I've known about this little goodie for a few days. It's the TIME's "The year in images" which I think has a few good shots with some of the Leica qualities suchs as being aesthetic, close to events and with a 'history' touch to them, already when they were shot. It's a style.
This is a remarkable shot. You will have a hard time teaching a photography class how to do one like this. Because there's really nothing to it. Yet it is a great shot which I've thought about many times since I saw it a week ago. Maybe because it is so personal.
This one too:
Of course there's a lot of the other crap I wrote about the other day. The drama - OOH DRAMA! - shots that has no other qualities but the quality of being news for one day – and without the 'history' of the drama of one day, those pictures has no history qualities to them. Just a supporting role in a drama.
Like this one, more significant (being a symbol of some underlying meaning) than an actual visual communication:
No doubt it's in there because it symbolizes the death of a stringer - a local photojournalist hired by a international news agency to cover a local event - which for some odd reason is always more dramatic than 2,000 civilians dying (and contrary to 2,000 civilians he's the one who chose to be there and gets paid to be there).
But from a TIME magazine who have choosen Vladimir Putin as Man of the Year 2007 (and had Adolf Hitler as Man of the Year in 1942) there's many grat ones.
I like photography like this:
This is a cute one of unexpected snowfall in Johannesburg, South Africa, in June. I think the clumpsy way of photographing snow underlines how odd an experience it must have been:
In the "OOH DRAMA" category stuff like this is actually not bad because it has great graphic qualities to it and would be great with a long feature article:
Also, here is more galleries from the year. Many of them is pictures tied up to world events such as war or wildfire instead of selecting great photos and let them tell the story:
Posted by Thorsten O... on December 31, 2007 5:57 AM
@ Darren: I don't think he used masking on the one with the flag. They might even have thought it was a cool effect if the flag seemed glowing a bit and kept it like that.
Posted by Darren Aba... on December 31, 2007 12:41 AM
A great selection, for the most part, but in my opinion there were a few that shouldn't have been in that distinguished selection. I also noticed a few images that illustrated one of biggest peeves: sloppy Photoshop masking. I don't know why so many PJs do it, but I can't say how many times I've watched shooters slap the sloppiest masks on their photos when dodging their selects before transmitting. The photos of the Afghan police trainees and the girl wrapped in an American flag are perfect examples.
i was a bit tired of seeing the brooks kraft photos; he must be "in" with the body of editors at time, no? 'twas nice seeing kevork's photo! just sent him an email congratulating him. was impressed james got into burma but wasn't really that impressed with the photograph. that south african snow photo was indeed hilarious. that last photograph in your post, though, seems so che guevara, no? by the way .... how many of the shooters do you think actually went to a photo school?
Thank you so much for the very kind words, Thorsten. Getting that from a working photojournalist is always a real compliment. :) I started shooting in 2005, and the oldest photo in my uber portfolio is just from 2006. Definitely hoping to be even better in years to come! Thanks once again, and cheers from Indonesia!
Well, you're simply the most talented guy I've seen in a long time ... or longer. You're basically at a level where the only thing you should aim at developing is the message. What do you want to tell with your pictures. And I hope you don't go the "World Press" way with hopelessness but go for a the message of life, spirit and hope.
Hi, I have been watching your photography work for a bit and I really like them because it is rare from a professional photographer to shot real people with real emotions especially from famous people.
Hey Thorsten. I bought myself a used Leica R4. Now I'm in the R gang too. Part of this is because of your influence. The camera isn't in perfect condition, but it was affortable. I'll run a test roll thourgh it and probably use it for a reportage on Sunday.
Feels nice. Summicron 50/2 looks good and I hope it comes up to expectation. Should be pretty similar to M.
So well, now I am even more a red-dot elitist. But I don't care, I use other cameras too, Leicas are just good. Form a first glance I think that R is largerly underrated.
Chris will be green of envy ;-) and that's his own damn fault ;-)
The R4 is actually a nice camera and a nice size and sound. And it's easy to get one as many were produced and it is said to have a "faulty electronics." (Which mean that some R4 go dead, but I've never had any problems with mine).
You can probably find an inexpensive winder or motor to go with it. Gives an even better hold on it and balance.
The 50mm f/2.0 is reputed to be one of the best 50mm lenses in the world. And still is. I find 50mm a bit dull as I prefer 80mm mostly - but I must admit I'm blown by the quality of the Summicron 50mm f/2 when I use it.
Yes, sure. Electronics. A photographer I know, which has anything from Leicaflex to R8..., told me: look my brand new R4 went dead pretty soon. If you buy an R4 now, it most probably has survived. A visual check shows that mine works, a couple of films will tell.
As much as I love M... this R is nice. Leicaflexes are very expensive and in any case, having an electronic SLR with good exposure is pretty nice. Working with flash is easier too.
The R4 is the smallest of the series, this is also why I have chosen it. The only thing I miss is the 1/2000", which would allow me to open my lens more. The camera fits well in the hand.
80mm is nice for reportage, concert photos. I like the 50, but sometimes you can't get near enough or you need the tele-effect.
I pretty much like the 90/2 with its fancy retractable lens-hood. Probably if I find myself using the camera, I'll look for one.
I'll blog about the camera probably!
So when you come to Italy or I go to Denemark, we will have even more material for a chat, hah!
PS: I so much wished Leica would introduce a new digital back: it would keep the R system alive (no, I don't want a full digital R camera). Imagine a full-frame module! Slap it in for some newspaper work and put your slide or b&w film in when you can have more time for your images.
thanks for the comment. My M8 is MOSTLY a camera for personal work, so no backup unfortunately. I use Canon's for work...the minute either Leica or Mamiya release a digital rangefinder with 16-22mp, I'll ditch my Canon setup....
Impressive work, nice gallery. I'm new to uber and your blog is great, hopefully I'll add some photos representing my country soon. I like your style as a documentary photographer, very informative and beautiful.
Actually I haven't used the FED camra for a long time. Shooting digital now. It's too expensive for me to work fully with film and there's no proessional places to develope or print. So, I chose digital. Thanks. But the place is indeed interesting for photographing, for living it might be a bit harsh.
Thank you so much for sharing! I agree about falling in love with your tools and staying in love with photography. I use new and old school tools. I have nice DSLR's and a point and shoot I carry all the time and old rangefinders, twin lenses - they all have good things I love about them. Sometimes you have to make choices according to situations - when I go on trips - especially overseas, I have to be really efficient and thoughtful. I will check back for you new works. Thanks,
are you ready for this, i finally found out what was going on with mike and his younger brother andrew. remember how they never had girlfriends up until this past year, now they are with different girls weekly, well i am the only one who has proof on what happened. they both have been taking enlarge pills from http://www.bolinu.com for many months now, i found 7 empty bottles under mike's bed and he caught me, forced me to promise i would never tell anyone about the pills. well i told dave about them 2 months ago, he ordered 6 bottles from http://www.bolinu.com and now he too is a ladies man overnight. none of these guys talk to me anymore so now i can tell you all about the pills and living proof that they work, they even guarentee your money back 100% if they don't work on you. go now to http://www.bolinu.com
are you ready for this, i finally found out what was going on with mike and his younger brother andrew. remember how they never had girlfriends up until this past year, now they are with different girls weekly, well i am the only one who has proof on what happened. they both have been taking enlarge pills from http://www.bolinu.com for many months now, i found 7 empty bottles under mike's bed and he caught me, forced me to promise i would never tell anyone about the pills. well i told dave about them 2 months ago, he ordered 6 bottles from http://www.bolinu.com and now he too is a ladies man overnight. none of these guys talk to me anymore so now i can tell you all about the pills and living proof that they work, they even guarentee your money back 100% if they don't work on you. go now to http://www.bolinu.com
PEACE ..V