Last week I got some cool stuff in the mail from some awesome photographers who watch the show!!! Thank you for sharing your work with me – its such an honor!! Eduardo Torres: Interview on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/128996232 Interview on The Photographic Journal: http://thephotographicjournal.com/interviews/eduardo-torres/ Framed by Eduardo: https://www.facebook.com/framedbyeduardo Twitter: https://twitter.com/framedbyeduardo Thomas Clemens: http://www.thomas-clemens-photography.de/ Chris Smith: ...
May 29, 2015
Mary Ellen Mark left us on May 25, 2015. But her legacy and work not only left an enormous impact on the world of photography, but they changed the way we see. They changed how we see people. I haven't done a proper biography on Mary Ellen Mark for the show yet. She passed away this week - this is my homage to who I think is one of the most important and influential photojournalists of the 20th century. Everybody Street: Mary Ellen Mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AwZxnDrWCc Harold Feinstei...
May 27, 2015
Stand Developing is a film developing process that involves placing film in a tank of highly diluted developer and letting it “stand” for long periods of time with little or no agitation. Traditionally, stand development was done with glycin based developers and the negative was laid flat in a developing tray. Over the years, other methods have emerged, adapting the technique to roll film types. This video is sponsored by Lynda.com - for a free 10 day trial of unlimited access, visit http://lynd...
May 24, 2015
Richard Pousette-Dart was an American artist who worked in different mediums including painting, sculpture and photography. He was part of the New York school of Abstract Expressionism the late 1940’s. Saul Leiter became close friends with Richard and his wife Evelyn and they became very close on a personal and artistic level. As Saul was initially a painter with an interest in photography, Pousette-Dart offered to lend Saul a Leica which he accepted. It was through the encouragement of Richard ...
May 19, 2015
How important is a photography degree from a university? This question comes up quite frequently and is certainly controversial these days. The decision to pursue a college degree is very serious. Its a major life commitment, a time commitment and a serious financial commitment. You will have to decide what the right thing is for you. You need to think it through and do some soul searching to figure this out. But since you've asked, I will weigh in with my personal thoughts and advice....
May 17, 2015
Contrast is a new project that I'm going to be introducing to the show in the next few weeks. Its going to be an online magazine website that features up and coming photographers that are doing some amazing work. Stay tuned over the next week as we'll start putting all of this together. Contrast will be powered by Squarespace and a special thanks to them for their support. For a free trail visit http://squarespace.com and for 10% off your first order, use offer code AOP...
May 15, 2015
Autochrome Lumière was one of the first commercially available color processes. There were earlier processes, but Autochrome was very refined and "realistic" for the technology at the time. Using grains made of potato starch, these grains produced a 3 color space of Orange, Green and Violet to reproduce color. In the early years, Pictorialists embraced Autochrome and were fascinated by its results. But quickly, pictorialists rejected it because of its mechanica, "pre-made"l process and lack of h...
May 10, 2015
The Sony A5100 is perhaps one of the best deals in cameras right now in terms of bang for the buck. Its not the perfect camera, but what you get in terms of image quality for both still photos and videos is what makes it incredible. Especially at this price point. Get it at B&H http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/sony_a5100/Ntt/sony%2Ba5100/N/0/kw/search/BI/8986/KBID/10442/DFF/d10-v1-t12 Get it at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keyword...
May 08, 2015
New55 has just released a chemical called R3 Monobath. It is just that, a 1 chemical process for developing film. I wanted to see for myself how well this worked so I ordered a few bottles and developed some film. Monobath developers have been around for a long time. The first evidence I could find was a 1967 thesis by William Quan for RIT in Rochester. In his paper he described a 1 bath process for use with Panotomic X film (no longer made). Instant films all use monobath for their chemicals wh...
May 03, 2015
These days everyone seems to be a photographer. In a world of literally millions of photographs posted to social media every day, how can you develop your own style and stand out as a photographer. Well the good news is the answer is pretty simple. The bad news is that it takes a lot of work… well bad news depending on how you look at it. Developing your own style takes practice and dedication, but it also takes dedicating yourself to your own work and shutting out the online noise from time to ...
Apr 28, 2015
Many of you will remember Frank Lopez from the piece I did on him a few months ago. In addition to being an extremely talented photographer, Frank heads up the photography program at Greenhill School in Dallas, TX. Frank has started a new class with his colleague Chad Bittenbender who teaches chemistry. Together they oversee a semester of experimental work from students. All projects start with an idea or concept and then begin a process of learning and experimentation with various chemical proc...
Apr 25, 2015
Tina Modotti was born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti Mondini in 1896. At the age of 16, she moved from her native Italy to the United States with her father. Modotti soon developed an interest in performing arts and appeared in several plays, operas and silent movies while living in San Francisco. Five years later, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film. Modotti became known for playing the femme fatale and in 1920 landed the staring role in The Tiger’s Coat. Tina showed an interes...
Apr 23, 2015
Photography can be a funny business and there are times as photographers when we are asked to work for free. Sometimes this is formally called "pro bono" work, but its all the same. I got a question this week from a viewer who asks if its good to do for "exposure". I can tell you that in my 20 year career I've run across this offer of work for "exposure" more times than I'd have liked to. I've got some fairly strong opinions on this as well. You will have to make up your own mind as to what you ...
Apr 19, 2015
Harold Feinstein is 84… today. Amazing. Harold has had such an influence on me and on the channel over the last year. Today I want to take a minute and say a few words about what Harold has meant to me and how awesome he is as a teacher, photographer and friend. I’m going to send this video to Harold later today, so PLEASE leave a comment with your birthday wishes here. Feel free to say happy birthday and maybe tell him your favorite image. Be SURE to check out Harold Feinstein’s Blog! http://ww...
Apr 17, 2015
Mirrorless camera design has had a big impact on the way we take pictures. The original thing that attracted me to mirrorless was the idea of being able to get an adaptor and use lenses from my old 35mm lens collection with my camera. And it couldn’t be easier. Because there is no mirror in the design, mirrorless cameras use electronic viewfinders. Because you’re composing your image with a screen, there is more you can do with assisting technology imposed on the screen to make your life easier....
Apr 16, 2015
Tom Baril was born in Connecticut, attended the School of Visual Arts in New York and spent over 15 years working as a printer for Robert Mapplethorpe. After his tenure with Mapplethorpe, Baril went out on his own becoming best known for his still life table shots of flowers and fruits across a range of mediums from collodion to Polaroid Type 55 to silver gelatin. In this video, I want to talk about his first, self-titled monograph which concentraits mainly on Baril's work with Polaroid Type 55....
Apr 12, 2015
Nick Brandt is one of the more important photographers working in fine art today. His entire cause and mission is wrapped around stopping the rampant poaching problem in East Africa. Nick photographs animals as portraits. He doesn't use telephoto lenses as he prefers to photograph his subjects as one would people. This is a painstaking practice that involves extreme patience and dedication and this shows clearly in the work he produces. Brandt works in a hybrid film and digital process. He photo...
Apr 08, 2015
Saul Leiter was one of the greatest undiscovered photographers of the 20th century. Working in New York as a fashion photographer, Saul Leiter amassed an amazing collection of personal work that came to the attention of Howard Greenberg in the 2000's. Before Saul's death - the release of "Early Color" changed Saul's career finally bringing the attention and praise he long deserved. Last year Greenberg/Steidl released a 2 volume book set called "Early Black and White". Divided into 2 volumes (I. ...
Apr 05, 2015
The Sony DSC-RX100 Mark III is the third iteration in the compact line from Sony. Its an amazing little camera that performs impressively well. I've been wanting a camera for a while that would give me the best tradeoff of portability and customization. I obviously do a lot of video as well as stills so versatility is important to me as well. I didn't think I was going to find something that would work - I was wrong. The Sony RX100 Mark III is a compact, point and shoot camera. It has a fixed Ze...
Apr 01, 2015
The Kiev 88 has long been hailed as the most inexpensive way to get into a medium format modular camera system. You can get an entire system for a fraction of what you'd pay for a Hasselblad. But how is the quality? Is it worth it? Or is it easier to save a little more and upgrade to an actual Hasselblad rig? I've had mine for years. I've had 2 actually - the first one died on me. They are great, but you earn every shot you take. They are extremely finicky and awkward to use. I gained a tremendo...
Mar 31, 2015
Rolleiflex has long since been an icon of amazingly built, high end cameras originally produced by Franke & Heidecke in Germany. The name Rolleiflex actually refers to the name of the Twin Lens Reflex line of cameras that debuted in 1929. Rolleiflex was long considered the top standard in build quality, optics and design. Sadly, the news came out on March 13, 2015 that the German auction service, Proventura will begin liquidating the Rolleiflex factory starting on April 20, 2015. You can see ove...
Mar 29, 2015
