Magnum Photos

You probably know about Magnum Photos or if not you will have heard of some of the photographers who are associates of this world important photo agency.

As the Magnum website says: Two years after the apocalypse that was called the Second World War ended, Magnum Photos was founded. The world’s most prestigious photographic agency was formed by four photographers – Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David “Chim” Seymour – who had been very much scarred by the conflict and were motivated both by a sense of relief that the world had somehow survived and the curiosity to see what was still there. They created Magnum in 1947 to reflect their independent natures as both people and photographers – the idiosyncratic mix of reporter and artist that continues to define Magnum, emphasizing not only what is seen but also the way one sees it. If you would like to read more of the history go here

Henri Cartier-Bresson said of the starting of the agency: “Back in France, I was completely lost,” legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson explained in an interview with Hervé Guibert in Le Monde. “At the time of the liberation, the world having been disconnected, people had a new curiosity. I had a little bit of money from my family, which allowed me to avoid working in a bank. I had been engaged in looking for the photo for itself, a little like one does with a poem. With Magnum was born the necessity for telling a story. Capa said to me: ‘Don’t keep the label of a surrealist photographer. Be a photojournalist. If not you will fall into mannerism. Keep surrealism in your little heart, my dear. Don’t fidget. Get moving!’ This advice enlarged my field of vision.” We are so lucky he didn’t end up working in a bank.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

FRANCE. Paris. Place de l’Europe. Gare Saint Lazare. 1932.

The list of great photographers encompasses the very best in the world

Abbas,  Christopher Anderson,  Eve Arnold, Olivia Arthur, Micha Bar Am, Bruno Barbey, Jonas Bendiksen, Ian Berry, Werner Bischof, Rene Burri, Henri Cartier-Bresson Chien-Chi Chang, Antoine D’Agata, Bruce Davidson, Carl De Keyzer, Raymond Depardon, Thomas Dworzak, Nikos Economopoulos, Elliott Erwitt, Martine Franck,

Stuart Franklin, Leonard Freed, Paul Fusco, Cristina Garcia Rodero, Jean Gaumy, Bruce Gilden, Burt Glinn, Jim Goldberg, Philip Jones Griffiths, Harry Gruyaert,

Philippe Halsman, Erich Hartmann, David Alan Harvey, Tim Hetherington, Thomas Hoepker, David Hurn, Richard Kalvar, Josef Koudelka, Hiroji Kubota, Sergio Larrain,

Guy Le Querrec, Erich Lessing, Herbert List, Alex Majoli, Constantine Manos, Peter Marlow, Steve McCurry, Susan Meiselas, Wayne Miller, Dominic Nahr, Trent Parke,

Martin Parr, Paolo Pellegrin, Gilles Peress, Gueorgui Pinkhassov, Mark Power, Raghu Rai, Eli Reed, George Rodger, Moises Saman, Alessandra Sanguinetti ,Lise Sarfati,

Ferdinando Scianna, Jerome Sessini, David Seymour, Marilyn Silverstone, W. Eugene Smith, Jacob Aue Sobol, Alec Soth, Chris Steele-Perkins, Dennis Stock,

Zoe Strauss Mikhael Subotzky Nicolas Tikhomiroff Larry Towell Peter van Agtmael John Vink Alex Webb Donovan Wylie Patrick Zachmann Cornell Capa

Robert Capa, Inge Morath,

If you would like to read more about any of these photographers go here

Magnum are good at showing their work and the website is a joy, I would definitely bookmark this and go back there regularly to see what is new, I visit their site at least once a week, go here to see what is on offer today

Magnum also publish excellent books and I would recommend any of them, these are some of my favourites

This special and important photography book presents, for the first time, the very best contact sheets created by Magnum photographers. Contact sheets tell the truth behind a photograph. They unveil its process, and provide its back story. Was it the outcome of what a photographer had in mind from the outset? Did it emerge from a diligently worked sequence, or was the right shot down to pure serendipity a matter of being in the right place at the right time? This landmark publication provides the reader with a depth of understanding and a critical analysis of the story behind a photograph, the process of editing it, and the places and ways in which the selected photographs were used. For anyone with a deep appreciation of photography and a desire to understand what goes into creating iconic work, Magnum Contact Sheets will be regarded as the definitive volume. With 435 illustrations in total, 230 in colour, including over 3,600 frames on 139 contact sheets.

Here the photographers of Magnum, 50 years after the legendary group began its documentary mission, address the world following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; a period which has seen the triumph of US capitalism at one extreme and the resurgence of ancient blood feuds at the other. The book is built around photo-essays selected and introduced by the photographers, many shot especially for the book. From Henri Cartier-Bresson to Magnum’s newest recruits, each photographer navigates the issues of history in their own way – some tackling the dramatic changes in the world head-on in the traditional manner of the “concerned photographer”, others choosing subjects and aesthetic viewpoints which are entirely personal. The result is an album of contemporary photography about the world today. “Magnum” is introduced by historian, broadcaster and cultural commentator Michael Ignatieff, linking the substance and pace of change in the post-Cold-war world with the historic role of the Magnum witness and image-maker. This is a book about history and humanity, journalism and art, and revealing the photographers of Magnum entering a new era.

Founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos is an iconic international photographic cooperative whose members have captured the major historical events of their times, as well as private and intimate moments. A year’s worth of these images is offered in this beautiful book that features full page reproductions organized to reflect what Cartier-Bresson himself declared a ‘community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about what is going on in the world, a respect for what is going on and a desire to transcribe it visually.’ Nearly 70 photographers are represented with five to six images and the current Magnum members have selected the photographs that they consider to best represent their own output. Opposite each photograph is a page reserved for special dates, reflections, and notes. Published in an appealing and impressively-sized format, running more than 700 pages, this book includes images that make history both individual and universal.

10 Inspirational Photo Books

I am a great believer that looking at the work of important photographers is one of the best way to expand your horizons, to understand what it is to be a photographer and to improve.

This article By Phil Hill over on Lighstalking makes the same point. We all have our favourites but I have a number of the books Phil recommends. It is easy to be amazed by beautiful decorative images of landscapes and flowers but these don’t often make us think beyond, “that is beautiful” and photography as a creative art has to offer more than just beauty. No Ansel Adams here

I really wanted to inspire some photographers out there with some truly great work – photography that made me pick up my first camera.

To do this I have turned to one of traditional forums for displaying photographs; the photo book. Nothing quite beats sitting quietly with a hot drink and flicking the pages of a book packed full of incredible images. There are a huge amount of fantastic books out there, an inexhaustible list in fact. I have compiled 10 of my personal favourites, books that have aided my own photographic journey.

The Americans – Robert Frank

They should hand this out with every new camera sale! A lesson in editing, Frank shot 28,000 images for the book with only 83 ending up in the published book, and every one of those is a brilliant look at 1950’s American life warts and all.

Last Resort – Martin Parr

Challenging the traditional view of documentary photography, Parr takes you through a surreal and very funny tour of English resort town New Brighton. Street photography at its absolute best.

Guide – William Eggleston

William Eggleston’s Guide was one of the first publication’s to feature colour photography. The book may almost be dismissed as a collection of snap shots, however the more you look and look, the more it makes sense. Fantastic book.

See the rest of Phil’s recommendations here

Off the top of my head I would add these and when I have more time I will add more

Workers by Sabastio Salgado

Europeans by Henri Cartier Bresson

Beauty’s Nothing by Nadav Kander

In Our Time: The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers

Darkroom hire

In 1982 the Photographers Workshop was the first privately run darkroom hire centre in the UK. We continued to offer darkrooms and tuition until about 4 years ago when demand almost dried up. Since then of course I have received regular requests for darkrooms, now I only am aware of one. Here are some details

Photochats is a community photography project offering exhibitions, photographic workshops and high quality traditional darkroom printing facilities at a reasonable price.

Black and White and Colour Darkroom Hire.

All darkroom users have to attend an induction session before using any of the facilities. This will cover health and safety, darkroom and building procedures. The induction lasts for one hour and costs £10.00.

Inductions can be arranged at any time subject to availability. Call 07921 816754. This can be extended to include a second hour of directly supervised refresher printing if requested (£20.00 including induction).

Subsequently enlarger time can be booked by the session as shown in the timetable above. There is no annual membership fee. The basic charge is £4.00 per hour to use the darkroom. Alternatively you can buy 12 hours for £35.00. These hours should be used within 3 months of purchase. All darkroom bookings should be made at least 24 hours in advance by phone: 07921 816754 or emailphotochats10@yahoo.com

Darkroom Facilities.

The colour darkroom consists of 2 bench mounted De Vere 504 enlargers plus a floor standing De Vere 5108 (10×8). The processor is a table top Metoform 5040 which will take a maximum print width of 16 inches (20×16). The chemistry is Kodak. All negative sizes up to 10×8 can be catered for. The black and white darkroom has 4 bench mounted enlargers, including at least two De Vere’s, one with a cold cathode the other with a Multigrade 500 head. The paper is processed in open trays with the maximum size being 24x20inches. The paper developer is normally Ilford PQ Universal. There is a resin coated roller dryer and a couple of fibre dryers plus racks for air drying.

More info here

Better by Design: The role of design in the making of five modern photobooks

It seems to me that if you are even only sort of interested in photography you should be making photobooks of your work. The problem is design; it  is something that doesn’t come easily to everyone. I marvel at my friend Andrew Esson, who is a book designer, he instinctively knows how to a design a book that looks impeccable. Then again he has designed books for the UN, Houses of Parliament, the Royal Palaces …. Anyway this article found in the BJP looks at some recent photobooks and discusses the merits of design.

Jörg Colberg focuses on an overlooked aspect of the photobook, discussing the role of design in the making of five modern classics.

In the most basic terms, they are simply books made up of photographs, but of course there’s much more to the photobook than that. Typically they are carefully edited and sequenced, and the selection of the photographs, and their order, are crucial to whatever story is being told. But there’s another crucial element that’s too often ignored – the design.

Over the past few decades, photobook design has become an integral part of telling the story. Classics such as Walker Evans’ American Photographs used a very straightforward design: blank pages and picture pages alternating with very little text, if any. In contrast, contemporary photobooks have come to embrace the many different ways in which the design of a book – the graphic design as well as its actual physical properties – can help shape the message. The following books are some of the most striking examples I have come across. Interested? Read More Here

Broken Manual by Alec Soth.

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/report/2139689/design-role-design-modern-photobooks#ixzz25hQRrKDl
Subscribe to BJP and save money. Click here to save 29% today.

How to Get Your Photographs Accepted at Stock Libraries

From Lightstalking By Jason Row comes this very useful article to help you get your images accepted by picture libraries.

These days more and more people are considering selling their images via stock libraries. However some people find initially getting into a library be it macro stock like Alamy or micro stock such as iStockphoto a hugely frustrating ordeal. You prepare and send your very best images time after time and keep receiving the dreaded submission failed email. Today we have a look at how to prepare images for stock so that your submission is accepted.

Shoot What’s Needed!

Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes, would be stock photographers make, is sending their best images. This statement is not as daft as it sounds, the simple fact is, your best images may not be what the library is looking for. What you actually need to be sending is images the library needs. Working out what this is can be tricky, but you will often find that stock agencies publish a list of required images, failing that, fire off an email to the curator asking if there is a particular area where they require more images.

How to Prepare Your Photographs for Submission

Once you have established what the library is looking for and found suitable images to send, it is time to prepare them for uploading……………..MORE

Click Here: How to Get Your Photographs Accepted at Stock Libraries

Photography tutorials, links and interesting bits August 2012

We do try to get these out before the weekend but last weekend the sun came calling before Saturday so you can delve into these at work rather than on the beach or in your garden. Much better use of your time at work I think. here again from Toad Hollow Photography via Lightstalking

A wonderful week in the field of photography has passed once again, and Toad Hollow Photography has been searching high and low for the best links to tutorials, great photography and interesting links to share with everyone.  These inspirational and beautiful pieces are some of the best seen this week, and the Toad really hopes you enjoy viewing them as much as he did in bringing them to you.

It’s time to go, the time is right by broo_am, on Flickr

At 3:45 am on a quiet Sunday morning the alarm clock went off and the Toad sprung to action.  An extensive blue hour shoot was scheduled with an exotic supercar, and he couldn’t be late!  The resulting collection of photographs is featured in his blog post “Blue Jet: Corvette Grand Sport“.

Here is just a taste of what is on offer from Toad

TUTORIALS

Bird Photography Tips | How to Photograph Birds Like a Pro – a great set of tips and techniques is discussed for photographing wildlife in general, and specifically birds.  This is a thoughtful post that contains really useful information for the avid bird photographer.

How to Process 32bit HDR images in Lightroom 4.1 – A.D. Wheeler creates a brief video tutorial that shows the visitor how to work back and forth between Photomatix and Lightroom to achieve the best quality image possible from the workflow.

……..

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY

The King’s Gate at Kastellet – this is a jaw-droppingly good photograph of a remarkable location in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Jim Nix photographs this historic site and by exploiting a perfect composition, Jim captures a great image complete with natural leading lines in the architecture and surrounding details that are brought together with a great vanishing point.

Steady Hand – an absolutely epic scene is captured by Jerry Denham, full of mystery and shadowplay.  As a fisherman makes his way through a fog enshrouded setting along the Little Tennessee River, Jerry takes the opportunity to create a great visual story through his art.

Canyon’s Edge – a gorgeous landscape taken in the Grand Canyon is displayed here in this post by Jason Hines.  Great natural light paints the scene with a deep backdrop of the canyon that appears to go on forever.  This image contains many layers, each revealing their own secrets.

Click Here: More Photography Links That Are Made of Win

COMPAS Photo Competition 2012

New Lives and Dreams

For this year’s photography competition COMPAS is looking for images that reflect the theme of ‘New Lives and Dreams’.

The Theme

This year’s theme concentrates on the historical and social imprints and traces that are the result of settling in a new place. As in previous years we are open to symbolic images, but winning entries will be of high quality, a good composition and contain strong imagery. 

We are particularly looking for images that depict the  impact that migration has on people’s lived experiences, both in terms of hopes and reasons for moving, as well as the effect that migration has on life in work, communities and homes.

Prizes: £250 and £100 for winning entries and £50 for 10 runners-up. Winning entries will appear in the COMPAS Annual Calendar and entrants will also be sent a copy.

Enter by Friday 12 October 2012.  FULL DETAILS HERE

How to Choose Your Next Photo Laptop

What to look for when choosing a laptop computer for serious digital photo processing. by Andrew Darlow.……on Photo.net If you are in the market for a new laptop (a.k.a. notebook) computer, you are not alone. More photographers than ever are choosing laptops in addition to a desktop computer, or making a laptop computer their primary computer. A few reasons for making a laptop a primary computer are as follows: major processor performance boosts in recent years; decreased weight; increased storage capability; higher RAM limits; better screens and enough specs and features to make most photographers’ head spin. Plus, due to the nearly constant updates to applications, security patches, and applications like iTunes, it’s often just easier to use the same computer at home, in the studio and when traveling. Another option, thanks to recent advances, is to keep a high-powered laptop or desktop at home, while a lightweight, yet still powerful machine is taken on the road for card downloads, backups, image viewing, etc……READ more of this extensive article here

You might also like to check out the less specific for photographers, Laptop Review site

89 Photography Links That Drip With Awesome

By Toad via Lightstalking, striding the globe; from Canada to Australia to back here, bringing you the best tutorials and photography links from the blogsphere this week.

Back from a brief summer vacation, the Toad has been busy all week getting caught up with all the activity in the realm of photography.  Toad Hollow Photography has put together this weeks comprehensive list of fabulous links to tutorials, great photography and interesting blogs that contain some really incredible images and posts to see.  We hope you enjoy viewing the sites in this weeks list as much as the Toad did in bringing it to you.

Here is a taste of what is on offer

Synthetica by CEBImagery.com, on Flickr

The Toad’s lovely and talented wife, Mrs. Toad, has been busy with her digital pen lately on their blog.  Check out her latest piece “Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice” which takes us inside a kitchen display in a local heritage museum and takes us on a tour of the heart of an old historic home.

TUTORIALS

10 Tips for Photographing Classic Cars – this is a great list of tips and tricks for photographing cars, now that the season is truly upon us.  Rod Arroyo delivers a brief but totally comprehensive list of considerations and concepts to employ when shooting this type of photography, well worth the time to visit.

Click Here: 89 Photography Links That Drip With Awesome

The Bradford Fellowship in Photography Open for Submissions

In partnership with University of Bradford and Bradford College, we are seeking to appoint a photographer, or artist working with photography as the 2012-13 Bradford Fellow in Photography.

We are looking for a mid-career photographer with experience of teaching, publishing and producing work for exhibition. The successful candidate would deliver an agreed number of lectures to the students at both Bradford College and University of Bradford. They would also work with Museum staff to produce a gallery exhibition and associated events around the new or ongoing work to show in late autumn 2013. The exhibition will be part of the Ways of Looking photography festival in Bradford.

Launched in 1985, the Bradford Fellowship in Photography offers one photographer or artist a £10,000 award, as well as a major exhibition and “the opportunity to work with higher education students.” READ MORE HERE