hand by michal jedrzejowski

hand_jedrzejowski


Hand by Michal Jedrzejowski

Website: www.lightstalkers.org/michal_jedrzejowski

Published on March 8, 2009 by burn magazine. 124 Comments

124 Responses to “hand by michal jedrzejowski”

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  • Reimar Ott
    March 10, 2009 at 6:50 am

    As Bob said, watching and observing is very interesting indeed! A thought provoking picture by Michal and a great discussion here! Please, no editing.
    I shoot in M mode, the mad mode. With P I would panic ;-)
    Reimar

  • Patricia Lay-Dorsey
    March 10, 2009 at 7:07 am

    I’m an aperture priority shooter myself. As DAH knows from seeing me shoot, my hands wouldn’t be able to mess with shutter speed setting too and hit the shutter release button in time to catch anything at all. Got to keep it simple.

    Interesting discussion here. Hope Ross Gordon sticks around. We need folks who say provocative things to move our discussions into new directions. If everyone were as “nice” as I, this forum would dry up and die from boredom.

    Patricia

  • bobblack
    March 10, 2009 at 7:33 am

    i also shoot, generally, Aperture priority, but then try to counter-intuit the ‘trained’ camera by shooting against values….and often mix this up with shooting fully manual with light meter…and yea, on my old 35mm (and the holga, diana, and lomo) its often a crap shoot, but at this point, after years, the instinct for what i expect is there….but shutter speed also means as much to me as depth of field or correct exposure…and it all gets fucked up when i develop the film anyway, from the cooking and the grain ;))

    and yes, for once, i competely agree with Jim: camera is o nly a tool…i hate the elitism of purists too…give me the joyeous accident over the refined precision of calcuated machines any day of the week….
    b
    .

  • bobblack
    March 10, 2009 at 7:33 am

    typo: “without light meter”…i dont use one…which is obvious from my pics ;)))

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 10, 2009 at 9:02 am

    Rafal..

    About Ross..gotcha..

    As far as the old masters, the new masters, the masters who don’t even know they’re masters yet (that last category would be all of us, natch’) i think really, it’s where do we go for inspiration? Who feeds our creative soul? Whose work makes us, as soon as we look at it, want to grab the camera and go out and shoot? Or whose work is so elusive that we muddle it over and over in our mind, throughout the day until suddenly, in an a-ha moment we break through one of our own barriers and our photographic thinking is never quite the same again. The old masters are masters for a reason. They’re work is timeless..it’s not fashion that goes out of style. And you know, this isn’t the first time that technology has changed drastically. Carlton Watkins and his glass plate photographs of Yosemite (done way back before Ansel Adams’ parents had even started flirting with each other) is still breathtaking (t me) in spite of the prehistoric technology he was obligated to use. Then there was the sea change wrought by the 35mm camera with its comparatively teentsy negatives. What crap, what trash, ohmygod, this is the end of serious photography! But tell me that HCB didn’t give a nod of approval to the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue even though it was shot with everything from stereo to glass plates to autochromes to 2 1/4 to 35mm.

    It’s all imagery and i can get just as much of a thrill from Jeff Wall as i can from Kertesz regardless that one of Jeff Wall’s photos would conceivably be considered more of a production than a photograph. Never mind, it’s an image produced by a camera, even if nominally and it’s all good. And photograms, sunprints, shadowprints, luminograms, bodygrams, chemigrams and for all i know, graham crackers too that aren’t even made with a camera. ahhhh..yes, bring ‘em on!

    But “Photographers on Photography” as a bible? mmm..no, though i wish there was a New Testament version of this classic. i could imagine Nan Goldin, Sally Mann and Sophie Calle, etc going off on their respective tangents in between the same book covers. And i do think that young photographers could do worse than educate themselves on the work of the masters. I think fine artists are much more aware of the debt they owe to the old masters. Photographers are a different breed. All i can say personally is that my vision and shooting energy was nothing but enriched by my study and appreciation of the work of those who came before. Maybe i am still shooting like crap but i know i shoot from a far deeper place than i did before i cared about some guy named Atget.

    kat~

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 10, 2009 at 9:06 am

    Rafal, i doubt you’ll even see what i wrote above because this thread has really wound down to the bitter end but that’s ok..it was good getting your perspective and giving you mine..

    later..

    kat~

  • david alan harvey
    March 10, 2009 at 9:15 am

    PATRICIA…

    laughing…well, yes of course we do need for folks to say provocative things..and yes we need discussions to move in new directions…

    i want and encourage provocative…

    but, there are two kinds of “provocative”…there is thoughtful referenced “provocative”..and there is the new internet driven blast everybody to hell with facts all wrong my career sucks i have had too many beers “provocative”…and i am sure there is a good place for this secondary approach…i just want no part of it….

    freedom to say what one likes IS the reason to be here…and as you know , i will never delete anything unless it comes from a UFO…and i think that has only happened once or twice…

    because of your career track , you have been spared so much of what some of us see out there in the land of struggling young professional photographers…or should i say, wannabe professional photographers…you have seen a little of the bitterness that engulfs so many who think they coulda shoulda woulda been this that or the other thing….rather than accept the reality that not EVERYONE is going to achieve what he/she thinks or dreams of achieving, they tend to lash out at the inequities of the business and use the net to vent their frustration…are there inequities?? yes, of course…was there a Spanish painter even better than Picasso who we do not know now because he did not have the marketing skills of Pablo?? maybe…but, most likely Picasso was just flat out the better painter…

    however, as you also know, i work with photographers who want to grow….and growth does not necessarily mean some heralded “success”…it could mean just enjoying photography as a way of going through life in a more interesting way than otherwise…most people get this…some do not…

    i think Ross Gordon will be back…if he is who he says he is, then nothing will stop him….my phone conversation with him and the initial review of his cowboy work in South America led me to believe he was worth spending time with even though his work needed a strong push forward…

    yes, i was just as brutally honest with him as he was being with us, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of time i will spend with him to at least find out if his dreams can either come true or modify his goals to fit the times, his talent, and the logic of his life…when Ross commented that the work here was “just ok”, then i had no choice but to tell him honestly that his work was just a bit less “ok” than the work he was critiquing…there is no doubt among any of us who look at the comments coming in that the harshest non-constructive critiques come from those with the least amount of good work themselves…just go look for yourself..cruise the truly tough one liner harsh comments…look at the websites of these critics and you will usually see an inverse proportion of “attack critique” coming from those with the least legs to stand on…

    BURN is not a compendium or an encyclopedia or an anthology of the best photography going on in the world at the moment nor of the past…is there even such a thing?? we are just one thing…one cycle of time…one collaboration…imperfect….often “just ok”…but, just as often representative of what young photographers are doing out there today…as i look forward to what we can be in print at the end of the year, i have no doubt that our star will shine bright…

    cheers, david

  • ben "the purist" roberts
    March 10, 2009 at 9:26 am

    Av mode ain’t Programme mode though is it? if you’re shooting in Av mode you’re still making creative decisions, right? although i guess you could argue that simply by choosing to shoot in Programme mode then you’re making a creative decision.

    wow, what a great discussion i initiated here. i think i should probably move onto something more interesting than camera technology though – i’ve heard that the ins and outs of web coding for financial institutions makes for great cocktail party banter.

  • david alan harvey
    March 10, 2009 at 9:29 am

    KATHLEEN..

    you are so right on this one…photographers tend not to revere the “old masters” (some of whom died just last year!) as do other artists in the fine arts arena….this has always been a curiosity to me…i certainly key off of the masters all the time, yet have no intention of copying them….it seems to me that a healthy balance of acceptance, then rejection, then acceptance again of the so called masters is a nice way to go…in other words: admire, do your own thing, then really admire!!!

    cheers, david

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 10, 2009 at 9:32 am

    DAH

    :))

    you made me laugh..it’s sorta like growing up, first you admire your parents, then you do your own thing and then you REALLY admire them..love the way you put things..

    best:
    kat~

  • david bowen
    March 10, 2009 at 9:35 am

    i think to earn money from photography AND keep the passion and fresh eyes of interest wide open is a difficult thing..
    i wonder if some who would like to be prof REALLY want to be prof in terms of earning the living shooting what they would like to shoot.. because to become bitter is the strangest response when practicing something you love.. even if it is only for love you practice.

    no one has a right to anything, and yet everybody has the potential for anything (aside from delusion.. you know.. i shall never be the astronaut i wanted to be…)
    being bitter or angry implies a ´right´ to me which none of us have..

    i´m far to busy being grateful for still breathing to worry about where my photos will take me next..
    having dreams is an amazing gift and having even half the talent to realize half of the dreams must be success…

    to become dissatisfied maybe displays some of the personal restraints or chains which may in fact be preventing the greater dreams coming true… who knows.

    i mean – mumbling along or grumbling along.. who would you wanna work with?

  • david alan harvey
    March 10, 2009 at 9:35 am

    BEN…

    you are quite correct…Aperture preferred is not Program….lots of tweaking can happen in A mode…i am not quite ready yet this morning for a discussion on web coding for financial institutions…but, i am on my way to the bank to figure out why i have no money…

    cheers, david

  • david bowen
    March 10, 2009 at 9:37 am

    ¨admire, do your own thing, then really admire!!! ¨

    do you say this because doing our own thing will never be how it was imagined? much harder, in fact, although more rewarding..

  • david bowen
    March 10, 2009 at 9:38 am

    i mean to say admire.. then find out how tough it is (just read your bank post above :ø)
    THEN admire.. without the sunglasses on.

  • Ross Nolly
    March 10, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    David; “i am on my way to the bank to figure out why i have no money…”

    The fun thing is when you get to the bank thinking they’ve made a mistake, and they show you that they haven’t, you truly are broke!!! The other good one is when the bank manager looks at your “work on hand list” and gives you that “yeah right…” look!!

    The beauty of looking at other’s work whether it be old masters or new, is that you subconsciously assimilate aspects of their work and it appears in your own. Throw in some of your own ideas and you are slowly building your own style.

    I often shoot in “S” mode in dark clubs/bars etc using slow flash. I pretty much know what speed works for me the best effect. I often shoot in manual mode too because the auto modes can overexpose in the contrasty light in those clubs and ruin the lighting effect.

    As for provocative statements: I really enjoy Jim’s posts, I don’t totally agree with many, but there is often a germ of truth in them. They provide a counterpoint to the “you shouldn’t make money from your work” point of view. I think that there is a happy middle ground to sail too though, doing meaningful “commercial magazine” work, and having a personal project to let strip on.

    If I didn’t do the mag work it would be back to the supermarket for me!! And if you think some photographers are unhappy and whiney, you should sit through the number of smokos (coffee break) I did in the 15 years I worked in them :-)))

    I’ve just started a new project focussing on youth. The aim is to show that most youth are ok, but get a bad rap from adults. Most get on with life, fall over, get back up and learn from it. However their reputation is tarnished by the few troublemakers. The link is on my name in case anyone is interested in commenting.

    Cheers everyone.

  • Rafal Pruszynski
    March 10, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    Kathleeen,

    I think that old masters are fine. I mean its all part of the foundation isnt it? But to be honset, my interests lay in the kind of photography that they didnt practice, my days of b/w street shooting are behind me and Im not going to be a PJ. But Im not advocating ignoring them at all. I do, from time to time, grab a book of classics, just like from time to time I will read a classic novel or listen to classic rock….but I think one needs to live in the present and be more interested in the contemporary photography out there, of which theres so much that there isnt time for much else.

  • Gordon Lafleur
    March 10, 2009 at 6:59 pm

    OK, my last word on Program, Aperture or Shutter prefered automation, really, I promise.

    I suggest y’all give P a try. P will instantly give you an appropriate exposure in any situation. If you step out of a very dark area into a bright one (like the inside of a church then out to the bright sunlight.} Av or Tv will likely get you in trouble going back and forth unless you always remmember to adjust.

    On P, assuming you are a Canon shooter, when you want a different f stop shutter combination, just twiddle that little wheel under your index finger, you want exposure compensation, just twiddle that big wheel under your thumb.

    I’ve also recently discovered auto-ISO (oops). Brilliant, no more stuff shot in bright sunlight at 1600 ISO.

    Let go Luke, use the force.

    Gordon L

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 10, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    Rafal..

    ya know, it´s funny..after i dragged out that Photographers on Photography¨ book last night i´ve been reading it ever since. I am reading Stieglitz essays and wow, there´s so much that he wrote that filled in a lot of blanks for me about his work, how he thought, the stuff i agreed with, the stuff i didn´t. The stuff that is very wise and still rings true today and the stuff that´s quaint and really, REALLY, irrelevant now. At one point he was talking about the recent technological innovation of hand-held cameras and how everybody and his brother, cousin and aunt were suddenly photographers, whipping off ¨snaps¨(well he didn´t call them snaps but he was so contemptuous he might as well have called them that) on glass plates without one thought to what they were doing..just creating all this junk photography, flooding the market so that a serious photographer could hardly bear it for even one minute more..well! i had to laugh, the more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?

    And the other thing that was a nice feeling, is how much more i understood than the first time i cracked that book several years ago. It seems that somewhere, somehow i managed to have learned some things after all. huh. who knew?

    i do hear you about so much photography, not enough time..i know, i know. I try to balance the two but think with contemporary stuff i barely scratch the surface. I need to spend more time with new stuff. That´s for sure.

    btw…i am one of your Flickr contacts…

    best
    kat

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 10, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Rafal..er, i mean, you are one of MY Flickr contacts…

  • Rafal Pruszynski
    March 10, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    Kathleen,

    whats your flickr name?

    I wonder what Stieglitz would say about the digital revolution:)

  • Rafal Pruszynski
    March 10, 2009 at 8:15 pm

    Gordon,

    Im an Av shooter. 100% of the time. As far as auto ISO I like to use ISO differently depending on the look I want in the series Im shooting. Im not against P shooting, but I doubt Id do it largely because Im used to shooting as I do now. Why change?

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 11, 2009 at 9:15 am

    Rafal, yikes, if i tell you here, i tell everybody and most (though not all) of my stuff on Flickr is very caprichoso, that is to say, most is whimsical, experimental, put up there to see what i think about it once it gets off my hd and into a public venue. So, see i’d rather wait till i have a gallery set up on Lightstalker to make my work available here. However, if you look back in your mail over the last week, you received notice of a new contact. That’s me. But please, no judgements, k?

    Stieglitz was an art snob so if he was wavering on the edge of a breakdown over the democratization of photography with the introduction of the hand-held camera, he would have gone completely batty over the 35mm, taken the plunge from the 17th floor of that hotel he shared with Georgia when digital came along, and then rolled in his grave with the snap-happy cellphone cameras.

    have a great day, Rafal!
    kat~

  • Rafal Pruszynski
    March 11, 2009 at 6:31 pm

    I would have loved to see that;)

    Anyway, Ill try and find you in the notices….wanna give me a first letter?:)

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 12, 2009 at 9:40 am

    Rafal

    first letter “D”, last letter “k”

    hey, Rafal, you will be very busy today with all the comments on your wonderful essay..i am not commenting there yet because i want to spend the day with it..the thoughts are gelling in my mind. I saw a few of these shots on your Flickr stream so sorta knew the kind of shots that would be there but the essay is way more than just that, so i will bbl…

    congratulations on a really nice essay and more later..

    kat~

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