"commitment" is almost nobody’s favorite word….
"freedom", "fly", "space" seem to be more comfy life "key words"….easier for one thing…and whole supporting philosophies to go along with them….but, as we all know, at some point anyway, only through commitments do we get anything done at all either personally or professionally…
last sunday on a Carolina beach ,above, Amanda Pitts became Amanda Halladay…..she gave up her "freedom" to marry the ever elusive can’t pin me down vagabond of all vagabonds surfer boy Scott "Scooter" Halladay…you may read about Scooter in one of my chapters in Divided Soul and realize the extent of my long relationship with Scoot since he was a young boy living at the other end of Pinetree Road… my son Bryan’s best friend in Richmond and now in the wind whipped surfer community of the Outer Banks….
Amanda and Scooter announced their beach wedding less than 24 hours before it happened, therefore extending their reputations for non-conformists right up until the final "i do" here on Hatteras Island, the water burial ground of almost 300 storm related shipwrecks, and where even the crews of German U-boats, during WWII, used to sneak ashore and get a suntan right here on these long white beaches and just a few miles from where the Wright brothers launched the first powered airplane in 1903 and Blackbeard the pirate, in the early 1700′s, retired here to enjoy his loot from hijacking ships of commerce…
lots of history for a rather "out of the way" thin strip of land likely to be erased in any hurricane, but as far as we are concerned, the Amanda/Scooter wedding is at the top of the list of "important events"…everyone down here figures that if those two can make a commitment, then all things are possible..
speaking of relationships, we have one right here….because i happen to be on vacation right now, i let the last post hang a bit too long and yet the comments are getting close to 700…crazy…..conversation…online friends…chit chat…serious thinking and references….assignments coming to fruition….work to be shared and displayed….an internet phenomenon by any reckoning….
so, now what do we do?? stay as we are?? make a commitment for more?? by the end of September we will have all assignments finished i think and i will be ready to announce new grantees from EPF….there are other "awards" besides the cash grants to come, but i will announce those later…now, i just want to get a feel for what we should do next….
frankly, i cannot do more than i am doing right now…my personal photography just cannot take a back seat to managing this forum…..and i well know that none of you expect that nor suggest otherwise…however, if some of YOU were to volunteer your help , i think we could get better without getting bigger or losing our "personal touch"…. i have shunned advertising for our forum here because, well, i just think we should take our "popularity" and instead of advertising, have corporations and individuals sponsor your projects i.e. EPF …
so far, this has been an easy "sell" for me because it is just flat out a "worthy cause" at a time of shrinking photo budgets on every front..my only problem is that i just do not have the time go really go "out there" and sell it in the way that could really make it "fly"….we will have a permanent slot as part of Look3 and next year’s show will be "killer"..and i foresee we will do many more shows/exhibitions from the work generated here in 2008…a printed annual is an obvious possibility, but this will take some major fund raising which i , in theory could easily do, but if i did i am afraid i would lose momentum on my family project….
in the next few weeks my schedule will take me to Perpignan (Sept 3-9) where i will meet many of you..we should discuss this if you are around…also ,in September , i have two weeks of workshops in my New York loft….then i will be back on the road with my "families"… somewhere in there, i would like to meet as many of you in New York as i can…yes, a meeting at my place…..maybe between the two workshops…..maybe after….
your ideas on what we should do or what we can do are important…tell me, tell me….of course, we do not have to do anything different from what we already do….but, i would feel so proud if we could generate enough funding to have many of you working and with a nice publication as an end result…
again, getting "bigger" is not on my mind…..representing a growing and talented legion of photographers and writers who have made their online environment the very message itself, is potentially very interesting…it is what already happens here, but perhaps more of a commitment from some of us could push our collaborative efforts towards its own logical evolution…
Amanda and Scooter, i wish you love and happiness forever……
All,
quick comment about this digi vs film stuff you chated about…
I think that the film era will be over when Leica will produce m9 full frame camera and Nikon and Canon will made some full frame small simple body digital cameras like f3 or fm2. After that everybody will forget about films, because many photographers don’t want walking with big d3 or even d700 on the streets or travel.
But thats all, after that film will be the past.
Sad but truth…
If I will have money for d700 I will buy manuall 35 f1.4 and probably I will forget about film also.
Of course I prefer m9 :)
ok enough about tech stuff must run to wedding :)
peace
Hi Erica, I did not pick up any thing rude coming from you. I was indeed talking about the professional input itself, not stating there is no one posting here with that expertise. This, I have no idea, unless they present themselves as such.
It’s also because these people might find over-reaching to volunteer expertise themselves on a fellow professional’s blog, or some other reason, that I thought an interview might be a good format.
herve erics
i think if you want to talk with an editor in my experience they are quite open people and willing to connect with anyone approaching them with a folio presentation.
in london – i used to just call them up, book a meeting and go see them.. newspapers, agencies..
jenny ricketts, then editor of observer life and teh guardian, once told me that all *good* editors treat each folio pitch with the same weight, whether it be from a large agency or a single photographer starting out.
it can only take one or two contacts independently with an editor to find the magical one or two editors who may filter work through to you on a regular basis.. and thats all thats needed at any one time – one or two or three good editors.
herve and erica that is..
marcin: i totally disagree about film being finished when the full frame digi cameras come out – leica (m9) etc.. believe it or not there are those of us out there that have no desire to use digital. for me i like the fact that film is a tactile medium and it’s tangible ie.. i can see it – digital is to elusive for me – i think i would have nightmares at night about all of my images being consumed by a giant vortex that is off limits too me. gone forever lots of water down the drain..
when i read statements like that i instantly feel paranoid and insecure about what i love so much. my heart is in the history and traditions of the film generation. all of my favorite shooters are film boys and girls. would someone please reassure me that film has at least another twenty solid years ? if most of the film companies ie. kodak/fuji stop manufacturing most of their emulsions – won’t they at least produce a couple stocks like the basics tri-x or t-max etc..
Viva la Film !!
will alec soth buy a digital back for his 8 X 10 ? what about lise sarfati will she go digital too ?
will alec soth buy a digital back for his 8 X 10 ? what about lise sarfati will she go digital too ?
ALL
can we;
put the film down and move away from the subject..
please.. can we just put in down to taste and stop talking in absolutes?
‘only the sith talk in absolutes’
(obi-wan kinobi)
Hello ALL!
Been away for a bit as I have been spending some time with my family and friends on the annual UK visit. Even have the mother-in-law over this time! A very excitable American amongst the rather reserved English (yikes!) ;).
Anyways to matters at hand…To date the wonderful thing about this blog has been the exchange of ideas, available critiques, meeting new people and some exposure amongst those who view the blog—all key in the development of careers in photography.
One issue that has already been brought up is the format of the blog. In my opinion it isn’t as user friendly as it could be—especially perhaps to new guests or those that are unable (or don’t need to) view every day (like editors for example). The huge volume of posts, which is of course wonderful!!, is also rather daunting and difficult to get through if you miss a few days.
There is often talk of editors viewing the site, and I am sure within their busy lives they must have trouble keeping up (700 posts over the last week!).
This is one area where the links page has been successful. As you can view work easily. Drawback with this though is that you can only comment back on the blog and threads get fractured as new posts come in. I have been thinking more about the the format of the blog in relation to a bulletin style which has already been mentioned a few times. This would perhaps make more sense. To add to this, two or three specific areas could be made: General Forum (for questions and ideas etc, an area specifically for links (and comments on said links) and an area for general chit chat.
David, you didn’t really touch on the logistics of the site so much in your post, more how the concept and community can develop, but as this is the foundation of the community I feel a redesign would a huge benefit as it would streamline things a great deal.
I, as all of us, am astounded as to how David can offer so much time to this forum. I think that streamlining the design may also offer a him break in this respect. If things are to grow in the right direction and this becomes a real talent pool that editors consider for assignments, it needs to be easy for them to do so. This takes the work away from you David. I feel that currently if someone (and this happened a couple of months back, with Karen Mullarkey) is interested in using a photog here they will go through you —ie more work for you. Give the editors the freedom to browse through and see some of the wonderful talent we have here. Lightstalkers has already been mentioned a couple of times…. One great thing about the site is the ability to have a personal profile with a gallery that enables you to network more efficiently. It gives editors the ability to view individuals work and communicate easily with them.
It would certainly be nice to keep advertising off the site, and especially generate sponsorship for individuals, but is there a real interest from companies or organizations to sponsor. I don’t know?… Great if so, but perhaps offering advertising to specific, sympathetic companies/orgainizations could offer some kind of constant revenue that could be used in the right way. I guess I just see this option as being more appealing to those looking to advertise.
Outside of the web a core group of members could/should be established, to push this community further in terms of its development and fundraising etc. And take the pressure off David. I am happy to help in anyway that I can to push this to a new level and make it “fly” as David says. Count me in!
So David, hope to catch you at Perpignan, and especially everybody else going!. We can talk about all this (and drink nice French beer!!). So far I know Audrey, Charlie, Gina, Sean will be there, but who else? Is there a time and place that we can meet (did I miss this conversation already!?)…
Cheers all!
James
OK let’s change subject (anyway I use both digi and film and hope to keep going on like that, budget permitting).
ANA GINA and all “the lucky that are going to Prepignan”
I’m also a lucky one..going, as said in previous post, from 1 to 7 so I’ll write you an email. Or we’ll meet “somewhen” :) at Cafè de la Poste (yes the right one, Castillet)
DAVID
This Radio talk (pardon Panos) or Hippy House (sorry Anton or Young tom) or Happy space or whatever (BUT NOT BLOG :) ) it seems to me to be perfect (am I sith?), don’t need to became larger or brillant-webdesigned but only to improve in any of us, writer or dreamer, partecipant or lurker, new or old. And most of all I’m sure that you know or will know very well what is or will be the best.
It doesn’t affect with the fact that from this new wonderful things will came to life.
ALL
I don’t use to ask feedback but I need to choose one between this three photo: http://picasaweb.google.it/lauranutella/ToEditONLYONE?authkey=N_bc_WDfJSY
It’s for the portfolio composed by a small extract of 4 projects (“Gipsy camp”, “Landscape of Palestine”, “Far from home” and “Feticheur”) going on since years and having as a common essay “Restlessness”.
I already share with you but if you need to choose the one the other are here:
http://picasaweb.google.it/lauranutella/Portfolio4SmallView
Answer also with private mail if you don’t want to write here.
GUI
Thank you for the good luck but ….aren’t we going to Perpignan to have a party ?:)))
Laura:
Number two for me. Although I do like the silhouetted hand in the first one, the woman on the right makes it for me in the second.
James
ALL,
quick note … no time…
Ready to help wherever turns out necessary! I have great contacts to a company that does all kind of web programming (whole portals, interfaces for print & press, uploads for all kind of multimedia, etcetcetc. Multiuser, Multilangual if necessary) They are in Germany, though. But ready to help – they just love it when it gets complex :)
I talked to them yesterday and the first thing my friend came up with was an idea like Lightstalker, which would be kind of easy for them to do BUT is obviously not necessary. They are not into photography, so they do not know what there is already.
In case the brainstorming creates new ideas that would make new web-applications & approaches necessary, they at least could help theoretically if not practically.
JAMES, ALL
I will be in Perpignan too. So will Diego Orlando. Gianluca Marucci wrote me an email yesterday – he will unfortunately not manage it. But Ana Yturralde will. Cannot check right now whom I missed …
Apparently there is a meetingpoint at the Cafè de la Poste at Place de Castillet, but Diego said not to worry and just to follow the “stream” of people.
Anyway, we are exchanging cellphones too, apart from the mask-thing. I’ll be writing you an eMail with my number. And you might want to check with Ana, Audrey et.all.
Cheers,
(today running too)
Lassal
RAFAL
I really enjoy the domestic stills..especially the feel of the quietly specific ones..bathtub drain, haircut!, fan, ride me, shoes at the door, knife, food tray, food on the stove, off!, 57, also balls/baloons in a pile. A very good addition I think to the other way of showing the story.
GUI
This won’t be in depth as I am short on time, but there is a lot to talk about with this work..I know you have invested 3 solid weeks already..I think it could be important to spend even more, and you wrote that this could be possible as there is already a closeness…
There are some images which really grab me and/or seem important parts of her story and/or are visually poetic: morning sounds, route, work 1, work and life, can’t stop, changes, solitude, act 2, vanity, portrait of davi, the world..but there is a part of the story here that I personally am missing, I think this strong story can be even stronger and I’d feel privledged to see that view..thank you so much for sharing this beautiful work..
HERVE
good! got it..I agree that an interview might be a good format..could be fun, insightful. I’ll stop apologising..
LAURA
As a stand alone image I an most engaged with the second..but with the others in the piece I think the first may be the most fluid..not sure though. Love the feel of the kids running.
Thanks Lassal, got your email.
If PERPIGNAN peeps want to send me their contacts.I am happy to try and arrange a meeting time/place for EVERYONE if this hasn’t been done already. I don’t know the city, but i’m sure we can figure something out… I’m happy to be the hub to accumulate all the contacts.
james@jameschance.com
James
JAMES (ALL… PERPIGNAN)
Yes, we are already a good bunch of people that will be hanging around in Perpignan (parties as Laura points, work -portfolios reviews- and a lot of photography!. Sean Gallaguer, Eric Spinosa, Lassal, Diego Orlando, Audrey Bardou, Davin, Laura Montari, Charlie Mahoney, Gina Martin, Neil… and DAH !!
As Lassal said, the meetingpoint will be at Cafè la Poste at Place de Castillet after the projections, but we are exchanging cellphones by email so we all can get in touch easily. Stay in touch, and see you there!!
LAURA,
Write me an email and will give you my number. I’ll arrive at Perpignan on sept 03rd.
Looking forward to meeting you all!!
Ana
Ana, there is also Pierre-Yves who will be present in Perpignan !
ERICA
Thanks a lot for you honest oppinion ! It’s very very important to me know how people feels about Carmen’s Life essay.
Yes, I will keep this work on my desk and developing it as long as I can. My point now is try to know better what is missing here and how can I improve it as a photo essay.
I agree I’ll need more time to develop this work, and I want to go decided of what I need. That’s why your oppinion is such important for me. So, what part do you feel missing ? Sometimes I feel like I am going crazy with this ! That’s really good ! I am glad you like it. That’s such a honor to share this work here.
LAURA
Isn’t good to travel with a “good luck” on your bag ? I do prefer !!! Even it’s for fun…. better if for fun !! :)
great job GUI,
MARCIN, RAFAL.
Hey Gina :)))
Hey Laura:)))
Hey ALL ( waking up- ready to go to the
Veterans Hospital)…
Let me dive once more into this craziness,
into this drama..
Good morn and good light to y’all…
Peace
LAURA M
I am a bit confused by your three pictures. No. 3 is a completely different picture than No. 1 or No.2…(?) I lke No. 3 a lot. It is a little more straightforward and simple as a composition and a more open and direct view than some of the others in your series, but I feel it has a direct human connection to the woman with her chicken, and the walls around her are beautiful. I don’t understand why you are choosing between this and Nos. 1 and 2 (?). 1 and 2 are more stylized and ‘trendy’… but I see how they work in your series… if I were to choose between those two, I would take No. 1 for the rim-lit faces on the right and the claw-like hand (looks like a chicken claw!). Sorry to disagree with Erica.
PERPIGNAN CREW…
add Lance Rosenfield to the bunch. my email is gmartin@ngs.org
Laura, I like #2; there’s an air of mystery and tragedy about it that I like, although I’m sure the reason I like the mystery and the tragedy is because I am not on the receiving end of the mystery and the tragedy. La Rouchfoucauld was right: we all bear the tragedies of others with great equaminity.
EVERYBODY
After all the trouble a number of forum contributors were having with Lightstalkers over the last two weeks, I can’t quite believe that a bunch of other forum members are seriously suggesting that this site be more like Lightstalkers! It crashes my system every time I try to look at somebody’s portfolio there.
Since we’re floating trial balloons about ‘where the site should go from here’ I’ll add my 10 rupees. The forum itself? Absolutely nowhere! I thought everybody agreed this site was unique and wonderful! Its energy and stimulation and occasional profundity and general human good will all come from the cocktail party format. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
But I understand two problems… one is David’s workload and responsibility. I don’t think that pertains to the site per se… it is about the work of the EPF- raising money, administering it, setting up the galleries on the other site, arranging slide shows, etc. That is all related to this forum but has actually been operating in parallel. That’s where David needs help and to delegate responsibility.
The other problem… all you lean and hungry young photographers want to sell yourselves, get exposure, be seen, get feedback from editors and buyers… Once again, although related to this forum, I don’t see whay that can’t be done in a parallel universe. So if for example David McGowan, Tom Hyde, Bob Black, Herve, or whoever want to set up some kind of magazine, either online or hard copy, that draws on the work of forum members and has David’s blessing, why not? and if that becomes part of the conduit for funding, OK…
But please leave the forum alone! Talk of ‘streamlining’ (whatever that means) or ‘Lightstalkers’ gives me the shudders.
You know, I’m trying to remember the last time anyone ever referred to me as lean, hungry, or young, but memory, as it is wont to do beyond a certain point, fails me. Still, it’s nice to be thin, even if it’s only on the Web.
Laura,
beautiful work! I like very much 1 and 2, 1 more classic has my taste but 2 speaks to me more, I like very much your work on Rome…
Gui,
thank you for the sharing, you have a very beautiful intimacy with this family…
Kind regards, audrey
Erica,
thank you. We all surround ourselves with things and those things speak a lot about us. For me still lifes are a way of filling in the spaces and showing something more complete. The specific ones are my favorite, because they are specific to me but also perhaps mysterious to others….it was a suggestion from David when editing for the Look 3 show to show photos that were in David’s words “esoteric” and its how Ive been trying to take the whole project.
The one I really wish I had more time to really do is Family Ties because theres so much potential there….but time and distance dont allow me to spend enough time there to really dig in.
LAURA,
I just took a look to your three pictures. As the two first are very different from the third, I think it is important the “purpose” why you are editing just one. There are different emotions, feelings and sensations from the first two and the third! Without knowing the final destination of the picture you finally choose, I really like the first two. And from those, definitely I prefer the second one :-)
AUDREY, GINA,
I did not know that Lance and Pierre-Yves were going to Perpignan too. That’s great!!
David B
Per your question about using examples of work from here for your students, it’s fine with me.
Busy day – I owe you an email soon.
ERICA, JCHANCE, SIDNEY, AKAKY, AUDREY, ANA and All
Thank you for your advise!
It was really useful to me. In a certain sense it confirm my opinion … that I can’t choose :) joking… that for Portfolio the first run better with the other (also if the second … alone works maybe better).
I know that the third one is different. I have a link with that one but…I can’t explain.. it’s a part of something else…a work on Gurunsi that it’s one of the few that I can’t stop editing mostly because… I still haven’t choose between B&W and color.
The same old story. That work is in colour but I can’t do without the BW ones.
GINA & Perpignan
Just sended and email (I don’t have the Ana email but someone is doing a mailing list)
GUI
of course! “Good luck” are always welcome
GUI….
i did spend some time looking at your work with Carmen…i have many suggestions, but because of my family time right now, i just will have to wait and critique after next week…you will be the first critique i do when i “come back”..i hope you understand….
LASSAL…
i am planning to have your story, along with all of the others , published on this site…unfortunately i left new york and totally forgot to give our show to Mike to post here…i have no idea how to take the cd Diego made and post it on the web…so, i will have it all done by the time we all show up in Perpignan…
LAURA M.
yes, we will have a party..but, i would not go all the way to France for a party….i will be trying to set up a venue in Perpignan for next year for the best work from our forum…i am also suggesting that all of us meet at some point for a little planning session…anyway, we will definitely have fun!!!!
JAMES…
i have had many “feelers” from sponsors and advertisers….i have rejected advertising on this site straight away…however, both Livebooks and Digital Railroad have donated there parts to this forum….subtle advertising….anyway, if we meet in Perpignan i can fill you in on where we stand…i do not want to say things now that may in fact “fall through” at the last minute….anxious to hear about all of your adventures…
ALL….
i think i will arrive in Perpignan on wednesday sept 3…flying to Barcelona and driving up….booked into the Park Hotel if you want to leave me a message…Cafe le Poste is a good late night meeting point…
cheers, david
David McGowan
I looked at your garage sale slideshow and the impression I got was that these sales are happening because of the economic situation in Michigan. Is that so? or is it a long running summer tradition that has not much to do with the economical situation of the country/state? I am asking this question because here, I live in the canadian province of Quebec, garage sales are a big tradition. As soon as the snow melts and the weather is warm enough to stand outside without a coat on, that means end of spring, May ish, people start to get their unwanted stuff out on the sidewalk to sell. In Montreal, where I live, anytime during warm days, you can see these sales in streets, in front of houses, apartment buildings, etc. It is really a long standing tradition that goes on no matter what the economical situation is. Instead of throwing away or giving it away, people try to get a few bucks for the furniture, the bicyles, the clothes, the shoes, the plates, etc, etc, etc that they don’t want anymore. It has a pratical purpose : letting other people, in exchange of a small symbolic amount of money, take away the stuff you don’t want anymore, instead of doing it yourself … It is also an occasion to talk with the neighbors, socialize, etc. much more than to make money… because usually prices are quite low. So, I was wondering if the purpose of these sales is different south of the border?
Thanks.
Yes, Sidney, pleaaase no lightstalker format… This is the most cumbersome site I have ever navigated thru (mostly staying ashore!), it’s got all of what I hate most in photography, er…In life! (namely laughable elitism), and I agree with you, David Bowen, nothing like good, intensive work, then a portfolio, and knock on doors.
In any case, I do not think that is what David had in mind, the blog doubling as a placement agency, more like starting from his opinion that things have been achieved here, more will come, and therefore the need/wish to crystallize the achievements in a less volatile format than blog entries with 1000 (soon) posts a week.
The bulletin board? not sure, IMO, not answering david’s idea, and I even think that would dilute energy, and change the spirit of the blog.
Starting by making it become like 1000 other website forums. Let’s not corporize road trip!
Martin
I’ve really got to run soon, but I’ll try to give you the short answer. Yes there is a tradition of garage sales in Michigan, so much so that things like “Michigan’s Longest Garage Sale” are an annual event. However as indicated by several news reports, there’s a particular explosion of sales in Michigan, due in part to our economy.
I don’t mean to (and don’t think I do) imply that all of our sales are the result of our economic woes. Many, many are of typical folks cleaning house. But I do take closer looks at some people whose lifestyle is disrupted by our economy, and have to give up things they would normally keep, as sales of items now become a regular part of their need and lifestyle. And also, sound bites about the economy are easy to pick up at these sales, so this study is as much about the atmosphere and buzz as it is about the sale itself.
I’ll be happy to talk more about it, but gotta run!!!
HERVE…ALL
no, i do not see this forum becoming a “placement agency”…if some photographers here become “known” and get assignments because of it, then that is just fine…but, i do not want to start or become an agency…i already have an agency!!!
first, i just like our discussions!! the camaraderie here is just “off the charts”….
..and that is what we have always done and always will do….last summer, during my family vacation then, i came up with the idea of funding some of you i.e. EPF
if a print publication, or exhibits, or book came from the work being done here, then i think that would be rewarding for all of us…
i have no interests for this forum other than the above…i mean, isn’t that enough?????
oh yes, one other amazing spin-off has been all of the personal meetings so many of us have had….Perpignan is sounding like it could get out of hand!!! like Look3…
heaven help us!!
hugs, david
Free chating place- that how I see this open room. Telling stories, showing world, exchange thoughts.
Speaking of committment. . . . I’m working on a long-term project. It’s approx. 3-4 years. I’ve got about a little over a year when the opportunities to photograph will end.
At this point, I’m not ready to explain it. I have no idea whether or not it’s worth committing to or whether the subject will be relevant later.
In general, I’m at the point where there is a lot of unknown variables, the shots I can’t get to but need and want to get. I wonder about if I’ve bit off more than I can chew.
I know this discussion is about the direction of this forum, but it’s difficult enough sometimes to decide to make a committment at the risk that the timing is wrong, or was just a bad idea in the first place.
Lurk mode off.
LAURA,
I’m right now finishing the editing of my portfolio and that is one of my worst decissions! Color vs B&W. Some photos work better in b&W but some in color and I really wish I could make a mixture and present a series with both, but everybody says that a series has to be ALL in color or B&W. So for the portfolio I will mixt both and for the series I will have to decide… Tough work!
About the mailing list, I don’t know if somebody is doing it. I have several emails (and cellphones), but not all. Here you have mine: anayphotoATgmail.com
DAVID,
I’m really excited about that little planning session in Perpignan! I’m going to Perpignan the same day as you by car and I will pass by Barcelona. if you want, I can pick you up and give you a free ride to Perpignan from there. Just let me know, ok? it will be a pleasure for me!
“Perpignan is sounding like it could get out of hand!!! like Look3…
heaven help us!!”
You made me laugh! heaven help us!!! :D
Hugs!
Ana
DAVID:
will u in ~ 2 hrs…..
ALL:
this will be quick, just finished some writing and i have to run to a friends exhibition…it’s been interesting reading all the ideas for the transformation of the ON THE ROAD…hmmm…i guess i should share just a simple thing:
i’ve been at the blog virtually since the beginning (since bruno stevens told me about david and his blog) and while i didnt comment on the blog for a few months (imagine? ;)), but i thought the blog was for David’s workshop students and Magnum friends), i’ve read the blog (all the parts) almost every day for almost 1 1/2 years. What i loved about the blog in the beginning (when there would only be like 5-25 comments, and all from David’s friends and workshop students) to the leviathan it has become is that this blog has always been really about 1 thing:
CONVERSATION BETWEEN PEOPLE WHO BREATHE PHOTOGRAPHY….
i never joined this community thinking it would “HELP” me or my photography. I never entered the “EPF” thinking anything: in fact, in the beginning it was supposed to be a communal idea (i suggested a form of Ringu) and look at how that, beautifully, surprised everyone: David was able to award Sean $5,000. I have continued to write here and show pics (as well as offer ideas, poems, essays as well as help to folk, including introducing David to an important person in france who might be able to help him, and maybe you all) because i like the spirit: like a large community….for good and ill…
i worked on Bones and yes will entered it for this year’s EFP program (the last year i will do this) because i wanted to make something of my work directly inspired by my relationship with this community. I’ve never thought that being a part of this community would ever “help” my family photographically. In truth, i’ve never thought that I would get anything out of this or my relationship with David. What can he do to help me and Marina?…Our work is so so different from Magnum, so different from work that often gets funded, that I’ve never kidded myself about any of that. In the end, Marina and I struggle and work our buts off to survive as artists and photographers and writers and I am not here because i think it will amount to some largesse.
What i did pledge to david here (publically and privately), that i would contribute in anyway i could because i love the readership, i love the people i met (last week, i spent 3 hrs on the phone with Lance), i met Mike Berube (before i knew he was connected to Harvey), etc….
what this place affords is a real opportunity for people to meet, for people to help one another, to chat and encourage and yes, from time to time, make a difference in their photographic life….
i’d be lying if i didn’t say that i wouldnt mind also winning something like what Sean won, but the truth is that this place is filled to the brim with brilliant folk doing inspiring and nurturing stuff and I am proud to just be a small part of that….
that people still have expectations of what the blog will do, or what david will do, for us makes me laugh, also a bit sad….there as already been so much accomplished…in the end, what matters is that:
the blog will not go on forever, just as david will not, but the hope is that the energy and desire and breathe that inhabits this place will continue to inspire y’[all to do what it was meant for y’all to do….
as my wife said, after we’d decided we could not afford to go to look3, “david is just another person with a good heart. do not put on his shoulders expectations for which he hasnt offered or is unable to grant…”…
then again, my wife is one of the wisest people i know ;)))
running
b
ALL:
I just talked to David! He just wanted me to remind everyone:
NOT TO WORRY ABOUT HIS SILENCE :))))))…he’s with the family and has no time, but he’ll be back after this week…
Also, I just want to say that it was just my joke about david getting married…just a joke :)))..he’s with family only…the married couple are the lovely ones in the pics…
ok, gotta run…
hugs y’all
bob
I agree with Bob!!!!!
I started writing here because I just wanted say to great photographer that I like his amazing work, then I liked him personally, then I liked many others personally, then I has been frightened by crowd, then I liked this crowd…
yes I am asking myself “what the hell you doing here?”
I don’t need changes…
just open room…
good night and good luck
marina
bob praises you, and rightfully so..
thanks for sharing her wisdom bob bro.. might want to mail you soon, what is your address?
love
anton
marcin
exactly!!!!
“I don’t need changes…
just open room…”
you said it right there
I don’t know about you, but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about a whole lot of things. There are only so many hours in a day and you can only think about so many things in those so many hours before you want to stop thinking and watch television. This seems to be true everywhere; even with the advent of our new postmodern information society, which allows more people to think about more things that most people couldn’t care less about one way or the other than ever before, most people will reach a point of data overload and will start tuning out. This is as true for me as for anybody else, so on the odd occasion when something on the information superhighway comes along and manages to pique my interest, I tend to spend more than the usual amount of time mulling the subject over than most people I know. The recent earthquake in California is a case in point. We all know that there are earthquakes in California; that is not the issue here. I am simply wondering just why it is that all these earthquakes must be San Andrea’s fault and not the fault of some other deserving saint.
As far as I can tell, and I should mention here that I have done absolutely no research on this and so I am entirely ignorant about what I am talking about, the better to hold a strong opinion on the matter unsullied with mere information, San Andrea, the biblical Saint Andrew the Apostle, never, in all of his missionary travels preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the benighted lower classes of the heathenistic Hellenistic world, set foot in California, an equally heathenistic country chock full of benighted lower classes, although with better sanitation, and in all likelihood could not find California on a map of the United States, an ignorance of basic American geography that the blessed saint shares with millions of American schoolchildren. Even if he had known where California was, it would be extremely unlikely that he would ever have gone there, what with his driver’s license expiring early in the year XXI. It does not do for saints to be wandering up and down the Pacific Coast Highway with an expired license; while not a cause for scandal in the theological sense of that much abused word, it does tend to promote bad driving habits and a fundamental disrespect for both canon and traffic law. Driving without a license also jacks up your insurance premiums once the cops pull you over and discover that you can’t legally drive in the Golden State. All around, it is not a good thing to do.
In any case, not much is known about Saint Andrew the Protocletos, which means the First-Called and is not, as I first imagined it to be, the scientific name for a small and not particularly bright species of dinosaur. According to the ancient sources, Andrew was the first called primarily because he was the first person in that area of the Galilee to get a cell phone and unlimited minutes for his calling circle, something that helped keep the Apostles in touch as they wandered around ancient Israel together healing the sick and raising the deadbeats and then calling; you just know when some guys have nothing but a pair of deuces in their hand and are just trying to bluff you out of the pot. This is, in fact, one of the few things we know for certain about Saint Andrew. Most of what we do know comes from the Gospels themselves—we know from the Gospels, for example, that Saint Andrew was the brother of Saint Peter—and from some newly translated documents pulled out of the remains of an old Coptic monastery at the Nag Mefurmoni archaeological site in Egypt. In 1976, a team of archaeologists from Harvard working on a two year project for finding new ways to loot the Harvard endowment discovered, quite by accident, a treasure trove of early Christian documents and Red Sox memorabilia at Nag Mefurmoni, a small desert outpost only a hundred or so miles from Cairo. The stunned archaeologists, who’d spent most of the dig working on their tans, literally stumbled across an ancient library under the spot they were going to park their Port-O-Potty, a library that included, amongst other things, a carbon copy of a hitherto unknown Gospel according to Andrew and Andrew’s Epistle to Saint Barney the Barman, along with Barney’s reply. Barney’s reply contains one of the first complete examples of a Christian catechism ever found, as well as a request that Saint Andrew settle his tab and, in the margins, some professional tips on how to make the perfect Harvey Wallbanger. This epistle never actually reached Saint Andrew, though, as Saint Barney neglected to put a stamp on the envelope and so the epistle never left the Nag Mefurmoni post office; apparently, the post office clerks just tossed the screed into the undeliverable file, along with all those letters kids wrote every year to Santa Zeus. But in all of those documents, however, there is not one mention of California, earthquakes, kids wearing pajamas to school, or why anyone Saint Andrew should hold responsible for these phenomena.
Saint Andrew is not the only saint to have such uncanonizable faults attributed to him. Saint Vitus’ dance, for instance, is a disease in which the sufferer moves, jerks, and makes wild involuntary spastic movements reminiscent of the worst excesses of the acolytes of Isadora Duncan on speed, whereas Saint Vitus himself preferred the minuet and the occasional foxtrot to keep things interesting. Saint Elmo’s fire is not really a fire at all, a fact once explicated on by the American theologian Rob Lowe, and Saint Elmo had no more to do with the eponymous unfire than did Saint Kermit, Saint Oscar the Grouch, and Saint Demi Moore.
So why Saint Andrew? No one knows, as far as I can tell. Theories abound, of course, as they always do, and some of them are more nonsensical than others, as they always are. This is the way of the world; in the wake of any great disaster, someone will have to say that it must be somebody’s, anybody’s, fault, although it actually helps if the someone you’re trying to pin this thing on is either a Jew, a Jesuit, or a Mason. If you can get someone from all three groups and the CIA involved as well, so much the better for your theory. This has actually been going on for quite some time now. For example, the Inquisition blamed the 1755 Lisbon earthquake on the malign influence of heretics and was all gung-ho to give a few of them the permanent hot foot just as soon as they found enough of them to barbeque. The king of Portugal was having none of that, however, and told the inquisitors that he had to feed the living and bury the dead, tasks that left little or no time for pressing people as to whether or not they believed in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Mass executions of apostates, while an edifying and altogether wholesome spectacle for the entire family, would have to wait for another time. The inquisitors left the royal presence deeply annoyed; in every crowd, there’s always one killjoy who spoils the fun for everyone, which is something I’m pretty sure you’ve already noticed by now
Before someone asks:
Ingredients:
3/4 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz orange juice
1/4 oz Galliano
orange slice for garnish
maraschino cherry for garnish
Preparation:
Pour the vodka and orange juice into a collins glass with ice cubes.
Add the Galliano.
Garnish with the orange slice and maraschino cherry.
and there you have it, a Harvey wallbanger
DAVID
I have not had the time to look at the TPW-DVD.
Perpignan should be ok, timewise… Or after that. If there is need for hurry I can have a look if there is a possibility to get it to Mike.
You tell me.
Oh… and I will send you an email this weekend … I was not sure … You will probably be innundated after these 2 weeks off… But you can read it any time … I just have to WRITE it now. :))
ALL
I posted the stuff with the webcompany I know because I understood brainstorming was going into that direction …
Have not had the time to read all the comments BUT … I totally agree with some that we should be carefull not to destroy this wonderful … loose … free … community …
Wonderful stuff here… Great to meet people from the blog … like Nacho in Tuscany … and have this big grin in our faces. A feeling of brotherhood … on a pure, simple, happy way.
All across the world …
David, Iztok said he will be coming to Perpignan and Franco just wrote, he will be there too (from the Tuscany workshop).
Tony, Hunter and I will arrive on the first and leave on the seventh.
Listening to Ludovico Einaudi “Divenire” – a music I got from Stefano from the Monastery in Tuscany. It is the Music he associates with the place … He wished me to take it home with me (postcard) … And I am right there now … flying over the hills … It really works!!!!
… and doing my accounting!
(What a killer…)
Abraços,
Lassal
AKAKY
Once again your demonstrated mastery of the genre first made popular by Erasmus (“The Praise of Folly”) leaves most of us groping feebly for a comeback. But I personally had always pictured David (who is probably mostly a beer drinker if the legend has any truth) as more of a Tequila or Mezcal than a Vodka man when it comes to hard liquor (??). Are you sure this isn’t your Slavophilia showing? We have real Poles among our most faithful (and attractive!!) members, and I’m sure they’ll speak up for the virtues of Polish vodka over the crude Russian rotgut, but my personal favorite is Kubanskaya… anybody out there ever tried it? My only recipe is get it as cold as possible, put it in a frosted shot glass, and sip it slowly like single malt whisky.
sidney my man…
recipe to get your wyborowa to ideal temperature: ‘decapitate’ a plastic bottle of water of 1.5 litres; fit the vodka bottle inside. top off the plastic bottle with water. put in freezer till water is a solid block of ice. when serving, you’ll see it’s quite “syrupy”… a different drink entirely….
and soooo good :)))
Hi all,
I just wanted to let people know that I now have a blog:
http://nordichigh.blogspot.com/
All
I am very excited to share with you what’s going on with my first book that’s in the middle of printing process.
The book will be published by Toseisha in Tokyo, Japan.
It is one of the major 3 publishing companies for the photography books in Japan.
The book will be out on October 25th, 2008 and the publishing company has invited me to the this coming Paris Photo Festival. (Nov. 13th- Nov. 16th, 2008 ) with my book.
Wish me luck.
The president of the publishing company from Japan has brought me the edited version of the book along with the cover design for the book on 21st Aug. k.
The cover was done by a topologist from Netherlands. He did a beautiful job by writing on a piece of cloth and blowing it with air so that it could form waves like figure.
We went over the book a photo by photo and discussed the last changes to be made. The publishing company has even made very special inks for my book.
(Takahashi brand, it’s the president name of publishing company): a black ink is made of 3 different mixtures of inks and a gray that’s made of 5 different mixtures of inks.
This September 16th will be the first day to print my first book.
This all is very new and exciting for me.
many many Thanks.
.
All,
I won’t be able to go to Perpignan this year No time (€) :P
Hope you take good decisions about the future and please count me in for whatever I can do to help.
Hope to meet you all some day sooner.
kyunghee, whats the book about?