Comments on: self-portrait selection….. https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/ burn is an online feature for emerging photographers worldwide. burn is curated by magnum photographer david alan harvey. Sat, 18 Jun 2016 08:50:38 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.4 By: Jean-Sébastien Bréault https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8446 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:54:37 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8446 DAVID

Maybe you did not see the link of my new work in the last post about “mixed heritage”. So I post it again here what I posted there.

____

DAVID, ALL…

This is the link for my project:

http://www.photosjsbreault.com/Project/simpleviewer/index.html

Please, tell me what you think about. I did it more personnal than the previous and it is the only six I like, and I’m even not sure I’m in a the right way. I edited with a machete !(http://www.photosjsbreault.com/Mixed_Heritage/simpleviewer/index.html).

I was in Cuba last week for family vacation. I did not read the previous post. The last four week before have been hard. 3 jobs for pay the bills and the family vacation.

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By: bobblack https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8447 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:47:35 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8447 ARIE: ????

can you still meet today at 4:45??…or will you leave by then??…im wobbly after sipping on gin last night while writing, but if you havent left, i can meet you??…

by the way, your hotel is really Ritz :))))..hope the surgery went well…

running
b

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By: Sidney Atkins https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8448 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:52:01 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8448 James Chance,

I finally got a broadband connection working (I have to piggy-back on some neighbor’s wireless) so I could watch your Multimedia version of the cemetery story. I don’t have David’s authority, of course, and I haven’t worked with you as he has, but for what little it’s worth, I thought I’d offer a second (or sixth?) opinion.

First, I really really like your b+w photography, you are a wonderful photographer. I’m not a b+w man myself, but your photos almost make me want to be one. There are many outstanding individual images in this essay. Second, I think this is a great topic for a story, both significant and interesting (maybe because a lot of the translating and editing I do as a day job relates to housing conditions of the poor in Asian cities- recently I translated a book comparing public and private policies for dealing with the homeless in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Osaka). For me the story is already interesting enough, but maybe as David suggets you could make it even more interesting by telling it through the life story of one or a few residents.
I have to agree with David on a couple of points… too many establishing shots, for one thing. The first one is fine, the next two are superfluous, not nearly as strong. In general there are altogether too many similar photographs as well throughout the piece. As David says, the weaker ones and the repetitive ones detract from the impact of the really good ones. I think you may need only half or even a third as many images in the show to make all the same points- just pace them a little more slowly.
I think the video really distracts and detracts from the impact of the still photos in this particular presentation- you really don’t need it, I don’t see what it adds, in fact it subtracts from the mood created by your rich b+w photos. And if you want to do the still image ‘talking heads’ thing (which I also don’t think you really need) then it would be more effective to have them say more than just …”my name is…” and not to group them together in a clump like mug shots.
About the cascading images along the streets approaching the cemetery… I am not quite as harshly critical as David… I think the idea is interesting, but for me it’s a little too long and repetitive and the sequencing is too fast. I think the similar ‘motion’ sequence of carrying the casket to the burial site works much better.

I have to say I think the Gallery ‘slide show’ version of this story works better for me than the Multimedia show, although I saw a few images in the latter which I thought belonged in the former. The organization seems more cogent in the Gallery. In the Multimedia show, you start showing the social interaction of the kids before you show the actual housing conditions, which I think is backwards, and at times the commentary doesn’t seem to relate to the pictures or vice versa.

Believe me, I can appreciate what an enormous job it must be to put something like this together and polish it, and I hope the criticism you’re getting from David (and from me and possibly others) doesn’t stop you from continuing. With the wonderful stock of photos you have (and what I maintain is a great story), it would be a shame to not bring this together in a really polished piece. I think you’ve got a lot of polishing and editing work to do, but I’m really, really looking forward to the further evolution of this piece.

Good Luck!

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By: bobblack https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8449 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:11:35 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8449 DAD (AKAKY): …well, that’s what you get for being such a genius…remember, we live in a confederacy of dunces, right left and center, and remember, we’re pinholed by google from the day we were tossed behind the deli stand ;)))))…besides, did the blog say you were an Elephant?…i mean i used to be an ass (well some still might think so), but now im an Orange (NDP in canada) with a milk-teet of green (GREENS), so, dont worry, by dad well all agaga and cause quite a hullbaloo when he mysteriously went Repub in the last years…still breaks my frickin heart, but he’s my dad, and just like you, i love him no watter what form of superbug infects his political (or your) thinking ;))))…

and besides, you’ve got too much brilliant stuff on that blog to hide forever ;))))..

hugs dad…

remember the yiddish proverb:

the son remembers what the father wishes to forget…

:))

HUGS
B

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By: bobblack https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8450 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:05:54 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8450 ARI: OHHH, that’s too bad :((…problem with tomorrow (thursday) is that i have to meet a student at 3:30 pm….

can you meet later today?? or is today (wednesday) off completely?…..i cant do lunch sadly ’cause i teach until 3:30…what time do you leave thursday, or do you leave friday?…would be such a shame to miss meeting…i can go later today (thursday) because my wife is eating dinner with a friend…as long as it’s not too late, cause i have to shoot later too and write…keep me posted…

email: bluewordsme2@gmail.com

hope we connencts…

b

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By: Jeremy Wade Shockley https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8451 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:32:17 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8451 David,

Perfect! Lookin’ forward to it. -Jeremy

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By: Spencer Lloyd https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8452 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:55:12 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8452 DAH – Not only is film delectable… it’s delightful, delicious and divine! Also, I have several friends who lived for many years in Sante Fe. One was a school teacher there. If you’re still searching, I could probably get you some contacts there.

Patricia – I love several of these images, but I adore IMG_3182d.jpg. This for me has the most emotion.

Akakay – I’m sick of you bleeding heart liberals. If god didn’t want us to make horns out of the flugels, he (or she) wouldn’t have made them sound so glorious once made into a horn. Oh, and the great thing about musical instruments is, you don’t have to be able to carry a tune. You just have to push the right keys or hit the right strings with your fingers on the right frets at the right time, and the instrument carries the tune for you. 6 months ago, I couldn’t play the flute, but now nobody can massacre Bach like me! It’s never too late to learn!

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By: Arie https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8453 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:46:45 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8453 Hi Bob,

We have arrived in Toronto. Unfortunately, my eye surgery is at 4:00 PM tomorrow, so that I will not be able to meet you with Mike. Too bad, I was looking forward to a very good discussion with Mike and yourself. oh well, enjoy your meeting with Mike. Or maybe tomorrow lunch? I am trying I am trying :)

Arie

Arie

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By: cathy scholl https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8454 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:32:31 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8454 DAVID…JONATHAN!

Just quickly checking in…pulled over in front of some houses to catch their wireless signal. A car passed by and coincidentally it was the woman I was writing to tell you about…THE SAME WOMAN JONATHAN MENTIONED ABOVE…Nathalie…..French cowgirl…married to photographer Jim Arndt.. (Dennis Weaver type) .old chevy pickup truck. She is gorgeous, former French Vogue editor in her 50’s super long hair in a braid, covered in turquoise…cowboy hat and boots, etc…lives in a bohemian compound…owns store on canyon road.

I told her I’d let her know if you were interested.

10,000 waves crowd are pretty normal looking…yuppies more than hippies…don’t have a hit on that.

The sikhs all live in Espanola too…not just lowriders.

Reid last night said he’d put me on the “party list!”

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By: anton kusters https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8455 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:15:29 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8455 ERIC

too much reading to catch up on here, but just wanted to say this: found three bouncing balls today, labeled them “family” “bread” “photog”, and practising juggling them as we speak…. :)))

thanks for the insights…

cheers
anton

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By: erica mcdonald https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8456 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:53:56 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8456 PETE

the work you are looking for is by eric espinosa

http://ericespinosa.com

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By: Akaky https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8457 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:52:50 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8457 For chrissakes, Bob, why are you telling everyone where to find my blog? Everyone here is going to find out that I’m a REPUBLICAN, dammit! No one will want to talk to me anymore and if they do deign to notice me, they’ll spend all their time demanding that I explain Dubya and his policies (no, I can’t, most of the time) or what part of the Constitution the vast right wing conspiracy is planning to undermine next (I dont know; meetings of the VRWC are long and boring and the lemon danish is usually stale. I stopped going after they started playing Jerry Vale records with the volume boosted way up so the older members could hear them). You know, I dont remember going around pointing you out to people, you know, except for the deli man, of course.

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By: bobblack https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8458 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:08:41 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8458 AKAKY ;))))

Now dont u go knocking Madame Dubois coq au vin….there’s a great deal of vin in her coq… how the hell do you think she ended up au provence?…or is that aix en provence? ;)))))))….

by the way, you have almost as many links to blogs (on your blog) as the number of titles in the public library i once dwelled for too long upon before i charted my way up to toronto…by the way, im also majorly keen on rechere, of all kings and kings, not only the Proust, but the ditto on the dandies of 19th Russo Lit…imagine being a lover of 19th cent russo lit (not to be confused with 19th cent kitty lit) and married to a russian krasivaya, who happens to be a reader of great breath and writer and photographer to boot…u gotta get away from the vampire state my friend ;))))…and the quaint hamlet befor you do a hamlet notsoquaintly on yourself….:)))…brothers k or c&P??…why potaaaym but not u??, overcoat but not deadsouls or Taras Bulba, lermontov but not pushkin, sound&f or abs-abs? ;))…we gotta talk someday :)))

now, im FRICKIN HUNGRY, your fault akaky,

and for those who havent read it yet, here is Akaky’s hilarious and wonderful contribution to the blog-O-sphere! :))))…much here is priceless! :)))

http://passingparade.blogspot.com/

and i always loved your rants so much, im inclinded to think Dali had u in mind when he scibbled:

“Democratic societies are unfit for the publication of such thunderous revelations as I am in the habit of making….”

hyugs

running,
b

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8459 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:13:28 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8459 JAMES CHANCE…

ok, i watched your av piece on the cemetery….i still think your BKK work and your Cambodia Aids work is so so so much better…

i think you are locked in on the cemetery story because of the obvious…yes, it is unusual for people to live in a cemetery…then what???

your have 4 or 5 basic situations here in this cemetery…and you then proceed to repeat those situation so many times that they totally lose their power…i mean James, you lead off your slide show with 3 of the very same picture!!..that is 3 or is it 4 overall shots…one is enough….you repeat the woman with the glasses and the cross.. why? it will be seen as a mistake….and , well, just so so many examples of repeated scenes…

out of the whole take, i finally came down to 5 pictures when i was trying to make the Emerging Photog slide show…i could not make it work..you haven’t either!!! BKK, on the other hand, though not unusual like a cemetery, had so much more depth and many different pictures , each one saying something different…

the other problem with the av show is that you do not need “talking heads” or at least not that many…if you go video you should try to show something that you cannot show with the stills…and the rapid sequence entering the cemetery does not work for me…

the other thing is this….you telling a story of the “facts” of this cemetery just becomes tedious…just imagine if you had told the story of the cemetery through that one little girl..one person’s story…or at least something that goes beyond the oddity of life in a cemetery..

James you are a fine photographer….you know i am a big fan of yours overall..i really like the Cambodia work…and i know many on this forum seemed to love the cemetery story…but, i am not sure why….however, just as they gave their opinion, i am giving mine…

safe travels amigo and i look forward to a heavy editing session with you when you show up in New York…

peace et al, david

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By: Patricia Lay-Dorsey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8460 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:57:52 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8460 DAVID

Thanks so much for clarifying your technical concerns re: my project. Since we spoke last I’ve been doing my best to stay out of the bright sun–at least with my camera–and find some way to take outdoor pics that will sit more comfortably with my interior shots. Not easy, that. But I’ll keep at it.

ASHER AND NEIL

You guys are great! I can’t imagine anyone taking the time to go through that mishmash of 73 images, much less try to pick out the strongest! But you did it and I am eternally grateful.

I’ve pulled together the favorites so far noted by you and some others here, and have posted them in a new gallery. It really helps me to see things more clearly this way. Thanks again.

http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/for_review7

PASSWORD patricia

peace
Patricia

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8461 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:52:22 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8461 SPENCER, DAVID B.

likewise for me, going back to film feels so so good….digi is USEFUL…film is DELECTABLE….

cheers, david

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8462 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:47:55 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8462 ANNA B.

i do prefer the full frame, original, un-cropped un-manipulated photograph…not that i would mind either cropping or a photoshopped photo, but just not on that one…

cheers, david

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8463 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:40:31 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8463 LISA….

perhaps staying involved with a story concept and seeing where it goes is a bit like getting married….although i have succeeded at the former and not at the latter!!!

for sure , on any story, you will get bored…you just have to stay focused and get through it….

as i have actually told you before “seeing there” is not at all like “being there”….

the feeling of a final essay, when hanging on the wall or sitting there on the coffee table in book form, bears no relationship at all to what went into making it…in other words, the viewing experience is not likely to be the photographing or “production” experience..

CATHY….

i would love a Española family..maybe a low rider family….

in Santa Fe itself i am looking more for the Thousand Waves crowd…or, maybe those folks really are only in L.A….but i do like the tattoo on the daughters chest concept…

but, if i had to choose one over the other, i would go for the descendants of the Spanish conquistadores in your area….i can always do hot tubs in Marin county or wherever…

cheers, david

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By: Anna Boyiazis https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8464 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:38:42 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8464 HEY DAVID (in case you missed my previous post…)

in the mirror, white, flowing upside down… That would be me!

I’d originally posted two options, then chose to go with my original entry, the first of the following two links. The picture was included in David McG’s gallery… Not sure what happened after that, though I am bummed the picture never landed in your court.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_d-l72iXjdjs/SFqHVFCB1lI/AAAAAAAAAFI/kf2UkTu4n-8/s1600-h/ANNA_B.jpg
http://bp0.blogger.com/_d-l72iXjdjs/SFs3AQ-6TjI/AAAAAAAAAFo/-LLjOLrU56E/s1600-h/ANNA_B2.jpg

Curious which of the two you preferred.

Anna B.

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/dialogue/2008/07/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8465 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:22:59 +0000 http://s57354.gridserver.com/2008/07/03/self-portrait-selection/#comment-8465 JEREMY…

i am headed for the southwest this weekend…first Santa Fe and then on up to four corners and Durango…so, since we have a good chance of meeting soonest, let’s just have this conversation in person..make sense???

cheers, david

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