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I began my blog about year after I started at Pratt and I generally avoided directly talking about my experience there. I felt like it was not my place to pass a running commentary on what happened in the class room and would probably have got me into all sort of sticky situations complaining about faculty, students or crap I got myself into. Many critiques and class room discussions felt so personal and more like group therapy that delving too deep into that publicly would’ve also seemed odd.  James Pomerantz just had his first day in the SVA MFA program and will be dedicating his blog to his experience there. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles it. (You can see his current photography website here)

I woke my little brother George up this morning and drove him up to Portchester to get the breakfast of champions, a chili cheese dog with chili cheese fries at Hubba’s. It was a local haunt for all SUNY Purchase students and has many fond memories (we once drove a batch of their chili all the way to a friend in Maine). My favorite order that I didn’t discover until Luke lived above the joint is the California Chili Cheese Wedge (two burgers with chili, cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a wedge), seen in the middle picture next to the Hubba water and Chili Cheese Fries. Many fellow alumni will be disappointed to know that the Hubba Water is now pre-mixed and kept in a cooler, rather than the original water poured straight from a soda machine with a tap of fruit punch to hide the odd flavor.

For pictures that I was shooting all week look here and here. I was lucky enough to photograph music legends like B.B. King, Wyclef Jean and Miley Cyrus.

If the Canon Rumor website is at all correct (which it is rumored to be) then this new Canon 7D would be awesome and affordable at $1699!!! That would fit my needs pretty well. I’d prefer a 1.3 crop as oppose to a 1.6 crop on the 16-35 I own.

-18mp
- dual digic 4
- 8 fps
- 19 af points
- ISO 100-6400 (L & H1 & H2)
- 63 metering zones
- 100% viewfinder
- Horizon Help Viewfinder
- 3″ VGA LCD
- FullHD Video

Robert Burck aka”The Naked Cowboy” for Mayor??? I guess if Arnold can get into government, then why not this guy. Jeez!

I have seen this chap at a few events now and have wondered who he was. The last thing he was at he had a young blond woman on his arm and kept a big pair of shades on the whole night. I thought he might have been an artist or a designer of some kind, so when he appeared at this event today I asked one of the other 20 photographers there who he was. Neilson Barnard told me he was Noddy Holder, and as Nielson is a fellow brit and therefore also full of shit, I googled the guy before I took his picture. From my little iPhone jpegs it was a close enough match so I snapped a few, much to the amusement of Nielson. Damn you! (10 points to anyone who can tell me who it really is!)

I’d never been to this website before, it has amazing news titles like “Article disproves Dalai Lama’s historical views in March 31 speech.” It seems to be China’s official news source for the Tibetan region, reporting that China has spent millions of dollars in repairing the Potala Palace, Norbulingka and Sagya Monastary. I can only wonder how much damage or lack of respect was shown during the rebuild for the traditional religious artifacts. “The reparation of the three key cultural relics is an important part in the conservation of the Tibetan culture,” said State Councilor Liu Yandong at the ceremony. Good of them to be so concerned! This accompanying picture does nothing more than show that they’ve planted some flowers on the western border of the building…

The websites historical accounts are also awesome – “ The founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 ended the dark history of the semi-colonial, semi-feudal China, realized unification of the country, unity of ethnic groups and people’s democracy, and brought hope to the Tibetan people that they could control their own destiny in the large family of the motherland.”

I rarely see work from plastic cameras that I enjoy. I find the affect the lens has and the style of printing people choose to be a filter that blocks the viewer from experiencing the actual image. Often the addition of vignetting, a shift in focus and some extra saturation can make people like an image that doesn’t have the strength to stand on its own. I’ve used these tricks on some of my wedding images that otherwise would be pretty dull. Arian Camilleri’s images don’t scream “Holga” to me and I find some of the images pretty strong.

(via Hey Hot Shot Contenders)

We finally made the trip out to Dia Beacon this weekend. Not being a huge fan of contemporary minimalist sculpture, it makes sense that I hadn’t driven 2 hours north from Brooklyn, but now we live in Yonkers it’s not so far. The work of Zoe Leonard was the work that stood out to me. It was especially interesting having just walked past Bernd and Hilla Becher’s work. The Niagara postcards seemed like a different way to study typologies along with an examination of the differences between modes of reproduction and representation of the American landscape. The expanse of the project and the size of the collection is impressive in itself but I think it’s held together by things (that I normally avoid in my own work) such as concept and intent. Rarely would I ever argue for a photographic works strength being defined by it’s idea. As Dia says “Rendered stereotypical and generic through repletion over decades, these landscape motifs are emblematic of mass culture’s transformation of natural sites into tourist destinations.”

“…pointing to a road sign that read, ‘Slow Down! The Life that you save might or might not be your own’ I’ve never been to a country where nonsense is the norm. It’s like a big joke – life, death, rebirth, Enlightenment – it all amounts to nothing, play on words, a crazy puzzle that can never be solved. No wonder they came up with the idea of maya, or illusion, you know. In the West things are taken so seriously. Life is  a serious matter. Tomorrow is a serious matter. Here I can finally breathe: there is no pressure to stay alive! Whatever happens is okay. Dying is okay, begging is okay. I don’t have to plot my life. I can sit back and actually enjoy it.”

I’m only on the third chapter of this memoir about a young man (Nikolai Grozni) who travels to India to become a Tibetan Monk and I can tell that I’m going to enjoy it. He studies in Dharamsala and some of the description and stories bring me right back to my time there. I even know one of the characters he talks to, this old guy called “Vinnie.” He would always want to play chess and would always think he knew you from previous games played in chai shops. I first met him in 2002 and have seen him every time I’ve been back. Not once have I dared challenge him to a game. Hopefully this book challenges some of the conventional ideas of the “Shangri-la” community at the foothills of the Himalaya’s. It seems like it will as some of the monks have already smoked a few cigarettes and talked about nuns doing the naughty. As a more serious read I also picked up a copy of “The Photograph as Contemporary Art,” a book I should probably have read during my MFA. Don’t ever go into St. Marks bookshop unless you plan on buying a couple of books.

Sometimes I wonder if people have too much time on their hands. Or question the need for another sport to be invented. I even try to imagine what it would be like if they crossed badminton with Formula 1.

As you must know by now, I could talk about cameras for hours, and I’m sure I’ve bored many people being nerdy at parties. Canon are announcing new cameras today and the most interesting is the new Canon G11. Normally people who stop me in the street and talk to me about the massive camera I’m carrying will ask “How many megapixels is that?” and I have to say 8, as I normally carry my old 20D. They normally look confused as I have a pro lens, battery grip and flash bracket attached which makes it look better than it is. Realistically though, any images I submit to agencies are never as big as “8 megapixels.” Understanding the megapixel race is all about understanding the general publics view of what is good. More megapixels = Better camera = Better quality = Better Images. None of this is true. The new Canon G11 understands this and is the first time an update on a camera actually drops megapixels from 15 to 10. Hopefully this means better low light capabilities and better image quality which is Canon’s claim. They’re plugging the camera as a photojournalists carryall camera. I’ve been wanting a camera I can carry with me all the time and have been looking at the 4/3 cameras. The G11 would be at the top of the list, but the unwanted swivel screen and lack of HD video is something to consider (not to mention that I don’t have $499.99)

Can anyone explain this advert to me? I see them all the time all over craigslist and even applied to one last year, got accepted and then told it was a $100 hanging fee. It seems like a way to offset some of the costs of hiring an event space and also get some free decoration. Where I’m lost is – what does the photographer gain?

“Mounted works or oversize HD Plasma Screen slide-show images accepted.

Historic East Village venue space with full program provided by established grass roots arts group that includes Fashion Photo Exhibition & Women’s Wear Designer runway show. Photos will be exhibited on HD plasma screens & gallery dry mounts.”

I think the list is now down to a Canon G10, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 1Ds Markiii, Panasonic GF1 and an Olympus EP-1. That’s without even mentioning all the Leica/Hasselblad etc…. and a new macbookpro, Epson 7800 and Imacon to process all the work I’d make. Where’s my lottery money when I need it?