Comments on: tough call… https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/ burn is an online feature for emerging photographers worldwide. burn is curated by magnum photographer david alan harvey. Sat, 18 Jun 2016 08:35:20 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.4 By: Lassal https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17811 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:50:32 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17811 Wow, I just love your work, Mustafah!

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By: Lassal https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17812 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:22:24 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17812 Hi “w robert”,
yeah, cannot wait. Should be packing because I leave in some hours but … stuck here ;-)
Will be on Davaar Island for the first week. Half work and half fun – need some peace of mind for some tasks and thought that the island would be best. Meeting Rose there, the landlady, and her family. Don’t know if anybody else will be there. We will be renting the Lighthouse house, which just sounds perfect.
Hope it is not going to be too cold. Gulf Stream and all… but I am prepared to have a bottle of Lagavulin in front of the open fireplace every day while reviewing my essays!
Well, maybe a glas of it. Or three… For the sake of orthography. (Thankfully it is going to be in German)

I’ll pass through Edinburgh. Looking forward to see it.

Call me crazy but we are trying one night in a bothy… yeah. During wintertime… Hmmm … Guess I’ll have to put everything on I have. ;)

Cheers,
Lassal

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By: Stephen https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17813 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:22:52 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17813 Very nice work, Mustafah.

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By: Bob Black https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17814 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:32:09 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17814 hey paul :))))…yea, always-always ;)…what else to do? ;))))

cheers

running
b

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By: Hughes Leglise-Bataille https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17815 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:38:46 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17815 David,

I always wondered how on earth you would be able to come up with a choice in a month, so I was somehow relieved to see you extended the deadline ! Postponing sounds like a wise and considerate decision, and I think it actually shows respect to the photographers, by taking the appropriate time to review their work properly. I confess I have a bit of a hard time understanding the people who complain: this is not an assignment with a deadline and some cash at the end ! This is about you, a Magnum photographer, deliberately willing to dedicate some of his time to help others (and even raising money for that purpose) !

As for taking tough decisions, well I guess it all depends: sometimes it helps to have friends’ advice, others it’s better to ponder on your own, you can follow your head or follow your guts, sometimes it’s good to doubt and wait, sometimes it’s better to rush and “jump in the water”… I think the worst is having regrets about not having taken a decision ?

Anyway, enjoy your Xmas holidays and have a happy New Year :-)

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By: noushin https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17816 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:32:31 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17816 I’m afraid that I’m the only person who didn’t write her contact info too! but I’m not sure still you receive the pix. it was first time I use ftp by my mac and it made me confused a bit.
any way Noushin Najafi Birgani is me with this emil address :-)

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By: Paul Treacy https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17817 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:32:26 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17817 He’s running again.

Hi Bob.

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By: bobblack https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17818 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:55:24 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17818 but Mustafah:

u r an EXCELLENT photographer…and so damn young!!!!!! ;)))))….

listen: i am NO illusions either, but I cant wait to see ur essay too :))…

running
b

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By: mustafah https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17819 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:42:41 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17819 i’m under no illusion of winning; just excited to see who did! gotta be some great stuff…

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By: wrobertangell https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17820 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:04:02 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17820 Hi Lassal
Your off to Scotland, thats awesome, I am actually Scottish myself and my dad is there in Edinburgh, just out side, called Kirkliston. anyway where are you going, are you on Holliday or wrk? make sure you have some extra layers, it’ll be freezing there.
have fun, and to you and David, Bon Voyage!

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By: Lassal https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17821 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:56:19 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17821 Have hardly slept the last 3 days because I had to prepare a last minute gallery show, that will start right when I come back from Scotland. I got the news on friday evening and had only the weekend and half of today to get all done. I only wish I could make it a smaller show or have some more time for preparation …

Minutes ago I was thinking of making a call and “call it off”, because I cannot take decisions anymore – my head feels like it is full of wet&used tea-bags.

But I am so over the edge, I cannot even decide to make the call… I just want to sleep …

I will not make the call, i know it, and I will be glad for that. I knew it would get very tough, so the first thing I did was a huge to do list. I am just following the list. Brainless as I am right now. Just following the list until the very end and hoping, I did not forget anything.

I took the decision of not making the call right at the beginning. Right on Friday. BUT if anything would not have worked out as written on my list, I would have tried for a change in time or amount.

But apart from this very special situation – and I have not read all the posted comments yet – it is very important to be able to revise decisions if situations change. Something that is ok today might not be ok tomorrow anymore.

History is full of examples…

I will be departing now. And I wish all of you a wonderful time with friends & family & fresh pies & whatever your hearts demand.

If I manage to get online, I’ll write from Scotland, otherwise I’ll hopefully be back in January.

(have not sent anything in for this contest of yours, David, but I am looking forward to see the wonderful portfolios that surely got sent in. And I am sure most of the people did not aim for the money but for the chance of having you reviewing it…)

All the best for all of you,
Lassal

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By: Akaky https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17822 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:32:21 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17822 GLENN,

You’re just saying that to taunt us, aren’t you, given that it is a balmy 28 with a windchill of 15 here in our happy little burg [that’s -2 with a wc of -9 for those of you on the Celsius scale, and yes, we are all freezing our bahakas off here in the northeastern US of A]

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By: Rene Braun https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17823 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:32:25 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17823 David,

I am wondering whether you guys printed the submissions out on some sort of contact sheets or whether the it’s all done on a computer screen?

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By: Oscar Hidalgo https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17824 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:20:27 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17824 Your honesty is like a breath of fresh air.
Can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking
the time to get it right. Happy Holidays to
one and all.

Oscar

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By: Stephen https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17825 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:59:40 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17825 The hardest wait is to see the work online. Really curious to see the diversity of work (Editing that is going to be a big challenge I bet). Wary of the internet after today. Someone hacked into my ebay account and managed to list 200 Pink Hair curlers from my account. Very weird.

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By: Glenn https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17826 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:05:01 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17826 Hey Dave,
Am here in Winton , the heart of Petterson country,on the verandah of the Tatt’s Hotel accross the road is the North Gregory Hotel where our od mate Banjo got into a litle trouble with some sheila named Matilda.
It’s taken me 2 days driving to get down this far from Darwin, It’s hot, theres no one around,the flies have only just gone down , someone stole my spare tyre , Have you ever seen a movie called the Proposition?
It was filmed around here ,the main character , a policeman walks out into the street a week before Christmas , High summer , and says
” Australia! What fresh hell is this?”
So spare a thought for the southern hemisphere when your up in Colarado – We are baking here!

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By: alun Severn https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17827 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:17:32 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17827 David, There should be no apologies regarding this undertaking. You should do what you need to do, when it can be done. What else?

But on a slightly different note, I do believe it would be a shame if the key operational/logistical details of this project were lost, so maybe they should be written up — just a very short account — for use on the Magnum site… If this just adds to your workloads then maybe an intern or even one of us could volunteer to do it…copy back to you for factual additions, fact-checking etc… Just an idea.

cheers–
alun

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By: bobblack https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17828 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:07:26 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17828 yo, David…just left u a comment under Tell It Like It Is :)))))

running

hugs
b

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By: Rene Braun https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17829 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:31:30 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17829 i just returned from an overnight snowshoeing trip to the mountains. I’m totally exhausted. I was thinking about the results on Saturday during the hike and felt regret that I will be late to congratulate the winners.

So I was elated to hear you need more time!

Great~

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By: david ukaleq b. https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2007/12/tough-call/#comment-17830 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:24:23 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2007/12/15/tough-call/#comment-17830 Beside my etymological comments about ‘flak’, I would also like to say that I really see no reason to complain, given the informal character of this forum and the fact that David does all this ‘for free’. This is not a ‘business’ thing and, as pointed out by several people, this is also what makes it so enjoyable. Now, I understand of course that one may become a bit impatient to know the outcome but, being among those who have no chance to win, I am not so much curious to see the one winning submission as I am to see the whole set of selected pictures. I guess the “best one” will probably be not that much better than the “second best” anyway (if it makes sense at all to rank essays in this way)… And, like Eva, I think it would be very interesting to know why some pictures were selected and why some weren’t, at least for a small number of essays.

Regarding the captions, I am also among the people who put very little information. But when I look at photography books, most of the time I only see the place and date. Now, the pictures in these books have, by definition, been very carefully edited, and there is certainly a “visual thread” in them, as you said, which may lack in our submissions. But, on the other hand, I think that sometimes the theme of the essay may be quite clear and, even if the edit is not good or should be cut, would the captions make much difference then?

It is also true that in books, there is most of the time a short introduction, foreword or afterword… This is generally very interesting to read how the photographer feels about his own work, about the place/people he photographed and what his intentions were. And it may help understand the photographs at a deeper level. But, at the same time, does it make the pictures any better? One may not even agree with the photographer’s interpretation of his own pictures, but still love them. So I see these texts more as interesting bonuses than as an integral part of the work. I think the same about titles. They may be very subjective and, quite often, other titles could fit as well. Just like novels’s titles, about which authors sometimes change their mind several times before making a decision. What do you think?

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