March 2013 Archives

"The Eastern Subcontinent, which comprises Bangladesh and parts of India, is an area of exceedingly rich cultural traditions and immense diversity, and its festivals testify to this considerable wealth. They bear witness to the long histories of the many ethnic, religious, and linguistic communities who make up this unique region, and to the ways in which these various groups have influenced each other and borrowed from one another for centuries. Their largely harmonious co-presence and occasional convergence are evidence of a beautiful and intricately woven cultural fabric.

"I have attempted to consider both old and new, mainstream and eccentric, central and local in the belief that each element is equally significant to understanding the many cultures of this area. I have aspired not so much to a factual or objective totality, in and of itself impossible, but to a different sense of accuracy, a spirit of truthfulness in beauty."

— Claudio Cambon

See and read more in the latest issue of Lens Culture online now.

I've just discovered what I'm certain will be one of my all-time favorite photography books. These are color photos — amazing in their clarity and subject matter and almost psychedelic in the brilliant intensity and vibrancy of their color — of people, architecture, landscapes and rituals throughout the Russian empire from 1905 through 1915. They are important as detail-rich sociological documents as well as representing an amazing sampling of some of the earliest color photography.

A collection of 280 laboriously restored composite color images — originally made by the color photography pioneer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii on glass plate negatives — are presented in their true original eye-popping colors in a new book, Nostalgia.

Lens Culture is pleased to present 18 images in a high-resolution slideshow. See and read more here.

'Only in Burundi'

Amsterdam-based photographer Anaïs López collaborated with writer Eva Smallegange and designer Linda Braber to create this really wonderful new photobook (not yet published).

This is a video preview of the photobook dummy. It will be published as a paperbound book in June 2013. You can order your copy now, in advance, and help publish the book. Specifications: 148 x 192 mm / 248 pages / color / English and French 12 beautiful stories by Eva Smallegange & 80 photos by Anaïs López.

Here is the story from the photographer:

The past two years my colleague Eva Smallegange (writer) and I worked on this book. We travelled to Burundi (Central Africa) and got to know this country, its inhabitants and its culture. Through photography and writing we show contemporary Burundian life in different strata of society. Tying all these colourful stories and images together was a long process, but the results are amazing.

We succeeded in making a book with a positive outlook, containing personal stories of our guide and main narrator Koky. He tells about his childhood and introduces ten of his friends from different strata of society such as: the manioc miller from whom he buys his flour, the princess who was once engaged to his brother, the president and his cousin the cow herder. They share their view on what you need to survive in this intriguing country, five years after the ending of the civil war that raged for years: to get things done you need the right connections.

Anaïs López participated in Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2012.

"A story of a break-up and of unaccepted loneliness," in pictures and words: Swell by Mateusz Sarello, in the new issue of Lens Culture.

The photographic team of Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs (both born in Switzerland, 1979) were chosen as the winners of the Foam Paul Huf Award 2013. The € 20.000 prize is award each year to a photography talent under 35 years old, and it also includes a project with Foam in Amsterdam.

The jury stated:

"Our shortlist consisted of a select group representing a variety of approaches, from contemporary docu-graphic to conceptual and fine-art practices. In the work of artistic collaborators Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs we see a playfulness and depth that touches upon the very DNA of photography. We happily confer this prize on them unanimously."

Darius Himes, chairman of the jury noted:

"As illusionists intent on pushing against the boundaries of the medium, Onorato and Krebs skillfully engage their audiences and convey some of the magic that lies at the core of photographic image-making."

Discover more of the winners' work at their website: www.tonk.ch.

Lens Culture has just launched an all-new issue of great international contemporary photography. This mix is as eclectic and diverse as ever, selected to give you hours of enjoyment and inspiration.

But that's not all the good news.

We're thrilled to announce a Call For Entries for Student Photography Awards, which are open to all current photography students, as well as recent graduates since 2008. Twenty-one winners will be featured in Lens Culture (including links to their own websites), and one grand prize winner will be awarded $1,000 cash. Deadline for entries is April 15, so enter today!

Plus two very worthwhile photography workshops in Paris:

Practical Practices for Photographers: 2 days of fine-tuning your business and career strategies, including branding, editing, planning projects, marketing, PR, social networking and more. All designed specifically for photographers. Organized by Marc Prüst and Jim Casper. March 23-24 in Paris.

Fine Art Photography Masterclass with Jeff Cowen and Jim Casper. 5 days of intense creative work for serious photographers who are ready to make a vertical leap in their work. May 23-27 in Paris.

And finally, a very big thank you to everyone who has donated so far to keep Lens Culture humming along. It's never too late to make a contribution, large or small, and we really appreciate your support.

Cheers!

SILVER: A State of Mind. Wonderful project by photographer Vicki Topaz, celebrating naturally beautiful women with silver hair. See more at womenonaging.com.

Call for entries! Lens Culture Student Photography Awards are open to all students and recent photography school graduates, worldwide.

We aim to discover and promote talented, emerging photographers who have dedicated themselves to completing a formal education in pursuit of their careers.

Deadline for Submissions: April 15, 2013

We’re looking for exciting work from every continent, and from diverse points of view in 7 categories:

• documentary
• fine art
• staged/constructed
• portrait
• fashion
• conceptual
• photojournalism

We will grant awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize in seven categories. Each of those winners will be presented in a special online exhibition via Lens Culture: “21 New & Emerging Talents”.

One winner will be awarded a grand prize of $1,000 cash.

See the website for full details, and enter today! lensculture.com/student-awards

Martha Cooper:

“In the late seventies, I was working on a personal photo project documenting kids on the Lower East Side playing with toys they made from trash,” Cooper told me. “One boy showed me sketches in his notebook, and explained that he was practicing his nickname to paint on a wall. When I expressed interest, he offered to introduce me to a ‘king.’ The king turned out to be Dondi, and I became obsessed with graffiti. From Dondi and his crew, I heard many stories about the exploits of subway writers. Finally, in 1980, I accompanied them on a mission to the New Lots yards, in Brooklyn. In this photo, Dondi is completing a top-to-bottom car he titled ‘Children of the Grave Part 3,’ because there had been two previous versions. This shot was taken at sunrise, following a night of spray painting. Because the subway cars were parked in parallel rows, the writers could brace themselves between them and reach the top. This was probably the most exciting night of my life, and this is my all-time favorite photo.”

See many more wonderful pictures, and read many more stories in this excellent article by Jessie Wender, online at the New Yorker magazine blog, Photobooth.

See more of photographer Martha Cooper's photography of graffiti and street art at the 12ozProphet website.

Ai Weiwei is a living hero and master at fusing art photography video twitter blogging with social and political activism. Watch this film and get inspired.