Center for Cultural Analysis, Rutgers University
Thursday, December 20, 2012
A Photographer's War With PTSD
Marines run for cover after white phosphorus was accidentally fired at them by another company in Falluja, Iraq on November 9, 2004. [Ashley Gilbertson / VII]
Recomended read, via The Atlantic:
"As Ashley Gilbertson crept up the dark staircase of a minaret in Fallujah, he hovered closely behind advance troops of the United States Marines. Stepping around and over the rubble created by an earlier shelling of the mosque, Gilbertson could hardly see the two soldiers in lead.
Moments before starting their climb, Gilbertson argued to be the first person in the room. He wanted to take first shot at the insurgent who used this holy perch to prey on advancing U.S. forces. However, Lance Corporal William Miller and his partner, Lance Corporal Christian Dominguez, would not back down, and they took the lead that November afternoon. As Gilbertson took to the stairs, his partner Dexter Filkins mounted the steps behind him.
Guns at the ready, the convoy had just crested the first flight of crumbling stairs when gunfire erupted. Gilbertson was pushed backwards, tumbling down the steps. His face felt wet.
It was the blood of Lance Corporal Miller.
As the scene became chaotic, Gilbertson's immediate reaction was to shoot back.
He didn't.
He couldn't.
And it wouldn't matter.
The only weapon Gilbertson carries is a camera.
Full article here.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Photographer Craig Varjabedian discusses “Landscape Dreams” at 1:30 today at the Albuquerque Museum
By David Steinberg / Journal Staff Writeron Sun, Dec 16, 2012
Which one to choose for publication? A San Marcos cowboy holding a saddle with his canine friend Buddy next to him? A roadside descanso in Mora? Quaking aspen in Red River? Chile fields near Hatch? I reviewed and re-reviewed the many wondrous black-and-white images of Santa Fe photographer Craig Varjabedian in his new book “Landscape Dreams” before deciding on the accompanying one you see.
I was taken by the tilt and the architecture of the “Welcome to New Mexico, Chama, New Mexico” sign. How 1950s New Mexico it was. I was also enraptured by the shimmering cool leaves, the curving vale, the stand of trees in the middle ground, the upward slope of the hill to the sky.
As the first full-page photograph in the book, it welcomes the reader to a journey – a journey into Varjabedian’s work – into a thoughtful essay on the Land of Enchantment, into an explanation of the photographer’s themes and artistic philosophy and into the how and why of his own coming to New Mexico.
I asked Varjabedian about the “Welcome to New Mexico” photograph.
“The sign is a kind of metaphor for New Mexico,” Varjabedian said. “As real and truthful as it looks, it is not really truthful. Ultimately what I am trying to say is that I’ve been calling this book my love letter to New Mexico. Whatever tools, tricks I can use as a photographer, I use. The sign was shot up. There were holes in it.”
The fact that the sign is a bit off-kilter, Varjabedian commented, says that there’s something “wonderfully different” about New Mexico.
He took the photograph in 2010. Since then, he said, the state Highway Department has replaced the sign with one that is more vertical.
“It’s a new sign and it doesn’t have the quality of its older relative,” he said.
To Varjabedian, the sign signifies something more.
“There’s something magical, enchanted and turned a little different about this place, which brings it its charm … and delights me to want to photograph it. I’m struck by those things that are turned a little bit differently, whether a sign or some historical fact,” he said.”
On the facing page of the “Welcome” sign is part of historian Hampton Sides’ foreword. In it, Sides touches on New Mexico’s road to statehood. The state “worked its way into the national consciousness,” he wrote, “and, as it nearly always does, won people over.” It was a reference to a welcoming act on Jan. 6, 1912 – membership into the Union as the 47th state.
Varjabedian’s public love letter was published in the same year as the New Mexico Centennial.
An exhibit of images from the book is up through Dec. 31 at William Talbot Fine Art, 129 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe.
David Steinberg is the Journal’s Books editor and an Arts writer.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Photojournalist Steve Schapiro's Contrasting Life
Steve Schapiro: Martin Luther King Marching for Voting Rights with John Lewis, Reverend Jesse Douglas, James Forman and Ralph Abernathy, Selma, 1965
Via CNN
December 12, 2012
Photographer Steve Schapiro's five decade career of classic photos displayed in new book, ‘Then and Now’
During his five-decade career, photographer Steve Schapiro likes to say he has photographed everything from presidents to poodles. Schapiro has captured the special moments of rock stars, film stars and politicians of the 60's and '70's as well as photos of migrant workers and the Selma March with Martin Luther King. In his new photobook "Then and Now" Schapiro compiles some of his best and most iconic images. The book contains more than 170 photos – some of which have never been published before. He joins “Stating Point” this morning to discuss some of his most iconic photos and his new book.
Schapiro says it has always interested him, “to capture all the different elements that make up our country.” He tells the story behind him capturing an iconic photo of Actor Marlon Brando when he was hired to photograph “The Godfather.” Schapiro says, “Brando let me photograph his makeup session… and in the middle of it he just gave me this wonderful look which luckily I caught.” Reminiscing on a picture he took of Actor Dustin Hoffman leaping in a narrow hallway he says, “[Dustin] is a delight. He is a delight on and off camera. He just has such spirit and you know such wonderful feeling and humor all the time…This was just a moment after they had been feeling and it just was a spontaneous event.” Schapiro admits that he always wanted to be a “Life Magazine” photographer and “one of the things that interested [him] was the migrant worker situation in America.” He talks about his very first story where he spent four weeks documenting the lives of the migrant workers through his photos and an essay and reflects on one particular photo of a cabin wall where a child once wrote “I love anybody who loves me".
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Jackie Kennedy's Note to Mark Shaw: "Anyone who puts a finger-print on them will have his hand chopped off "
Mark Shaw: John Looking at his Reflection in Tabletop, Palm Beach 1963
Only two weeks before Kennedy was assassinated, Jacqueline Kennedy wrote a note to Mark Shaw, one of many, thanking him for color photographs of her with her three-year-old, John F. Kennedy Jr.: "They really should be in the National Gallery! I have them propped up in our Sitting Room now, and everyone who comes in says the one of me and John looks like a Caravaggio—and the one of John, reflected in the table, like some wonderful, strange, poetic Matisse. And, when I think of how you just clicked your camera on an ordinary day in that dreary, green Living Room.I just can't thank you enough, they will always be my greatest treasures. Anyone who puts a finger-print on them will have his hand chopped off. "
Mark Shaw: The Kennedys exhibition continues through January 27, 2013
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Stephen Wilkes' Sandy Photographs Among TIME's Best Photojournalism of 2012
Via TIME LightBox
Throughout 2012, TIME’s unparalleled photojournalists were there. At a time when so much hangs in the balance, bearing witness can be the most essential act — and that’s what we do."
Two of Stephen Wilkes photographs of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy are among the best of Time's commissioned photojournalism from 2012:
Stephen Wilkes for TIME
Nov. 4, 2012. Seaside Heights, N.J. The Jet Star roller coaster at Casino Pier amusement park, once a Jersey Shore Landmark, was submerged in the Atlantic as a result of Hurricane Sandy. From "Flooded, Uprooted, Burned: The Tracks of Sandy on the Shore."Stephen Wilkes for TIME
Nov. 9, 2012. Staten Island, N.Y. Strong winds and waves
ripped several homes from their foundation, like this one in the Oakwood
neighborhood. From "Flooded,
Uprooted, Burned: The Tracks of Sandy on the Shore."
Related: Mr. Wilkes’ photo eloquently framing: amber waves of grain meets the apocalypse.
Related: Mr. Wilkes’ photo eloquently framing: amber waves of grain meets the apocalypse.
Related: The "Best Photos" of 2012 International Compilation
Friday, December 7, 2012
NYC: The Loving Story Film Opens December 10
Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving, King and Queen County,
Virginia in April 1965
The Loving Story
By Michelle Orange Wednesday, Dec 5 2012
Well-timed and well crafted in equal measures, The Loving Story is a thoughtful, terrifically intimate account of the case that dismantled this country's anti-miscegenation laws 100 years after the abolition of slavery. The story of Virginia couple Mildred and Richard Loving's efforts to live and love each other freely captures a critical moment in a civil rights movement whose most recent strides—for same-sex marriage—are just a few weeks old. First-time director Nancy Buirski's focus on the constitutional tangles that brought Loving v. Virginia before the Supreme Court in 1967 also complement Lincoln's warm, wonky embrace of the democratic procedural. A wealth of archival footage gives The Loving Story an oddly modern quality. We watch the supremely humble couple (Richard was white; Mildred part black and part Native American) interacting at home, tolerating journalists, conferring with attorneys, and recounting their path to the courtroom: Having been arrested in their home state, the Lovings moved to Washington, D.C. Mildred's distressed letter to Bobby Kennedy set things rolling. Equally compelling is footage of the dauntless young lawyers, Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop, who saw much to be gained in one couple's belief in their rights and even more to be cut away.
Details
The Loving Story
Directed by Nancy Buirski
Icarus Films
Opens December 10, Maysles Cinema
Related: Director's Interview: The Loving Story
Grey Villet: A Storyteller Is Seen With New Eyes
On Exhibit: Grey Villet's Photographs of The Lovings
Directed by Nancy Buirski
Icarus Films
Opens December 10, Maysles Cinema
Related: Director's Interview: The Loving Story
Grey Villet: A Storyteller Is Seen With New Eyes
On Exhibit: Grey Villet's Photographs of The Lovings
Thursday, December 6, 2012
(Must) To Do Friday: Documentary Photography Today Symposium
Documentary Photography Today
Friday, December 7, 2012 - 10:00am to 1:00pm
Teleconference Lecture Hall, Alexander Library, Rutgers University, 169 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ
WE INVITE YOU TO VIEW THE EVENT ON OUR LIVE WEBCAST BEGINNING AT 10:00 AM EST AT THE FOLLOWING LINK: vcenter.njvid.net
Just click on "live videos" toward the upper-right of the homepage
Sponsors
Office of the Vice President for Research at Rutgers University
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
New report, to be released on December 11: Global jailing of journalists reaches record-high
Global jailing of journalists reaches record-high
Via Committee to Protect Journalists
New York, December 5, 2012-- The threat of imprisonment has become a reality for a record number of journalists in 2012, the Committee to Protect Journalist found in its annual prison census. The report, to be released on December 11, records and analyzes the imprisonment of journalists globally, underlining the ongoing crackdown against critical reporting.
A breakdown of the charges, regions, mediums and the number of freelance journalists imprisoned will be available. CPJ's census, first published in 1990, is a snapshot of those incarcerated at midnight on December 1, 2012. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year.
WHAT: 2012 Imprisoned Journalists, a CPJ yearly census
WHEN: December 11, 2012 - 12:01 a.m. EST / 4: 01 a.m. GMT
WHERE: WWW.CPJ.ORG
Advance copies of the report are available upon request and interviews may be arranged prior to launch date. The report will be published in Arabic, English, French, Russian, Turkish and Spanish.
WHAT: 2012 Imprisoned Journalists, a CPJ yearly census
WHEN: December 11, 2012 - 12:01 a.m. EST / 4: 01 a.m. GMT
WHERE: WWW.CPJ.ORG
Advance copies of the report are available upon request and interviews may be arranged prior to launch date. The report will be published in Arabic, English, French, Russian, Turkish and Spanish.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Steve Schapiro Interview: "The picture isn't truth. The picture is the photographer's point of view"
(Pardon the ad)
Interview: Steve SchapiroSteve Schapiro was born in 1934 in New York. In the beginning he photographed the daily life on the streets of New York. Steve Schapiro made his education at the American photographer W. Eugene Smith. For years, Steve Schapiro photographed socially critical series like drug addicts in East Harlem or the lives of American immigrants. These pictures he sent to the "Life" magazine - until 1961 he received his first commission.
A Life full of legendsSteve Schapiro photographed in the 60ies the Kennedys and followed Robert "Bobby" Kennedy in 1968 during his campaign. He also worked with artis like Barbara Streisand and Maroln Brando. Also Muhammed Ali was one of the persons Steve Schapiro photographed during his career. He evolved a passion for photographing on film sets. His first shots he did on the film set of Martin Scorsese. The pictures he did on the film sets of "Taxi Driver" and "Godfather" are well known and legendary.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
'BEST' PHOTOS OF 2012
The lists are in. Here is the final edit of everone's photography "Best of" lists for 2012. (Thanks to @Stellazine who made sure we didn't miss any!) Happy 2013 to all!
Photojournalismlinks: Top 10 Photos of 2012
NPPA: Top Five Photojournalism Stories of 2012
TIME: 366: The Year in Photographs 2012
The New York Times: 2012: The Year in Pictures
The New York Times: 2012: The Year in Culture
BBC: The year in pictures 2012
CNN: 2012: The year in pictures
The Washington Post: Best of The Post 2012
The Sacramento Bee: Moments Through Our Eyes, The Year In Pictures
Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2012/12/moments-through-our-eyes-the-y.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#mi_rss=The%20Frame#storylink=cpy
TIME: A Year of Photographers in the Picture
BBC: UK Year in Pictures 2012
Al Jazeera - In Pictures: The year in review
The Santa Fe New Mexican photographers look back at their favorite images of 2012
Ad Age's Magazine Covers of the Year
Documenting 2012 Through Instagram
Weather.com: Best Weather Photos of 2012
The Brian Leher Show: The Best of Your 2012 Cell Phone Pictures
Dallas Morning News: Our favorite photos from Getty Images in 2012
PDN's 12 Most Popular News Stories of 2012
Chicago Tribune: 2012 best news photos
2012 best Chicago iPhone photos
Guardian: The best photographs of 2012
TIME: In Memoriam: Photographers Who Died in 2012
NYT Lens: The Images of 2012: Sports
Guardian: Best portraits of 2012 – in pictures
A Photo Editor: The Best Photos I Saw This Year That I Haven’t Already Written About Yet
Spiegel: Photo Gallery: The Best News Photos of 2012
Telegraph: Pictures of the year 2012: UK news
American Photo: 2012's Best Photojournalism
Bloomberg: Bloomberg's Best Photos 2012: A Changing World
Vanity Fair: 2012 in Vanity Fair
Guardian: After 52 weeks of diligent smartphoning, we come to the end of a project to test the limits of iPhoneography and document the year in pictures
LA Times: The year in wire pictures | 2012
NBC News: The Year in Pictures 2012
Twelve from 2012: Portrait Photography in The New Yorker
BagNewsNotes: Best Photos of 2012, and Why: From Syria to the New York Harbor
Reportage by Getty Images: Looking Back at 2012
The Telegraph: 2012: The Year in Pictures
Poynter: Photojournalism in 2012: A year of excellence, ethical challenges and errors
As 2012 draws to a close, BBC invites five photographers to talk about the story behind one of their pictures taken this year:
1. Photographer Robin Hammond on story behind Nigeria picture
2. Associated Press photographer Bernat Armangue speaks about how he obtained this moving picture during the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas
3. Reuters photographer Beawiharta explains the story behind a picture of school children crossing a collapsed bridge in Indonesia
4. Owen Humphreys of the Press Association talks about his dramatic photograph of Mo Farah on his way to victory in the 10,000m at the London Olympics
5. Picture power: Living dead of the drug war
Boston.com The Big Picture: 2012 Year in Pictures: Part I
Part 2
Part 3
Boston.com: Best nature pictures of 2012
Associated Press: Top 10 Photos of 2012
Guardian: The best photography of 2012: Sean O'Hagan's choice
From Facebook IPO to Tsunami, Bloomberg Best Photos 2012
TIME Picks 2012′s Best Photographer on the Wires
TIME Picks the Top 10 Photos of 2012
TIME’s Best Photojournalism of 2012
TIME’s Best Portraits of 2012
TIME Picks the Top Photographic Magazine Covers of 2012
TIME Picks the Most Surprising Photos of 2012
TIME: 2012: A Year of Deja Vu
TIME: 2012: The Year in Silhouettes
TIME: 2012: A Year of Strange Landscapes
BagNewsNotes: Best Photos of 2012, And Why — #1: In Sandy’s Tracks
Best Photos of 2012 and Why: From Holmes to Newtown
Media Ethics: Top 10 Photo Fails: 2012's Fake & Wrong Photos
Adelaide Now: The most striking photos of 2012
The Phoenix Business Journal's best photos of 2012
Mercy Corps is training women to mediate land conflict in Guatemala: Ten best photos 2012
Windsor Star: Photos: More best images of 2012
Stuff: Best world photos 2012
Business Insider: The Best Photos Of Barack Obama in 2012
The New Yorker: The View from Space: 20 Stellar Photos of Earth in 2012
USA Today: Best News photos 2012
Photos: 2012 Photos of the Year by the Associated Press
BagNewsNotes: Obama, the GOP and a Bookend Pair of “Pics of the Year'
Star-Ledger: 2012: Best N.J. feature photos of the year
2012: Best N.J. news photos of the year
2012: Best weather photos of the year
TotallyCoolPix: Top Pictures Of 2012 Part 1
Part 2
Guardian: Travel Photographer of the Year 2012 – the best pictures
Guardian: A Northern Eye - Chris Thomond's look back on 2012 starts today
Wired’s Favorite Viral Photo Projects of 2012
Sports Illustrated: Pictures of the Year
2012’s Best Entertainment Photography
Vancouver Sun: Top photos from the year shot by Getty Images photographers
around the world
Global News: Best photos from 2012
Business Insider: 42 Unforgettable Photos From The Past Year
Wall Street Journal: Year in Photos 2012
WSJ’s Photos of the Year: Behind the Images
CNN 2012:The Year in Pictures
The Atlantic: In Focus 2012: The Year in Photos, Part 1 of 3
Part 2 of 3
Part 3 of 3
Huffington Post: 40 Most Powerful Photos Of 2012
HuffPost photo editors curated a slideshow of serious eye candy from Getty Images and the Associated Press
The Best Photography Blog Posts of 2012
BuzzFeed: The 45 Most Powerful Images Of 2012
Reuters: Best photos of the year 2012
The Most Popular Cameras and Settings for Reuters’ 2012 Photos of the Year
Best Pictures of the Year from Agence France Presse
VII photographers present their best images, shot or released in 2012
UK Telegraph: The 50 best images of the London 2012 Olympic Games
UK: Landscape Photographer of the Year 2012
British photographer wins Travel Photographer of the Year 2012 title
Best of 2012 - National Geographic Magazine Photos of the Year
National Geographic: Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks
National Geographic: Best Camera-Trap Pictures of 2012
Top 10 Kisses of 2012 [PICS]
fotostrada: Collection of the BEST images of 2012 by the 'fotostrada' collective .
BOOKS
Conscientious: My favourite photobooks in 2012
TIME’s Best of 2012: The Photobooks We Loved
Blake Andrews: Under The Radar: Best Photo Books 2012
Guardian: The best photography books of 2012: an alternative selection
Photobookstore UK My Best Books of 2012
Elizabeth Avedon: 2012 HOLIDAY BOOKS: A Few New Favorites
American Photo: Books of the Year: John MacLean's New Colour Guide
Photo District News: Indie Photo Books of the Year:
Feature Shoot: Top 15 Photo Books of 2012
The Photo Book Club B*@t of 2012
The Daily Beast: Best Coffee Table Books of 2012
phot(0)lia: Photobooks 2012
Shane Lavalette: Ten (Or Twenty) of The Best Photobooks of 2012
John Edwin Mason: Photo Book of the Year, 2013: Gordon Parks' Collected Works
Announcing photo-eye's Best Books 2012
UK Guardian: The Best Photobooks of 2012
Top 10+ photobooks of 2012 by Alec Soth
Mrs. Deane’s years in books: a Listmas tale
Marc Urust: One more list of 2012 books
MISC
Bag News Notes: Best Bag Posts of the Year: Oversight in the Media-Military Marriage
A Curator: 2012: Some of the best from this year's features
Stellazine: The Favorite Photo Shows of 2012
British Journal of Photography: The 50 best photography products of 2012
Carole Evans Photography: Highlights of 2012
Photoshelter: 57 Reasons to Love Photography in 2012
The Future Of Photography: 7 Images From 2012 That Should Make You Excited For 2013 And Beyond
2012 Year on Twitter
Poynter: The best (and worst) media errors and corrections of 2012
Best art exhibitions of 2012, No 5 – Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany
Best art exhibitions of 2012, No 9 – SFMoMA presents Cindy Sherman
Best art shows of 2012, No 7 – Everything Was Moving at the Barbican
Bloomberg: Hot Art: Top 10 Auctions of 2012
2012 list of 19 things they didn't want you to know about photography but are actually true
Related:
The most unforgettable images of the year / Best photographs of 2011
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