looks like a burned out rock band doesn’t it? i was playing with my toy Instax instant film camera today and did set up this shot of Anton Kusters, Mike Courvoisier (he does not seem to have moved from his position in the last picture), Chris Bickford and the ubiquitous John Gladdy…all hanging around waiting for you…..you who can make it to tomorrow’s Burn meeting in my loft….i think folks will start drifting in about 11am, but just come when you can….shuffling around some ideas is what we have in mind…
the net seems to come and go in the loft, but we will skype some of you, if for no other reason than just to say hello…….and let’s please see if we can lower the testosterone quotient of this meeting by at least a little…i think you know where live, but if not please come to 475 Kent Ave , Williamsburg between Division and South 11th..buzz 607…please join the band….i look forward to seeing you….
No No Rossy, It’s all sun down here today Mate..
The sun is shining and some where in the distance I can hear Civi singing !
WE LOVE YOU AUSSIE’S …stay tuned…
I feel like a few Kangaroos loose in the top paddock…
You are a Huge BURNing part
did you see the twitter account …???
What a beautiful day !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B67tFrHfZQ4&feature=related
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURNIANS…I sound like him…hmmm
Happy Burn Day!! Well, over in NZ and Australia anyway.
Civi, pace yourself. :)
Okay, I’ll be the downer. That Maldive piece is a good example of what I don’t like about so many of these photo-centric multimedia projects. Good photographs in the service of a very bad tv news piece. The segment where the narrator parrots the President and then segues into a voice-of-God-out-of -the-mouth-of-a-young-white-foreigner-with-a-parachute litany of what the Maldivians must do to overcome their problems is not good journalism, to put it charitably. At the very least, the piece’s producer should find a local to mouth the government line. Better yet, actually strive for objectivity and get some independent local opinion on tape. The parts where the narrator cites neutral statistics work fairly well with the photos. The parts where he solemnly passes on the charismatic young leader’s wisdom, not so much.
But even putting those 60 Minutes-style Journalism 101 quality questions aside, my larger problem with the piece, and multimedia projects I see in general, is that it seems like the producer’s ambition is limited to creating a very good tv news piece. I’d like to see (figure out) a more ambitious way to attack the medium. There are some very good photos there. The medium should be serving them, not the other way around.
DAH and Anton, When you guys started Burn, did you have a roadmap of where you wanted/expected it to go? What’s been the biggest surprise?
Charlie’s essay represents some of the wonderful reportage work that I really enjoy on Burn. In such a location, shooting a beautiful shot can be like shooting fish in a barrel, but there is some real depth in the imagery.
Charlie, great to see your work here. Really well done.
JIM POWERS,
I can’t agree about getting a ‘professional voiceover guy’ for Charlie Mahoney’s Maldive essay. The so-called ‘professional’ narrative voices one hears in American television and radio… and I categorically include PBS and NPR in that group… are terrible. They are insincere, slick, vacuous…too ‘professional’ sounding, almost without exception. Their delivery, and the boiler-plate scripts they usually read, are a major factor in the general mediocrity of American mainstream documentary. For all that Charlie Mahoney may not sound slick, HE is the one talking… the guy who went, saw, photographed, wrote, and produced this piece. Give me that authenticity over the pros any day.
i’m with michael here, but had some other slight problems with the essay.
pluses: good photographs, presentation etc.
minuses: i felt that the author scratched the surface of lots of issues without really getting under the skin of any of them…. Charlie spoke about getting a “human story” across – while there were lots of people in the photographs, it felt like the photographer was spectating as oppose to integrating. some more intimate narratives within the wider subtext might have helped the viewer to feel more involved in the essay – how are individuals lives being affected by the climate change and other social issues?
so – while i agree that the current essay is compelling visually, i was only interested on a superficial level in the actual stories.
Sorry JIM, mates…I am trying to pace…
LOVE you AUSSIE’S …Viva Australia…Viva New Zealand …Viva…
ok…JIM…I am gonna take it easy…
I LOVE YOU BURNIANS…HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURN
MR.HARVEY …thank you for the opportunity to be myself…I LOVE YOU
ANTON…my boy…EVERY one of you … BURNIANS …in my heart…with my ouzo
I wanna say …
WHAT NOT TO BURN and LOVE…!!!
P.S Sorry for the above…in case that the storm takes the internet away…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY …remember…keep shooting I am next to YOU…
I am going …JIM…I am going …gone…
Charlie – love the pictures, and my knowledge of the Maldives just increased about a thousandfold.
But I question the entire voiceover. I don’t think it adds anything that your written piece didn’t cover, and somehow the voice/music/ambient sound detracted from rather than amplified the pictures themselves. Maybe it has to do with my expectations – I prefer more of a separation between a photo essay and a TV piece; both can be very powerful, but are weakened in the hybrid form.
One more thing – I would have edited more vigorously. Four pictures of diving kids? Do we really need to see the waiter making the entire circuit? For a video piece, of course. For a still-image show? I think not.
(Please, though, let me emphasize that I really REALLY like the photos!)
IMANTS,
what do you have to say about that ???
AUSSIE’S keep drinking…CHARLIE is on the screen …
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURNIANS
A CIVILIAN MASS AUDIENCE — i’m sorry, i’m not an insider here — what’s is your story? you are greek or at least living in greece? you are a photographer? a fan? i just don’t get it…
DQ,
I am a dyslexic “macademian” lover of the visual…not a philosopher not a photographer…
I have a house in Greece…where I live when I don’t travel… some azaleas…I make my own red wine…
(not good)…My own olive oil (good, extra virgin)…I like to drink and eat and be with friends
I do everything in moderation…but.BUT, BUT…
I FART, I LOVE and I BURN like crazy…
DQ…No need to get it…I am loud and I distract BURNIANS from their focus…BUT I love them…
Now if you excuse me…I got to go…Welcome to the BURN family DQ…your Greek home is ready !!!
P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURN …1st year !!!…oime…another interview…
DQ,
Civi is the morale officer in this neck of the online woods.
Wait a minute…AKAKY …where is your book…
I am waiting …and waiting…I can wait…Your book…signed by
AKAKY B…love
KATIE, ourPATRICIA,SIDNEY,BOBB,REIMAR…I will check my book …MORALE…hick..
yes, when I don’t see double…
I WILL BE BACK
CHARLIE,
Waouh!!! Very very nice… Good to see your essay on BURN my friend and you really did a great job here. I remember when you showed me some of the first pictures you took there… You have nicely worked the story and have been able to take it to the next level… I remember the early days when David was sharing some advices for your immigrant story in Barcelona, suggesting to add a few shots to set the context of the story. You have really assimilated all the learnings clearly and you have all the key shots in this essay that is very well constructed. I hope we will be able to take this beer together sometimes….
By the way, I am sure that you must have seen the story that Francesco Zizola also did recently about the Maldives (called paradise in peril). Different story but some good photographs as well…
http://www.noorimages.com/index.php?id=3520
Take Care Charlie and congrats again.
Eric
I think benroberts makes a good points. Sometimes I get too caught up in the mechanics of the journalism and forget the bigger picture. What is the story here? The Maldives sit one meter above sea level and scientists predict sea level will rise two or three meters in the near future (or something like that). What are the Maldivians doing about it? Becoming carbon neutral? Might as well pursue Guinness book world records for all the good that will do in swaying China and the United States to give up internal combustion. Realistically, what are the Maldivians doing about it? Heroin? Is there a connection between the youth’s hopelessness and the rising tide? That would be an interesting angle. But all I gather from the narration is that the President doesn’t want to talk about it. Either that or he simply has nothing to say.
And you know, if that were a well-edited photo slideshow with maybe some ambient audio, I’d think it were one of the better projects I’d seen here. There are some very strong photos.
Eric;
The Noor photographers certainly produce stunning work. I like their blend of art and story telling
Stuff like Charlie Mahoney’s A Troubled Paradise has a limited and but dedicated audience. But slick slide shows are not going to cut it with the general public these days, this may be good to show editors, magazines, other photographers but the public want to be informed directly via moving pictures and in a hurry. Not many would bother to stay to the end.
It is time for the PJs to have a look at the wider audience and stopped navel gazing. Newspapers are successful due to variety ………a bunch of outdated slideshows of this nature on the plethora of online mags like Magnum, Blueeyes, VII, Burn get tedious.
Imants; Where do you see it going?
This has absolutely nothing to do with photography but everything to do with using your WILL to create the reality you want. The background is that I’ve lived with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis for 21 years. Before that time I was an athlete who ran marathons, did long-distance biking and had been an excellent swimmer all my life. After my diagnosis I gave up all forms of exercise. In some ways, I just plain gave up period.
In 2000 I had just begun to use a motorized scooter to get around but decided it was time to reclaim my body’s ability to swim. My first time in the pool I was shocked to find I couldn’t swim a stroke. All that summer I took water aerobics classes and gradually regained some strength and confidence in the water. By September I was swimming two lengths of the pool…and very happy to do so, I might add. That winter I signed up for indoor swimming at our local middle school.
To cut to the chase, I’ve been a faithful swimmer winter and summer since that time. Bit by bit I increased my distance from 2 to 6 to 10, until I was up to 36 lengths, one-half mile. To be honest I thought that was the best I could do, so I stayed there. Until two weeks ago. That was when I was given a book to read – Zoe Koplowitz, “The Winning Spirit.” By the time I had finished this autobiography by a woman who walks with arm-brace canes because of MS but has now completed 22 NYC Marathons – each taking between 28-36 hours – I realized I’d let my mind limit what my body could do.
So two weeks ago I started upping my lap swims with the goal of swimming 72 lengths or one mile. First I got up to 42 lengths, then to 48. Well, today I am unabashedly proud to say that I swam 74 lengths, just a bit over my one mile goal. And you know what? My body feels fine. Great, in fact. You know, that sweet body tiredness you get after a good workout.
I’m sharing this to say YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!! Never say never. Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t let your mind limit your dreams. I think we would all agree that our beloved DAH has lived his life this way, and certainly has created Burn Magazine with this kind of unbridled belief in the impossible. And is in the process of creating CIRCUS in exactly the same way.
So my holiday/New Year’s wish for each of us is that we dream BIG. Whatever that might mean to us. Just believe in yourself and make it happen. Think of Zoe and ask yourself if you’re dreaming BIG enough!
hugs to all
Patricia
IMANTS,
I am the only TEDIOUS in BURN…
Breaking News…
12:32 a.m in Greece…HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURN…!!!
oime, I am dancing like Zorba…come on …BURNIANS…Shoot me …:)))
P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAIK …HAIK has a birthday …he is not 1 though…
Smile photoBURNIANS …civilians are watching
OurPATRICIA ~~~~~~~~~~~~
” YOU CAN DO IT”…I LOVE YOUUU…
P.S JIM …I hear you…pace,pace,pace
PATRICIA,
You made my day, week and rest of the year!!
Congratulations one zillion times!. :) :) :) :)
Hugs and kisses.
Hugs and kisses back at ya, Ramon. So when are we going to skype again???
And dear Civi, sleep well on this our almost Burn Birthday morning (your time)…
Patricia
OurPATRICIA,
I can’t sleep…I am so excited …one year …
Well,I will keep dancing …ah, those BURNing feet…
OPA !!!
Ross the iphone type of apps setup took no time in dominating the communication market especially with the younger audience. In between networking short sharp snippets of info, mainly provincially based is the norm already, “I saw…. I heard….. etc” A quick photo or video from an phone gets networked in a hurry.
Recently I was buying flooring from a hardware store, my wife was in the same type of store in a different city, we took photos a short movie on the flooring each of us liked, discussed it as we walked around the stores and bought the flooring using that information.
As far as the bigger picture is concerned most people will be happy to see short snappy news ads between movies, online sitcoms etc……. if they are interested.
Ok, I just dug through the archives to find DAH’s “Welcome to Burn” post….
I was hoping it would have a timestamp, but it doesn’t. The first comment, however, does.
Anyone remember who made the first comment on a dialogue thread here?
…….
Very soon Patricia! I still have to tell you all about the Magnum Workshop in Barcelona.
By the way, did I hear that you are aiming for 100 lengths in 2010, or was it my imagination… ;) ?
Actually, that previous post was also to let me see how the tiemstamp works….so, unless ith as been changed, the first comment was posted by and at the following time…
Glenn
December 21, 2008 at 3:24 pm
If the timestamping system hasn’t changed, that time is eastern USA time…so we have about 21 more hours until that “anniversary”
But who cares anyway! let’s start the party here sooner rather than later!
what not to love?
a.
Link to that post:
http://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/12/welcome-to-burn/comment-page-1/#comments
ANDREW.B,
You Copy and Paste…I am in AWE…I LOVE YOU
BURN IS ON FIRE !!!
Let’s get the Party started…
p.S Kiss your wife …tell her …it’s from the civilian ;)
ok, Goodnight
I am a civilian,
i have to sleep…
I am going to work
to bring some green
to buy your prints
to buy your books
I LOVE you All
my BURNing pics…
oime…HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURN and HAIK !!!
DAVID ALAN HARVEY …thank you
Wow, Patricia. I’m writing with tears in my eyes. What a wonderful message. Thanks, I needed that right now.
Peace
Gordon
>>>>>>> cma: “I FART, I LOVE and I BURN like crazy…”
fair enough, CMA, thanks for the reply. see you when i travel to that part of the world, oh person of mystery.
Patricia,
you’ve just inspired me, being reminded once again how us people can be such wonderful, strong creatures. And that all is relative, which I sometimes forget myself, and sometimes feel angry at others for not taking the struggle that we navigate our ways through but rather make judgments on the random points we find ourselves at.
Imants.
I think thinking down the line of constructing something for the widest possible audience is the bane of our society. Where does it end if we keep editing the media MTV. I think, I hope, that we are smart enough to adapt to new ways of reading so that we can be directed by our imagination in creation rather than pulling things down to the lowest common denominator. When everything becomes entertainment then, well, already just hanging on by fingernails.
Imants;
How do you think you would explain a relatively complex/sophisticated story in short snippets? That seems to be the bottleneck that would be incredibly difficult to overcome if your scenario comes about?
Gordon, I’m reminded of the transformational turn in the road you’ve recently taken with your photography. Ah yes, my friend, keep dreaming big!! And it will happen…
Peter, I’m so glad my story spoke to you. Each of us could tell such a story, only the details would change. We are such surprising creatures.
Patricia
The way general public wants to be informed and communicate overrides whatever form a PJ would like this communication take place. Sites like these breed insular people, burn is a place for self promoting people with their own wagon to push to get together……. it is hardly mainstream information or visuals. We talk about photography here and in general present unfinished media pieces, hardly what the average person finds interesting.
Even Magnum VII etc have limited appeal outside the relatively few in world terms that are interested in the visual image. Most are over at youtube etc and that is evident with the amount of links on this site.
The bottleneck isn’t that bad we just have to become better editors of information
Peter I think that is where you got is wrong, not all generations are pulling things down to the lowest common denominator. The kids of today are starting from scratch just as we did as kids except they have a huge arsenal of communication weapons that they are willing to yield and and thrust into this world of ours.
media MTV is just a form of advertising to them, it had it’s day as it was TV based we have moved on from there
Imants.
listening to the writer of ‘Wire’ and ‘Six feet under’ a few weeks ago talking about why he feels some new TV drama has become more successful recently after decades of being in the doldrums. He put it down to the freedom he was given to write as he felt rather than being tied down to what produce’s expected an audience might want and in fact, being limited by so called ‘audience expectations’
I don’t get the impression that BURN is about self promotion. I mean, I don’t get the feeling that that many here think of it that way either. It seems more about community to me..
Imants.
didn’t read last comment prior to my previous response.
I suppose I’m thinking more about content. So, squeezing news pieces in between other content. Moulding the content to fit a piece of limited time..?
Imants;
I do think that the mass media caters to the lowest common denominator.
I was talking to a newspaper photographer who dreamed of holding an exhibition called “Won’t See the Light of Day”. The exhibition would consist of images that his editor said “Wonderful photos, but they’ll never see the light of day” Meaning that the editor thought they were too “sophisticated” for him to run…
The writer of ‘Wire’ and ‘Six feet under’ can rabbit on about not being limited by so called ‘audience expectations’ in the end he has to write to them………… no audience no show.
Bios, slide shows, singles, links to personal portfolios etc are self promotion, all of which are prevalent on this site. Most here have or want a career that is photo media related, burn is a great vehicle to be noticed and have a wider audience.
Imants;
But you also have a generation coming through that are more visually sophisticated and tech savvy but often have left general knowledge.
When I worked in the supermarket I was often amazed how limited many of the younger generation’s (“generation x”) general knowledge was, and situations/events needed a great deal of explanation.
But; having spent the last 12 months shooting kids I’ve seen (mostly “generation y”) how keen they are to distance themselves from the generation x kids and their perceived “faults” I’m surprised how many times I’ve been told “But they’re generation x, we’re not like them!”
So; again it seems that the generations are forging new identities!
The editor is on borrowed time along with his paper………as for the newspaper photographer he should explore other avenues and there are plenty around.
Imants
could you pls check your emails? there is somth with your last submission … Thx.
Patricia …
A big hug to you!
All
pls submit TODAY … just look around and let us see too … it is about community. And we are all real after all.
almost there …
Imants… the point being, the assumption that an audience is only willing to stay with this or that, can be very much off the mark.
You may think that people are here for self promotion, I get the feeling people are here because this is a community they’d like to participate with.
You know, for one person to do one of those multimedia pieces as photojournalism, he or she needs to be an expert in at least three fields: photographer, video producer, and writer/journalist. It’s not a new field. Television news has been doing it for years. Likewise, to do one of those multimedia pieces as art requires expertise in at least three fields: photographer, video producer, and writer. And that is not a new field either. It’s been around for a while is is generally referred to as cinema.
And that “at least three fields” rule is nothing new. Since the advent of photography in print, it’s been very rare for a photographer to write the story and do the layout to go with their own photos. Again, that is a job that requires expertise in at least three fields.
Outside of its relationship with editorial content, still photography has always been about the print. If still photography is going to evolve in the digital age, something will have to replace the print. And as people prefer big prints over small, I suspect looking at photos on the Iphone or tablet isn’t going to cut it for most. Though it’s possible the tablet could serve as a sort of gateway drug to sell larger instances.