Street photography continues to be a growing area in the industry. More and more people enjoy it and are learning how hard it is to get it right. Here are some tips from distinguished professionals Eric Kim, Yanidel, and Martin Parr on how to improve your own street photography.
As I type this, Baltimore, Maryland is on lock down. After the suspicious death of Freddie Gray in police custody, and the ensuing civil unrest and rioting, photojournalists have been flocking to the scene. But it is the work of a young local, a so-called 'amateur', whose work has garnered international attention. If there is one thing that is a clear positive about the situation of Baltimore right now, it is that the democratization of photography has given rise to the likes of photographers like Devin Allen.
The World Photography Organisation has named American photographer John Moore as the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards' Professional Photographer of the Year. Chosen from the winners of the awards' thirteen professional categories, the winning work "Ebola Crisis Overwhelms Liberian Capital" is a hard-hitting series of images that cut to the heart of this human tragedy.
The 2015 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced yesterday - and the images are outstanding. What does it take to produce an image worthy of a Pulitzer, and what do the images that win look like? Take a few minutes to peruse these images and honor those photographers risking life and limb to bring us some of the most incredible, thought-provoking photojournalism of the last 12 months.
Dana Pennington is a Los Angeles-based Fashion photographer. He recently moved to become a permanent resident in Los Angeles, from his home town Denver, Colorado. I had the chance to sit down with Pennington during my first trip to L.A., over the past weekend, and talk to him about his journey into the fashion photography industry.
A gut-wrenching mobile video clip depicting South Carolina police officer Michael Slager killing Walter Scott went viral earlier this month. The bystander behind the footage, Feidin Santana, has partnered with celebrity publicity agency Markson Sparks to license the footage, causing a stir among those who claim he's profiting from a death.
Is it art? It's an age-old question, but as the centuries pass and technology continues to flourish, the question only seems to get harder to answer. The New York State Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of photographer Arne Svenson who was brought to court by a family who he had photographed in their Tribeca apartment without consent.
Photography isn't always the safest pursuit, especially when you delve into the world of documentary and travel photography. Shooting out in the field can be unpredictable, from the weather and terrain, to the wildlife and the local people. The more you push the extremes of your photography, oftentimes, the more risk you'll take — to both your gear, and yourself.
NASCAR is one sport that has certainly become engrained in the American history books. Known for its speed and pure adrenaline, it continues to drive ticket sales and audiences from all around the world in the thousands. Thanks to one mystery photojournalist, Seph Lawless, we are seeing some historically outstanding photos from the very first and very forgotten beginnings to what NASCAR once was.
Markus Andersen is a documentary, street, and conceptual photographer who shoots on 35mm, 120, and Polaroid films, along with his iPhone, throughout Sydney, Australia – which he calls the “belly of the beast.” Rob Norton crafted a compelling short film that allows the viewer inside Markus’ thoughts about street photography as an art. Through Markus’ narration, behind the scenes glimpses, and many stunning examples of Andersen’s photographs, Norton added the perfect music and edited together a clever and engaging sequence that showcases the creativity and passion of a genre of photography that often gets sullied by today’s accessibility to modern technology.
Who hasn’t contemplated the idea of living a simpler life? I know that I certainly have, pondering from time to time what my life would look with smaller bills and rent. What would my art be like if I could downsize just a bit? Could I ever dare? People everywhere are beginning to realize that they have become slaves to their own lifestyles. The need to be better and bigger than the next guy has taken over our lives, and had compromised our ability to live an authentic life.
In shocking news today for photojournalists everywhere, Sports Illustrated has announced that the remaining 6 photographers on staff have been laid off. Confirmed by Sports Illustrated's director of photography Brad Smith, SI has said the reasoning for the lay off comes from a financial decision that has forced some restructuring to be made.
In late 2014 at an auction in Ohio, Levi Bettweiser of the Rescued Film Project, stumbled upon one of his greatest finds. Up for bid were 31 rolls of 70 year old undeveloped film from World War 2 shot by an unknown soldier and photographer. The Rescued Film Project is an effort to find and salvage undeveloped film from as early as the 1930's. They strive to recover even those films which are damaged by age or the elements, as in the case of this large find of film from WW2.
From the perspective of highway overpasses, photographer Alejandro Cartagena has documented the daily commute of Mexican workers in his photo series, "Carpoolers." Setting out during morning rush hour, Cartagena photographs the weary travelers laying in truck beds amongst the tools of their trade. The result of this overhead perspective photo series is a delightfully simple and revealing glimpse into the daily life of these hard-working travelers.
Formerly Photo Raw, Raw View Magazine has taken a new approach to the construct of a photography magazine. Raw View is made up of a completely voluntary staff of talented writers, photographers, and documentarians. With a specialized focus in documentary photography, Raw View has made it a mission exhibit imagery from the highest caliber of photographer with a focus on print quality. The self-proclaimed mission of Raw View is not just a crescendo of visual journalism, but it is to tackle complex and difficult subjects within the world of photography. The ultimate goal is to inspire, stimulate, and entertain.
Early last year, the Smithsonian announced that they would be opening up their digital collection for the world to see. The first phase constitutes over 40,000 pieces of art, including over 400 photographs, from the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the Freer Study Collection, all of which focus on the museum’s Asian gallery collections. The collections are available for anyone to download and use for free for non-commercial use under a program they call Open F|S.
As a taxi driver in the United Kingdom, Mike Harvey sees his fair share of characters popping in an out of the back seat of his cab. Being a photographer as well, it only seemed natural to begin making images of his passengers. From “the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the sober and the high,” Harvey decided to document their faces for a photo project he aptly titled “The Taxi.”
“Through Darkness to Light” fully immerses its audience in the awe-inspiring history of the Underground Railroad through a series of breathtaking images. The series chronicles the perilous journey of those who sought freedom from slavery.
Abe Van Dyke is a Milwaukee-based freelance photojournalist whose work is submitted to the Demtix Wire, which is owned by Corbis Images. You may recognize Abe's name from his work covering the rioting and demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo. or his photographs documenting the passing away of his mother earlier this year. On Friday, Dec. 19, 2014, Abe was photographing the protests in his hometown of Milwaukee when things went south with law enforcement officials quickly, resulting in the arrest of Abe along with the protestors. Abe was kind enough to make time for a brief interview to share the story behind the photos that took his freedom.
On Nov. 17, 2013, an EF-4 rated tornado ripped through central Illinois relentlessly damaging and destroying over 1,200 homes, and ultimately killing three people. The Journal Star’s photojournalist team sprung to action after the tornado subsided, taking to the streets and skies of the affected towns to document the ravaged community. One year later, they traced their steps of that tragic day to create this astonishing Then and Now photo series.
For the last 2 years I've made my living shooting architecture with DSLRs, mostly short videos of California's fanciest multifamily apartment communities. When my client Synergy Corporate Housing asked me to continue that mission with all of their international properties in 10 major cities across 8 European countries, the first thing I thought when I saw the 32-day itinerary was, "bring a Hasselblad."
Ralph Morse was perhaps one of the greatest American photojournalists that has ever picked up a camera. Covering some of history's greatest events, there is no arguing that Morse had an eclectic and varied career in photography. Some of the most iconic images in American History were created by Ralph Morse, and splashed in vibrant fashion on the covers and pages of magazines.
Bryan Bedder is a freelance celebrity photographer based in NYC. This week Bryan was hired to shoot few key events during Art Basel in Miami, which ended yesterday. Three days ago, while on a break from assignments, Bryan had a horrible accident: while at the beach, he dove into a sand bar which caused his C5 vertebrae to fracture and slip, which pinched his spinal cord. Bryan is now in ICU, totally immobile, far from home and really needs your help.
I’ve just read a comment from a photographer who said it’s time to stop shooting in black and white. He claimed we don’t see the world in black and white and it was something only done in the past due to the limitations at the time and it’s time to move on. Here’s a number of reasons why I think it’s critical to shoot black and white from time to time, and how it can help nurture your photographic eye.
Layoffs of photo staff continue at one of the world's largest news companies. Thomas Szlukovenyi, the Picture Editor for North America, and Peter Jones, the chief photographer for Canada and the Canada and North American Sports Photo Editor, were axed this week in a move of continued downsizing at Thomson Reuters that gained significant media attention during its first round of major layoffs that began last summer. There is speculation that Europe and the Middle East East could be next.
Cinematographer Danny Cooke spent a week with his guide Yevgein, known as the Stalker, exploring Chernobyl and the city of Prypiat, Ukraine. He came back with a haunting and beautiful video which is essentially a time capsule of the city, frozen by a devastating nuclear disaster that occurred nearly 30 years ago. His aerial shots are especially quite stunning.
Chances are you’ve all seen this iconic photo of Che Guevara at some point. But do you know who took it? Magnum, still arguably the most esteemed photographic collective in the world, announced the sad news last week that one of it’s longest serving members, Rene Burri, passed away aged 81. This post celebrates the life and work of Burri, and sheds a little light on what made him such a special photographer.
Philip Lee Harvey recently went to Ethiopia for Lonely Planet to photograph the world's most inaccessible church... 2,500 feet up and carved into the side of a mountain. The view from the top? Nothing short of spectacular. Amazingly, the Abuna Yemata Guh Church in Tigray, Ethiopia was carved by hand, and the art inside becomes even more incredible when one takes into account that the artist (and anyone who visits) had to make the climb to do it. Talk about devotion.
Eric Crosland is the director of Sherpa Cinema, a collective of artists who produce some pretty amazing stuff. Crosland recently went to some rather remote parts of Iceland with Dave Mossop and John Trapman working on capturing some landscapes, something for which Iceland is a mecca. While there, the Icelandic eruption occurred and Crosland was ready with a Phase One.
Mike Drew is a Calgary-based photojournalist who's worked for the publications such as the Calgary Sun and the Toronto Star since 1978. Recently, Mike was challenged by the guys at TheCameraStoreTV to try and shoot film for a day while working as a photojournalist to see if it was still a viable option for the type of work he does.
The most expensive and largest book project of the 20th century was Helmut Newton's SUMO, which sold out at $15,000 per copy, complete with its own book stand (the book is about as big as a medium-sized seven-year-old). Now, Annie Leibovitz' SUMO follows in its footsteps. At 476 pages, the Taschen-published art piece comes enveloped in your choice of four different dust jackets and is limited to 10,000 editioned copies, with the first 1000 coming in a leather-bound hardcover with a signed 20" x 20" archival pigment print and all four dust jackets.
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, many NY based photographers and film makers found themselves documenting one of the most traumatic events in American history, the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers.
Ed Keating, Pulitzer Prize-winner, career photographer of over thirty years and mentee and friend of Robert Frank (the most celebrated American documentary photographer probably ever), is one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met. I filmed and edited this exclusive Fstoppers interview, as his insight was just too good not to share. No matter what type of photographer you are, I’m sure you can all take something of value away from this video interview.
Photographer Knut Egil Wang documents the annual migration of Norwegians to sunnier destinations, as they look to escape the darkness and cold of Norwegian winter. Wang captures the strangeness and bliss that comes with transplanting oneself for a few months each year in a series titled “Southbound” or “Syden.”
Wyatt Neumann took to Instagram to post photos he took of his daughter on a road trip. While she was clothed in some images, she was fully or partially nude in a number of them as well. But to Neumann, there was nothing unusual about a two-year-old girl without clothes. What he though was perfectly innocent, many called child pornography. The extreme hatred grew across the Internet, and overnight, his Instagram account was shut down.
By now, many of you have seen the news coverage surrounding the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting took place on August 9, 2014, with the demonstrations and looting beginning shortly thereafter. Unsurprisingly, nearly every major news outlet has a team in Ferguson to cover the events. I’m sure many of you know about the tear gas, rubber bullets, arrests, Molotov cocktails, military presence and pleas for peace in the streets. That said, you may have missed the coverage of incidents directly involving the media. Here’s a summary of some of the media-related incidents that have occurred in Ferguson.
French photographer Antoine Bruy spent three years documenting the lives of men and women who have abandoned society for the wilderness of Europe for his fascinating “Scrublands” series. After photographing in five European countries, Bruy is turning his attention to the United States; specifically, remote settlements in the Appalachian Mountains.
When it comes to portrait photography, your camera, your light, your years of photographic know-how counts for little if you don't have a subject with substance. The power of a portrait is in the people. Do you reveal their essence? Do you tell their story?
That’s right. You! No matter what your skill level, there is a project in this world that is perfect for you. Are you going to get paid for this project? Nope! This one is going to be a freebie.
Now I know what you are thinking. "Whoa Whoa Whoa, stop the clock! You want me to work for free?”
Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do. And here is why.
I recently noticed that a handful of photographers were producing images that had a look as if they were stills captured from films. A couple of the most well known photographers of this genre are based here in New York so I got them together and challenged them to not only come up with a dynamic personal project on the fly incorporating this cinematic look, but to share with us how it is achieved. Read on to find out how it all went down...
We all have our own motivation for the images we choose to make. Every photographer has that little voice, that driving force pushing you toward the goal, or that feeling in your gut when you really nailed it.
Maybe that works to your advantage now, but at some point, it’s likely to break loose and run wild…for better or for worse.
Lynsey Addario is an amazing photographer and an inspiring human being; she's a photojournalist who is literally changing the world. Be warned, parts of this video are graphic. In this episode of National Geographic Live! Addario talks about some of her incredible stories - from being in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, to imbedding with the Marines, to being kidnapped in Libya, to maternal mortality in Sierra Leone (her images led directly to more doctors in the area) and covering the rebel uprising during the Arab Spring. Addario is a living example of the power of photography and its ability to make a genuine difference.
My friend Mykii Liu shared this video on his Facebook this morning and I really felt like I had to pass it on. This film focuses on a young woman who talks about the simple things she has, why she has them and what they mean to her. Not only is the message great, but the manner in which this is filmed is also fantastic.
It is no surprise, we have a trash problem in America. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that the average American produces more than 4 lbs of trash per day, which has doubled since the 1960's. Gregg Segal decided to tackle this problem, by photographing a series of people lying in their own trash in efforts to show the waste in our daily lives.
The ability of identifying various qualities of light and knowing how to interpret that light is essentially a core concept of photography. One must learn how light translates to an image in order to successfully convey one’s vision and develop a style. In this 5 1/2 minute interview, photojournalist Ed Kashi chats with Marc Silber about his growth as a photographer by way of understanding light.
Every once in a while I come across a photographer or project that blows me away in terms of content, just in time for Independence Day weekend, B&H released this video of Stacy Pearsall, US Airforce Veteran and combat photojournalist, telling the story behind one of her latest and largest project, photographing veterans. Take a look.
This spectacular series of postcards are from a private collection owned by graphic designer and photographer, Marc Walter. Walter specializes in vintage travel photographs and has one of the largest collections in the world. This collection has been compiled into a new book entitled, An American Odyssey. The photochroms started out as glass negatives such as this: Mississippi Landing, Vicksburg
thinkTank's ongoing series, "About A Photo," is a tremendous peek into the process of some amazing photographers. The series has the featured photographer narrate the story of one of their images. In this episode, William Albert Allard speaks about his photograph of a cowboy named Stan and why he doesn't take a photo of someone - but into them.