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This month, we are interviewing travel and portrait photographer Anthony Asael.  In an incredible feat, he is one of the few that has traveled among each of the countries of the United Nations, numbering just under 200. During these journeys, he visited over 950 schools and taught photography to thousands of children. Read below to gain an insight to this photographer’s mind.

FYP: Tell us a little about yourself.

Anthony: I am an international photographer and part of Corbis agency. I am of Turkish and Italian origin. He is also the founder of the not-for-profit organization Art in All of Us.  My passion for photography began very early – at 7 years old, I was already developing my black and white work in the lab. Over the next few years, I travelled several times  with Ruggero Gabbai – a professional photographer and film director – as his personal assistant.

FYP: Have you had formal training in Photography?

Anthony: No I have not. I am self taught, at the age of seven, I was already playing in a photo lab revealing my own photos in black and white. Photography was part of my childhood

FYP: What camera and equipment do you currently use?

Anthony: Nikon D700 and about 8 different lenses. However, most of my shooting is done with a simple 50mm 1.8. For me, photography is not about equipment, but about creativity and emotions.

FYP: Where do you see yourself in five years time?

Anthony: I have no idea, and I am so happy about it…. I just follow the wind.

FYP: What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome in your photographic career?

Anthony: Well most probably it is to have visited taught photography in all 193 countries of the world. The most difficult to enter was North Korea. It took me 2 and a half years of negotiation with the local government. While entering as a tourist is possible to nearly everyone with some patience, entering and work there in a public school is slightly more difficult. Even with all cultures that one can see around the world, people are very similar, children above all. Children have all the 3 same dreams: one to be loved by their parents, two to be able to play and three, unfortunately, to grow up too fast.

Picasso once said “Children are all born creative and once they are growing up , they lose their creativity”. I passionately believe in that, even if shall be the reserve. When we grow up, we shall be wiser, have access to more knowledge, more information, have a more open mind…. But it is the opposite that happens, with unconscious “brainwashing” from parents, media and education. We should try to stimulate more the creativity and curiosity of children, and that is one of my missions when I travel.

FYP: Who is your favourite artist?

Anthony: Sebastiao Salgado

FYP: Where do you find your inspiration?

Anthony: Simply by closing my eyes.

FYP: What are your favourite techniques or methods?

Anthony: I try to photograph emotions.  To do that, I have to be invisible, even if am straight in front of the model. Models have to feel at ease and not stressed by the camera. Being patient and talking with them is very very important. At the right moment, they will feel comfortable and simply forget about you, that is when I can start shooting.

FYP: How much emphasis do you put on post-production?

Anthony: Very little. I just clean up some dust spots, or add slightly more contrast when necessary. I don’t touch composition, which is also key to my photography. FYP: What genre would you most like to experiment in?

Anthony: I am not in an experimental phase at the moment. However, I have a very dreamy project for the future. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you more about it right now …. Just be patient, I’ll keep you posted on my website.

FYP: If you could photograph anyone/anywhere in the world, who/where would you photograph?

Anthony: I am now in Madagascar, my favourite spot to photograph. People are so genuine and also very positive towards cameras that I can’t be more happy. However, I would like to go back to North Korea and make a longer photographic documentary.
FYP: Have you got any hints or tips to share with aspiring photographers?

Anthony: Don’t buy expensive equipment.  It might be easier to have nice pictures with good cameras as an amateur, but if you want to be a real and good photographer, you need to be excellent at all kind of cameras. The best way to start and to learn is to have the basic of the basics. Be good at it, be excellent at it , be outstanding at it and only then get a better camera.

FYP: What is your favourite way to de-stress?

Anthony: Putting my feet into the ocean and closing my eyes.

FYP:Thank you for the interview, Anthony! Good luck with the future.

Anthony: Keep creative, and keep smiling!

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Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

Matteo Fiorelli, 27, hails from La Spezia, Italy and is employed as a mechanical engineer.  Although he considers himself an “amateur photographer,” the photography on this page tells a different story.   Matteo does not have a particular style of photography, however, he is very instinctive of his surroundings and will shoot whatever is interesting.  Matteo is not one to place his style into any category, but if he had to choose his favorite types of photography, he prefers to shoot portrait, street, concert, and people generally.

His photographic arsenal includes a Canon 50D, which he received as a graduation gift, and a Nikkormat ft from the sixties with a 50mm f1.4.  The Nikkormat is a film camera, and he finds it very difficult to get a good photograph using this method.  Matteo’s lens’ of choice include a 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 and a 50mm f1.8II, both from Canon.   The 50mm is perfect for portrait photography, however, Matteo is intrigued by the wide angle lens, so much that he recently purchased a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.   This lens allows him to stay close to the subject, which he likens to stepping into the picture, a gratifying sensation from a photographer’s point of view.  Overall Matteo’s lens choice falls between an ultra-wide angle and a 50mm with proper aperture of course!

Preparation is the key for Matteo, so before the shutter button is pressed he seeks out composition and viewpoint to avoid cropping in post.   He shoots primarily in RAW, and in most situations has his ISO set to 200-400 to freeze the frame.   In post production Matteo uses Adobe Lightroom and the histogram tool to correct any imbalance in exposure.  After the exposure is balanced, he moves on to tone, vignette, and noise.  The next stop is Adobe Photoshop where final dodging, burning, mid tones, and shadows are adjusted.   Matteo compares the final shadow adjustment process to working in a traditional darkroom.

Matteo does not have one subject that he enjoys shooting.  His goal is to take his surroundings, despite what it may be, and convey another point of view and evoke emotion by telling a story with each photograph.   He would also like to learn how to use fill-flash settings when shooting backlit subjects in manual mode.

Matteo admires photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson and Jeanloup Sieff, however, his list goes on. Make sure you connect with him online to learn about the other photographers whom he draws inspiration.

Matteo would like to try photojournalism, to go places where emotions are strong and degradation is commonplace, to tell the stories of the human soul through photography.  Shoot 4 Change, a free association of photographers is one such organization that Matteo compares to this type of photography.

You can find Matteo on Facebook and Google+, as well as his portfolio on 500px.

Lastly, Matteo asked that I end the article with the following statement:

“I would like to thank Bryan for his patience and consideration given to me, and best regards to all the team of Indie Spotlight & Fuel your Photography!”

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I should start this off by saying I’m not a photographer for any major news organization, nor has any media published any of the images seen here.  When the Occupy Wall Street movement began I had the notion that I wanted to be a part of it in my own way.  I suspect this article will be the cause for some debate over the politics of the movement but rest assured I don’t plan on voicing any of my own opinions about it here, and that is what I believe to be the core of photojournalism.  Make pictures as they are, show the situation at hand, and try to portray the emotions of both sides of any conflict as unbiased as possible.  This can be a major challenge as some issues can hit close to home and I imagine photojournalists who do it for their sole living find a way to balance that.  Obviously there are some issues in which a photographer can show one side and it can be biased, such as humanitarian photography and so forth.  However when it comes to “news” it’s probably best to remain in the middle so to speak.

I went down to Occupy Wall Street numerous times starting a few weeks into their occupation, and I found the whole atmosphere very invigorating and interesting on a personal level, and my goal was just to document what I was seeing regardless of my belief.  I marched with them a couple times, and was also in Times Square for that huge gathering.  What I found was this:

I can only imagine that being a good photojournalist means telling the story for both sides, and being able to see both sides is already hard for some people.  I’ve always been a firm believer that being able to put yourself into multiple shoes is the best way to approach life and debates.  Thisworks the same for photography.  I concentrated my camera at the protestors at times, the police other times, and then later when I got the images home I tried to make some photographic sense of it all.  It would be important to note here that the one thing I do know about shooting like this is it’s best not to do any real editing.  I shoot RAW so there is some contrast, brightness, and sharpness adjustments made but for the most part what you see is what you get.  In a way this was a great growth experience for me.  You have to be pretty assertive and willing to take on some risk to get some interesting shots.  Which may mean getting yelled at by the police or simply not being afraid to point the camera directly at a cops face and make the picture.  Much is the same as street photography, there is a bit of fear that has to be conquered, and I’m constantly working on that.   Street photography, which is practically the same as photojournalism is something, personally I’ve been working on for my own creative needs.

When I was shooting Occupy Wall Street I tried to look for things that made some kind of statement.  Some wide shots for example to use as “establishing shots” that show how big the crowd was, what the environment was like etc…Then I also tried to look for details; the plastic handcuffs the cops had, signs that the protestors had, different types and age ranges of people there.  I find that things such as protests move very quickly, and I know completely now why photogs who do this all the time are loaded down with a couple cameras and a few lenses, as I found myself needing to stop at points to change lenses…such a pain.  You improvise, adapt and move on, the minute something gets you frustrated you can lose your focus.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with Occupy Wall Street you have to respect it.  I felt very proud to be an American seeing people standing up for what they believe.  I think this is what I enjoyed most about this project of mine.  It’s almost hard to talk about this subject without injecting my own views but that is the struggle.  In short we all need to learn to communicate better about the things we disagree with and this is where pictures help, and hurt.

I got a lot of very positive feedback when these were posted to Google+, but I also knew they would receive plenty of the opposite as well.  You have to have a pretty thick skin to be a photographer in general, but I believe your skin has to be rhino thick to be a photojournalist, for the plain and simple fact that your images are going to get ripped apart by anyone and everyone.  Some for a good use and some will read into a photograph something you never even knew was there.  It always fascinates me to hear what people think when they look at various images.  It’s amazing what some can take from a photograph that you never saw, and in this is where I believe the gratification of this kind of work is, and I suppose that could go for all types of photography, but to me it’s a bit different, as photojournalism almost always gives you an emotional reaction to an image that begins to formulate an opinion in your mind of the given event, topic, or situation.

In short I consider myself lucky and proud to be a New Yorker, and here for these protests.  Sometimes when I think that we have all been sucked into the drama of reality TV, sports, and other various forms of entertainment, it was nice to put my finger on the pulse of an idea and document it the way I saw it.  It gave me comfort to know we are still alive in a funny sort of way.  I think many street photographers probably have this same feeling…I know I do when I’m out wandering the streets looking for moments to connect with.  The connection to people and seeing them in an environment that often is without the walls that we all put up is quite simply…awesome.

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WARNING:  This post contains images that some may find disturbing.

Documenting humanity is extreme street photography, not only do you have to capture representative images, you are often in the midst of heart-wrenching situations.

Robert Larson realized he loved photography when he was 19 years old (he is now 26).  When he graduated from high school, his dad impressed upon him to read Guy Kawasaki’s Hindsights speech.  One of Guy’s suggestions was to live off your parents as long as possible, stretch out your education, gain experience, and find things that you enjoy doing.  So while at community college, Robert did exactly that. On his path of discovery, he found a course that looked very interesting to him – it was Basic Photography.

Another one of Guy’s suggestions was to travel; being a good listener, Robert took that advice above and beyond. He never finished his degree because he  funneled his resources into traveling.  Between 2005 and 2008, Robert traveled to 17 different countries throughout West Africa, Europe, and Asia.  It was during that time period that he realized that he wanted to try and make a living as a photographer.

Robert’s early photographic experience in documenting humanity began when he started taking pictures of his Grandma and Grandpa, natural subjects not just because of the family bond, but he also lived with them.

Unknown to Robert, at the time, his grandparents would become his first long term project, as he photographed them over the course of a few years.  He captured quiet moments of his grandparents reading in the morning, and sometimes heart wrenching moments when Grandma would fall and Grandpa and Robert would take her to the hospital in the middle of the night.  Photographing his grandmother after one of her falls was one of his most touching situations.

In his words “her face was beat to hell.” She suffered swelling, bruises, multiple stitched up cuts, a neck brace and yet she smiled at him and warmed his heart like she always did.  He photographed them both for many years, up until just recently; his Grandfather died two years ago, and his Grandmother just a little over a month ago.

While Robert acknowledges that taking a photograph does not instantly change a situation, having a documentary record makes the viewer abundantly clear of the reality on the ground; the photographs then serve as a catalyst for action.  He is pleased to report though that he has made some enduring friendships during his visits to Haiti, of his friends he has met he says “we have enriched each other’s lives.”

One of Robert’s worst memories of documenting humanity through his photography is the morgue at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  It raised so many initial questions in his mind about the country, the people and humanity in general.  He could not fathom why the workers were treating the dearly departed with such little respect.  During one of his trips to Haiti, his friend, Renaldo, was murdered and placed in that very morgue. Robert and his Haitian friends learned a lot about how that place operates once Renaldo’s body was sent there.  It was apparent to him that some of the workers at the morgue use the dead to extort money from the living.  The recently deceased are often left out in the hallway for weeks at a time.

The families and friends are traumatized by the treatment and pay money just to have their loved ones moved into the freezers.  One would expect that this would bring some respite. However, bodies are only tossed on the floor of the freezer and additional money is required if the relatives want their loved ones to be placed on the racks.  Shockingly, it suddenly made sense to him why he saw the same bodies in the morgue year after year.

In the end, it cost nearly USD $300 to have Renaldo’s corpse treated with dignity, but by that time they had left him out in the hallway for nearly two weeks and his body had sadly decomposed.  Robert laments, “the whole process was maddening.”

Still, in Haiti, despite being surrounded by tragedy, life goes on.

His best memory while documenting humanity was leaning out a hostel window in Prague, Czech Republic on a rainy night completely blitzed on Absinthe and trying to take pictures of people walking down the street with their umbrellas.  It took a long time before he finally got a clear picture, but it has always been one of his favorite pictures, and memories.

Robert offers some advice to those who want to get involved with documenting humanity. He says:

I think people should turn the camera inward first. Document the happy times and the sad times in your own life… photograph the people you love through thick and thin.  If you can’t photograph people you know and love, and who love you in return, then I don’t think you have any business photographing strangers.

He further goes on to say:

Don’t expect to make any money… do it because you love it.  Be ready to bite the bullet and shoot weddings… and take whatever other uninspiring photography jobs might come your way.

Robert’s mentor once told him that, “finding financial success with your personal work is a decade-long game of inches.”

Waiting for Haiti

One of Robert’s current projects is The Waiting for Haiti project.  Robert will visit Haiti again next year and encourages you to support the project by sharing it with your friends and colleagues, and also talking about it.  His hope is that it will be a seed for someone, he has no idea who that person is, it could be someone you know, but there is no doubt that Haiti is in desperate need of help.  He also suggest that J/P HRO is an effective  Non-Govermental Organization (NGO) in Haiti.

If you want to make an donation to Robert’s project, you can do so at www.WaitingForHaiti.com, he has  big plans for the project in 2012 and needs all the help he  can get!  Robert has also entered his Waiting For Haiti project to the Exposure 2011 contest.  You can support him by voting here, if he wins the People’s Choice award it will contribute USD $2,500 towards funding his project.

Robert’s work may be seen at the Waiting for Haiti site in addition to his own personal website RobertLarsonPhotography.com

Good luck in your 2012 Haiti project Robert from all the writers at FYP and also our readers, God speed!

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Motorsports photography, like other sports photography, is all about being ready to capture that moment when it happens. To successfully engage in motorsports photography you must have excellent command of your camera and its features especially high speed and continuous shooting. With motorsports photography you’ll want to capture images that tell the story of the event, at times you will want to crop closely at other times you will want to show the vehicle in the distance. However at all times you want crisp images, this requires you to be able to hold your camera in your hands steadily (tripods will often cause you to miss a shot), successfully use high shutter speeds…. sometimes bolstered by high ISO (watch the grain) and panning your camera in sync with the race car.

To successfully shoot any event, you must have some idea of how the event is run – in the case of motorsports, you should do your research ahead of time, as there will be no time to do any when you’re following a rally. In my case, I shot the 2011 SOL Barbados Rally. Most international rallies have a specific format and you will find that the majority of them use the following one: They have three cars that drive the stage before the track is live – these are the triple zero car, which is notice that the stage will be live in approximately 15 minutes, the double zero car, which means that the stage will be live in less than 5 minutes and the zero car which means the stage is HOT! While the first 2 vehicles may take the course at what is seemingly a leisurely pace the zero car is actually a vehicle up to race specifications and will traverse the course at RACE SPEEDS. The stage remains live and dangerous until a final car called a “sweeper” comes through the stage declaring it shut down. CAUTION: at no time should you be in any dangerous place or cross the course while it is live or else you risk serious bodily harm, as cars are vying for time and progress through the course at dizzying speeds.

To successfully shoot a rally, you should visit the course a day or two prior to the event and identify some vantage points. Pick one suitable for the shots you have in mind and if the stage is used more than once, you should scope out a suitable number of vantage points to add variety. You should also map out how you will approach and depart the stage, using back roads so you are not trapped while the stage is live. This is especially important for multistage events. In terms of lenses, you should have at least one telephoto, preferably a lens that can zoom to at least 300mm, and a lens that can shoot a minimum of 28mm. Don’t over pack your lenses that will bog you down, as you need to be ultra mobile, so this range of lenses will allow you to adequately cover the event. If you have at least two camera bodies, identify one for closer shots and one for longer range shots. You will also want to have a camera capable of shooting many frames in quick succession and writing them to the card quickly, especially if shooting in RAW mode. If not, change your camera to shoot high quality JPG because these images are typically a quarter to a fifth of the size of the RAW file and will be written to your card much faster.

I can’t stress this enough, but your safety is tantamount. You may not have a chance to enjoy your experience and the images you took if you are struck by a car. Motorsports photography is dangerous! For this reason, regardless of the apparent safety of your location, you should have an exit strategy from your location and the cover of a LARGE tree or the like (utility poles don’t cut it – they often snap when struck by a vehicle and then you will be surrounded by high voltage wires). Safety is also the reason why you should NOT risk you life in locations just to get a shot when a wired or wireless remote will do. Sure, it will hurt if your camera gets hit, but not as much as if you were the one that got hit. Make sure you are out of the intended and unintended path of the cars at all times. If you are shooting a night stage, at no time should you use flash! Can you imagine the havoc it plays on a drivers’ eyes to suddenly have a strobe fire in their field of vision? This is NOT the time for use of flash!

When shooting outdoor events such as these, you also want to be comfortable, so make sure to take refreshments, sun block, and protection from the elements.

As mentioned earlier you will want to be au fait with high shutter speeds, panning, and even slower shutter speeds to create the element of movement. However, you should be able to read the numbers and other items written on vehicles at all times, since magazines and other publications are not going to be interested in your images otherwise.

While we have talked particularly about rally photography in this article, the principles here cover any fast moving sport – whether motorized or not. Sports photography is a different kettle of fish and requires a slightly different approach. I encourage you to get out there with your cameras and shoot some sports photography, whether it is your son’s/daughter’s soccer/basketball game, a bike race, or any element that requires use of the above-mentioned techniques. Start with the slower sports first and then move on up. Aim at all times to capture the appropriate moment, I.E. a soccer game with no soccer ball in the capture is missing an important element that helps tell your story.

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EDITORS NOTE: Regularly scheduled for this past Monday, The Fife’s article was moved to today due to the circumstances. I feel thier story is an important one not only for parents of children, but for photographers wanting to capture the moment.

10 years ago i pushed the shutter down on a Canon AE-1 film camera for the first time. Over the years, I have loved spending time with people–both friends and clients, recording their life with my camera. I love my children, and i love taking pictures of them as well. Who knew all these years later my life would change in an instant.

Thursday, September 16th, my son went into urgent care and diagnosed with an ear infection. He hadn’t been doing well, but his condition didn’t improve as it usually does with ear infections. Three days later he went into the ER and was admitted, and two days later he was transferred up to Children’s Hospital. I have never had to deal with something so unknown, relatively prolonged, and so immediate as the endangered health and well-being of my child.

From a laughing-walking-charming baby to a comatose-limp-doll baby lying on the hospital bed hooked up to tubes and cords, the reality was just too unreal for me to believe. I had no idea what i would face as they continued to not find any answers. So I did the only thing i could do: record it with my camera, and pray. I didn’t know how these puzzle pieces would fit together, and what the ending puzzle would even look like, but i had to create them. It was therapy for me, and i found solace in it. Day after day with test after test, and still we had no answers.

Suddenly all those stories of children with diseases and sicknesses were no longer just stories. One friend sent a link to a blog with the top photo of a child who had contracted bacterial meningitis, and now one of the side effects for this blonde toddler made his eyes face different directions. I didn’t want to have to handle facing that possible reality. We didn’t know if our son had that kind of meningitis, or if he would fully recover. Those were real people, as real as my son. Why did it take first hand experience to get me to care about their difficulties? Have you ever thought, “that could never happen to me” when you heard those stories?

Well… it can.

Over the past week have found that people have responded to the images I have created– some close friends and family couldn’t even bear to watch the webcams and look at pictures. Those were scary days and hours for us.

Fortunately, it looks like we’re going to have a happy ending to our story. They still aren’t sure if it was a mild viral infection, or early stages of bacterial meningitis. Either way he is slowly improving, and building his lost muscle mass back. He may not have long-lasting effects; and for that, I am grateful with all my heart. I was prepared for much worse.

But as i said, my life was changed in an instant. Here is what I’ve learned:

1. Family First:

Family is much more important than we often let it be. I will choose to snuggle more, even when there are piles of laundry waiting, and client orders to fill. I will make hot chocolate and let my toddler pour the powder in, even if it spills on my clean counter. I will breathe deeply into by baby’s neck and try not to count the seconds as they slip away.

2. Spend time on what matters most:

Don’t let a death be the only thing that can pull you away from projects, over-packed schedules, continual late work nights, and constant busyness. If there’s something you really want to do, make it happen. You’ll live with less regrets that way. Find a moment when you can breathe, just breathe. Clarity about life comes easier with distractions farther from you.

3. Record Life:

I needed to record the whole process as part of my life, as difficult as it was. This is my life, and perhaps these would have been our final moments. These images would have been even more priceless to me: those last memories of feeling my baby breathing. Whatever they were, I wanted them remembered forever. Don’t put it off. Go sit in front of your webcam or hold up your phone if you don’t have anything else. Record yourself with your family or friends today– any moment could be your last and they can cherish that record. Words, pictures, video. Just do it.

4. We are not in control:

As much as we would like to determine our life as if it were a M.A.S.H. game, we don’t know what’s going to happen. I personally believe in God, and I believe He has answered so many prayers said by friends and family in our behalf. He has given us comfort and strength through this difficult experience, and my faith is even greater than before. I have spiritually and emotionally grown through the last 2 weeks, and I look forward to what he would teach me in the future. For those who do not believe in God, you still have to admit you cannot control all things. There seems to be some kind of power/calm/peace that comes when we learn to just let go. Whatever power there is, we can let go and trust that life will lead us where we need to go.

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On an average day in 1934 a young man walks through a neighborhood in the outskirts of Mexico City, with a small discreet camera slung around his neck. The street is Calle Cuauhtemoctzin. The man stops at seeing two women, prostitutes, sticking their head out in curiosity, or boredom, from a frame-­‐like opening of a closed door. They smile, maybe even talk to the young man indifferent to the camera he is holding. He casually raises the viewfinder to his eye, frames and snaps a picture and then moves on.

If you haven’t yet guessed, the man in this fictional account is Henry Cartier Bresson and the picture is Prostitute on Calle Cuauhtemoctzin, Mexico City 1934. Today we can scarcely imagine such indifference at our own attempts to taking a picture. As a travel photographer I travel the world, often to remote places and sometimes not so remote places to document my vision or a story. Over the years, however, I have found it more challenging to get a candid shot. It’s as if someone has ratted me out, they literally see me coming a mile away. Whether on a remote hill surrounded by countryside or a street corner in a small town people seem to be increasingly aware of the camera and what it means to be photographed.

Over the last 30 years, with the advent of cheap travel, it has become more and more difficult to find a remote place. And with the digital age in full effect, you find every traveler, backpacker and tour-­‐bus jockey wielding a digital camera (not to mention a phone with camera capabilities). The amount of semi-­‐ professional and professional photographers has grown exponentially and the web and its community sharing sites are flooded with pictures of “exotic” locations and Photoshopped portraits. The photograph, once a special window into a distant world has lost some of its ability to captivate in its simplest form. Images of places, people and disasters, aren’t novel in their own right anymore and we struggle to keep them unique and illuminating. We’ve become overexposed and psychic numbing has been one side effect.

What does this mean for photography? People that would have once shown indifference to the camera by your side are all too aware and self-­‐conscious of the power of the picture. Some ask for money, some sheepishly turn away, some even strike a pose and others scream in rage at the intrusion of their privacy. It has become more and more difficult to get that candid shot or eyes filled with the emotion of the moment. As photographers we turn to larger and more powerful zooms and hidden cameras, we’re forced to become more aggressive and creative in finding and capturing shots and this inevitably has an effect on our environment and our style. Zoom lenses take us further and further away from our subjects, breaking the emotional tie. Becoming more intrusive in forming our shot creates an affront to the surroundings. We intrude on people’s personal space, changing their behavior. We lie in wait at corners for surprise attacks, angering them. We make friends to gain access to a place or situation all the while secretly fingering the shutter button. It has forced us to use predatory techniques; people become victims of our cameras instead of us being unobtrusive witnesses and documenters.

Almost everyone has heard of green travel and most people are pretty conscious about not polluting the sights they travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to see. But what about polluting the moment for others and yourself by breaking the fluidity of an experience? Isn’t the interruption of someone’s life a form of pollution? It destroys the snippet of another world we travelled to see by affecting the way people around us act. Seth Mydans in his piece for Lens Blog, “Too many lenses, to Few Eyes” perfectly captures this sentiment when he quotes a local artist saying, “Now we see the safari. They come in buses.They look at the monks the same as monkeys, a buffalo. It is theater. Now the monks have no space to meditate, no space for quite.” Nithakhong Somsanith is talking about the early morning procession of monks in Luang Prabang, Laos that has become a spectacle of flashes and tour buses rather than a magical moment to be witnessed in the tranquility of the early morning. In an age where people stop just long enough to take a snap and to be photographed provides necessary documentation of having been to a place or seen an event, travel and picture taking have become inexorably tied. We witness the world through our cameras like a third eye. Taking a picture of the procession of hundreds of monks is enough to justify the trip, the smaller details of the moment and the emotion are left to wilt away unnoticed.

What use is taking pictures if the very act changes the environment we are discovering? How do we as photographers continue what we do without afflicting the situation and our environment with our presence? In essence, how do we lessen our photographic footprint? Travel and photography impact people and we should be conscious of this and careful not to cross the very thin moral line that hovers about us like a haze.

The fly on the wall approach comes to mind: interacting with the environment in a less damaging way, knowing the culture and customs, etc. I try to move through neighborhoods without creating ripples, moving slowly and trying to become a part of my surroundings, assimilating. Sometimes I’ll sit on street corners for half an hour before touching my camera, saying hello to people that pass or interacting with curious kids. When I do start pulling the trigger on my camera I make sure that people can always read a soft smile on my face, making eye contact as often as possible. I’ll push for my shot but always try to remember where the line is, sometimes foregoing the picture when the camera creates a tension in my surroundings. When possible I’ll ask if I can take a picture, but more often I do not and instead try to show a polite smile or a nod of the head after the shot to ease the initial negative feelings that arise from being intruded upon. These are methods that I try to employ, and they don’t always work, especially when I find myself standing past that thin little line I wasn’t meant to cross. They were forged over the years from my style of shooting and undoubtedly aren’t for everyone. Some work just requires a more aggressive style and some photographers seek that tension in their pictures. There may not be any solution to the growing awareness and repulsion of being photographed and maybe just recognizing it may be solution enough. We photographers, professional or amateur, need to become more aware of our methods. We need to lessen the impact our presence and our camera has on the people and the story we are trying to document. And we as travelers need to remember to be witnesses to that beautiful sunset and take in the moment instead of taking a picture of it.

Editors Note:

All Photos are Copyright Marlon Krieger

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About two years ago, a good friend of mine needed a change a pace and a change of perspective.  At the time I worked for an airline and I had won two free passes to anywhere they flew.  We looked at the flights and decided on a four day trip to Lima, Peru.  I know passable Spanish (Cerveza, por favor) and figured it would be different enough from my French Canadian joie de vivre. My friend is an avid photographer and we basically carried more camera gear than changes of clothes. We had a great time going to different parts of town, sleeping on a new found friend’s couch (thanks Couch Surfer!), and enjoy

the “occasional” pisco sour.  However, on one of our jaunts our cab driver got hopelessly lost and whether it was my poor communication skills or his lack of direction, we were zipping through the part of town we were told to avoid.  We were excited as we had decided to avoid this part of town because we would not likely come out with all our gear; so of course, out come our cameras as we discreetly as possible tried to shoot our environment.  Our taxi driver just about had a heart attack.  He told us to put the cameras away as he wagged his fingers feverishly.  And although I can’t be completely sure, I am sure he was indicating we were being followed.  For the first time during this perfect trip, I was concerned for my well being.  (Kindly note, Lima is one of my favourite cities in the world because of that trip and would move there in a heartbeat given the opportunity. Te amo, Lima!)

The camera gear between the two of us was probably worth at least 10 times the value of the car we were in.  The average monthly salary in Peru is $200 USD.  For the few people out there looking to improve their situation in a dishonest fashion, we would have been an easy mark.  I got to thinking about the privileged life I was born into.  While I am not sipping champagne on craving caviar, I might as well be compared to a large population of the world.   For example, I could work one wedding and clear the average yearly salary in Peru and still be giving a great deal.  We have an expensive hobby/passion/job and are fortunate to be able to partake in it.  And though it is a fictional web slinger’s who says, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” it is most certainly a truth that we consider in a non-fictional way.

So what can you do?  Glad you let me ask that for you.

Being aware

While we are just one in 7 billion humans to inhabit this planet, there are certainly things we can do.  I understand that it is a lot easier to care about what piece of equipment to buy or which cable package suits your needs best, than to think about oil spills, earthquakes, and floods.  If things don’t happen here and now, it’s hard to give it priority; there is a bigger world out there and it is even more beautiful than our small piece of it.  Photography is a huge vessel to bring awareness of the good and bad out there.  To see the pain of a family who have lost loved ones due to an earthquake helps us get one step closer to action.  To see the victory of a young child rescued from tons of rubble brought a worldwide smile and tears of joy.  Organizations such as Focus for Humanity’s mission entail “providing financial support, resources, and training for professional and amateur photographers who capture these stories of our shared humanity and to help fund their work with NGO’s.”  On a smaller scale Child Labor Photo Project focuses on “photographing individual children in their worlds – their families, communities, countries – hoping to see behind the child labor label.”  There are issues and problems that need to be addressed in your neighbourhoods and towns and using your gifts, talents, and equipment you can bring attention and draw others to a cause they may not know existed.  That’s the first step.

Take action

We know there are issues out there, globally and locally.  If you don’t you may as well continue on to another site for some celebrity gossip.  However, some aren’t necessarily issues, but ways that you can take action yourself.  There are probably friends and/or family in your circle that could never afford for a professional photo session for a pregnant mom, a newborn baby, or family portraits.  I know I couldn’t.  No matter what your level or equipment is have you thought of offering to spend an afternoon, an hour even, and giving them a red carpet treatment?  If you want an idea of professional already doing this, check out Help-Portrait; they are a “movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate.”  Make sure you check out their videos.

It only gets bigger from there.  There are community groups, beginning artists, actors, and musicians trying to get a leg up and a head start; some great photos for a portfolio or website would be really handy!  There are probably festivals, churches, community events that would welcome a willing photographer with open arms.  Do you know how animated kids can get when in front of a camera?  Think of the schools with sports, arts, and other extra-curricular activities that could benefit from photographic encouragement.

You’re in need

Do you know that there are programs all over the world the puts cameras into the hands of kids, of the disabled, the less fortunate to boost their creativity, to further their development, and to give hope?  Do you know that there is an emerging field within art therapy that encourages participants to take pictures as a way of expressing themselves and confronting their issues?  There is another side of it where clients look at pictures as part of their healing process? Now imagine, we get to do this all the time.  We can pick up our camera and express ourselves.  We can delve into a feeling, emotion, or subject like no other medium out there.  I can promise you, you will grow.  You will grow as a person and as a photographer.  Check out “Born into Brothels.” Get your creative juices going.

©Photo-Fenix.com

The tone of this post may seem aggressive at spots, but that’s only because I am wrestling with this personally.  I have to go out and do this.  I can make people aware of important issues; I can help.  I have friends and family I can serve by doing a free shoot.  If you have other ideas, I and others would love to hear them.   If you have given of your photography share your stories with us.  Let’s help each other out.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Ed.Notes

Photo Credits from top to bottom

Photo 2: Photo-Fenix

Photo 5: Danny C. Jackson

Photo 6: Nyúl Dániel’s

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I have been making portraits of family, friends and acquaintances for the past 35 years.  Early in my career, I discovered that the meaning of a single exposure, when it is part of a collection of moments, becomes only one element of an evolving story.  Since the addition of a new portrait changes the meaning of the entire sequence, each image is no longer static.  In every succeeding photograph, the subject and I are older, our circumstances have changed, and our relationship has deepened or dissolved.  All of these forces are reflected in my photographs.

My photographing style developed from working with my daughter, Alison.  The “Alison Series” began as a father/daughter activity.  I thought of the project as a gift for my daughter, and it wasn’t until I had photographed her for fifteen years that I considered exhibiting the body of work.

Alison was my first collaborator, and she felt free to participate in any photographic decision. Our sessions were short, casual, and frequent.  I would occasionally leave the lights set up in our home to take advantage of special occasions.

Crucial to the project was my desire to make photographs of Alison that depicted her life without my intervention.  If she had a friend who annoyed me, or had a romance with someone I disliked, I still documented the moment.  When I caught her smoking, I was very upset (this was particularly difficult, because her mother and I were former smokers who had struggled mightily to quit). Rightly or wrongly, I made the decision to include the ever-present cigarette and cup of coffee in the series.  (These situations highlighted the difficult issue for me of parental disapproval and intervention vs. my desire to objectively and artistically document the everyday “in-between” moments of her life over time.  Happily, Alison today is a non-smoker, as well as a musician and artist, who lives in Virginia with her husband and enjoys excellent relationships with her parents.)

What began as a simple father/daughter fun activity of “making images”, eventually blossomed into a years-long wholly collaborative effort resulting in seven three-inch binders packed with negatives of Alison.  They are a catalog of my memories. When I think of Alison as a young child, I immediately think of my photograph of her sleeping on Cape Cod (“Alison Sleeping, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1978″).  As she grew older and declared her independence, I think of “Driving Lessons, Columbia, Maryland, 1990”, or the image of her writing poetry with a friend in a local café (“Alison and Bean, Daily Grind Café,  Baltimore, Maryland, 1992“).  When I think of our trip to Ireland, my memories are triggered by the photograph in our Dublin bed and breakfast (“Alison in Dublin, Ireland, 1994”).

It was through my work with Alison in the early years, that I gradually came to a career decision that was pivotal:  I decided that what was most important to me was to photograph my subjects over an extended period of time.  I began using a 50mm wide-angle lens for my Hasselblad camera, which afforded me the opportunity to get as close as 12 inches to my subject, thereby creating an atmosphere of intimacy in the image.

The Alison project was the springboard which led to the development of many other long-term series.  My process for the ongoing documentation of lives is to make appointments with my subjects usually two or three times a year.  Despite the fact that we might not have seen each other for months, or sometimes as much as a year, the sessions are relaxed.  It is something like spending time with an old friend, but the focus of the meeting is always on the subject.  I now use a medium format Mamiya 645 and studio strobes with stands and umbrellas for the sessions, and there is almost a ritual in loading the camera with film and setting up the equipment to create a studio on location.  If there is any initial tension or discomfort on the part of the subject, it usually dissipates during this process.

I usually ask if the subject has a preference for a location for the shoot.  Lighting for a location is critical to the success of the images.  My objective is to create an “available light” look, so that the lighting source is not obvious.  I achieve this by using multiple light sources, e.g., by mixing ambient light with that from strobes bouncing off environmental surfaces.  The location is thus transformed into a studio, and becomes its own universe.  It seems counterintuitive, but the lighting creates an illusion of safety and comfort, where the subject feels free to be spontaneous. At the end of an approximately two hour session, when the modeling lights are turned off, the mood abruptly reverts to reality.

About the author:

I was born in New Jersey in 1940.  I received an undergraduate and master’s degree in sociology.  I taught myself the basic photographic process in the Marines and completed advanced studies at the University of Maryland. In 1975 started to concentrate on the portrait.  I currently live in Baltimore City.

To see more of Jack’s work, please visit www.behance.net/JackRadcliffe

]]> http://www.fuelyourphotography.com/alison-series-jack-radcliffe/feed/ 2 http://www.fuelyourphotography.com/the-power-of-color/ http://www.fuelyourphotography.com/the-power-of-color/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:13:17 +0000 Stacy Christian http://www.fuelyourphotography.com/?p=407

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This post features Chuck n Twist’s digital and 4×5 series of California and Route 66.

Our approach to photography has changed a lot in the past couple of years. Our main goal now is to become full-fledged cinematographers. One thing that you learn by making films is that the story is the key. Your whole universe resides within the text. You could be shooting a film with a HI8 camera and still make something amazing if you have a good story. A good photographic process will also come from your relations to your subject and your life experiences. You need to learn to trust your instincts; this is where the creativity comes from.

The process of creating a photographic atmosphere should be determined by an idea and a story. What am I trying to say here? Digital technology and the general instantaneity of still photography tend to take away from that. Don’t get me wrong this can lead to amazing results. But, the process of thinking something through and visualization can be an awesome experience. We actually recently bought a 4×5 camera for this exact purpose. We were tired of shooting away.

Now that we have an idea, what do we do next? We steal! Not literally! A good project will always start with some good research and references, especially when you are working with a partner (like us). This way you can communicate your idea clearly. Of course, genius ideas can always come to you (especially at 2am when you don’t want to get out of bed to take a note). But, good research into what you are doing might open some new doors or even make you realize that you should be rethinking your project. Most of the time what you’ll find as reference material will only solidify your idea and vision. The relationship you have to your subject will be heavily dependent on how much you know. It’s like reading a script 15 times and knowing each character like they were your friends. At that point you dive into your project with great confidence and dexterity. Of course, what you need is a cue – copying is never a good thing. Any good artist out there knows that once you’re on the shoot there is no way you could copy someone. You are way too concentrated on the creative work at hand.

Usually, from that point on you have pretty good idea of what you want your project to look like. This is where it gets critical. You have to stick with your look while leaving some place for new ideas and improvements. Your guts are 90% of your work and upon arriving on your shoot you’ll start to see new things. At that point it’s important to keep focused on what you’re doing (not forgetting your main idea) while letting the shoots’ energy and chemistry seep in. This is usually where the magic happens. A good dose of wild and unbridled creativity is always good.

It gets even more critical in post-production. This is the part where you really need to get your ideas straight. Post can become intensive when you find yourself spending too much time tweaking the reds and tuning down the greens in the shadows. “Oh hell! Why not dodge the whole sky!” Post should exist only to accentuate your work. Unfortunately, like we all know, we use this process more often to fix errors. Which brings us back to our planning and creative research process. Start well, end well, and don’t go too far in post! You just end up hurting your images and your wallet. It’s ok to say “I’m done!”.

The cinematic process we now use to prepare most of our shoots has helped us visualize our ideas, which is the key to creating any good photographic atmosphere. The whole idea of making a film is having the right universe around the story. Plan it, see it, bring all your visual tools to the shoot and give it a killer look in post. It might not be true for everyone but it’s definitely helped us.

About the Artists:
Chuck & Twist is a collective of long time friends that are passionate about cinematography and photography. We are also multidisciplinary artists that will strive to envision your story, message or idea with color and panache.

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My photographs analyze the relationship between humanity and environment in a muted and simple manner.  In the broadest sense, all humans identify with an environment, whether on a macro level of habitation and commerce or locally through interactions within ones culture.  My purpose in examining this relationship with a camera is to document the effects that humanity brands upon its environment, whether visible or obscured.  The resulting images illustrate a simultaneous portrait of domain, human existence and control – byproducts of a relationship that all individuals have with the space around them.

In the series Signs of American Life I examine a unique characteristic of the remote American landscape.  Often, when traveling throughout the United States, outside of major urban centers, I have felt a loneliness due to the landscape’s foreignness and the distance from other humans and familiarities.  Many times when I felt this isolation, I quickly realized than in fact other humans were close by or had been very recently, leaving signs of their presence.  A picnic bench, portable toilets, a forgotten tourist destination and even humans themselves became evidence that the seclusion I had initially felt while traveling had transformed.  Instead, these scenes produced a bizarre sense of comfort knowing that I was not truly isolated, but the disconnect I felt with the unfamiliar environment continued to remain.  The photographs taken in this series express that what is familiar and unfamiliar can coexist in a single image and are frequently closer than I imagine.

All photographs in Signs of American Life were taken with available light at each location.  A Hasselblad 500c/m using 50mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses and color negative film was used to create the images.  I felt the muted color palette of negative film matched well with the lonely subject matter of the isolated landscape.  The 6×6cm film was processed normally then scanned to create digital files.  Minimal post-production effects were applied to each image, with the intention of translating only traditional darkroom techniques such as exposure, color correction and dodging/burning to computer software.

About the Author

Stephen Tamiesie lives and works in Santa Barbara, CA.  He has been included in various exhibitions including “Brooks Institute’s 60^th Anniversary Retrospective” at The Javits Center, New York City and “Discover America” at Dorothy Polley Gallery, Paris, France.  His work has been published by Esquire, McCann-Erickson Worldwide and is included in the private collection of Marriott International, Inc.

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Image by Mark Mawson

Image by Mikkel Bache

Image by Ibai Acevedo

Image by Victor Eredel

Image by Shoot Me Photographers and Production

Image by James Craig

Image by Rengim Mutevellioglu

Image by Michel Rajkovic

Image by Rengim Mutevellioglu

Image by Carsten Jamrow

Image by Ibai Acevedo

Image by Magdalena Kmiecik

Image by Ibai Acevedo

Image by Anotnio Saba

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Marlon Krieger / 6.16.2009

I never planned to find myself wearing a bulletproof vest, standing behind an armored vehicle in the middle of Port au Prince ducking for cover. But one morning I received an IM from a friend working for the United Nations in Haiti during the 2004 crisis, and she offered me a week under U.N. auspices. I had to make a decision on the spot because within the week they would close down access for journalists. I paused to take in the offer as I stared at the blinking curser in the dialog box…This trip would not have been possible without the help of Myrna Dormit and photographer Sophia Paris.

I arrived in October of 2004, the year Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted from office, and shortly after Hurricane Jeanne reaped its destruction. Aristide’s administration was wrought with charges of human rights violations, corruption and severe poverty. Haitian society had been crippled for months by heavy violence from a former gang called the “Cannibal Army” now operating under the name of “The National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haiti”. While there I spent time traveling with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), going on patrol in Port Au Prince with the Brazilian Marines to the pro-Aristide slums of Cite Soléil and Bel Air and flying in a Mi-8 into Gonaïves, and Cap- Haitian. During this time I also visited an orphanage on the outskirts of the city and spent a day walking through Port-au-Prince on my own.

I had never traveled to a war zone, but I chose to pack light and simple. I packed 15 rolls of Ilford HP 400, 10 Fujichrome Velvia, 2 Nikon N8008 bodies, 22mm lens, 33-105mm and 2 red filters. I prefer shooting 35mm.

Our movement was restricted and any travel outside of U.N. areas had to be authorized and provided with proper security. When on patrols with the marines we generally had to stay in the vicinity of the troops or within the perimeter of the secured area. This hampered my normal process of shooting because I wasn’t used to working under such conspicuous conditions. Not only was I wearing a bright blue helmet and Kevlar vest but I was surrounded by young men with big guns standing in front of even bigger armored vehicles. Normally I like to affect the least amount of change possible on my environment by assimilating into it, shooting intimate moments when people lower their guard. To accomplish this I hide in plain sight, so to speak. I try to move through the streets as any local would, occasionally engaging with my environment and never pressing for a picture, blending into my surroundings.

When traveling to foreign countries, especially in areas of poverty or economic duress it’s easy to stick out and be perceived as a possible victim or a threat, both of which aren’t conducive to taking intimate and observatory photography. Your body language becomes very important and feeling (or at least seeming) comfortable in your surroundings goes a long way in easing tensions, especially when you aren’t fluent in the local language. Sometimes I’ll spend ages in one location, sitting near one subject just to get the right shot, other times I walk away when the camera creates a tension between me and the subject that I do not like in my work.

Although I shoot primarily on manual, I keep my camera set to automatic and at f5.6 in between shots. Theoretically this allows me to be ready for those fleeting moments we always regret missing. Tensions were naturally high among locals when
we were around. I tried to portray the discomfort that our presence created but was amazed at how adverse people became at having their picture taken as opposed to when I travel by myself. I stopped being a bystander and a casual observer, and to my dismay became an intruder documenting with force. People became victims of my camera rather than me becoming a witness of their struggles. When observing humanity pushed to such extremes your emotions are all over the place, like a roller coaster plunging and climbing, rarely reaching hope. In its place, adrenaline keeps you going when energy fades. I found few cues for optimism until I joined the Canadian CivPol at an orphanage on the outskirts of Port au Prince. Here I finally saw what I was looking for: a little hope, a reason to not give up and forsake humanity. I saw in the children an innocence that had not had the opportunity to be polluted by fear, violence and poverty. Their ability to feel joy and hope, to play and dance reminded me that there was something left to save and it was hiding within the children. This was the highlight of an exciting and eye opening experience.

About the Author

Marlon Krieger has been documenting humanity around the globe for ten years covering everything from war zones and refugees to celebrities and nightlife. His  work has been exhibited in group and solo shows in New York, Hamburg and London. He is currently working on the production of his first book based on his series “Island in the Stream- a story of Cuba”. Marlon resides and works commercially in New York City.

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2007,
By Sigal Ben David

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, I visited the city. much to my surprise, big part of the city seemed intact as if nothing happened. Yet the media painted a different picture, which got me wondering where the truth really lies. On my return home, I looked into visual  and theoretical material, such as news media footage, documentary film, art works and articles, in order to try and understand New Orleans Post Katrina. which led me back to a second visit, deeper into the neighborhoods of New Orleans. My third visit was a year and a half after the hurricane, and I came fully prepared, cameras in hand.

Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of North America.
Katrina originated in the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and moved rapidly over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. On August 28, shortly after the hurricane reached category 5 storm, The Mayor of New Orleans ordered the first ever mandatory evacuation of the city.   On the morning of August 29 Katrina hit New Orleans.  Katrina’s flooded 80% of New Orleans, which caused severe and severe damage.

In the aftermath, thousands of people were left homeless. As of July 2006, thousands of people still remained without homes and many others whom were forced to flee the city during the hurricane, never returned.

On February 2007, I wandered through New Orleans. The streets were still scattered with debris, homes still deserted, left as they were the day they were abandoned. I found the dissonance of chaos and the exposure of intimate living quarters both aesthetic and disturbing. While walking on a thin line, between documentary and art, I worked with both my digital camera and 35 mm black and white film. I was met with many challenges, for example: rotten and shaky floors, blocked entrances, debris and darkness, along with the psychological aspect of walking into someone’s home. These challenges  made me more aware of my surroundings,  as subtle as a martini glass left in place or as striking as the natural light falling on a bed.

Light plays an essential part in my photography where I work mainly with natural light.  The seasonal weather in New Orleans gave me a chance to use soft light with deep tones. In some homes the darkness forced me to use a tripod enabling long exposures, which I preferred to artificial lighting.
It was an intense week, from morning till night, both physically and emotionally.

Back at my studio in Tel Aviv, I had a huge amount of material to look through, contemplate and sort out. I had to find images that work individually and together, creating an artistic vision and documenting the story of New Orleans post Katrina.

Sigal Ben david, I was born in Israel in 1973. recently graduated from Camera Obscura, school of art, in Tel Aviv.
Some of my works have been published in “At” Fashion magazine (February 2009) and in “Bait Ve Noy” Architecture and design magazine (November-December 2008)
I currently live and work in Tel Aviv, Israel.
My work can be seen at – www.behance.net/SigalBendavid