Anton Kusters (above) is one of the hardest working collaborators on the planet….Burn does not exist without Anton…the fact that he is jet lagged and needs a “time out” should be of no surprise….he jets back and forth from his home in Belgium to Japan, and his Yakuza project, and now just as easily to New York where he is crashing on the Burn office/gallery/crash pad sofa…he is here to work on BURN…we can do a lot by Skype, but one on one we can really get some work done….
what started out as an extension of my Road Trips blog and just a fun project with and for our audience here, has now blossomed into a seriously considered online media outlet/producer….all that has happened to Burn in the last few weeks is humbling to say the least….our nomination for a Lucie Award is flattering considering we are just a two person lap top from wherever operation at the moment… this was predicated by a nice mention of Burn on the New York Times “LENS” blog last week, whose progenitor, editor/ photographer James Estrin, just left my loft after meeting with my students for two hours…..David Walker, Senior Editor at PDN, this month did a nice, accurate, to the point Q&A interview with me in their magazine which always makes a strong push in the direction of young emerging photographers….The Digital Journalist guru Dirck Halstead at the same time wrote a strong editorial about the state of affairs for young photographers, and suggested that large funding operations direct some of their efforts in the direction of Burn, MediaStorm, 100 Eyes and other online efforts who pledge to pump lifeblood into a sagging industry….
so all at once, Burn has a place at the table ….organic…based on personal history and trust….working with the best people for all the right reasons, and all of it audience driven…..all of it…..funding for EPF, from you….donations which have kept our loft alive for office and gallery space, from you….submissions which have us now with more content than we can handle, from you….incidentally, i apologize for not being able to respond to every submission of photographs and every kind donation….we are way behind in viewing submissions and will soon employ a professional experienced editor to help, but i assure i view each and every submission…for those i like, i make contact as soon as possible, but please be patient…many many thanks to those of you who have given support….we could not have survived this long without you….
if now is the time for Burn to receive funding so that commissions can be given to the young generation and original work can be produced here for Burn from the iconic to the youngbloods, then OUR efforts here will be deemed someday to have been significant and historic… i just think that way….
so, let’s take this audience one step further….do i need your help? yes…. more pictures of course…but , what we all need now is to have a small first class team of grant writers and/or sales people to at least get me to the right person at the right kind of sponsorship venue…Burn is easy for me to pitch….really easy….first of all, it is not about me or my work(that is another problem!!)….Burn is about making a contribution to the new generation of photographers who express themselves either journalistically or artistically or both…..if you have any thoughts about potential funders and grant writing talent, please send them to Kerry Payne (photo below) who celebrated her 40th birthday at the Burn loft last night with our students toasted with Veuve Cliquot and Orios …Kerry is a hard core Aussie and should be recovered from last night’s modest bash by the time you send her an e-mail – kerry@burnmagazine.org….she is a biz person….do not write to Anton or to me, we are not….please please..
Anton and i cannot do any more than what Burn is now by ourselves…with just a little bit of help we can revolutionize….hey , is there anything better than the start up of a rock band in the garage?? yes, that is us….underground…underdog….full of enthusiasm…the best combo for creativity…
tomorrow we will go on with a live Q&A with Martin Parr…he will answer thought provoking questions from the readers here for two hours….Martin wants to do an original essay with first publication on Burn….i want to make that happen….and at the same time give concurrent commissions to two or three young less known photographers….i will make this happen….Martin, and Magnum , support this effort….a story on Alex and Rebecca Webb will follow soon behind, and they will be presenting at the Burn gallery event this friday evening where about 30 Burn audience photographers will be hanging on the same walls with Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Gilles Peress, Susan Meiselas and Chris Anderson….we will try to invite likely print buyers and hope that someone who might collect an Erwitt would also buy a print from an emerging photographer…anyway, a nice thought…..oh yes, my loft students for the week are the highlight of the evening when they present their efforts for the week….we are hard at work on this show now…
so, this is a 24 hour time out from our normal programming….essays and singles from you will up again by tomorrow afternoon….but, this should give you all something to chew on….for one thing, do you take a time out right in the middle of when things are busy???
OK OK, where do we order the Burn hoodies?
GORDON my man -
http://www.cafepress.com/burnstore
the black hoodie is indeed the coolest…
a
DAH & All- Awesome work! Always anticipating whatever might be next!! Visual Fuel…right here on BURN!
Cheers, Jeremy
This really is a special place filled with people who are just plain DOIN’ IT!!! Yes, DAH is a visionary but, dammit, he brings those dreams to life. That is, with the help of folks like Anton, Mike Courvoisier, Kerry Payne and more behind-the-scenes people than any of us could imagine. IMHO we are at the epicenter of a revolution that is changing the way photography will be seen and supported in the future…not to mention how photographers will craft their work. Burn has a place for everyone, from conceptual to photojournalistic to art to documentary to multimedia. And yes, we have a place for non-photogs who add more than they know. Yes, a civilian mass audience, I’m talking about you!
So what’s next? Who knows? As DAH says, this whole endeavor has been organic from the start, and such creative ventures make their own paths. No one is following anyone or anything here; we are making up our own rules as we go.
It is such a gift to be part of the Burn community! Thank you thank you thank you…
hugs
Patricia
great stuff… anton really doing it..
good luck for all..
Hi David, I am confused…there is a Burn Gallery show this friday night? why such short notice on the show and are people invited? Sounds like a great show but it feels like I missed something somewhere, did I? Was it posted on Burn somewhere?
Burn is great and I love it. I will return for every essay that you publish and will watch and see what becomes of the careers of the young photographers that you feature.
Yet, after reading this piece, there is one thing I cannot help but feel discouraged about.
There are many older photographers who have been around, doing good work, always struggling, still struggling, who yet have much to contribute.
Unless they are already big names – and even some of those are struggling, it seems – the avenues of support grow every more narrow, because the thrust is to help out the young, emerging, photographer and let the older ones drift into their meagre pastures.
For Anton
VALERY…
the answer is yes….we contacted photographers who we thought had photographs most likely to work in a gallery sales event…if you think we missed you, please bring a print…the one we ran here on Burn would be terrific…or better, get it over here tomorrow…
why such short notice?? we are going to have a crowd control problem as it is..i was a bit reluctant to post even what i just did…of course, Burn readers are invited…i am just worried we could have so many people that we literally cannot handle it..
hope to see you Valery….
cheers, david
FROSTFROG…
a very very good point….i define “emerging” loosely and say so regularly…. there are certainly some photographers who are shall we say “over 40″ who are in fact emerging…the two books i mentored this year , Michael Loyd Young “Blues, Booze, and Barbque” and Patricia Lay Dorsey “Falling Into Place” are by photographers who are both comfortably over 40….so, i am open …totally…many photographers who are published on Burn are perhaps not so well known and evolving/growing and not 25…..the audience here is largely younger, but good pictures are good pictures….so send me some links…it is never to late to be the man/woman you could have been…
cheers, david
FROSTFROG
you’ll find all ages among us at BURN.
I have not had the impression that it is about the age here. It is about photography! :-)
ANTON
great hoodie … but I am not a hoodie person. Do we have mugs too? If not, we definitively should do some.
Hey, it’s getting wintery outside. I got my first cold of the year today. It is definitively because I was not drinking my hot tea/chocolate/coffee/whisky out of the right mug!
DAH
speechless … so so happy about this. So pround to have a print on your wall too … What an honour!
KERRY
Congratulations!!!!! All my best wishes to you and thanks so much for helping out here :-)
Hope you had a wonderful day yesterday – looking at the image I think you had it … All the best for your future…
and whose big smile do I see on the right?
DOMINIK!!!!!!
Looks like you are having lots of fun! Hope your new little digital helper is doing a good job there …
I would blame myself if this was not the case.
Looking forward to meet you for a looooooong coffee break once you are back here. Lots to talk about.
Enjoy! Enjoy! Relax! Have fun! Get excited! And enjoy some more!
Cheers&hugs
DAH – Glad to hear that. Being 36 but only shooting for about five years makes me think I should qualify for that category, but so many grants aimed at emerging photographers have age limits.
There was a thread over on Lightstalkers where someone was willing people to help write grant proposals. That may not be a bad place to start looking.
http://www.lightstalkers.org/free-grantscholarship-advice
Wish I could help more.
ok… someone said..
photos… more photos…
we need more photos..
thats why im here…
everyone enjoy…
have fun….
LEATHER FESTIVAL FROM SAN FRANCISCO LAS EXPEDITION….
( SOME CRAZY STUFF happened in venice last night… but thats for later…)
now, enjoy the latest San Francisco craziness…i know .. little late..
but better late than never..
( hey DAH, im just trying to buy Anton some time…)
NEW LINK
NEW LINK
NEW LINK….clivk below…:
http://picasaweb.google.com/innerspacecowpanos/Tif09?authkey=Gv1sRgCMHYsNqwiP2CpwE#slideshow/5389996794581608786
Ok, just checked the store. No mugs (yet)!
But t-shirts and I will be getting some. BUT … there is something wrong with the logo: The BURN dot is not red. Can we fix that?
DAH,
we might be able to apply for some financial help from the EU. But it is quite complicated. They even offer workshops to help you fill those application forms … There are a couple of websites. I’ll do a search and send it to … whom? Kerry? hmmm …
Will write you a separate email in a week or two when things calmed down a little.
DAH – burn is profound.
I have for a long time argued among my own community as to when photographers would shed their old world mantles and wake up to the new world of media and distribution which is ever emerging. Photography needs a new model to not be swallowed by other emerging world orders. Your previous post (with the snazzy film sequence) and this post proves to me beyond a doubt that burn is striving to create this new world/place for photographers – establishing a new photographic order.
burn is pioneer. I salute you for this. Bravo burn. The accolades are more than well deserved. Your comment as to burn being ‘two people and a laptop’ made me chuckle. This is the new world, and two people and a laptop can create and change that world. Perhaps this mute point goes to prove the adage of it’s not the camera you have but the person you are which will make truly a great photograph.
Innovate, invent, create, burn.
with every best wish.
oh i forgot the warning…
EXPLICIT..
( do not open in front of kids or anywhere around AKAKY’s office..:))))))))
parental advice for the above slideshow…
especially from number 32 photo and up….
(… dont shoot the messenger…)
Hi David, I sent you a personal email regarding a print and the show…..
My brain is crashing. I’ll be back in the morning so that I can better digest this. Time out.
Time out for me too. Good night BURN.
I love the top picture but I don’t know who is in the second shot. I suppose the woman is Kerry.
I can’t really think of Burn as an underdog, not with a big name at the helm – perhaps its relative. But nevermind, its all great what you are doing and I wish Burn every success. I think of Burn as a runaway success in a new model of image sharing. I think you can’t lose, though of course no one can afford to be complacent.
David, you’re f….ing nuts, keep it up. When you need to chill, please stream http://wdvx.com/
it WILL make you happy…er. I’m sorry I could not make contact with you last week. I was working
in Staten Island and had hoped we could meet mano y mano.
Let me know what I can do. Perhaps the Poynter Institute should be informed of your efforts. There really is a lot of non-profit cash out there. I know you know.
Paul O
ANDREA C…
didn’t i clearly say that the woman was Kerry?? if not, it is Kerry….certainly underdog in the world of the large media companies…
on a funny ( still explicit ) mode.
“HERVE being CURIOUS”…
click below..
laughing…
http://picasaweb.google.com/innerspacecowpanos/Tif09?authkey=Gv1sRgCMHYsNqwiP2CpwE#5389997903114413042
Anton,
Any decision on your facial hairgrowth taken yet?
Burn keeps on burning
and the world keeps on turning…
thursday morning here, wednesday night there…
been loving the evolution of burn…
(dah – still miss your road trips diary stuff ; )
‘WHAT NOT TO LOVE’
Civi – can we put that on a t-shirt?
ALL THE BURN CREW – WELL DONE!!!!
HAVE A GREAT NIGHT FRIDAY
Love Peace & Photography!
ok, i’m gonna do a bit of a panos here and drop a track…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS3hEuAbuLE
‘people keep on burning…’
love those teddy bear pants!
Lovely day at the loft, report coming as soon as I can, but maybe will wait and will scribble the day and the slideshow and opening all together..must do Frank talk too, so some juggling of time, but for now, what a great group at the workshop, and I too am oh so proud that roadtrips is all grown up!
JOHN -
still experimenting. main problem though is that i’m too chicken. but i’m working on it.
a
I just looked through Penns “Passage”, twice. What amazing stuff. What amazing vision.
In 1947, the year I was born, he was doing stuff that still looks ultra edgy today. I am in awe.
Hey Panos
That first image in your new set looks like the DAHlai Lama :>))
Anton,
Chicken have feathers, not moustaches.
David, Anton,
This may not be exactly what you are looking for as far as help but at least it’s something…
I “discovered” some new talent for you tonight. (Since I used to do that in Hollywood with comedians, musicians, actors…I may as well use my ability to include discovering photographers.) Sent him your way so hopefully you’ll get his submission soon.
His name is Jake Mendel. Powerhouse is publishing his book on Short Track.
http://www.powerhousebooks.com/book/1116
Maybe I’ll have better luck getting other people’s work published here :))
I don’t seem to be doing so well with my own.
p.s. David I love, love, love that top shot. Gorgeous!
DAH
I love the top shot also..
don’t have much to add, just keep on doing the do the way you do…
thanks to you and Anton..
best
Kathleen
Thanks, David and Lassal!
I appreciate that.
Yai frosty frogperson I’m a young pup…..hoping do develop into a gecko or two…….
In physics “Critical Mass is the smallest amount of material needed to create a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Its size depends on several factors, including the kind of material used, its concentration and purity, and the composition and geometry of the surrounding reaction system”
People, we have reached critical mass…..!!
Congratulations to all (with special a mention, of course, for DAH & AK)
David…Burn/Road Trips has been a continued inspiration for myself and for many many photographers I know. To be a part of this has been a non-stop ride and I am ready to keep going. I am really hoping our paths will be able to cross towards the end of this month. I am working on it and will try to keep tabs of where you are to meet up. I for one, would also like to help out more in any way I can. Maybe I could set up a field office here in Beijing?! Are you getting many hits from China? I hope you can at least maybe sell my print on Friday to help boost the coffers. Best, Sean.
sean – field office, exhibits in europe and further, is a great idea.
howd the workshop go?
Anton and David you rock. I am just sorry not to be there with you to celebrate such beautiful event. All the best for the evening and I wish Burn the best.
Speak soon
Uncle Dave -do you take a time out right in the middle of when things are busy???
right on man I am a big advocate of the siesta , nana nap , a couple of bex and a good lie down.
Even last week when things are horrendously busy in hot steamy and tragic after the earthquake in Padang, you got to take time!
Living and working under an equatorial sun has really taught me how to live, work and play!
Congrats on the Lucie nomination you guys ,I’m proud to have been there with you guys in some small way!
Cheers Glenn
It feels so good to wake up to such an amzing and inspiring post (and comments, too!).
I don’t post much (even because I was offline for two weeks, having moved to a different country, and I’m waaaaaay behind trying to catch up with the 2000+ comments on “Avalon”), but I follow burn very closely, wishing I could do something more than just visiting daily, sometimes hourly. I so hope I’ll be able to come up with an essay worth of being submitted and worth of being looked at by such an amazing group of people (that is, david, burn staff, the photographers featured on burn, and most people who regularly post here).
And posts like this just makes it all seem easier, it’s so up-lifting, I couldn’t help but smile while reading and thinking this is all true, happening, and so beautiful.
Don’t know if my words make a lot of sense, but as Patricia so rightly put it, “it is such a gift to be part of the Burn community! Thank you thank you thank you…”
David B…It went well thanks. Just put the images up on my blog from the workshop (just click my name to see them). It’s early days for us but we’re hoping to build them up. Let’s see where they take us!
By the way, do you live in the Washington DC/NYC area? Will be in the States for a couple of weeks at the end of this month/early Nov. If yes, let me know, would be good to meet up.
If any other Burnians are reading this then, let me know if any of you will be in the DC/NYC area around that time too. It’ll be my first time in both cities. Would be great to meet people.
GLENN…
i can relax right in the middle of the most potentially stressful scenario…5-10 minute siestas work for me…i have never studied meditation, but have my own version, and can get some relaxing space when chaos reigns….
you have been here in a big way with your comments and your work….i think i first started writing to Marcin and to you and Cathy…and Rafal in there at the beginning also..isn’t that correct??
CATHY….
thanks for the tip on Jake ..i was not familiar with his work….i will take a close look…and i will always look at your work, offer suggestions, and hope that you too will published here…with all that good light, spectacular scenery, and good subject matter all around Santa Fe, i am sure you will come up with a nice single for us….i know, i know, you are off to India soon…but, please try to do something right at home…i know India is exotic and colorful and so much going on..everyone likes to photograph India, i like to photograph in India….that is the problem…everyone has good pictures from India…very difficult to come up with something beyond the cliché …however, if you do, then i am ready to publish…
MIMI….
we are ready with your essay….it is now just a bit too long….i will make a recommended edit and let you have a look…then we will be ready to go….many thanks for your patience…..
cheers, david
Congratulations David, Anton, and all the Burnians!!!
Congratulations Burn….David, Anton, Michael, Kerry, Tom, Chris, and all those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes…
David: i am so pleased and happy that you and James had a chance to finally meet and that your students had a chance too…he’s a great guy and i hope that what little i did helped you 2 meet, helped Burn become the place/magazine/outlet it is…
Anton: :)))) u r the foundation, for all…and couch of no couch, that’s one of the most gorgeous views in the world, not a bad crash office for the 2nd hardest working Belgium class act in history (just behind John…and with him, i was so hoping to see the CountOlaf look ;)))))))…bur u r the boss…from a behind the scenes perspective, i can say that David or anyone on the planet couldnt imagine a more dedicated, compassioned, loyal, wide-heart-thump-open partner than u….
Best of luck for a great show friday, we’d be there if we could, off for a family drive….anxious to have a report…
congrats burnians, workers (in front and behind the spotlight), published photographers, commentators, writers, readers, followers, the whole enchilada…
wide-world hug
b
AM I LATE ???
AUDREY….BOB
i am sure both of you know that without your input, both in photographs and in writing, Burn would not exist….Audrey, your sensitive photographs of your family have been inspirational to many and we are ready to publish very soon your newest pictures from Brigitte et Bernard…Bob, you have taken the time to write extensively on almost every essay and single published here on Burn and have been a fine talent scout as well…we are now preparing also the prints from you and Marina for the show tomorrow…
cheers, david
OUR PATRICIA(love you) once wrote:
“It is such a gift to be part of the Burn community! Thank you thank you thank you…”
yes,Fransesco… What a gift !!!
Viva ALaska !!! Frostfrog …I knew you were BURNing up there :)))
PANOS,
I LOVE the 1st and the last photo…Explicit??? …
No problem…I see no explicit…I see only your trademark :)))hihihi
TOMMY,
” 2 people and a laptop” for a minute I thought …” 2 people and a lap dance”
funniest ever …:)))
PHOTOHUMOURIST,
if you cannot digest…might be the gratitude …or the beef:)))
SAM HARRIS,
“Burn keeps on burning
and the world keeps on turning…” you rock !!!
IMANTS,
young pups+geckos= BURNIANS United .
RAMON MAS,
Critical mass…Civilian mass…Ramon Maaasssss…:)))
POMARA,
“keep it Up…it will make you happy…??? ” hihihi…what a message !!!
Up,Up,Up …
DAH – Have Napped in APC’s , taxi’s ,last week the tiles of Jakartas international airport , the Padang govenors palace , I owe my sanity and good humour to my ability to catch 40 winks ,napping is an act of self preservation and nothing buggers you so much as sleep deprivation the sooner the western world stas keeping tropical hours the better we all will be.