Archives For Photography

Peter Beard Interview

December 14, 2013 — Leave a comment

Peter Beard has spent his life fighting for the natural world.  He knows more about the effects of man on nature than just about any other human being alive. (except for maybe George Monbiot , Jane Poynter or Bernie Krause ) He also just happens to be one of the great image-makers of all time. (His notebooks are legendary).  Great interviews; one short and one long by Lars Bruun and Dereck Peck. Spend 30 min with a real genius and true warrior.

On Mankind: “…(Da Vinci) knew that only the creature that could appreciate all this beauty comes on the scene and sure enough, destroys what only what he can appreciate…”

On learning from the elephants: “…The entire ecology of the elephant is more similar to us than any other animal. What have they done to their habitat? They ate it, they trampled it, they died. You would think we would take a hint from their demise… “

 

 

 

 

 

 (And now for a little bit of self promotion…)

“All the Light Projection prints are 8×10″  handmade, unique and one of a kind silver analog prints. Light is projected through an optical lens onto silver black and white photo paper and then developed in the darkroom via my entropic processes I have developed over the years to bring out certain varied aspects of the print grain by the manipulation of the silver metals in the paper using a variety of darkroom re-development techniques, brushes, bleaches and toners (and in these images a dash of Solarisation).

The prints are camera-less and film-less images – but they are not Photogram’s (nothing was placed on the surface of the paper). So I call them Light Projections. I am still trying to figure out if these have ever been made in the history of photography – in quite this way – as the circles are purely optical in nature and are really thoseBokeh like” Circles of Confusion that a lens can produce.”

Light Projection Variation #2 46×66″  edition of 5 (from unique silver gelatin prints)

Light Projection Variation #1 40×95″ Edition of 5, (from unique silver gelatin prints)

Light Projection #4  36×46″ Edition of 5, (from unique silver gelatin prints)

via www.studio-4a.com  The Light Projections of Thomas Brummett

 

Nice interview with Hiroshi Sugimoto about how he works and more importantly thinks about photography and especially time and memory.

The Photographs of Sarah Schonfeld

I love this series by Sarah Schonfeld. She basically decided to see what kind of chemical effects drugs would have on film. The results are beautiful yet mirror the troubling aspect of introducing chemicals into anything human or otherwise.  See the similarities between speed and caffeine and ponder how drugs effect not only humans but the visual aspects of film as well.

 

All you can feel 

“Since the 1950s, we in the western world have increasingly come to understand our most intimate desires and
experiences, as the products of a so-called “chemical self”. We are able to explain moods, angers, and diseases
both physiological and psychological through an imbalance of substances in the body. All of this, of course,
takes place against the backdrop of a constantly shifting legal and political climate regarding the regulation of
different types of mood altering substances.

 

What all these substances actually look like when their essence is visually depicted?

Sarah Schönfeld squeezed drops of various legal and illegal liquid drug mixtures onto negative film which had
already been exposed. Each drop altered the coating of the film. Much like the effect
of some of these substances on humans, this can be a lengthy process – sometimes one that can barely be stopped.

 

She then enlarged these negatives including the chemical reaction of the particular drug, to sizes of up to 160 x 200
cm. All of the substances behaved very differently: the shapes and colors that appeared showed unique characteristics
and revealed unique internal universes. Schönfeld explores the possibilities of photography at the frontiers of what
can be visually portrayed– the interface between representation and reality.”

 

via http://www.sarahschoenfeld.de/en/works/all-you-can-feel-2/

The nudes of Nadav Kander exhibition titled Bodies 6 Women 1 Man at the Flowers Gallery in London is maybe the best exhibition of nudes I have seen since Irving Penn did his wonderful series of Odalisque women.

via http://www.flowersgallery.com/exhibitions/flowers/nadav-kander-bodies/works#2927