lifevicarious - 448 days around the world

lifevicarious - 448 days around the world This is an excellent photo blog, interesting and varied. You can subscribe to the web log using an RSS reader. I like it!

RICHARD BRAM. PHOTOGRAPHER

RICHARD BRAM. PHOTOGRAPHER I love street photography, there are some good photographs here.

street_photography_for_the_purist.pdf (application/pdf Object)

street_photography_for_the_purist.pdf (application/pdf Object)
An awesome article, a large PDF about street photography with excellent photography.

photostream: Art as communication

photostream: Art as communication

Derelict London.com

Derelict London.com I think I share similar motivation with my Wandering In Fairbanks web sites. I love to explore and document the vanishing everyday things that we experience. Margaret and I spent 10 days in London a few years ago, it was a great place to explore.

Key Thoughts and The Zen of Fishing

sm-07-07: "Key Thoughts and The Zen of Fishing"
I also think photography is like wildlife watching, being prepared for the random event. I carry a camera with me whenever I leave the house, I "kid" that the moment that I do not have the camera a space ship will land with aliens! I will even go back into the house and get a camera if I forgot to bring it with me. I want to be prepared for the random event or the unexpected moment. Like fishing or wildlife viewing the process is fun in itself, wandering outside, waiting, listening, returning to the same place again, looking for evidence, the process is fun and valuable even if I do not see any wildlife. Sometimes I feel like I have to earn the right to see an animal, sometimes it seems like I have been granted a gift, but I must be available for the gift.

Charles Kamm Daily

Charles Kamm Daily I simply love these photographs.

lens culture: links

lens culture: links
This set of links is an excellent place to explore thoughtful photography. Each of the links deserves the time to look, think, and explore.

lens culture: photography and shared territories

lens culture: photography and shared territories
You could spend days exploring this web site. Subscribe to their mailing list for updates. The Atget section is amazing.
See it at http://www.lensculture.com/rauschenberg.html

Strange statues around the world | haha.nu - interesting findings over the net

Strange statues around the world | haha.nu - interesting findings over the net
This is a very cool web site, sometimes it is not the photographer it is the subject that makes a photograph.

Wandering In Seattle: Stephen Cysewski

Wandering In Seattle: Stephen Cysewski I have created a web log to share my Seattle and Tacoma street photography.

Medianeras

Medianeras
I love this site, explore the excellent photo documentation and the beauty too.

Flickr: Photos from cysewski

Flickr: Photos from cysewski
I am sharing many of my photographs using Flickr. My Flickr pictures do not have the sequence of my web sites. My Flickr photographs are more individual. My Picasa photographs are more personal, maybe they are not as good as the photographs on Flickr or on my web sites. My web logs are individual photographs that I like. In some cases I have a single photograph on all four sites. I am sorting through the differences and similarities between my web sites, my web logs, Flickr, and Picasa web albums. The common thread between each of these tools is sharing my photographs with others. I enjoy sharing and I am getting more courage to share without worrying about whether they are "good enough". Every photograph on my sites I like, for many diverse reasons.

Picasa Web Albums

Picasa Web Albums
I am sharing more individual and personel photographs using Picassa web albums. There are photographs of my family and photographs, that for some reason that I want to share. The photographs that I share on Flickr are more public. The photographs on my web sites are those that are "complete" or a part of a series.

The Online Photographer: Photography Rules

The Online Photographer: Photography Rules

The Online Photographer: Great Photographers on the Internet

The Online Photographer: Great Photographers on the Internet

The Online Photographer: T.O.P. Ten: Number 2

The Online Photographer: T.O.P. Ten: Number 2 The description of the power of these photographs is important. Why do we take photographs, what are we communicating, there are many reasons for a photograph, but some reasons are worth more then others.

flaneur ::: diario visual de Buenos Aires. (photoblog, visual diary of Buenos Aires)

flaneur ::: diario visual de Buenos Aires. (photoblog, visual diary of Buenos Aires) Highly recommended web site documenting Argentina.

The Online Photographer: City Photographers

The Online Photographer: City Photographers

Juan Buhler / PHOTOS

Juan Buhler / PHOTOS
Another web site with excellent photography. I really love these photographs.

OpenShutter/ONE :: Uganda 2005

OpenShutter/ONE :: Uganda 2005 Another powerful example of the power of photography to express a place in its complexity and depth.

1986-2006

1986-2006
Documenting and expressing the tragedy that happened at Chernobyl. Photography and photographers have a responsibility and an opportunity to document and express what is happening around us. Excellent!

Julieanne Kost Interview

Julieanne Kost Interview
Discussion of her book Window Seat and thoughts on creativity. Worth reading!

Carl de Keyzer Photography

Carl de Keyzer Photography
Very high quality, and interesting, photography site. There is a lot to see, all of it excellent.

Unphotographable: a text account of pictures missed

Unphotographable: a text account of pictures missed
This is am important concept. When I was writting a web log about Thailand many of my posts were of visual events that I could not, or did not photograph. By writing I was still sharing the moment. Click on the all tab to see the unphotographable events.

Ohio Barns

Ohio BarnsI love web sites like this and the photography also. Documenting the everyday becomes valuable as time passes. This web site is much more then Ohio barns.

images by Tina Manley

images by Tina Manley I like Tina Manley's photography. They are simple, honest, and clear.

Lifting the Shroud

Lifting the Shroud There are ethical and aesthetic issues in editing photographs. There is a range of possibilities. When does an interpretation lose its relationship to the original image?

Dennis Dunleavy: So, You think you've got the picture?

Dennis Dunleavy: So, You think you've got the picture?
"After years of leading hundreds photo critiques, I stumbled across a way of explaining why looking at pictures can be such a meaningful experience."

2point8

2point8
Another good site for thinking about photography. Ultimately, if you are serious about expressive photography you need to think about about your photography. This site is a good place to start thinking!

: : Elliott Erwitt : :

: : Elliott Erwitt : :
One of my favorite photographers, he is funny and thoughtful. Spend some time exploring.

Lost Films

Lost Films Pictures from abandoned old cameras. Interesting and though provoking.

Jan Chipchase - Future Perfect

Jan Chipchase - Future Perfect
Take an hour or two to look at this site. Excellent use of photography to document culture and ideas. Fun and worth looking at.

AK47.tv - January/February 2006, Ninth Issue

AK47.tv - January/February 2006, Ninth Issue

Excellent and thought provoking set of photographs. Subscribe to be notified by email when new issues come out.

Reflections on Photography and Art

Reflections on Photography and Art

This series looks like it is worth following. This is the index and introduction page. There will be links to each specific essay.

Amazon.com: Listmania! - View List "Readings for Practicing Photographers"

Amazon.com: Listmania! - View List "Readings for Practicing Photographers"

Reading about photography, thinking about photography, and looking at excellent photography are essential to taking meaningful pictures. These books are an excellent set of recommendations. I own and have read many of them.

Galleries, Carl Weese

Galleries, Carl Weese

Take the time to explore these photographs. I like his documentary style.

The Online Photographer

The Online Photographer



Mike Johnston writes excellent and in depth articles on photography. He used to write the column Sunday Morning Photographer. Subscribe to this blog though bloglines to keep updated.

Street Photography in China

Street Photography in China



Excellent advise, it is what I do when I wander around.

Wandering In Thailand: Stephen Cysewski

Wandering In Thailand: Stephen Cysewski



I am in Thailand. I will be posting pictures on this web site. I am doing mostly digital photography, using a camera that I do not especially like, the Canon S70, but it is working OK. The instant feedback with digital is great, and I can share the pictures when I get them. I am doing some film photography. I Thailand fast film and fast lenses are valuable. In may places, both outside and in, the light is quite dim. If I do not like flash I must use fast equipment. I love riding the non-air conditioned buses in Bangkok. The windows are open and you can take some great photographs of the city. I will be posting to this blog, when I find valuable information, but most of my posting will be in the Wandering In Thailand blog.

Credit Card Bills, Photography, and Memory

On NPR yesterday there was an interview with an author who used her credit card bills as the catalyst for telling stories of her life. A pretty exciting idea actually. I was curious and dug through some of my old bills and was surprised by what I remembered. On my first trip to Thailand I kept a small journal of events and impressions, when I read the journal my memories return. I have many photographs of my youth, cute kid with a stuffed elephant, kid with lawn mower, etc.. When I think of my youth I remember the photographs! I do not think I recover my actual memories, but that could be because I was too young. I wonder though, I would tentatively say that photographs can become memories in a way that is different from written notes, or even credit card statements. I know our national memory is one of photography. As I was writing I was remembering having breakfast at my grandmothers house, there was no picture, but the photograph stimulated the memory of her house, it was a visual memory. I think this whole area deserves much more exploration.

Wandering in the 70's: Stephen Cysewski

Wandering in the 70's: Stephen Cysewski



I have made major additions to the entire site. These are images that I like. I took them in the 70's and 80's. They are images that have lasted. I selected them from many negatives, chose to print them. chose to scan them, and chose to share them. Since the scans are old the image quality is not high. Each image could be rescanned and cleaned up with Photoshop. If I did that though I would never get around to share them. Anyway, here the are.....

Nixon Selected Images "25 years of the Brown sisters"

Nixon Selected Images "25 years of the Brown sisters"

The more I look at these pictures the more I appreciate the power of photography to document places in time.

Trying to Find My Photograph by Jim Gehrz- The Digital Journalist

Trying to Find My Photograph by Jim Gehrz- The Digital Journalist

I think the idea of "My Photograph" applies to amature photography to. The concept provides a focus and motivation when in a photographic situation. This article is well worth reading.

Photography Gallery "Hiroshima"

Photography Gallery "Hiroshima"

Photography as documentation can be very powerful. It is only with time that we recognize what we have lost. Without photographs, sometimes, we lose our memory.

AutoWeek - Salute to Tradition: Indy 500 in Black & White
I love auto racing. I love photography. Almost all current auto racing photography is in color. At the Indy 500 Autoweek sponsored a photographer to document the event in black and white. The emotional and intellectual change is amazing. I am almost dismissive of color pictures, mostly I use them to gather information. The black and white pictures are full of information, meaning, and emotion. Here is the link to the photo gallery.

Selection

Photography is a process of selection. Out of our experience, for some reason, we select a specific moment to take a photograph. From all the photographs we take we select specific photographs, or groups of photographs, to edit or share. From the specific selected photographs we select a portion or aspect of the photograph through cropping and editing. Each of these selections is a creative decision and a commitment: what is included, what is excluded, which represents my intention, which do I like, which is too revealing, which is embarrassing, which is cruel, which is of poor quality. Selection takes courage and maybe photography takes courage too? Go back and look at some of your old contact sheets or digital files, would you make different selections? Has your perspective changed? How have you changed since you made your original selections?

Upside Down Sunset

In high school, 40 some years ago, I had a crucial experience. I was raised in the Seattle area and was by the beach, Salt Water State Park, it was sunset. I was resting on a piece of driftwood. For some random reason I looked at the sunset upside down. The scene came to life, it became three dimensional, I could see the depth, the color, and the pattern. It became real, the sunset was not being obscured by my expectations. The sunset was a completely different experience. Photographically, but also in my life, I have, because of this experience, tried to look at things upside down. I try to reverse an idea, I try to see a different angle, if an idea is worth thinking about it should also reveal when it is reversed. Photographically an image should come to life in an unexpected way. Beautiful pictures are especially difficult. The classic picture of Denali and Wonder Lake is truly beautiful, but it is also boring. The challenge is to somehow bring the image alive, to reveal it in a unexpected way, to maybe see it upside down.

A moment in time....

A moment in time is an elastic concept. Photography is assumed to represent a real moment in time, there was an actual exposure of light on silver, dye, or a digital receptor. Every Sunday the Fairbanks paper shows a historic photograph. Many times I take off my glasses, old eyes, and look at the details. It is the details at that moment in time that reveals what it was like back then.

Of course we all know that a photograph, even in the old days is an abstraction and subject to manipulation and deception, but what makes it fascinating is that sense of a moment in time. If the illusion of the moment in time is snapped the tension of photography is lost. It is not wrong, just a different experience that can be beautiful and revealing, but different.

Editing a picture, for instance removing power lines, alters the moment in time, but perhaps not too much, unless, for instance, a person is interested in the history of power distribution. A wedding photograph that removes all the character from a face is also messing with a moment in time. In my photography I will edit and enhance, but I do not want to severe the moment in time. I want people to be able, in 20 or 30 years, to see and experience the historic moment.

A moment in time is an elastic concept but at a certain point the photographic process is being used as pigment, the elastic has snapped, and the result, while it can be beautiful and expressive, is no longer photography.

black and white vs. color: my street shooting dilemma with digital

black and white vs. color: my street shooting dilemma with digital

I sure empathize with this dilemma! My digital camera allows me to choose Black and White before I begin and I do that most of the time. My digital SLR only shoots in color and then I have to think about conversion. Maybe it is my film ways, but for me it is better to shoot in the mode that I am thinking.