many of you have seen this book before, but i am sure many of you have not….my first work in print….i publish it again here now only because my friend Masaaki Okada, who was the designer/editor, died on December 21….Masaaki was a tremendous influence on me as a person and as a photographer….my first collaborator…
i met Masaaki my senior year of high school….he barely spoke any English, had few friends, and had come from Japan to help out his uncle who ran a gift shop in Virginia Beach, Va…Masaaki and i ended up as college roommates and close friends…Masaaki was the most talented person i knew at the time …a brilliant man with a sketch pad and painter as well…from Masaaki i learned about Eastern art and about the concept of not making anyone lose face…the single most valuable concept i know….later, i went with Masaaki to Hamamatsu, Japan and met his whole family when i did a story on the Japanese kite fighters….
just after undergrad school, when Masaaki and i did Tell It Like It Is , we were idealists….the $2. contribution was to go to the local church and intended to buy food for the residents of the neighborhood where i did this story… i lived with this family for the better part of a summer….our goal was to save this Norfolk, Va. neighborhood and eliminate poverty with this book…Masaaki and i were both 22…
Bruce Davidson is leaning on me to re-print this book (it pre-dates publication of East 100th Street by 3 yrs)…for only 4 copies of this book exist…..Masaaki and i threw away dozens of copies of Tell It Like It Is, not thinking they were of any real importance at the time…we sold few….after all , we were not important…living in a small Virginia town and not sensing any “place” in the photography world…Masaaki did not think it even appropriate to have my name, or his, on the cover….small type on the back jacket was all he would allow…i agreed…this was not about us, but about the people in the pictures….eastern humility…
a few weeks ago, i stopped by to see Masaaki in Richmond , Va. where he lived, a retired photographer from the Richmond Times-Dispatch…….in recent years i saw him rarely, but we picked up right where we left off….he thanked me for coming and gave me another one of his paintings from the outer banks where i now live…Masaaki was an avid surf fishermen and often painted the land that surrounds me…we talked of him coming down …i knew he would love the house, the space…but, that is not to be….
Masaaki’s paintings will grace my home always…more importantly his influence on me is forever….i did tell him this many times….he always shook his head in disbelief…..i wish i had told him even more…
I like having the video facility with the camera (D90) though I rarely use it.
So far I’m yet to see the two put together in a way that improves on them being done individually, I imagine it takes alot of practice and skill to merge the two without leaning on one more than the other.
Also not sure about the tilt/shift on video, I’ve seen a few and they’ve been fantastically well done and completely mesmorising but it ends up feeling too gimmicky.
I’d rather see a beautifully smudgy large format photograph.
test
ok..ok…
emcd & marcin…ok..
im convinced…im buying a canon 7D..or nikon D5000 or D90…
im going to shoot the next titanic…
Especially that big O ( OBAMA ) Video convinced me…
im sold…
used to have a 5d 2 but never used the video. We to try an M9 (used to have M8) but only M8 (same size as M9) and M7 available. Held both in succession: M7, camera; M8, brick. I ordered a new MP and it’s the best M I’ve ever used … ever.
Mike.
Bought a cat, called it D700, not much use as a camera
..can’t swim either
Imants; That’s cos you never bought a catfish… You gotta read the fineprint on the outside of the box.. :-)
Had a catfish once used to saddle him up and ride him into town, the kids a hollering and their Dad’s laughin’
Had a catfish once used to saddle him up and ride him into town
——————————————————————
i used to call it mustang…Prius owners used to laugh at me..
they still do..:)
Gosh, you folks talk about these 5Ds and M8s and M9s as if $4-7000 were nothing! I have one camera, a Canon 40D, that serves me well. That’s not completely true: I have my old Canon Rebel as a back-up. No, I don’t have the capacity to shoot video (yet) but if/when I get into that I’ll try to find a reasonably priced video camera that will do the job.
“The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.” Eve Arnold.
Patricia
“The camera is not the photographer but the instrument.”
“The photographer is not the instrument but the camera.”
or was it
“The photographer is not the camera but the photographer.”
“Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.”
Albert Einstein
Whether BURNIANS crossed BURN or BURN crossed the BURNIANS depends upon your state of mind !!!
Shall I say …I LOVE you All !!!
P.S Faces in facebook …thank you all for opening your “facedoors”
why did Albert Einstein left magnum?
why did Albert Einstein never used a 5D?
why does Cathy loves the 5D?
why does emcd promotes a 7D?
I’m probably speaking too soon since I have yet to try to make a serious video with the 5d 2, but I don’t think I agree with an absolutist contention that a dedicated video camera is better. Which video camera? Better for what?
More difficult? Yea, no question. But you need a tripod or a steady-cam with any video camera. And although you don’t need nearly so much light with a video cam, you give up almost all control over depth of field. Serious videographers probably pay the price of a 5d 2 just to get the ability to mimic a film camera’s depth of field. And sunny f8 is still sunny f8 if you want to keep things in focus. And an entry level video camera is already more expensive than the SLR. If you’re made of money and have someone to lug your gear around, by all means, buy all the cameras you want. So with all that, I’m uncomfortable with absolutes.
No, I think it’s a question of technical mastery and creativity. Gotta figure out what it does well and do that with it.
On a side note, the comment about having to get used to full frame struck me. Man, I never could get used to those small sensors. The 5d 2 was like coming home.
The reason I posted the Vincent thing is because of the concept. Creatives could make much from the idea of how to interpret a still photograph with moving images. It seems to participate you can use any equipment, as long as it shoots HD. Could be a regular movie camera. I just mentioned the 5D as I know some people here own one, but I mentioned the concept because I know many struggle with transitioning into multimedia.
Regarding the cops essay, I’ll just comment on a couple peripheral issues. One, 1997 sure was a long time ago. Two, having read Charles Bowden’s “Down by the River,” which details events that took place in El Paso during roughly the same time frame, I can’t help but suspect that the photographer missed a huge hell of a lot of the story. That is an incredibly interesting place and time. I don’t get that from the photos.
Emcd..:)
u know im teasing u…( especially since cathy left me & went vacations in the exoticland )…
im left all alone..noone to play…
ouahhhhhhhhhhhh….
big hug
Thanks Jim for your perspective.
The Cops essay is definately safe, but from a safe perspective the images are still good. The problem is that if we want to be paid as photographers we have to produce what the establishement wants. Maybe it is better to make a living doing something else and still be a photographer so that we can take photos that have real authenticity, are daring and allow for complete creative freedom. Maybe the current economic situation is just what we need. Look at Annie Liebovit’z career. Her best work was when Rolling Stone was just getting off the ground during a counter culture revoltion when money wasn’t the prime motivation. Then with fame and success and Vanity Fair her work became so commercailized and reflected the worship of money, greed, and celebrity. Today’s emerging photographers need to reinvent the medium so that it not just reflects but leads a new revolution of ideas. So based on that I still think there is hope.
With respect to the idea of shooting video vs still. I have contempled upgrading my Nikon D3 for the D3S which shoots 24 fps in 720p. It might be interesting creatively to explore. With a D3 or 5D you can shoot up to 9 fps no? I liked Dhiraj Singh’s treatment of these rapid shots strung together that produce almost a cinema based feel in “My Name is Dechen”, but he got cut up for it on Burn. I have often thought of myself kind of like a film director but using still images to tell a story or set a mood. Often the complaint on Burn is that the edit is too long, and could have been cut down. Seems you can’t win. I think as David often says we have to stay loose, even when we view and contemplat essays. The medium is evolving. I don’t think moving images will replace still photos. There is something magical and ethereal in capturing a moment in time, that moving images can not compete with. Two different and complementary visual vehicles.
Two different…… visual vehicles.
—————————————————-
absolutely correct
Panos, is it wrong to love my plastic fantastic? I feel so dirty.
Frank, the 5D2 probably shoots more like 4 shots per second, max, 7D is 8fps, I am not sure you meant to use video as a rapid shot catcher (24 or 30 fps), but is it possible to single out everyone of these 24/30 shots at editing time?
Even so, I even doubt that stringing 4 shots a second, in an essay, makes for interesting and prolonged creative work. Maybe one every second or more, if the subject can take it, but hardly a technique to be duplicated to tell all stories…
The problem is: do we want to do multi-media or photography? When you think of it, ultimately 2 different mediums. We can “evolve” photography all we want, in the end, a photo is a photo. For me, MM is 99% of the time, merely a better way to tell a story, a choice.
Whereas, with a photo, the story, its visuals I mean, is already in the frame (even though sometimes, it may wait years to really tells it).
To make pictures just a part of a MM installation/edit is to basically take the photography out of a photograph, a perfectly viable artistic concept (which Bob Black pursues, in more ways than one, for example), but one a “real” photographer needs to grapple with and come to terms with, if going that route.
BTW, I missed that Jerome’s essay was shot in 1997. What was the logic in showing this 1997 work on an hackneyed subject from a professional photographer? I mean, there must be zillions of such essays, AND photographers if we forget the year and the emergingness. Someone mentionned Weegee in the comments, but Weegee’s shots are always momentous, they exist totally without the context of the day’s event when he shot them.
David’s prerogative, assuredly, but talking about older pictures, this site is doing marvelous work with all kind of photography from different periods:
http://www.americansuburbx.com/
the problem with YOU , YOUNG T.
is that..u actually know how to use it…
( there goes my axiom degrade it into just a theory… )
;)
“Posing the question to everyone, what do you see beyond the still?”
Ah see them gol dang revenooers, them gubmint men trying to put me outta bidness. Next time Ah sees one of them, Ah’m a-gonna cut them fellers a new one with this shotgun raht cheer.
Re SLR Video: A lot of people seem to be under the misconception that the 5D MKII (and the like) will solve all of their video needs. This really is not the case. Although this is a great technological step and one can create some great looking imagery (mostly due to the shallow depth of field)——I really don’t see these cameras as being truley practical option. The camera is very light (for a video camera) and has no vibration/movement control. As already mentioned you can shoot static from a tripod ok… but obviously that is pretty restricting. Also, yes, focusing can be a major issue. Another issue is the position of the fixed LCD screen on the back of the camera. Great for chimping stills, but not so great for shooting live and low and high angles.
As far as I could see no one has mentioned audio in this discussion. This is huge! The audio from the SLR’s is bad (with an external mic). The best option here for decent quality is record externally, which means that you then have sync later in your editing software.
If anyone is really serious about taking the step into video, a dedicated video camera is really the only way to go. Even if it is a small prosumer model for $500-$1000, i think you will find it a lot more practical than an SLR and a LOT cheaper. Add on a $200 shotgun mic and you are ready to roll!
Just my 2c.
HApPy NeW YeAr aLL!
Jim Powers wrote “…I think photographers today are “emerging” to shoot photos for themselves and other photographers. I think we are “post photography,” and photography has become transparent to most people. Images “exist,” and folks don’t really see them as good or bad, just “there.” Interesting, perhaps, for a second or two, then forgotten. We will all, I’m afraid, soon become hobbyists, amusing ourselves with our cameras.
In a sense, that’s fine, too. Just sad that it’s become so hard to make a living with a camera. Sure was fun. I don’t think folks trying do this thing in the future are going to have much fun, though…”
I almost, ALMOST agree… but I can’t. I have a box sitting in my living room here filled with negatives from the late 30′s into the 40′s… family stuff shot by a late relative perhaps? I have another box filled with a collection of Brownies, Agfas, and even a nice German Wirgin with a sticky shutter… Ever since George Eastman make the Brownie, The camera has been in the hands of the public at large. Every year, that number grew… Polaroids made the fun more exciting with instant prints in the palm of your hand in just moments… Today, we have cell phones with cameras, most menus being too complicated or confusing for the average non-techy to use. something as simple as a lint ball from your pocket can render the camera useless because it’ll wedge into the tiny recess of the lens and most people can’t figure out how to remove it.
Sure the digital camera, point and shoot, and cheap SLR are in the hands of millions. No different really than back in the 40′s when medium format was the film of choice… It’s not that everyone and their cat has a camera, it’s WHO has the vision and who has the camera in their hands and how they shoot that’s going to make the difference…
I did the workshop in NY with David in October, and MAN! what a city! people everywhere! walk down the block and you feel like you’ve passed by 4 different countries. The cities are stacked up in buildings, each with a little grocery store and bakery right around the block… It blew me away, because everywhere else in the country I’ve ever been, the story seems to be – Kids no longer play out doors, computers and games keep everyone occupied, the US seems to lack the social culture the rest of the world has… So, Even though there are 30 million or so with cameras in the phone, or on their wrist, what are they taking photos of? their dog licking the baby, the neighbor’s flowers, the cloud that looked like a duck, the shit faced dude at the house party, them selves? Then when some BIG huge event does happen – oooh say, like when a couple of planes flown by trained religious warriors destroyed the lives of thousands in New York, How can you NOT miss such an event… Whip out that camera!What ever it is and shoot! This is something to remember! This is history in the making!! it was so obvious for the public at large.
To lean on the crutch and say, ‘ooooh everyone else is going to do it for me, I’m not needed anymore’ is a show of defeat and failure. Ok so you’ve failed at being the great visionary of your time… but your time isn’t up! I think the world is just waiting for the next HCB to show the world that the camera can take simple yet emotional photos.
But I do agree with you about many contemporary Photographers or “artists.” Tn general many seem to feel that commercialism is evil. If you’re doing your work to make money you’re a “sell out” and to be a sell out is a sin.
I think what the real problem may be is, the US lacks a national identity and unity. We lack the affection for one another that seems to exist in other countries. It’s a mindset of all for myself. I do this for me, I do that for me. me me me!!! Well what about the good of everyone else!? Seeing photographs today don’t invoke the emotional responses that it used to. Photos are seen everywhere in commerce. and THAT is why it’s a sin… So many artists (especially in musicians) it seems that you can’t make money doing it. It must be for you or not at all. Do it for your enjoyment, not to sell to millions and make millions off of it!
But their argument falls apart when you ask them about all the people in clubs, or with iPods – the mass audience. People that have no musical talents and want to enjoy music. Who would be left to entertain them if all the artist did it just for them selves! It’s obviously a very selfish opinion and their only comeback is “oh they just make music for the money! They don’t care about the audience” if that were the case – then they could be doing something entirely different for money. no one says they have to make music… I suspect some reeducation of the public needs to take place… the punk/grunge era affected the US in a negative way, leaving youngsters with selfish attitudes about what it means to be an artist…
Sorry that was so long.
Hey – speaking of SLR video…
This past semester I was working in a multimedia class producing a short piece about something personal. So I did an Autobiography…
It’s a lot of stills with video – all video shot with a Nikon D90…
I wish there was more control over the aperture! I want to be more creative with the depth of field!!
oh well.. Here it is: http://www.jasonhouge.com/Bio.html
You will need a good strong connection. otherwise, let it load… I may put an alternate version on youtube to speed it up some.
ONE NOTE!!! before you watch – About the end of the first section – the script was recorded right after being at the workshop and David said he’d like to get all of our slideshows up on Burn – I know he’s busy and there are so many other works to be shown here already. I don’t think it was possible because of the amount of work needed to do it… I’m still hoping mine get shown! but, that’s for David and Anton to decide…
and if I wanted to make movies, I’d buy a movie camera, but since I don’t, I ain’t. Saves a ton of money.
Akaky, Kodak Zi8, 150$ on AMAZON not long ago. 1080/30fps, fits in shirt pocket. May not be up to semi-pro levels, but twitter is not literature either….
Yea, everyone thinks going in that they can make videos on the cheap, but it ain’t so. Video is like a sailboat. Just a big sucking hole that you throw your money in. Kid yourself all you want, but an entry level camera is almost $3000. And that little Mac won’t cut it any more. You need a MacPro with RAM and several hard drives. And software is expensive. At minimum, you need something equivalent to Final Cut, After Effects and Squeeze. Them ball head tripods ain’t cheap. Then you realize you need a wide angle lens, then lighting, reflectors, grip stuff, microphones, backgrounds, a studio — on and on forever. Take a good look at what’s going on in that link from Erica. It takes lots of people with lots of very expensive equipment to make those videos and you’re not seeing one fifth of it. The $3000 camera is the least of your expenses.
movie mode
vs
stills?!?!?!?
for me,
its all about story telling…
how you want to tell your story…
its
apples
and
oranges,
in terms of story telling…
I look at film (medium)
as placing the camera within a frame
and having the 3D appear,
within the 2 dimensional……
but beyond beautiful imagery,
there needs to be a story…..
multimedia
and
film (medium)
are different ways of
visually communicating…..
the still photograph,
is the root,
the foundation
of all
image making……
of
all
story telling……
****
michael webster: totally agree. almost.
i posted a link, too, somewhere above, to an online stills/video mashup at the NYTIMES.com, and having a still cam which captures video was, i believe, a help in this case.
here’s the link again:
http://alturl.com/cv5p
now, this could have used an external mike because, as has been noted, these HD cams built into still cameras are not great for sound.
cheers
Have video capacities on my DSLR and own a video cam……… used the DSLR for videos when I need to record a new technique from a manufacturer ie how to infuse aluminium and plastic. I end up with a combo…….. great images for a PDF,hard copy or slideshow, a short video that can be for the net or individual screens etc.
When I need to make a video/film/movie I use the dedicated video camera usually a HV30 as I do small screen stuff only or if I need something bigger I beg borrow but don’t buy
I agree, Michael W., yet from now on, Leica M9 and expensive video equipment will have to compete with “9/11″, “Abhu Graib”, and “Teheran protests” non-pro equipment, maybe not as finished, reflective documentaries available in usual medias, like TV or movie theaters, but definitely in news immediacy (be it from David as a twitter to a few, or from tehran cell phones to the whole world), and also sustained longevity in the collective memory, so to speak.
Well – if you think about it – the same argument is made for digital photography all the time.. A decent camera costs $1500 to start, pro lenses are $1,700 for zooms and $400 on up for primes, You’ll need a new computer to handle the raw files, you’ll need expensive software – Adobe photoshop, bridge or maybe photomechanic, lots of harddrive space – those files ain’t small. then you might need lights! oh and pocket wizards, maybe some softboxes, reflectors, shades, light modifiers, batteries to run it all, light stands, and maybe an assistant or two to adjust the power of your lights and location while you’re shooting… and in the end MAYBE you’ll want a studio too.. It goes both ways..
So as the masters seem to do it – Minimal is optimal.
let your subject matter dictate what you’re going to need before you waste your money.
if you shoot films and put them to music and leave out the wild, then you won’t need mics.
So video is only as expensive as you make it… if you need lenses and you have a handful of great 35mm lenses you like – get an adapter… besides the DOF of the 35mm lens will be so much better than that of the expensive video zoom. take the expense out and put the creativity back into it!
All:
Please take a look at: https://www.lfi-online.de/ceemes/page/show/heft_aktuell_videos
All videos made with 5D. As expected very shallow DOF, focus problems, and paning that looks like a fisheye. Very disturbing. Image quality is very good, but definitely is very hard to make videos with lots of motion going on.
Regarding the street photographers feature in the videos, interesting, but not my cup of tea.
Jorge
Ah, Chris Weeks street… only 2 days into the new year and that terrible series gets linked to. Oh, well there’s always 2011…
Jared:
Nice to know I was not the only one to find that series sort of the paparazzi photographer who in his spare time does street photography holding very expensive Leica equipment, getting just ok photos and making everyone believe he is the ultimate HCB.
I could have sworn I posted this comment, so if it appears twice, sorry, something’s weird with the site.
Regarding 5d 2 video quality, this is what impressed me most when I was researching it:
http://www.davidstephenson.com/rocky_906.mov
Unlike the Canon guy’s stuff, this seems doable. And note that, unlike a video camera, depth of field is whatever you want it to be, light willing.
Herve
I absolutely love dr’s American Suburb X, but there’s a lot of work by established people there…everyone from D’Agata to Moriyama to Mann, Sultan, Nachtwey, Davidson, Lange, Steichen, Arbus, MEM, Levitt, HCB, Eggleston, Evans, Winogrand, etc…maybe I am not understanding you, but if you mean to compare the intent of burn with that of ASX, I don’t follow what you are saying.
Just back from the recreation of the original exhibit as per the vision of John Szarkowski of Davidson’s E. 100th Street, vintage prints, hung in the original sequence with the same spacing and hang heights, and also the went in for a 2nd go around for the Frank exhibit of The Americans – both exhibits close tonite, and am so happy to have been able to be in NYC for these. Not a day I will forget. Thank goodness for all the notes and letters and contact sheets and vintage materials preserved over the years – take care of your work, you never know :)
– take care of your work, you never know :)…when I am maggot tucker….. ehh doesn’t matter
matters to the viewer, silly, not you
there will be a heap of new stuff as the whole show just keeps on ………..
recreating within it’s own momentum
Jorge,
That video series has been around a bit and while I appreciate his apparent passion, um, he comes off… well, you know… :)
Herve, I meant stringing together still images taken sequentially at 4 – 9 shots per second in a multimedia piece. Still images but if done correctly can convey a cinematic sense within the boundaries of photos in a multimedia piece. I really believe MM is the way of the future but using still photos in a mm piece is a new art from in it’s early stages.
Jason what software did you use to create your bio? Final Cut?
so i’m watching the chris weeks videos and wondered if most of you who shoot street use rangefinders, it’s coming across as though it’s almost an essential part of taking good pictures??