Inspiration Information

Digital Railroad is no more . The server will be shut down on 31/10/08 , thats 10/31/08 for americans

if you are buddhist  you have less of a rush – as D DAY is 31/10/2551.

If anyone at all is reading this blog ( i know of only one person for sure ) Please pass on this message.

Its like one of those chain letters but slightly more serious. Someone could lose all their images. And that aint funny.

Or is it too late already.

full story here

your guide through the everyday and the unexpected

Following on from the JM colberg post on the current state of photojournalism. Here’s an account of the judging process at the World Press Photo Awards By Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin. It makes for very interesting reading.

As i mentioned before I am  personally more  interested in the ‘lateral’ approach to photojournalism. Maybe the quote below has something to do with the current state of photojournalism that jorg refers to. With a  ‘literal’ image being more likely to get through the award screening process rather than something more lateral that needs the benefit of context.

At this stage caption information is not available; each image must be judged on aesthetic grounds, outside of the context for which it was created, severed from words of explanation. This is simply practical; the sheer volume of images precludes more intense scrutiny. But without names, dates, locations, or interviews with the photographers the decision making process regresses into using only formal considerations; composition, lighting and focus. At times this feels obscene. We are asked to judge whether for example a photograph of a child suffocating to death in a mudslide is sufficiently beautiful to win a prize. On this occasion it seems not.

dont worry.i cant even understand what i am trying to articulate here. can someone help. maybe the excerpt, link approach is the best idea for my blog KISS.

With the advent of SLR’s with video capabilities , will video be the new visual language.

Video work from Christopher Morris. Video!

A very interesting and ballsy post from Jorg Colberg’s weblog on the state of photojournalism.

I think it’s not too daring to say that after more than fifty years of grainy b/w photojournalism (with its sometimes blurry, sometimes crooked shots) the visual tool has become blunt

I love  james nachtwey but must admit that I am more ‘excited’ by the work of people like simon norfolk, broomberg and chanarin and others.Is this still photojournalism or is war and conflict reporting becoming fine art? Or are fine art photographers moving into the realms of photojournalism.

Or In the case of James Nachtwey, Is he now so famous that he has become a brand and we now know what to expect from his work?

Simon Norfolk

Broomberg and Chanarin ‘ Chicago’

© Christoph Bangert, Germany, Laif. German Army sniper practice target, Kunduz, Afghanistan, 27 April. General News Singles, Honourable Mention. WPP contest 2007

A nice quote from the shy retiring Simon Norfolk on the current state of photojournalism perhaps ?.

“If I see another photo of a starving baby in Africa, I will die, ” says Simon Norfolk. “I want to know why there is still a starving baby in Africa.”

Ok , no more poor attempts at german.

Here’s a  photoshoot from the man famous for ‘big head’ photography. Seems like a very nice guy.

Book here

holocaust memorial

Website hier

Eric Bouvet VII

Erwitt said, “It’s a hard road right now, with so many people, and less opportunity. My best advice is to be an heir, and failing that, to take pictures because it’s great fun to do so, and with digital it’s not that expensive. And have a day job and have a wonderful hobby. Photography is just a great way to spend time.”

Elliot Erwitt

and from Alex Soth

“Elliott’s advice was the advice I was following. It seemed impossible to make a career as a photographer,” he said. So Soth (rhymes with “oath”) took a job in an art museum, and used his vacation time over the course of several years to pursue a personal project photographing along the Mississippi. That turned into his monograph, Sleeping by the Mississippi, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Asked later in the program by an audience member how he finds his subjects, Soth said, “Not long before that project [SBM] I was painfully shy. Maybe my biggest fear was being on stage with Elliott Erwitt.  So photographing people was therapy. I started by photographing kids in a park…The way to find people and simultaneously deal with my nervousness was got to a bar. So that’s your tip. Drink more.”

Alex Soth