insights into photography
Hipstamatic plans to open the Hipstamatic Foundation for Photojournalism to “support photographic storytellers” who use smartphones to tell their stories, BJP can reveal writes Olivier Laurent
Synthetic, maker of the popular Hipstamatic application for iPhone, is expected to launch, later this year, a pack of digital lenses and films dedicated to photojournalists to raise funds for its newly created Hipstamatic Foundation for Photojournalism.
In an interview with BJP in October 2011, Synthetic’s CEO, Lucas Allen Buick, explained: “The idea behind it is to create an educational platform, where professionals will be able give some of their time to educate up-and-coming photographers on how to go into Libya, for example, and not get shot.”
Image © Frank Hallam Day, courtesy of Leica.
US photographer Frank Hallam Day has won the 2012 Leica Oskar Barnack Award for his Alumascapes portfolio
Frank Hallam Day wins a €5000 cash prize, as well as a Leica M9-P camera and a lens worth more than €10,000. He will be presented with the award at the Rencontres d’Arles festival on 03 July.
Alumascapes is the result of a month-long journey through Florida, where Day photographed “ultra-modern, high-tech and luxury” recreational vehicles entwined in the jungle landscapes, appearing “as essential islands of security in a dark and hostile environment.” Writes Olivier Laurent in the BJP
In the BJP we read about a retrospective of the work of Tom Stoddart
A child plays with pigeons among the ruins of Bhachau, India, one of the worst hit towns after the earthquake of 2001 struck the region of Gujarat. Image © Tom Stoddart/Getty Images.
Perspectives, a retrospective of Tom Stoddart’s career, will be shown on the South Bank throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games, from 25 July to 11 September.
Eimear Kelly speaks to Stoddart
Open 25 July – 11 September, throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
”The world’s nations will soon be joined together in a wonderful sporting festival whose motto is ‘swifter, higher, stronger’. I hope that people visiting the exhibition will leave with a greater determination to understand and help those with little access to clean water, food and medicines who, through no fault of their own, cannot run more swiftly, jump higher or be stronger”.
Tom Stoddart
Tom Stoddart
Tom Stoddart began his photographic career with a provincial newspaper in his native North East of England.
In 1978 he moved to London and, working freelance, started to regularly supply national newspapers and magazines. In the eighties he worked extensively for the Sunday Times newspaper.
Stoddart was in Beirut in 1982 when the Israeli forces bombed Yasser Arafat’s besieged PLO base and again in 1987 shooting a world exclusive on the horrific conditions inside the
Palestinian camp of Bourj el Barajneh, where Dr. Pauline Cutting was trapped.Later he spent time aboard the Greenpeace ship ‘Rainbow Warrior’ where he shot a widely published story about the environmentalists’ efforts to stop the Canadian cull of baby seals in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
Stoddart has witnessed many international events including the Romanian Revolution and the massing of alliance troops in the Middle East for the Desert Storm conflict with Iraq. He has subsequently spent time with British Royal Marines on more recent operations in Iraq.
In July 1991, he travelled to Sarajevo to document the civil war that was engulfing Yugoslavia.
His work from there was published around the world. Returning a year later for The Sunday Times Magazine, he was seriously injured in heavy fighting around the Bosnian Parliament buildings.
After a year of recovery, Stoddart threw himself back into photojournalism, producing a powerful feature on the aftermath of the Mississippi floods and, later that year, an award-winning photo-essay on the harsh regime for the training of Chinese Olympic Child Gymnasts.
In December 1993 he returned to Sarajevo to report on the hardship of life in the city during a freezing winter under siege. This trip confirmed his fascination with a place that he was to return to on a dozen different occasions up until the Dayton Peace Accord in 1995. Earlier this year he revisited the city, on the 20th Anniversary of the lifting of the siege.
In 1997 Tony Blair gave Tom Stoddart exclusive access for three months to document his election campaign as Labour swept to victory after 18 years of Conservative government. He was later give access to Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
Now established as one of the world’s most respected photojournalists, Tom Stoddart is represented by, and works closely with Getty Images, to produce campaigning photographic projects on the serious world issues of our time.
Olivier Laurent writes in the BJP
Twelve photographers are now in the running to win this year’s Prix Pictet award, which is worth more than £66,000.
The shortlisted photographers were selected for projects that deal with the theme of Power. They are: Robert Adams, who is nominated for his series Turning Back; Daniel Beltrá for Spill; Mohamed Bourouissa for Périphérique; Philippe Chancel for Fukushima: The Irresistible Power of Nature; Edmund Clark for Guantanamo: If the Light Goes Out; Carl De Keyzer for Moments Before the Flood; Luc Delahaye for various works shot between 2008 and 2011; Rena Effendi for Still Life in the Zone; Jacqueline Hassink for Arab Domains; An-My Lê for 29 Palms; Joel Sternfeld for When It Changed; and Guy Tillim for his series Congo Democratic.
The Prix Pictet was created to “use the power of photography to raise public awareness worldwide to the social and environmental challenges of the new millennium”.
Organised by the Geneva-based private bank Pictet & Cie, the Prix Pictet comes with a CHF 100,000 cash prize for the overall winner, as well as an assignment for one of the shortlisted photographers.
For more details, visit www.prixpictet.com.
Power Shortlist
Daniel Beltrá
Series: Spill
May 18, 2010, Gulf of Mexico
Power Shortlist
Mohamed Bourouissa
Series: Peripherique
2007-2008, Paris
Power Shortlist
Carl De Keyzer
Series: Moments Before the Flood
2009, England
From Toad Hollow Photography via Lightstalking
The internet is full of great photographers and artists, all full of talent and passion. Toad Hollow Photography has been busy all week searching online for the best tutorials, photography and blogs to share with everyone here, and this week’s list reflects some of the highlights encountered. We really do hope you enjoy viewing the photographs and reading the blogs as much as the Toad did in bringing this list to you.
Check out the latest blog post at Toad Hollow, where Mrs. Toad makes her blogging debut. “Arriving In Style” highlights a beautiful historic horse-drawn carriage that forms part of the foundation for the settlement of Vancouver Island itself, and Mrs. Toad takes us behind the scenes to learn about its storied history.
Here is a taste of what is on offer
TUTORIALS
Brick and Mortar Experiment – Blake Rudis shares another great HDR post as he explores and discusses different approaches to capturing and creating his imagery. The “less is more” mantra is experimented with here, and the results are something you most certainly would not expect.
AskJoeB: The Rule of Thirds Is Boring? – a very insightful post is created here with a set of thoughts regarding a submitted composition by Joe Baraban. Joe’s concepts behind great composition are key issues we bring along with us on every shoot we do, and this particular piece shares some great tips on this.
New Insight to My Workflow Video – A.D. Wheeler takes us behind the scenes as he processes an image. This video presentation is sure to help artists of all levels discover new tips and tricks to use in their own workflow.
Day Walkers – Shooting Lightning in the Daylight – what surely is very challenging to do well at night takes on a whole new set of issues during the day. Scott Wood, a master of lightning photography, delivers a pair of stunning images and shares some of his tips and secrets about this style of photography. This is a well written piece that is sure to form the basis for thought and practice in the field for those interested.
Some Like it Hotter HTDS – this is a detailed article from Mark Neal that shares some insight into stylizations for image processing to create a specific feel from a photo. Mark shares great details in this post, and highlights his thoughts with screenshots so the reader can easily take in the lesson at hand.
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY
Eccentricity – once again, our very own Tom Dinning (@tomdinning) here on Light Stalking creates a piece that is sure to make you stop in your tracks, trying to find the deeper underlying meaning. Tom includes a bit of prose with this great black-and-white photo that creates many questions in the viewers mind, but through it all we’re inspired to live life to its fullest.
My great friend John Wreford lives in Damascus, he could have left but he is still there, this is a recent update from him
Friday in the Old City was completely deserted, hardly a shop open, the only people about were local residents, generally things were calmer around most of the city, the rubbish that had not been collected for a couple of days and was beginning to reek was being cleared, Raslan, Osama, and Hasan the kids in my alley were using wheelbarrows to cart it off elsewhere, as night fell there were still echoes of what was going on further away, a gun battle that sounded quite close only lasted a few minutes then very little.
Around 2.30 Am I heard a sound that pleased me more than I can say, a sound that in previous years had annoyed the hell out of me, the banging drum of Abu Tableh, the human alarm clock, letting everyone know it was time to prepare the pre-dawn meal before a long day of fasting, Ramadan has arrived, the children in my alley all ran out to greet him, nothing is normal anymore in Damascus but Syrians are resilient and determined, they will persevere and they overcome this terrible situation.
Ramadan Kareem
Stay safe John.
Oxford School of Photography 