Photography Monthly - September 2012 edition

September's edition of Photography Monthly featured a very interesting article about a self-taught photographer called Lee Jeffries who captures extraordinary portraits of mostly homeless people.  PM describes these images as sinister but powerful, however I think they are stunning.  They show a vulnerability and sadness that makes you feel their pain.  Even the pictures of Roger Bannister and Ian Wright are soulful, and these are not people (that I am aware of) that are living rough in the streets.  To get such expression in the photos he must have built up a relationship of trust with his subjects.

I have often seen faces that are interesting, even intriguing, although not necessarily beautiful in the stereotypical fashion sense, but was too shy to ask if I could take their photo, although in my mind I imagined how they would look as a gritty b&w portrait similar to Jeffries' images.  In fact, in Russia, about 20 year ago, I saw an old babushka, whose face had more wrinkles than a walnut, and I had a b&w film in my camera.  When I asked her if I could take her photo, she replied that she wasn't a monument and no I couldn't!

Jeffries uses a handheld reflector to illuminate the face and retain detail, a 24mm lens and ISO 100.  He also uses a wide aperture to focus on the eyes, and soften the rest of the face, generally underexposes the shot and uses a very plain background to avoid distractions. 

See: http://leejeffries.500px.com/

Flying Colours (c) Sue Buller

Moving into Part 3 of TAOP on Colours, I started to think about where I would go to shoot for the exercises, and I remembered a very striking image entered into one of the Kingston Camera Club competitions by Sue Buller of a brightly coloured plane against a stunning blue sky.  I really like the justaposition of the complementary colours, blue and orange, against the contrasting yellow and blue, and the harmonious yellow and orange.  I also like the unusual aspect and composition of this image: Sue has used the rule of thirds combining a vertical and horizontal sectioning.  The end result is really quite abstract!

Flying Colours (c) by Sue Buller

Sue shot this at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge in Surrey, which is very close to my home in Feltham, so on the next sunny day opportunity, I will pay the museum a visit to get some colour shots for the exercises for Part 3.

Steve McCurry

I was recently advised by my tutor to have a look at Steve McCurry's images.  And of course as soon as I accessed his website, www.stevemccurry.com, I immediately recognised some of his shots from National Geographic magazine.  The Afghan Girl shot in Pakistan is probably the most famous (this has also featured in Photography Monthly), together with the one showing her many years later after she was tracked down as an adult, but I found an image of the Camels and Oil Fire shot in the Ahmadi Oil Fields in Kuwait in 1991 very evocative.  The colour and clarity is stunning; the horizontal composition is simple (rule of thirds) but effective, with central positioning of the camels, and the image is truly powerful bringing home the drama of war and its impact on life, and the fact that life survives.

To see the image in question, go to:

http://stevemccurry.com/galleries/war or

http://stevemccurry.photoshelter.com/image/I0000rV_5qZCjYH8

Ahmadi Oil Fields Kuwait (c) Steve McCurry

National Geographic - August 2012 edition

I have subscribed to National Geographic on and off for more than ten years.  Originally because I was interested in anthropology, natural history, the world in general, and then because I was studying art and used the images for inspiration for abstract paintings.  More recently I have renewed my subscription for access to the stunning photos in order to support my course learning.

In this month's edition, I was intrigued by an image sent in by a reader, Wieslawa Dabrowska, a Polish art restorer, published in the "Visions Your Shot".  Dabrowska had turned to small objects in the home to explore close-up photography and sent in an image of the inside of a red pepper, where the abstraction is such that it actually looks like as woman's neck adorned with a ruff collar and red dress. 

Every image in NG is stunning; it would be possible to pick them out on that merit alone, however another image I found intriguing in the August edition is the one below showing the ethnic diversity of Stamford Hill in Hackney, East London against some iconic images of London (the phone box and bus).  This was published on page 76, and shot by photographer Alex Webb.  The photo featured as part of an article describing the diversity of East London as it comes under the spotlight during the Olympics.  The composition of this image is also interesting: the positioning of the three people in the shot forms a triangle with the apex pointing towards the bottom of the frame, and there are many converging diagonal lines from the bottom to the back of the photo.

Stamford Hill (c) Alex Webb (taken with handheld by me)

British Journal of Photography - August 2012 edition

A fascinating article in August's edition of BJP called "Sworn Virgins" about the Burrnesha.  The article describes the research by Bulgarian photographer Pepa Hristova (now living in Germany) into the men-women that live in isolated, traditional and rural communities of the mountains of north of Albania. Hristova treats the subject sympathetically stating that she was able to get the women to relax in her prescence, particularly after photographing them.  The Burrnesha are women who for one reason or another (choice, superstition, parental imposition, easier way of life) live their lives as men renouncing marriage and intimacy.  The article implies that they accept their lives, although the photos show a distinct sadness.I have recently started to think about photojournalism and documentary photography and am interested in the process of integration and getting to know the subject before the shooting begins.  The relationship between the subjects and the photographer is critical to this process and is clearly captured in Hristova's images, as is the stark reality of unlavish living conditions compared to those of western Europe.

One of the more intriguing images from Hristova's website is of Qjuste, 66, who started living as a man following a divorce.  This meant that she was able to achieve a much better standard of living than she would have done as a single woman.  The composition of the photograph is interesting, as there is in fact a triangle formed by the three points of the subject, the flower vase and the bird on the wall, and the monotony orif the wall is broken by the curtain on the left (adding texture) and the bird on the right.  In addition, the colours of the image are harmonius, with a simple colour spectrum of black, dark red, shades of brown and pink.  The expression on Qjuste's face is one of acknowledgement but also of resignation.

See http://www.pepahristova.com/sworn-virgins/27/ for the image in question, also included below:

Sworn Virgin (27) (c) Pepa Hristova

For further details and the images in this portfolio, see Hristova's website http://www.pepahristova.com/sworn-virgins/info/

Lioness and crocodile

The Metro newspaper ran an incredible story this week about a lioness fighting a crocodile in Botswanna's Okavango Delta so that her cubs could cross the river safely.  The image was shot by Ms Dierickx, 48, from Antwerp, Belgium and published in the paper on 24 July 2012. The lioness escaped a crocodile roll because she kept the crocodile's mouth closed with her front legs.  Apart from the fact that this is an amazing act of courage by the lioness this is also an incredible image.  This was one of three photos taken in one second and is beautifully composed with excellent clarity, frozen water and perfect tones and hues, with the colours of the landscape reflected in the animals.

Wish I'd taken this!

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/906164-lioness-battles-deadly-crocodile-to-clear-the-way-for-her-family-to-cross

Lioness and Crocodile (c) Ms Dierickx

Olympic flame

Got my days in a muddle and as usual no camera....thank god for iPads! Here is the Olympic flame making its way towards the Museum of London.