed that I could not crop from my pictures, without destroying them. Not because I am so great and do make the perfect pictures, but because I compose on the monitor of my digital camera. And looking at this monitor is just like looking at a finished image. So I normally get what I wanted (if nothing moves out or in or happens otherwise) and quite automatically there is nothing to crop.
I cannot think “picture+crop” when I see “my” composition on the monitor. It would just be strange and unnatural to move away from what I wanted just in order to get the extra thing to crop. But then I have to say I do belong to those who tend to go in very close on their subject. I do not leave much room around.
On the other hand side, I would not make a religion out of any of it. If there is a subject that DEMANDS a different aspect ration out of itself. I’ll comply. The subject/composition for me ist the most important thing. More important than I myself and the believes I might have. If a subject demands an exception from a way I usually work, I will normally listen to it. But later it will have to prove me that it was worth the deviation. And if not… well … there is always this little trash bin icon on my computer screen … ;-)
Hope my post did not get too long. I got a little carried away.
All the best,
Lassal
so, tonight, i spend an even with a friend, dear friend, sifting over Metaxa…and, he is the first person I have had to visit since my wife and son left…and he, after long conversations, pours himself and his wearied bodied into my son’s bed like soft-wind and sand…..
it has been interesting to read this post…..
for now, as i have to sleep, i shall say only this:
David, i shall bring a box for you of a story, of pictures, of, well, something….
the arrangement of a story is not that different than the arrangement of a conversation (for me) only that we are addled and obsessed by a point: a then b then c. When in truth, it is easier to navigate and digest that, but what we really see in front of us is profoundly different. ….
We talk as if a shelled-wave of moment, a collision of thoughts and ideas and points and time. We arrange imperfectly. We sit and begin to chat and think and this arranges itself like a a wearied man in Little Havana, thumbing the sooted dominoes between the stretch of the table and the point of his cigar, scribing for a meaning, but the meaning and the narrative and the making-sense-=of-it comes from just the opposite: the suture of conflation, the fact that thinks weirdly and beautifully fit, knuckle tight, together in some sequence of thought and word and beautiful ballet-buck touch…..
why is it that we still sequence as if a program, instead of arranging (do people arrange conversation: no, those who listen and hunger and divine from it; yes: those who wish instead to arrange, their own placement, upon the face of that…..
the oddity for me has always been this: we make and arrive-at and subscribe and circumspect and calculate in a matter that is often most foreign, most indifferent, from the way we all live and connect and touch and thrive….
I sequence (even that sounds fucking ponderous and is in truth the example of what is wrong with that thought) in the way conversation becomes:
listening and jolting and jockeying and, well,opening up and letting go…..
David: i have a box for you….soon…..
and this: so, the world and the lives around us pivot in ways we cannot be yet prepared for……how do i know this:
because it is so….
words and the definitions mean less than this:
why is it that one part of your life is constricted and defined by one way of arrangement, but the other part is not…..
a photographer/videographer felled in Burma…arrange that…..
we’re all connected, that IS the tissue of arrangement….
hugs
bob
p.s. I am so happy there is a new member who writes more than I :)))))))))))))))))))….
(i mean that lovingly ))…Sidney too….running to be
please x-over the above comment by mr. black: it makes now sense at all: the greek alcohol more articulate than he….it’s the gallerie’s fault…
by the way: :)))))…yes, 10th, all is well and mrs. black and mr. black jr. return….
ok, 17 hrs tomorrow in the gallery “guarding” a box of pictures for Nuit Blanche:
sequence??….
one wonders…..
b
E-mail list. Count me in too, David McG. Not sure I understood how it will work, but definitely want to see all that is sent by others.
Uhhh..isn’t saturday morning better than friday?
Thanks again everyone for these interesting comments.
I’m not really a vertical fan, somehow I always intuitively shoot horizontal and see no problem in this.
What I do wonder about is for editorial work or let’s say essays for NG, the (magazine)cover is always vertical, …David, do you shoot covers vertical or have the pictures cropped out of a horizontal?
Thanks,
Wendy
ähm yes, well … sorry again for the extremely (!) long post.
I usually do not write so much (in English)
It was just this perfect night: work finished, rain outside, right musik, … and then I found this blog and then …
Well.
But on the other hand side, this blog is like meeting a lot of friends – for the first time.
A thrilling positive attitude here … and this “eagerness” to know how to make a work that quitens the voices and loudens the heartbeats.
A wonderful weekend for you!
Lassal
Wow, I must say David, your blog has exploded. This now has over 100 replies…I bet it will get to 200 if you give it time. I just returned from a long holiday at my in-laws’ home, it was the biggest Korean holiday thios week and so I had famly obligations. Shot a little something I might submit, 10 photos max, maybe less. I found that its easier to edit right away, as soon as possible before any attachment to individual photos forms. So this was quite easy for me to edit. Still shooting TKD, will have to edit a few photos from today. But sequencing, yeah, its tough, thats probably the harest thing to do when all is said and done. I see Bob Black is still writing novellas, which are fun to read, but I gotta get to work:)
Hi David
I met you at Heathrow about 2 weeks ago and have been meaning to check out your website. I apologise for leaving a comment here but I couldn’t find your email and I thought it was most appropriate under ‘road trip’ It’s so interesting the work you do, such a breath of fresh air from all the psychologists, lawyers and accountants i associate with! Also, thank you for starting my journey home with a good vibe. Had a great visit home and am now back in the UK. I not only wanted to say Hi but was wondering if i could pass your website on to a good friend of mine who is starting his photography career. He’s trying to make ends meet with photojournalism at the moment, but I think he’d really benefit from networking with you, maybe attending one of your workshops. All the best for your future, do let me know if you have anything new coming out in NG!
ps I’ve just seen your first assignment was in Tangier Island… so funny. My dad and I used to fly down there all the time from NJ, he’s got a little 2 seater, small world!
Hi David,
I have been reading your blog and waited for your next post. this is my first comment just to say I really feel what you are doing here and I appreciate it.
I could remember days I was desperately searching for articles about photography, I found a tiny book at last ; five interviews with five photographers: cartie bresson, mary elen mark,… how I was glad and exited! and then there was internet and I was spending most of my time in faculty coffee-net instead being in classes searching in net and I found magnum photos website which I fallen in love with specially books sections then I started to translate articles or good interviews with photographers I found in net for akkasee.com a persian new founded website myself, my english was not enough but I just realized that no one would do it for me and I believed that it is important to look at the works of great photographers and learn from them how to use photography for documenting our lives…
every thing change by net very fast, look you are here now
mokhlesim David
p.s. I have so much specific questions, you will see more comments of me here
So, Bob, the opening went well, I gather, and the troubles with the bureaucracy are over?
Lassal
I found your storyboard illustration perspective interesting. Speaking as someone who studied and taught various languages for several decades, I think many native English speakers would envy your ability to express yourself!
(Ihre Fähigkeit auf Englisch ist ausgezeichnet!)
Sidney
on the horizontal vs. vertical issue–
does it have anything to do with the lens used? wider angle lens seem to lend themselves more to “storytelling”–and we generally “read” across rather than up and down
also, what about magazine covers–I had someone tell me once to shoot some verticals if I wanted a “cover” shot–
some things seem to “want” to be shot vertical though no matter the lens
I like them all–including square–
hope my questions aren’t too “simple” to take up space
Hi David
This is really good post, good theme. This is basic of photography technique. As important as good exposure, or composition, because great photo is like good poem or suite, novel, great essay is like good symphony, book or movie. Hmmm… good photographer should be like Alfred Hitchcock, Leo Tolstoy and Beethoven in one!
I must confess I have problem with your blog now, maybe not with blog, but with my poor English. You have so many responders now and so many comments. This is good, great! But in half I have no idea what are you talking about. And I’m not sure I understood everything and always, I’m not sure what I’m reading and writing.
So I’m out…
And one question, I hope you don’t mind; you are thinking about your blog as a school now? Worldwide photography school?
Martin (reader)
Ps. My mind is on Cuba, I must wait whole month… ech…
Happy shooting, all—out for the night!
Martin- i just want to say that i hope that you continue to read as much or as little as you wish and respond as always to the topics. everytime i read a new posting i’m always scanning the horizon for your responses. my feeling is that because you are eastern european the insights that you breathe into this forum provide the average english speaker {american} with a unique perspective an alternate way of understanding something. you my friend are a poet and the way you interpret the world is a breath of fresh air.
my belief is that if you continue to read and write in english undoubtedly your language comprehension will improve. so this is my feeble attempt at trying to keep a loyal and original reader of the (DAH) blog..please martin don’t disappear from this community we need you.. how is your new Nikon D200 ? i’m curious if the print quality is comparable to your leica m6 ?
hi martin…i enjoy very much this blog, i think you and i are among the first members here…i also thought this morning that this blog is becoming huge, and maybe will lack the intimacy we enjoyed to date…on the other ends, it just shows how great the blog is, how democratic this blog is, as it allows many people around teh world to read and give ideas and opinions….
something i did not like few days ago is someone calling our project experience (november 15 deadline) a contest…that’s where i think we have to be careful…there is no contest, or maybe one against oneself…to grow as far as we can on personal basis…
i am not sure david expected such a turnout…sometimes too much of a good thing is…a good thing!!!
on a personal level, the participation to this blog has been an amazing experience, i can say honestly i am not the same photographer i was 8 months ago (if i can call myself a photog and that’s a long stretch…).
arie
Martin,
Podobać się czynić nie zostawiać … ten suma byłby być dużo najemca rezygnować ty. Twój język angielski jest zupełnie dobry. Mój Polski jednakże…
(Martin,
Please do not leave … the sum would be much less without you. Your English is quite good. My Polish however …)
Arie…Nice of you putting things in perspective. Couldn’t agree more.
~Dylan
Martin,
I’d like to echo what Robert, Arie, and Tom have said: don’t give up. I am Italian and English is my second language, so I can fully relate to your frustration. But don’t let this became the ultimate barrier between you and a cool community. Also this is an international community and a lot of us understand your challenge. It will get better, believe me.
Here’s my pledge to you though: whenever you have troubles understanding a passage or difficulties expressing a concept, please ask me and I will do my best to help you. Even on the side, by email if you want. Just follow the link to my name at the bottom of this post and voila’!
Don’t give up, amigo (as DAH would probably say!)
Giancarlo
Writing about sequencing of photographs is like fighting for peace. (You know the one about chastity). Look at “Travelog” by Charles Harbutt. Published in 1974, it’s a wonderful book. Charlie’s book is one of the best sequenced book of photographs. Ever. Charlie’s a former Magnum photographer and a great teacher.
Amen, John F!
And, perhaps this is a less known fact, C. Harbutt was a major influence in Alex Webb’s formative years. For me Harbutt is one of the great alas less known photographers alive.
Giancarlo
Another example of what I think is great sequencing in a photo essay (especially if you work in color) is visible on the web in the ‘Anatomy of a Story’ segment of Nat Geo photographer Cary Wolinsky’s site:
http://www.carywolinsky.com/main_set.shtml?gallery_new.shtml
(Look in the menu on the left side for ‘Anatomy of a Story’). The accompanying text is fascinating. It walks you thru the whole process of conceiving, planning, researching, budgeting, shooting, and editing a major multi-country story for Nat Geo. Both humbling and inspiring. For the ‘Cotton’ story he shot 29,000 frames. They ran 25 in the story after the final edit.
Sidney
martin….
well, for sure you should be thinking about cuba….but, i do not understand the rest of your thinking in your last comment…
first of all, you are one of my original writers…and i always like your writing and your “style” of english is just perfect…we all totally understand you perfectly…maybe even more than we understand each other supposedly speaking our native language…you are instinctively expressive…and that is what communication is about….
it is an interesting question you ask “is this blog a school”…well, i never thought of it exactly that way although it did grow totally out of my original workshop class at home…hence the title “at home with dah”…”school” sounds too much like somebody standing up in front of a class and teaching/preaching….i would hope this would be more like sitting around a campfire with some good storytelling going on…food for thought…thoughts for tomorrow….
certainly this forum is instinctively intended to be helpful in nature because that is, in fact, my real nature…and is exactly why i took the time to look at your work carefully and give you a personal review…and because i instinctively “liked you” even though i never met you face to face….from the time i started this forum, i always figured that someday we would meet in Poland….and i still hope that is true…
yes, we have a few more writers now than we had originally, but the conversation is good and creative and packed full of charitable thoughts and ideas and helpful references and positive vibes between one writer and another..in other words, the community has grown, but grown in a positive way…if i ever start to think or realize to the contrary , then i will be “out” too…
growth is often controversial..usually bigger means worse….too many people in the room and you cannot have a real conversation with anyone…this room is full, but full of interesting people in my view..but not so full that i cannot see the other side or have the opportunity for more than just idle chat..
i do not think i have ever not answered one of your questions or responded to one or more of your thoughts…that is, unless i was on an airplane or without internet service…am i right???
so, like the others, i am totally baffled about why you would be “out”…if this community ever got so so big that i could not respond to most comments most of the time, then i might see your point…
i only know one thing…this room full of like minded spirits would not be the same without you…many of us await your comments and your way of expression…and i personally await your new photographic work….i would be very disappointed if i was denied either….
hugs, david
I’ve been so worried about doing sequencing correctly that I’ve forgotten that this is as much an exercise in doing it our way as it is anything else. But whatever that way is, it’s reasonable to think that it should not be without process—and figuring out that process is where I find myself. Think emerging.
Maybe it goes like this—I have a story, so I shoot a lot. I find as many angles as the story needs, then I cut it down to the top 5, then maybe narrow it to 3. I pick 20 shots per story line and discover that agonizing over sequencing is fear of leaving something out, so you pick the shots and sequences that really introduce something new to the world. You do that by shuffling the prints around at a table or booth at 5am, whether you get up that early or stay up that late.
And then you ask yourself “Am I brave enough to narrow this story down to my 5 best shots and show them in an editorial context, In a way that leaves my audience asking for the slideshow, book and gallery opening?”
I am laughing as I write this. I hope you all are having fun.
“But in half I have no idea what are you talking about. And I’m not sure I understood everything and always, I’m not sure what I’m reading and writing.”
Hey Martin, I’m kind of a newcomer to the blog, actually blogging, and especially this blog. Also, I think strangely, so I often do not know what is going on. But I learn things, here, anyway, and when I have something to contribute–perhaps help other people learn something, I try to that also.
My suggestion is that you keep saying what you have to say. If someone doesn’t understand, he or she will simply ask you what you meant. That goes for you too. If you don’t understand, just ask. Heck, maybe you could teach all of us native English speakers some of your language.
Michael
Hey, I just got my first exhibit for 2008! I went to an opening, and the owner asked me to do a show in February. A couple sculptor friends of mine were there, and when I looked at how much white space there was in that room, I asked them to join me. Wow, it should be fun.
Now I’m trying to figure out if I should hot mount the prints to cut down on framing costs, or pull an old show out of the frames and just matte the new ones. I’m thinking 10×15 to fit in 20×24 frames – lots of matte.
The room is really nice – hardwood floors that go diagonally across a long room.
Anyway, I’m happy about it.
Good night
Michael
Hey David – I have the perfect venison stew for that campfire.
http://www.humanfiles.com/stew.htm
Congratulations, Michael. I hope to have such news someday.
Hi all…
Bob – the greek alcohol seems just fine to me – what you are syaing is exactly what I’m interested in. We don’t live our lives as narratives; even though we might think so, i.e. day-planners/week-planners/schedules/goals for the year etc. We do not know what each day, nay, dare I say, each moment might bring, and when we are determining the self in the present we might find a disnarrated lifeworld but, perhaps, enlightenment as to the beauty of everyday life…very happy all is well with the Black-clan..I think you know our thoughts and prayers were with you.
David McG – added self to the list–you’ve got mail, buddy…
croppin’ – with one lens, I think you start perceiving your engagement with the world as the lens does…why I hate zooms; it doen’t mean its not sometime a necessary evil…think ‘Behind the Gare St. Lazare’ of hcd…sometimes you’re just not in the perfect place, I suppose
On hcb’s photo-essays much could be said whether they are in the right mould; but I think we need to differentiate between a ‘photo-essay’ and a ‘picture story’…in my mind they are two very different things where the relationship in the essay is not literal but, perhaps, more tenuous and ephemeral…
ciao..gotta go and make some pics…
jakob
what I’ve done! My wife laughing from me now! I must turn it back…
You see?… poor English equal misunderstanding!
I had to say that when are so many comments after half reading I must stop because I spend too much time, and I’m sure I don’t understood… how to say it… point, supreme meaning … this meaning is very important to me, because I like talking and I’m angry when I can’t! words have emotional and intellectual potential, who I missed, usually.
My comment should be explanation my absent, not saying “good bye” because I prefer to know yours thought, my friends, that sharing my own. I’m not writing since week because I try understood yours conversation and probably it will be that way in feature. Maybe “I’m out” means stronger than I was thinking!
I’m definitely not leavening this place… why should I? it make me pleasure!
So I was right writing “I’m not sure what I’m reading and writing”. You have proof…
I’m sorry if I make you wrong…
From other side I’m surprised after yours words-thanks to all of you!
David,
I’m think enlarge this community is all and only good, I would like to see more people here, more writers, even if it my brain saying “enough! Don’t hurt me please…”. It will be fun. And don’t worry if you not answering for my comments, this is not what I mean at all, I’m not asking for more attention, I not need more attention, everything suits me perfectly here! you have always good word for me, so please don’t worry.
I will be “loyal”, but maybe reader that writer. I really prefer listening that speaking.
I read you mail when I almost finished this comment, because… your blog is first place where I go when I switch on my computer! I will write to you after I finish it.
I mention about “school”, because I think I prefer “ this would be more like sitting around a campfire with some good storytelling going on…food for thought…thoughts for tomorrow…”
I never like school even if I love to learning all the time.
And I think you should do what your nature whisper you….
Robert Wiedenfeld,
I’m not “leicaman” at all, but I’m “picturefromleicaman”, so any camera will not comparable with my little m6…
But d200 it’s great camera, and after yesterday (I was in country) I just love taking “family snapshoot” like Larry Towell did. I even thinking about little self made book for myself!
Arie,
The participation to this blog has been an amazing experience for me too, this is sole blog where I’m writing, because it’s unique, and it’s unique because we have amazing writers here!
tom hyde,
Your polish is like my German I suppose, ha, ha, ha
Giancarlo Mori,
What can I say… Thanks amigo!
Michael A Shapiro,
Now, if I will be confused I will ask… as you advice me…
For start to learning polish;
Dzięki (thanks)
:)
I’m really sorry for this mess…
I writing since hour, I must stop! I’m hungry! I need coffee!
For future… if I will write something like this… just don’t focus on this, please.
My wife My wife laughing from me…
Martin
i heart Martin from Poland !! The above is LITERATURE from the heart always so authentically yourself. Bless you and your wife !!
DOBRANOC.. please you must keep writing..etc.
Viva la Polska !!!!
david….i have a question, please feel free to respond or not….
my question: are you afraid of death? Or do you think a lot about it? does it affect your photography (if yes how) or your way of living? I assume you are in your 60s, and you are still running and running…
something I have noticed is that you photography is much more “smoother” or “free” that it was say 20 years ago…it seems you are at a point where you only start really feeling good about it…
many great photographers were obsessed by death and it shows in their pictures.
please let me know if it is too personal of a question…
arie
WENDY AND ROSEMARY..
the very first story i did for NG turned out to be a “cover story”….the editors had to crop one of my horizontals to a vertical…this killed me, since i never had cropped a picture before in my life and particularly such a severe “crop” to vertical……yes, of course, i had several covers over the years with horizontals cropped vertical, including the cuba boy with the red towel (it is correctly horizontal on the “Cuba” book)…i think i have two covers where i actually shot them as verticals…since the cover is rarely thought out in advance at NG, i am sure many of those vertical covers come from horizontals…however, most NG photogs do shoot verticals for many reasons…of course, i love many vertical photographs, i just very rarely shoot vertical myself…
ironically, my new book “Living Proof” is vertical format..my choice ….with a horizontal photograph wrapped around front and back and being only full frame when the book is opened..of course, a vertical format book gives you perfect full frame horizontals when opened that are larger than if you did a horizontal format book straight up…
david
Folks,
Found a squirrel skull in my backyard yesterday morning and have been shooting it on and off since. Shot it the shade with just a hint of fill flash, in the mid afternoon sun with a strong flash opposite the sun, this morning with the sun very low and throwing long shadows.
Had been reading another photographer the other day…he was talking about being in a rut and how to get out of it. And though I wasn’t necessarily feeling in a rut myself, that great odd little subject I found did spark me.
Never know what it’s going to be on any given day. Weird and wonderous things do reveal themselves occasionally…I’m just hopeful I’ll know how to take advantage of those occasions!
So here’s to those quirky little moments in your future. Take advantage!
Peace,
MK
hi KELLY from heathrow…
first of all, thanks for sending me to the proper terminal!! i am always the “lost traveler”
tangier island stays strong in my mind after all these years…i want to go back sometime soon…i usually went there in a small plane from richmond, virginia…
i should be back in the u.k. soon enough to visit my girlfriend, but i will bring a heavier jacket next time…
yes, have your friends check in when they can and thanks for your comment…
JAKOB…
good point….picture stories are a different animal than photographic essays…see my comment to sidney below..
MICHAEL S….
congratulations on the show….feels good doesn’t it??
i love all of the conversation going on, but i got a little lost on what you wanted to do with other essay postings for review beyond the essay submissions….my hands are pretty full already with the work being uploaded on the “Digital Railroad” site…however, all of you should do as you please…..maybe i could pop in once in awhile to see what is going on, but i am still a little confused by exactly what you want to do…explain again please!!
ARIE….
i have never felt afraid of death since i faced it so squarely in the face as a polio victim at age 6…living life to the fullest has always been my “modus operendi” since then….
i am sure time has made my work “smoother” as you describe…isn’t that what time should do?? but in many many ways i see the whole flow as a circle going back to my earliest days of totally unselfconscious photography…very difficult to totally get back to the innocence of childhood, but a good direction in which to move…
SIDNEY…
man, you are a prolific writer!! i always enjoy your comments…
however, honestly i am not sure that i would put the same value that you did on that link to cary wolinsky’s site as a guide for thinking about or shooting a photo essay….
that is a 25 year old story and a very very specific way of thinking while shooting a commodity (cotton) for NG .. even then, cary was a very different type of story maker….his work, to my mind, is more in the “picture story” category than the photo essay category..cary did do this more “instructional” type of story better than anyone, but i do not think this more “super analyzed” type of picture story is what i mean when i say “essay”
if you want to go back in time and think of the classic style essays etc., smith (Spanish Village) and brian brake (Monsoon) and allard (Hutterites) would seem to me to provide much more food for thought as a way of thinking “essay”…and for a contemporary essay it is pretty hard to beat luc delahaye’s “Wintereisse”
cheers, david
Hello
I Reread my last comment. Even after an hour writing and thinking I make so many mistakes and wrote not exactly what I was mean. It makes me uncomfortable…
But I will try, and then I will try… maybe someday I will know what I’m writing.
David…
On Cuba people speaking in English or only Spanish? I know old people speaking in English but what with youth?
Any advise about Cuba?
Martin
MARTIN…
mostly spanish is spoken in cuba (cuban spanish!!!) … in havana, trinidad, and other places with many tourists, you will hear english…
no advice other than enjoy yourself…the cubans will welcome you and are among the most self-effacing people on the planet…AND the best dancers, both salsa and ballet!!!
the only thing i do not know is the mood right now with fidel close to death (i think)…the mood on the streets can literally change from day to day depending on what is happening inside the government…one day can seem like the “don’t worry be happy” caribbean mentality and the next where the police are checking all i.d. cards..
mostly, i think, you will totally enjoy cuba….there is no place quite like it…that will all change soon enough for better and for worse, so please go soak up a culture that is so so unique in our fast paced world….
i am happy you are back!! now i can enjoy my morning coffee…
david
Hey David…
Don’t now if it just got lost in the mix, but I was wondering if you saw my post above about your Hanoi story?
Hi David!
I’m full focusing on this trip. I’m saving money, and buying films (no digital!!) and working for money at this trip. Now I’m going for bus to work. No internet connecting.
And I’m not back, because I did not go anywhere… until now… I will writing in Wednesday I suppose.
Enjoy your coffee! (like i do)
Martin
David,
Thanks for setting me straight on the distinction between picture story and photo essay, which I admit has been fuzzy in my mind until now. Thanks to you and this blog, I think I’m beginning to see the difference a little, and will try to ‘loosen up’ and be less literal. Really appreciate the educational stimulus of this blog, and your patience!
Thanks,
Sidney
david…it’s almost as now you have fully “incorpoated” the photography tools in new, you are now free to really express yourself…i am not sure you worry nowdays by technical aspects, you are beyond that…
in my young photography trip (i am half your age), I am not sure i am out of the technical stuff…
do you recall when you were in your early 30′s: what was your focus (technical, subject) then in regards to photography? what is different now?…you cannot say that you are the same man than you were 30 years ago, and this must show in your photography as well…I am interested by this transition…
arie
Good morning,
David,
Is there a link to Wintereisse? What do you think of Kenneally’s “Upstate Girls?” (in terms of story or essay)
Regarding my post about making more work for you, I was suggesting that one of us at a time email you (or?) a photo or sequence about which we have questions, to post here and have you comment on it. It would answer our own individual questions as well as provide information for the rest of the group at the same time. Like a workshop–
It seems as if it would be a simple thing and oh so constructive.
Michael
sorry, my previous post with corrections for bad typing:
david…it’s almost as now you have fully “incorporated” the photography tools in you, you are now free to really express yourself…i am not sure you worry nowadays by technical aspects, you are beyond that…
in my young photography trip (i am half your age), I am not sure i am out of the technical stuff…
do you recall when you were in your early 30′s: what was your focus (technical, subject) then in regards to photography? what is different now?…you cannot say that you are the same man than you were 30 years ago, and this must show in your photography as well…I am interested by this transition that you experienced…
arie
ARIE…
well, actually i am pretty darn close to what i was even much earlier than 30..same exact philosophy as today…from teenager on, i have stuck by a non-technical approach always using one camera, one lens and simplifying the whole tech side with film and with digi too..i like to think of myself as refining and evolving rather than changing radically at any point..radical changes in my photography in print (magazines) i think has more to do with the magazine editors than with me…if you look at my early work, i think you will see it clearly referential to my work today..go back and look at my first book (age 22) “Tell It Like It Is” in the archive under “work in progress” or my family snaps at 13.. i cannot be the judge of any of it…but certainly you will see the connection between then and now…color made a difference…and some projects worked out better than others….but, if you look at my newest “Living Proof” with my oldest mentioned above, you may see a circle rather than a line….
MICHAEL K…
yes, i did and thanks…i was right in the middle of my workshop when i saw your note and with not even seconds to reply…i have spent a lot of time in southeast asia…vietnam, thailand,malaysia, indonesia,and cambodia…however, i have never felt compelled to do a book with this material…i do not know why…i have pictures, but i do not think i have a book…that is another good post topic..anyway, i will chew on this thought for awhile…
MICHAEL S.
i cannot remember “Upstate Girls” but i will try to find it…but, generally speaking i think of kenneally as a classic photojournalist doing classic essays rather than conceptual essays….
“Wintereise” is a Phaidon book, so i assume you can see some of it there on their site…i have never seen it excerpted anywhere, but i will look around…
GIANCARLO….
hmmm, i do not think of harbutt as less known…but maybe that is a generational thing….i guess he just has not done anything in recent years, but you are right about the best of his best and his influence on alex w…..
BOB…
a box?? curious…waiting..pondering…mystified…terrified!! is this pandora’s box or like the case in “Pulp Fiction” ????
maybe i missed a post, but how is your son???
cheers, david
RAFAL…
the korea team is here in new york working on the layout for the book….
i am pleased you are still working tkd…i look forward to new material…
MICHAEL S..
regarding your suggestion of emailing essays….hmmm, well it would be a simple thing if i were not already doing what i do on this blog, which is intended a bit of a virtual workshop in itself ..AND contemplating the 100 or so essays that came to me here even before i announced the grant…my viewing and critiquing of these selected essays is a full time job in and of itself…
i do believe in a long day’s work…and i am a 14-16 hour a day man as it is…i also believe in not doing something unless i can do it right…besides, isn’t the work you want me to review the same work you will send in or have sent in anyway???
i am totally 100% dedicated to you and to this forum and my individual workshops and trying to build the non-profit so some of you will have new funding….i am also 100% dedicated to photographing new work for myself…i am also 100% dedicated to producing new books (2 in the works)…300% may be all i have!!!!!
cheers, david
David and group,
Anyone familiar with Steve Schapiro? Life magazine photographer and great guy. Has really seen it ALL…Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King and on and on and on…
I met him at the little local “market” (really hut) in a small town in India that I visit every year. I saw him walking around with the camera and knew he was “someone” but didn’t know who. It was fun meeting him in India and then last night attending an opening for his new book “Schapiro’s Heroes” and seeing him again. What that man has seen!
To add my two cents worth about the new expanded blog…I have to say that it now reminds me of a huge dinner party whereas before it was a small intimate dinner party (supply your own food and drink and don’t get it on the keyboard) I definitely prefer the small party but hey, it’s still a party and I’m glad you’re still letting me in the door.
David, it sounds like I almost broke the camel’s back. I truly apologize.
Michael
Cathy, I’m one of the latest arrivals and should therefore be one of the first to back off to reduce the size. Besides, I take up a lot of room.
This is a great experience.
Michael