is there anything better than a childhood dream? 9 year old Gracie Johnson dreams of becoming a photographer….she lives now in the Virginia town where i also dreamed of being a photographer at about the same age…Gracie and her family are part of my American family series Off For A Family Drive…Gracies’ father, U.S.Navy Capt. Andrew Johnson was the Director of Medical Operations on the first wave of Haitian relief after the earthquake serving on the military’s largest hospital ship Comfort…
symbiotic stuff….
so here at Burn we are creating Circus Magazine for photographers 18 and under…young Gracie will of course be a candidate photographer…. with less than 6 degrees of separation, we are also working in the kindred spirit of her physician father Capt. Johnson and will be using the fee many of you contributed as part of the EPF grant award for Burn to send approximately $6,000. to Doctors Without Borders specifically to be used for Haitian relief efforts….
this year the Emerging Photographer Fund grant will be given to one of 25 finalists…more than double the number of finalists as last year…this will be a very tough call for the jury that i will name next week….while i am very proud that the tenor of Burn has made it so that generous donors have made it possible to give out a $15,000. grant for 2010 for the completion of one photographer’s project, i still want to be on the leading edge of a wave that will help as many of the talented unknown as possible…
after allotting first for Haitian relief, then paying our fee to Slideroom for making the whole entry and judging process easy, Burn is left with a small profit from your entry fees…we had approximately 1000 entries…..so what to do with the profit?
Anton and i figured we had three choices: Do we?
(a) take a vacation in the Bahamas
(b) throw a helluva party in my loft in New York
(c) give the money back to the readers of Burn
those who know me, know the answer….and Anton is of like mind…yup (c), we are giving the money back to you….
starting on July 1, 2010 Burn Magazine will start paying for every essay and single published online in our magazine….
we will have to start with a token payment of $500. per essay for one time use rights on work that comes to us through submissions…more for a first time exclusive….we are confident this number will rise significantly as we seek outside support….now we are doing this with your money….a big circle….the right thing to do in this nebulous time in the world of publishing…
Burn will not last forever…Burn will always be small….we only care about one thing at Burn and it matches the way i feel about everything i do…i just want Burn to set high standards and live by example…and in this case hopefully stimulate the “big guys” to follow suit…the large media companies , even with advertising for support , are thinking of every way possible to keep from paying photographers for online content, and we at Burn are thinking of every way possible to make sure the young photojournalists and artists of our time are compensated for their work….so, this is our brick in the wall…and oh yes, i am still working on assignments for Burn readers and icons as well…be patient, this is part of it…this is how it will happen….
photography has never been a professional choice either craft or art where people were expecting to become wealthy…photographers work from their deepest passions, either artistic or journalistic…yet, compensation so that they may continue their passion and yet feed their families seems to me to be fair enough….
i want to take this time to thank Andrew and Melissa Johnson and their beautiful children Critt, Cole, and sweet Gracie for allowing me into their lives….yes, i have made a few pictures with medium format film for my personal project, but what will be even better is if Burn gives Gracie a good digital camera so that she will have the opportunity to photograph her family from the real inside….soon to be published on Circus….
done…..
…dah….
BURNIANS…look what I found…
you know me …I love copy and paste and quotes…
and check this out…
aouchhh…it hits home…
“Quotes are nothing but inspiration for the uninspired.”
now what do I do …??? how can I go on…I am in the middle of my journey
and I receive this…hmmmm…
BUT …BUT…BUT…MY BURNIANS…
I have a choice and I chose this one:
“Just don’t give up on trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
Ella Fitzgerald quotes (American jazz Singer 1917-1996)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVu1i0gjXmo&feature=related
THANK YOU
and to all my friends out there…don’t try to google me …cause I am in the nowhereland zone
I will be back…yeap, I know…Surprise me :)))
doobiiidoobidoo…naana…dooobidiooboo…~~~*~~~*~~~ = dance
Kathleen, Hope it’s good news today for your back. We’re all thinking of you!
Mike.
MIKER…
I definitely miss you and the stories of papa…whenever you have a beer and time to BURN…
I am all ears…
ok, out of range… free of my cage
I need update from England…and then Italy…and
KATHLEEN FONSECA..
somehow i missed the details on your back problem…surgery, no surgery, is i think the issue….in any case, take care and get a dozen opinions and best wishes from all of us…nothing worse than back problems…or almost nothing…the one thing that is worse is the wrong surgeon if you go that route…
cheers, david
DAH,
july 19, 2010
2:29 am
dont want you to miss that too.
nite shift
Hi Civi, good of you to remember my dad, Gravy Jim.
He was a character and a keen domino player. Up until just a few months before his death (age 90) he was captain of his domino team and a formidable opponent! Earlier in life he was a member of the Buffalos – a sort of poor-man’s freemason. My mum, who had him weighed-up nicely, said that he wouldn’t be a buffalo if the meetings weren’t held in a pub. The same went for the dominos.
Gravy Jim? During WW2 he was first mate on a minesweeper sailing out of Scapa Flow. The crew were mainly from the east coast of Scotland and, apparently, didn’t like gravy with their meals. My dad would say “What, no gravy?” – hence Gravy Jim. Although he was first mate, he often cooked for the crew (with gravy, I presume) as the “cook” (a cockney, who had been sent to cook school by the navy) could only cook rice soup. The skipper used to say “Hey Jimmy, go down below and cook us some proper grub”. It was a sorry day for Scotland’s taste buds when he was sent to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) – just in time for the end of the war.
His finest wartime achievement was winning the bingo on a troopship on the way home to blighty. He won a packet but dared not sleep for days incase someone stole his winnings!
Best wishes Civi,
Mike.
Heads Up for ALEX WEBB fans… Alex does it again, this time in the August National Geographic, “The Iron Silk Road” article on the southern Caucasus… some of my favorite Alex Webb images to date. He makes it look so easy…
Cheers,
MIKE R,
Your tale of Gravy Jim reminds me of “Moose Turd Pie”, an old shaggy-dog story from the logging camps of the Pacific Northwest (Tom Hyde, do you know this one?)… the point is, whoever complains about the food has to become the cook…
Kathleen
Just back today from a marvelous week off the grid on Lasqueti Is.
M’Dear, please email me if you want some back advice. Oh dear…anyway, DO NOT go under the knife unless you have explored ALL options. I’ve had two back surgeries, the first one, catastrophic and which left me in horrible un-relenting pain for more than twenty years. It ruined my life. The second surgery, by a very gifted surgeon seven years ago gave me my life back, although I still live with constant pain. If I could, I would go back in an instant to the condition I was in before the first surgery.
Kathleen,
if finally the consequence is that you need a surgery, please let it do by a neurologist, not by a orthopaedic. my former boss (an anesthetist), always said – “orthopaedic can work with hammers and saws, but nerves are too fragile”.
now, everybody thinking of you in good health, that should help your back!
Hello Thomas Bregulla, DAH, Mike R, Patricia, Ross, Gracie, Panos, Civilian..ohmygod, ALL who have so very very kindly sent their best wishes and adivce..
I am rounding the bend toward being without pain after a week..this is good. The recommendation from the doctor is a hip replacement. The back problem is not the issue. What’s a herniated disc or two? Apparently nothing compared to a hip that no longer wants to shake it. I will get second and maybe third opinions on this. It’s not a decision to take lightly. The idea of having titanium jewelry where a bone should be is not particularly appealing. But then, neither are hip breakdowns in strange hotels far from home. (Patricia, this episode made me admire you more than ever..you’re amazing!!!!!!!!!!)
Thomas, wow, that’s a thought..about the nerves..brr..nerve damage..brrr..
Anyway, in the overall scheme of stuff that could be wrong with a body, this is relatively mild. It could definitely, absolutely be much worse!
In fact, i was feeling so much better today that i brought my Bessa in to the city for repair after the strap broke, it smashed on the pavement (oh yes, did i mention i stupidly insisted on going back to the scene of the crime to shoot the street Saturday night? No? well, i paid with a partial-relapse on Sunday so that was not too smart of me) anyway the camera hit on the its corner and the counter stopped counting. And a few nicks and scrapes besides. I shot 4 rolls with a broken counter though so all was not lost. I hope they can nudge the counter back into place. I am optimistic. But i walked a fair number of blocks in the city, then came home and walked the dogs and felt GREAT!!!!
Ok, so for now i am relatively back to normal and will deal with this surgery decision little by little.
Thank you all..you have NO idea how much your care and concern has meant to me! (and please forgive anyone i left out of the thank you list. These days have been a bit harried and distracted)
best to all
Kathleen
eeks, Gordon..
I had not scrolled up at all and just saw your post! LORD, what a terrible ordeal for you! Someone told me..who? Can’t recall..sorry..that thank God it’s my hip and not my back. Your story has me shivering at the idea that something so awful could happen. The worst case scenario and all that chronic pain you have lived with. I am sitting here just shaking my head at the sadness of it. The waste. I am so sorry that happened to you, Gordon! And i am so glad to see you back. I wondered what was up with you!
Ok, must really sleep now..it’s the first time in a week i actually feel tired. I think i am finally relaxing. It’s been a long hard week.
Goodnight ALL!
Burnians are the bEsT!
Kathleen
goodness kathleen – sorry for missing what you´ve been saying.
thoughts for a speedy recovery..
d
kathleen, good to hear that it is your hip and not your back: probably due to carrying heavy camera bags. My right hip is dodgy and hurts a lot if if do any continuous climbing (like a mountain). I’m going to attempt to die of very old age before I need it replacing.
Gordon, you have my sympathy friend, at least you were able to get some relief second time around.
And Sidney (laughing) my dad made the best chips (fries) ever! When he retired from work my mum retired from everything. They had terms of endearment for each other: she used to call him a “hook-nosed-gyp” (as in gipsy). His nose wasn’t that pronounced and he wasn’t from Romany stock but hey, never let the truth get in the way of a good insult.
When he was young he lived with his parents in the optimistically named Paradise Grove. The terraced houses of said Grove were only on one side and facing empty ground where, periodically, travelling gypsies used to stay.
Best,
Mike.
MIKER…you have the ability to tell the story…
Thank you mate…
ouzo on me
SIDNEY…oime,welcome back…thanks for checking in…
GORDON…our baby KATIE…well, we are here…we can help…
cause WE ARE ALL ONE
DB,THOMAS…OOO
I believe this aisle is closing down…I see …MR.HARVEY and the rest of the Universe …
Ability to tell…go figure:)))))))))))))))
KATHLEEN
That’s good news. Hip replacements are a lot more successful than back surgeries. May it go well. And please remember when you’re admiring me, I have absolutely NO pain, just legs and hands that don’t work very well. Pain is a real bitch, weakness is just a bother ;=)
hugs
Patricia
Hey ALL,
This has nothing to do with the discussion on “ability to tell” so I’ll post it here.
Just returned from Haiti, amazing trip that was about 1-part photography, 5-parts work. The project I was working on to build a 75-year-old woman a new earthquake and hurricane proof house has stalled for lack of funds. The group I was working with wasn’t a big NGO, it was a private group of individuals attempting to help one Haitian woman who needed it, and they could really use some minor financial support.
I’m holding a Print Sale for the next 36 hours to try and raise the funds needed. Any help the Burn Community can give would be greatly appreciated. At the very least please tweet, reblog, and facebook post the link if you can. I’ll kill the print sale as soon as we have enough funds to complete the project. Thanks for looking…
http://jarediorio.com/blog/2010/07/real-help-for-haiti/
DAH,
Met a couple of people you may be interested in talking to there. 80 neighborhood kids, ages 5-13, in the town of Jacmel (where the only Haitian film school is located) who want to be filmmakers and photographers. I’m planning a possible summer camp there in October. If you’re interested I’ll send you an email once the build is complete. Ties into Circus well, I think.
Great job Jared.. Proud of you!