Comments on: talk to allard.. https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/ burn is an online feature for emerging photographers worldwide. burn is curated by magnum photographer david alan harvey. Sat, 18 Jun 2016 08:34:21 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.4 By: Ian https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13431 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:04:02 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13431 Hi Again,

I recently bought Allard’s Portraits of America, and what a treasure it is. The more I see of his work, the more I like it. He’s got the Cartier-Bresson feel for the moment and geometry, but also has such a wonderful grasp of light and colour. His photos have such a intimate personable presence that you can tell they were the result of a relationship with his subjects and not just a quick grab. I wish I could buy that skill in a bottle!

Anyway, I recently discovered National Geographic is opening an assignment wing which will represent their staff photographers and others who have worked closely with them. Along with that there is a stock collection that can be searched. I know that it is hard to find Allard photos on the internet, so I was quite excited to see so many of his pieces available for viewing here. (It is really enjoyable to look through.)

There is no way to link directly to his work because of how they set-up the site, but if you go to the following link and do a search for Allard, you will find many pages of his work.

http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/ngsimages/welcome.jsf

cheers

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By: Ian https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13432 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:50:02 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13432 Dear All,

This seems like the best place to place this for archive sake. I stumbled across this Allard video. I have not seen a lot about him on the internet, so here for you…

He shoots at half a second!? Wow! Technically, how do you get acceptable sharpness? I know that the painterly movement is partly what this kind of work is about. I love it, very inspiring.

cheers

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By: Akaky https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13433 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:50:21 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13433 PANOS,

Tarzan is Tarzan, or more specifically, Johnny Weissmuller, who I always think of as the real Tarzan, unlike the other guys, who always seemed fairly ersatz to me, although now that I think of it, Buster Crabbe was all right.

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13434 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:28:18 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13434 MICHAEL K….

if i were you, i would not “separate” the vacation from the shooting…go with the flow….allow yourself the “freedom” to hang with your family and yet make some photographs of which you will be proud…unlike many photographers, i have always had, and will always have, family or friends around…some of my best “work” is when i am not “working”….sitting at a Paris cafe with your wife may yield a really interesting “moment” at the next table…i shoot a lot sitting down..just being a customer….ask for another coffee….relax…sure, find the “best seat” right away…i compose pictures in my head while i am asking for the table next to the window next to an interesting couple…shoot “one handed”….loose….your work could “loosen up” a bit….do not “control” yourself….just relish Paris…feel it….do not think you need lots of pictures….one would be just fine….make friends with someone new…anyone…they will lead you down some sort of interesting path….you will go somewhere you never imagined and you will make a photograph you never imagined….have fun my friend!!! having fun is not at all contradictory to making good photographs…

BOB….

you asked about cropping….Natgeo has only cropped two of my photographs in over 40 stories and that was when they took two of my horizontals and turned them into verticals for the cover…they then ran both pictures inside the story full frame…normally no crop …except maybe by the few centimeters that it takes to get 35mm aspect ratio to make a double page bleed spread…

Magnum always calls me or writes me when any client wants to crop one of my photographs…usually, for a book cover….so, i either give my permission, or i do not…if it happens to be one of my “iconic” works, i do not give permission…if it is a picture from the archive, an unknown picture, a “second” or a “third” in the edit, i sometimes give the “go ahead”….

when Gabriel Garcia Marquez recently wanted one of my photographs for his newest book cover, and it required a crop, i relented because he is one of my greatest influences for all of my Latin America work…i found it hard to turn down GGM!!! i went back and forth with the art director and we came up with a compromise of type placement and crop that seemed to work just fine for everyone…

all in all, i do not feel that cropping has ever been something i had to worry about much…even in my newspaper days, i do not remember being cropped….even then, i was always very cognizant and careful to print my work in such a way so that nobody would “have” to crop the picture….i knew the column widths, for example, and spacing for the text, so i might crop myself just a bit to fit without having an editor get out the scissors….

studying design and typography was one of the best things i ever did…understanding the problems of an editor and being able to communicate with editors and art directors and help them solve their problems, usually solved mine….

cheers, david

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By: Sean Gallagher https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13435 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:15:46 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13435 Dear Friends,

Thanks for all the comments about the new photos. Am especially pleased about the feedback you gave about the zoo story. I really feel strongly about this story and hope it gets picked up by somebody.

David…I’m definitely looking into going to Look3. It’s a bit of a hike from Beijing but I think it would be well worth it. Am looking at flight nows. Will let you know for sure as soon as I know!

Justin…I do have more shots from the rural areas but tried to be pretty tight with my edit. There are lots more shots in my archive.

Erica…I hope the animals felt my compassion to them too. It was pretty hard to photograph yes but my anger at the way they were being treated me pushed me to do it.

Lance and Eric…Thanks for your words. Really appreciated.

Bob…I didn’t know you knew Bree too?! We have quite a few friends in common. I worked with her for a year when she was in London. Say hi to her from me!

Best,
Sean

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By: Herve https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13436 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:26:56 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13436 Hey, no, Tom, not shutting the discussion, “I found…” is not “it is” or “he is”, squarely on the side of subjective opinion…

And then I ended my post with a link to the essay with even more shots, for people to make up their own mind, if they wish.

Clearly, a supreme example of begging for participation and…free speech! ;-))))

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By: tom hyde https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13437 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:56:22 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13437 Herve said: “I remember the “My america” essay. I went back to it again, I found and still find it “lacking” (and there were an awful lot of dems voting/going for that war back then anyway).”

Now Herve, with all due respect to you (and I do greatly respect your opinion), don’t you feel you’re shutting down the discussion here when you make dismissive pronouncements like this? I can almost see you waving your hand … okay, so why are they lacking? … and what do Dems voting for the war have to do with it? … if anything, that proves the point, people stopped asking questions, or were afraid to in the charged air of patriotism, nationalism and the new America of Homeland Security … which is a difficult mindset to portray visually. I understand … the photos themselves are sterile, straight, seemingly unemotional, controlled … but NOT to be controlled … sure I’ll take a photo op of the President, without his head, or just his feet with his taped tag on where to stand, or an empty podium with scenes from the war on the tele or … in essence, a photographer’s revolt to cynical media manipulation which has been raised to an art form in today’s media savvy political realm which runs on to beg the question, are you a fan of Alec Soth? :J

Cathy, I agree with Michael … the images evoke emotion by having something to say … even if they are not full of emotion, per se. That is one thing I like about them. And perhaps they resonate with me because at the time I had a very small newspaper in a very small town and I did question things, nationally and locally, and I was called unpatriotic and traitor … very tough when your advertisers are literally next door, subscribers a few blocks away, and you are always losing friends … and I saw the fervor of “patriotism” translate all the way down to local politics … many people stopped asking questions of local leaders, or were attacked when they did … “we are at war, we have to all pull together, think the same, suspend free speech, asking questions undermines our singular purpose …”

But I was never “smart enough” to translate this visually.

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By: Velibor Bozovic https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13438 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:51:49 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13438 Panos… to answer one of your questions above… NOBODY in the right mind would pick up his/her camera before saving his/her family… In that regard photographers are no different than carpenters, dentists, miners, housewives, teachers or anybody. But you know that.

Also, the most significant “body of work” (horrible expression but better one escapes me now) from besieged Sarajevo came from a local photographer Milomir Kovacevic who now lives in Paris, and if some of you are there, you can see the latest exhibition of his in April. Here are the details:

Le Président et les membres
du Conseil d’Administration de l’association
Pour Que l’Esprit Vive
seraient heureux de vous accueillir
au vernissage de l’exposition

SARAJEVO
DANS LE CŒUR DE PARIS

Photographies de Milomir Kovačević

LE MARDI 4 MARS 2008*
de 18H30 à 21H00

Exposition du mercredi 19 février au samedi 26 avril 2008

Galerie

du mardi au samedi de 13H30 à 18H30
58 rue Quincampoix – 75004 Paris Tél. 01 42 74 26 36

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By: bobblack https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13439 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:10:05 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13439 Follow up on what David has written about Magazine Editor’s choice vs actual pics. As I tried to point out, the Nachtwey pics at VII are so much more beautiful and sublte, the tonality and hue of the color itself has lots of emotional and visceral suggestion about the current state of things for the DL, and the pics in Time just look terrible, which i totally dont see as an indictment against Nachtwey. But also, many magazines (horror, horror) CROP pics. I know NG does this as well. David, maybe you can speak about this. I never knew this until i started to know photographers who shoot for them, for example Chris Anderson and now David. Some of the most beautiful of Chris’ work in his magnificent essay on Jerusalem were not shown in their entire frame in the mag. Take a look at the NG online: there you can see the “actual” images. This has to do with space of course and a reality of “publishing.” I also have a friend (david,you might know her since she used to work for Magnum, Bree) here in Toronto who is one THE FINEST PE’s i’ve ever met (smart, insightful, passionate, cool) and it’s interesting to talk to her about the needs of a magazine. I’d love to publish something in her magazine, but no way in hell would it ever happen: cause pe’s think about, not photography world, but: art directors, add space, readers, publisher, graphics dept, etc. a few months ago, Walrus had (bree’s idea) a brilliant photo concent dealing with colors magazine, and right after the spread, the Ad department place an add with the EXACT SAME COLOR SCHEME and it look like part of Bree’s photo essay….so, even the PE’s dont always have control ;))

david, i’d love to hear how you feel about pics being “cropped”: do you bite the bullet and remember: someone will see the real pic?..perspective, right

hugs
b

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By: Michael Kircher https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13440 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:48:07 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13440 Cathy,

Not sure if what Morris said is different from what he presented in his America essay. Do the images “have” emotion, you ask? The fact that they evoke emotion in me suggests they do.

DAVID…a big favor to ask! (sorry)

I’m off to Paris in a day. Ten days there. It is a vacation so I must balance serious shooting with spending quality time with friends and wife. But there will be some serious shoot time!

Favor: how would you suggest I go about it? More directly, knowing what you know about my photography what would you like to see from me that is differently/better? from my typical stuff? I’m interested in stretching myself…obviously. And I guess I’m wussing out by asking for direction but it really does help the creative juices to get that little push in a certain direction. Anyway, if you (and others in here!) have thoughts…I’d love to hear them!

Many thanks.

-M

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By: Suryo Wibowo https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13441 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:44:20 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13441 @ the post about “peace photography” and war photography: there is an old proverb, “everyday is a war/fight/struggle”. I think, if people say that peace photography is harder than war photography, that’s because of the lack of ability to see what’s worth to be shot/captured. Such people would always love only the exotic pictures, which were happened far away from them, and forget to learn how to see and admire what’s around us. well, that’s my humble opinion…

@ DAVID: I live in indonesia. Last year, I’ve posted a comment in your post about luck and hard work. You have mailed me then, but I couldn’t answer your mail quickly.

I thank you for the tip. I think, I have to chew it first before swallow it. freeing my self is somehow difficult (especially when external pressures exist). all the time I tried to forget those great pictures and then somehow failed when I copy it and missing the point. So, only technically good, and bad content.

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13442 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:57:20 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13442 PANOS…

i think if you saw most photographers “takes” and compared them to what you see “chosen” for the magazines, you would usually think the editors had made more than a few “mistakes”…

the editing process for a magazine is a funny thing…first of all, editors choosing images for a magazine are not thinking about “photo world” at all…they are thinking about the story and their subscribers and their advertisers…period…

i used to always say when i saw a story published in Natgeo, for example, that if you were to bring in to an editor the very same pictures that they actually published in the article, that those very same editors would say “this is not good enough to publish..”

whatever you see in a magazine by anyone at anytime is most often just the “tip of the iceberg”…..that is why we do books!!!!

cheers, david

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13443 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:45:25 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13443 SURYO…

when i am not “working”, that is actually shooting, i often feel the “weight” of many other photographers and artists in general….when i am actually shooting, all of that disappears and i feel free and confident and totally “on to it”…

good work is a balance of feeling the “weight” and yet being at peace with yourself and your work…

where do you live? perhaps we will meet…

cheers, david

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13444 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:39:24 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13444 JUSTIN…

this is an “aside” , but something to think about too…

i have had two friends killed taking “war” pictures…Richard Cross and John Hoagland….i have had four friends killed taking “peace” pictures…Ethan Hoffman, Bill Weems, Gordon Gahan and Jonathan Wright..now granted, this is just a random sample of photographers i happen to know…so obviously war is dangerous…but , just taking pictures period is dangerous…photographers who go “out there” are exposing themselves to so so many unknowns that it is impossible to be “safe”…a poorly trained helicopter pilot is just as bad for your health as a man with a gun…

but, i will save my thoughts on this for a new post looking at this from a broader perspective…stay tuned…

david

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13445 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:23:23 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13445 JUSTIN…

i know where i would rather be too, but that is beside the point…

i was merely paraphrasing and referring to the Donald McCullin comment posted earlier on this thread…i think Don probably has seen more actual “combat” (the scenario you describe) than most….

go back and re-read the McCullin comment please!!

cheers, david

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By: Suryo Wibowo https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13446 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:56:52 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13446 To Bill and David,

the atmosphere and the content of the picture are the most important thing in every photographs for me. From your pictures, somehow I can feel the feeling which both of you has brought in you picture. And I began to question, how can you bring the life trough the lights? how can you live in the moments, even if it were a second or less?
And everytime I face a situation, there is a ghost in my mind. This ghost is shadow of your works and other master’s works. And it haunts me. Like the picture of the sicilian lady from Bill or the boy with the ball in South America from David. Did it happen to you? and How can you get rid of it?

I hope I would be able to meet one of you or both of you someday.

thanks in advance.

suryo

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By: Herve https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13447 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:50:33 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13447 Cathy, that was a pretty informal gathering, really. No laying the Tables of the Law, IMO.

I remember the “My america” essay. I went back to it again, I found and still find it “lacking” (and there were an awful lot of dems voting/going for that war back then anyway).

The link I had for it has 22 shots, BTW:

http://www.hastedhunt.com/photos.php?a=christopher_morris&i=56716

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By: cathy scholl https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13448 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:12:29 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13448 Tom, Michael, all…

Tom Said: Re Christopher Morris-
“he even shifted his style and technique to convey his message, what he saw … “everything had to be very clean and Republican, straight and perfect.”
… and controlled. As he said, the complete opposite of war photography.”

I asked about this when I brought Christopher Morris up earlier but didn’t get any response so I will rephrase…In the Portugal Nachtwey video Christopher talks about how an image must have emotion. Do these “Bush” images of his HAVE emotion? I believe his intention was for them to be emotion-less. I saw him present this work at the VII Seminar in LA and they EVOKE emotion in the viewer (along the lines of what Tom said) certainly that was the case for me…but they themselves are devoid of emotion…to make a point.

How does this relate to his comment about an image needing to have emotion?

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By: Panos Skoulidas https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13449 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:17:46 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13449 MICHAEL K, said:
“…Maybe it’s simply “easier” to do what you’ve done for so long (even if that’s war photography.) Doing something completely different, opposite of what you normally do…that’s not as “easy.”

Posted by: Michael Kircher | April 01, 2008 at 01:09 PM…”

THANK YOU MICHAEL…
that was my point! too…!
but then again paycheck is paycheck…

but honestly,… after Bob gave us the link… so i saw all the photos… i have to admit…

PEOPLE OF THIS FORUM…
when i got the “TIME” – Dalai Lama issue ( dentist desk )…
i was only able to see the TIME” EDIT option or side…
not the whole “essay”…
thanks to BOB i saw all his submitted photos.. and i have
TO AGREE with myself… that the TIME MAGAZINE EDITORS…
ARE SIMPLY retarded…
peace

James N… did some great job… but “TIME” chose… the mediocre
stuff…
sorry JAMES N.
f**k YOU “TIME”…

peace ( if you can)

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By: Panos Skoulidas https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/03/talk-to-allard/#comment-13450 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:05:52 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/03/29/talk-to-allard/#comment-13450 HERVE said:
“…John Vink in Cambodia is a very good example of someone striving to help people grasp the complexities of living and rebuilding once war is over, and peace is “signed”.

Posted by: Herve | April 01, 2008 at 08:11 PM…”

BRAVO HERVE, WELL SAID

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