obx

update:7:15 am september 3  nags head, north carolina…..hurricane Earl….

house shaking like hell and cannot take much more it seems…but not taking in water anywhere that i can see which is amazing in itself…now blowing 75mph and raining horizontal sheets…my street is a river…i doubt i can even walk outside and surely not make it to the truck….i cannot believe electricity is on and coffee almost ready…

simply spectacular to see and feel , but not something easy to show in a picture..will try..like a shot out my front door is probably best i can do and even that will not be easy…weather satellite shows it is almost over…cats tired of being prisoners in the darkroom…they do not seem to have any appreciation whatsoever that i saved their lives…so far

( below is september 1  post)

no joke, i am now in a bit of trouble…

hurricane Earl , now updated to cat 4 is gathering strength …and headed for my town…this is a very different report than i had earlier today when we all thought Earl was going to pass 300 miles out to sea ….now, it appears we have been given advance warning of the worst possible news for those of us who live in the Outer Banks of North Carolina… all but permanent residents are being evacuated and almost everyone is preparing to leave…our island can take any beating , it is  supposed to move around and come and go,  but the structures on it are extremely vulnerable to wind and water at all times…everybody knows, nobody should live here…

yet i do, and i always knew the risks…grew up in this neighborhood, fell in love with photography in this neighborhood…

i now have about 24 hours to make some very major moves…i must do all i can to save my house and honestly there is not too much i can do except close the wooden hurricane shutters…what i really must do is round up all things of archival value…my negatives which i have here ready to make use of my darkroom …was just getting ready to print a few editions of my early family work…

my son Bryan and his girlfriend yoga maestra Michelle  are my neighbors…just by amazing luck we are all here now to lend each other a hand ….Bryan travels the world as a film maker but always makes sure he is here this time of year for the world class surf…Bry lives to surf and he has made it an art….film making is in second place in his mind, but his visual talent is clear….Bryan’s main tool,  the surf , was in its most majestic moment this afternoon…..alas, those beautiful waves from this afternoon might just come and try to clean out these overbuilt beaches by tomorrow…i just love those waves….they are the earth and the earth has rights… more than my personal property which i hope will survive, but it won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t…

however, i am not idle, nor complacent ….if the projected path of the hurricane continues as is predicted , i will have no choice but to put my negatives/prints/books  etc into my pickup truck and drive away to safety…if it were not for the negatives etc i would be tempted to stick it out..and no my friends cannot come and get the negatives for me..already thought of that…they will not let anyone not from here to come here…i think …

hmmmm, story here?? maybe i can get permission from NatGeo to let me publish a picture or two here on Burn from what is going on…i mean wouldn’t that create buzz for their upcoming OBX  NatGeo Magazine story which they are contracting from me?? just thinking off the top of my head…more important things for me to think about now…

when things get dire , i feel my best…little things irritate me and i am annoyed too easily….but big things and major problems tend to make me calm and focused…..my problems are no more important than anyone’s,yet this seems to be a problem for many…every tv network on the planet is set up down on the beach…..anyway let’s not overdue this..all things relative and in the realm of natural fluctuations , this is the easiest to survive because of the advance warnings…..but i do know that you would be interested and mostly how ironic that we have been discussing archives, and digi and film etc etc…

ok, must move on this …i will keep you updated as best i can….

oh yes, almost forgot, much better and bigger news…Diego Orlando , Special Projects Editor of Burn, is in Perpignan, France at this very moment and is showing (and maybe selling) first edition copies of BURN 01 at Visa Pour L’Image …we must also talk Jean Francois Leroy, Founder and Director,  into at least a projection for the Burn audience next year..if you are in Perpignan now , just know i miss hanging out with  you and yes  please buy a book from Diego…this is a seriously cool book featuring 25 essays from photographers/artists published here on Burn , both iconic and from the audience here, two think pieces by Akaky and Bob Black, and  printed and bound by the best in Italy supervised by Diego and designed by Anton Kusters and researched by Anna Maria  Jester and yea i am in the mix too…  and if you are not published  in this edition,  maybe next….please try….best part of this is if my own stuff ends up underwater, at least i will have BURN 01 to show….i think this really might be the first seriously published book/magazine from the works from an online blog audience…

anyway, just to give you something constructive to do , i will do what i often do and ask you a question…

ok, here is a relevant one: if you were in my shoes , would you now concentrate on getting the old work/negs/prints off the island or should i spend my energies on taking new pictures of the catastrophe around me?


-david alan harvey-

1,284 thoughts on “advance warning….”

  1. If you can not found a safe place for the archives to stay and made photos i think is better put the old work off the island and the energy to do that is number one. If you can solve this first so then solve how to arrange a safe place to resist the storm so you can make photos. Think about it, can you lost all the archives for make new photos? Good luck, sound like you will need it.

  2. of course…saving the archives is first priority – reports say Hwy 12 may be flooded – and as NC natives know, hurricanes are a regular visitor, although we have been ‘lucky’ for some time with the near misses of a full impact hurricane – when storm sands and the ocean reach to the mailboxes. Hopefully this hurricane will just brisk by. Need a safer place for the goods? I’m 3 1/2hrs +/- drive east of Hatteras and offer an option. email>> photography.gray@gmail.com

  3. DAVID,

    Hope you, Bryan, Chris and the whole gang in OBX stay safe first and foremost!… Maybe you should get Bryan to get the hell out of here when it is still time with all your archives while you somehow stay behind…. My sense is that having worked over the past weeks on this OBX assignment for NatGeo, you will want to hang around… but I have never been in a cat 4 Hurricane in woodden homes by the beach…. that certainly does not sound like the best plan…. if you choose to stay, please at least find a safer place if this exists in OBX….

    I also would have liked to be in Perpignan mysef, if only to be able to see this Burn 01… but somehow, this did not work out this year… My father is there… another exhibit as part of the Off so he is on a mission for me to find Diego and get me a copy if possible… Diego will be a popular man there :):).

    Stay safe… Looking forward to the report on Friday/ Saturday after this Hurricane is gone and hopefully all is well and house still standing!

    Eric

  4. Tough call David.

    The first priority is to take care of the archive, maybe duct tape it all into plastic totes and send them off to high ground with someone you trust, who is getting out while the getting is good.

    Then stay and possibly get the best storm photos ever? Depends on how much personal danger you are willing to risk. I love storms, but if it were me I’d get my wimpy bum outa there, shooting pics as I pack and leave.

    Stay safe, good luck, good shooting.

  5. DAH
    this is the time to dance your dance….
    a little of this…
    and
    a little of that….
    finding
    the
    balance…
    I don’t know hurricanes,
    but I know fires and earthquakes….
    she’s always the queen..
    our dear
    mother…
    earth….
    om
    shanti..
    be safe…
    xo

  6. Hmmm, big Cat 4? I saw the houses in the marsh and the island cut in two after Hugo in S.C. I can’t imagine sustained winds of 140 with much higher gusts. Bent a car door in a gust of 100. Go. After all, aren’t all the best pictures on the edges, not in the eye of the storm? I mean, who are you going to photograph there anyway? :))
    Best to you and all your family, I see it’s projected to hit Delmarva as well.

  7. Save the negatives (and hard drives, cameras, mementoes, kittens etc)!! And yourself! New photos aren’t worth it. And there will be pics to made evacuating. Best of luck David. Thinking of you….

    …god our weather is boring here in the PNW:)

    CP

  8. DAH,

    Thanks for taking time in the midst of all this to share your two cents worth on my comment in the last thread. As usual, your two cents is worth a million bucks to me! :))

    It may please you to know that even if you have to leave and are unable to get a single new shot…the one you posted at the top of this thread is my favorite image I’ve seen in MONTHS! Who is that girl??? I LOVE it.

    Safety is first and foremost but can’t you pack everything up and put it in your truck and then go out and shoot? I guess Mother Nature is going to be the ultimate “decider” here. You will know what is possible and will act accordingly. We will all be waiting to hear how it goes. Take care.

  9. DAVID,

    I shouldn’t be, what I know about hurricanes
    but hell… I am!
    Completely sure everything will be alright! Will be fine!
    aftermath you will have a lot to clean only.
    Be sure your family is safe
    then be sure You are safe
    than take care about old stuff
    then take care about new frames

    and one more, when worst will comes remember the corners of your basement are the most safe places!

    and picture you’ve published is outstanding!
    I love your sensitivity for the moment.
    Hope you will take more but safety!safety!

    I will thinking of you and keep fingers crossed my friend

    and give us note how are you and your family just right after you can!

  10. Stay safe.

    I recently had my first experience with a typhoon. Only its fringes touched Manila on its way to the South China Sea but that was enough to scare the hell out of me.

    I can’t imagine what it’ll be to be in the middle of a Cat 4, in a wodden house. I think priorities should be: 1. yourself 2. your negatives etc. 3. new photos. Hopefully you’ll find a way of doing reasonably well with the three of them.

    Cheers

  11. I WOULD NOT BE FOOLISH
    IF I WERE YOU

    INSTEAD OF JESUS
    I WOULD ASK MY MOTHER WHAT SHE WOULD DO…

    (serious… she would tell you to get the hell out of there)

  12. David,

    down here we annually have ad campaigns ‘stay or go’… forest fires are our worst nightmare.
    being surrounded by eucalypts (highly flammable trees) for miles around. there’s not that much one can do.

    the summer before last a fire got out of control and came close enough for us to have ashes blowing into the front porch. very scary. lucky for us the wind changed direction but others in the neighboring town weren’t so lucky…

    my thoughts were for the safety of my family and a bag of hard drives & my camera – couldn’t think much past that.

    as others have said, grab all those negs and prints and hard drives, maybe see if someone else can drive, and shoot your escape, ‘the exodus of obx’ sounds to me like it could make a very nice dps…

    best of luck
    sam

  13. Well, having lived through hurricane Lothar back in ’99 in the Swiss mountains, where trees were flying like matches, roofs taking off like wings and silos rolling downhill like toys.. dunno.. you’ll do what you’ll have to do, but if you stay and there’s still time, think ‘no power’, get water and food that needs no cooking.. we were cut off completely, no heating (in December in the snow, no possibility to light a fire in the house we were), no water, no cooking, roads interrupted by debris for days, no medical help.. I’m sure you’ll do what your heart tells you to do, for the practical needs listen also to your head! Un’abbraccio! And: the cats!!

  14. David, I think you’ll find a way to do both somehow :)
    Whatever, take care good care, and if it doesn’t sound crazy enjoy it, it makes you know you’re alive.

  15. I’d get my negs etc. and my cats somewhere safe and then decide what to shoot. As Tom Hyde says, “After all, aren’t all the best pictures on the edges, not in the eye of the storm? I mean, who are you going to photograph there anyway? :))”.

    The chances are that in the storm you are not going to be able to see/photograph anything. The consequences to the human population and the environment of the OBX are the story (like Phillip Jones Griffiths in Vietnam, the people were the story, not the bang-bang). This being the case, photograph the refugees (your neighbours) from the hurricane both during, and after, when they return home: and photograph the effects on the OBX – again, when you return. It’s a plan, and a good plan today is better than a great plan tomorrow (film, The Edge). And look after the cats!

    Stay safe.

    Mike.

  16. David,

    Beautiful photo…

    I think ultimately I would get the stuff off the island, but the urge to stay and take pictures would be very strong…at least until I saw a tree flying past me!! Live to see other days…and yes, don’t forget the cats!!

  17. Oh, David, when you emerge from Earl, and before you get hit by Fiona, do you think I could drive by Diego and get one of those Burn01 books??

  18. Ricardo Vasconcelos

    Save the negatives and your memories and above all, help each other! It is not worth losing the work of a whole lifetime for a story, although I realize that this city, this neighborhood, is also your life.
    Here in the south Europe is very hot, especially here in Portugal. Many fires are destroying entire villages and ruin lives. This world is collapsing…
    I hope everything goes for the best with you and your family.

    RV

  19. EVA…

    yes, that is where my head is as well…anxious to see as are you….

    AUDREY…

    so, how is Burn 01 in your opinion? after all , you are the star!!

    SIMON…

    cats now residing in the darkroom…have enough food and water etc for several days…did not know what else to do…they cannot travel with me…can you imagine 3 cats with me in a car driving around in a storm trying to take pictures?

    cheers, david

  20. Can’t you have your kid or daughter-in-law take the stuff?

    I wouldn’t presume to advise you on such important matters as your life and legacy. If it were me, I like to think I’d say to hell with the material crap and experience such a powerful moment, and I probably would, but these days I find it harder to say to hell with my family to get that old looking into the abyss of death clarity and exhilaration, so again, can’t presume to advise. Feel a bit jealous though.

    Fantastic photo, btw. Love the composition.

  21. David,

    I don’t think any new photographs you could take would be worth risking all the beautiful photographs you have already taken, as well as your life…….. priority should be packing up and getting out, then if there is any time left you can shoot. Be well.

    Valery

  22. MW….PANOS

    Michael, pleased you like the picture..but was not sure if anyone would see the girl…hard to see this photograph on the computer screen…

    smiling…”my kid” is kinda in the same boat, no pun intended…while he has no archives here to save, he is a videographer and is trying to decide to shoot or to leave…the tough part of the decision is this…there are no cat 4 hurricanes on record having hit this part of the coast….even the modern houses up to code are built to maybe maybe withstand a cat 3…cat 4 considered a total wipe out of all structures…we are just a few feet above sea level…my old house will absolutely not survive a cat 4 direct hit…

    i have photographed hurricanes before and rode out the worst, Gloria, way back in the eighties…hard to shoot..almost nothing to see while it is happening…damn things usually hit at night and wind pics?? very scary while they hit…scary but with not much to shoot usually….bad combo…hmmmm…damage pics are generally boring aren’t they?? anyway, on the case…batts charged…extra cards….cats in the dark room….boarding windows…hard drives in the back seat of my truck and my negatives and vintage prints too…crazy…i mean really….

    cheers, david

  23. DAH

    Only you can make the decision on whether to ride it out or not. If it is going to be close and a cat 4, I would seriously consider leaving.

    No, the best pictures are not necessarily on the “edge.” Here is the thing. If you leave, and there is a lot of serious damage to infrastructure and roads, the authorities can and probably will prevent ANYONE from returning until they deem it is safe to travel the area. This was always something to think about when I was living on Hilton Head and the evacuation call came. If you left, the best you would get was traffic and people huddled in hotels. If you stay, you get first-hand coverage of the damage, the people returning (which will be harder if you are stuck in traffic returning) and the recovery work.

    But of course none of this is worth risking your life.

    Now in the future, I would seriously consider investing in a bunch of Pelican cases. Big and small. They are the best waterproof cases I have used for cameras and important things like film, prints and computer hard drives. Buy them and have them ready to pack. When the next storm comes, load all the important stuff and be prepared one way or the other. A couple of thousand dollars worth of Pelican cases is the best insurance in the world. And if you leave, you can throw them in the back of the truck and go.

    It never ceases to amaze me how when a hurricane is on the way, everyone runs out and buys water, generators, batteries and all the supplies they need. If you LIVE in a hurricane zone, you should already have all of this. I guess it is just human nature to procrastinate about these things.

  24. Again, can’t presume to advise, though the intelligent thing to do seems rather obvious. Storywise, I’d guess there are probably more relevant photos to be had along the evacuation route and in temporary shelters, no? Lots of people adapting to difficult conditions. I’m sure that’s the story most people live rather than the huddled loner scenario. And I’m pretty sure you can talk your way past the state police for the aftermath, should you decide to leave.

  25. David,

    “my old house will absolutely not survive a cat 4 direct hit…”

    I hope the hurricane will not blow with full strength. You have such a beautiful house! I was always jealous about your beach house and The ocean of course :)
    Be safe, be wise and dont forget about your cats :)

  26. Pete with practical ideas, Panos with a ride em cowboy attitude…which way do you think i will go? yea, well that was easy wasn’t it? the reality is that this will most likely turn out to be the party night of the year..the folks who stay, which now includes a bunch of us , will huddle for a tequila or two…first of all , this gives perspective..about what is important and what is not…so, basically i will try to save the negs, hard drives only of my personal possessions and be prepared and am prepared psychologically to let it all go..i can even say goodbye to my favorite house ….even the life safety issue is not an issue…i would rather be blown off a mountain top than get hit by a bus, if you get my drift…nature dangerous is nature at her best….try to get to the sidelines and see the show, because it is a show…every single major natural “disaster” would in fact be a totally amazing thing to see…we just build our houses in the wrong places, that’s all….Pelican case packed w negs (been using em for years) and bottle of Patron and some candles ready…yeeeehaa !! what more can a man ask for?? well, yea, but i am on sabbatical…

  27. MW

    ” I’m sure that’s the story most people live rather than the huddled loner scenario. And I’m pretty sure you can talk your way past the state police for the aftermath,”

    As for the first part, yes that is the most obvious story, unfortunately also the most told. During major storms the media is flooded with these photos. If a photographer can be safe and stay, especially if they can huddle in with a family or a group of die-hard storm riders, that is the story that will be unique among all the other coverage.

    As far as talking your way back in, good luck. I was friends with half of the cops that covered the island I was living on and my father was a personal friend of the sheriff. I also lived on the island. I was told under no uncertain terms that if I left during a mandatory evacuation, that there was no way in hell I would be allowed back on the island until an all clear was issued. OH, and I was working for the local paper at the time also. I would say that IF you got pre-authorized to return early, that would be one thing. Otherwise I would certainly not count on it.

    You need to understand the logistics. I have not been to the OBX but from what I can see there is essentially one main road in and out. This is the way it is on Hilton Head. After the storm passes, if you plan on getting back early once they open the roads, you have to show up early. People would be in their cars queued and ready along the road coming back. It was backed up 15 miles one time.

    Again, these are just the facts of an evacuation. Your safety is always first over the photos, so that is the first decision. A cat 4 on the beach in a beach house… glancing blow by the storm… maybe, depending on where you can hunker down. Direct hit? NO WAY. Catagory 3, maybe. Cat 1 or 2 I would probably stay. But alway have a safe place, which may not be your home.

  28. By all means,take care of the image archive.
    As well as part of your future economy it is yout legacy.
    Riding out a Cat 4 storm will,at best,only result in more hurricane images.
    Ironioc,really, that the hurricane angle is quite a key component in your OBX story
    but hardly worth risking 5 decades of work in addition to your life.

    Does make an interesting case for a digital archive,though where multiple offsite
    copies of the originals would make this part of your decision moot.

    Mark

  29. David,

    I’ve got a buddy in Morehead City. I know it’s across the sound, but perhaps it’s a safe-house option for
    the archive, but hell they are most likely in it as deep as you, but he’s on the mainland.

  30. “Pete with practical ideas,” ????

    Just giving the facts. Truth be told, it would be very hard to get me to leave. anything short of a direct hit by a cat 4 or 5 and I would most likely stay. Generator and SAT phone at the ready!

  31. “Does make an interesting case for a digital archive,though where multiple offsite
    copies of the originals would make this part of your decision moot.”

    Ah yes… Photoshelter… dual mirrored datacenters.

  32. PETE…

    i can make some decisions at the last minute…IF i found out that a cat 3 or 4 hit was coming directly at me, i would still have a couple of hours get off…cat 4 direct hit not survivable i have heard…dying one thing, suicide another…however, i am now looking into a very sturdy hotel as a possibility….i think what is going to happen is that i will literally be driving around with my negatives, drives, some prints in the back of the truck as i “cover” this event…got some poetry to it , right? what most likely will happen i think is that this cold front moving east will save us..keep the storm just offshore…still a helluva blow is coming…but perhaps not a direct hit…

  33. On a related note, there’s a tropical storm watch here in Brooklyn. I’m thinking I should evacuate (frankly any excuse will do), but doubt it would fly with the boss. Anyway, if I make it down to the beach, I’ll keep an eye out for any pelican cases that wash up.

    All joking aside, best wishes. I’ll say a word to the void for your safety.

  34. DAH

    Yeah, that is why I always waited until the last minute. You have time, but it is a good thing everyone does not get to think like that. Would be a hell of a stormy traffic jam.

    Now about driving around a storm with negs and drive in the back of a truck… poetry is not really the word that comes to mind. (laughing). I hope they are in waterproof containers?

    Oh, and I knew you were not going anywhere!

  35. loving this. find myself checking the weather at OBX and worrying about David…following him on this journey. Looking forward to seeing the outcome and some images….stay safe. (but not too safe)

  36. dear Mr. Harvey, i would never venture to tell you what you should do, especially in a life threatening situation… you have been in and survived many risky situations before.. so your survival instincts must be well attuned and i’m sure they are on full alert at the moment..trust your instincts, if it doesnt feel right, get outta there!

    having said that, if i were in your shoes, i would be probably stay. i think it would all come down to whether or not the storm surge was predicted to completely overwash the area..which would be catastrophic for sure..or if i was near a piece of relatively high gound, .since it appears that earl will pass a bit to the east ( of course as you already know, that’s not a given,,hurricanes tend to be fickle and wobble, so landfall and track are somewhat iffy) the brunt of the storm should/could remain off shore..but even a predicted storm surge of 4 feet is significant on an exposed ribbon of sand with an elevation averaging only a few feet above sea level…hmmm..what would Chris Bickford do?

    as others have already suggested, if it were me and i stayed, i would consider entrusting the prints, negatives and cats with a friend leaving the area. if/when earl hits, there will be damage. i would then start figuring out a way to survive the situation, get my gear ready, and try to be ready for anything,,while hoping to make meaningful images of not only the storm, but the way the strongly individualistic souls of the outerbanks deal with another dose of adversity…

    David i know it’s hard to leave when something so historic is headed your way, especially since you’re working on the outer banks story.. but please be safe! perhaps the collective well wishes/ good energy from the Burn community will create some sort of force field around you and help keep you safe.. i certainly hope so!

    good luck!!!

  37. This is crazy.. now I gotta have to worry for an adult man that I haven’t ever met in person (yet), just like it was one of the kids roaming all over the place.. methinks I just log off and play ostrich.. and the most crazy thing is I even understand why you’re going to stay, sheesh!!!

  38. How is this even an argument? Stuff your archives into plastic bags and then haul your ass on out of there.

    AKAKY IRL: And this is very sound advice, coming, as it does, from a man who absolutely refused to go to a hotel during the Twin Peaks blizzard back in February. We froze our ass off for five nights straight because dumbass here didnt want to spend the money to go someplace warm. So my advice is to take any advice you get from him with a grain of salt

  39. hey, can we reopen the “write a caption” contest? Earl certainly gives new opportunites for captioning the picture of David photographing a woman on top of a submerged van! :)

  40. DAH…

    You said you weren’t sure if anyone would notice the girl…

    In case you missed my original comment here is a portion of it reposted…

    “It may please you to know that even if you have to leave and are unable to get a single new shot…the one you posted at the top of this thread is my favorite image I’ve seen in MONTHS! Who is that girl??? I LOVE it.”

  41. Eva

    I doubt somehow that there was more than a moment of doubt in David’s mind that he would be staying.

    Davids gift to us here is the opportunity to seriously ask ourselves what we would do in his situation, and thereby gain a little more insight into who we each are. What do we value most?
    I’m with you, and with most everyone I suspect. I’d be out’a there.

    I love Davids post..rather be blown off a mountain than hit by a bus, and looking forward to the best party of the year. I can see the grin on his face. Me, I hope to die quietly in my bed.

  42. I would do both! Get everything you mentioned you wanted to save (negs, etc) in the truck ready to go then spend as much time as you have left shooting! And shoot while driving out!

    Lee

  43. Gordon, it’s how you live not how you die what counts.. adding not even when.. but that’s all theoretical talk, and I got no problems when I’m involved personally and have to decide for myself.. it’s only when others I care about are involved that I become an overprotective.. ehm, biddy you all it over there in the States? And no, there was not much doubt about David’s choice..

  44. Because I enjoyed (not) both Hurricane Rita and Ike, I would suggest David get the hell out of there. The Crystal Beach area near Galveston was devastated by Ike. Beach houses by the hundreds before the storm, utter devastation afterwords. Staying is a good way to end up dead.

    We took a direct hit by Rita, and we are about 70 miles from the coast. Fifty percent of the trees in our heavily forested county were knocked down by the hurricane or twisted off by the hundreds by small tornadoes the Hurricane spawned. Many homes were destroyed, many had multiple large trees through the roof. We had no power for 14 days. MRE’s get a little old if that’s all you get to eat for two weeks!

    Get out of there! :)

  45. DAH –

    sending good thoughts and prayers and mantras, but be more discerning than daring in the quest for new images, please…

    Are you positive there no safe deposit boxes / vaults anywhere in your vicinity that are still open /accessible for the archives?

    Re: driving around, I heard a major reason residents can stay and tourists need to go is because residents know where to park and tourists do not. So whatever that means, take heed if you are parking quickly to get an image.

    Re: Audrey, she has not yet met up with Diego, but will soon.

    I am very happy your family is there with you. Keep us posted if you are able. We’ll keep the protective vibes flowing from our ends of the burn universe.

  46. DAH–

    i’m sure i would stay too. :)
    to photograph, yes, but also to Feeeel that Life Surging, wow..
    you must be absolutely electrified!
    i’m breathless just thinking about it.

    STAY SAFE, MY FRIEND!!

  47. ERICA…AUDREY…

    Diego should be Cafe Leposte by night after slide shows etc…leave message here for him…he was also supposed to get Burn into the bookstore…do not know if that happened or not…

  48. DAH –

    i’d make a backup of the computer too. stay as long as you can. photograph your way out of there. if you do leave, how far do you have to go? where would you go? how would you get there? you aren’t really going to your brooklyn loft when Earl is headed there as well? more questions than answers. maybe i would stay.

    stay safe/keep shootin’

  49. KATIA…

    yes, exactly….we could change our minds in a few hours if we see 100% chance of cat 4 direct hit which would mean most likely this island would be totally submerged…145 mi per hour winds and water take out all in their path …anything less than that and i think we ride it out…

    MIKE PETERS..

    Chris Bickford does not live far from me…he told me a few minutes ago he was staying as well…

  50. I remember the road out of that area where DAH lives. Narrow and congested. Can’t imagine what it would be like to evacuate in the hell of the moment of the storm’s wrath. Think trying to get out would be worse. But I have never been in a hurricane and was in a tornado once but didn’t realize it till next morning it was so dark. No experience like those stated by Jim.

  51. LEE..

    during summer rental changes the road can become congested on sat and sunday…evacuation as well, but most of that happens long before the storm arrives…many left yesterday under clear sunny skies…today pretty quiet…i could get out of here in 20 minutes if the bridge is open…considering now a hotel maybe two or three floors up…but the good news is karma..my house has been sitting on this beach for about 80 years…isn’t that worth something?

  52. Hang on tight David – from what I’ve gathered, you’ve got the negs and HDs packed up already. I’d imagine those pelican cases can take a lot of abuse – just make sure they don’t float away in that car – maybe drop the cats and archive off at the 6th Floor Burn Motel… Keep snapping a few as you go – I’m envisioning some good back-of-the-book, behind-the-scenes stuff for sure. Wish you all the best, man. Stay safe and good vibes to you and the whole OBX community.

    …and can’t wait to get my hands of a copy of Burn01!

  53. David,

    I’m in contact with Diego, we have to meet on next friday, we missed each other last wednesday and today I’m not in Perpignan. Can’t wait to see burn01 :=)) thank you !!! Maybe I should come with the real stars : my parents

  54. AUDREY…

    oh yes, bring your parents for sure…only sorry i am not there to meet them….please give your mother and father my warmest personal regards…..

    JIM POWERS…

    nice to hear from you Jim…and , as usual, you make sense…you and i do play the game a bit differently, but i have always respected you and your views and share many if not all of them….

  55. Haven’t you built your reputation of the photos you’ve shot? Are you usually a disaster photog? Haven’t you always said that archives are the most important?

    Grab your negs and get out.

  56. a civilian-mass audience

    MR.HARVEY,

    no panic…BUT please, get out of there NOW…take the kids,the chickens,the negatives,the positives…
    my airline has canceled …my flight over there…

    yes,what not to leave…I am making an extra key for the Greek home…
    time to use it

  57. Amigo!

    Forgot that you lived there in the path of the storm. Having weathered more hurricanes on the Gulf Coast than I care to remember, wish you and yours all the best.

    My thoughts and prayers are with you amigo.

    Bueno suerte!

    Don Arturo

    P.S. Get your ass and your archive out of there! That way you can come back and shoot aftermath.

  58. I have to say that “Personally” The best time of my life was in 2004. I had just moved to Orlando, Florida, and 3 days after arriving I was hit with Hurricane “Charley”. Less than a month after Charley hit, 2 more hurricanes followed.

    The feeling was more than exhilarating, and the apartment complex I lived in decided to make the best of things (burgers and beers became communal). Here’s to your safety no matter what decision you make. If it comes down to the thrill of Natures Fury, or loosing a world class photographer/human being than please make the sensible one.

  59. Hello David,

    Like you say, the forces of nature are the Earth. You would never forgive yourself if something would happen to your son. So take Brian, Michelle, the archival boxes and avoid getting hurt. Taking some pictures might still be possible on the way out. Great shot by the way.
    I went over the edge once without my fault, good I’m still here to be their for my loved ones and share these feelings.
    Still, the rush of adreneline and the excitement of the moment…great to shoot on the edge but it is easy to forget the danger.

    Best, Edward

  60. ARTHUR MEYERSON…ALL….

    Don Arturo…what a pleasure to have you here…does it take a hurricane for you to show up?? laughing…been too long amigo…should be Houston in the fall, so we must meet…

    i think all is going to be ok….festive atmosphere my neighborhood…folks now coming over to sit on my front porch for a beer and a sip of tequila…wind to hit at midnight but only gusts to 75mph and unless Earl takes another turn, he is rolling north and just missing our coastline for a direct hit by a few degrees…the buzz in the air is palpable..i think it will all be over by sunrise..which means yet again another storm rolls through in the dark and no pictures…

    no longer worried about saving my archive…i have not moved a thing from my house, but all windows shuttered closed and all objects removed from front porch and around…think all ok at this wind velocity…we have that much velocity frequently and for longer periods of time during a northeaster which traditionally does most of the damage around here..hurricanes have the drama but blow through quickly, but northeasters do the dirty work and hang on and on and on….

    many many thanks to all of you for your good wishes…and hope i did not cause any unnecessary worry…it could indeed have been bad..and i guess we should not say it is over until it is over…anyway, feeling the good vibes from you….and if you were here, all my Burn audience would of course be invited over for a cold one..as you are always…

    cheers, david

  61. Dear David– Sending good vibes, but I’m not worried about you. :) Just feels like you’ll be fine and I know you’ll come thru this with an interesting perspective! I grew up in Texas and when hurricanes approached, we drank hurricanes. Love this picture!

  62. David, I just signed up this morning for a workshop with you in Aranjuez in less than 2 weeks…..and I don’t want to have to claim my money back!! Just kidding, but still, if that thing remains cat 4, pack your negs an most beloved possesions and get the fuck out of there. A few hurricanes pictures are not worth it.

    and pardon my french btw.

  63. 80 years is a long time. Glad you have an easy way out if necessary. Take the cats in a carrier…

    Lee

  64. DAVID.. I would probably try to lock my neg’s down somehow and be out there in that spot where I feel i can possibly get those images. Cat 4 is dangerous so you don’t need any of us to say be careful but..! I grew up surfing waves here on the south coast of N.S.W south of sydney and I also have a sense of awe towards them. They hold me reminding me that there is something much bigger on our planet than mankind.

    Whatever happens, just get out alive!

  65. DAVID… just read your post here. Good to hear. Fingers crossed here on the other side of the world.

  66. Your question was a fake one i think. You want to stay since first moment. Don´t know if put the archives in your house is a good idea except if you have a cellar. If no, maybe make a hole an put all the things enveloped with some plastic can preserve all safe. Do a map an send it by email to family or friends. Then you can be free to think about enjoy the storm if that is possible. Cuidate che, aunque me da curiosidad ver tus fotos me parece que primero está la seguridad de quienes amamos incluídos nosotros mismos. Saludos y buena suerte otra vez

  67. house shaking like hell and cannot take much more it seems…but not taking in water anywhere that i can see which is amazing in itself…now blowing 75mph and raining horizontal sheets…my street is a river…i doubt i can even walk outside and maybe not even make it to the car….cannot believe electricity is on and coffee almost ready…just spectacular to see and feel , but not something easy to show in a picture..will try..like a shot out my front door is probably best i can do and even that will not be easy…weather satellite shows it is almost over…cats tired of being prisoners in the darkroom…they do not seem to have any appreciation whatsoever that i saved their lives…so far

  68. So you rode it out. Wow. You are brave. Amazing. Think I will make some coffee myself. Glad you made it dude.

  69. amigo…

    jsut home….left NS just be earl descends there….had no idea about Earl until yesterday….no tv, no computer, no emails, almost no people for seems like an eternity, a paradise….then, of course, thought all about u in the halifax airport, fingers crossed that it wounded swallow obx…now my thoughts are for our friends in Cape breton….having stuck out 2 hurricanes, my thoughts are with you and the cats :))…..dont worry, cats always appreciate, but it may not be so apparent…more words later….computer stings after so much silence :))

    hugs for you, the boys and the cats….happy you are intact

    more this weekend…

    hugb

    b

  70. good morning David- i’m super glad to see that Earl decided to stay just off shore and that you and your neighbors are safe… a nice adrenalin rush experiencing a taste of the storm, without the utter devastation and misery of a direct hit…

    now with the worst almost over ( for the outer banks anyway- good luck new englanders!)and the wind subsiding soon, i imagine Bryan is ready to surf..

  71. RAMON MAS…

    i am not sure i am going to make that workshop in Spain….you will of course get a refund from EFTI the organizers if i cannot make it…for one thing i am in the middle of a heavy and unexpected shooting here in Carolina….this storm will be over soon, but the pictures will just begin….and on top of everything else , i can barely walk…i had an injury to my foot during all of this mess that might put me down for a few days..not sure…still moving now painfully…so, i cannot walk, it is blowing bad, i need a picture, and i am supposed to be in Spain…mama mia….smiling..

  72. Glad you made it David, it sounded awfully scary.
    And with your spirits up (and coffee ready) you should be ready for the aftermath too. Stay well and mind your foot.
    Best wishes,
    John.

  73. David,
    hurricane Earl sounds really ferocious and I hope you manage to keep you and your house in a good condition.
    The image of rain taken out of your car reminds me of a stormy night 20 years ago. My mother woke me up one winter morning and asked me to have a look outside. There I saw the new car of my sister totally covered by our neighbours fir tree which came down that night and crashed right on my sisters Golf. There was hardly anything to be seen from the car…
    It was still dark and so and I decided to go back to bed for a little longer… some time later I heard my sister coming into my room crying „Reimar… my car!!!“ I guess my answer was: „I know!“ So I got out of bed and we looked closer at what happened. Meanwhile it was a bit more bright, but there was not much we could do. For my sister this was a real shock because it was her first car and almost brand new. She phoned the insurance company and I phoned a friend to come along with a chain saw. Some hours later we had liberated the car from the needles, branches and tree trunk. Of course I took many pictures of the rescue mission. The roof of the car was completly smashed – little hope this car would ever drive a meter again. The insurance guy came and took some polaroids… ah, the good old days of film… and then my sister drove the car to the next Volkswagen garage. Hard to believe, but the car was still running. I went to the newspaper and when I went into the newsroom they editor asked me if I had a picture of the storm and I said yes! The image was published in the paper the next day. About a week later the Golf had a new roof and my sister sold the car many years later with 360 000 kilometers on the clock to someone in Turkey where the Golf is probably still running.
    This year we had a lot of rain in August and a severe flooding at the water mill of my family, but luckily we had no major problems… it is somehow part of the location and we are prepared for it. To see the forces of nature is a miracle to watch and I always stand in awe when I witness such events which luckily are very rare in my part of the world. There is little you can do against the forces of nature. In the coming days I have to pump the water out of the cellar…
    Everything is fine in my part of the world. The sun is out here and I hope you will have some sunshine soon. Until then make the best of the weather!
    Take good care and all the best!
    Reimar

  74. Have to agree: hurricanes suck, but nor’easters suck even more. After a hurricane you dont have to shovel five feet of snow out of your driveway.

  75. David, Sorry for your foot injury and for your house and… for negatives.
    If I where you I would save the negatives (about works may be you can reprint.. and all else.. I use to do more than one copy and keep it in different and far away place (disaster recovery lessons at University where useful), of course carrying a camera to take picture… may be an old Nikonos..

    BUT… I’m writing here to tell that I’m in Perpignan with Audrey and .. I JUST BOUGHT THE FIRST COPY OF BURN.01!!!! From Diego. The second copy was sold to Eric parent’s :)
    To give my compliments to all of you is not enough. Perfect selection of the essay.
    We took, with Audrey, some picture i.e. with William Albert Allard with the book. You’ll see it :)

  76. DAH

    Hope you understood it was a joke…..Who cares about money back as long as you’re safe!!

    I just read your last update. It’s wierd to think that you are going trough a cat4 hurricane there, while I read my laptop sipping a cold beer out in my terrace at 33º. It’s amazing how small the world is sometimes, and how big and changing it’s others. What’s not love?

    Good luck and if you finally make it to Spain,you have to tell me all about the experience!!! :))

  77. LAURA!! Pick one up for me please and drop it off on your way back home!!! Argh.

    Just back from Foligno, Perugia, a couple hours from here. There was an exhibition, Vanessa Winship and George Georgiou. Important word in that sentence is ‘WAS’. As in ‘is’ no more. Has been taken down. Should have come down on September, 9th. Argh.

    But weather is nice, dinner on the table, life is good :)

  78. a civilian-mass audience

    oime…Dearest MR.HARVEY…

    take care the injury…we know…that you know…BUT when the adrenaline is high…
    you don’t really know…hmmm…BUT…I hope you know…that you know…
    well…I have your key for the Greek house…and one extra for our HARVEY family…
    you can bring the cats too…no problem (no kidding)…

    if you need some cleaning…you know…that I know…there are some good BURNIANS out there
    willing to help…is that right …MY BURNIANS???!!!…

    amazing…you write good too…I know …that you know…you are not an academian…
    BUT…you have the charisma to “glue” people…if you know
    and if you don’t know by now…then here it is

    WE LOVE YOU MR.HARVEY…please, take care yourself and the family…

    P.S …i need coffee

  79. a civilian-mass audience

    and a big BRAVO to all of you…

    BURNIANS,silent Readers(mass Audience), Sponsors,Donors…
    BURN 01…has a footprint…

    ORLANDO…thank you for everything…we will meet sooner or later…!!!

    LAURA…we need visual stimulation…

    BURN 01…WHAT NOT TO LOVE…!!!

    BRAVO and THANK YOU to ALLLLLLLLLLLLL…BURN the Universe…

  80. No advance warning for Ross in the “Shaky Isles”……………..stuffed up all the dunnies in Christchurch,water’s gone kaput gotta drink beer again Ross?

  81. a civilian-mass audience

    NEW ZEALANDERS…My BURNIANS…ROSSY…MATHEW…ANDREAC…

    IMANTS…We need update…

    “A powerful predawn earthquake struck near Christchurch, New Zealand, on Saturday, sending people into the streets as windows exploded and buildings crumbled.”

    it’s a busy week…we are too many all over the Universe…I am thinking to open a relief center…
    I know…I know…AKAKY IRL is ready to shoot…(by the way…AKAKY, I am proud of you…very…)
    and to ALL my BURNIANS…

    I LOVE YOU ALLL…BURN,BURN,BURN
    What not to BURN !!!

  82. I would have loved to see someone shoot a video of you, David, putting the kiddies in a safe place, but also the whole enchildada of what went on around the house as Earl the big bad wolf of a hurricane, tried to get in! .

    Save your foot, good to hear all of you are safe, and the house too!

  83. David – I’m going to be printing in a darkroom most of the rest of the evening and then busy all weekend – SO GLAD YOU AND YOUR NEGATIVES ARE SAFE!!!!!!

    Check your darkroom for light leaks!!!!!

    Would love to visit your beach house sometime since it’s still there.

    This fall? or winter? to talk about book!! I hope you’ll be free sometime for a little bit.

    I’ll check your schedule if I can find it.

  84. Civi/Imants; Yes the biggest earthquake (7.1) since 1931 (when Napier was destroyed)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_Hawke’s_Bay_earthquake

    Christchurch has been pretty badly knocked around; but thankfully only 2 serious injuries. We get a heap of earthquakes, we had a good one here last week, shook the place around a lot. I suppose we are fortunate that we have good building codes (because of the earthquakes) and that stopped a lot of the damage.

    We are going to get the “big one” sooner or later though; it’s not a matter of if; but when. And Wellington; the capital city, sits atop the main fault line!

    Mind you; I only live about 20 km’s from Mount Taranaki; and she’s overdue to blow too! :-)

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/central-north-island/news/article.cfm?l_id=151&objectid=10351746

    And of course; Auckland our biggest city of 1.1 million is actually built on volcanoes!

    http://www.gns.cri.nz/what/earthact/volcanoes/nzvolcanoes/aucklandprint.htm

    Cheers :-)

  85. Just watched the evening news and they now think about 2 billion dollars damage. And now they are going to get 120+ kmh winds and 4 degree Celcius temps for the next 3 days…

  86. Ross it is those stupid hobbits that are behind this rockin’ and bangin’…. Gollum was right when he called them nasty little hobbits

  87. Hobbits? Hmmm dunno;

    For centuries before Europeans arrived, Māori had experienced rū whenua, which means ‘the shaking of the land’.

    According to Māori tradition, earthquakes are caused by the god Rūaumoko (or Rūamoko), the son of Ranginui (the Sky) and his wife Papatūānuku (the Earth). Rangi had been separated from Papa, and his tears had flooded the land.

    Their sons resolved to turn their mother face downwards, so that she and Rangi should not constantly see one another’s sorrow and grieve more. When Papatūānuku was turned over, Rūaumoko was still at her breast, and was carried to the world below. To keep him warm there he was given fire. He is the god of earthquakes and volcanoes, and the rumblings that disturb the land are made by him as he walks about.

  88. EVA, I’ll try to pick one. If I find Diego. I just saw him for a moment this morning. :)
    If I don’t find him, anyway Diego will be in italy soon with a lot of copy and in the meantime you can have a look at my copy. I’m going back to Rome tomorrow.

  89. ALL,

    Okay, I take it this is the new discussion thread? Not just storm warnings?

    Anyway, here’s a crazy idea: collecting photographer’s developing trays. JOHN GLADDY, this one goes out to you!

    http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2010/08/for-photo-geek-eyes-only-famous-developer-trays/?pid=137&pageid=2492

    Also, if you missed it in all the hurricane hoopla, here’s a repost of the link of me on local TV teaching my rock photography camp. Kinda embarrassing, kinda fun…

    http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/Kids-learning-rock-photography-at-camp-102010408.html

    :) CP

  90. CHARLES..

    yes, this is a Dialogue post, so THE place for the moment for general discussion…i will try to do a new Dialogue post soonest that might seem more appropriate, but for the time being this is it…i am scrambling shooting these last two days of summer to capture what i can for the upcoming article on obx, so no time to do one now…weird but the beginning of yesterday i was in heavy heavy winds and rain and by the afternoon , it was a beautiful summer day and the surf was clean with light offshore to shape the waves and as big as a sand break wave can be and still be ridden…damn dude, i been wearing sandals for weeks, but reality will hit me soon enough…in the meantime, i am off to shoot….end of season lifeguard party will close out my day….

    JASON..

    you coming down here? winter best at this point i think…you can help in the darkroom?? i am slammed all fall

  91. David – Time is short right now – My girlfriend and I are great darkroomers. I’m excellent at printing and setting stuff up – Kayla is great at mixing and processing film. do you have an Idea what month would be best? Do you have big plans for upcoming assignments?

  92. a civilian-mass audience

    CHARLES…oime…is that really YOU…our CHARLES…FELIX’S dadda…
    BRAVO…hmm…you ALL BURNIANS look good…

    I better check my diet…I will need MICHELE’S magic diet or spiritual guidance
    oime…
    HUGS and cheerios…oups…can at least have some cheerios…:)))

    AKAKY…you street photographer !!!

    JASON…the DARKroomer…!!!

    LOVE TO ALLLLLLLLLLLLL

  93. a civilian-mass audience

    Tomorrow more airplanes for me…

    I am trying to follow EARL …let’s see…BUT I am not a photographer
    so don’t expect any visual…
    and remember…whatever happens in BURN…doesn’t stay in BURN
    therefore enjoy your weekend…Happy holiday for the N.Americans…
    I will be transmitting from Grecolandia…pretty soon

    LOVE YOU ALLL…LOVE YOU ALLL…keep shooting

    I will be back:))) cause BURN is the place to be…What not to BURN!!!

  94. AUDREY…

    thanks for showing us the pictures from Perpignan …sorry i missed all the fun with you and all….your work looks terrific in Burn 01 and i am sure your parents are very proud of you as are we all… this family work will increase in value for you as time passes…

    hugs, david

  95. Audrey, congratulations for Perpignan! I hope you got your own copy of Burn 01 signed by those fellow photographer-luminaries. How does it feel to be a luminary?

    Mike.

  96. Audrey

    Congratulations and thanks for the photos.

    DAH, when will we be able to order a copy?

    Hurricane Earl update, one dead and 150,000 without power after Earl smacks Canada’s maritime provinces.

  97. DAVID :))

    so relieved to hear all is well….i was like a worried mother when sitting in the Halifax airport on Thursday when returning to Toronto….and now i must contact those who entered our lives in Cape Breton as they were rocked pretty hard…..both M and i sent you emails….so relieved to know you skirted the worst of it….the irony of hurricanes, having weather a few in my life in florida and having ‘swum’ through 2 direct hits, the irony is that the light after the storm is gone is transcendent….and, in truth, the dessert after the madness….a shame, it requires such a devastating first course…happy you, the kittens, your sons and their partners and chris b and everyone else is well and safe if a bit sloggy….that is a profound relief for all of us, indeed….

    and big congrats on Burn01….cant wait to see the copy :))))….ok, will be away from computer….the trip was transformative, especially photographically….and will show you something from it soonest….startling ;))

    AUDREY :)))

    thanks so much for the links :)))))…..that’s a terrific copy…how did that copy get there in front of Klein? ;))))))

    hugs
    running
    b

  98. AUDREY,

    Thank you for your reporting from Perpignan… I missed not being there but at least, I shall have my own copy of Burn 01 very very soon now…. I can tell that after making your parents famous, you are on a mission to make my own parents have their moment of fame :):)…

    Cheers,

    Eric

  99. Audrey,

    Thank you very much for your kindness.
    Burn01 looks very nice copy!
    I expect to get it soon… I wonder where caould i buy it.

    Have a good time in Perpignan. :))

  100. PAUL TREACY–

    thanks so much for the link to that hilarious yet heartbreaking mockumentary.
    within minutes of posting it on facebook i have a street daughter in tears (she had no idea) vowing never
    to use plastic again (i know, we’ll see..) and an oceanography teacher/friend who is going to have her
    students do a research project on it to raise awareness.

    may awareness bring change!

  101. Katia,

    The work of Chris Jordan has been mentioned before here on Burn, but in case you haven’t seen his series on the birds of Midway Island that have died ingesting waste, here’s a link:

    http://chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000313%2018×24

    I work for a paper & plastics recycling company, and see a lot of challenges first-hand. Burnians, please make sure that your items to be recycled are separated properly and are rinsed and empty. The less man-hours that are involved in sorting materials, and the less contaminated those materials are, the more valuable they will be to industry. I can’t quote specific figures, only anecdotally – most, if not all, municipal recycling programs would not exist without the support of taxes and grants. In order to make these programs self-sustaining or even profitable, they have to be able to compete with the pricing for raw materials. I hope that we are close to that tipping point…

  102. Audrey, (as many have already said) thank you for sharing your photos from Perpignan! You are a most excellent ambassador for Burn! :-)

  103. Ladies and gents it’s an honor for me to announce that I’m sitting in Venice beach having a beer with mr. Luis Ochoa.. cool guy… Shooting.. Right next to me as we speak:)

  104. David,

    Thank you very much for your comments about the Burn01.
    My many Korean freinds of photography want to buy the book, too.
    So i will order that book together.

    I heard your foot was hurt..
    Please be careful and don’t to walk too much…hope to get well soon.

    hugs,
    Kyunghee Lee

  105. I wasn’t alone, my apologies and thanks a lot to Laura, Jean, Patricio, Diego, Jean-Michel… Everyone who joined us for the photos…

    Bob, I don’t know… :=))))

    Eric, c’était un plaisir de rencontrer tes parents, ils sont adorables, tu es très chanceux ;=)

  106. JIM…ROSS…PANOS..ALL

    within the next few days we will have a paypal button right here for the purchase of Burn 01…it has not officially launched so to speak and i will do an appropriate post when it is totally available for all who wish to own it…….Diego Orlando of course did take some advance copies to Perpignan so we could see the reaction from the international photo community…… we are going to bring half the copies to the U.S. for distribution here and the remainder to be shipped out of Italy…the work for shipping, the sales tax structure for various countries etc is a formidable task for all of us, so please be patient…worth the wait….

    cheers, david

  107. Is there a list of photographers who made it into Burn 01??? or was everyone in the book notified??

    I have tried to ask this question over the past months and have gotten no response. Just figured either no one knew or David and Anton kept missing my posts.

    Thanks, Valery

  108. VALERY…

    yes, i missed this question….sorry…however , i did post once that all photographers who were in BURN 01 were notified because they had to re-size their work for hi res reproduction…sorry you missed this…and it is all essays which were published in Burn this time around..no singles…BURN 02 may have a whole section of singles…each edition will be different from the other both in content style and physicality and design of the book/magazine itself…i promise you that you will want to try for 02 or 03….even the big name iconic photographers are trying to get in…but, they are in the minority from my point of view…BURN will continue to feature the younger evolving revolving emerging i wanna make it eager talented photographers….

    cheers, david

  109. Anton, I have just received my copy of 893 magazine and I just want to say congratulations and thank you to you, your brother Malik and Taka-san for taking me inside a society that I would not otherwise have been able to visit. Wonderful photography, Anton, I love the layout of the magazine and the quality of the magazine (Lulu) is superb. I’m really impressed and I want the book!

    As some of you may know, Anton is closing orders for the book on Sept. 8th – so do yourself a favour and order one now!

    http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/893-magazine-%231/10894184

    Anton has said that he will sign and return any copies that are sent to him: I’ll include a few euros with my copy for the postage, Anton. Thanks again and keep “playing it wide”.

    Mike.

  110. I’ve just re-registered with the tax authorities here. It took longer than I hoped it would despite all my yapping. No more stay-at-home-daddying. I need to make a showreel this week. Have any of you got a drop dead stunning showreel? Know of any? Let’s see some show reels. Please post some links here. I’ll post mine when it’s done. A showreel for Burn 01 would be cool.

  111. Burn 01? 02 03??? I’m missing something here! I’ve been away too long!!!
    Will someone please help me catch up? Where do I find info about this? is it print or an online mag??

    David – How do I submit??

  112. BURN 01 … it would be awesome if it was ahipable to india too ….. whom shall i bribe to …to get avail of this facility …..lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  113. VALERY…

    i know you did…and i thank you…and i plan two publish at least two…i have not been able to work with the new singles lately just because of my own natgeo shooting schedule which i am sure you can appreciate takes most of my time these days..as soon as i slow down a bit with my own work, i will get back to yours pronto….smiling…

    cheers, david

  114. JASON…

    you just got a D- for the class….now please go back and do your homework…who doesn’t know about BURN 01??

    however, i will also do a new post in a few days…for new readers who have no idea…the old ones, like you and a former student to boot, should know what is going on….smiling….yes, we will set up the darkroom …

    cheers, david

  115. BOB…

    welcome home…welcome back….your text piece for Burn 01 is solid…that one piece is going to be around for awhile…too late to fix it…hope you like it…i do

    cheers, david

  116. Vivek, just the other day I got Pablo Bartholomew’s ‘Outsidein’, shipped by photoink.com, India, without problems. I’m sure, shipping the other way around works as well!

  117. Bob, welcome home. While you were in Nova Scotia did you come across any photo stores that sell film? I’m heading out that way soon from the u.k. and I’m thinking about buying film on my arrival to miss the x-ray checks at the (3) airports.

    Best,

    Mike.

  118. DAVID :)))))

    wouldn’t change it for the world, ’cause it belongs to you, anton and everyone else at Burn :)))))….and it’s good to be home….good to be back here too….i’ve got so many damn emails and no desire to spend time at computer….and, you’ll laugh, but shooting intensely in NS was a transformative experience…..the light, the gorgeous, god-blessed light….i saw color, as a photographer, for the first time in 10 years….though i shot all b/w…on the last day, when i finally decided to shoot color, it was gray/overcast….now back, cant see color at all in Toronto…as a photographer…but, i’ve decided to put a hold on ‘nothing is black & white’ (that’s the long thing i’ve been working on for you, anton and BURN) and now, new thing, based on what i did in NS….won’t develop the film for 3 weeks (want it in my body before i see what i did)….a perfect antitode to all that stuff, ‘and our memories’, ‘bones of time’ ‘oxen of the sun’…all those intense faces and abstractions….and this one, all about space and emptyness and light, overwelming joy of light and landscape…so much to say, but want this to be a surprise….more later….M and i are so happy you guys made it and very excited about BURN01 and all everyone :))))….more after this week, must get adjusted to seeing/talking to people again…and yes, i finished volume 1 of Proust…and shot a shit of film and made sure my wife and son got lots of love and joy :))))…maybe we’ll move to obx to escape cities…i much more productive away from computer life :))))….hugs

    Mike :)))…

    well, i’ll tell you that Nova Scotia is extraordinary….we spent our whole time on Cape Breton….and the land is as gorgeous as n.california and western ireland….awe inspiring….actually, much of it looks too like scotland and e.england….i hand-checked all my film going into NS….didnt buy anything there as we were staying in small small fishing villages…..my favorite was Neil’s Harbour…i have a great B&B recommendation if you need it…great place to watch the ocean lick hungrily upon the land….and great folk too….cabot trail indescribable…..which part are you going….i was disappointed with Halifax, but by then, i cared only about land, light, sky and sea….but, i am CERTAIN you can buy film in Halifax as there are 8 colleges and 2 fine art schools….

    look here:

    try atlantic photo supply: http://www.atlanticphotosupply.com/

    let me know if you want any tips for places to stay :))))

    we loved Margaree too :)))…and the beach below R. Frank’s house :)))))

    cheers
    bob

  119. Wow Thanks David! good to know though….. and please I understand about your work, I am amazed at how you find time for everything you do as it is. Thank you again and again for all you do. I look forward to seeing more of your new work as well.

    Ciao, Valery

  120. Mike R

    When in Halifax check out the viewpoint photo gallery viewpoint@viewpointgallery.ca

    Bob B

    Welcome back.
    I’ve gone to Nova Scotia many times over the past few years for a wooden flute festival in Lunenburg. In 2006 Martha joined me, and after the festival we spent an amazing month touring, including a lot of time in Cape Breton, where Martha had lived for a few years back in the seventies. A magical place indeed.

  121. To succeed one must fail. The most successful have often failed many times over – look at Edison and his light bulb!

    David Should we set up a date for me to come visit? December? January? I’ll have to get your address too…

    I look forward to Burn 01!

  122. Thanks Bob and Gordon, my wife and I are visiting relatives in Halifax (so I’ll check out the viewpoint gallery)and have a trip to Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail planned. We are going with friends, so they know accommodation, thanks. I’m also going to go to Prince Edward Island. I’ll telephone Atlantic Photo Supply (I was going to order from B&H, NYC but shipping is more expensive than the film!). We visit Scotland regularly an I envisage a similar landscape – only bigger!

    Thanks again to both of you.

    Mike.

  123. JASON…

    honestly it is very difficult for me to set an actual date…i am going to be shooting almost all the time either OBX or RIO right up until Christmas….right now, january or after does seem to make the most sense…we will have to jockey around with our respective schedules to get it right…

    BOB..GORDON…MIKE R

    yes, Cape Breton quite nice…my first serious early color tranny work (Kodachrome) was done on Cape Breton when i was a teenager…would like to return someday….must have been late summer or early fall when i was there, and all of my work seems to have been in the fog…coast, boats…loved it.

    VIVEK…

    India is indeed on our distribution map, but probably expensive shipping i am imagining…our biggest problem with Burn 01 from a purchaser standpoint is shipping costs…since we are such a small operation we cannot get the super low cost shipping rates that Amazon and others are able to negotiate because of their high volume…anyway, one way or another, we will be sure to have a copy for you….why not just come and pick it up?? surely you have recovered by now from your last trip to the Burn Hotel and are ready for more…we have our loft class getting ready to start on the 17th…i know you must want to join us don’t you?? try to imagine…

    PAUL TREACY..

    yes, a show reel spot here on Burn would be cool…i am just not sure how many we would have…but certainly as time went on we would pick up some…you wanna be our show reel editor?

    cheers, david

  124. Audrey,
    thanks so much for the pictures. And big, HUGE congrats to you!
    Looking forward to meeting you in Paris in November.
    Hugs,
    L

  125. ….even the big name iconic photographers are trying to get in…but, they are in the minority from my point of view…BURN will continue to feature the younger evolving revolving emerging i wanna make it eager talented photographers….
    ——————————–

    And all we have to do is…. Shoot naturally! :-))) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BCxFWqQuJ0

  126. Lassal,
    thank you for your video.
    I can understand David obsession very well
    And he was perfect with the golden bag :)))))

    Eva,
    contact me at the email you find in the website.
    I only have one copy but you must have a look at it
    Don’t worry about being busy :))

  127. LAURA…LASSAL…

    yea, i liked the gold bag…well, you know all this bit about bags is actually at its root a practical thing…i mean the one thing with me all the time, everyday, everywhere, is my backpack or camera bag containing all my credit cards, passport, and camera gear…and of course it is either too small to carry what i need that day or too large to carry one camera and lens or not waterproof or looks too nice and says “steal me” or not nice enough or……whatever. in reality i use about 2 or 3 different bags…but i test many…for one thing some companies have sent me too many bags to test etc…one of our readers here wants me to design a Burnbag….you know our logo and the whole bit…well, maybe

  128. DAVID,

    let this be two users asking you for a burn photographer’s bag. :)
    The “burn” logo small and as understatement to fight the “steal me” effect.
    And many small pockets to store all the nitty gritty …

    ummmm, please.

  129. THOMAS…

    ah yes,but this is the problem with bag design or even bag choice…everybody wants something different…or at least everyone’s priorities are different..i would put light weight and water resistant at the top and others would put camera padding and many pockets at the top of their list..and everything is a compromise….by the way, the longer the list of “must have”, the heavier the bag… and on and on and on….

  130. Burn logo below/inside the bag-flap. A total insider.
    Yeah … I’d consider taking one, too.

    thomas,
    check your skype … :)

    Laura
    the pink one was not too bad either. A little small perhaps. Hehe

  131. DAVID,

    I get the point – and always read here very prick-eared when you talk about bags :)
    Hm, what about a bag construction kit. – No Joke. A bag which allows to attach smaller bags outside. A modular approach. Mainly a waterproof messenger bag, light and stable.

    LASSAL,

    yes thanks .. let’s skype about it, very very interesting.

  132. Hi everybody. I’ve just came back from Visa 2010, so I want to share with this huge community some stuff:

    I’ve met some burnians, and we shared in avant premiere the Burn 01 Mag (I’d rather call a book instead of a magazine… almost 300 pages, and heavy) I like “brick” books :-)
    Print are awesome, with high quality, paper is smooth and nice.
    Great job to everyone who has participated, starting from DAH, Anton, the photogs inside, etc, etc,

    There were some stuffs that blow my mind out:

    0.Burn 01 Magazine!

    1.MediaStorm is rocking everywhere.
    I can’t believe what human being can do with a computer!!!
    Pictures, sound, video, multimedia (obviously there are some technician behind), but amazing things, and also the idea that Brian Storm has in mind: Just spread the multimedia piece by social networks, you can post the code in your facebook account or in your web site. NOT the LINK, the whole project!!!

    2.Michael Nichols was happy like a kid with a Christmas toy, staring in front of “his” printed tree of 18 meters high! A picture of 18 meters printed and hanging in the wall of an ancient church!! He explained how he made it with help of technicians, climbers, computers, remote control, bla bla, yes tech stuff.
    120hours of stiching every picture together… but awesome result!
    He would be laughing looking at the picture inside NatGeo issue hundred times smaller…

    DAH, hope to see Burn 02 at VISA 2011, with a huge projection, conference, discussion with some burnians folks around :-)

    Sorry about my english grammar…

    Love you all!! (Civi, let me use you Copyright)
    Gotta go… TMAX waiting to be developed…this evening!

    Patricio

  133. Speaking of bags, I always loved my Freitag bag.
    Understated (if you want), simple, functional, heavy duty, water resistant, expandable and recycled. And it never screams “steal me”.
    Ok, it’s not really cheap but nobody’s perfect.

  134. Hilarious video! Can’t wait to show my wife that I’m not so bad after all (not even close!).

    I’ve settled on the Billinghams for shoulder bags. Not cheap, but nothing compared to women’s handbags.

    Backpack I’ve yet to find one that I really like that isn’t too small, too big, etc etc….

  135. Im still using the Domke bag that David gave me. Had to hack up an old Nikon bag to use as a liner/padding and its stuffed full of silica bags to soak up the moisture that the canvas picks up….and the pockets kinda suck from a security point of view…but a nice bag none the less. holds two small bodies with (small) lenses and a bunch of film…what more do you need?

  136. I will get that extra padding for the shoulder strap, though. The seatbelt-strap is a little tough on my shoulder when I have much to carry.

  137. For me the thing about bags is that you can look at them on a website, even examine them in a store, but until you really start to use a bag day to day, you don’t know how good it is.

    I’ve got bags where they look good, seem very practical, etc, but then you load them up and start carrying them around and you realise that the strap is uncomfortable on your shoulder (just doesn’t sit right), or the shape of the bag does not fit well against your body, and much more. And that’s not just camera bags, all bags only reveal how good they are when really used on the street daily.

    Like Charles, for camera bags, I’ve settled with Billingham. I’ve got a 5-6 year old Hadley (Original model) that’s just about perfect. Fits two M6s (in Lowepro little shoulder pouches), light meter and a days worth of film, note book etc. It is not the lightest bag, but it is small. For some reason Billingham have discontinued this model of the Hadley, the others they make are a bit smaller or larger.

    For a daily bag (not for photography), I’ve recently bought a Manhattan Portage shoulder bag. Again it’s a small bag, just big enough for a magazine or two, a note book, ipod etc. It was well priced. Is light, and seems well made so far and it carries well. It just doubled up as a camera bag during a week in France and it worked very well. I remember when this brand of bag was the one to be seen carrying in London, but not anymore.

    But for me, when photographing, the best bag is no bag at all. I find a bag just gets in the way. What I find even more important and useful than a bag is my dark green Beretta shooting vest.

  138. My main problem is that I use two cameras on sniper straps, so when they are slung and i am shooting the bag just gets in the way, snarling up the straps. Also I have to sling the thing behind me and with the crummy pockets on the domke it is a pickpockets dream. So all my valubles have to be stashed on me and just leave a bunch of film in the domke.

  139. MIKE, GORDON, DAVID :)))

    yes, we stayed on Cape Breton the entire time…i think we all lost our hearts there….what killed me, besides the extraordinary landscapes (and i’ve lived/seen a lot in california, ireland, scotland, mediterrean, etc) and the people, was the extraordinary light….i was stunned, really stunned…i used to love the winter light in Florida when i lived there when i switched from painting to photography, but the clarity and physical swelling of the light, it’s clarity in both the morning and evening just floored me….i kept thinking about what Trent P talks about when he shoots….and Mike, for sure, Cape Breton is amazing…as is all of NS….actually, as nice as Halifax is, i was spoiled by our hibernation on Breton…..and if you do need anything at all, send me an email: bluewordsme2@gmail.com …..i’m slow on the computer these days, but i will answer…

    Gordon: she must be a keeper, your wife, indeed :)))

    DAVID :)))….funny, but guess what, i even started to think about shooting in color…that light and all the color of the sea and the houses and the boats….even in florida, i didn’t perceive color that way…and if i can figure out how to get to light that consistent again, i ditch monochrome….i mean, how can a painter live forever shooting b/w…i dont know, and as you and anton know, i’m growing tired of b/w….but i totally see your kodachrome there….funny, i even thought of your picture of the older couple from the chesapeake (in their dining room) a few times on this trip….Harvey could make that place sing like Cuba/Mexico/Brazil ;))))…….fingers crossed to see what my b/w will look like, buyt god damn, do i now hunger for color…..and i cant get the light here in TO

    hugs all
    running
    b

  140. I’ve never owned a true “camera bag”, along the likes of Domke, et al; but I have been enjoying my latest acquisition for $3.99 USD:

    http://www.thatsourbag.com/browse.cfm/4,3145.html

    I picked up one of these at a local discount shop. It is water-proof/resistant, but has no padding to speak of – it does seem perfect for cycling with a rangefinder & a few rolls of film, though.

  141. I’d never used proper camera bags before but since my lens broke I’ve bought a crumpler…just so i know it’s alltogether and nicely protected.
    Up til now they’ve been slung in whatever large bag i’m using wrapped in a hat.
    I can’t find the perfect bag…i need lots of pockets, top opening, room for a cardi and book and all the junk i carry around as well as cameras film etc. and i want to like it.
    watching david’s video made me laugh…it’s just a never ending search :)

  142. by the way, the longer the list of “must have”, the heavier the bag… and on and on and on….
    —————————————————–

    btw, i love heavy bags..
    (tip: better look at them than carry them)

  143. DAVID/ANTON/ALL:

    just a quick note to say that Guido gazzilli beautiful new essay does not show up on the first page…and it’d be a shame for people to miss this beautiful, imaginative and thoughtful work and makes a compelling argument about the need for creative thinking within the context of historical work….maybe there was some kind of wordpress problem that didn’t put it on the front page: all, have a look :))

    GORDON :)))..great and thanks for making my day…i miss so much that rugged coast already :)))))

    runni9ng

    b

  144. PATRICIO…

    thanks for the Perpignan report….yes i think next year we will be in France for both the Arles festival and Perpignan…we just could not make it this time around…Anton in Japan and me shooting outer banks…besides i actually think it was good that i was not there….interesting what you say about MediaStorm…Brian has been the leader for a long time in the multi media business…he is a businessman and it shows….he worked for Bill Gates first…..i think we should either subcontract Brian for some tech stuff or do some mutual activities…anyway, we will see…

    JUSTIN P….CHARLES…

    yes, i love the Billingham Hadley too…that is after it gets beat up a bit….brand new it does say steal me doesn’t it?….but that bag is waterproof (thanks to it being a UK bag) and easy access etc etc…that bag (actually the similar Brady bag) was THE war photographer bag for the entire Vietnam war and THE photojournalists bag for many years after before Domke came along and sort of took over that role as “use this and look like a pj pro”…both of them, Billingham and Domke , now a bit out of fashion with the younger generation probably for that reason…too popular with the previous generation…for the time being on the “not cool” list…they shall return soon i promise!!!

  145. DAVID

    Yes, the Hadley needs to be beat up a bit to feel right, and look right too I guess. Perhaps it is a “steal me” bag when looking new, but it also looks like you’ve borrowed it from your grandfather, doesn’t it?

    Interesting thing for me is that I have never been identified as a photographer while carrying the bag, but I have been asked about my fishing on more than one occasion!

  146. DAH, JUSTIN,

    I have my Billinghams in all black. Definitely takes away the grandpa fly fishing factor and they tend to disappear more.

    Yeah, the thing about shoulder bags is wanting to keep them small as possible for walking around all day, but then what does one do with that rain jacket, water bottle, maps, bananas, half eaten sandwich, that knick-knack you just had to have, and so on. I would like to design a bag that has expandable flaps on the pockets, is stylish (but doesn’t read steal me or camera bag), protects your gear well (dividers that change size as well) while allowing room for all that other crap. And can maybe be both comfortably a backpack and/or messenger/shoulder bag style!

    Maybe we need a bag design roundtable!

    CP

  147. Loengrad piece a must read. Thanks DAH! I am going to use bits of that for my future rock photo camps, the parts about what makes a photograph interesting.

    Now if only all those young buck picture editors/creatives out there would read this….

  148. Katia; “you New Yorkers are damn lucky buggers!” You Northern Hemisphere-ites (is that a word?) are lucky buggers! :-)

    Audrey’s Burn and Facebook updates were really appreciated by those of us who live a long way from Visa. Thanks Audrey! :-)

  149. Following on from the editing discussion a while back; I was just looking through some pics I took on Monday night and was wondering what people do after shooting. Do you look at your pics right away, or not for ages (if able)? I know David has often said he doesn’t like to look at his pics while in the midst of shooting a project.

    I’m sort of the opposite. I like to check mine the next day and see where I’ve gone wrong, or right; or what whether an idea didn’t work, but has potential etc. I don’t edit hard for quite a while though. Even then I’m pretty hopeless at editing “similar” images sometimes.

    Maybe it’s my inexperience at shooting “people” (about 3-4 years) but I find looking back at what I shoot doesn’t make me think “I’ve got it, move on” but “I can improve on that” I find that it inspires me to push harder. But again; that’s probably my inexperience coming to the fore?

    But then again I remember reading Bill Allard saying the instant feedback he got while shooting a Polaroid assignment helped him. And he was certainly not inexperienced! :-)

    It’s probably a horses for courses thing, but I’d be interested to hear what others do after shooting!

    Cheers :-)

  150. Ross

    I tend to view, and edit immediatly.

    Perhaps this is not a good idea. However, I find if I do not do it right away, I sometimes never get to it at all. I’m speaking of personal photos.
    In my working life, I’m a portrait photographer. When I finish a shoot, I upload, edit, archive immediatly. There is no other practical way.

    I cannot imagine waiting. It is one of the wonderful aspects of the digital revolution. Immediate feedback.
    In the film days we used polaroid for instant feedback. Now we have instant feedback, with tech data, all the time. This instant feedback has changed the way we make photographs, for the better. No longer do we have to play it safe. We can experiment to our hearts delight. Magic.

  151. “In my working life, I’m a portrait photographer. When I finish a shoot, I upload, edit, archive immediatly. There is no other practical way”

    Me too with magazine work. :-)

  152. Ross

    Just clicked your name and checked out your latest.
    I’ve always loved your “kids are alright” stuff, and love the sentiment. I spend too much time feeling negative about my own twenty something kids. Gotta say, the big copyright and Ross Nolly thing splashed accross the pics kinda spoils the experience.
    I do understand, but maybe you could tone it down?

    Anyway, love the stuff.

    Cheers

  153. Gordon; That’s only a temporary link and those copyright symbols are big because they were big because they were the images I have on the Facebook site. But you’re right I’ll change them this weekend.:-)

    Some other work in the galleries here. http://www.lightstalkers.org/ross-nolly

    I was just about to have my new website go live when I decided to pull everything (my mate who is designing my site was SO happy… buit is an artist and understood) except some Timor work and the kids project. Basically I’m wiping everything I’ve shot before and starting from scratch this year. I only want the style of work I want to do in the future to be on the site. That’s why I am trying to spend the next 12 months shooting project work if possible.

    Speaking of youth, I meet a ton of great kids when I’m out and about. But you may know we had a big earthquake on Saturday (same size as the Haiiti quake) that’s estimated to have done 4 billion dollars worth of damage to Christchurch (and surrounding areas) with big aftershocks still causing damage. Well, the local university students put up a Facebook page to offer their services helping with the clean-up. They were already on holiday anyway and by today over 300 students have registered and turned up with shovels etc to lend a hand.

    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111867635538916

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10671624

    I listened to one old chap crying as he told a radio reporter that a bunch of students had done in t hours what was going to take him 2 months to shift. A nice positive “youth” story.

    There has been a lot of flooding too, as the earthquake was so strong that it pushed the groundwater and silt up through the ground, amazing. Luckily no deaths, mostly due to luck, and buildings etc being built to earthquake standards.

  154. “If you’re located in the New York area, there’s a free workshop with VII’s Antonin Kratochvil. 15 photographers will be
    selected to participate in this 2-day workshop which will be held at the
    VII Gallery from September 20-21, 2010. To apply, simply send a link to
    your portfolio to submissions@viiphoto.com and tell us a little about
    yourself. Deadline is September 13 at 6pm!”

  155. iphone people: UPDATE your phone to 4.1

    I did yesterday, and lo and behold 30 voice messages from the last few weeks showed up..including 4 important photo related / 2 about new jobs…

    a little miffed

  156. Lassal, you’re absolutely right. No mater what I did or how many takes I made, I just couldn’t hide my big feet.

    THE GO-CART PROJECT

    Ross, I’ve yet again got a lot of catching up reading to do but were you affected by the quake? Hope all’s alright with you.

    Paulyman.

  157. If it’s 4G don’t do it.. It will cut your phone speed down a good 30% dye to multitasking feature..
    But if u have a 4g the newest version go to firmware 4.0.2 and go to the fast lane..
    Apple tricks again.. Marketing? Faults? Hmm, I thing fo sho , I will never find out..

  158. If it’s 3G I meant to say (don’t do it)..
    If it’s the latest 4G is fine to upgrade..
    Some hackers out there know how to downgrade the firmware
    to 3.0 to reclaim speed on the phones..it’s all over the web..

  159. Once again the new user/buyer is benefited on the expense of the older/loyal customer..
    Microsoft loves doing this too.. You wanted to upgrade and then not even the mouse was compatible anymore ..

  160. Erica;)
    It’s not your phones firmware that prevented u from getting all this calls.. It’s your carrier .. If it’s AT&T then jailbreak the phone and get another provider or even Pay As You Go features with Data that rolls over ever month!!;)
    But one thing else u need to do is try to remember to turn phone on and off at least twice a day.. That affects performance tremendously..:)

  161. I’m just glad I use a BlackBerry. It does exactly what it says on the box. Day in, day out. Without fail. And though its screen is smaller than an iPhone’s, videos look and sound fantastic on it.

    Panos, I shot The Go-Cart Project with an Olympus E-PL1 with Nikon prime lenses. I cut it in iMovie.

    Have been considering Final Cut for quite some time but after I figured out synching my video and audio files in GarageBand first, then saving at full quality (leaving the video file untouched) before bringing the updated files into iMovie 09, I don’t see the point at the moment. iMovie does everything I need it too and exports gorgeous movies.

    Granted I don’t get colour grading facilities anything like as powerful as the substantially more expensive Final Cut programs but I couldn’t care less really. Not at this stage. Funds are tight and hardware is the priority for now.

    And as for titles, well I think I’ll likely prep them in Photoshop and animate them instead, maybe using QuickTime Pro or even Flash. Not done this yet but it could be a good way to produce quality titles the likes of which would only otherwise be possible in Final Cut Pro or some such.

    Thanks.

  162. PAUL TREACY..

    cool…for one thing, the cart i would have dreamed of as a kid…nice….

    PANOS…

    ok, beautiful afternoon in new york…flew in this morn and went straight to magnum meet gilden apt….finish and am heading home..about halfway across the williamsburg bridge in a taxi and i realize the last time i saw my apartment keys was when i handed them to you two months ago….dude.

  163. hehehe
    The appartment keys …

    Reminds me that Audrey and I never managed to see the Loft. We tried. But always no one with a key around :)

    But we met totally nice people while we were seating on the front door steps … We even almost got run over by some totally handsome woman who came out of the door side – the one we thought was closed and safe to sit in front – with a bike.

    It is one cool place. Even if you just make it to the front door steps :)
    http://dark.lassal.de/hidden/no-key-no-loft/

  164. AUDREY
    really? I do not remember you did one of me too … :)

    hmm …
    I fear I am not right brain dominant.
    Point is that I fear that it is the only side I have. :)

    Hopefully never anything important will be dependent on me remembering a name, date, order or something the like… I hope I will never be a key witness to anything. Because it will be a lost key.

  165. LEE…PANOS..BOB…LASSAL..AUDREY

    well, i hope you all know you are invited to join us next week in new york to make some kind of guest appearance at my loft class…if for no other reason than to bring at least one set of keys….there must be more sets of Burn Hotel keys out there than we can count…Davin and Aga have a set, Kathleen Fonseca (who i never met) has a set, David B. , John Gladdy ??, and Panos had a set…Lassal and Audrey and Lee, if they had a set, would be the most likely to have actually returned them….last night i did get lucky and mike was up here working, so all is ok and we can go to the key maker (again) for new keys…Bob, you are basically blameless on all of this but thanks for the picture…

    oh yea almost forgot, Burn 01 (first copy in my hands) went through the hands of Magnum members yesterday at our NY meeting…a “handsome volume” were the words from Bruce Davidson…and all were impressed……all want to get in it next time!! we have a hit for sure my friends….now, we just have to get finished the mechanics of distribution etc..no small task…vat tax tables from all countries is not something i want to think about..anyway we are having to think about it…patience…it is happening…peace

    cheers, david

  166. DAVID :)))))

    i’ll take a set for the Beachhouse in OBX ;))))))))….by the way, chris b’s story on Haiti is gorgeous :))….we would LOVE to come down next week…alas, as u know, just returned from Cape Breton and now cash poor but photo/writing rich and have lots of work to do (will send u cape breton story/essay when i develop/finish and a CBC essay deadline)….but, u in town in october/november?…we plan on coming down….we’ll be here for Magenta festival sometime in october (not sure when), as mrs. b and i will be having a dinner date with mr and mrs. soth…but, i can visit via skype, just let me know the days you want to chat….as for the keys, well…i’ll give u a pair of our place here and gladly take a loft set…or beachouse set (for dima) …

    and so happy for BURN01…cant wait to see it :))))….happy the buzz and word have been great for burn01…have heard some good words from Perp…if u get me 2 copies, i’ll give one to Alec in october…

    hugs, running

    b

  167. I’m not 100% sure, but there is no VAT for outside EU transactions.

    And if you find a set of keys in the Phnom Penh streets, they are probably mine and not DAH’s

  168. JOHN V :)))

    damn, THAT is what those keys were to i found spring cleaning and i thought they were Arantxa’s old set for Toronto pad….i’ll return your Phnom Penh keys hopefully in 2012…hope you can wait :)) (seeing you havent yet permanently set sail for Belium) :))

  169. “Burn 01 (first copy in my hands) went through the hands of Magnum members yesterday at our NY meeting…a “handsome volume” were the words from Bruce Davidson…and all were impressed”

    scary. good. scary good.

    ***********************

    DAH – You can make me a key valet if you like.

    Lassal – I love the tones in those photos.

    iphone – on/off – thanks!

  170. LASSAL,

    you were sitting in front of the door. You can say seated, it is not incorrect, but sitting is the word most people would use. And this being New York City, you were not sitting (or seated) in front of the door: you were sitting on the stoop.

    BOBB,

    tell me again about how Aranxa has the keys to your apartment and how Marina is cool with this. I love science fiction.

  171. Sitting on the stoop! :o)
    Thanks Akaky.

    So while Audrey and I were sitting on the stoop, we almost got run over by an angel’s bike. If that’s not NY, then what is?

    :)

  172. There’s an entire NYC tv show called Talk Stoop :) celebs come and sit on a NYC stoop and chat with the host. Stoop sitting is an important pastime here, and am glad you were able to partake (without injury by an angel).

  173. DAH

    Yes absolutely, Briam Storm is a beeziness guy above all, but engaged in photography, that’s pretty cool nowadays…

    TO ALL
    Here in Lyon, France, this week end and until next Friday, there will be “Photographic September”.
    This year the main subject is USA Today and After… so if someone is nearby, I think that could be interesting.
    Just as information: James Natchwey will give a lecture (among others) follow by a vernissage of his exhibition (humm, frenh wine and some warm small bakeries) at the Lyon Public Library on Sept 17th
    Below the schedule of the festival:

    http://www.9ph.fr/html/eng/accueil.htm

    Cheers,
    Pat

  174. DAH

    unfortunately there is no chance for me to come over now for a new round of stoop sitting :) But Dominik left today for NY. Pls remind him to pass on my hug to you.

    Hope you let the cats out of the darkroom before you left OBX … You did, did you not???

  175. Laura,

    just got an email from Audrey saying that Diego will also be there. So I am really looking forward to see all of you again. It has been too long!

    Hmmm … need to check if friends of mine are still living in Paris …

  176. Hi LASSAL, Uhmm I’m not planning to go to Paris, but… I never know. If I change my mind (and if I get a job quickly) I’ll tell you, and Audrey and Laura.
    Great time in Perpignan with both of them.

    Pat.

  177. LASSAL
    Oops, forgot to ask you:
    I’ve zoomed the picture with Audrey at the front door. Quick look at the names in the list of residents…Chris Anderson, Paolo Pellegrin, where is DAH? Three Magnum Photographers are neighbours?

    That’s pretty cool
    Pat

  178. well – i held a set of keys, yet never had a set of keys :o)

    keys.. keys.. keys.. what are they for?
    no one locks there door here..
    good, good.

    too busy.
    righto.
    off.
    david

    p.s. really want to see some photography celebrating life and cohesion.. consolidation and celebration..
    joy, goddamit, JOY.

  179. as an aside, and a tease, i’m doing something now which is contractually prohibited to even talk about..
    at all..
    not photography, although it’s a good ‘in’ to some snaps..
    not illegal, although some who sit at the head of the table could be ashamed..
    not difficult nor taxing, although the money is good.

    riddles riddles..
    if i can photo, i will show.

  180. Bought a 4×5 camera today and a plane ticket, neither of which I could really afford (but hey they were really good deals ;-)) and then a few hours later got a check in the mail for a submission I’d completely forgotten about. Fate or luck, I ask no questions, just smile.

    So I’ve never tried to travel with sheet film. Should be interesting, doing my research. Tips anyone? Mucho thanks.

  181. Question for the bunch: Know any professional photographers who have done American Indian work? Pow Wows?

  182. Lee
    Frostfrog does lots of Native American stuff, and our old buddy Jim Powers showed us some once.

    DAH, Anton, Just curious why the explicit warning appears on the last couple of essays?

  183. Tom hyde

    I used 4×5 a bunch in the olden days. Get a good dark bag for loading and un-loading film holders (if you can find one these days). Get an empty film box and mark it plainly EXPOSED and put your exposed film in it. Clean your film holders scrupulessly every time before loading. A vacuum with a brush head is good, but we were taught to use a 1 1/2 in bristle paintbrush to clean them. Remove the dark slides, open the bottoms, tap the sides of the holders with the side of the brush to dis-lodge dust under the guides, and brush the dust away.
    Have fun.

  184. Just curious why the explicit warning appears on the last couple of essays?

    I’ve never really gotten the explicit content warning. Seems to me implicit content is far more dangerous.

  185. Gordon, thanks … and hold emulsion down when loading … tap, tap :)) I’m most concerned about the airport security issues, i.e. xray and boxes that cannot be opened, enroute and return. I could buy film at my destination but still need to get it back home for processing. Obviously people do it though … googling … maybe I shouldn’t worry about low speed in the xray, still, worried, I’m good at that … googling …

  186. Lee – I have done some Pow Wow photography myself – I have a couple friends who are Indian and have done extensive work on the topic. I can try to put you in touch with them if you like. A bit of advice when working with American Indians – The first thing you should try to understand is their humor… And what Personal Sovereignty means from people to people.

  187. LEE GUTHRIE…

    well, now my feelings are really hurt and i thought you surely must have read my published work bio by now….. i did a major essay and cover story on Native American Powwows for Natgeo and published just prior to the time when you were my student in Santa Fe and with the cover shot from a powwow in….yup, Santa Fe …hmmmmm….my powwow photographs have also been in several photo anthologies…i spent over a year living and breathing the Native American powwows….not to mention the Inuit essay before from Alaska and Canada shot a few years before powwow, also a cover story……oh Lee, you know i am teasing you, but the above is fact…a quick search Magnum archives under my name and Native Americans will show you some….and of course if you need some suggestions etc. i will be pleased to help you….ahhh, if there is silence in the room, i can hear those drums now…once they are in your head, you cannot get them out….

    cheers, david

  188. Tom…

    If you’re using any variation of the zone system you’ll need at least three empty film boxes for the exposed film (n, n+1, n-1, etc…)

    Low speed film (up to 400 asa) exhibits minimal to no fogging even after many passing through x-ray airport machines… this is true for the machines used on the carryon items… the machines used on the checked in luggage are way stronger…

    Supposedly the cosmic radiation at high altitudes (even inside the cabin) is by far stronger than the airport x-rays… haven’t tested it though—not a frequent flyer… in any case you could use one of those lead-lined x-ray pouches…

    If you’re not going to be developing on your trip you won’t need a big changing bag with room for a tank, but then again the roomier the bag the easier things get… (I’ve being putting off getting one of those tent-like changing bags for a long time…)

    Have fun…

  189. YOUNG TOM…

    you should have no trouble traveling with any kind of film if it is on your person…….in the U.S. it has always been easy and continues to be even easier if you need the film eye inspection only…our TSA folks are bored to tears and if you ask them to kindly eye inspect your film they are more than happy to do it just for the change of pace…tougher in France and impossible in the UK where if you object too much, they will then xray it twice…most countries, most of the time, no problem for an eye/manual inspection of your film…if you have it organized in those nice zip bags , it makes it even better..the lead bags will not really work imo, because if they cannot see through it, they can turn up the xray dose until they can see through it thereby exposing your film…if they did not do that then anyone could put anything into those lead lined bags and slip it through security….

    HERVE…

    oh my..so sorry…yes yes…

  190. I will look at your work Jason. Thanks. My cousin who lives in the Cherokee Nation and is a member of the tribe as well as a Cherokee artist, is filling me in on information about the Cherokee. I myself am part Cherokee but never took the time to trace like he did. His mom (my aunt by marriage) had proof so it was easier for him.

    DAH. Blush. I will look.

    Spent two days out there at the pow wow and got a nice taste. I am putting the photos on the wall and trying to see what it is that is special there. My work with the whirling dervishes came in handy as I have it down for capturing the face and keeping the movement and not getting the crowd behind the dancers. It was an amazing weekend actually. Ok. I’m going to Magnum & Jason to check it out.

  191. DAH, I am beginning to remember that work with NatGeo now. What issue was that magazine. I can almost see the cover. Think it is of the dancer with a side view in full regalia.

    My cousin is John Lee Guthrie if anyone is interested in looking for his art. He is an amazing artist.

  192. TOM H :))

    hand-=check…..i always do…even though the effect to film 400 or lower from scanner is minimal to non-existent, i still hand-check…and as David says, MOST of the time, they’ll just say ok….i had all my film, including med format, hand-checked/swabbed, on my trip to cape breton….THE ONLY problem i’ve ever had (none in canada or the US) was when marina asked the security folk in Paris to hand-check/swab her film on her way to moscow…they absolutely refused because they said they didn’t have the time, and she insisted 2 times and then they bullied her…she put the film through the scanner and, when she developed the film in our kitchen 2 months later, all was ok….

    so, dont worry…besides, the marginal fogging that may/may not occur if you must have them scanned might make things more interesting….

    plus the added advantage: the security folk think you’re a serious photographer ;)))…this always cracks up my son :))

    congrats on the 4×5, sweet

    hugs
    b

  193. Tom, if you travel abroad a datasheet in English AND the foreign language you travel to might be helpful, to show them what you got in thoses boxes, while most security people recognise a rollfilm, sheet film is less common. No problem for handchecking in Italian airports, IF you check in early enough, had no problems in Budapest nor Istanbul either, no handchecking in Beijing for 400 asa film or slower, but they did handcheck 3200 asa film.

    If you put the film in lead bags tell them about it, don’t put it just through the scanner! And even with handcheck, the leadbags are usefull up in the air.

  194. LEE GUTHRIE…

    if you go to Magnum and search powwow with my name , you will see the cover shot..if you search native americans and my name, you will see some others also published in the story…cover was of a mother whose daughter had just danced and won and she is hugging the daughter…i just was able to take one shot …and no time to focus even…like i always say, if you see the moment , take the friggin picture…check your focus later!!! that ng cover proves my point..

    cheers, david

  195. EVA…

    yes, i had not thought about that, but the lead bags are useful in the air of course…they are of little or no use in the security line itself because they will either open them anyway or zap right through them, but flying ahhhh yes ….in any case, after years and years of having my film x-rayed, flown in cabins of airplanes for up to 40-50 hours of flying time etc, i never had a x-ray fog problem… at least not discernible ….of course i always shot very low asa films….never anything more than 64…sounds funny now , doesn’t it? i started shooting with asa 25, so a boost up to 64 seemed amazing!! and lots of low light stuff too…hmmm…fast leica lenses…steady at an eighth of a second..beer bottle tripods….like life before atm machines or iphones ..unimaginable

  196. DAVID/EVA :)))

    no time to go through all 437 ;)))….though i did go through 1-250 :))…..i’d kill to get asa 25, good-freakin’-god! :))))))….if i can find that, i’ll drop trix400 right NOW! :))…..

    by the way, David, listen, you really really need to do a book on the pictures of solitary children….i know you know i’ve written about this beautiful phenomenon before in your work: the solitary child as an extension of that beautiful, blond, brill-cream child with polio in Va, but some of the most iconic images in your archive…..

    pic 92 from eva’s 1st link (the fisherman’s son on the beach beneath the moon gotta be one of the finest and most sublime images of what each of us really is in this life, i know)…as well as the boy at the table with the vertical shadow’s, the boy in quatemala rolling the ring over the lake, boy in artclass…naked boy in australia sweeping, ballerina dancing on rooftop over brazil, the boy with tuna, the girl in cuba, the child in spain, the kid in vietnam, and on and on and on…..

    really david, when i finish my shit this year/before next summer, i’d like to come down to OBX and sit down with you and go over that archive and pic out those solitary pics….there’s beauty, hope, sadness, loss, redoubtable spirit in those pics….

    these solitary children form a singular contribution to the medium….

    trust me…

    i could see it as a big seller….

    i even have a title for you:

    “from this day forward” :))

  197. ALL, many, many thanks. Have heard/read horror stories, from Richard Attenborough (UK) to TV show Lost (US), about refusals to hand check and lost film footage. Never had a problem with rolls or canisters, can’t help being nervous about sheet. I’m flying in the U.S. and will stick with lower speed so, fingers crossed and relaxing a bit.

    BOB, yes, yes, random xray lomography :))

    Heading back home for a few days. As my Mom says, you can’t go home again but you better visit! :))

    DAVID, after a visit to Lexington I am swinging by the OBX for a few days. As I think I’ve told you the area holds many great memories for me. Been too long. Found a nice little historic B&B just down the road. If you are having a workshop with final slideshow on Oct. 15, then I would love to pop in, sit on the porch for a few. Know you are crazy busy but if you’re in town … Hoping Bickford is around too.

    Hmmm, you think Avalon pier would let me set up a camera, height of fishing season and all? I’ll pay extra ;))

  198. and if i finish my book, i’ll write an forward/essay….

    thing about it….i know you know how important that extraordinary list of magnificent photos of solitary children in your archive are….

    the problem is the edit, since there are so many truly iconic images of children….

    it will be a book about children that is not sentimental or kitschy or crass….not kids as cute/sweet, but children as developing/questioning/thoughtful/mad/broken/surprise human beings….

    running
    b

  199. Hey Bob, when you will be finished with David’s iconic Children book, drop by in San Francisco (or Thailand!), and help me with my own…. Thanks!

    :-)

  200. herve! :))))))))….

    would love to….just got back from vacation….time to talk…give me a week to get caught up with emails/work/shit :)))…..

    eva :))))….hunting now :)))))))

  201. BOB. 25 asa(B&W) is easy to get ADOX do it EFKE do it. If you cant get any over there give me a shout. I still have some 12asa sheet film in the freezer too. Kodak still do a 64 slide and of course theres velvia 50, which you can pull a stop if you wish.

    eva beat me to it.

  202. JOHN/EVA :))!

    damn, now i’m excited….i know about the velvia50, :))))…but, had never thought/heard/been exposed/dream of something like 25 asa or 12…jesus! :))))….

    .literally now off to run to Henry’s to ask about ADOX AND EFKE…wish me luck…

    y’all are the best! :))))

  203. YOUNG TOM…

    of course you are welcomed….this is perfect…8 ball challenge on the Avalon pier…or, yes, there is always fishing….see you in october…the hand made book making class awaits your presence…and perusal

    BOB…JOHN

    yes, Velvia 50 pulled a stop is sweet sweet…you keep the black (the reason for using it in the first place) but cut the contrast just a bit…nice

    Bob, i do not know if i have mentioned it here before, but one of my back burner projects was Daydreamer, a book about childhood …most specifically about from the time you leave your parents to adulthood…the loneliest of times , the most character building of times…this became a book dummy and was at one point scheduled along with Div Soul to be a book in the early nineties……even had a Daydreamer exhibit or two…..funny with similar but different pictures for the most part from what you have chosen, but yes along those lines….might bring this back to the surface…certainly in a retrospective work , it would be a chapter at least….you are only one of two people who have spotted this in my work (that i know of)….interesting….good call…definitely there to be manifested at some point

    funny even when i see a loose edit of my work , i think differently about it…i mostly try not to look at my own work, so spend very little time analyzing it…when i do look , as today only because of Eva and you, i realize that the tight editing of my work for magazines and for books is just part of the story…the loose wandering just take pictures person that i am does indeed show up and is different than the tight edit dah..more like your friend Giacomelli who took pictures of every damned thing for a myriad of “reasons” or no reason…whatever…one could create five different essays out of that work you showed as most can see…the vision the same all the way through even though subject matter changed…i know this is a third person vision of my own work, but as i said i rarely rarely look…my theory is live, shoot, react, shoot, live, shoot…and edit the day before you die…the perfect artists life….

    cheers, david

  204. Bob, now that’s something I want to see.. knowing your photography and the absence of grain of these films I’m curious how you’ll shake them up! Hope you find some!

  205. Bob; if you want a better price for Tri-X look at Freestyle’s “Arista Premium B&W 400 ISO”; it’s supposed to be re-badged Tri-X. Well it’s USA manufactured B&W, and Tri-X is the only one that is still made there. The consensus seems to be that it is Tri-X.

    Cheers:-)

  206. Eva.That you trying to sell me viagra??? :)

    The ebay stuff Expired 2007…and its the npz not the pro 800Z which is my favorite color neg of all time. I have 10 rolls left(in 35mm) and I guess RIO is as good a place as any to use them up.

  207. John, just checked.. have 20 rolls of the Pro 800Z here at home, expired 2007 too though, if you want it it’s yours..

  208. EVA…but if you can rustle up some type 55 that dont cost an arm and a leg i’ll buy a whole bunch of that. There’s nothing digital that’s ever going to touch that for feel. Best price I can get is £180 a pack.

  209. The odd thing is, I have a plugin for potato shop that will make my digi files look JUST LIKE 800Z, and the prints on good paper are truly gorgeous….but….im a fucking dinosaur :)))

  210. Arista Premium is Tri-X and Legacy Pro 400 is Fuji Neopan 400. I dont care if everyone involved swears up and down on stacks of Gone with the Wind that they aren’t; they are. I use the two all the time and I dont see a damn bit of difference between them and the brand names and neither does the guy that does my developing. It is what it is.

  211. John, it’s 20 rolls of 35mm and found 4 rolls of 120, also expired 2007. Shoot over your address.. off to bed now..

  212. and edit the day before you die
    ——————————–

    Or have someone do it after we die? I remember that discussion on RT about widows, or rather spouses or scions/devotee of great artists, and how it mattered who had the rights to a life’s work.

    Interesting point raised, David. When it comes to a body of work (say, childhood pictures, horses, a not so imprecise subject) What matters? how you see your work, or how Bob, or the public sees it? There is only one book to be with the same photos, after all.

  213. What I have noticed is that getting “close” to a “subject” for a long period of time , I become “one”, I become “it” for a while.. Like being an actor.. Voluntarily surrender our own identity , lose ourselves ..
    Did that started happening to u too? Anton?

  214. Hey Panos,

    I can understand what you are saying, and it has happened to me before on other projects and in real life…

    But not on this project… The Japanese culture is so different, and I do not speak the language at all, both which make it very hard for me to “surrender” myself or my identity. Also, I am never completely immersed for a long time because I travel up& down, and am rarely shooting for more than 2-3 weeks at a time, and have several projects on the go simultaneously.

    It’s a good point you make… I believe that what you describe, is the greatest danger of any long term project. To be honest, I don’t know if one should avoid the becoming “one” or not… but my gut feeling tells me to stay true to myself and my own (moral) compass… I believe by not being able to speak the language, and not immersing myself for long periods of time, is a way to safeguard myself against this happening…

    but then again, should I safeguard myself in the first place? It’s a very interesting question you ask.

    let me think more…

    hugs bro,
    a

  215. Panos, “Like being an actor.. Voluntarily surrender our own identity , lose ourselves ..” I’ve done it many times: a way of experiencing identities that may have been, or still may be, you. Good question Panos. Incidentally, I saw a t-shirt in a store a few days ago with the logo ‘Venice Beach, California” printed upon it – and I immediately thought of you!

    Anton may have been “saved” the experience by the language barrier. Anton, your respect for your subject shines through. Can’t wait for the book!

  216. There’s written essays in BURN 01?! Who’d be dumb enough to write something for a book full of photographs? I mean, really, some people are just too dumb to believe. No one’s going to pay any attention to the written stuff, so why bother writing something in the first place? You buy a photography book to look at the pictures, not read what some dope has to say about the pictures. Just think about it for a second: whoever wrote an essay for BURN 01 will have to wait for the Braille version to come out before someone comments on the writing, Laura being the exception that proves the rule here. For sheer pointlessness, writing something for Burn 01 is on a par with being the head of the music department at Gallaudet University or grafting poison ivy onto a lemon tree. You could do it, I suppose, but why would you want to?

  217. Panos

    “Voluntarily surrender our own identity”

    I think we do this all the time, even when socializing. We tend to adopt a persona, or perhaps more accuratly, find the piece of ourselves that resonates with those around us. I find myself doing this even when making a family portrait.
    There are occasions when we find ourselves outsiders, for whatever reason un-able to surrender. Antons situation must certainly be one of those occasions. I think what makes his series so powerful is the humanity he finds despite the barriers.

    I guess we all have a core identity, though I’m still not sure who I really am. I tend to become a different person depending who I am with. I do like who I am with some people more than others.

    Cheers

  218. Akaky, (Akaky IRL?) I read everything since I was a child (everything! Also ingredient on cookie’s box) and I’m used to be the exception that proves something :)
    Sometimes images don’t need words to go with but often a book (also a photographic book) increase with the right intro. Let’s talk about after BURN.01 will be distributed….

  219. akaky..;)))))

    ..well, at least your essay was A LOT shorter…and funnier than mine ;)))….

    7 people wrote me privately from Perp to say how much they loved BURN01 (i cant wait to see it), and not one of them (including 2 friends from france) mentioned that they’d read my essay ;)))))))))))))…..or mentioned it ;)))….

    let’s keep it a secret…..and i want tell mrs. hcb about jumping puddle ;s0))….

    and that’s totally fine with me….very happy to be a part, but i’ll force those folk to read the essays after they’ve been drinking, that’ll get them ;)))))))

    …I guess, i’m just like you dad :))))

    burn01 rocks! :)))

    hugs
    b

  220. I was going to post this under Guido Gazzilli’s essay, but don’t think that it was the right place, not sure if this is, not sure if there IS a right place at all, been thinking to just trash it.. but..:

    “This essay (Guido Gazzilli’s) has the power to draw me in, it puts me on the same level with the protagonist and the photographer both, I feel ‘IN’, not outside, not hope and helpless, close enough but with space to breath and space to respect and be respected.

    It might be simpler, more straightforward than the essay following this, the one by Andy Spyra. It might be less close from a photographic distance than Spyra’s, but it’s closer contentwise, much closer than the one preceeding it, the one by Gopesa Paquette, which to me is too distant.

    I have both content and context here. I’m not overrun by what might be autorship in terms of picture processing and manipulation, where no distinction is made by pictures describing pain and suffering and religious extasy and adoration, it looks all the same.

    I don’t think autorship is about a punch in the stomach. It goes further. I do hope for Andy Spyra, but mostly for the subjects of his photographic work, that he will be able to take it further.

    As for Bob’s remark under Andy Spyra’s Kashmir essay about still remembering that work after a week from now, not attaching it to a name but to content (“i think you’ll remember the pictures and the content quicker than the name…”), well, I have to say that ‘Andy Spyra’ was stamped loud and clear in my brain after coming out of the Geneva exhibition. Three distinct essays of the many displaced there are still resonating with me, after months.

    Marcus Bleasdale and Congo. Both the author and his work, beautifully crafted btw.

    Then a female photographer, I could not remember her name, but do remember the work and the topic, so what I took with me, what stayed after the exhibit was not the photographer, but her work alone, you can find the essay here:

    http://www.mariellafurrer.com/#/feature-stories/child-sexual-abuse/sexabuse_1020

    And the third was Andy Spyra. With no reference to Kashmir though. But with reference to his style. Whenever I would run into one of his (heavily) processed images (all over the net these past months between grants, awards and exhibits, as Lumix, Leica, Kodak, Anthropographia etc.) I’d remember the name, but, alas not the content/context of the work itself.

    I would not know that this says anything about photography, photographers and essays, authorship and style, I only can tell what it says about me, as one of the audience, as part of those whom the work is adressed to, who could and should react to it and in the best case not only consume the work, but also do something.

    When making photographs of struggle and pain, I think we must think further, the work can’t just end in itself, that would mean we use these people only for our own good.

    This is the point where I struggle with Andy Spyra’s work and all the talk about whatever (style, postprocessing, art and so on) but very very little about content.

    I am aware that this is my very personal take on it, as part of the (not mass)audience, as I’m not a photographer.”

  221. EVA…

    i do think you are struggling a little with what exactly is “content”…..and the endless art class discussion of content vs. form…please not that!! maybe we should have a whole discussion on this….if we were in the same room at the same time with both the Guido and the Andy stories up on the wall in prints and when from shot to shot and discussed “content”, then i think we could resolve some issues…maybe i do not know what you mean by content….what do you mean by content?? the “what” of the picture?? the keywords that could be referenced from it? not sure what you mean….

    by the way artists have been “using people for their own good” for centuries…you are in the middle of it Eva !!! at what point do you think a photographer trespasses and is only thinking about himself/herself and not the subject?? there is no answer for this one i am afraid….the altruistic nature of any human being can only be guessed…i think all of us as human beings are alternately selfish and giving..in which proportions and at which times and for which reasons are not easily discernible….

    i think if you watch carefully you will notice what i notice..that if a photographer has a vision or a really good eye or are really talented, they often get accused of being “not about the content”…that has been something i have noticed since my student days in university…in other words take the same content and have the talented photog take a look and the less talented take a look, and the less talented might be considered more content oriented…the most visual , who might have an amazing eye, will often be castigated for that great eye…i guess that is the way of the world all around isn’t it?

    however, i too love love the essay by Guido and most personally respect this more introspective and quieter look and feel…and i never meant to imply that a “punch in the stomach” was the only way to authorship…quite the contrary….i usually prefer a more subtle approach to people and to subject matter as you well know….it just happens that this is the way of Andy on this particular essay….it only came up as a topic under the Andy Spyra essay for whatever reasons….photographers are funny in this regard…if one compliments a story, then everyone thinks , ahh “this is what he likes” and then goes out and tries to emulate or reject or whatever…same with grants and contests…happens in my classes….however, the real authors, the real photographers, will not do that…they will see what is appreciated by whatever juror for whatever myriad of reasons, learn a bit, and then go do their own thing….i appreciate the Andy story and i appreciate the Guido story…for two different reasons…kinda like Italian wine appreciation if you get my drift….

  222. if one compliments a story, then everyone thinks , ahh “this is what he likes” and then goes out and tries to emulate or reject or whatever…

    Yea, that’s gotta suck. I can see why you are often suspicious of people’s motives.

    A discussion of content would be nice. Well, probably not nice, but certainly interesting and no doubt educational. It could possibly be an opportunity to revisit and expand on the discussion on being careful “what you become known for” which took place a few weeks ago. I’m sure that’s true, but it’s sad in its utter wrongness. I went to a show of Andy Warhol’s later works last weekend and there was a quote in which he bemoaned that phenomenon. Can’t remember it exactly and can’t find it with a quick google, but it was something along the lines of artists should be able to change their style anytime they want, that that was a good thing.

  223. MW…

    yes, a discussion of content will come…i just cannot do it now..by the way, i hope you are coming to the loft as well…the whole new york crown is invited of course….ok running see you next week i hope….

    cheers, david

  224. Valery just made my reservations for visiting NYC and I arrive the 24th. Will make sure I go by and see your work.

  225. VALERY…

    i will try to bring my class …and you must join us please at my loft for our big slide show and fiesta on the friday evening after your show…congratulations and i look forward to seeing you at Powerhouse…big week coming!!

    cbeers, david

  226. Thanks David and Lee.

    David…

    I look forward to seeing you as well at powerHouse and at your loft for the slide show, thanks. Busy two weeks for me, scrambling to print and frame everything!

  227. good morning David
    couldnt help noticing your twitter posts.. i hope flying helped you ditch your troubles.. is there anything we can do to help?
    -mike

  228. MIKE PETERS…

    smiling…thanks..all is good..my twitter was just reflecting normal everyday problems…nothing major, but appreciate your offer of help…the flight was amazing…and then an air to air shot later where i was shooting from a Cessna of the red biplane over the dunes etc…late light..kinda cliche actually , but fun to do…

    PETE..

    very interesting read and a bit disconcerting to say the least..i was reading fast and i may have missed something, but i never could figure out from this piece what Withers actually did…that is, what secrets or whatever he actually “uncovered” or reported that was not pretty common knowledge…after all he was not reporting on terrorists ready to strike….he was simply a black man in King’s circle…but since King was doing nothing wrong, what got reported??…still seems to me he had no more access to info than did many even though he was on the “inside”…or, did i miss it? still deplorable and a shock and now one more reason journalists cannot be trusted in the eyes of many

  229. content vs form
    —————————————-

    I think, as far as photography, it is mainly due to what the eye is ( or is not) seeing, then the brain kinda follows the eye, as it does with everything else that has to do with seeing (like a car rushing towards you, or your Mom seeing you after a long time). So, it is natural for the brain to react at first inquisitively, if not negatively, when something not too concrete appears on a frame. Moreover when that something is about documenting a place, one way or another. the eye sees no facts, the content is artistic, arghhhh!, so the brain needs to talk back to the eye. Or runs the chance to reject because it finds not much has been seen by the eye. Compounded by the fact that an emerging P. may not have a totally realized vision, and total artistry.

  230. DAVID

    “He later divulged details gleaned at King’s funeral in Atlanta, reporting that two Southern Christian Leadership Conference staffers blamed for an earlier Beale Street riot planned to return to Memphis “to resume … support of sanitation strike” — to stir up more trouble, as the FBI saw it.”

    “Much of his undercover work helped the FBI break up the Invaders, a Black Panther-styled militant group that became popular in disaffected black Memphis in the late 1960s and was feared by city leaders.”

    I don’t know how much damage he actually did, but it is pretty sad. I guess he really was an informant posing as a photojournalist. To be called a photojournalist implies you have ethics.

  231. but i never could figure out from this piece what Withers actually did…
    —————————-
    probably merely reporting to the FBI, keeping tabs. these agencies just love big files, the more the better. Plus, their M. O. is professional paranoia. Having the means to do so, big empires always tend to look a lot over their shoulders.

    KGB had some funny spies too in many countries, like french actors for ex. (Michel Simon) and we know that if they do not find what they need, they will make it up. all they need is a few easily manipulable pointers, or sputtering, if not smoking, guns… Like a devious photographer.

  232. PETE..

    still sounds like he was an informant without much information and nothing to give the FBI on any illegal activity…officials may have “feared” and were paranoid and racist, but nothing outside of basic civil rights (right to gather, right to free speech) was happening as far as i can figure…weird that he would betray his profession and his people for no real reason…is there any possibility that he knew the information he was giving was in fact non-information and therefore making the King folks and the Black Panthers more innocent rather than more guilty because the info was in fact nothing at all? well, i guess if you are on the payroll of the FBI you are on the payroll of the FBI..just trying to imagine what Withers might have been thinking that we are not thinking…and how do we know that Withers is not being set up NOW to make the black community look bad or feel there are always informants among them and discredit journalists simultaneous?? now that’s a paranoid thought!!

  233. DAH, of course I am coming. The reason for the whole trip. Plus see a couple friends and some art and this time, this time I am going to see the Statue of Liberty. Never have done that. See you then.

  234. Withers spied for the FBI while portraying an advocate photographer that marched with the folks he reported on? What a creep.

  235. JUSTIN…ALL

    thanks for this…congrats Anton, Carl, Matt…yes, very cool….and cool for all of us as well… Burn published and endorsed photographers get three out of the twelve awards…in the Editorial Category (documentary photography) , Burn photogs won three out of four…..this is only the beginning for all three of you…

  236. David:

    just quick, as I’ve been out all day with Fedora, hoping to get some context and interaction.. anyway, to answer your easiest question:

    “what do you mean by content??”

    Keep in mind that I have no formal art education, never taken a class.. so, to me content is the story told by the picture, the essay, told by what is IN the picture and a lot of time by what is left OUT of the picture. Form is.. a poem vs. an essay vs. a manual. All of them have content, their form is different. And since I’m ignorant of the matter, perhaps I’m worng with this, but I don’t think it’s a content vs. form thing, as form always has some kind of content, and the same the other way around.

    Ok, gotta go, people here’s asking/pledging/screaming for dinner..

  237. Congrats to everyone that won the Blurb contest. I remember liking CHICA BARBIE when it first appeared on Burn, glad it’s gotten some further recognition.

  238. I want to apologize to everyone for IRL’s rant above. I do my best to keep him away from the computer when I am not around, but everyone once in a while he manages to get through. Again, my apologies. You ought to apologize too, you know.

    AKAKY IRL: Go blow it out your ass, guy.

  239. ANTON, !!!!!!!!!!!!! :))))))….big big big congrats…so happy, so proud…893 sits in our bookcase beside the bed, next to the copy of Grossman, Kundera and Dragons are singing tonight ! :)))))))….will send you a private note too :)))

    congrats to Matt and Carl as well, both strong strong work! :)))…for some reason, i thought Carry Me Ohio had been published by someone else, but either way, rock on! :))))

    great ya’ll! :))))

    HERVE :)))…important points….but you’ll be happy to know that i have no time to write now, so someone else will have to take up the content/form and eye discussion (an important one)….what the eye sees is knowledge, pre-processed, what knowledge/opinion is is post-digested/processed information….cybernetics has a lot to say on this matter :)))))…but no time for hyperbole, gotta split :)))

    hugs around, off the grid for time now

    b

  240. DAH – I finally sent the most recent copy of Uiñiq magazine, along with my book, Gift of the Whale, which I might note, Akaki, is filled with both my photos and written words, to you today at the Magnum address.

    I would have sent them before I left, but my wife had moved my Uiñiq magazines to a new place and was not home to help me find them. Given the depth of some of what you have published on Burn lately, I almost didn’t want to send the package at all, yet, even if I dig in a different direction than most of today’s noted photographers, I believe there is depth there and I am always looking for the vision to go deeper.

    I pretty much missed this thread, being as how I was out on an island in the Beaufort Sea without internet – not as windy as at David’s home during the hurricane, but pretty windy, anyway, and a whole lot colder – perhaps as cold as Anton’s February funeral, although I cannot say that for certain.

    I thought briefly about trying to catch up on all the dialogue here, but that is a task I am just not up to. And Akaky – the new edition of Aperture Magazine reached me today and that is one thing that drives me mad about Aperture – the absurd, boring, written pieces where the author speaks hyperbole as s/he attempts to tell you what you are seeing.

    But for me, photography is like my right hand and writing my left – or sometimes the other way around – they go together as one package. But my work is not Burn 1.

  241. David:

    Making you smile sure can’t be a bad thing :)

    Now, your second question is much more difficult to answer, but to me much more important than the one about content and form:

    “at what point do you think a photographer trespasses and is only thinking about himself/herself and not the subject??”

    Every photographer is to a certain degree a voyeur and an attention seeker (unless s/he keeps the pics exclusively to her/himself, then we probably could skip the attention seeker part). To me personally, and I can only answer your question for myself, according to my parameters and principles, the trespass occours if there’s no counter part for the subject portraited, especially given that in the case of the essay in question there is real suffering of real people. If this should be the case (and I don’t say it is!, only it might be, that’s where I understand both Preston’s and MW’s latest remarks), then, to me, it’s a big no.. keeping in mind that there could/should also be made a distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness on part of the photographer in doing so (and still keeping in mind that I have no education whatsoever not only in art, but in photojournalism either).

    What I am concerned about is not the style, the vision, the talent of the photographer per se, only when all this together overrides what happens in front of the lens, putting the spotlight on the one behind it, instead.

    A question that comes to my mind is: who is the target of work like the one shown by Andy Spyra for example, and by Anthropographia Award panels more in general?

    You are aware that writing all this is a challenge to my English skills (which I took classes of, eons ago and only at basic level)??!

    Anton: :)))))

  242. Eva for some of us the subject never mattered…….. the persons photographed are an idea, a symbol even at times a thing(just like a brick)……….and no it is not being purely objective nor cold hard and callous they the subjects are the vehicles that allow the concepts/narrative to travel.

  243. the persons photographed are… (just like a brick)……

    Yea, exactly. Why do people say that as if it were a bad thing? Though it would be a great thing if everyone did get paid for being photographed. Where I live and work, and considering how often I walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, I’d be a jillionaire by now, a random passerby in a jillion tourist snapshots.

    And Eva, your written English is fantastic. Y yo te digo como algien qui no puede escribir bueno in muchas lenguas, mon escribir est vraiment horrible, exactamente com ceci. Italiano? Fuggedaboutit.

  244. FROSTFROG…

    i will keep my eye out for your package Bill…i will be in new york all next week, so i should have some time to take a look…too bad your new york lecture did not coincide with one of the loft slide shows …. if you ever come back , we will make sure you are presented at the loft..we have usually have a very good audience for whatever presentations are made in this building..

    EVA..

    your English is perfect…do not think about it twice…i have spoken with you by skype , so i know that in conversation you speak perfectly and write perfectly as well….my mother is constantly correcting my English use , so we all always need improvement i suppose…

    i agree with your parameters for trespassing….but why would there be an assumption that Andy trespassed?? how can we know? i think there is another logic here as well…of all the things that man does to man in the course of a day, if you can imagine all the ways that one person can either trespass, insult, steal from, injure , etc then taking a picture of someone, even in its worst manifestation can probably be considered a minor trespass..

    i mean here we have a man taking pictures of a mother whose son was just shot and killed by another man…one man took her sons life, the other man took her picture..i am sure her thoughts are on the first man…i doubt she noticed the second man…..

    this does not give a right to the second man to just romp all over the grieving and the injured and dying…but shouldn’t we put trespassing (if there was any) in this case in its proper perspective??

    the spotlight is on Andy here on Burn for example because we are a magazine specializing in the development of young talented photographers….one of our goals is to encourage responsibility on the part of the photographers here who want to communicate as journalists….so spotlighting a new talent would i hope have as its “end game” better information and better photography for use in mass communication with no spotlight on the photographer at all….i.e. i am never spotlighted when my work is in a magazine…it is all about the subject…however, i might get spotlighted at a photo gathering as Andy is spotlighted here since we are primarily a magazine ABOUT photographers….

    at the same time we have many in our audience who are not photographers and simply appreciate the stories told as with any magazine…IF there were a printed picture magazine like the old Life , or a newspaper which ran Andy’s work, then the spotlight would rightfully be on the subjects portrayed and there would be no mention of Andy….here on Burn we talk a lot about the photography and the photographer, but oftentimes i think we go pretty far in discussing the subject/content as well…our crowd here seems very socially responsible to me…actually , the more i think about it, i am very proud of our audience here in its integrity..

    when you ask where the pictures will be seen and for what audience intended, i think Andy has found it…on various websites and here….he will reach millions of people with this work Eva…even the work on Burn alone after a few days will reach millions…when it is just us talking to each other we often forget the power and the reach of the internet…this is not a pretend exercise…what we do here is real…all the more reason for this discussion and a real sense of responsibility….for this reason i most appreciate your concerns and your questions…they are good ones…

    cheers, david

  245. I think we become trespassers when the thing (person, place or thing) we point our cameras at no longer mean anything to us. And that’s an indictment of much modern photojournalism, IMHO.

  246. Imants, not sure what context you were writing in. Nevertheless, I was generally agreeing with what I thought was your point, though granted, in my own poor jokey way.

    Of course I don’t believe in absolutes, but in general, if someone is out in public they are consenting to be photographed. We do, however, reserve the right to turn our heads or make funny faces or otherwise do what we can to ruin the photo op. And if they are out in public participating in a political demonstration, that is pretty close to an absolute. For the most part the subjects are responsible for their actions. If they consent to be photographed, either implicitly or explicitly, then that’s that. The photographer’s responsibility is to portray the subject accurately, at least on some level, even as an abstract symbol. Beyond that, I don’t think the photographer owes the subject anything, unless some kind of side deal was cut, in which case one should always keep one’s word.

  247. The photographer has no responsibility to portray the subject accurately or even as a subject photography is a means of communication…………… mw go a step beyond the photographer and the photograph

  248. Wonderful about the blurb / burn related successes! also congrats to Valery – looks like a great show and of course is of particular interest to me. I’ll be traveling during the opening, but will catch the exhibit before it comes down. That puts me on the road during DAH’s fiesta too – am very sorry to miss the celebration.

    Anton, I haven’t had much time here of late but I was trying to follow your publication but not succeeding – is there a magazine like version available for purchase?

  249. JIM POWERS…

    i agree Jim if the photographer is a photojournalist…it is certainly my way and i teach and implore my students (even the art photographers) to have ultimate respect both for the subjects in front of their camera and for the local culture , customs, etc…besides there is always something to learn by making a new friend…benefits all around….however, philosophically artists may use material however they want as Imants says ..they make no pretense of necessarily caring or engaging with the subjects…again , just different motives, results, and audiences….my statement to Eva above was over simplified to make a point about degrees of trespass since in this case we are referring to photojournalism …..i hope Andy jumps in on this…i would like to hear from him…

    cheers, david

  250. Oh, I’m a bit more than a step beyond what I understand you to mean by the photographer and the photograph. And again, no absolutes, but in general I do acknowledge that responsibility to portray people fairly accurately (though I probably have a much more expanded definition of accurate than most). And to some extent it’s embedded in law. We can’t, for example, illustrate a story about child molesters with a picture of just any old guy. That would be wrong, wouldn’t you agree?

  251. IMANTS…

    yes, i know…i think we all are thinking more or less the same thing unless we are just callous robots in a void…i doubt you disrespect anyone when working….i also understand artistic responsibilities are way different than alleged journalistic ones….anyway, a good topic….

  252. “We can’t, for example, illustrate a story about child molesters with a picture of just any old guy. That would be wrong, wouldn’t you agree?” No just needs to be placed in the right context
    Some photographers don’t do stories about what they see or think they see……….

  253. MW…

    being depicted “accurately” is yet ANOTHER topic…but i have to run to fedex and well, philosophy is fun, but i have a whole bunch of boring nitty gritty things to do…so back to accuracy later…well in a nutshell i doubt there can be accuracy with either journalists or artists…and who says child molesters are necessarily old or men??

  254. Even in a journalistic realm I would be guessing what the subject is really on about plus I would be selecting photograpically in terms of my knowledge and biases of the situation

  255. NYC BURNERS,

    I will be in NYC for a brief visit the 22nd to the 26th of October for a wedding in Long Island the 23rd (my shaman’s!). Should have a few extra hours here and there and would love to meet up for coffee if possible. I’ll still be on my dieta so any sort of eating out is pretty much impossible, alas as NYC is one of my fave places to eat in the world. Need to contact DAH about a night or two at the BURN hotel, as much to soak up the atmosphere as a need for a place to stay (with a kitchen!).

    Anyway, it’s a long ways off in BURN time so will remind as it nears.

    Charles

  256. In this context, “accuracy” will prove a very difficult word to pin down. But if you use some random person’s image to illustrate a story about child molesters, you will be sued and you will lose, in the U.S. at least. That’s THE textbook example of libel laws applying to photojournalists. And rightly so. Giving the impression that a random person is associated with something illegal or embarrassing, or even portraying them as something they are not is always dangerous. A bit different with public people, though not so much ethically. Applies to art as well as journalism.

    Hope I get to meet you when you’re here, Charles. Contact me offline about the temporary housing if all else falls through.

  257. Thanks Erica. Note this will be in OCTOBER. Yeah, even vegan/raw restaurants can be tough as it’s the no salt aspect of the diet that gives most pause. Will live though, yay for Lara bars and apples!

    CP

  258. Oh! October will probably work – please remind. We can at least meet up at angelica’s or such and get you a terrif carrot apple beet ginger juice?

  259. David:

    I can agree with a lot of what you say, and I didn’t want to beat on Andy Spyra, that’s why I didn’t post my comment under one of the essays in the first place.. to me the whole discussion is a more generic one, not tied to the one or other photographer here.. and yes, the Burn audience is differnt from another audience.. anyway, thaks for you comments and time.. also to Imants, Jim, MW.. would be much easier to sit around a table.. understand about the brick, but do not share that viewpoint.. and would that to ‘callous robots in a void’ (had to look that up ;) ) we’d have to add bloated egoists.. just like in every group of people..

    Oh, and skype, meant to call you once you’d be less busy.. you seem never ever to be less busy though, which is a good thing by itself.. btw, you’re one out of 4 people (another being Anton and one my son) to have had the dubious honour of a video chat with yours truly ;)

  260. EVA…

    i could have skyped with you this morning…i am up early ….would have if i had known you were available…but now i am “off the internet grid” most of the time until a week from this saturday…i have my loft workshop starting friday and it is intense and not much time for Burn or at least individual skype chats……yes, a round table discussion would make everything so so easy…but this is the next best thing, so we go with it…

    cheers, david

  261. David:

    thank you, I’ll nail you down sooner or later, am hardly home myself until the end of the month.. will try to get a hold of Diego on my way back home through Northern Italy, if that’s ok.. wish you and your students a great time!

  262. EVA…

    yes, find Diego…he will have books for you…of course, finding Diego is maybe harder than finding me, but good luck….great guy….you will hit it off i am sure….

    cheers, david

  263. hey ALL…

    thanks for the kind words… i feel honored to have won that prize, and i hope it allows me to continue my project even further…

    I’m incerdibly strapped for time, moving my company’s offices, which will take another week. I’ll be back as soon as I can

    hugs,
    a

  264. DAVID,

    Just a brief message to say hello and congratulations…I finally got the BURN 01 copy that my parents had bought of Diego in Perpignan and that a strike in France with the mailing company (one of the many :)) kept away from me for too long…. I was really stunned by the book… I was so excited to see the essays (you said it so often but nothing replaces a book and some of my favorite on-line essays have just reached that other level seeing them in print…)…the quality of the print is superb… again magnificient book!… the mix of the iconic photographers and the “emerging” I know was important to you…Two of the iconic are among my favourites photographers but I have to say that looking at the essays from all, I could not tell a difference between iconic or emerging…. simply just great photography… I have watched this little BURN journey from the very beginning and it is so inspiring David to see this book in my hands, something you had in mind from the very beginning…. We need more individuals like you David who can dream big and turn the dreams little by little into reality (of course with the Anton and Diego etc who made it possible as well)… Congrats to all the essayists (I hope this is an english word :):). Let me tell you that you all look very sharp and you should be very proud!!!! Anyone who was in doubt whether or not to buy this book (once David and Anton share on-line how to do this) should not hesitate one second….

    Well done again!!!!!

    Eric

  265. ANTON–

    CONGRATS! am loving your series, both images and words. perfect marriage.

    has everyone seen this link featuring our audrey’s “brigitte et bernard” piece with music and additional photos?

    http://www.magentamagazine.com/4/five-notes

    simply fantastic. she’s got the special Thing, for sure.

    question–

    can someone link me to the burn piece that, i believe, was done with a computer webcam?
    large faces on the screen, one heavily tattooed, vivid color & shot completely surreptitiously.

    thank you!

  266. PANOS…

    yes, bikes are art objects in my opinion..functional art…i already had a titanium mountain bike all tricked out with the lightest weight everything, but no good here at the beach…so i bought an Electra kinda sit back a bit totally yuppie bike i guess, but i am going to modify it..my son Bryan told me it was too juvenile , but i am thinking that bikes ARE juvenile..i mean aren’t you 14 when you get on a bike anyway? what is an adult bike?? sun going down…i am going for a ride, juvenile or whatever..who cares?

  267. The latest Kashmir essay got me thinking. When I looked at the Anthropographia edit I couldn’t believe how different it was to the Burn edit. The Anthropographia edit was so much more “traditional”.

    Usually; photographers are always encouraged to present the strongest edit (especially on Burn); yet I suppose this essay shows that maybe you have to tailor your edits towards the particular display vehicle. I feel that the Burn essay is by far the strongest edit.

    I can understand that if you visited a location multiple times, and were continually adding more work, then an edit could change quite drastically. But wasn’t this piece shot over a 6-week period? The difference in the two essays isn’t just a case of a few pics being adding or taken out as the story evolves.

    So; to cut a long story short; do we have to tailor our edits? Or do we say “To hell with it, I feel this is the strongest edit so take it or leave it”?

    This is not a criticism of the essay, I’m just interested in why the edit is so drastically different?

    Cheers :-)

  268. DAH & Paul,

    Those are pretty sweet lookin’ bikes! I recently picked up a vintage JC Higgins on the cheap from my brother-in-law (think vintage English 3-speed bikes as sold by Sears & Roebuck). I plan on restoring it a bit this fall.

  269. Thought I would pass along a link for Collect dot Give (via Fraction Magazine):

    http://collectdotgive.org/

    Photographers pledging 100% of the profits of print sales to a charity. Matt Eich’s “Elvis the Zebra” from Carry Me Ohio is still available.

  270. Ohh I do love a good tangent…Re Bikes – I had been bikeless since I had my 1970’s colnago road bike stolen way back in february , seeing as though I had taken off the brakes and converted it into a fixie I spent the next few months with my heart only slightly warmed by the possibility that the cheek bugger probably found out about the brakes in a spectacular (and painful) fashion…Just got my vintage Ken Light frame ( salvaged from the dump) back from the powder coaters and have assembled an all black and chrome thing of beauty …with a nod towards maturity and self preservation by adding front brakes.

  271. Eva; In your link the edit is sort of a cross of the other two edits. Interesting; tailoring the edit certainly worked in this case. Food for thought.

    Cheers :-)

  272. a civilian-mass audience

    MY BURNIANS,

    I am transmitting from rural …Grecolandia…yes,I am back…

    I miss you all…Bravo to ALLL…of course I LOVE YOU ALLLLLL…

    many stuff to take care…BOUBOULINA is gone…out of oregano…
    thanks to the spirits…lots of olive oil and wine…

    I have to start reading and enjoying …your visions…
    I will be back the soonest…and yes…I love you ALLLL…

    hope you are out there shooting…civilians…:)))

  273. YOU KILLED BOUBOULINA?!!! AND ATE HER?!!!! YOU…YOU….MURDERER!

    AKAKY IRL: What the hell, it’s just a frigging chicken, guy. Calm down. Like you never ate chicken before.

    I DIDN’T EAT BOUBOULINA! MURDERER! MURDERER!!

    AKAKY IRL: Dude, just because the chicken had a name doesn’t change the fact that it’s a chicken and dinner is its destiny.

    MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER!

    AKAKY IRL: This is an exercise in futility, isnt it?

    MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER!

    AKAKY IRL: Yeah, I thought so.

  274. Interesting timelapse footage,Thomas.

    When i first saw it last year I was blown away by this take on the concept

    http://www.timescapes.org/

    The night sequences really showcase how good vision combined with technology meets
    to show us something not possible before. These were shot with the 5D Mkll

  275. DAH – Thanks! I will find a way to go to NYC within a year or so and take up your offer.

    Civi – Wish that I could have been there to pay my proper respects at Bouboulina’s final feast.

    Anyone interested: While the winds on Cross Island were not as strong as they were at David’s place, they were cold but the young hunters loved them and the polar bears didn’t mind, either. I haven’t really gotten into Cross Island on my blog the way I hope to yet, while saving some material exclusively for Uiñiq magazine, but I just put up a fun post that illustrates the above:

    http://wasillaalaskaby300.squarespace.com/journal/2010/9/16/cross-island-young-hunters-play-in-the-wind-nanuq-family-rid.html

  276. JASON..

    riding a bike and shooting seems quite easy to me and i am shooting MOSTLY from my bike on the outer banks story for natgeo….obx is about a hundred miles long, so bike is not used for transportation but is always in the back of my truck…so i get to a town, park the truck, unload by bike and….a boy on a bike just is not a threatening character…i worked off of my bike a lot when shooting in Washington for many years as well for the same reasons…great way to get around and see things…and a certain innocence associated with someone on a bike….you can ride your bike up to certain street scenes and take a picture in a way that would seem way to aggressive if you were walking..seems odd but true….i use a bike courier bag for shooting either on or off a bike…if the camera is actually out while i am riding , which for me it is most of the time, then the camera strap is under the courier bag strap and it does not swing around or get in the way…when bike shooting i do always have something small like the GF1 or Leica…

  277. Yea, I’ve never had any problem riding a bike and shooting. Excellent way to get around, actually. Walking and chewing gum at the same time? That’s a different story.

  278. This evening starts my annual loft workshop in New York. 12 international students ages 17 -35. All passionate photographers. Life changes……….. Wish I could b thr to witness it ……

  279. is it easier to represent misery than joy?

    the trio of essays concerning the balkans are strange to me.. since as a photographer I’ve been making great efforts to work there with people who are concerned with unity and forward thinking reunification .. bringing people together… for each 3 steps forward taken, it feels like 3 steps back on here lately.

    is it the new n. ireland?
    where snappers go to practice aesthetics and their first tough-story?
    ’cause friends in n. ireland are tired of that..
    and people still email with thanks, for my looking elsewhere for stories.

    the stories make me feel sad for two reasons..
    1 – reflections within the stories reminding me of friends that live there and lived through it..
    2 – for the continuing representation being pushed.. again and again.

    will i next photograph my serbian friend, whose street was hit by a nato bomb while she was standing at a stall buying cigs? is that more interesting to foto fans and photographers than the amazing work she now does in bring people from bosnia, croatia and serbia?

    or my friend from iraq, who was a ‘disposable’ translator for the u.s. in falluja, and who escaped with his life and spent a year traveling to seek asylum, when 8 out of 10 of his friends were executed for collaborating?

    they would be easy stories to illustrate for sure..

    i just don’t know..
    is it easier to portray misery?

  280. A movie maker friend of mine once told me: “Its way Easier to trigger emotions and sell drama than try to create/sell good comedy”..

    yes,its way easier to portray misery …

  281. from the resolve blog..
    http://blog.livebooks.com/2010/07/emerging-approaches-for-emerging-photographers/

    “THE PROBLEM:
    Like many photojournalists based in the United States, I traveled to Haiti to cover the January 12th earthquake. I came home with an impressive array of photographs, which I believed to be both marketable and worthy of public notice. Yet, like many young photojournalists, I had limited opportunity by which to market my work.

    It was a small moment of crisis for me. Were these images of others suffering to become mere fodder for my tweets and Facebook updates? Just another portfolio to be displayed on my website?

  282. DAVID,

    You promised a pictures from storm if I remember correctly :)

    How are you?
    have no time to read past comments. You are in NY? Busy time, teach time? Show us some works of your students.

  283. “life changes” at the very least…Change in the way of thinking …it wouldnt be an exaggeration if i state that its almost like a sex change…its more of a spiritual cleansing , self realization ceremony than an ordinary expected workshop…its magic….
    I witnessed it and changed my life…Hard to explain…You Got to be there to experience it…no words!

  284. DAH

    bea stubbed her toe yesterday and we´ve been turning away ´photojournalists´ever since..
    i made a lovely cup of tea and only the sun smiled.

    ¨so shines a good deed in a weary world¨ – willy wonka.

  285. mtomoly

    An intersesting and honest piece.

    I noted in particular the following paragraph.

    “In the past, I hesitated to book weddings. I made the excuse that I couldn’t book something that far in advance. What if an editorial job came up? In reality, I felt this type of work was beneath me. I felt the same about the portrait market (Yes, I know where this is being read). It’s easy to say now, but what’s more important than a wedding, or capturing a child’s life? Oh well, live and learn.”

    I spent the first dozen years of my photographic career doing commercial and editorial work. I too felt that wedding/portrait work was beneath me. However, when serious health issues made it impossible to work more than a few hours a day, I decided to leave the big city (Vancouver), and move to a small town, and open a portrait studio. I learned several things very quickly. First, it is much harder than you think it is, to run a studio, to attract customers, and to consistently make good portraits. Second, I learned that I loved it. As a bonus, people appreciate what I do, and actually hand over their credit cards to prove it.

    Only trouble is, I don’t get no respect y’know.

  286. MARCIN…

    i hope i did not promise you pictures from storm…for two reasons: (1) Natgeo gets to see first since i was on commission during storm (2) i do not really have much to show anyway……hurricanes rarely provide many interesting pictures…other type of storms yes, hurricanes not really…except damage pictures…the black sky and intense color of a summer thunder storm is much better for a photograph than the too windy to go out flat light of a hurricane…

    i know i have not shown anything i have been working on for almost a year..that is the nature of commissions…whoever is financing wants exclusivity for the first publication of the pictures, in this case Natgeo…both Rio de Janeiro and Outer Banks will be essays in the magazine in 2011 and then whatever was not used in the magazine (and what was used) will become either books or exhibitions or both….

  287. ALL..

    students will start walking in my door any minute…sun perfect…just to meet this afternoon, class officially begins in the morning…..today i will find out more about who they are and what they expect and need….i go over what it is all about and how we will work…together we will do something very special…it is just that for the first few days it is often painful…

    i have been on the phone lining up guest speakers…and friday night we will burn this town down…i have great guest speaker lined up and will officially launch Burn 01 and present the students who are about to walk through the door…between now and then a lot will happen to them…..all of you are of course invited to this final show and party…this will be a good one…come see me…

    cheers, david

  288. Panos

    My tongue was in my cheek, though not all that firmly :)

    Back in 1969 at photo school, I don’t remmember a single fellow student who aspired to be a portrait/wedding photogrpher. We were all just gonna make art, and shoot album covers for rock bands. During the years I taught photography, the students were either going to do travel/adventure work for NatGeo, be nature/wild-life photogs, or shoot high fashion for magazines.

    I actually get a lot of respect from most everybody. However, I know that traditional portraiture is not well understood or appreciated by some in the photographic community. There is no denying that there is a lot of corny fluff out there in the portrait world, just as there is strong journalistic work and some not so strong. The same for fine art or commercial work.

    Respectfully
    Gordon L

  289. is it easier to portray misery?
    ——————————

    Probably the choice way to start a career, for emerging PJ-ists, unless they have mega talent/vision. Which is only given to very, very few (young photographers).

  290. I don’t think it’s any easier to portray misery than other states of being (comedy is not a state of being, btw). I think a lot of the misery thing comes from young people from comfortable western societies going out in the world for the first few times. We see the misery that so many on this planet experience and are shocked and outraged. We come home to our complacent societies and their petty consumerist concerns and we want to shout “look at this!, you see what it’s like for other people!,” and shock them out of their complacency. Or maybe I’m just speaking for myself since that was my history? But as people mature, certainly mature as storytellers, I think they find that shouting is ineffective whether as journalism, rhetoric or art; that in order to appreciate the genuine misery and ugliness in the world, one needs to contrast the bad with the joy and beauty that even the most miserable people usually manage to experience in their lives.

    Then I guess there are some careerist journalists that really don’t give a shit about the suffering masses they exploit for their images. I’ve never actually met one that I know of, but I trust they exist since so many people say so.

  291. mw,

    I am not sure what you are saying (young people out in the world and back) has to do with photographing misery/conflicts as a career start.
    First, many emerging (which does not mean beginners at all) photographers are already in their early 30s, and have travelled rough already. Even if younger,They are not dumb-founded bleary-eyed youth discovering a wrold they had no idea of. since we are kids, we know about this world, we have seen that misery.

    But mostly, they just follow a trail that has been traced by the ones very succesful, or famnous (in the profession) from the PJ generation before them ( which I call post vietnam war), Nachtwey, Salgado, Richards, etc…

    That generation worked, IMO, a bit less on the humanist side of photography, they might have a compassionate outlook, but the times they lived in, and shot in, dictated that witnessing be unemcumbered with showing anything but what they saw, that is the pain, the instant and unremedied suffering.

    Because doing something about this misery was most uncertain (most was man-made, militarily and politically imposed on populations, not as a byway of war, but as a goal), they wished, probably not so consciously, to also not remedy to it in a pictural way, by too humanistic a stance.

    I do think these guys have a great influence on what young PJs shoot nowadays. Not that there are not plenty of nuances we can bring to the discussion, just thinking aloud here, not theorizing.

  292. “tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself..And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of it’s dreams”
    Paulo Coelho

    (lee , thank you.. I love this:)

  293. “and friday night we will burn this town down…i have great guest speaker lined up and will officially launch Burn 01 and present the students who are about to walk through the door…”

    it will be amazing, i am sure! sorry to be out of town for slideshow, but am traveling for an assignment tomorrow, pitstop in nyc then onward out of ny. if I get all the images in easily I’d like to try to stop in to see you all midweek – will check in with you beforehand to see if it works for you.

    Will burn.01 be for sale at the loft?

  294. DAVID B,

    Funny the same thought crossed my mind re the Balkans essays. Glad you voiced it as I haven’t had time. I think it’s one of the reasons the pigeon picture was such a breath of fresh air.

    But perhaps DAH chose those essays so we could have just such a discussion. I’m out of the door right now so will have to chime in later. But I do recall a great color essay about a young man in Palestine. It was so full of life even though it touched on the misery in his daily struggle as well. I just found these recent essays, despite a few stunning images, to be too forced, too student-y for their own good. Bordering on misery tourism, despite all the best intentions.

    Later,

    Charles

  295. Bordering on misery tourism, despite all the best intentions.
    ——————
    There were no good intentions to begin with … It’s just that Zoriah attitude
    going to warzones … thinking he is a Fear Factor tv contestant, charging $8K to
    “teach” workshops in Haiti , showing misery one to one…

  296. Well, I wouldn’t lump the likes of Zoriah with the recent BURN essayists. But what I did see was their thinking/intellect (ie written essays) outstripping their photos. For example, the one on just the individual guy would have been stronger/more fascinating if it was JUST about him, and we didn’t have to suffer through more “setting the scene” pictures of feral dogs (ala the Texas highschool essay) and bombed out buildings with kids playing football in front of them or hospitals, etc. Do these things really reflect the individual in question or are they just more sensationalistic/visual than the possibly at many/most times mundane life (despite being in an ex-war torn country) the photographer set out to document? I actually liked what he was onto with the personal until he felt the need to stray into the socio-political and then it just became yet another “Balkans oh-so grim and I’d better shoot it in stark grainy b&w” essay.

    Something to think about….

    CP

  297. Charles, keep in mind that two of the three essays about the ex Yugoslavia countries are from Italian photojournalists just/recently graduated, if you look through the portfolios you’ll see essays about similar, if not the same stories.

    I don’t know if the choice to show these essays so close one to the other was on purpose, I guess yes, but am not sure to understand the reason.

    Anyway, the Abruzzo earthquake, the Roma people and one of the Balkan countries seem to be on the ‘must’ list, probably easyly available, on the schoolprogram.

  298. EVA,

    Yes, you are right. There is a photography school here in Seattle that specialize in classes in Cuba. At one point my peers and I joked how sick we were of seeing yet another photo of old American cars and crumbling pink buildings, etc etc. Before that it was Mexico and Day of the Dead. I guess it goes with the territory of being a student and workshops in this day and age.

    CP

  299. An aside:

    You should all be checking out Sara Rosen (Miss Rosen)’s blog on a daily basis.

    http://missrosen.wordpress.com/

    Sara is the ex-publicist for powerHouse books and has an amazing passion for photography. She did right by me and my pH books and I’m sure the same for David. Her blog is primarily on the hip hop/style/pop culture tip but she covers many/most types of photography. She interviewed me a while back about my Istanbul photos. http://missrosen.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/charles-peterson-istanbul/

    DAH you should ADD HER BLOG to your links section.

    Charles

  300. gordon.. have the utmost respect for you.. and empathy, understanding illness and working through it..
    photographically? irrelevant..
    as with you i’d hate to be judged purely on photo merits :o)

    michael.
    shouting does not work :o)
    the reason i posted the quote from livebooks is that there is a career minded photographer who, without a shred of irony, is talking about how he photographed people suffering a great deal and had no avenue for his photos..
    just facebook and twitter..
    eventually he gained some effectiveness, for haiti and his personal goals, through a charity auction..
    the fact remains that he went to haiti.. took photos which have no outlet.. and who knows what the local outcome of this exercise was.. how did the subjects of his photo feel? what about their dignity and privacy? although we’ll not see the photos in the mainstrem, his subje4cts will be mindful of his presence.

    the balkans is similar.. every tom, dick and sebastian went down there to get a look because it was so convenient.. a local and european ‘other’ that was not too scary to get into, culture wise, with the bonus of some folio opportunities.. i understand bleasedale made his mistakes there, fresh from the banking world with a white scarf, along with others.

    charles.. i hear you.. and eva also..
    i guess the question in mind tonight is when does post-conflict journalism become part of the problem?
    i do think it is easier to portray misery.. the sorrowful other.. and there are some streams of work which need that kind of coverage.. yet 15 years after a war the benefit of salting old wounds, as i see some of the work here doing, are difficult to find… especially when those who live it are in the zone which could feel consequences..

    now.. n. ireland has a city with two names.. derry and londonderry..
    who has the right to revisit and mention that some think it has one name, whichever it be?
    when the riots are occurring all the time again, and so many there are trying hard to build bridges.. who has the right to break that work down .. for the sake of a folio? in order to show how well we are able to dodge and burn misery and conflict?

    is it doing the people who live there any good whatsoever?
    i wonder if we have reached a time where conflict photography, and recent conflict photography, has become the art school cliche.
    if you can’t produce peregrines ‘double-blind’, you can always revisit a 15 year old war and find some good images..
    what if it reopens wounds? i have photos.. a new room on my website.

    if i sound cynical i am being misread – i am trying to highlight cynicism in the photographic world.. from the fresh names too..

    it does annoy me..
    because i know these countries well, and for 5 or 6 years have focused my energy on bringing people together again.. as are the wishes of intelligent people living there..
    it annoys the hell out of me to see good work being undone.. with – granted – excellent photographic skill, yet limited social awareness.
    i know it annoys my friends as well..

    okay.. soapbox gone..
    everyone looks after something..
    i’ll look after my bag..

    humanist photography herve :o)
    grew out of the 2nd world war and the family of mans propaganda.. bring the world together.. unite to fight fighting.. broaden understanding of relative reality and fight fascism and division.
    it still strives, yet not in the cliches farmers fileds and juxtapositioning of farmers from the u.s. and farmers form africa..

    i think i have remained a humanist photographer through my music work, developing on my first instinctive influence… before life-influence catapulted my inspiration beyond other snappers.

    so still a nagging question..
    when does post conflict photography become part of the problem, and an obstacle to recovery..?
    because it surely does.

  301. what i really think is that life works from this moment forwards..
    a photographers hangover need not be projected onto a contemporary people, when in many instances the spot-news journalism alone will take decades to overcome.

    anyone been to beirut on holiday recently?
    hmm

  302. as an aside it would be remiss of me to not qualify my statements..
    working n. ireland since 2004.. the balkan region since 2006.. with the red cross on landmine and reconstruction issues.. with party promoters on reuniting issues..

    most of my photo requests are for the latter.. thankfully.
    and very few of the photos i took for the former can be seen online.. they were shot for their own use rather than a room on my website..
    it would be to what end for me to do a story on landmines, when conversely i am capable of work which has a less retrospective, and perhaps more altruistic, outlook?

  303. “Anyway, the Abruzzo earthquake, the Roma people and one of the Balkan countries seem to be on the ‘must’ list, probably easyly available, on the schoolprogram.”

    really eva.. you nailed it for me..
    the new homeless.. blah blah.

    the trouble is that it is encouraged with reward within the photo industry..
    hmm..
    photographers with the same folio rooms on websites.. getting high praise..?

    all comes down to the same thing..
    are you experienced?
    no necessarily stoned, or dead for 40 years, but beautiful..

  304. the same photographers might complain that the photo industry does not want to see the ‘truths’ they need to show..
    yet the fact is – the more unique what you show is, the easier it is to sell..
    i’d hate to try and sell a roma piece..
    never had trouble selling what i fell into though.

  305. david…..my brother…..but that the world of documentary photography may be nourishing itself on a steady diet of festivals and awards and lecture-ships are building chops and shops and what that constitutes, but is it really a lamentation that be floated over individual photographers, stories, essays…..i could give a rat’s arse (or pinky tail for that matter) what the photoworld does, i still stick to my ridiculously hermetic stories, trying to rhyme something out of the people and places and moments and stories that have come tumbling into my life…and i dont think i’m all that different from others….i think, in truth, we waste our time and talent lamenting the state of others, as we supposed, instead of pitching up the kettles of tea and honing our own work….

    funny, i’m almost done working on an essay on nothing more than sky and trees and old fishing houses and shadows on land….and dont give a f*&& about Perp or wpp or whatever and yet i’m still moved by the essays here….how do you reckon that…

    isn’t the lamentation really about you, my friend….you have enough strength and character and thoughtfulness NOT to climb on that soapbox, but to carve that island wicket’ with your box for light….

    ok, sending your little one with stub’d toe scruffy kiss from uncle b….

    so, here’ my own soapbox for you :)))

  306. ahh.. that song. so many friendships end with that gap.. and many a night trying to fathom the lyrics.

    i hear you bob.. i am moved by the work recently shown, beyond my ability for writing, and it is that movement which pushes me when i see places and people i know generalized in such a familiar way..
    i know my own meanderings may be generalizations as well.. and meditations on my own desire for the way a world would be rather than a way it is.. of course.. tug of war :o)

    i mean to say – respect the work.. respect the photographers work.. i think it is accomplished and intelligently presents and edited.. beautiful, particularly the final piece.. powerful..

    it is the thought behind..

    i know your musings to be worth meditation, and beautifully crafted original sensations because it’s all you my friend..

    all the photo world chuff is a distraction.. that’s so true.
    time will tell and time is the leveler.

    still not so much of a gap between us i am sure. :o)

  307. .. and i have my way and always did..
    who cares if the photo world like?
    the photo world never got me a job.. never paid my rent nor expenses..
    distractions.. distractions..
    happy distractions :o)

  308. off topic but would appreciate any feedback:
    i’m looking at buying the canon pixma pro9000 printer. Has anybody used it? If so, do you like it?

    Thanks much.

  309. printers aside :)
    i need to put it in perspective..
    the disillusionment with the photoworld comes middle career for me and is not prohibitive.. will always meander on regardless.
    WPP could have mean’t wicked presbyterian pastier for the first 10 years..
    i never knew what perp was until a year ago and who cares?

    any perceived limit my work has now because i am not in that circle may or may not matter in time..
    just enjoying the view and trying to hurt no one.

  310. About James Natchwey:

    Hi everyone, I just wanted to share in this community a great experience last Friday.

    THE photographer, the ONE, was during his exhibition at the Public Library, here in Lyon, France

    At the beginning a conference was held in the University discussing about photography, and his previous works.
    It was my first time that I saw him, live, in front of a small crowd mostly of students.
    One thing stroke my mind…: The way he talks: with an incredible wisdom, discretion, every word was the right one, no more, no less. Like a Buddhist monk. Very shy person. A wisdom that you fall in love within… Just amazing. Is like he knows something that we, normal people, don’t…
    Maybe because he saw to much… to much horror, to much pain.

    He talks about his photography, and advice to young photographers: being engaged with the subjet, work hard, from the deep of your soul, with passion and respect to whom is in front of the camera.

    That’s all. I’m glad that James Natchwey was helping “burn” some time ago with his TB work. Priceless!

    Patricio

  311. David Bowen…

    No, shooting misery is as easy and as hard as shooting happiness…
    Each subject matter has inherent properties which in the hands of skilled photographers (and other creative people) can trigger a range of feelings to the viewers of their work.
    It’s as easy to make someone crack a smile with a photo of a kitten doing something silly as it is to send chills up the same someone’s spine with a photo of a starving child.

    Regarding your argument for all those nice people doing everything they can to bring people together and how much better human beings they are than all those photographers who focus to the dark side of this world… (Living myself in a torn apart country were a great many of such initiatives take place year round…)

    For one, many a time the organizers of such “get together” things make plenty of cash, either by taking advantage of EU and local government programs or by getting sponsorship from private and corporate entities, or even from such benevolent organizations as the usaid… so, not all organizers have the same intentions and integrity as your friends…
    For another, the whole premise behind such programs, that if we only knew each other and loved each other there would be no more wars, is, well, BS… armed conflicts don’t start because of bi-communal problems… that’s a myth… that IS propaganda… money and power (and rarely actual ideology) are the main reasons, and the more money and the more power at stake the more severe the resulting conflicts… when for instance a country is invaded by another for its natural resources, no amount of lovey-dovey sentiments can save the day…

    And to me, making one’s subject the blissful ignorant masses who dance until collapsing to something pretending to be music at hundreds of bits per second, high out of their minds, is no more admirable or contemptible by default to shooting people in miserable situations… it all depends on intentions on the part of the creator of the work at hand and on perceptions on the part of the audience.

    Now, back to work on my book about the remainders of yet another old conflict (36 years of occupation and counting)…

    Cheers…

    PS1
    And to be clear, I do actually like your work… the last part was for illustration purposes of how *your* approach to photography could be generalized in a non positive way…
    Oh, and I do dodge and burn a lot…

  312. like he knows something that we, normal people, don’t…
    ————————–
    Patricio…. Very few of us here are normal! ;-)

  313. with respect, (and who does not dodge and burn), the sectarian problems of n. ireland and the balkans recen, 15 year old, conflict have nothing to do with commerce outside of the sale of arms ..

    the bigots who perpetuate these conflicts do so on the back of social and religious, communal and even simply last-name differences.. no need to fall short of calling my perspective bullshit with BS.. fact is that it is not. historically many croatians changed their names for socio-political reasons and ended up slaughtered just by doing so… and where is the oil in ireland?
    bullshit? quite :o)

    organizers of the exit festival in serbia have been arrested and beaten up by the police for their intentions.. regardless of where they get their money.. and many of them draw meger wages from the NGO’s they work for.
    this years event in n. ireland was invaded by armed thieves with Kalashnikovs intending to steal the purse – which was barely break even.. and after firing into the ceiling got away with nothing.

    so with respect – your insinuations are a little insulting to say the least.

    thodoris, i have only spoken about places i know well.
    and only because i saw some of it represented here – even one with posters advertising a festival who’s organizers in serbia i know.. and i know their intentions.

    that’s a lot of times for me to say ‘I’ in a paragraph of course.. yet it needs to be pointed out that you are wrong about the reams of cash made by promoters within the scope of my knowledge.. i can give actual figures and more details through email if you’re interested..

    in short – you’d be surprised at the true intentions bought forward in the places.. of course i do not know your neck of the woods and await an opportunity to look.

    “And to me, making one’s subject the blissful ignorant masses who dance until collapsing to something pretending to be music at hundreds of bits per second, high out of their minds, is no more admirable or contemptible by default to shooting people in miserable situations… it all depends on intentions on the part of the creator of the work at hand and on perceptions on the part of the audience.”

    i agree with the last sentence of course.. yet you betray some antipathy which really undermines the stance you initially take.. if you lack so much understanding, from what pedestal do you preach?

    in the balkans and n. ireland i found one of the most politically aware and intelligently informed crowds anywhere – why ‘ignorant masses’ to you?

  314. armed conflicts don’t start because of bi-communal problems… money and power (and rarely actual ideology) are the main reasons.
    ———————————

    Not wrong, of course, but, Thodoris, I think, you give too little credit how screwed up people can become.
    I think armed conflicts do happen because there are enough people to do the fighting, period.

  315. you know it struck me that in the aftermath of the tsunami, sri lanka stopped fighting.

    wow.. there is something bigger than our woes.. a point of relation which relegates our political differences insignificant.
    we’d best stop.

    of cours it could have just been blocked supply routes.. even so..

    things become relatively normal again and what happens?
    war.

    building a social system which see’s borders as less than they are.. a society which understands hutu tutsi as a dutch invention.. education through any means.. can only be right.

    bring on the shite music, if needs be thodoris :o).

  316. david bowen. Yes, lets give the nobel peace prize to all the Ketamine and MDMA ‘salespeople’, without whom the whole shebang would turn grey very quickly…..or back into Alcoanarchy. I know how you feel about this subject, and its achievments, but I have worked too many welfare tents at too many festivals, and seen too many(far too young) people utterly utterly pranged…and in the name of what????? ….

  317. Peole make fun of the EC (“Europe”), but for me, if anything that came of it was that we are not resorting to war as a response to our “money and power” woes, Let Europe be, as messy as it can seem. When you compare, the USA are decades behind, here war is still the answer, and as befits a country that believes it is, the last thing wanted is to learn the lessons from it.

  318. I have little faith in a chemical solution for the worlds ills. Works for individuals or smallish groups to a certain extent, but it is still, in my book, a mirage. Goethe knew this, but who reads goethe anymore?
    or as mr Waters put it.

    God wants peace
    God wants war
    God wants famine
    God wants chains stores
    God wants sedition
    God wants sex
    God wants freedom
    God wants semtex.

    …and seeing as we made, and remake, god in OUR image :)))

  319. john – i guess we could have bumped into one another :o)
    john
    no one promoting ethical music events whom i know are seeking pulitzer or nobel – whoop/BANG.
    who knows how to make dynamite?
    will leave disbelief to the disbelievers to be frank.. ibiza glastonbury glade and sonar are not where i was heading.. still.. you up for halloween in derry this year?

  320. yesyes john.. we choose our side if needs be and nothing would exist without opposites :o)

    then i strongly suggest you come to derry of serbia in the next year or two and see.. no more need for me to expound..

    you see?
    how difficult it is to pass of joy and forward thinking progression to a photographic crowd?
    unification anyone?

    the horror..
    the horror..
    fogged up my lens at one time as well.

  321. david. Derry sounds good…Rio is pissing with rain at the moment and all the best laid plans of mice and men are going tits up like dominoes. You gotta laugh though :)

  322. john – you’ll love it.

    my final point –
    there are cliches and there are cliched places in which to practice the cliches..

    were it that the photo world respected and acknowledged all the array of opposites..
    yet i watch the news for light relief.

    2001 ‘war photographer’ came out and people still seek out the detritus of war in the balkans..
    missing the contemporary point completely..
    photographing beautifully with eyes shut.

  323. A bit on the over-sensitive side again Mr Bowen…….. get over it……….. lamenting the could be, could’ve been was, past is a a waste The younger brigade of photographers are strutting their stuff and shoving the generations above them out of the way ……….. live with it or change your perspectives

  324. DAVID seems to be making a good point by pointing out how, particularly music festivals, can create the opportunity to bring people, and young people together from different ethnic and cultural groups, creating a familiarity between them. By photographing these festivals helps to promote them.

  325. Gordon,

    Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it. Main reason I am considering the Canon printer is because I can get a pretty good deal on one right now, otherwise I’d probably go for Epson.

  326. Carsten

    The up front cost of the printer is almost insignificant compared the what your ink and paper costs will ultimately be. You will spend a lot of time and money with the printer you choose, so don’t let a “good deal” get in the way of a good decision.

    Have fun!

  327. Herve

    “Not wrong, of course, but, Thodoris, I think, you give too little credit how screwed up people can become.
    I think armed conflicts do happen because there are enough people to do the fighting, period.”

    I do indeed subscribe to that as well…
    But the fact remains that while the societies we live in and the rules we have come up with (ethical, judicial, etc) still stand, we as individuals try (if for nothing else, out of fear of punishment) to keep our demons at bay… while when societies and their rules collapse (as is the case in times of war) mob mentality and no real fear of prosecution lead to the unleash of those demons and we become as screwed up as we could possibly get…

  328. David Bowen…

    Hey man… I did in fact oversimplified things a bit, but it was only in response to your posts… didn’t climb up the pedestal to preach… only held up a mirror…

    And for what it’s worth I don’t completely and utterly disagree with what you’re saying… if you had stopped somewhere near “the positive side of live should be promoted in contemporary photography at least as much as the negative one”, I wouldn’t have jumped at you… but you were dismissive towards (at least part of) *my* approach in photography that I felt compelled to respond…

    In any case, hopefully in about a month I’ll be back home (Nicosia) with a decent internet connection and some free time… if you wish we could have a skype chat then…

    Now, back to work…
    cheers

  329. ERICA…

    yes, Burn 01 will be available (i hope) at the loft presentation on friday the 24th…sorry you cannot be here…

    PATRICIO…

    good description of James, and if you come to our loft presentation , you can sit down and talk to him….in reality he is not quite the monk you describe (nobody is), but he certainly has “economy” of speaking down to a science….if you check the archives here, you will see Jim has been featured several times..

    CHARLES…

    i had no idea Sarah had a blog…will link it of course…yes, she is the one who got Living Proof going

    IMANTS…

    yes, the natural order of things…

  330. Carsten, what is your purpose for buying a printer? Archival prints? Immediate Effect? Color accuracy? Without that information, it is impossible to offer advice.

    Regarding grim war photos, I think I mentioned the other day that I was trying out a new pocket camera; happened to come across some war-related photos, though I suppose they’re not so grim without the proper context.

  331. shoving the generations above them out of the way
    ——————————

    Shove out of the way?
    Imants, a few thoughts If I may:

    IMO, from everything I hear and seem to understand about the PJ/docu profession, the last generation is more looked upon, sought out, highly admired, than shoved out. The many international gatherings do illustrate this, nobody is shoved out, and the young/new are most proud to be exhibited along their elder brothers, without whom sponsorship of the events, would be a much harder sell.

    Just here, on BURN, the proof is made that someone from the generation above does count, and is totally instrumental in the newer generation to have access to show their work. The opposite of shoved out. There is no such public punks vs rock dinosaurs, or impressionists vs romantics (just 2 very distinct examples ) history or tension, as happened in so many arts or mediums.

    Likewise, it takes a long time for a photographer to get recognized for his body of work a style/stance instrumental to have defined what his/her generation has brought to the medium. I would say that happens way after, in general, he/she was a young photographer, and usually while the younger generation has been at it already for quite some time.

  332. herve: :))

    the Now is all we have, the moments of the breath….the now always teaches u about the vanguished: one is 30 minutes of sitting in meditation if not the reminder that everything disappears…and then returns…and then disappears and then returns….the rise and the fall….there’s nothing i have ever written at burn, or over the last 2 days that contradicts that :))))…

    the vanquished and the risen :))

    but as any good sit reminds you, the space that makes up the breath is composed of all those things before….not back, not forward, but now, indeed….by the way, no better film recently captures that this this magnificent film, which just opened here….one you should definitely see :)))

    and by the way, i LOVE your jumping red princesses :)))

    here’s the flick…a must

    this what i tried to write about both under the new essay and to david about all this talk about ‘misery’.etc…

    misery and joy are one and the same part of our lives….not one better…just both together…

  333. Gordon, good points. In which way are pigment inks superior?
    mw – main purpose would be for archival quality fine art prints
    thanks!

  334. As per usual, I’ve got me lots more reading to do but David Bowen, dude you are on fire right now. The banter between you and Bob a little ways back is delightful. Love it. Speaks to me a whole heck of a lot as someone who experienced burnout from the news beat years and years ago. And I’m as cynical as the best of ’em. But I just got so sick and tired of the usual bullshit “news” agenda. I aspired to a quality news photo career but no matter what I did I kept finding myself stuck in a tabloid world. So I got the fuck out for a while. Went to ICP. Discovered humour. And Children. Both threw my photographic perspective into a tailspin which I’m still trying to get to grips with. And now video is really messing with my head.

    But I’m entirely sympathetic to David’s writings just now. They are in-line with my own feelings, I’ve subsequently discovered. In fact, his thoughts on WPP and Perp etc are how I sometimes have felt about Burn and other such photographic destinations. But that has now changed. I suddenly feel like Burn is so very relevant, what with some of the brilliant writing that takes place here. Some very serious thinking. And I should avail of this much more regularly. Shame on me for being such an infrequent visitor. I will make time for reading here. Sometimes I feel really isolated in this business and that’s entirely my own doing. That old burnout fear still lingers some, I guess. Anyone else feel like that? I think the writing here at burn is so often better than the photography.

    There’s something inside me trying to get out, photographically. But I have yet to figure out what it is. Reading David’s words has stirred it some. Damn! Fired up now. My motivations are all over the place for doing what I do and it needs a little taming. A little management. Perhaps I need to get a little drunk. Haven’t done that in at least a decade.

    David, you up for getting a little pissed? We should do it sometime.

    I do know that whatever I do, in whatever form it takes, it’ll be about goodness. The stuff of life. Perhaps childhood. Curiosity. Play. Imaginings. It’ll be counter to sadness, cynicism, negativity, moroseness. I’ll get there. Perhaps reading here will help.

    I shall go away for a weekend. By myself. Away from the kids and the chaos. The noise and the “imminentness”. I will bring my laptop and just read the hell out of Burn. And perhaps I shall write to myself.

    But when?

    Hmmm!

  335. Carsten, you should check out Willhelm Imaging Research, the acknowledged experts on print permanence.

    If you are interested in making achival prints, pigment inks are superior simply because they last longer..a lot longer in some cases.

    Epson, Canon, and HP all make printers that use pigmented ink sets. Epson is far and away the most popular. The Epson 3880 will make spectacular prints up to 17″ wide. It costs about $1200 in the US I believe, way cheaper than setting up a good wet darkroom. If that is beyond your budget, the R1900 and 2880 printers, which print up to 13″ wide, start about $500. If you do any amount of printing, the 3880 uses much larger and more economical ink cartridges which will offset the higher initial cost, plus allow you to do larger prints. It also carries both matte and glossy black inks, which allow you to print on a very wide variety of substrates, including many beautiful fine art papers and canvas.

    If you are new to digital printing, welcome to the evil and mysterious world of calibration and colour profiles.

    Have fun!

  336. DAH: Thanks you to the reply! Glad that Natchwey will be with you and the whole crew at the loft. Particulary I can’t. I live in the other side of the the “pond”… maybe, next time.
    Enjoy
    Patricio

  337. ………there are those who respectfully are willing to pay their dues and those who for the life of them can’t see the point and just get on with it

  338. Gordon/Carsten,

    Take a look at http:/www.inkjetart.com
    I buy all of my high end paper from them.
    Their Micro Ceramic paper is top shelf and
    their profiles are really good.

    Lots of great info on paper, ink and printers.
    I just adore their paper and the prices on
    consumables are righteous.

  339. gordon & pomara: thanks! both Willhelm Imaging Research and inkjetart.com are great resources. gordon – yeah, color calibration is my next challenge :)

  340. DAH, I have had a change of plans. I will not be coming after all. Next time. Know they will all have a fabulous piece at the end of this week–your students always do.

    Lee

  341. panos, dear brother. i miss your spins and the rest of the nite shift..
    you know who you all are.. this is for you.

  342. Gracie; I’ve been pretty busy so have been absent from the night shift!

    I went to a talk at the local museum yesterday. Two reknown artists were giving a talk on the “artist’s life” and about finding your own voice in your art. It was a very ispirational talk and came at a great time for me; it was one of those times when I was doubting whether I had done the right thing re; reducing mag work to follow project work etc.

    Anyway; long story short; I talked to one of the artists for a short while afterwards and this morning sent him a thank you email for taking the time to talk. This morning he replied with a very inspirational email, which in some ways replicates what David has said. So I thought I’d re-post it here so you all may receive some benefit from the thoughts. What good is inspiration if you can’t pass it on?

    ” Hi Ross ,

    That is a very encouraging email. IT’S HARD TO TELL WHETHER THE THINGS SAID ON SUCH OCCASIONS HAVE ANY EFFECT OR IMPRESSION. ( accidental capitals, sorry.) I can only wish you the very best as you go about pursuing your passion. I’m quite sure good will come of your resolve. The shape of the outcome may not be what you expect going into it; but once you get your nose to the scent and have a dedicated time period devoted to following the trail, i’m sure your efforts will bear fruit and move you into a space that you can push forward from.

    Speaking from transitional episodes within my career I would like to offer a tip. On such undertakings you may find that your reward is in the form of stepping stones rather than as singular profound leaps. By this I mean allow yourself less than satisfying results that were the result of proceeding into a zone of uncertainty, but accompanied by integrity of purpose, then use that result to step further forward. Keats referred to this as negative capability, i.e. moving creatively towards the thing you don’t yet understand. This blind passage forward contrasts with the demand for certainty of result prior to action.. It sounds to me that your pledge to yourself is an assurance that you can tolerate the fear of the threshold and are in for an exciting, (and challenging, time ahead.) I wish you vision, judgement courage and opportunity. That given, the results will be assured and your path set. Good luck in your brave acknowledgent of a calling. Regards, John”

    I hope someone finds it helpful, because it came at a good time for me.

    Cheers :-)

  343. hi rossy.

    i too have about the same reasons to be absent.. did want to say hi-ho to what paultreacy.com said above about bowen being burntout (BBB).

    just this recently i went on an expedition… to find myself.

    thanks for passing the email along.. negative capability…i think i like that. A LOT!

    writing you nice thoughts on a fogged up window… good night rossy.

  344. a civilian-mass audience

    I am here too…

    I am always here…I am the civilian…the silent reader…the MASS AUDIENCE…

    I am still reading the comments and enjoying the essays…my wi-fi connection not reliable
    due to construction work near your Greek house…BUT it will be OK…I am an optimist…:)))

    and to all my BURNIANS…NO,NO,NO…I didin’t touch BOUBOULINA…No,I keep my promises…
    She has been eaten by a fox…yeap, a fox…Circle Of Life…

    I LOVE YOU ALLLL…keep it up…keep shooting…good luck to all who are attending MR.HARVEY’S
    journey of Vision and to the rest of YOU…Circle of LIFE is in your agenda…

    P.S Where is my oregano…night shifters:)))

  345. imants banana
    placing a true statement which is also an irrelevant reply to most of what i was saying seems a facile victory, yet a ‘dig’ well in tune with your style.

    age has very little to do with the point i was trying to make and of course there is another alternative to the rather embittered conclusions you suggest – which is to encourage and nurture young photographers.. something i’m proud to have always done.

    really – getoveryourself.. sensitive people whine about scattered insults.. i believe, since the very first day you posted misreading me, i have always stood still through yours.

    thodoris.
    skype would be great.. and i do respct what you are doing.. the book you have crafted is going to be a good read for certain and i have a personal interest in learning more about your work \ part of the world.

    paul
    i need to be in london at some point before the end of the year and would be good to have a couple of beers again.
    in truth the ‘photo industry’ has always been alien to me.. it’s been an industry i just did not look into beyond 18 or 19 years old.. and that has not been prohibitive.. in fact quite the opposite, in so far that if i had looked too closely my work would be completely diffeent.. perhaps in subject or motivation.
    i spent my formative years pouring over photo book in the library and then put all the books down for more than 10 years and shot.. and drank.. and followed my heart.

    new cameras, photographers, events and exhibitions really passed me by.
    now.. since digging into the industry and ‘comming home’ i’m begining to believe that my life away from home was one right way of doing it.. probably where i am returning to.
    creating is so much more satisfying, and limited funds means something must give. a week shootin or a week in perp?
    hmm

  346. bob

    duality of course.. my feeling is that of all the misery to come from war there has to be a time when photographers look above and beyond..
    now and forward is all nd everything :ø)

    it was good to read that the last esseyist will be returning and loking more closely at the state of things from a different perspective.

    look forward to that.

  347. CIVI,
    Bouboulina’s fate tells me that once the time has come, there is no way around it.
    Everything has its time.

    ROSS,

    thanks for sharing this motivational letter. It helps me, too.

  348. Gracie:))))))
    Big hug…
    I’m gonna resume the Wrap up Show .. Or Late Night show…
    I’m keeping myself of the Air for a while to recharge batteries..
    and trying to come up with better ideas.. Plus I’m staying away from drugs and alcohol lately
    so my inspiration is hard to come easy.. Laughing..
    I know, I know not very professional ..
    Biggest hug

  349. I’m keeping myself of the Air..

    Of the air? Sounds like a good place to be.

    Plus I’m staying away from drugs and alcohol lately
    so my inspiration is hard to come easy.

    Sucks how that works, eh?

    Regarding David Bowen’s polemic on positive photography, I’d like to agree but I really find it little different than focusing on negativity, suffering, or pain. Good intentions have a way of going awry. Generally, I prefer work that shows things as they actually are as opposed to how someone would like them to be or how someone thinks they would benefit humanity. Reality is always complex. The good the bad the ugly the beautiful the sensational the mundane the yin the yang the holy the profane are all mixed up just about anywhere we choose to gaze.

    Carsten, sounds like others have pointed you in a good direction so unless you want to contact me offline for advice, I probably won’t go and do a lot of research on the subject right now. I have, however, been researching hi-end Epsons at work and would suggest you consider them if it is at all possible. The 7900 (or 9900 for ultra-wide) with the built in spectrophotometer is the consensus best thing out there right now. Great archival characteristics, drop dead beautiful prints, the best color accuracy you can hope for. Not cheap, but less expensive than a pro camera and lens.

  350. michael..
    we are all trying to show how things appear to ourselves.. what i snap is certainly happening and real.. how it actually is through my eyes.
    people in the region are neither constantly dancing in joyous reunion nor standing in solitary corners pondering loss.. somewhere in between.. while getting on with life and trying to think forward perhaps.

    anyway.
    suns out.

  351. EVA:

    3 years ago, marina, dima and i had an exhibition together….i organized it, marina named it: ‘one black cubed’…3 years ago…each of us exhibited 4 b/w images…dima chose his own pictures, mostly from when he was 7-9 years ago….got a big review/great review by leading critic here in canada….but since we’re no ones, didn’t draw any major headlines, though it was the first parent/child exhibition of photogrpahy in a toronto gallery, ever….i’ll have to tease alec about this when i see him in 3 weeks….wish i had the pics at hand from the exhibition…easily, my favorite exhibition i’ve ever been a part of, better than any of my solo’s….

    here is the exhibition card/invite/pr thingie…:

    http://xpia.com/indexg/browseg_largeview.asp?gcard_id=515

    bob

  352. Yes David, I don’t think we’re far off, if off at all, on this. I certainly respect your thought and how you back it up with action. Semantics, as we all know, are difficult in the quick typing on-line comment world.

  353. But regarding, “we are all trying to show how things appear to ourselves..,” I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Some of us are trying to get beyond that. Tilting at windmills, you say? Perhaps.

  354. CARSTEN,

    I have an HPZ3200 44″ printer and am very happy with it. Also dirt cheap compared to the Epsons. Yes, like all printers it can be finicky at times but doesn’t clog like the Epsons. Also has built in means of profiling. B&W is superb (only uses the black inks). Not so great for sheet feeding. Good luck!

    CP

  355. The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
    Friedrich Nietzsche

  356. Imants; “Panos most of us have feared the wrath of our mothers at some time in our lives” No matter how old you are you know your mum still has the ability to kick your arse; even if only verbally…

    Gracie/Thomas; I’m pleased the email was beneficial for you. I was a bit down in the mouth that day, and it was a real tonic.

    Cheers :-)

  357. the now always teaches u about the vanquished
    ——————————-

    Not in the sense you used vanquished earlier (the ones who came before us, if I recall). On the other hand, living in the now, in the Buddhist sense, means you do vanquish craving, but you do the vanquishing, and it’s over false thoughts, selves and illusions. It’s a realization that is free of anything, anyone that came before, and unconcerned with what has not yet arisen.

  358. herve, my friend…

    it MOST CERTAINLY does..both the vanished AND THE VANQUISHED….there are specific meditations and mettas for that….living in the moment doesn’t mean you vanquish craving, it means you focus on the now and see craving for what it is/does: lead to suffering…i fear we’re discussing 2 very different things with regard to concentration on the now, which i imagine was your focus, since you know my relationship to buddhism and the practice of meditation…by the way, there are no false thoughts or false selves, there is only transformation, the rise and fall…illusion, yes, comes from our need of craving and attachment, but it doesn’t mean they’re false, quite the contrary they’re real and part of us…and that realization does not mean we’re free of anything or especially free of anyone that came before….(sounds to me like an unpracticed familiarity with interpreted misunderstandinds)….and by the way, all arises and disappears…

    we are part of all, and that includes what came before, just as my inhalation is part of your exhalation…a fundamental understanding…

    but this isn’t the place for discussions on suttas….

    we are from what we have come….

    a common misunderstanding by many (especially by those who don’t sit or study), that it means being free of everything and unconcerned with the world or the past…far from that…

    meditating does NOT mean denying the world (both prior and now), but embracing the world and living in it,of it, with it, but trying to relinquish attachment to it…that’s a profound difference….of which, it’ll take me a lifetime to get right, if ever at all…

    and in the end, i just do not understand some of the criticism here…

    ok…enough for a while :)))….jumping red princesses to write about :))

    cheers/hugs
    b
    .

  359. Eva: :))

    by far….my favorite, the most beautiful, the best reviewed, the most sales…but most importantly, the one when i was most proud to be a part of something photographic….it’s been downhill since, as my son has put away his camera….onto greener fields :)))…

    if i could find the pics from the opening i would post them….

    anyway….running, busy week…

  360. John – I would say both one and two. One – before you banged your head. Two, afterward.

    As long as I was there, I took a look at a huge part of the Brett Walker photostream – very powerful – especially the two black cat images. The tabby cat image was pretty good, too, but that did not reach so deep as did the black cat images – especially the first black cat image. That one was absolutely superb. A masterpiece. I can’t praise it enough, so I won’t try.

    Bob – Looked at the program – neat – especially if that was your son’s image on the cover. There were a couple of broken image links on the page, so I don’t know what I missed.

    I hope you find the pictures and post them.

  361. To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.

    There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.

    Friedrich Nietzsche

  362. a civilian-mass audience

    “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
    Buddha

    I am the happiest civilian…and I want to share my happiness…
    I LOVE YOU BURNIANS…you are small flames spread all over the Universe…
    BURN…and don’t forget to back up…your vision.

    P.S I found my oregano…VIVA BURNIANS…!!!

  363. a civilian-mass audience

    and from our friend JOHNY VINK…
    http://johnvink.com/story.php?title=Cambodia_Strike!
    (he said that is better to copy and paste…)

    … you are so many…birthdays,books, exhibitions,workshops…
    BUT I am MASS…I will find the way
    and
    when there is vision
    there is a way

    P.S…KATIEEE FONSECA …we need update…and to the rest of my BURNIANS…
    I will be back calling names…

    MR.HARVEY…THANK YOU

  364. FROSTFROG…

    i am sure your magazine is here…i am in new york, but i have not been to the office this week…i will either go in the next couple of days or have someone from magnum who is coming to our event on friday evening kindly bring me my mail…again, thanks

  365. “…take a few small risks, to step out into the unknown and try to make a real difference to your life. This isn’t the time to hang onto security or the status quo. If you’ve been holding yourself back because of uncertainty, timidity, lethargy or even hopelessness, now is the right time to take a leap forward. Be bold!…”

    Zeus

  366. PANOS…

    OR

    “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

    MARK TWAIN.

  367. JOHN GLADDY…

    yes, and Lou Reed is a pretty decent photographer…and musician…

    all ok, Rio? you working with Beto? we are going to be showing my Rio work to my workshop class on thursday…hope all is well..let me know if i can help

  368. Yeah Beto’s on board. Thanks for the intro.
    Lots of hassles, but all production side related. Permissions revoked etc.. working around it, lots of interesting shoots being set up. No time for any stills yet, but gonna try and make some time later in the week. For now its all boxing clubs, football clubs, favelas, snooker halls and zoos.

  369. JOHN GLADDY…

    cool..sounds like the norm…tell Beto i will be back mid-november…will call him soon of course…but anyway, a big hello please…and oh yes, tell him the tv show on us is coming up soon on Natgeo Channel

  370. “It’s called riding the edge. So lean back, let your hair down and feel the winds of change caress your skin.” Lee Guthrie

  371. David, you are so right. I don’t want to add to my regrets and so a handful of filmmakers and I are about to found a company, Ground Floor Films. It’ll be something of a co-operative, a shared space to gather, discuss, project, brainstorm and host workshops on a range of subjects within film, primarily documentary film.

    I’ve just been to the space and it’s terrific. But we still have various issues to sort out. The legalities for starters. The financing.

    Shortly I will transition to being an amateur photographer and professional filmmaker (and company director). All terrifying. But we have to do it or we’ll always regret not trying. I think, certainly hope, that we will be greater, creatively and administratively, than the some of our parts.

    In my own time I can return to serious street photography.

    Finally, however, I will continue to make lots of photographs in my film work as I see video as a vehicle to showcase strong, arresting photography.

    Watch this space. We’ve been quiet about this but soon we will be making plenty of noise.

  372. I owned myself once, but I brought myself back to Walmart and got a refund. The damn thing wouldnt work properly. No more impulse buying for me!

  373. Absolutely true:

    “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did…”

    Now that I am 60, I find I have many regrets – none, really, for the things that I did do, including all those things they taught me at church that I would regret for eternity if I did them but did them anyway. There are a few things on that “regret for eternity” list that I did not do and these are the things that I most regret not doing. Except for murder. I think they were right about that one. I don’t regret not murdering anyone.

    Thanks, David. I hope you like what you see. I suspect you might think I should have edited Uiñiq a little more tightly.

    Now – to any who might wish to see how the sound of the bowhead whale comes through in the beat of the Eskimo drum, please drop by my blogpost today:

    http://wasillaalaskaby300.squarespace.com/journal/2010/9/21/the-story-of-an-eskimo-drum-part-1-when-she-gets-sung-to-on.html

  374. I have seen a book he made called “New York” (what else?), Marcin. I am sorry to say I can’t remember one picture from it, it was basically a painterly, poetic rendition, New York as inner landscape inspired by its outer shell and Lou reed’s own subjectivity. Nothing like street photography, quite contrary to it, actually. All color, I think.

  375. I owned myself once, but I brought myself back to Walmart and got a refund. The damn thing wouldnt work properly. No more impulse buying for me!
    ——————————————

    voted: best comment of the year!

  376. Panos –

    I once bought a fish at Wal-Mart. An oscar, a beautiful, tiny little thing that grew up to be huge – at least for the confines of a 90 gallon tank. He was a good fish and quite intelligent. I loved him. He died prematurely at the age of about six or seven years – I think because he swallowed a stone from off my aquarium floor.

    He acted like he had swallowed a rock. I could have cut him open to find out. Indeed, I have cut open a good number of fish – but I could not cut him open.

    He was my friend, you see.

    So I buried him in the back yard. Wild and thorny roses now grow over his grave.

    These are the not the big thorns that you in lower latitudes associate with roses, but tiny thorns, their diameter similar to that of thick hair. But they are exceedingly sharp and numerous.

    You do not want to get them in your skin.

    As for the roses themselves, once their leaves die they leave behind hips that are rich in Vitamin C.

    That’s why we call them, “oranges of the north.”

    Now there’s some wisdom for you.

  377. Frostfrog, love the photos of the whale and the drum stretching. Didn’t read the comments just enjoyed the photos–so may have made some of the story up.

    I too will be sixty this year–in fact, on the 29th. Celebrating by attending a concert of Citizen Cope with three friends I’ve known for decades, two since their birth.

    Lee

  378. a civilian-mass audience

    FROSTFROG…thank you …Again

    and of course AKAKY…is THE AKAKY…

    P.S I have to go…I am getting ready for LEE’S birthday…
    I will be back calling names…

  379. a civilian-mass audience

    BUY BURN 01…
    to all my civilians …all over the Universe…

    BURN 01…What Not To Buy !!!

  380. Pearls that swim the rift of me
    Long and weary my road has been
    I was lost in the cities
    Alone in the hills
    No sorrow I feel
    For anything I feel yea

    I am not your rolling wheels
    I am a highway
    I am not your carpet ride
    I am the sky

    Friends and liars
    Don’t wait for me
    Cause I’ll get on
    All by myself
    Put millions of miles
    Under my heels
    And still too close to you
    I feel

    I am not your rolling wheels
    I am the highway
    I am not your carpet ride
    I am the sky
    I am not your blowing wind
    I am the sky here
    I am not your automn moon
    I am the night
    The night

    I am not your rolling wheels
    I am the highway
    I am not your carpet rag
    I am the sky
    I am not your blowing wind
    I am the lightining
    I am not your automon
    I am the night

  381. a civilian-mass audience

    nightshifters…wake up…
    BURN 01 is in the town…

    and to the rest of the world…lunch time…

    P.S mousaka is served…what not to BURN…
    goodnight and good afternoon…wherever you are…

  382. I think he thinks too much. His definition of pornography would apply to a picture of a bowl of fruit. And he claims it can’t be used as a metaphor, yet I just did, with his definition no less. So next time you watch pornography, think bowl of fruit. Though you might not want to try vice versa, at least not in public.

  383. I would not touch it with a 10ft pole, Panos, at least until I hear what Jenny Lynn Walker has to say about it! Life is dangerous enough like that….. ;-)

  384. a civilian-mass audience

    No problem MR.VINK…how can I forget…
    Intolerance…:)))

    IMANTS…as IMANTS…

    HERVE…I missed you in France…
    sooner or later, mate…sooner or later

    BURNIANS…BURN the Universe!!!

  385. Lou , took a divorce from his First WIFE long time ago….thank god…

    “Heroin, be the death of me
    Heroin, it’s my wife and it’s my life ”
    Lou Reed

    although he was really committed…he had to start a new…then he became a photographer..
    David said he is decent … to me sounds like (good, but not good enough)…but who cares…i can listen to Velvet Underground all day..

  386. Thank you, Akaky… that’s just what I needed right now :-)

    The story goes that Wes developed his style by practicing at night unplugged and strumming with his thumb so that he wouldn’t wake anyone. Tone so thick you could cut it…

  387. Thanks Akaky, there are many more of Wes there I want to watch (and download) too. Youtube is a superb treasure trove (well, jazz here)!

  388. Dear Burnians,

    I hope you are all well. I’m going to be in Washington DC from Oct 3rd through 7th and was hoping to catch up with a few people whilst there. I know fellow Burnians Brendan Hoffman and Gina Martin are there, so I will be meeting up with them. If anyone would be interested in mtg for drinks/dinner, please fire me an email.

    If you want to see what I’ve been up to recently, you can check out these links:

    http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/asia/china’s-disappearing-wetlands

    Hope to see some of you soon!

    Sean

  389. SEAN…

    always proud of your progress and i see you continue to move forward….i will be in D.C. doing some editing while you are there, so perhaps we can make time for a cold beer…

    cheers, david

  390. Hey Sean, interesting stuff. I used to study water issues, albeit in places where a lot less was available, and found that understanding how water works — who controls it, who uses it, how people use it and how much they pay for it, if/how it’s regulated, etc. — opens up a new and deeper view into how the world works. If you follow the water, it will take you to some fascinating places; visually, as well as intellectually. There’s a little hidden valley in Sonora I’ll never forget. Perfect climate, 19th century like beautiful with rolling hills and small farms, culturally interesting on several levels (including petroglyphs which is always a bonus) and an aquifer thoroughly infused with human shit and tap water that would kill you if you drank it. The fruit and vegetables irrigated with that water were iffy as well. The family I got to know there got displaced from farming. Some became illegal immigrants to the U.S., others became hot dog vendors in nearby towns. So many connections flowed out from one little river.

    Anyway, I look forward to seeing more of your work on this issue. The info about the old irrigation system in Sichuan was particularly interesting.

  391. ROSS,

    Thank you! I love Ry Cooder, too! The “Paris, Texas” and “Southern Comfort” soundtracks were my first introductions to slide guitar as a young one.

    If you haven’t yet, check out his collaboration with Cuban guitarist Manuel Galban. IIRC, the guitar on that album is all honest-to-God real big room reverb :-)

  392. i am just getting into the office…bad boy….third coffee and fourth aspirin….the airport is still a little fogged in and i cannot figure where everyone is posting and why now back to this old dialogue post? anyway, who cares? i will have a new essay for monday morning…just have to tweak out a few things first….

    for those of you who have helped create the landslide that is BURN 01, our heartfelt thanks….i mean anyone can see the circle i think….so this is all good for all of us…i do hope you feel the same…

    cheers, hugs, david

  393. MICHAEL WEBSTER…

    good reportage from the workshop….you behaved yourself for the two days you were with us as per promised…i would have been pleased if you had been there for all five as you know, but at least you got a taste….i am sure you can imagine that every class is a bit different…the tone of the class and even my teaching style varies with the dynamic and demographic of the class..customized, limited edition..this was a particularly bonded group or maybe i think that every time…yes, think so…many of my former students were there as well..a nice feeling i must say, and i always recommend to every young photographer who is on the move forward to start paying back immediately and long before you are “successful” …do it…works for everyone….

    cheers, david

  394. Cool, David, you’re knocked out on aspirine, and me on morphine.. first time ever.. wanted to meet up with Diego tomorrow morning, but my back had a different plan.. must reschedule my Burn 01 pick up in Venice.. cheers.. dizzy..

  395. SEAN G.

    Congratulations on your ongoing series on the problems of China’s wetlands. It looks like you have been especially busy over the last couple of months, covering a lot of ground. The combination of informative text and documentary photos provides just the right amount of information for the non-specialist or university undergraduate to make them aware of the basic problems and pique further curiosity. The work you have been doing for the Pulitzer Center is an excellent example of how someone who has a litle bit of specialist knowledge and background and is also a serious photojournalist can make a real difference in public awareness. I hope you continue on this path and look forward to more of this accumulating body of work. I will be recommending your blog to my friends who are still in the teaching racket for use in their courses.

  396. Patricio.. Yes..
    Eventually he got clean in the Encinas rehab in Pasadena..
    Not far from my rehab in Saint John Hospital in Beverly Hills..
    Yes, Art feels more “real” when you clean..
    Message to all: stay away from drugs, especially heroin..
    Please, do…. Trust me
    Big hug
    Peace
    Off to venice:)

  397. David – It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get on here – Just read your reply to riding a bike witha camera – Very intriguing! I’ve had nothing but experience with riding and an SLR swinging around… Perhaps it’s your bike too! Do you have a mountain bike or something more leisurely? I have my old mountain bike that I hunch over too.. so it’s not a camera friendly transport…

    I’ve been shooting a lot with my Voigtlander, very leica-esque – shooting a lot of film – I love the feel, look and grace…

    Lee Guthrie – I just saw your responses earlier about shooting American Indians…
    I don’t have any of my work online currently. Sorry I didn’t have some samples for you to look at. I have been working on a project that has been eating up a lot of time but sometime in the future I will likely have a few photos up. Later this fall I will be traveling north to photograph the Menominee again for a magazine article about their logging techniques.

  398. Last day Rio. Big wrap party at marius fish resturant. I had to pay the bill…..OUCH!!, but worth it.
    Do we have a film in the can?? who knows?.. but Lobster was fantastic :)
    Next stop London. Back to reality.

  399. David, thanks. Customized, limited edition. Yes. And having now met several former students I appreciate the bond that exists between you and them individually, as well as that which they create among themselves as a group. The entire experience is a wonderful thing on so many levels. I’m working on a bit more extensive and sophisticated version that I hope will provide a broader, deeper, and more accurate account. Jordan graciously provided me with a nice photo to accompany it. I’ll send you a short email about it later today or tomorrow.

    And we jest a bit among ourselves, but just so random readers out there understand, although the “mw” internet persona is often written as a squirrely character, “mw” in real life has a long and varied history in the publishing industry and always behaves professionally, even under extreme duress such as tequila shots on the roof at 3 o’clock in the morning. No lampshades for me.

    On another, somewhat related note; someone mentioned having recently set a record for spending money on a photo book. Well, I just ordered Bruce Davidson’s Outside Inside, and that’s right on the heels of Burn 01. See what you people are doing to me? At this rate, I’ll be converting the kitchen into a darkroom by early next year.

  400. Often I wish I lived in or near NYC….

    For those who do….Bruce Davidson signing at Barnes & Noble…


    Bruce Davidson
    Bruce Davidson: Outside Inside
    Author Signing
    The legendary photographer Bruce Davidson will join us to celebrate the release of a beautiful new three-volume retrospective of his entire, fascinating career from his days as a freelance photographer for Life to those spent at Magnum Photos.
    Tuesday October 05, 2010 7:00 PM

    86th & Lexington Ave
    150 East 86th Street, New York, NY 10028, 212-369-2180

    Special Instructions
    There is a limit of one copy of Outside Inside per person at this event. Copies will be available for purchase on the day of the event only — due to limited supply the title will not be available for pre-purchase.

    The box set there is not much more than the edition on Amazon….and if anyone happens to be in the neighborhood and wants to pick up a copy for me (and get it signed), I would happily reimburse you for cost and shipping and at least buy dinner next time I’m there…. :)

    Good light, all.

    A.

  401. MW…

    yes, me too…i have no idea how much i have invested in photo books…lots whatever it is….but when it comes to tactile objects of possession, i make books my number one…my only regret is in not always buying a book that i like when it comes out…procrastination in this regard only makes the book even more expensive in the long run…books that woulda shoulda coulda cost be 50 bucks, i end up spending 400 for a few years later…

    early morning rain here in new york..gray , wet, foggy….nice time to pull an old favorite off the shelf…

    cheers, david

  402. g’morning David.

    Wet, foggy and drizzly here as well.

    Quick question for you – what’s the queue like for submitted singles? I have a few in mind I may venture to send….

    and lest all think my pinings for NYC imply a lack of cultural events in my own fair city, I must advertise just a bit…those of you who follow classical music may recognize the name…Gustavo Dudamel and the Vienna Philharmonic are playing here this evening. Quite an honor to have them ….

  403. JOHN GLADDY..

    i got a nice email from Beto who said he enjoyed working with you and your crew in Rio….anxious to see what you shot…if it is ever possible that is….i do not know Marius fish restaurant…where is it? again, too bad our trips did not coincide …safe travels amigo…

    cheers, david

  404. ANDREW B…

    a long line, but we do not publish in chronological order of submission….so submit…good singles always in very short supply….we do get dozens of single submissions every week, but few on the mark…show me dude, show me….we missed you at the Davidson event….

    cheers, david

  405. DAVID HARVEY.
    Glad beto enjoyed it. Him and his driver are top guys.
    Marius, avenue atlantica, lemus…..If you want fantastic seafood this is the place. (expect $100 + per person though)
    Are you familiar with BOB NADKARNI? We stayed at his jazz hotel, The Maze, in a ‘safe’ favhella for a day and a night. Very interesting guy, and a great host. His is the house where the snoop video was shot..he has many stories, and loves to tell them over a cold beer or three. I recommend a visit highly.
    Now utterly shattered and looking forward to getting home….but I must come back..Rio captivates right??

    PEACE

    john

  406. david alan harvey –

    After reading MW’s report, I can see how incredibly busy you have been lately with the release of burn 01, your students and all the many things that you do, so I kind of hate to ask for any of your time at all, but I wonder if the Uiñiq magazine and the copy of Gift of the Whale that I mailed has reached you yet?

    I will feel a little better when I know that they have.

  407. we do get dozens of single submissions every week, but few on the mark…
    ————————————-

    Just to send one, and not be featured is plenty of feedback already. Not being facetious here, I mean it. Humility is crucial to advance one’s photography. Anyway, David can be wrong too! ;-)))

  408. HERVE…

    now wait, didn’t i in fact feature one of your singles?? one of the better ones we published i must say…but i have not seen the same from you since…at least not yet…but, yes of course i can be wrong too…and i might not have seen anything recent yet either…i am a bit behind in seeing submissions , but will catch up this week…ok, yes, your bag is in the mail…or, will be when i take it to magnum tomorrow to be shipped..this has literally been my first chance to do this, i promise…

    cheers, david

  409. JOHN GLADDY…

    yes, i know The Maze and Bob…yea, Bob is quite the entertainer for sure….did not stay there before, but might give it a try…

    FROSTFROG…

    your package has arrived Bill …i saw it with my own eyes today…but, no time to open it yet…will try tomorrow….again, many thanks

  410. DAH,

    Speaking of submissions…I just started editing the middle portion of my India 2010 and after reading your tweet about exotic vs back yard and the earlier conversation here about single images I submitted TWO images. I only received ONE confirmation from burn. I’m guessing that means one of the images didn’t go thru but I don’t know which one!

    When you get around to looking could you or Anton or whoever please let me know if you have both images? The fact that it took me 8 months to take a look at this work and I immediately submitted is rare for me so I don’t want to miss having you see my submission. THANKS!!!

  411. CATHY…

    i just looked and see that we have two submissions from you…i did not look at the pictures because i am too too sleepy….later please…..in any case, wishing you all best….

    cheers, david

  412. now wait, didn’t i in fact feature one of your singles?? one of the better ones we published i must say
    ——————————-

    Thank you, David. This submission was thanks to Patricia who was instrumental in my submitting it. It’s true I usually send one without too much calculation, spontaneously rather, as the shot speaks to me and was taken usually the same day I sent.

    Talking about this, whatever happened to the TUILERIES GARDENS one? It still would be the first “visual humour” shot on BURN… And you liked it too!

  413. The bag…. Thank you again, David (Panos too, who has your ear!), it will be even more appreciated for all the suspence that preceded its delivery. It sure does have a story of its own, already! :-)

  414. frostfrog..

    thanks for the shout-out.

    not a paying reproduction, yet it is good to have some traffic to my site.
    makes me want to re-do the whole thing.

    incidentally – the photo was taken nearly 10 years ago now.. still a little further to creep back and find the earliest of the Wasted photos..

    flying out.
    cheers
    d

  415. incidently – anyone here have a large format press camera they would be happy to lend?
    thinking – graflex ‘crown graphic’ or that kind of thing… something usable, which can be hand held..

    looking on ebay as well..

    hmm?

  416. a civilian-mass audience

    BRAVO DAVIDB…Bravissimo

    Happy Birthday to SEAN GALLAGHER and to JACOB AUE SOBOL…!!!

    EVA…we need update for your back…and of course…

    MRS.KATHLEEN FONSECA… ASAP…proceed to the BURNING area for immediate update…

    I will be back

  417. David B…

    If you’re not in a hurry, I would gladly lend you mine once I’m back in Nicosia (hopefully in less than a month.)

    Shipping would be quite a bit though… mine weights about 2.5kg—without packaging…

    Let me know…

  418. HERVE…

    ahhh yes, the Paris garden picture…i did think it was funny….but showing it around to people, i got negative humor reactions from many…funny for some , is not funny for others…humor always tricky this way , particularly for this type of humor…some could interpret as bad taste…we do humor here…wasn’t the pigeon picture funny? for me it was…anyway, i am always looking for humor…as you know , i am a laughing person by nature…just hard to find good humor in photography…send me some

  419. DAVID B…

    do not have a large format press camera…what you do with it?? always loved , at least in theory, the Crown Graphic…hand held 4×5….nice….keep thinking i might try it for awhile myself..anyway, will look around new york today for you….

  420. David…Would be great to grab a cold beer when we are both in DC, for sure. Will be good to catch up. Let me know of the easiest way to get hold of you. I know you’re a hard man to pin down!

    MW/Sidney…Thanks very much for your thoughts on the wetlands piece. I think with this work, like most of the work I do on the environmental issues, is geared towards peaking people’s interests in the underlying causes of these problems. In the written pieces, I aim to present a few key facts that will hopefully stir interest and along with the photos will get people to dig a little further themselves into these issues. If they create dialogue and a new awareness, then this is a good start. Thanks again.

  421. While things are a bit quiet, I have a question I’d like to ask of the group. This is perhaps remedial for most of you, but a discussion on the topic may well help me along my way as I stretch myself. It came to mind partly because of where I find myself in my development, and partly from a comment from MW’s reportage about the loft workshop, how there was one particular image that the student finally was able to get..

    When working on an essay, how detailed do you get about the shots you’re looking for? Beyond what you’re trying to say, do you have a list of things you want, almost like a shot list? Do you maybe even go that far, as to saying “ok, I need to find xyz”…or is it more fluid than that, more just experiencing the theme/idea/message and shooting from instinct and internal feel? A mix of both?

    I figure there will be as many approaches as there are photographers, but would like to hear more…

    good light, all.
    A.

  422. andrew b

    on a single commission, which i guess would be a narrative of it’s own, i do look for specific shots which please the client and then keep a much more open, lucid, mind towards what i want to find.. which is ultimately what is there rather than what i expect to see.. there are shots “to be expected” and those which are a complete surprise.. i am interested in the later and my clients seem to use me because some respect is paid to the former.. for publication they look for that balance from me.

    DAH – very kind, yet postage may be prohibitive.. guess i am hoping to find one in the uk which i can pick up in transit..
    why?
    well..
    having shot the music crowd with medium and 35mm formats i have a mind to do something else.. have an idea for how to make them look and how i will shoot.. just need to have a look-see and find what is possible :o)

  423. David B., if you get the pacemaker (with 1/1000 shutter in camera) with the kalart side rangefinder (to avoid having to get special cams made for the top rangefinder to match unusual lenses) you have the option of using barrel lenses, such as the superfast WWII Aero Ektars, specifically the 6″ f2.5, popularly called the Burnett Combo for David Burnett’s use of it. Lots of examples on is website. The extra speed of the glass seems to make up a bit for the limited movements of the press cameras for better selective focus options, plus, you know, it’s just great glass, or so I hear. Only slightly radioactive.

    Andrew B., I thought Alec Soth’s use of general and eclectic lists … man with beard, suitcase, etc. … taped to the dash as he drove around looking for people to meet was interesting.

  424. David B,

    Thanks for that. I completely see that being the best course for an assignment. What about for your own personal projects? Do you treat yourself as the “client” and have expected shots, or gravitate more towards the more fluid, open-minded lucid approach? One reason I guess I’m being careful is I can tend to be left-brained and box my creativity in…

    I’m trying to make sense of a personal essay, a topic for myself…I have the concept and the feel, and perhaps even some pre-conceived ideas of shots. But I’m not sure whether to pursue it left-brain or right-brain…i.e. make a list of images I think would fit, the feel, the minds-eye sort of shots imagined, or to simply go with the gut feeling of “this is what I want to say, and how it feels, and OH! There is something that does that exactly”….

    I suspect it is a combination of both, I seem to remember someone saying that following your inner self will result most likely not in what you thought originally, but something perhaps even more powerful.

  425. Tom Hyde,

    yes…something along that line seems like perhaps the best balance…similar to what I have rambling around in my head now…sometimes they are even only imagined images – I know how I want them to feel, but not specifically what they are of, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

    I’ve started making notations in my note-book when a feeling or idea that’s particularly strong comes along…

  426. andrew..

    with music i was already shooting as a personal project for months when clients picked up on it..
    in that sense what i shot did not change.. perhaps i just evolved and grew into knowing what the client likes, and what i like..
    the two don’t fight each other, especially when a client trusts what we are already doing and allows us a little freedom. plenty of photos which ended up in my monday morning edit for the client were not suitable for publication – and only stayed in because i loved them and the client enjoyed seeing the truer motivation for me work.

    my only conscious thoughts while shooting are of the moment.. in an odd way i know everything needed will be there.. as much time or film has allowed i’ll keep looking and also have a strange sense of when it has worked out.. when i begin repeating myself.. and when i am still seeing new things..

    if only i had that talent in writing.

    one weekends raving would be edited down to 30 or so shots.. and that was my monday routine for 10 years so it became second nature to know what to expect.
    the difficultly comes when familiar shots present themselves and i want to see something else..

    it is much easier, with a well known subject, to know what will be there rather than to open up and see what is going to be there..
    it can be a lot more edgy, intense and ultimately rewarding to think of the expected shots as the bottom rung of the ladder, and then see how high or deep you dare yourself to go :o)

    as it were..

    TOM – thanks so much.. i will look in more detail tomorrow and perhaps drop you an email with more specifics of what i want to do..
    very good man.
    cheers
    d

  427. and LISTS are fantastic.. notebooks.. workbooks.. sketching.. doodling..

    ESSAYS as well.. i mean written to ourselves, frank and honest.. why and wherefore type stuff.. i have a good number of these tucked around the place on computer.. draft blog posts.. all sorts..

  428. I posted this a week or so ago, but it didn’t really get any traction. So… I thought I’d post it again while it’s a bit quieter here to try and get some opinions! :-)

    “The latest Kashmir essay got me thinking. When I looked at the Anthropographia edit I couldn’t believe how different it was to the Burn edit. The Anthropographia edit was much more “traditional”.

    Usually; photographers are always encouraged to present the strongest edit (especially on Burn); yet I suppose this essay shows that maybe you have to tailor your edits towards the particular display vehicle. I feel that the Burn essay is by far the strongest edit.

    I can understand that if you visited a location multiple times, and were continually adding more work, then an edit could change quite drastically. But wasn’t this piece shot over a 6-week period? The difference in the three essays (including the Oskar Barnack Award) isn’t just a case of a few images being adding or taken out as the story evolves.

    So; to cut a long story short; do we have to tailor our edits? Or do we say “To hell with it, I feel this is the strongest edit so take it or leave it”?

    This is not a criticism of the essay, I’m just interested in why the edits are so drastically different, when we are so often encouraged to pick your strongest edit?”

    Cheers :-)

  429. ROSS…

    we published here the Kashmir edit as we received it from Anthropographia…i just moved one picture around in the sequence…that’s all…so i am surprised you saw yet another edit from the same source..or , am i not understanding?? in any case, edits change all the time for a wide variety of reasons….on any given essay i might have three different edits depending on the show i am doing or the audience…my edit for a story i am showing editors might be different, more all inclusive, than one i might show to this audience or a peer group…edits for readers of mass circulation magazines are surely different than the ones perhaps shown only to other photographers…or even within that group a tighter edit might be employed for reasons of time etc….as i have said many times here on Burn, a slide show is one thing, an exhibition another, and a book another, and a magazine another….all possibly different edits, sequences, etc…

  430. David Bowen –

    “not a paying reproduction…” I think this has pretty much become the way of life on the web. Thanks for the info and I enjoyed the pick.

    To All Cat Lovers:

    I am overjoyed! On July 25, after a two hour boat ride up the Yukon River from Fort Yukon to Circle, Fat Cat jumped out of the boat and disappeared into the Alaskan wilderness.

    But now, just in time to save her ass from becoming a frozen popsicle, she has returned:

    http://wasillaalaskaby300.squarespace.com/journal/2010/9/28/fat-cat-is-back.html

  431. HERVE…

    your bag should arrive by fedex tomorrow…no signature required…i did not get a chance to put in a note, so this is it..congratulations on winning the caption writing contest from months ago judged by Chris Bickford……sorry for the delay but well ok no excuses, sorry for the delay for this prize bag…you might want to change out the shoulder strap…anyway, i do use this bag quite a bit on assignments, so i hope it works for you….our customer service department will allow one bag return and exchange…after that, you are on your own..

    cheers, david

  432. Frostfrog

    “thought he was a goner but the cat came back”

    Martha is literally on the phone as I type this, with a Lasqueti Island friend who is offering to go put out food for Pepe La Pew, who was left behind at our Lasquiti house. She cannot take Pepe, so we must decide what to do. He is a lovely guy, great mouser and ratter, but would not survive the traffic here in town.

    http://www.pbase.com/glafleur/image/127758226

  433. The program director for a day program for mentally handicapped adults in the community in which I live has sent out an email asking for donations of digital point and shoot cameras. They are planning a project in which clients will be encouraged to explore their lives, and share their lives and view of the world through photography.
    I have offered to become involved in the project. I’m very excited about it. If anyone has any in-put they would like to offer, or a donation of a camera, I’d love to hear from you.
    glafleurphoto@shaw.ca

  434. Gordon – If I were down there, I would take Pepe myself. Both my wife and cats would be upset with me, but I would do it. I hope he finds a home, soon.

  435. Frostfrog

    You are clearly a cat person, as is my daughter who lives in Victoria and fosters cats for a rescue organization. Anyway, my oldest son Robin, also a cat person, is going to Lasqueti on thursday and will connect with Pepe. We may bring him over to this side and transport him to Victoria, but it would be better for him if we could find a Lasqueti home for him.

  436. DAH

    Rejection’s ugly head is female!

    Whether rejector or rejectee, it is painful.
    Today I hired a new office assistant. Tommorow, I must send rejection emails to the several dozen people who applied. Hate being the bad guy.

  437. a civilian-mass audience

    “I think all great innovations are built on rejections.”
    Louis Ferdinand Celine (French writer and physician, 1894-1961)

    FROSTFROG…
    it’s a sign…ROYCE is smiling
    What not to LOVE !!!

    Whoever is in Lasqueti area…we need home for PEPE…
    thank you.

    Again, Happy Birthday to our LEEEEEEEEEEEE…!!!

  438. Gordon – Yes, I am – although I didn’t know it until I turned 41, flew my airplane home to Wasilla from a three-month stay in the far Northwest Alaska Arctic village of Point Hope, sat down on the backporch with a ham sandwich and a Pepsi only to have a starving adolescent cat walk out of the woods, climb onto my lap and start kneading my beard. My youngest daughter was five then and she came out to join us. I told her we were going to cook that cat for dinner, she said we weren’t, the cat ate most of my ham, stayed and I discovered I am a cat person.

    My career has been an interesting one that has kept me busy but left me in deep financial straits. It is my belief that cats – through the photos and stories that I have taken and written about them – will one day come to my rescue.

    mtomally – when I see that a You Tube video is over two or three minutes, I almost never watch it, but I watched this one and smiled for 7.5 minutes.

    Yes, Civi – it is a sign and a rather amazing one. I had not given Fat Cat up for dead, but would have, very soon.

    Now I’ve got to polish up an old cat story and redo the layout before I go to bed in an hour or so.

  439. ¨My career has been an interesting one that has kept me busy but left me in deep financial straits. It is my belief that cats – through the photos and stories that I have taken and written about them – will one day come to my rescue.¨

    brilliant.. cats in bomber-jackets perhaps..

    TOM HYDE
    utterly sorted me out with your information – many thanks.
    looking online it seems for less than the price of a 2nd hand canon G9 i can get a half decent setup and get started..
    thanks also for reminding me of david burnett.. good stuff..

  440. Nice idea, David B – but I’m afraid mine are all candid cats. No studio cats at all – although once I put an umbrella up by the couch and shot a few frames. I couldn’t get the damn cat to put on the flight jacket, though. Once, before I crashed my airplane, I did try to get the same cat to pose on the nose, just behind the prop, but he jumped off.

  441. also – getting a zeiss ikon to butcher.
    unsure why LF and obscura are at the front of my mind again, yet really excited for it..
    possibly boredom with the past year since starting digital..

  442. GORDON…

    yes, worse than being rejected is doing the rejecting…of course “rejection” is not gender specific…i was simply trying to get as much info into the 140 character limitation of twitter as possible…

  443. They just this moment delivered Bruce Davidson’s “Outside Inside” — all 23 pounds worth. Just an amazing life’s work.

  444. Lee: Your response doesn’t surprise me :) Seize the moment!

    I think a full-out “shot list” is too left-brained…but the idea of visualizing the final work, or the feel, really helps me. Somewhere in between the “to-do list” and the “ok, go shoot” approach is, I think, right for me…

    Still curious to hear other thoughtss on this question (see a page or so back). Do you use, or visualize, the images you want/need when working ona personal essay?

    DAH, would love to hear your thoughts on this as well….

    Oh, and Happy Birth Day, LEE!

  445. ANDREW B..

    when i get up in the morning, i have no idea what will be my picture or pictures for the day…i do have a rough idea of what i will be doing and where i will go, but definitely not a “shot list”, even on an ad shoot…a concept/key word list yes…however, many agencies and magazines do employ the shot list philosophy and many photographers do indeed comply….i could never in a million years pre-visualize what i will eventually do in any given day or time frame….i lose some ad work because of this i am sure….hard to sell the concept of “it will be magic” to the accountant at most firms…however, that is indeed my only pitch….and it has worked enough for me to have earned a living in the most pleasant possible way etc…and of course i believe it with all my heart….

  446. andrew b., I think you can see an example of someone using something like a shot list in the new essay on Iceland and its financial crisis. Beautiful scenery, check; swimming in the geothermal waters, check; effects on children and artists, check; villains of the financial crisis, check; fishing industry, check; power plant, check; the wonderful aluminum smelters and their attendant jobs, check; catastrophic environmental damage caused by aluminum smelters, ummmmm…

  447. Thanks to all – especially you, DAH, who have responded with ideas and thoughts on “organizing” thoughts for essays….it seems as if I’m not so far from doing it in a way those more successful than I do it…even if this matters…but always nice to know I’m not missing a critical link (Akaky, straight line there for you…)…

    good light, all.
    a.

  448. john gladdy…couple shots there I definitely like!

    The one of the street with the guy in the suit to the side…and the one of the abandoned chair in the street….

  449. john gladdy – I like those shots! I opened this up expecting to maybe see something that might make me question just a little bit why it is that I choose to live through long winters so cold and dark when there are places where flowers are blooming and gorgeous women flaunt their bodies in the warm sun – all of which one associates with Rio.

    I did not see anything to cause even the tiniest pang of regret, but I did some strong images that speak of the artist’s eye of John Gladdy.

  450. Ha bobus… Jonas , new magnum blood , although if I had to chose between north Vs south,
    Scandinavia Vs Italy ? I’d choose Alex Majoli.. Easier for me to understand and get along..
    Id rather take pathos than precision, design than mechanics.. Ducati Vs Volvo..
    Big hug ( just kiddin );)

  451. LEE

    Love Danny Lyons. I saw a signed, numbered print of the shot of the guy on the motorcycle on the bridge, looking over his shoulder, along with several other notable photogs including Lee Freidlander, Robert Frank, Walker Evans, Alex Soth, Henry Wessel, and Garry Winogrand, in a collection called “road Trip” in one of my client’s corporate offices… Would love to see an entire collection of him…

  452. Bag is here, david. Love it, my very new Canon 5DmarkII too! Kawp khun Maak krap!!!!

    PS: Err…..There were pictures of Panos naked with a girl (well, maybe not a girl, I can’t really tell, something anyway…)in one the pockets. Should I send back to you or Panos?

    :-))))))))))))))))))))))

  453. HERVE – that’s frickin hilarious! Just made me laugh at the end of a long and partially unpleasant day!
    PANOS – hope you’re doin good over there on the other side of the world!

  454. But let’s keep it real.. You need to be in great shape.. Go to the gym…
    and do lots of protein shakes to be able to lift and operate it…;)
    (a little on the heavy side.. Try to walk couple miles with a zoom attached
    and next morning u won’t be able to move your neck… greatest camera on a tripod though;)

  455. Panos; “Carl Zeiss on the 5D and I’m sold” Aah; but which kidney did you have to sell to buy the Zeiss lens? :-)

    I scored a mint used Nikkor 24 2.8 about a year ago for about 90 bucks; about 1/3 the going rate. It’s nice to score a bargain every now and then! It’s hardly left the camera since then! :-)

  456. Ross.. Carl Zeiss for canon or nikon around $800 or a 50mm f1.4 for $400….
    It’s doable.. Just sell house, kid and one of the twins..
    Speaking about twins.. Having twins sounds like a bad deal..
    Why having the same , twice? In cars I get it.. Coz if one breaks you have parts for the other one..
    But kids???

  457. Herve….. 35/2 on the 5DII??
    —————————-

    Yep, that’ll be the combo, along with 17-40 or 24-105, when light aplenty.

  458. ANDREW B.,

    Regarding lists, (as Tom Hyde previously mentioned) Alec Soth immediately comes to mind. You might want to check out his current Flickr project, “From Here to There”:

    http://www.flickr.com/groups/from-here-to-there/

    The discussion on “Assignment #1” seems to point that Soth uses his lists as a jumping off point (or exercise in seeing) that is not to be strictly adhered to, but as a stimulus to get out there and shoot.

  459. Panos – Thanks for the link. I remember that superb DAH picture – good to see it again. Personally, I think Nat Geo continues to produce a huge amount of excellent work. I understand the need of the young to overthrow the old in their effort to create something new, though. It’s always been that way, always well be – and then, at some point in their life, when they are older, the once young discover that what they imagined themselves to be overthrowing was some pretty damn good stuff…

    Kind of like when I was growing up, and I thought the World War II era music of my parents was so hokey… then, one day, when I saw them slipping away, I heard it with new ears and realized how good it was – how sophisticated, how intelligent, how… sexy…

    Someday, I think, you may sit down with some of the Nat Geos that you now see as old and tiring and have a similar revelation.

    Lee – it looks like its your birthday. Happy one.

    Now, I am wasting way too much time on the internet and I am not getting enough done.

    I am going to try to be absent for a little bit. Not long – just a little bit.

  460. Bill;

    I think the problem is that because Nat Geo is such a big beast it makes for an easy target. As long as the criticism is well-thought out and debated there’s no problem. If it’s a case of simply jumping on the bandwagon (or hobby horse)to appear “edgy and trendy” then that’s different.

    As for the young; you’re right, it’s their role in life to criticise the establishment! :-)

    But I think Nat Geo often gets unfairly criticised. What other magazine has its history or puts so much energy and budget into photography (and writing) for the general public? If it is so bad why don’t those that rubbish it start a mass circulation magazine that shows how it should be done?

    Is there more cutting edge photography out in the big wide world? Yes. But wouldn’t mind a dollar for every person who has been inspired to take up photography after picking up a Nat Geo mag.

    Cheers :-)

  461. Gordon when I was in New York I was going to lunch almost everyday with DAH and IRA BLOCK

    http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photographers/photographer-ira-block.html

    I admire mr.Allard and when I met hin C/Ville I had a really cool conversation about Greece , family etc..same feelings I have for Eric Valli that he invited me more than three times to visit him in Paris and I never did..

    http://www.kino.com/himalaya/

    Our fellow burnian and buddy of mine Michael (Sakhalin essay) is an example
    Of new NatGeo blood, same as our friend mr Sean G…

    Yes I do often bash NatGeo but.. But.. But never, ever , ever the photographers..
    Big hug

  462. Ross.. When I was in Istanbul last February I was checking the local Turkish version..
    Same with the Greek version of NatGeo ..
    Worthless , borderline offensive.. Pictures were bad, bad.. Crappy..
    Reason? NatGeo is trying to “save money”…
    Please don’t get me started.. And just to support my “case” in this “court”..
    I had a major Magnum photographer right next to me, checking the NatGeo mag together..
    Not only agreeing with me , but, but.. But he was annoyed , literally pissed
    from the bad quality..:(

  463. Panos; “Not only agreeing with me , but, but.. But he was annoyed , literally pissed
    from the bad quality”

    Yip; that’s the totally valid argument I meant! Cheers :-)

  464. I just watched an old silent era film classic, “Yankee Clipper,” about the great 19th century race between American and British tea clippers from Foochow (Fuzhou) to Boston, starring the young William Boyd (who later when talkies arrived would become Hopalong Cassidy) as the Yankee captain. There were two villains in the film… one, a cowardly and immoral mustachioed English fop trying to marry the heroine, an English lord’s daughter, for her money, and the other a scurvy dog blackguard crewman on the Yankee ship who had kidnapping and debauching designs on the heroine (he was ultimately foiled by the hero, ‘natch). The scurvy blackguard crewman was a dead, dead ringer (I kid you not) for David Alan Harvey.

  465. Bill. Thanks.
    The last thing I wanted to do do was make Rio cliches, and the light mainly sucking helped me out in this respect…although I do seem to have ended up making other cliches instead :) Waiting for the E6 to come back from the lab to see if I did any better on that.

    JOHN

  466. Herve, congratulations, that’s a wonderful camera, I’m more impressed with it every time I do a difficult shoot. The bad news, however, is twofold. First, although I used to scoff at those who whined about a camera’s weight, either I’ve gotten particularly weak in my dotage or that damn gear really does weigh a ton. After suffering through everyone’s advice to try a messenger bag, I went back to carrying a backpack. I strongly recommend something like the Tamrac sling backpack. Camera access is almost as convenient as a messenger bag and I can carry it all day without much strain. The other (potential) bad news is that I bought the 35mm f2 and loved it so much I had to sell most of my other lenses and buy the 1.4. I don’t regret it, though on certain fall days when the colors are peaking, I think wistfully of the old 200.

  467. I do have the slingbag, Michael, been my main camera carry-on, only problem, it doesn’t go too well if wearing a jacket or an opened shirt. Perfect with a polo or T-shirt, in warm days or places.

    Otherwise, a soft padded computer attache-case fits the bill (and now, David’s bag, messenger type, which has so many pockets and zippers, i may still find photos David doesn’t want me to see!!!).

  468. MW

    Cameras have grown monstrous. http://www.pbase.com/glafleur/image/117686412

    Years ago, because of back issues, I traded my beautiful but extremely heavy Canon F1 system for a Pentax ME super and a set of tiny M-series lenses. I’d trade my EOS system in an instant if someone offered a compact full frame DSLR with compact lenses.
    I’m sure that 35 1.4 is awesome, but it is monstrous (and almost 4x the price, and three times the weight of the f2)

    Sorry for the gear talk y’all..back to regular programming.

  469. what’s the deal with the flash?

    If he’s taking a picture of the star Proxima Centauri, that flash will illuminate it in about 4.3 years.

    Re the F2 Gordon, I hear you. I had enough junk to sell that I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket for the 1.4, but it is a monster. Very nearly as big and heavy as the 24-105. Many times I’ve had to let people look through the viewfinder because they thought I was getting that close with a telephoto. I too can’t wait to get a small full frame camera. Oh Leica, who art heaven… Someday…

  470. Gordon; Have you seen this? Looks good to me…http://www.finepix-x100.com

    Funny looking at your ME Super; my first “real” camera was a K1000; you could’ve driven a tank over it. I couldn’t afford any other bayonet lenses beside the standard 50mm, so used Pentax screw mount lenses (for the Spotmatic) with an adapter! It used to be pretty tricky to focus when you had stopped down to f8-ish, the viewfinder was nearly pitch black!

    Now, you can pick up a used K1000 for $75 (about US$55)! I’ve been tempted to pick one up for old time’s sake, but not a good idea when your funds are stretched!

  471. Ross, yes, that looks like it might be my next camera.

    I’ve been compulsivly buying old 35mmSLRs at my local thrift store, for as little as $5.00. Got a mint K1000 a few months back for about twenty bucks if I recall. It is actually one of the early ones made in Japan. I don’t shoot film anymore. Just pick it up now and then, wind, focus, click, repeat. Cheap thrills.
    If you’d really like the K1000 Ross, I’ll send it to you. It needs to be loved and maybe even used a little.

  472. Ross, Gordon,

    The thing to watch out for in those old ‘K’ and ‘M’ series Pentaxes, which are otherwise wonderful cameras, is the baffling seals around the hinged back cover and the cushioning for the reflex mirror… they were made with some kind of synthetic rubber foam material that turns into sticky black tar over the years…if you get any of that on the mirror or the ground glass focusing screen, you’ll never get it off.
    My first ‘real’ camera that I bought with my own money was a Pentax KM, predecessor of the K1000, and I’ve used all the ‘M’ series bodies, the LX, and many of the ‘M’ series lenses that are still my favorite fixed-focal length lenses… I still use an old ‘M’ series f1.7 50mm on one of my digital Pentax bodies with an APS-C sized chip… makes a lovely portrait lens. Still making great scans and prints from Kodachromes I made with this lens back in the mid 1970s.

  473. The flash? Ha .. If it’s also a sigma flash it can lit the sun in very low ISO.. But it only works at night.. When the sun is not “on”… This way we can see the dark side of the sun more clearly… Unfortunately I’m in a low budget right now but I added that 200-500 f2.8 in my XMAS wish list..
    Now , question to all..
    What type of camera bag do I need? For this lens?
    Back pack style? Or a messenger style bag?
    I’ll wait for the next DAH contest I guess;)

  474. Gordon; That’s a very kind offer, but I wouldn’t use it much. Seeing them so cheap often makes my finger hover over the “buy now” button for sheer old time’s sake. I bought a Zorki 4k a while back, so that’s my nostalgia pretty much satisfied for a while!

    When I sold the K1000 I went ultra-modern and bought an FM2! :-) I’ve still got one and am using it again with an old 35mm f2 AIS lens. Everytime I put it up to my eye it reminds me what a viewfinder should look like; rather than the narrow D200/300 tunnel! It was a hell of a learning curve going from a FM2 to a D200 though.

    I took the Zorki to the local cattle sale a while ago and wouldn’t have minded a dollar for every farmer who asked what I was using! Even better; watching the look on the kid’s faces at the skate park when I take the back off a Holga to load 120 film!

  475. GEEK ALERT..gear talk

    Hey Sid

    Yes, those foam seals and the foam mirror cushion degrade over time. Not just Pentax’s, many other cameras of the era suffer the same complaint. You can actually buy seal kits on the web.

    My first “real” camera was my Rolliecord VB, bought about 1967. Then, a Pentax SV (pre-Spotmatic) I started my free-lance career in 1972 with a Pentax 6×7 outfit, plus a pair of Spotmatics and a suitcase full of Super Takumars. At one point I owned every lens from the 17mm fish-eye to the 400mm.

    I still have a couple of k-mount bodies, and several M series lenses. I used my tiny M series Pentax 35f2 on my Canons until I bought the Canon 35f2 just a few months ago. You can order adaptors from deep China on Ebay for about $35.00. Make sure you get one with the focus confirmation chip. It makes your camera beep, and the focus point light up when you are in focus. Mine works great with the 35f2, and 100f2.8, unfortunately not so great with my 135f2.5 Takumar (back focuses).

    Havin’ fun.

  476. Speaking of replacing light seals, I have to recommend John Goodman’s replacement kits. He sells on eBay under the handle “interslice”. The kits are fantastic, and much less work than cutting your own from black foam. (Plus, he seems like a really nice guy :-)

  477. silence, exile, and cunning.
    ————————————————-

    I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use
    – silence, exile, and cunning.

  478. Hey, Marcin, what is so great about it, as a video (Sohrab’s)? Not saying it’s bad, it is very nice indeed, but I see evryone is falling head over heels, and I would like to know why.
    Sohrab is a nice chap, I wish him well.

  479. john g–

    loved it. absolutely loved it.
    the satie accompaniment piece is perfect.
    i first heard satie playing in a tiny movie theatre, in seattle, as i waited for a film to start.
    i was so enthralled i walked up to the booth and asked the guy what i was listening to?
    he told me it was satie, popped the cassette out, and handed it to me.
    what a treasure.
    anyway..
    you got Soul, dude.

  480. MARCIN…

    i cannot log on…no account i guess…anyway, is there any other way to see this Sohrab video?

    ROSS..ALL

    i have not read the anti-NatGeo comments here, but of course whatever they are, it will be nothing new for me ..both NatGeo and Magnum catch lots of criticism for totally different reasons, but lots of it because as you point out they are both considered the big kids on the block and therefore deserving big targets…fair enough for sure…from an insiders viewpoint, neither goes un-criticized … the funny thing is that both are often criticized for being what they ARE..for exactly what they are intended to be ..NatGeo as a mainstream mass circulation magazine catering mostly to a natural history audience and Magnum for representing a small handful of authoring photographers who choose to go their own way….i do not see anything wrong with the basic motive of either…the confusion in critique simply comes imo when some just want them both to be something different than what they are or try to be…if you look at what they want and try to be, then both seem to be doing just fine ….

    oftentimes i might WISH NatGeo could do this or would do that or should have done whatever….and many of us have always tried to push them “forward”…but “forward” might not be what the readers/subscribers they have want or can take, and they (NG) do have some responsibility here as well as a serious economic commitment …as you can see from the commentators right here on Burn, there is not a very large demographic in ANY arena who all think the same thing or even close….audiences are fickle…whenever there is an arbiter there will always be criticism…yet human beings for all their chest pounding seem to desire an arbiter….in the case of NatGeo in someone who they trust to gather up the best information and photography on a particular issue that NG figured was either important or of interest to their demographic…readers could just zip search through the net and get most of it on their own..imo there will be less of this as time goes on..many must be weary of over searching …we will see what the future brings..i suspect as i have said before that the iPad and other mobile devices will bring upon us the most creative generation yet…both NatGeo and Magnum will have to catch up fast….

    i say all of this as i struggle with two NatGeo stories and as a Magnum photographer..Rio and Outer Banks…did i say struggle? yes, i did…i think almost any photographer would describe shooting for NG as often a struggle…not a fight, but struggle to marry what the photographer knows and feels and has seen firsthand and has presented in pictures to editors who are very aware of their readers needs, not to mention shrinking page space, and must match those needs with the photographer’s passions which could indeed be skewed by the effort alone….what the photographer has emphasized may not be what the Editor sees as most important…preconceptions of what any particular subject IS may also not match what the photographer has seen from the field…this back and forth discussion of any subject, while often painful, is indeed the most healthy thing about it…

    if a photographer does not want any hands in the pie, or any outside opinions, then that is the time for totally self financed personal projects as my family project for example..or as i have done and many others as well, a re-edit and additional personal shooting to make a book that is totally photographer driven…this just seems natural to me….and not a conflict either….so, i could easily imagine a well crafted Rio story in NatGeo and later a book or limited edition magazine done on my own…both would be good..one thing for one audience and another thing for another audience..of course i will be pushing for as much of the latter into the pages of the former…i always do….knowing i can really only go so far…but it is all very good stuff imo….a treasure, a gift……the “pain” of producing a Rio for NatGeo is something that many seek…and they should…all things in perspective always…this is the main thing in life to have going for you any way you want to view it…

    nuff said…while i have been writing here to you, i should have been editing…i mean i have a monster on the table in front of me..two hard drives with Rio and Outer Banks…both not thoroughly viewed or pictures selected..a mountain to climb……hmmmm, but the light is nice outside now..i hear the surf pounding…maybe i should go shoot? or stay here and edit? see part of the problem??

    cheers, david

  481. JOHN GLADDY..

    missed this first time around…nice video vignettes of Rio….anxious to see what you finally make of it….what is to be the final outcome, client, purpose?

    cheers, david

  482. JOHN G
    Inspired!!!!
    great footage..
    interesting choice of music…
    wish it to be a little faster…
    when I think Brazil,
    I think rhythm and dance…
    or maybe its just knowing your music photos,
    I was expecting something LOUD!!!
    love how you let things come into your frames,
    inspired…
    :)

  483. DAVID ALAN HARVEY. you know how it is…the road is long. Where it will end up who knows???
    It was meant to be based on the football/homeless thing, but that went tits up early on. It may end up as either a one off theatrical and then film festivals, or if we go the ‘safe’ route(blah blah interview led documentary) it may end up on UK TV…..IT MAY ALSO END UP CANNED :) My main aim at the moment is just to protect the edit from prying fingers, and not rush anything.(never one of my strong points).

    ALL. Thanks for the feedback. Most encouraging. This is just some clips that I was messing around with, and seeing as Eric Satie is my current musical obsession he seemed the perfect vehicle for a little visual poem. I have around 2 terrabytes of master footage to sort through and try to find a common thread to hang it all on, and the end piece may be quite different, although I tried to shoot it more in a cinematic way than a ‘standard’ documentary style.

    JOHN

  484. GORDON

    ““the shot of the guy on the motorcycle on the bridge, looking over his shoulder,”

    My very favourite Lyon photograph”

    Imagine my surprise…I’m in a very large skyscraper my client occupies in downtown, and I’m walking to the cafeteria with my contact there….and we turn a corner and walk down a walkway with a wall on one side and the atrium open to the windows on the other, giving wonderful natural light, and on the wall are about 20 photographs, all silver prints….and the second one as I walk by is that photograph….I actually stopped, said “whoa” out loud, and turned around and went back to check it. Signed and numbered (according to the placard).

    I went back to that hallway 10 or 12 times over the 2 days I was there to look at them all…it was a collection they had acquired at some point…evidently they have many collectiosn, enough that they have 2 full-time curators (one for photographs, prints, and paintings, and one for scultpure) to manage them. I learned that they put them on exhibith and leave them up for about 3 months, then put something new up.

  485. andrew b, I worked briefly out at Reader’s Digest. Every wall had a painting or photograph from the Wallace/Dewitt collection. They had quarterly swap meets where people could exchange or get new artwork for their offices. I remember passing depression era photos by Evans and Lange on my way to lunch. I had a Modigliani in my office. RD aside, there’s lot’s of good stuff going to waste on corporate walls, and worse in corporate closets.

  486. Really nice work with the video, John. you kept the mood thru-out visually, music is perfect with the edit, and only one thing: tell us you took a picture of that kid stretching his arm in front of the famous Christ. Just look there was a great, memorable shot to take.
    (Marcin is going to have to tell me the difference between that “masterpiece” and this “very nice video”, ahaha!)

    David, Sohrab’s video is 16 MB. Just downloaded it. I will e-mail it to you, hope it works.

  487. John, love the video, also the music.. your rolls will leave on Monday, got home later that planned..

  488. I know I have asked that at least half a dozen time before, here and on RT, it all seems ignored in our discussion about Natl Geo:

    outside of the huge US readership, isn’t television (audiences and revenues) the main target of Natl Geo? Very different programs, and actually, 2 different outfits (print and television, US and the world) and maybe overall, globally, television is more Natl Geo’s business, with the print issues as a nice window display, so to speak. Subjects on TV seem vastly different than the monthly issue. Less ethno-socialogical type docus. Ex: When I was in France, Thailand too, a lot was on US army weaponry and technology.

  489. Thanks eva. All mine got used up in Rio(without really hitting anything concrete..oh well). Still I will surely miss that film stock. May be time to see where portra is at these days, or start using slower film.

  490. I buy Nat Geo (the magazine) every month for the photos (really), but mostly to support what they are doing. I really think the magazine has become an artifact of a different time, with content that could probably be better presented in another form.

    But, I want them to continue to support the work of photographers like DAH, so I’ll keep buying it as long as they produce it.

  491. John – Excellent little video. It seems to me to be still photography, in video form. I haven’t really figured out how to express what I am thinking, but that is the direction of my thoughts.

    As to DAH thoughts on NG and Magnum and criticism, what struck me most was his statement that he should have been spending the time that he used to write it editing.

    This is a problem for me, as well. Given all that I need to do, I have no business or right to sit here, reading comments and now to add one of my own. It just puts me further behind and I am so far behind right now.

    It’s an addiction, but as addictions go, at least its educational and exposes me to good photography and thoughts on photography that I would not otherwise see or encounter.

  492. JIM POWERS..

    many thanks for your support although i most likely am on my last story for NG…so we will both support the next generation…i have looked for you on skype a few times to no avail…also was in the great state of Texas and ready to meet you, but again did not see you online to tell you i was around…i will however be back soonest and hope we can meet…nice to have you back here Jim…honestly

    cheers, david

  493. Ah this is perfect, Jim is back and now I see that DAH may be done with Natgo. Oh so sad… but please
    both of you guys enjoy this:

    I was given a 1952 Pocket Leica Book by Theo Kisselbach recently. Under the heading of “Grain, Resolving Power and Halation” is a section on film speed: At the time, high speed film was considered ASA 64 or above. Oh, ASA is so much sexier than ISO.
    Normal speed film was rated at 20 to 48 ASA and slow speed film was ASA 16 or
    below—“Very fine grain and exceptional resolving power.”

    Ouch, this does say something. I’m glad it was before I was born… “Well, now they often call me Speedo but my real name is Mr. Earl”–The Cadillacs via Ry Cooder.

  494. Yeah, but when High Speed Ektachrome (ASA 160) came along, things really heated it! Seems kind of funny now, when my 1D MkIV will cruise along at ISO 8,000 without breaking a sweat.

  495. POMARA…

    i cannot remember exactly what i said about NatGeo and i do not have time to go back and look right this minute, but there is no reason to be sad about anything…one of the problems with this kind of chat stream is that there is an incorrect assumption that everyone is reading everything and assimilating the whole over a period of time……in any case, dawn is coming and i must jump in the truck and head for the marsh….nice early light after a few days of rain..might be interesting..we will see…if interesting enough, could end up on the pages of NatGeo…

    JIM…

    how can one not love a county fair? i know you do…i seem to remember some pictures you took last year or the year before of a cow judging for 4H…am i even close? i think there is a County Fair book by Randy Olsen out there on the market somewhere….know it?

    cheers, david

  496. JOHN G! :))))))

    just trilled the pink of me!…really, not only gorgeous film, but in truth (here come the knives) much much more beautiful and memorable and (again, for me the most important assest) carving than the still pictures…not only because your visual sense in that film just kills, and our editing is brilliant, but the sense of place and pace is both universal and particular….the monkey with the lock, the picked crotch, the rain dappled and then the hand sweeping away, the heart-break ending, the shadow silhouette of the flag waving-bearer….it does not get much better than those 3 minutes….put the still shit down and fucking make a film….it’s a beautiful beast john, just beautiful!…

    and, well, satie always does it to me too, as i always write shit and edit pictures to ‘Gnossiennes 1-6’…always…

    damn, that just made my day! :)))

    cheers
    b

    DAVID:

    Sohrab has sent an email…will reply to it later after breakfast….i’ve got a long day of writing and editing to do today and then will be busy the rest of the week…

    running
    b

  497. JOhn G

    “and our editing is brilliant”…

    egads, fucking typing….where’d the Y go…

    “and YOUR editing…”…I DONT know if that is another example of having missed the Akaky edict about reading out loud first…or wishful thinking that i’d made the film ;)))…either way, YOUR film kills, sublimely! :)),

  498. John G. – i agree with the others’ comments: WOW!!!

    David- thanx for the link to the Giovanni Cocco piece.. cool edit.. like the series shots, movement. inspiring too: last night was making contacts and connections with some roller derby gals..will see what happens, but if the images that result are even 1/100th as powerful as his i would be grateful.

  499. David,

    Very nice twitter post. Photometeorologist you are :))))

    And hey, what about you book about women? I know you are busy now with assignments, but do you still thinking about is?
    I forgot title, I liked the title.
    anyway, I wish you good (the right) weather and gorgeous photos today.

  500. JOHN G.

    Beautiful stuff! Loved the use of sticks and long lenses and slo-mo – not at all what I would expect from you. Only shot that doesn’t work for me is man crossing street with flowers – I would cut before you start zooming – the zooming suddenly makes me aware of you and takes me out of the trance like state you’ve built upon. Music is great. Good luck with the rest!

    Charles

  501. @DAH et al, RE: Burladies piece. The execution is wonderful. Love the pictures. But, like so much of the work I see these days, the post-production distracts me. So crisp, the colors so interesting. I guess it distracts me because I see many many people doing it and have no idea how it is done. So what is it? Photoshop actions, Lightroom processing? Just curious.

  502. Hey David, also re: Burladies. Can’t tell whether you liked it (am a bit surprised if you did) and not sure what you mean by “multimedia light.” Did you mean the fake lighting effects? It’s stuff like that that I figured you wouldn’t like. Overall, I thought it was very good. The photos were very good, I really appreciated the way video was incorporated and the multimedia effects mostly enhanced the presentation, though I thought the editor got a bit too eager with the camera movement as it went along. Earlier it seemed he did better allowing some motionless pauses, which I think is important. The fine line in these things, I think, is to not let the editing distract from the photos. A lot of motion graphics editors probably see it the other way round.

    I’m also curious how these things get produced. Does the photographer direct the motion graphics editor through the process or just turn over the work. As someone who does both, I think I would have a hard time just turning over my photos for that kind of editing. Much too easy to lose control of the narrative.

    Kenneth Dickerman, it could have been created with a number of programs or a combination of a few, but I’m guessing the majority was done in Adobe After Effects. That’s what I use to do the same things.

  503. DAH (Photometeorologist):

    Uhmmm, could you tell me the forecast for the next months, at least until Christmas??
    Maybe photofoggy, maybe with dark photoclouds and some small photosunshines in the middle, maybe strong winds will change my photodirection… :-P

    Patricio

  504. MARCIN…

    You Made Me Leave is the title of the portraits of women book i have almost ready to publish…somehow i have about four major projects going at once…i am not quite sure how that happened and i do not recommend this type of behavior, but that is just the way it is for me right now…all fun..good energy…just fine…but , as i have said before on this particular project, who wants to finish a portraits of women project? not me…i can only add about one picture every few months to this work…i just cannot make it happen on any given day….it just happens…i sort of have to fall in love with the woman i am photographing…well, not really in love…but i definitely must be seriously infatuated for even a few minutes, but i must try to channel all passionate energy into the picture and only the picture…….exhausting Marcin, exhausting :) ….i made one picture of a woman this summer that i like….

    MW..

    i am a bit ambivalent on this Cocco multi-media lite…..just thought the audience here would enjoy a different treatment on a subject many had seen here in an entirely different mood, yet by the same photographer…i suppose when the subject is burlesque, anything goes…or not?

    cheers, david

  505. PATRICIO…

    my weather prediction is for extreme thunder storms and lightning bolts which will nearly kill you followed by a nirvana-esque wrap around warm light to bathe you into a false sense of security just as more black clouds form on the horizon, followed by a blood red sunrise which lets you know that the day is yours to either waste or work and to be prepared for whatever weather comes even though you cannot possibly be prepared…another sweet nice day Patricio if you are alive and healthy…another canvas on which to paint…

    cheers, david

  506. DAVID,

    yes, “You made me leave”, yesterday I remembered that this is book you working on since I “meet you” three years ago or so. But yes it is about women… who want finish book about them? But I try finish my “family book” vol.1, it’s men there will be more vols… :)
    maybe you should think about that “You made me leave vol.1” and then… you make a novel like Proust ha ha

    peace and take care

  507. I think that part2 of “You Made me Leave” feels like should be “You Made me Stay” – and that would be a whole different animal :):):)

    Good morning BURNians …

    Sunday morning. Party last night. I just had water (?!?!?????). Does not matter – feels like a hangover today anyway. Shooting in the night … every night since about a month ago. It is starting to get to me.
    Oh well, it is sunday and I can almost smell my big cup of cafe latte … Need to make it now – I am just desperate for a coffee.

  508. LASSAL…

    the You Made Me Leave title is from a Lenny Welch song from back in the seventies i think…just struck me at the time, and i never changed it….yes, of course, “you made me stay” is better for actual life, but isn’t there a certain poignancy from a story telling standpoint about “leaving”…i mean Lassal, would you really like a love story movie or book that just had a happy happy grand finale with everyone dancing in the sunset? i doubt it , even though that is what you wish for your life….anyway, my portraits books is more about that initial contact…that special moment…that eye contact…the double yes yes yes now…. …the outcome of love is for some other storyteller with more experience than i…

    MARCIN…

    laughing…well, ok, yes maybe two volumes…yes, i will finish…we both must finish…..finishing is indeed the hardest part…painful somehow to finish….i have realized in the last few years that anyone on this planet can be very successful at anything they want and all their dreams come true IF they can just finish what they start…this is what holds most people back on everything…hardly anybody can finish anything….this is true…i do not know why…

    cheers, david

  509. KENNETH DICKERMAN…

    i would love to answer your question , but i cannot…i know less about post production than anyone currently earning their living as a photographer….however, i am sure someone here will be able to answer your question

  510. DAH,
    I totally agree … With “You Made me Stay” I was commenting on the title of a possible second volume, as Marcin suggested. :)

  511. Looking at the Burlesque production again, I like it less. Although there are some good ideas in there that distracted me the first time through — I like the way video was used and some of the less obvious 3-d spaces were interesting– I noticed the over, and I would say mis-use of the Ken Burns effect on the second time through and found it very tiresome. That seems to be a common problem with so many photo based multimedia efforts. And then there’s the tendency to use some flashy After Effects trickery just because it’s there. Personally, I think people interested in multimedia and particularly how to use camera movement are better served looking at how great film directors have approached the same challenges. The answer, typically, is slowly. Very slowly.

    I agree Lassal, that Kratochvil’s approach is interesting. Going out on a limb here, but it appears he produced those himself. Turning your stuff over to someone who specializes in motion graphics will likely require a lot of close supervision if you don’t want constant movement and all those flashy effects.

  512. MW
    Antonin actually told me he has little knowledge of Photoshop etc. In our workshop there were some people using interesting color-pp for their photographs and Antonin kept nagging us to explain how the hell we did that :)
    On the other hand side – he has his own ways to achieve the look he wants. Just as DAH does. And one could argue that if something can be captured the way it is intended then doing it in Photoshop would be second best. But that is another discussion altogether and I know a lot of people who would disagree.

    If I remember correctly then Roadworks was something Antoning photographed and directed. It is based on a letter written by a witness. In the photographs you see actors staging the story. I think there is more information about this project on the VII website.

    Antonin did not do the Postproduction himself and I have seen various versions of Roadworks so far. Some with more effects and once on the VII website, there was one as a pure slideshow. I personally like the version with minimal effect, just a hint of 3D (which is obviously no real 3D) and a tiny bit of extras. Nothing too obvious (otherwise why not make a video in the first place?). Even in the version I linked to above I feel some effects are just too too much – or used too often. They become what their name is: effects. And in my eyes this mostly works against a project.

  513. Mr. Harvey,

    I thought of something reading your comment about your You Made Me Leave project: if it is somehow a never-ending project, the internet would be a (first) great venue for this kind of project, no? A project always finished yet never. The website containing this “body” of work would be a great experiment, and would go in line with your philosophy of the changing diffusion of photography (Ipad, etc.) Of course, a book would be the ultimate end but, the problem and the beauty of it, with women it is never over…

  514. You made me leave by Lenny Welch? This is actually entitled Since I fell for you and came out in 1963, not in the 1970’s. It was originally a big band hit in the mid 1940’s.

    AKAKY IRL: You really are a pedantic asshole, aren’t you?

    AKAKY: So you keep telling me.

    AKAKY IRL: Well, just so long as you know, guy.

  515. … laughing … thank god Akaky beat me to that ’cause I don’t want to be a pedantic asshole sitting on the bar stool but (here goes anyway) … Since I Fell for You is a jazz blues standard done by a lot of people. I wonder what the Tom Waits’ version sounds like (there really is one). The song title works for a book title too but maybe a little too schmaltzy, huh? The full line from the song is, you made me leave my happy home.

  516. AKAKY..

    yes, that is correct…Since I Fell For You is the name of the song and the lead line is “Yooooooouuuuuu made me leave my happy home”…i can hear it now and i forgot that line was not the name of the song…shoulda coulda googled first……i was guessing on the dates and that is so far back, i think i was sorta close ..right? anyway, if it was a big band hit in the 40’s that means it has withstood the test of time…so, scribe of scribes, who wrote that song? and why?

    MARTIN B…

    yes, i suppose the internet would normally be ok for a never ending project, except the part that i forgot to mention this morning is that this book is to be a novella… i have written a short (of course sad) love story to go with it…..matter of fact, it is more of a text driven book than a picture book…illustrated softback novel is what i am going for here…i cannot think of a single example of one out there as i am intending this…probably is something, but i just have not seen it

    cheers, david

  517. DAH: i sort of have to fall in love with the woman i am photographing
    ————————————————–

    One of the very few ways to fall in love with women… You know that Jean renoir (well, me too, but I am nobody) said the same thing, but as a movie director?

  518. AKAKY…

    hey amigo, i just went back and re-read my comment…i never said You Made Me Leave was the title of the Lenny Welch song….i said i took my title “from a Lenny Welch song…” never said my title was his title…re-read my sentence very very carefully… “from” being the key word here….semantics are indeed semantics

  519. @DAH thanks, just wondering.

    @Lassal–yeah, im talking about the color pp, not after effects. Ive just been curious about this (pale colors, vibrant colors, gray skies, yellowish or greenish tint etc.) because I see alot of people doing it.

    I dont know how to do it and I dont really want to do it. I just see it all the time and am distracted by it. I see a lot of very good work that, imo, loses some of its impact because of what I sometimes like to call a “video game” approach to the pp. But it’s just a quibble really…

    Cheers!

  520. HERVE, mon ami,

    “One of the very few ways to fall in love with women… ” ????

    Cannot for the life of me understand what this means, if it is what you intended, if you are serious or being ironic….??? Please explicate.
    (Normally I pride myself on my ability to decipher the real intent of your posts, but this time I am flummoxed).

    Cheers,

  521. AKAKY: Semantics are semantics.

    AKAKY IRL: Do tell. You know, I wonder what it is about you that turns everyone you talk to into the same sort of niggling doofus you are. You could have gotten a job with the Clinton Administration; when they were done trying to figure out what is meant, you could have parsed the i and the s just for the hell of it.

    AKAKY: That’s not a nice thing to say, is it? I was just trying to be helpful.

    AKAKY IRL: Stop it-it’s annoying.

    AKAKY: Sorry.

  522. So I was wandering the market today and came across a Paul Himmel retrospective book. Had never heard of him before, but was blown away by his imagery and how totally contemporary it still is, despite much of it being from the 40’s and 50’s. The new york ballet series in particular is fantastic. wonderful motion blur and texture.

  523. “One of the very few ways to fall in love with women… ” ????

    Cannot for the life of me understand what this means, if it is what you intended, if you are serious or being ironic….???
    ———————————

    Not very clear, I realized that, but it was too late, I sent already.

    Actually, most artists capturing women “artistically” do say what David says. Picasso, Arnold newman, Truffaut, Renoir, etc… And me again! :-))))

  524. I got a nice deal with a GF1 and a Sigma DP1s ……. too good to say no to.

    The DP1s a a bit sluggish but I intend to use for landscape stuff, yes I actually shoot landscapes learn how to from Japanese tourists. Great bnw files though I reckon I could have a play with colour and get them to dance a different tune than a bayer sensor images.

    The GF1 ideal to use especially for a non photographer like me, just have to learn to make the files sing the way I need them to.

  525. Oh Imants:)
    Get a Leica, will u?
    Way more expensive and definitely slower..
    What not to love?
    The definition of “laid back/cool”…
    Welcome to Beverly Hills…
    Why buy a Ferrari when u can get a Bentley?

  526. Just one, David. A photographer:

    “I always said that taking a picture of a man is an act of friendship; taking a picture of a woman is an act of love” (Arnold Newman)

  527. Hey MartnB. Came back to see if any expounding had been done on falling in love with your subject. I read this: the problem and the beauty of it, with women it is never over…

    Good. Sounds lovely.

  528. DAH: thanks a lot for your report… I really apreciate it.
    Much more like a poem showing photographic state of mind or soul. Great.

    About the twitter post: “When I shoot all else suffers”. Soul is not included in the word “ELSE”, isn’t it? Soul is not suffering while sooting…

    Abrazo grande y gracias
    Patricio

  529. PATRICIO…

    no suffering for the soul…quite the contrary, the soul is fed while photographing assuming one cares deeply about the subject……twitter posts are not very complex, so sorry for the misunderstanding…however, “normal life” does get put on the back burner often when shooting simply because when in the zone shooting, there is no time for anything else and one can easily forget other more worldly responsibilities…one of the things i have tried to do in life is to blend my personal life with my professional life for both practical and esoteric reasons…and i have worked so hard to do this, i have achieved pretty close to a 98% blend of personal/professional…almost all of it flows…and perhaps the only non-flowing part of it, is the travel, the distance, between one thing and another…but even travel has been integrated into my being in some sort of zen experience so it does not hit me like a brick wall…for example this week is a terrific flow involving friends, family, Burn, dramatic weather , and spectacular geography…i will be standing in an hour on the beach in an Atlantic storm and yet before the weekend, standing at the bottom of the majestic Teton peaks in Wyoming with some of my oldest friends , and then back to my beach front porch for saturday dinner with family…so, it all flows, except for the distance between these two pieces of geography…but during this travel time i can catch up on reading….and do my no poetry at all expense reports.

    cheers, david

  530. Erica.
    Lillian bassman And Paul Himmel. ‘The First Retrospective’
    Deichtorhallen Hamburg.
    KEHRER

    Apparently this is the catalogue to accompany the retrospective at the Deichtorhallen nov09-feb10.
    Big catalogue…416 Pages.

  531. LEE GUTHRIE..

    it only makes logical rational sense that a photographer must fall in love with her/his subject….could be a tree, could be somebody…but, love must be in the air no matter what….could be i think that even maybe particularly irrational love produces in fact a rational concrete conclusion: i.e. a song or movie or novel or painting or photo… or ooops, baby!! .. see what i mean?

    cheers, david

  532. DAVID,

    “it only makes logical rational sense that a photographer must fall in love with her/his subject….could be a tree, could be somebody…but, love must be in the air no matter what”

    My subject is human and always human, but I have a real problem with relationships with other human being, so all I can add to your words is ” a photographer must fall in love with her/his subject” But this LOVE is sometimes really hard to consumption.
    Do you have any advice for a photographer who want shoot people but don’t want to meet them at all??
    :)))))

  533. hi all – missing being in the flow of the burn, but life…

    john gladdy: Paul Himmel – yes :0 love falling snow, boy in window, grand central terminal. he assisted for Alexei Brodovitch at the start, maybe helped to shape.

  534. MARCIN:
    But this LOVE is sometimes really hard to consumption
    ———————–

    That’s a good part of why people make art, Marcin, no? Dealing with it all, and especially what resonates strongly within us, like love does.

    Sorry David, I did not get why you avoid Picasso, truffaut or Renoir. OK, OK…. You are the only one who said what you said, exactly the way you said it! :-)))

  535. “…a photographer must fall in love with her/his subject….could be a tree, could be somebody…but, love must be in the air no matter what” – DAH

    THAT is what separates a good photographer from a Great photographer. absolutely.

    marcin– you don’t ever have to exchange a word with your subject to be in love with them.
    it’s all in the heart and in the way the pit of your stomach goes, “uffffff..”

    :)

  536. apropos nothing previously discussed…

    To begin, we must first point out that the existence of the beard is, before it is anything else, a philosophical question, at least in the West, whereas in other cultures the beard is not merely simply a matter of philosophy, but one of theology. Orthodox Jews, for example, refrain from shaving, obeying Leviticus’ command that the Children of Israel, or at least the male portion thereof, shall not mar the corners of their beards; whether the bearded ladies at the circus must comply with this commandment is a subject of debate. Devout Muslims do not shave either, but, following the example of the Prophet (peas be upon him), they will clip their mustaches away from their upper lip. Sikhs are the champions of theological hirsuteness here, however, as the tenets of that faith not only forbid the devout to cut their beards, but any other bodily hair as well, which taboo goes a long way towards explaining why there are so few photographs of devout Sikh girls in bikinis. In contrast, Christians, at least here in this our Great Republic, represent a clear-cut victory for Saint Jerome.

    In the fourth century, a group of Christian theology students in Alexandria came to blows, a common enough event for Christian theology students then and for centuries afterwards, over the question of how long a beard should be in order to demonstrate the wearer’s personal sanctity. After a night of exhaustive theological and pugilistic investigation of this admittedly arcane bit of dogma, someone hit upon the bright idea of asking the great scholar and Biblical translator Jerome for a ruling on the matter. So the collected students hied themselves and their black eyes down to the great library of Alexandria to pose the question to the saint.

    Our seekers after knowledge found Jerome (or Hieronymous, if you people prefer the original with all this Bosch) standing at the circulation desk arguing with one of the clerks about his overdue copy of Valley of the Dolls. The students, in a burst of youthful enthusiasm, which is always the most annoying kind, breathlessly asked their tonsorial question of Jerome, an irascible man in the best of times—he once called someone who disagreed with him an ignorant calumniator, stuffed with Irish porridge (clearly, a man who knew how to vent and to vent well)—and now a man driven to new heights of irascibility because of the clerk’s obstinate refusal to let him keep the book out a little longer so he could translate the good bits into Latin. Jerome told the students, with perhaps more heat than charity, that if sanctity depended on the length of one’s beard, nothing in the Lord’s creation would be holier than a goat. Then, driven to distraction and left there without a return ticket, the great saint hurled anathemas at the students, as well as volume I of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (Aardvarkus to Aggravatedus), and the chastened students fled for their lives from the saint’s onslaught, returning to their usual haunts to discuss the theological significance of the goat. As per usual, the conversation grew heated and the neighbors then called the police to suppress the rioting. In the end, only three people were killed and 27 goats reported missing, although the police later found five of them tied up behind Jamaican restaurants on Alexandria’s west side. The owners declared that they had no idea how the goats got there.

    I bring up all this aggressive hirsute shilly-shallying because I now have a beard and I am under some very substantial pressure from a number of people to get rid of the thing. My mother, for one, has never liked beards and finds the prospect of looking at mine for any prolonged length of time a prospect to horrifying to contemplate. Mom does not like anything that reminds her that she is, as she puts it, getting on a bit, although I should point out here that at 82 she is not getting on, she’s got on, and no, that is not something I would say to her face, thank you very much, and therefore having to look at her eldest son’s impression of Robert E. Lee is as grim a memento mori as you can find here in our happy little burg. The kid next door, an obnoxious munchkin as viciously noxious as she is relentlessly ob, takes my mother’s side of the argument and does so with no end of sonic gusto, usually in as close a proximity to my ears as she can manage. Scarcely a day goes by hereabouts that I do not hear that annoying little cockroach bellowing her incessant demand that I shave the ugly gray ferret off my face, and scarcely a day goes by that I do not wonder why I didn’t smother the rotten brat with a pillow when I had the chance. Ah well, it’s too late for regrets now, I suppose.

    On the other hand, a good many people like the new look, something that I find very heartening. I look, depending on whom you talk to, like a professor, which is what I started out to be all those years ago, or Ernest Hemingway, a comparison I simultaneously love and loathe—I admire Hemingway the writer a great deal and I dislike Hemingway the man about as much; the type of person who could write the kind of nasty hatchet jobs that appear in A Moveable Feast is not the sort of person I would want to know personally. And, apparently, I look like Santa Claus, a resemblance that has led more than one youngster to sidle up to me and mutter, “I wanna Playstation.” I must admit that since growing the beard I am taking a good deal of pleasure in playing the Anti-Claus and telling them that they can’t have one unless they beat up their little sisters two days before Christmas, and that they may get nothing at all this year because the cookies they left out for me last year were so stale that the reindeer wouldn’t eat the damn things, and let’s face it, reindeer are neither the pickiest of eaters nor are they the brightest bulbs in the box; if the reindeer won’t eat the cookies, no one else will. I may not stop Christmas from coming this year, but I managed to take some of the shine off of the holiday, especially if you happen to be a little sister hereabouts just a couple days before Christmas, and before you start calling me names, let me reiterate my long held position that Ebenezer Scrooge was a deeply misunderstood man and that the Grinch was a equally unappreciated…well, whatever grinches are, with or without the tight shoes, they are unappreciated.

    But the best opinion of all came from my brother, who agrees with my mother, thinks that the beard should go sooner rather than later, and says that the damn beard makes me look like a refugee from the ZZ Top Fan Club. This is fine by me; I’ve been a fan of the Texas rockers for years now, so if I’m going to look like I’m with the band, I might as well keep the beard. Like the boys say, every girl’s crazy about a sharp-dressed man. Of course, ZZ Top is not the sharpest looking band around—I think they look like the miner ‘49 and his daughter, Clementine, especially the latter—but then again, they don’t have to look sharp. Unlike me, they’re actually with the band.

  537. MARCIN…

    you do not have to meet someone to be in love with them in the aesthetic sensibility…you can view people in your pictures as part of the landscape and be in love with the landscape so to speak…i think the point is to be “in love” with the concept the spirit of it all…a certain sensuality that would come out even if photographing a rock with an 8×10 camera…so, sure you should be able to photograph people without talking to them…Henri never said a word for the most part…….well, he did fall in love with and marry a Balinese dancer whom in photographed for Life Magazine…i guess he did eventually speak to her….

    cheers, david

  538. HERVE…

    you just wrote, “Sorry David, I did not get why you avoid Picasso, truffaut or Renoir”….hmmm, not sure what you mean…avoid?? i am a humble admirer of all three…..didn’t quote them on love, because i do not remember reading what they said about it in terms of their work…i mostly studied their work, but it does not surprise me if they talked about love as a force of creativity…

  539. I do fall in love with my subjects–have been saying that on occasion to friends that ..I fall in love with my subjects. And Facebook blur–I fall in love with everyone that comes to my parties. Marcin, I didn’t understand your use of the word consumption. Curious what that means.

    One piece of evidence on my own personal growth has been the recognition of that deep seeking love when shooting a subject. And how I own it a bit more now. I remember the first night I met DAH in Santa Fe at the pre-workshop dinner. The table discussion was how to easily get permission to take someone’s photo. I chimed in, “Like this.” And I looked around my camera at my classmate, raised one eyebrow and smiled and kind of held my camera out just a bit. DAH looked at the guy who elicited my response and said, “Well, we can’t all get away with that.” The guy looked back and DAH and said “I sure couldn’t.” Two big white guys they are.

    Almost from that moment I began to look around that camera in much the same way but in a more respectful way. Does that make sense? And I recognize, just coincidently this past week, that I cannot easily leave a relationship formed through the lens. The work I did on the bachelors (which I would love to post a link if anyone hasn’t seen them) has created two of the deepest relationships I have w subjects of my work. The feelings of the bachelors in these relationships are attached in a different way. It is a complex situation yet gives me great joy. Does that make sense?

    After a month of travel the past two days have been jet lagged to the extreme. I love the travels but the plane stuff is hell. Much prefer road trips. I also have some pow wow photos I would share if anyone would like to see them.

    Tough landing, weather is so choppy here too, and slowly getting my wind. I’ve enjoyed reading all the posts.

  540. AKAKY…

    i do imagine you with a beard….unfortunately , my imagination is all i have for you in the physical sense, but your mind is always right here before me….you will appreciate that i have not shaved in about two weeks and have no desire to do so…but i am not growing a beard…i just happen to have one out of sheer neglect and/or laziness…i did grow a beard on purpose in my early thirties to go along with the hippie long hair and it did mean at the time anti war activist….but i have not had a full beard since…it was either wife or beard at one point….hmmmm, well i shaved the beard and got divorced at about the same time anyway…so much for compliance…

  541. LEE GUTHRIE…

    well, i have no recollection whatsoever of events as you describe them the night we met, but i also have no doubt that you do…and for sure i have seen you gain incredible access very quickly ..particularly at cowboy bars….anyway, i am pretty good at making friends quickly on assignment, but whenever possible i hire a female assistant…her job? not to carry gear, for i have nothing to carry…but to make friends and keep the situation fluid while i am shooting….i can do without her, but life is so much better with a woman mixing it up with whomever i am photographing , mostly including other women, families, boyz n the hood, politicians, singers, teenagers, scientists, rednecks, accountants, and yes cowboys…

  542. ERICA…JOHN GLADDY…

    just remember that Himmel soured on photography towards the end of his not so well recognized career and went back to being a psychotherapist….is there a lesson here?

  543. Burnians, we have another opportunity to support one of our own. Though she is still actively searching to get “Falling Into Place” published, Patricia Lay-Dorsey just made it available through Blurb for those that would like a copy. I would hope that a good Blurb showing would help the major publishing houses to wake up and realize what a gem the are missing out on…. both the book and Patricia.

    Here is the link.
    http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1619965

  544. Kurt.. I wish success to anyone and everyone if they deserve it..
    But I just can’t stand ungratefulness and impatience..
    I could give a s#%t for when Pat offended every burnian by calling them(us) “negative-negators”..etc,
    but but but…but dissing DAH???!!!!
    The guy that mentored her.. edited trillion times.. Gave her confidence..
    Removed her from the dark alley and introduced her into the art world???
    Abandoning DAH when she thought things are not “speedy” enough for her taste..
    The “I took as much as I could, now I don’t need u anymore”
    attitude is something I can’t let it pass.. Just like that…
    So, I’m going to my closet, wearing my “I’m NOT leaving Burn” wifebeeter and
    I’m telling it like it is..
    Sorry and thanks.. Do I need to say more?

  545. Rejected? By whom? If u referring to my ex girlfriend, to an extend yes I do..
    But rejected in Burn?? By whom?
    (unless u referring to my wifebeater attire-domestic violence self sarcasm )..
    Laughing

  546. And Lee.. Honestly I don’t have any problem with the “creation”…but the “creator”..
    I can say more if you want! I don’t like talking behind anyones back…

  547. Lee,

    This is translation of Polish sentence, but I thought it will mean the same in English. But if it’s not, my mistake.
    Love and consume… you know, you looking at a cake you want to eat. And you eat the cake or not eat (circumstances)
    if word consume mean what my dictionary said me, everything should be clear now.

    Most of guys will think now “not eat cake? rubbish!”

    :)

  548. a civilian-mass audience

    Once a BURNIAN always a BURNIAN…

    Some of you …will go, some…will stay…as long as the windows are open…
    BUT there is no way…you will ever escape the BURNing transformation…
    OURPATRICIA had to go…but we will be there to support her…
    Others had to go too…but they will always be …BURNIANS…
    PANOS…tell it as it is…when you will be back in Greece…please,bring one t-shirt
    “I am NOT leaving BURN”…XL …:)))

    And regarding the hair issue…I live in the country of the Moustaches…
    And I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLL…….

    P.S I am studying Chinese…iii…..I will be back the soonest…
    Please, smile and shoot…civilians need you…

  549. a civilian-mass audience

    UFFFF…=

    You are Fabulous,Fantastic,Fiesty,Forgiving…

    Oime…keep rolling…KERRY happy birthday…!!!

    Hmmm…how can I keep up with all of you…???:)))

  550. 2:36 am here.. I’m sleeping right now..
    Funny , I dream that I’m writing in burn..
    Ok … Dreaming or not I’ll have to talk to u burnians manana..
    I think it’s that nicotine patch that gives me nightmares…
    Big hug to Patricia too..
    People, support Pat, buy the book.. and I promise I’ll forgive her..
    We all get silly from time to times..
    She”ll be back on her own time and she will apologize..
    (man I’m really dreaming right now.. Can’t wait to wake up)

  551. Should read ,,,,,,,,,,There’s a hell of a lot of photography out there and along with Getty my job is to identify it, control it, make money of it, and not allow photographers to run it.

  552. a civilian-mass audience

    …they are all missing something…the MASS AUDIENCE…

    come on my silent civilians…show them…what we got…

    ok…back to our regular program…!!!

    P.S KATHARINA,EMCD…love to see you back…my BURNING ladies
    KATIE FONSECA…please,proceed to the BURNing area…and many,many…AUDREY,MYGRACIE,TOMH,REIMAR,
    VICKY,WENDY,LISA,ANDREAC,MICHAELK,MATT,JENNY,VIVEK,PAULT,DAVIDSSSSSSS,CATHY,JAMESC…
    and …and…I will be back…JIMP…VIVA!!!

  553. Dear All… Am in DC at the moment and will meeting up w/ a few Burnians tonight at 8 at the gastro-pub ‘Commonwealth’ which is at Columbia Heights. If anyone wants to come for food and/or drinks, feel free to drop by.

    David…Looks like I might have just missed you. Am in the Nat Geo offices this afternoon, in case you are dropping by. Safe travels.

  554. Regarding Nietzsche, I’ve been reading “The AntiChrist” off and on for quite awhile now. Overall, it’s pretty bad, he often gets his history woefully wrong, but it contains some gems. For all his big picture problems, you gotta admit, the man was a quote machine. Anyway, somewhat apropos, I liked this one I came across today:

    “Buddhism promises nothing, but actually fulfills; Christianity promises everything, but fulfills nothing.”

    It’s gonna be cold in the Grand Tetons. Hope David packed the long underwear, if not the snow shoes.

  555. “I’M LEAVING BURN” T-shirt needs to be washed
    ———————————————-

    :-)))

    but really, if there is more than smoke, none of us are privy to what happened that made Patricia leave. It is not fair to pounce on her.

  556. Herve im glad you have a valid opinion about rejecting Nietzsche…after all your philosophy studies…
    loved your 2 word explanation jim style…And least Jim could stand his ground…hmmm can you?

  557. ha..yes usually there is more than smoke…but different causes, different fires…we have the accidental fires and the not so…the act does not always indicates the original motive…thats why our justice system isnt always working that well..unfortunately the act/crime suggests a penalty regardless the original cause…not all crimes started on a malicious cause…but justice is blind and sometimes is a problem…

  558. and Herve you just reminded my father when i told him i want to quit college to become a photog
    (utter crap)
    and also G.Bush when they asked him if he likes Rap
    (utter crap)

  559. oh…that was also the first reaction on Einsteins work (from the status quo)
    (utter crap)
    and dont forget the reaction to Freud’s theory about dreams … guess what the traditionalists said:
    (utter crap)

    two words that explain everything…
    (the newer version is Bull-shit..but its more simplified to one word: bullshit)
    see? evolution at its best..

    ps: and dont forget what the church said about Galileo Galilei when he dared to say that earth is a ball
    (utter crap)

  560. and Herve sorry if i hurt your religious feelings..i know you find offensive the idea that god is a human creation (does not exist) but think about it..
    isnt also kinda offensive that the invisible old man with the white beard is up there watching each and every move? Dont u find it “big brother-ish”?
    A big high definition camera with endless rolls of velvia film that gets printed/replayed after you die and then u get judged/punished accordingly?
    i see cameras everywhere nowadays…obviously our country is run by god…god is on our side obviously..
    Whats not to love?

    message from god:

  561. and to be very super clear:
    Im not against SPIRITUALITY… im against all INSTITUTIONS/RELIGIONS..
    Herve..i hope you can tell the difference ..(no sarcasm intended )

  562. Overall, it’s pretty bad, he often gets his history woefully wrong……. though history is merely an fluid interpretation of events of which most lacked first hand experience. Easy to look in hindsight from one’s own perspective which is clouded by today……..

  563. The Buddhies mob built great places to hang around as a tourist or if you are a Richard Gere thinking type clone. Other than that their stuff makes great photographs of what we westerners could’ve been but really don’t want to fully embrace as our lifestyle. Still it looks good on paper ………. mouse over the image on the link http://www.etrouko.com.au/im.htm

  564. well if we accept that the “right history” is in the american history school books then definitely Nietzsche was wrong..
    According the history books over here there was no slavery…only volunteer work..thank you africa for building a strong america…

  565. “History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there” ~George Santayana

    and.. usually twisted and manipulated to suit the tellers point of view

  566. Am donning my sack cloth and ashes as we speak :-)……….ah nice visual see you in the streets with your beggers bowl ……. history says that NZ is only a suburb away

  567. Actually, and speaking only of “Antichrist,” Nietzsche had access to Strauss and other pioneers of higher criticism who have since been proven mostly right, and chose to reject them.

  568. Did you mean to day Neitzche’s work is bile or is that a typo for bible? Either works for me, I guess. It was Strauss et.al. who first showed how dubious the bible is from a historical perspective and New Testament scholars ever since have confirmed and added further evidence to those insights. I’m not up to naming names right now, but if you want a reading list, this is a great start.

  569. Had a choice between listening to God crap or playing with my dog as a kid, I elected for the dog’s company and the odd Brothers Grimm fairytale……….. thanks but no thanks to ain’t about to start reading interpretations of mumbo jumbo .

  570. History, Mistory…
    History thinks that Wagner was a great composer..
    History said we liberated Iraq…
    History says we gave freedom to Afghanistan…
    History doesn’t care about Restrepo..

  571. interesting to read all the chat about Neitzche (i have read in full, god forbid, On the Genealogy of Morals, Birth of Tragedy, Thus Spake Z, Beyond G & E, and Ecce Homo…parts of others but haven’t read Antichrist….had 2 N courses in school, one with the gorgeous (in mind, body and humor) Alexander Nehamas, who when i was 18, an a wacked out frosh, made me decide to choose philosophy as one of my majors: see where it got me Alex??) and religion….

    no time to dip into Blackian country, but i will say that N’s write about buddhism vs. christianity/judaisim/islam…but, most get it still wrong….buddhism the religion has done has much horror to the world of enslavement as the other (all) major religions, though buddhist, at heart, is not a religion, but a psychological and physical framework in which to exercise and approach life….

    true, brother Panos, that religion/god is only and all about control and subjugation, a priori….but, life is also, madly, about subjugation: we’re subjected by our bodies, by the movement of dissolution, by the nature of the propelled universe and light, time, cum, breath….we’re parts of a mechanic larger than ourselves, an expanding and eventually dissipating universal: be it the cosmos or our breath….

    religion, because it is of us, fascinates and wrecks my heart, ’cause it is of us, beautifully and horrifyingly….but, for now, will just leave this simple thing from Roth’s “exit ghost”….

    “The end is so immense, it is its own poetry. It requires little rhetoric. Just state it plainly.”

    plainly: we perish

    allow that to be the breath and the light, the weight and the lift….

    i accept that…and imagine, that i’ll still rage against it, but i hope someday i do not, and simply allow the magnificent beauty of it’s truth to settle in…

    we are all the same

    one life, one breath, one death, continued again…..

    no god

    just life and what came before and what will come after…

    inhalation, exhalation…

    gone

  572. Bob yes… Religion is the ultimate CRUTCH for the lazy and the un-inispired..
    Fear is the mother of morality..
    Not only fear of death but also fear of life itself..

  573. PANOS… can’t agree that religion is uninspired, just look at some of the most magnificent paintings and architecture in history beeing inspired by religious belief. Bosch for example, or any Islamic architecture and design. And on and on it goes. I agree with your sentiment though, that the most sheep like connection to religion is facile. I think science , physics, is a sort of religion in a way. Absolutely wonderful.

  574. Panos, no need to ride your wild horses like what I wrote (utter crap) is about everything you believe in or tried to achieve in your life. I could have used a dozen different words to say it, and it was not about Nietzsche, but what you copied and pasted that was Nietzsche’s (look back, you will see).

    Any one spending a few days in many a buddhist countries will see that, lived as a religion, Buddhism does promise as much as any other religion (I know not Nietzsche’s life, so let me err: I doubt he spent any time in a buddhist country). The whole idea of merit-making, is based on acquiring something you do not yet have (the very definition of being promised something), yet can’t quite concretely put your finger on (again, similar to what Christianity couold promise but not deliver on).

    So, N. is wrong on any 2 counts.1) B. is a religion, and it is untrue that it does not bear promises to its followers, 2) B. is NOT a religion, and he should know better than to mention it in the same breath as another religion. Apples and oranges.

    About Christianity not being able to fulfill lives: absolutely no idea why that should hold water, when in France, we had l’ Abbe Pierre, but also Algeria had the trappist monks of Thiribine who worked to help poor muslims around them and eventually died rather than abandon them.

  575. Cmon gimme a big hug now..
    It’s just me working.. It’s like a soccer game.. Inside the field we break eachothers legs but in a pub we rush to see who is gonna buy the first beer faster..
    U know I love you.. But when we are “on the air”.. Show comes first..
    Show must go on;)

  576. Herve there was no need to go live etc in a Buddhist country… Western philosophers were very aware of Eastern philosophy and there were many had strong links

  577. another coincidence: Leica & Nietzsche are both germans….hmmm coincidence????
    im gonna apply for a new citizenship… holla to all my german nephews and nieces :))))))))))))))

  578. Western philosophers were very aware of Eastern philosophy
    ———————————————————-
    That’s the very point I make, Imants. Philosophy is not exactly to be approached in the same breath as religion.
    Yet, I think that the european take on Buddhism (often centered on zen and its japanese praxis) did often forget that this philosophy became just like any other credo, when institutionalized as a religion, and it sure did (Tibet, south-east asia, Sri Lanka).

    I am sure he meant Buddhism as ideally practiced individually, butI am not sure that Nietzsche meant Christianity as ideally practiced individually or even as a philosophy (if there is such a thing,I think not), which could have made sense, then.

  579. To put it in context, Herve, the Nietzsche quote comparing Buddhism and Christianity was in the context of Christianity trying to establish happiness on earth, “the shameless doctrine of personal immortality… Paul even preached it as a reward…” Buddhism, on the other hand, promises no such thing. Life is, you know, suffering, a philosophy to which Nietzsche could relate.

    I realize that I am in the European looking at Buddhism as a philosophy camp, far away from how it is actually practiced in Asia. In the temple where I often pass some time is a giant golden Buddha and people come and make offerings and pray to it for wealth and other favors. The very idea. Praying to the avatar of letting go of material things for material things. And the life-of-the-Buddha stories on the wall make him into a regular Jesus-of-the-Gospels-like miracle worker. And the historical Jesus, if there is such a person, is not all that different. The earliest written account of him is that he lived anonymously in some undetermined past and was crucified without anyone ever realizing who he was. Yet within two generations, he became a miracle worker with a miraculous birth, a detailed life and a miraculous resurrection. And yet again, a paragon of material poverty is fervently prayed to for diamonds and gold. Guess us humans just can’t do without our sky daddies. Those, and likewise our underworld baddies.

    Oh well, in the immortal words of Buffy: “Note to self: Religion: freaky.

  580. mw “Praying to the avatar of letting go of material things for material things”

    yup, I could never figure out the whole concept of bringing a shopping list to God. I’m reminded of the high school football teams in the bible belt, each kneeling before the game to ask Jayzus to help them win the game. Guess it depends who prays the hardest.

    http://search.conduit.com/Search.aspx?ctid=CT2391419&octid=CT2391419&eid=128679450334988134&name=YouTube&q=janis%20joplin%20mercedes%20benz&SearchSourceOrigin=15

  581. kneeling before the game to ask Jayzus to help them win the game
    ———————-

    yep..that would be jesus’s biggest concern..to win a highschool football game…..
    or help us on normandie…….to make things even more complicated..they were praying to the same guy for the same reason……at the same time…..
    human beings are (we) simply ridiculous…….

  582. a civilian-mass audience

    I see the night-shifters are alive and kicking…:)))

    Eastside…westside…I believe in the spirits…wherever and whatever…

    life is Unique and Amazing…keep the spirits Up…!!!

    P.S…can you say loud…I AM A PHOTOGRAPHER…louder…
    I can’t hear you…

  583. “we” were the good guys…
    and “they” were the bad guys…

    yeah right…sure…exactly…

    think of Palestine today….the Israelis raping the Palestinians kids……….and the Americans raping the Vietnamese kids…and im American…from an Israeli father and a Vietnamese mother born in greece…but my mothers father is German descent…..
    welcome to earth

  584. ohhh..i forgot to mention that my Israeli grandpas grandpa is an Arab…
    ok? then lets start the fight…
    and jesus said “love all”
    and muhhamed said “love all”
    and buddha said “love all”..
    and WE dont care to listen because our children been molested by our brother in law’s cousin who has been molested by the nephew of the third cousin of the seven son from our grandmothers ‘s side…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx1TaurjL1E

    IDIOTS

  585. a civilian-mass audience

    eu sou fotógrafo
    من يک عکاس
    soy un fotógrafo
    я – фотограф
    sono fotografo
    Ich bin ein Fotograf
    我是一名摄影师
    Jsem fotograf
    je suis photographe
    Είμαι φωτογράφος
    Ja sam fotograf
    jeg er en fotograf
    Ik ben een fotograaf
    मु३ो इस बात का फटोग्राफर
    Jestem fotograf
    Eu sint un fotoreporter
    אני צלם
    私は写真家です
    jag är en fotograf
    ผมเป็นคนถ่ายรูป
    저는 사진작가
    and …
    and ..
    I LOVE YOU ALL…see we are all one…

  586. wanna take it a step further? Propaganda of all propaganda’s???????????
    “Utter Crap” of all Crap? the KING of propaganda?
    Watch here the creation of the MOST stupid/dangerous hollywood assholes of all time..
    the one and only..the unique IDIOT , that lives in my town by the way..
    mr.Mel Gibson

  587. a civilian-mass audience

    and civilian said…I love You All…
    oime…PANOS…tell it is at is…
    BUT
    I am just a civilian…I don’t count:))))))))))))))))))))

  588. and if u think that i blame my fellow americans, my troops, my friends…the soldiers…then you are even more of an uneducated idiot…no, no, no..how could i blame my 18 year old buddy, marine from fallbrook california for that shit….!!!….think…think harder….deeper…….. its not HIS fault…he was ordered to be there….he was ordered to hate the arabs,….he was ordered to kill…..he had no choice.thats why im helping him..jump start his car,…change his flat tire on freeway 15…….he is no different than the german soldier in second world war (some idiots, uneducated idiots called him a Nazi in the past)….bullshit…a Nazi is the german in the 1941, or an american in Iraq, or a persian in greece, or a greek in Babylon, or an Israeli in Gaza , or a Palestinian suicide bomber killing innocent babies in Haifa..
    All, think for yourselves, decide…abandon the herd…help the immigrants in whatever fucking country you are from….abandon your pride…..help…………..help them..help yourself

  589. mw:
    the Nietzsche quote….. was in the context of Christianity trying to establish happiness on earth, “the shameless doctrine of personal immortality… Paul even preached it as a reward…” Buddhism, on the other hand, promises no such thing. Life is, you know, suffering, a philosophy to which Nietzsche could relate.
    —————————————

    Not sure where Christianity is trying to establish happiness on earth, Michael. I went to Sunday school as a catholic kid, did a bit of reading, to me, the full promise of that religion is not to be obtained on earth. The only time God sent someone human down here, it ended really badly, Jesus did not die a happy man. And much of what the Church teaches us is to live as best we can, following Jesus’s example. It sounds like a rip-off, to me….. Some promise! :-)))

    I will agree that somehow, societies (not just communities) that adopted Christianity, have a positivist attitude towards life itself. But there may be other factors than religion that it is so.

    The huge, almost only worthy difference between christian religions (and most religions with some “father knows best” God) and Buddhism is that in Buddhism, your salvation is entirely up to you, no one will deliver you the diploma, and you do not have to stand in front of examiners, so to speak.

    Texts, monastic rules are not sacred commandments, just seems they can help on the way, though find out by yourself. As it is for us to find the right discipline to attain whatever we think can be attained. Hence the importance in many buddhistic trends to find the right “guru” to help you, not achieve salvation, or even find the road, but your own road, you very own unique path to liberation. In Christianity, we all meet eventually on the same road, that God needs to stamp our passport for getting in.

    I am not sure Buddha said “life is suffering”. In any case, what is meant is “as you live you cling, and clinging (to anything) leads to suffering”.
    yet, that does not mean that buddhism has a negative attitude towards life, it’s a dead head with Christianism here. Just appreciate what has been given to you, and know that despite, or because of, your suffering nature, this is not the end.

    Where Buddhism sees clingings that keep you suffering thru countless re-incarnations, the working outof karma, Christianity sees sins, that you need to repent from to be seated eventually amongst the felicitous for eternity. Different societies, different way to speak of, then deal with, the whole “life and other nysteries” shenanigan.

  590. HERVE mon ami,

    “Long post, unrelated to photography…. Time for a shot:….”

    When you wrote “time for a shot,” at first I thought of a shot of something like whiskey, vodka, or absinthe…!
    Anyway, I love the shot of alms giving on the road in Sangklaburi…

    As for a serious discussion about Buddhism (or Christianity, for that matter)… while I am sympathetic with your efforts, I fear you are wasting your time and energy on the audience in this forum. There are too many of the ‘usual suspects’ here who are convinced they ‘know’ something about the subject. And personally I would hesitate to say anything about Buddhism in general… it’s just too broad, too diverse, and too multifaceted a topic to generalize about. Better to show us your photos, like this one… they communicate far more than any arguments in print here will. And are less likely to give the resident trolls grist for their own ego mills.

    Cheers,

  591. Why do you refer to others a resident trolls ………………. I sense a air of superiority by you Sidney or do you just want to insult the posters here. Then maybe it is your ego that is playing havoc

  592. SIDNEY…

    while perhaps not everyone here is as literate as you nor can write as well as you, to refer to anyone here as a “resident troll” takes away a lot of your overall credibility i have so respected over the last two years…your comment overall is so so outrageously condescending , i just could not believe what i was reading…i am assuming you are just having a bad day…just surprised, that’s all Sidney, just surprised..

    cheers, david

  593. Whoa… Wait. Did Imants Krumins just try to upbraid someone for the suggestion of an air of superiority? Yikes. My irony meter just had a Chernobyl-like meltdown! *smile*

  594. Not sure where Christianity is trying to establish happiness on earth, Michael.

    Me neither, Herve. That was Nietzsche talking. And it’s interesting in context. I think what he was drawn to Buddhism because its idea of salvation is death, you know, the end of the cycle of rebirth, which is what Nietzsche longed for. Christianity, on the other hand, promises eternal life, an idea which horrified Nietzsche. Kurt Vonnegut felt pretty much the same way. So do I, but that’s neither here nor there.

    Anyway, nice shot Herve. Let’s say it in photos. I don’t mean to be contentious, btw, just discussing stuff you and Panos brought up. I find Buddhism interesting. Seems a lot of other people here do as well.

  595. a civilian-mass audience

    And that’s why we love BURN…!!!
    Because the windows are open…

    Let’s embrace our differences…let’s celebrate our similarities…
    Respect and understanding can guide us through “uneven” paths…

    Only together can do this…history has proven that…!!!

    What is our …back to our regular program :)))

  596. everything always open to interpretation..
    both good and bad people who follow religion have a mechanism in place to justify or absolve their good or bad doings..
    which religion it is doesn’t seem to much matter.. if the shared root, or common goal, is meant to be peace.. of mind.. of community.. none seem to achieve that en mass

    the Christian murderer told god and was forgiven
    the Buddhist murderer says they’ll pay for it next life.

    perhaps the only difference between jesus and siddhartha is the projected interpretations of their followers.
    who knows?
    none of us.

  597. LEE….

    i am a little confused on your travel schedule…are you still planning on a new york visit??

    EVA…

    i hope we have a time after next week to go over all of the Fedora work…and Palio…

  598. sidney:

    that is one of the most dispiriting comments i’ve read in a long time here….obnoxious, condescending and, ironically, pointing to the same kind of holier-than-thou you purport to resent….

    as a resident troll, and a practicing buddhist or whatever you want to call it, who sits, i’ll definitely send you some metta tonight, if that aint too troll like

    living in thailand, nor korea, a buddhist does not necessarily make….

    instead, smile and laugh a bit please….even Herve, our resident pun-Puck, seems to have laughed less….

    one thing for sure, if anything else, Nz was right that if people get all up in dandruff about their ‘spirituality’ (in this case buddhism) than it is a religion….

    but, it’s not that important at all….

    smile a bit, laugh more

    and ATTACH during the watching of the breath and the autumn leaves…

    oh well….the eye from upon the tower is still gleaming out west, upon darkened Mordor…

    and i thought the autumn vermillion and rust’d gold would make us all a bit softer :))

    crackle of the leaves

    b

  599. Food for Thought.

    I just perused my first online edition of Nat Geo traveler (Sept 2010 issue)….Beautiful images, nice layout, easy (enough) interface and almost zero photo credits! Each author had a by-line from one article to the next, but only featured essays acknowledged the photographer.

    I don’t know about everyone else, but the second thing I do after seeing a great image is to peel open the pages of a magazine, turn it to the side and scope out the photographer’s name,agency in the page by page credits.

    Perhaps I missed a hidden tab, or pull down index. Never-the-less as photographers and content creators we should be concerned about these details as the magazine (publishing) industry moves towards online trends, and the iPad as a medium for content consumption.

    Any thoughts on this?

    Cheers, Jeremy

  600. even Herve, our resident pun-Puck, seems to have laughed less….
    —————————–

    mw, It only sounds contentious, to discuss things because of the written form. Take the same words, sentences we use, and place us in the Kibbutz, near the fridge, a beer in hand, and any of our X vs Y talk would be taken for exactly what it is, a banter between rather kindred spirits, probably not lasting more than 10 minutes on the same subject. Thanks for your kind comments on the picture. Bob apparently missed out on the humour in it. Pas grave! ;-)

    just anote: I have googled a bit on Nietzsche, and I found more about N. and hinduism than N. and Buddhism. No idea, but I wonder if he equated Moksha and Nibbana.

    Personally, my last word on this, (sorry Bob, not laughing or crying, just pontificating…. Like you! ahahahh… Now I am laughing! ) is that our common humanity is expressed in different ways all over the world. But the longing is the same, and words like etarnal life, sins, clingings, nirvana, are only indicative of our feeble but stubborn attempt to reach to the unknown, the mystery behind.

    The true language of any religion is silence, and deeds, not rituals, are its only acts. And in silence and deeds, it is impossible to part jews, Christians, muslims, or buddhists, and etc….

  601. I don’t want to complain here…well, that’s not really true, is it? I am complaining and no amount of cleverly written obfuscation can hide that fact. And why should I hide it? The squeaky grease gets the wheel, as they say, and isn’t it amazing how much they know when you consider they dropped out of high school when they were twenty-four? Yes, I’d say they’d triumphed over their circumstances and getting them to do that wasn’t easy, not by a long shot, I’ll tell you. In any case, I don’t know why I’d try to obfuscate here if I didn’t have to; I am complaining because it is my God-given right to complain even if I have nothing to complain about, although having something to complain about while you are complaining about it usually helps; it adds focus to your complaint.

    The true focus of my complaint, in case you haven’t guessed it so far, is the large number of unnecessary things people have to put up with every day. There are more of these unnecessary annoyances to put up with every day and they seem to have infiltrated every nook and cranny of daily life. Take the pins you find in shirts, for example. I got two very nice shirts for Christmas and I’ve worn them to work the past couple of days. The shirts fit nicely; no cause for complaint there; but after taking them out of the plastic bags they came in I pulled enough pins out of both shirts to hold an injured linebacker’s knees together. I’m sure all those pins served a purpose once upon a time, but pinning a shirt down like a frog in a high school biology class is scarcely necessary; the shirt is going nowhere. Three or four pins are sufficient; twelve is just wasteful.

    Credit card bills are another great exemplar of the unnecessary. I use two cards consistently, which is to say, after the recent holiday season, that I am up to whatever your favorite portion of the human anatomy is in debts that I’ll finish paying off next December, just in time to start the process all over again. Every month I get an envelope from these credit card companies with enough paper stuffed inside to write War and Peace on. Well, maybe not War and Peace, but it’ll take on almost any other nineteenth century Russian novel that you care to mention. Of the printed matter in the envelope, only one sheet is dedicated to the task of bills everywhere: how much I owe the credit card company, when I have to get the money to them, and what is the minimum amount of money they will accept for not damaging my credit rating and making it impossible for me to live a normal life in the credit obsessed world of American life and commerce. The rest of the stuff in the envelope is superfluous.

    For example, I don’t go anywhere so I don’t need frequent flier miles and even if I did use them, I doubt the not quite 24 carat gold and almost real diamond jewelry will help me entice any of the local native girls the way that good old fashioned iron nails enticed many a Tahitian maiden to part with her virtue when Captain Cook landed there on his way around the world back in 17something or other. I don’t need a day planner bound in real imitation leather; my day doesn’t need organizing. I get up, I eat breakfast, I go to work, I come home, I eat dinner, I watch television, I go to bed. When your life boils down to seven basic activities, there isn’t much call for a book to help you organize it. I don’t need a ceramic pen or to acquire points for a bicycle that I am never going to use even if I somehow managed to get the thing and I am not too interested in special protection from thieves; I already have credit cards I can’t afford; and I am completely uninterested in a combination short-wave radio and CD player that will fit in a space the size of New Jersey.

    That last thing is the most annoying of all because not only is this product unnecessary, the place where it is advertised is just plain annoying. The ad for this wonder of entertainment technology is invariably stuck on a piece of paper on the back of the envelope you send your check in. I’ve torn the envelope trying to get rid of that piece of paper, which is more than a little frustrating, and the idea of them trying to sell me something while I am trying to pay off the last batch of unnecessary stuff I can’t afford is not only annoying, but on some deeper level, insulting as well.

    We are awash in unnecessary words too, like aglet and xylophagous. An aglet is a common, everyday item; it’s the plastic or metal tip at the end of your shoelaces; but no one knows what an aglet is or uses the word so why do we bother with the word at all? Why have it around at all, occupying space in the dictionary that could go to a more deserving word? And at least aglet is easy to say and has some practical utility; when was the last time you heard anyone use the word xylophagous in a sentence? Xylophagous describes the culinary preferences of the humble termite; it means wood-eating, but if you wanted to describe something as wood-eating wouldn’t you just call it wood-eating and not some long Greek word known only to sesquipedalian Greek pest exterminators and Scrabble champions, who invented the word to help them get rid of the X tile and get a truly massive number of points on a triple word score?

    But the most annoying thing about these unnecessary annoyances is just that: they are unnecessary and they are annoyances. They do not provoke rage or wrath, which are grand dramatic emotions suitable for dramatic occasions, but only the petty irritation you feel when you’re calling your insurance company to make a claim and you are now listening to their automated phone answering system’s ninth option menu in three minutes. At times like this it’s hard not to believe that the whole point of such unnecessary annoyances is to make you go away, since the people you are trying to reach obviously regard you as the unnecessary irritation and would just as soon not have to deal with you at all. All of these annoyances, or course, will raise your blood pressure to an unhealthy level. Most doctors, including mine, say that in order to avoid spikes in your blood pressure you should avoid stress wherever possible, but it is hard to take this particular bit of medical advice seriously when the doctor is charging you seventy dollars just for the privilege of sitting in his waiting room.

  602. I used to be vegetarian but have recently become xylophagous. I share this information with you in the hope that this post somehow gets listed before Alaky’s post (as sometimes happens). This will annoy the hell out of him if it happens.

  603. I received a fitting fortune on my cookie from the local asian carry-out place and thought I’d share it.

    “Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.”

  604. Hey DAH. No I ended up canceling my trip to your workshop Friday show. I’m back in Maui now and will be for the winter, except for a possible trip to Turkey in December and maybe a trip to Maine. But pretty much tied here with my home on the market and trying to get this all squared away. I sent a message here on Burn to that effect but figured you probably did not get it in all the end of the week activity. Sorry to have missed it. Next time.

    Lee

  605. If link don’t open don’t stress.. Befriend me in Facebook and check my “wall”…biooootch (venice influenced at the moment..sorry)..sorry but I need “new friends”.. Honest enough?

  606. LEE…

    i was not expecting you for the friday show and did see your note….that was two weeks ago…i just thought you were back south/east for other family related things and still perhaps had new york on your agenda…anyway, enjoy your Maui winter and we will see you when the timing is right…

  607. a note about love and caring…

    in november, the book MERCY will be published. Mercy is a project that James Delano has put together in order to raise funds and awareness for Hospice. He asked 100 photographers from around the world to contribute an image on the idea of “mercy”….all proceeds of the book and show will go to Hospice Japan and Hospice Care…..

    It was honor to contribute to this book as it is an act of trying to use photography as a means to bring both attention and funds for the work Hospice does….when the book is published, i will provide a link in case anyone is interesting in purchasing the book….the list of contributors is power….and it feels damn good, to use pictures to help rather than to call attention to self….

    David is also part of this remarkably generous effort, and was on board with his support from the beginning….I know how appreciate James is as well…

    amid the drawn out long-above conversation, something of a loving nature:

    James’ words and ideas are here

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mercy-Project-Inochi-Created-by-James-Whitlow-Delano/144316135613081?ref=ts&v=wall

    running
    b

  608. BOB…

    i was wondering whatever happened to the Mercy Project…i lose track of so many things, so thanks Bob for staying on my case on this one and making sure my work was in on time (more or less)…i will always support altruistic projects like this one managed by James and others who care….i do look forward to seeing the book….again, gratitude for the part you played….

    cheers, david

  609. David :)))

    yes, the book will be amazing…and I can’t imagine the book without your picture and love and support….and such a great cause…

    James is a beacon of light :))…I think we’re all humbled and honored just to help him with this project and for his sister and Hospice…I know, personally, how appreciative he is of your love and support on this one too :))

    Photographs can do good :)

    ok, off to buy shop for Thanksgiving (yea, tomorrow in Canada)

    hugs
    running
    bob

  610. Thanks Bob!
    …been reflecting for a while on the costs of anything related to health in US. Like a non-emergency ambulance ride to the hospital, 800 dollars. And you (well, not me, I am fine) have not even seen the doctor!
    And thinking of James reports from Burma, or John’s from Cambodia, can’t quite shake off thinking (knowing actually), what 800$ can achieve over there.

  611. a civilian-mass audience

    yes, when the time is right…we will ALL meet…sooner or later…

    academians,photophilosophers,civilians,trolls,donors,atheists,sponsors,silent readers,religious…
    we are humans and we are versatiles…

    P.S AKAKY…thanks for the ξυλοφαφος …but I am παμφαγος(pamphagous)
    sorry for my English…and my readerproof skills
    I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLL…cause when we need to support a good cause…
    WE ARE ALWAYS in the front line…the BURNING one…!!!

  612. Herve “Like a non-emergency ambulance ride to the hospital, 800 dollars.”

    And we moan here in NZ about paying sixty bucks for the same service. Certainly puts things in perspective…

  613. “Spending week making individual hand made books. Push to publish body of work”

    That’s definitely on my “wanna do” list.. would be nice to see pics!

  614. Back to religion (cause I’m late and haven’t been around):

    I once spoke with a monk in Vietnam and he said the biggest problem the Buddhist “church” faced was the Catholicism of the faith: ie one could go about their lives in any manner and then come on Sundays and ask the Buddha for forgiveness and all “sins” would be erased. Of course Buddha and Buddhism doesn’t work like this.

    I think the lesson to be learned from Buddhism is surrender. WE aren’t in control. Of course this idea of control/surrender gets confused with some meditators, and I often see it rear its ugly head in the ayahuasca ceremonies I do. Some of the roughest times I’ve witnessed have been by hardcore meditators who think by striving really hard to sit still, they are somehow in control of themselves – ie they use control to surrender”. Well, it just doesn’t work that way, esp when using ayahuasca where you have to surrender to the medicine and whatever comes up, or you are fucked! Surrender is surrender, control is control.

    I also find that the more one fights a “demon”, the harder the demon fights back. Just accept it, give it some love, and it becomes a shrinking violet. It can’t stand it – it needs challenge and aggression. Buddhism isn’t about “destroying” anything – quite the opposite. It’s about transformation and the best way to do that is through love and acceptance. Of course, all easier said and done.

    Hope you are all having a great Sunday!

    Charles

  615. DAH…
    Once you mentioned a video that was shot during last year’s book making workshop… any chance you (or any of the participants) could dig it up and post it online? I’m interested both in the process and the final results…
    cheers

  616. In Cambodia you have to pay BEFORE entering the ambulance. No money? No transport…

    Oh, and about the religion thing: “Religion is the opium of the people”…

  617. “cancel my subscription to the ressurection …
    …………….
    The girl in the window won’t drop…….
    the scream of the butterfly ….

    Hanging around with my face to the crowd………”

    Guess where I’m at?

    “hear a very gentle sound.. Very far very near..”

  618. Everything is the opium for the people, if you want it so…. :-)

    PS: with 800$, one can help a lot of people pay their ambulance rides before in cambodia! ;-)

  619. a civilian-mass audience

    What are you drinking BURNIANS…

    I want …one of the same…:))))))))))

    Handmade photo books …sprinkled with fairy DAH editing dust…

    What Not To Love!!!

    Keep it up…don’t miss the BURNING bus…

  620. Yesterday I got the chance to put to use some of DAH’s recent advice. For several months now, my kid’s been warning me that there was an upcoming Anime festival that he just had to go to. Well, yesterday it arrived and early in the morning I finally got around to finding out what he was talking about. We go to one or two Anime things every year and they’re always small affairs, so I hadn’t given it any thought, but this one turned out to be part of Comicon, the humongous comic book themed event at the convention center. Over the years I’ve seen many news reports and photographs from Comicon — essentially a bunch of nerds dressed up as comic book characters and the companies that want to bilk them — and had no interest whatsoever in going, much less photographing it. And I hadn’t changed my mind after a quick walk through once I got there, so I got a cup of coffee, found a sofa and got to work with my notebooks on a writing project. But coffee eventually gave way to wine and I thought, well, if I did want to photograph this, how would I approach it? Make fun of them? That seemed obvious and in line with what everyone else tended to do, but, happily, I found I had no interest in that. Still, what else was there? I didn’t like the place or care about the people beyond a mild distaste for indulging in such lavish, violent fantasies when the real world is such a mess due largely to people indulging in lavish, violent fantasies. Then I remembered the recent conversation here about the necessity of loving one’s subjects and attempted to approach essays from that perspective.

    Anyway, not the best coverage of Comicon ever, but a bit of fun and a positive experience.

  621. Hi guys!

    I’ve been a bit lame as of late and fallen out of synch with burn! Should get back due to more than a reason really but all the time struggling to find the half an hour to go through the last couple of essays.

    For those in the UK, we have at the gallery Street Photography Now, that opened on Saturday. Many photographers that you might know, and plenty of DAH’s friends are involved in this one: Bruce Gilden, Alex Titarenko, Joel Meyerowitz, Alex Webb, etc. It’s all drawn out of a book published by Thames & Hudson that is currently sold out, only four or five days after being published.

    And our next exhibition is David Hurn, and we’ll let people curate part of it using his archives. More to come soon.

    More on the Street Photography Now:
    http://www.thirdfloorgallery.com/exhibitions.html#exhibition8

  622. JONI KARANKA..

    i am well aware of your efforts and success with Street Photography Now…..i am pleased to have you back with us here as well…also have you in the designs already for whenever we decide to publish another print edition of Burn…i hope your work with the gallery has not taken away completely your time for shooting….always anxious to see more of your personal street work…

    cheers, david

  623. @david: you sometimes just have to choose, and 2010 is not the time to shoot (much). Hoping to get myself back on shooting when things calm down over here a bit, which would be when we have sorted out some paperwork and got more regular means of funding. After that it will not be plain sailing, but at least I’d have time to carry on projects if I’m disciplined enough! Right now it’s like having three full time jobs (they day one that pays, the gallery one that doesn’t, and photography that doesn’t either). In a way it is good to not be so hands on for a time, I get much more into thinking about how I’ll present the work and also getting a lot of experience on what a gallery would need from me if they thought about showing it.

  624. Just flipping through the oct. 11 issue of Time and smiled to see a photo by Mr. Pete Marovich.
    And then got to the editor’s note and learned that the cover story, “the secret world of extreme militias”, was shot by 19 year old Ty Cacek.

    a seasoned pro who sometimes comments here …
    a gifted young photographer’s great work from a big assignment…

    both of these things made me think of bUrn and all it stands for… glad it exists!

  625. Speaking of Galleries….

    DAH, Fight Club is no more.

    For everyone else, last year during FotoWeek DC, David and a few Burnians were featured in probably the coolest spot in town. Dubbed the Fight Club by it’s young punk rock skater denizens, the place had parties, gallery showings, music, impromptu concerts, bonfires, and a huge skate park inside! No pretentious jack-offs allowed! The real deal. A place I wish Panos could have seen… totally would have fit right in! Unfortunately, the same carefree, punker attitude that brought it into existence also apparently brought it down. Petty infighting, landlord issues, back rent, arguments with neighboring establishments, prostitutes and crack addicts… etc. I suppose, appropriately enough, it crashed and burned like a place called the Fight Club only could. Damn it was cool, though!

    R.I.P.

    Here are some images I shot last year of Harvey’s/Burn’s showing: http://www.michaelkircher.com/fotoweekdc2009.htm

    And here is the Washington Post article about it’s short but way groovy life… and death: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/10/07/ST2010100705728.html?sid=ST2010100705728

  626. @Michael: at least we don’t owe lease… we do owe months of utility bills, though, which is never a good thing either… and I was right now checking my bank account and I barely have money to pay rent at home (which I do owe!)

  627. Once upon a time, I was going to teach history. I don’t know how or why I conceived that notion, but I did, and so when the time came for me to go to college, I signed up for lots of history courses. Now, I went to a state institution with the social and academic cachet of damp crabgrass, and as a result my professors were usually men with Ph.Ds’; I don’t think the place had enough money to hire grad students to fill in as teaching assistants. Of these, the most formidable was the gentleman who taught the course on the Crusades, an event that he’d forgotten more about than anyone in the class ever knew. On the first day of the class, after he’d handed out the syllabi, he informed us that in all papers we were to avoid the three great sins of historical writing: speculation, anachronism, and geneticism. Our indulging in any of these sins would be enough for him to dismiss any paper we’d written out of hand. What are these great sins?

    First, speculation and geneticism, which I am combining here because they are closely related. Geneticism is a scientific concept that holds that all human behavior is hard-wired by DNA. In historical terms, geneticism means that the events of the past had to happen the way they happened. This, however, is not true. One of the main points David McCullough makes in nearly every speech he gives is that nothing, absolutely nothing, in history had to happen the way it did happen. If there wasn’t a fog on the Brooklyn side of the East River after the Battle of Long Island, Washington and the Continental Army would have been trapped and crushed by the British and the American Revolution would have ended before it truly got started; if Napoleon Bonaparte had been guillotined during the Terror, the history of France would have been entirely different; if Edward VI had lived to adulthood and married, Elizabeth would be a historical footnote; if Franz Ferdinand’s chauffeur hadn’t gone down the wrong street in 1914, Adolf Hitler would have remained a strange little man muttering to himself as he drew picture postcards for the tourists in Vienna. The terrible ifs, as Churchill put it, accumulate, which leads us to the sin of speculation. The terrible ifs accumulate, but in history, the ifs do not count-what happened is what happened. The would haves, should haves, could haves are all very good, but history does not reveal its alternatives-what happened is what happened. In history, everyone gets to have their own opinion, but no one gets their own facts, not unless you can dig new facts out of the historical record. In the argument between factual and counterfactual, factual wins every time.

    And finally, anachronism. Anachronism in history is the projection into the past of ideas and attitudes that the people at the time could not or would not have had. For example, Christopher Columbus is routinely damned for not being a sensitive 21st century PC type who was directly responsible for the genocide of the American Indians. This is a heavy weight for anyone to bear, especially a 15th century man barely out of the Middle Ages who is accused of slaughtering millions of people. In Henry Morton Robinson’s novel The Cardinal, an Italian priest sums up all of American history in a single sentence: America was discovered by an Italian who thought he was going somewhere else. And this, in a way, is true. Columbus died in 1506, believing to the end that he had found a new sea route to Asia. The people he found he called Indians because that is what he believed they were: people from India. Blaming Colombus for what other men did with his discoveries is like blaming Albert Einstein for the atomic bomb. Einstein did not develop the bomb nor did he drop it; what he did do in his 1939 letter was point out that the device was technologically possible and that no one with half a brain would want to live in a world where the Nazis had the bomb and no one else did. And, just for the sake of argument, let’s indulge in a little speculation, hideous though that was to my professor. Eliminate Columbus from the equation, eliminate the voyages of Cabot and the rest, eliminate all of voyages between 1492 and 1500, and what do you get? You still have the Portuguese going down the coast of Africa and the chance that one of them would have been the first to encounter the Americas. So instead of Columbus being the capital of Ohio, Cabral would have been. The idea that the Americas were going to remain unfound by Europeans defies belief, and that once found, that Europeans were going to treat the aboriginal population any different than they treated any one else calls for a very large suspension of disbelief.

  628. Akaky, you are correct..Columbus never knew he made it over here…The Queen of spain never gave him credit…
    Im not against that crazy pirate..who cares..its just the government should rename this holiday to “Native American genocide Day”…its a little more accurate..Why celebrating a crazy pirate that discovered India”?

  629. Michael true..but nobody ever “discovered” anything..gold diggers..thats all..
    why not celebrate a “National Fish Day” for the first fish discovered the earth….(if Darwin was right of course)

  630. a civilian-mass audience

    Oime…you BURNIANS…Thanks for the links and the photos…
    I am so proud of you…ALL OF YOU…and I miss so many…

    The Pandora’s box has already been opened…we have Hope
    But I believe in Action
    Cause Action leads to Reaction…you know the rest…

    P.S Sorry AKAKY…speculation,geneticism,anachronism….is in my civilian agenda:)))
    Red wine…please…:)))

  631. a civilian-mass audience

    And while I will drinking my wine…I am looking to hear from some of our BURNIANS…
    I am so happy to see JIM…and all my
    ANTON,
    REIMAR,THOMAS,ERIC,TOMH,POMARA,MARTINB,PRESTON,AITKEN,JAMESC,JOHNYG,VASILIOS,MIKE,MARCIN,
    SIDNEY,ANDREAC,LASSAL,AUDREY,KATHARINA,WENDY,OURPATRICIA,DAVIDB,BOBBY,MTOMALTY,MARCIN,
    FREDERICO,MATTHEW,SAM,JUSTIN,FRANK,LISA,KERRY,VALERY,EVA,MYGRACIE,KATHLEEN
    FONSECAAAAA…
    And I have more names…I have so many names…
    Hmmm…where is my little BURNING book…

    I hope you are all out there…I need to hear from you…just to justify my existence…:)))
    LOVE YOU ALLLLLL….VIVA !!!

  632. a civilian-mass audience

    Hmmm…COLUMBUS was Greek…???!!!

    PANOS…I will have to call an academian a historian…for this one…
    and here in BURN …I have the best…
    SIDNEY,AKAKY,BOBBY…I call my BURNIANS …
    BUT you are right…it’s time to celebrate

    VIVA ouzo and whiskey and COLUMBUS…and please drive safely…
    THANK YOU

  633. Officer given life for boy’s murder in Greek riot case

    Witnesses said Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot deliberately
    A Greek policeman has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a schoolboy in 2008, an incident that sparked mass unrest.

    A court in the town of Amfissa convicted Epaminondas Korkoneas, 38, of intentionally killing 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

    He was shot dead on 6 December 2008 in the Athens neighbourhood of Exarchia.

    Korkoneas’s patrol partner, Vassilios Saraliotis, 32, was given a 10-year jail sentence for complicity.

    Continue reading the main story
    Related stories

    Relief at Greece police verdict
    In pictures: Anniversary violence
    Rebellion deeply embedded
    The riots that followed the killing saw cars being set alight and shops looted in a number of cities. Hundreds of businesses in Athens were targeted and the second city of Thessaloniki also saw serious unrest.

    Further rioting took place on the first anniversary.

    ‘We will not forget’
    The verdict from a panel of judges and jurors was 4-3 in favour of convicting Korkoneas of intentionally shooting Alexandros.

    Continue reading the main story
    Analysis

    Malcolm Brabant
    BBC News, Athens
    The decision, by the smallest possible margin, to convict Epaminondas Korkoneas of murder closes one of the darkest chapters of recent Greek history and is a source of considerable relief for the country’s socialist government.

    Anything other than a guilty verdict could have triggered a violent response from the country’s youth, many of whom regard the police with suspicion, mistrust and outright hatred.

    The outcome is a source of grim satisfaction for the family of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who had fully expected “The Rambo of Exarchia” to be convicted of murder.

    Alexandros’s mother Gina Tsakilian, who runs a jewellery store in Athens, was highly distressed by attempts by Korkoneas’s defence team to paint her son as a troublemaker and the verdict helps to restore his memory.

    Two judges and one juror had backed a lesser verdict of manslaughter with possible intent.

    The nine-month trial heard that Korkoneas had fired three shots, during an altercation with youths on the streets of Athens.

    His lawyer said these had been warning shots – responding to a hail of missiles – and cited an autopsy report indicating the boy had been hit by a ricocheting bullet.

    However, witnesses and relatives testified that Korkoneas had deliberately taken aim and fired.

    At the trial in January, Alexandros’s mother, Gina Tsakilian, said the two defendants were “monsters in the guise of men”.

    Responding to the verdict, her spokesman, Capt Andreas Constantinou, said: “The family is happy with the outcome of the court proceedings. Justice has been done.

    “Of course, Alexandros is not coming back, but at least what is important for the family is that his good name has been restored.”

    The trial was moved from Athens to Amfissa – a small town 200km (120 miles) west of the capital – to deter attacks by anarchist groups that had vowed to kill the two defendants.

    Exarchia is a rebellious district, popular with self-styled anarchists, and there are frequent clashes with police.

    Saraliotis (left) and Korkoneas denied the charges
    The BBC’s Malcolm Brabant in Athens says the chairman of the residents’ association there, Manos Koufouglou, had told him he welcomed the verdict.

    But Mr Koufouglou said that while tensions had eased, the people of Exarchia remained unhappy that the armed Special Guard unit to which Korkoneas belonged had not been disbanded.

    “Police violence goes on,” he told our correspondent. “The government has not done enough to reform the police.

    “There will be a demonstration to mark the anniversary of the murder. We will not forget.”

  634. a civilian-mass audience

    Travel advisory…yeap,it will be a mess…
    just to compliment …the one that it’s already out here…

    Hmmm…goodnight from Grecoland…

  635. not that im telling you anything new but AXL ROSE (from Guns & Roses sucks)
    read some of his lyrics here:

    Immigrants and faggots
    They make no sense to me
    They come to our country
    And think they’ll do as they please
    Like start some mini Iran
    Or spread some fucking disease
    They talk so many goddamn ways
    It’s all greek to me
    Well some say I’m lazy ….
    I’m a small town white boy
    Just tryin’ to make ends meet

    http://www.lyrics007.com/Guns%20N'%20Roses%20Lyrics/One%20In%20A%20Million%20Lyrics.html

  636. Charles…

    “Control is control. Surrender is surrender.”
    Your reminder came to me during a sleepless night last night.
    I missed the rest of the conversation but am glad I saw that.

    Timing is everything.
    Thanks :)

  637. Nice job.. but you know that is not accepted from the PJ oligarchy ?
    You altered the photo Akakyevits … You going to hell..
    Can’t be embedded anymore.. You’re on your own..;)

  638. Plus Akakyevits those photos can’t stop the war and can’t enlighten the future generations..
    Do you really think that you can make a difference or stop a war ? With those photos? You need a workshop with Zoriah asap..(he lowered the price to look more believable.. But don’t tell anyone)

  639. ANTON…

    Is it possible to create an essay archive that looks like the list on the right sidebar? Rather than taking us to the actual essay pages (12 of them!) it would be a list where we could more easily find what we’re looking for.

    (not that you don’t have a ton more to be concerned with! ;^} but just wondering.)

    Thanks.

  640. MICHAEL,

    h**p://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/ would show a list of last 15 essays.You can use “older entries” to go back in time. If you are looking for something specific that you vaguely remember the name or the author, use the search. The essays page is slow since it loads a lots of essays on the page. Use this with caution since if all of us start doing just that – server will overload and make me come and hunt you down.

    But your suggestion is great and in the grand plan the redesign.

    Cheers,
    Haik

  641. a civilian-mass audience

    …I am embedded with the Mass Audience …only in the dialogue area…:)))
    But the Gaza essay feels like Gaza …oime

    Bravo to All…don’t give up your dreams…
    There is no mission …impossible!!!

    P.S extremely busy…new travels in the horizon…
    but I am addicted to BURN…
    I love you All…I will be back…with my new project…dam…taratam

  642. a civilian-mass audience

    And HAIK…thanks for the info…as MICHAElK…said
    Cause credit …when credit is due!!!

  643. BURN01 IS MAGNIFICENT1 :)))))

    no time to write, but i promise to write something about it this weekend….

    i hope you all have purchased your copy because it not only validates the importance and presence and ‘ambition’ (in the best sense of the word) of David’s dream but shows how important this collective photographic voice is here that has gathered over the last 2 years. Each of the essays looks gorgeous and functions magnificently well together, joined and adance….in fact, many of the essays here that were wildly criticized by many look just brilliant on the page, as they should….

    a big big big hug and thanks and shout out to david alan and anton-san for their extrarordinary and tireless work and belief and big big hugs to anna-maria and diego for helping make this a truth and a reality…

    more later about the book itself, but just wanted to say, from both the Black family (dima loved it too) and the Burn family, a major major thanks to the dreamers and madman/women …

    and yes, you’ll fall major in love with Audrey’s family all over again!

    more in a few days time…

    running
    b

  644. a civilian-mass audience

    JIM,

    Where have you been??? What are you shooting???
    Too many BURNING questions?

    Well,I am glad you are here. Congrats to ALL

    Viva…I hope you didn’t forget your key…:)))

  645. The fact that no one has seen fit to post photos of September’s workshop party leads me to the conclusion that the whole thing degenerated into a drunken orgy wherein small children were sacrificed to the Babylonian fire god Moloch and all photos destroyed in order to keep the police off everyone’s trail.

  646. AKAKY…

    someone right here ( i cannot remember who) did post pictures from that event…

    THODORIS…

    i will do it…i am shooting the whole thing….i just cannot do it until tomorrow…we are in our usual last day scramble to finish the printing for the books, get a slide show ready, and prepare for the final fiesta…lots going on…in any case, i will have the pictures available….

    WENDY…

    you have always been such a strong supporter…thank you….by the way, i was just back in Jackson Hole doing having an evening with some of our mutual friends there…and yes yes, well you may imagine the results…

  647. A Friday full of good news and karma, it seems…
    ..burn. on NYT Lens…
    ..another successful (I expect) workshop and final fiesta..
    ..the weekend is almost here and it is a perfect, crisp sunny fall day here…
    ..I got my “good” copy of Bunn.01 in my mailbox (unscathed) today…

    Hmm…even thoguh work calls, perhaps I need to go shoot….yes, yes, I think that I do…..

  648. oh…I checked out the untapped site, Andrew; nice pix. I was sort of hoping to see some of them Moloch pictures though; I had to shell out my school taxes this past week and so I am not partial to kids at the moment.

  649. Just got an email from Magnum telling me that signed copies of Divided Soul are available at their store.

    Looked through the sample pics and noticed Jouvert photos from Trinidad. I never knew you did Jouvert, David. Trinidad’s must be one of the two best.

  650. MW..

    how, why, would you have received such an e-mail i wonder?? i am going to check…very curious

    ERICA…

    yes, a day to be proud …tomorrow we will slammed i am sure, but today we are just fine!!

    MARCIN..

    thank you my Polish friend, and you are indeed the longest running commentator on Road Trips/ Burn….

    ANDREW B..

    yes, go shoot….then show me at some point….

  651. It’s because I subscribe to several of their mailing lists. The actual title of the email was more like “new arrivals in Magnum bookstore.” Your was just one of them.

    You’ve occasionally mentioned showing the contact sheets from various shoots. If you’re ever in the mood to show me the stuff from Jouvert Trinidad, I’d love to see how you approached it (think you know I regularly shoot Jouverts?) Trinidad, along with Grenada, are reportedly the best.

  652. a civilian-mass audience

    Thank you MR.JAMES ESTRIN, thank you New York Times…
    because credit …where and when credit is due…!!!

    The sky is the limit…hmmm…not even the sky…
    Where is my SPACECOWBOY ,OURPATRICIA,JENNY,RAFAL,ANDREAC…
    MyGRACIE…KATHLEEN FONSECA…I need some of my academians to help me
    express my gratitude…SIDNEY…TOMHYDE…ROSSY
    Where are you my BURNIANS???
    …AUSTRALIA,ASIA,AFRICA,EUROPE,NORTH and SOUTH POLE,
    NORTH and SOUTH AMERICA…UNIVERSE…I am calling all of you…
    THANK YOU ALL…
    Of course MR.HARVEY…souvlakia on me…beer on you

    NNTR…I am the happiest civi ..

  653. a civilian-mass audience

    Oime…my sincere apologies…how can I forget…

    A big Thank you…to our Silent Readers and Silent Donors…
    cause without you …yes, you know…without you…
    Oime…thank you to the people who are working behind the screen
    And thank you ANTON…our ANTON…and MIKEC and all of you…

    Oime…can someone stop me…??? :)))))))))))))))))))))))))

  654. congratulations to all who made the cut into burn-1 and to the heads in the place who put it on the table..
    highly deserved NYT time..
    brilliant stuff.

  655. MICHAEL K…

    i knew it was gone, but thanks for the whole story…and the link to last year’s gig…a cool deal to be be sure as you say….Tony does have it leased for Photoweek this year anyway…a one time deal…there was no way i could get a Burn show going this year though…not enough time…so i do not know what will be shown there…i am supposed to do something, but i can’t remember what exactly…

  656. a civilian-mass audience

    MICHAELK…yeap,What Not To Love…!!!
    I am with you…

    Viva BURNIANS…I am getting ready for our terrible two’s of our BURN baby…
    now how did I end up …the birthday civilian…I don’t really know
    BUT I know that…for sure

    I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLL :)))

  657. Birthday Civi? Thought you were a Valentine’s Day baby. Or are you talking about Burns 2nd birthday which is actually not too far in the future huh? How are you Civi?

  658. a civilian-mass audience

    LEE…another golden heart…yes, BURN is going to be two!!!

    I am back to Greece…I am between Chinese …and chickens…new baby chickens…
    Cause Greece looks more like …”ritdiena” lately…
    Are u back in Maui…shooting your backyard…???
    I will be traveling West again…I hope to meet some of you,MY BURNIANS…!!!

    The journey…is my ultimate destination…but for now…I just clean chicken poo…:)))
    LEE I love your Traveling links…I better go back to the face of book…!!!

  659. a civilian-mass audience

    PANOS…come to Greece…lots of chicken pooh to clean
    You will feel better ( guaranteed)
    And it will keep u occupied …not able to write crappy bull in this blog ( not guaranteed)
    :))))))))))))

  660. DAVID:

    PLEASE check your answering machine…..

    i tried calling a couple times this weekend…i know your busy….

    call me when u get a chance….

    important
    bob

  661. MICHAEL…DAVID B…

    hmmm…information dissemination is clearly out of hand…trying to imagine order or credibility sources…it now takes a lot of reading and research to try to figure out the truth….and even more work to try to figure out what one can DO about it…

  662. paultreacy.com
    October 18, 2010 at 11:26 am Edit

    Frostfrog – The screen on my old back-up G3 iBook has just died, funnily enough. I used it as a music center. Alas, no more. Strange coincidence. I’m going to suck all the music files out and stick them on a jump drive for the time being. I feel your frustration.

    For those among you who are London residents or will be in town between tomorrow and the 30th might be interested in seeing my work feature in a group show at the Strand Gallery, 32 John Adam Street, WC2.

    http://londonphotography.org.uk
    http://paultreacy.com

    Cheers.

  663. DAH, how did the hand made book workshop turn out? I am curious exactly what that entails. Any links or photos of the attendees work? I only saw one note on Twitter.

  664. yes yes, great pictures ARE easy to take…funny though, few can take them..smiling…
    ————————————-

    David, picked that up from Roberto’s essay page. I suppose one can say that we do not take (nor plan to take) great pictures, but might end up with.

    With this in mind, what is your “definition” of a great picture?

    Do you have pictures that you find great, while they may not be ever recognized as such, or is a great picture something that you AND others (especially in the profession itself) eventually agree it is?

    Or there is nothing eventual about a great picture, ie. It is great out of the box, its greatness obvious to “everyone” (In parentheses, because there are always nay-sayers).

    Thank you.

  665. Hello FILM SHOOTERS…

    In the middle of some house cleaning– have 12 rolls of T-max 120 format, ISO 100… up for grabs! First come first served! Can’t vouch for the quality, they’re old (date on box says 2003) but they’ve been in the fridge all along. (and hey, you can’t beat the price!) If you think you can put them to use drop me a line: mike (at) michaelkircher (dot) com.

    If you’re in the States I’ll mail them to you no problem. If you’re overseas… that might require help on your end. ;^}

    Cheers,
    -MK

  666. LEE…

    i have only done 5 hand made book workshops…three in Tuscany and two here at home…all were so special…this last one, maybe the very best…by definition a class of hand made book students must be small…no more than six….of course everyone must come into the class with a substantial cache of pictures…this is not a shooting class…the beauty of it is that nobody can even imagine what is going to come out at the end of the week…that is true of any workshop, but most true of this one…no matter where one goes with their work after, having a one of a kind item in your hand is hard to beat…a legacy of sorts…certainly the most valuable thing i have as a photographer is my hand made book when i was a child….to one degree or another , everyone will feel that about their hand made book someday…we use this tactile approach to their photography to also help them think about mainstream publishing…one really understands their own work better if they have played with it and shaped by hand….how can you beat scissors, paste and string?? i will put up some pics later…

    HERVE…

    you are asking a question and i am quite sure you know the answer….i know you know the answer for writing and painting and film and the answer is the same for photography….i.e. the more one studies the history of painting, and the more one goes to the museums and studies works of the masters and the more one just savors and looks and feels and breathes painting, or any art form, the more one “knows” …part referential, part instinct….the fact that there is nothing empirical about it , is what makes it so so special after all….and when there are several bottles of different fine wine available, one may appreciate all of them…usually however, one will choose one over the others…in that sense it is as you would imagine…all about individual taste…

    cheers, david

  667. All… Bad news for venice beach..
    Last week mr.Rosenthal (councilman) brought a new law..
    NO MORE RV’s allowed in venice…!!???!
    And that’s only the beginning…
    Now there is new “law” coming up..
    If you are homeless on the beach you immediately
    getting arrested.. (little window: if u just lost your home and u r temporarily homeless u r removed to a shelter )..
    And that was it.. This is the end of venice beach as we knew it..
    And I feel proud for my photo work here for the last 3 years..
    I recorded the END of an era..
    The Jim Morrison’s and beatniks venice is now officially dead..
    But I still haven’t shown to you all I got..
    New work from the last 12 months is still in my hard drives belly
    and begs to be born..
    Good afrernoon from venice and sorry for the bad news..
    Peace

  668. That’s the best you could hope for, Panos. Your work becomes unqiue and will stay that way, as no one can ever pick the vibes you captured, that will speak of a time now gone (something photography is pretty good about).
    I have struggled myself with Pattaya as a place with vibes and onion layers, and here, I feel I am too late (especially since I knew the place inside out since the late 80’s), and that will teach me to pick up photography at 50 years old. 40 would have been OK…..

    Never mind, life is great, and THAT is not a matter of individual taste! :-))))

  669. Panos, there seems to be a continual supply of end of eras. Glad you got to document it too. Love your book you put together. Would love to see more.

    What makes a great photo great? Interesting. I don’t think I’m the only one that does this–in fact, I think lots of folks do. I find a photo every once in a while that I absolutely fall in love with and no one else gets it at all. Some time back during a discussion of putting together an essay DAH said to ask “..are they visually articulate on the subject.” That really made me look differently at the work I was working on at that point. Good question to ask of your photos I find. Thanks DAH.

    Looking forward to photos of the hand made book workshop.

  670. Herve, you didn’t start with photography till you were 50? That was the age I did too. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!!!

  671. Panos, isn’t there a long history of failed attempts to throw the bums out of Venice beach? You never know though, I hear Times Square used to have some character before it got turned into Las Disney. And yea, I hope you show more photos. Miss the greek days.

  672. Heh, silly me… I bet I’ve seen the email over here before, but in gmail I’ve just stuck to the david that showed up there. I’ll resend now.

  673. a civilian-mass audience

    Venice…ahhh…Venice…
    PANOS…your photos…last photos …good to have them…
    The Universe is changing…the Circle of Life…
    Please…take more pictures…for the next generations…
    More civilians are coming…

    My BURNIANS…when you hear the “click” …your vision becomes our vision…

    The circle of life…
    Life goes on
    We have to move on
    But if you don’t look back
    You are cursed to pay back…

    love you All…

  674. a civilian-mass audience

    BURNIANS…

    Your backyard is constantly changing…and you are the witnesses …
    Keep shooting…

  675. a civilian-mass audience

    EVA…you suppose to be …sleeping:)))

    So,you shot one kitten and a chicken…that means you had a good dinner…:)))
    (to be perceived as a joke)…for my oversensitive BURNIANS…

    And yes,EVA I am waiting for my visual …I can wait…
    VIVA!!!

  676. Re: venice, I wouldn’t sweat it, man. Every cool scene dies from some combination of gentrification and repression.
    Zen fascists will control you
    100% natural
    You will jog for the master race
    And always wear the happy face
    And if that fate unbecomes you, find the new scene. It’s out there.
    California,
    uber alles

  677. Eva, Thanks for the link…

    Sean does some really nice work, it’s great to see the journalistic context in which we hope to make an impact through photography, and Sean has done just that.

    Best, Jeremy

  678. Hey all,

    Been underwater for a while with work, but figured I’d pop up to let you know about this little game. David Hurn is having the public search through his Magnum archive for 5 pairings to be included in an upcoming exhibition in Wales next month. He’s giving away 5 copies of his new book, Writing the Picture, to the winners — more info, links, etc., here:

    http://streetreverbmagazine.com/2010/10/19/impress-david-hurn/

    (you will have to join Flickr if you’re not already a member)

  679. I was wondering if someone has a bit of advice regarding model releases please. I’m shooting a project with a family and getting everything model released (an editorial model release) as I go.

    The mother is guardian and is signing the relaese for the 16-year old daughter. However the daughter has recently given birth; so obviously is the baby’s mother/guardian; but as the daughter is under 18 her mother is her guardian. Technically; who would be the legal guardian for the new baby?

    I think I will put the mother and the daughter’s name on the release to cover everything, but would value any input! Thanks.

    Cheers :-)

  680. Ross i wish I could recall details from my teen preg story that ran in a mag – i didn’t handle the releases, editor did, but i remember something about one of the subjects being an issue. an underage mom’s mom was not signing, so her (underage mom’s) face couldn’t be shown..her baby’s face wasn’t shown either but i think that was at the discretion of the underage mom.

  681. Ross,
    You should be covered with the mother signing for the daughter and for the fiance
    to sign on behalf of the infant.
    Just make sure you’re upfront with everyone and that they are well informed on what a model
    release permits and what your eventual intentions with the images are.
    I’ve worked most of my career shooting commercial stock and twice have had releases challenged
    on the basis of an “I didn’t really understandcwhat a model releas permitted”.
    Both times it involved non professional models who were paid for their time.
    Just be overly clear.
    Also,you mentioned an ‘editorial’ release which,I assume, only permits ‘editorial’ uses.
    Just make sure that your subjects understand that images could eventually end up on magazine
    or book covers or a websiteclanding page.
    There have been some legal challenges that claim these uses are ‘advertising’

  682. Does anyone know who took the photo of the running tiger on the cover of “The Economist” October 2nd-8th, 2010? I can’t find a photo credit anywhere. It is an amazing photo something like what Nick Nichols does with animals.

  683. a civilian-mass audience

    ROSSY,
    you are Inside now…I am waiting…I believe…!!!
    What not to wish for!!!:)))thank you

    EVA,
    and the link of tomorrow is…!!!
    tell mama not to worry…i eat only chickens…:)))

    LEE,
    you are right…there is no credit…that’s not good…BUT i found a similar one…
    if you don’t mind…:)))http://images.google.com/images?q=running+tiger+photos&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=570&tbs=isch:1,itp:photo&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=i7LATMaZNY-B4Qa-3IHZCw&ved=0CA0QpwU
    check Fourth picture /third line/row
    enjoy…Maui

    BURNIANS…I am here…I am visualizing…cause You are All SPECIAL

    I need to hear from …so many of you…please proceed to the BURNING area
    Thank you

  684. a civilian-mass audience

    oops,Sorry LEE…
    you might have to google running tiger photos…
    well, the point is that “The Economist”…has lots of Getty images…

    I have no clue…i am just a civilian…AFP…
    All
    For
    Peace…go figure

  685. Michael, Erica, Mark.

    Thanks for all the input it was very helpful. I’ve been allowed incredible access and have shown the family every picture (so they can ok them) I’ve taken so far. I’ve also taken a ton of “record” photos for them too.

    We have spent a great deal of time talking over the potential outcome of the shoot. At the very beginning we spent a few hours talking over the ramifications of potentially displaying your life to the world. I explained (many times) that their life could be displayed on a gallery wall, book etc for all the world to see. The family then held a meeting to discuss whether they wanted to participate.

    A great deal of it has revolved around gaining trust and ensuring that everything is out in the open. I’m a pretty open book anyway; but have strived to ensure that I have done everything in an open and respectful way. It’s a VERY fine line to tread; pushing to get photos bit not being pushy either!

    Re; “Just make sure you’re upfront with everyone and that they are well informed on what a modelrelease permits and what your eventual intentions with the images are”

    We discussed the model releases many times. I’m using a legal editorial model release (used by one of the photo libraries I work with), not an open release. Again; this is a protection for them. They can then be assured that the images will never end up in an advertisement etc.

    Another reason I am using the release is so no one can say that I “used” the family, and that they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into.

    This has been the most challenging shoot I’ve ever undertaken; there are so many privacy and sensitivity issues. However one of the biggest challenges is educating people as to just how much shooting needs to be done.

    So far (touch wood!) everything has gone well. I think one of the biggest compliments I received was when one day the daughter said to me (after seeing the latest batch of pics), “How did you get those photos while we were doing nothing!”

    Thank you all for your input; it was appreciated. :-)

  686. Hi all,

    It’s happening right now the second fórum latino-americano de fotografia de São Paulo and it can be seen live with this link: http://www.tvaovivo.tv.br/itaucultural/forumfoto/. In 1 hour and half from now Martin Parr will interview Alec Soth. Unfortunately i think the interview will be translate to portuguese, but i’m sure there are some brazilians an portuguese around. Enjoy.

    Big hug.

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