Great Work From Gary Land
(Source: garylandphotogprahy.com)
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A Bit About the Workshop
LEARN HOW TO OBTAIN THE FUNDING YOU NEED AND COMPLETE THE PROJECTS THE WAY YOU WANT
Photography projects require money. Many photographers produce work at their own financial cost. There are, however, plenty of funding sources available from different organizations. These organizations are ready to support image makers providing funding for research, creation, production, travel and living expenses.
There is a definitive technique to grant writing, learn this and strengthen your chances of reaching the top of the pile.
Photographer Donald Weber has won nearly $200,000 through grant funding over the past few years, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Paul Lange - Dorothea Taylor Documentary Prize, the Magnum Foundation and multiple Canada Council for the Arts grants, amongst many others. He’s used the funding to create award-winning projects, on his own terms and own time.
WORKSHOP INFO
1) The Proposal. Don will examine some award winning proposals, including his Guggenheim Fellowship, Lange-Taylor and two Canada Council grants. We will also look at other award-winning proposals, including Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, and other contemporary artists. We will look at why he wrote what he did and why it was successful. We will talk about the overall structure of writing a proposal, breaking it down into simple steps.
2) The Portfolio. After the proposal, an integral part of a successful grant is the portfolio and the editing of the photographs you choose. We examine what to look for and how to make the portfolio support your proposal.
3) The CV. Many people underestimate the power of a strong CV and its impact on a successful grant. We will discuss what makes a strong CV and how to turn your ordinary CV into extraordinary.
4) The Grants. Don will show various websites and calendars that list grants and their deadlines. We will also look at websites that help you in the preparation and finding of grants that apply to what you want to do.
About bit Donald Weber
@pixfeedla What moved you from the architectural world over to photography and film?
@Donald_Weber : I realized I loved the art of architecture more than the practice of architecture. I wanted a medium to explore the realm of ideas that was also about communication. However, as I mature photographically, I realize what an important role my architecture experience has played in my career. Interrogations, my current book, is certainly influenced by a very architectural feeling of spatiality and the understanding of how space can influence human interaction. When I worked for Rem Koolhaas he said something which I love, “OMA is designed to allow others to have their Eureka moments.” A feeling that has stuck with me, this idea that we can only move forward creatively when we are inspired.
@pixfeedla : How long have you been photographing?
@Donald_Weber : Long story, so I will abridge it! In high school I always wanted to be a war photographer, the romance of the leather jacket and danger was (is) incredibly appealing to a 16 year-old. But in my final year (I went to a special arts high school where all we did was study art, did nude life drawing, painted, drank coffee, called our teachers by their first names, etc.) my teacher Robert said - and this is verbatim - “You sick as a photographer. I recommend neither College.” So I ended up at art school studying sculpture and public installation… vaguely architectural. Right after graduation in 1996 I left for Rotterdam, The Netherlands and got a job with Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture. It was there where I picked up the camera again, just to simply document my time there. I loved how it felt in my hands, I loved roaming the streets, I felt like a French flaneur, I married my architectural interests with photography. It wasn’t until 2001, as I was preparing to ride across Africa on my motorcycle (something I did in a big three axle truck in 1998) when I was hit by an elderly Greek lady in a Lincoln Continental. Sliding across the pavement on my back, my motorcycle in a broken heap, I just said to myself - “Screw it. I’m going to be a photographer.” And I’ve been working ever since.
@Donald_Weber : Long story, so I will abridge it! In high school I always wanted to be a war photographer, the romance of the leather jacket and danger was (is) incredibly appealing to a 16 year-old. But in my final year (I went to a special arts high school where all we did was study art, did nude life drawing, painted, drank coffee, called our teachers by their first names, etc.) my teacher Robert said - and this is verbatim - “You sick as a photographer. I recommend neither College.” So I ended up at art school studying sculpture and public installation… vaguely architectural. Right after graduation in 1996 I left for Rotterdam, The Netherlands and got a job with Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture. It was there where I picked up the camera again, just to simply document my time there. I loved how it felt in my hands, I loved roaming the streets, I felt like a French flaneur, I married my architectural interests with photography. It wasn’t until 2001, as I was preparing to ride across Africa on my motorcycle (something I did in a big three axle truck in 1998) when I was hit by an elderly Greek lady in a Lincoln Continental. Sliding across the pavement on my back, my motorcycle in a broken heap, I just said to myself - “Screw it. I’m going to be a photographer.” And I’ve been working ever since.
@pixfeedla : Do you have a favorite camera?
@Donald_Weber : Not really, but I do love my old Canon 5D, the original version. I love the slight crappyness of the image, a nice warm palette and nothing too perfect. I’ll stick with it till it seizes, freezes or flames out on me. I have gone through quite a bit of them.
@pixfeedla : What is the first project you worked on that you decided to get outside funding?
@Donald_Weber : Well, again, my architectural past has come back to me! It was there where I learned the value of trying to create a sense of freedom and control over your work. I also began my photography career as a photojournalist in the early 2000’s, the perfect timing to experience the death of the editorial market. What a liberating experience! I don’t have this yoke of how things used to be or should be, I just have a very personal experience and a desire to make the make the work that I want to make on my own time and my own terms. For almost 10 years I have relied exclusively on outside funding from a myriad of sources from government grants, awards, private foundations, institutions, etc. There is money to be found, the trick is learning how to find it and how to successfully propose an idea.
@pixfeedla : What is the most important thing in the workflow of funding and art project?
@Donald_Weber : Knowing who you are and what you want to say. Creating a vision and clearly and concisely expressing your vision. An organizational structure of getting everything down to its basic components and learning from experience that as photographers we are at an advantage against writers - we are visual people by nature, so all we have to do is express ourselves through visual cues. Realizing that a blank sheet of paper is not a block at all but is quite liberating. It takes no time to write 500 words, the average length of a proposal. Address the needs of the grant and get down to the very basics of your work - it’s not about creating a complexity but rather clearly definign what you’re all about.@pixfeedla Thanks Donald!
@Donald_Weber My pleasure! Hope to fill all the seats! Come on LA!
Jim McCrary, Rock & Roll Photographer and Co-Founder of Pix Inc. passed away at the age of 72. Born and raised in Los Angeles County, California, Jim McCrary was a self-taught photographer.
In 1967 he joined A&M records where he became the chief photographer.
According to the LATimes, record producer of A&M Lou Adler stated "He was so
important both to me and my artists. Conceptually, he always understood what
the person was about and was able to photograph their personality. A perfect
example of that is the 'Tapestry' album.... The idea of having the cat, that brought
a personal feeling to it."
During the 70s Jim also attended PasadenaCity College and Art Center College of
Design where he also started a teaching career. You can see his work here.
In 1974 he opened his own photography studio on La Brea Blvd. He lived above
his work space which remained open until 1990. This is the year that he began Pix Inc.
With Chris Ford. Together they changed professional photography rental history by having
the equipment readily available 24 hours a day. Chris Ford states" In April we lost one of the
great photographer's that laid down the groundwork for many other music photographers who
later followed. His conceptual work and uniquely bright personality will always me missed."
When creating the perfect image or at least a decent one you tend to look at a few different qualities in a photograph. Lighting, composition, shape, are a few of the basics. Imagine, not being able to tell if the image is printed in the wrong profile or if your subject was out of focus. The basic concept of light painting has been around for some time. Many of these light masters have the image planned out before they even begin. The same with Pete Eckert he plans every image out before he photographs them. The difference between Pete and many other photographers is that he is blind. He doesn’t have the chance to check the end result. You can read an interview with Pete Here.
And see more of Pete Eckert’s work HERE
With only 38 Days to go “I am not a Hipster” needs to raise funds to share this movie and enter film festivals in Cleveland, Nashville, Newport Beach, Philadelphia, and Seattle. The object is to share the film with as many people as possible.
Destin Cretton, writer/director of “I Am Not A Hipster,” a feature film revolving around San Diego’s indie music and art scene, made by the wonderful people there. Destin has started a kickstarter project that needs help being funded. The movie has been made and was shown in the Sundance Film Festival already.
“ Set in a wannabe-cool, art-and-indie rock scene, I AM NOT A HIPSTER is true to its title. Not tragically hip but, rather, emotionally rich, this portrait of a man in pain celebrates the healing power of family love. It aims straight for the heart and hits it. ” – Sundance Film Festival
“I Am Not a Hipster achieves a warm, funny, poignant character study of an indie rocker.” — Paste Magazine
The film features musical performances of songs that were written for the film by Joel P West and performed by actor Dominic Bogart. The songs were recorded under the name CANINES and released as a full record in November 2011: can be heard here
Michael Wolf ’s images of Tokyo Subway Rider’s. His series titled Tokyo Compression is just one hof his many projects portraying life and architecture in such an immensely structured part of the world. You can read an interview with him here
© 2011 Michael Massaia All Rights Reserved
While perusing the web I discovered imagery that seemed to be almost from a parallel universe. An image from ”The Final House of Throes” a great series that portrays neighborhood houses in a whole different light caught my eye. Then Central park came to life and made me feel like walking into a magical land where the big bad wolf may very well be hiding in the fog. or a horse and carriage would be turning to go to a castle around the bend. Michael Massaia was the artist in charge of the beautiful sir real one shot images. The images have not been doctored in Photoshop. They are Platinum Palladium prints. To fin out more about this process click here.
His most recent work can be seen online at www.michaelmassaia.com “Seeing the Black Dog.”
He is having a solo show “Retrospective” here: 270 in New Jerseyhttp://www.gallery270.com/ Opening night is April 19th7pm-9pm
Naturally I had a few questions of my own. Horray for email here are the answers!
Pixfeedla: When you first started photographing did you automatically want to shoot Large format?
MMassaia: No, I started using 6x7 but was never completely satisfied with the results. Large format black and white film (when developed properly)has a three dimensional quality that I have never been able to obtain in any other/smaller format. Having full perspective controls/camera movements is also very important to my work, and while I use to use shift lenses on my 6x7, it does not even compare to having the full range of movements that my 8x10 view cameras offer.
Pixfeedla: Do you have any tips for people who may want to begin the transition
to Platinum Palladium printing?
MMassaia: I believe everything really comes down to the quality of your ideas, and while the printing process is a very important part of what I do, I do think people spend/waste to much time focusing on the printing process. The original idea is what really drives me, getting that original idea onto paper via a handmade printing process like platinum printing feels like a real accomplishment. I guess my only advice would be-never compromise your ideas for the sake of a printing process, do everything you can to force whatever printing process you are using to match the vision in your head(experiment constantly and don’t settle for anything short of what you’re seeing in you mind)
Pixfeedla: Do you see your work ever evolving into a digital format?
MMassaia: I think I will always use film for image capture. Large format black and white film has a quality that I’ve never seen a digital camera match. There is something to me that is completely nauseating about going out with digital camera and two hours later coming back with four thousand pictures. With that being said, digital printing does fascinate me, and I have been recently experimenting with making large format 44”x60”-60”x80” pigment prints print’s on the new types of Baryta papers. I’m really excited with the results, and the Baryta paper that companies like Hahnemuhle offer produce really beautiful results. As with my analog Platinum printing, I do all the digital pigment printing myself with no outside help.
Pixfeedla: Your still life work is mesmerizing. What type of lighting did you utilize?
MMassaia:Thanks. I shot all of them using a 8x10 Sinar f2, Tmax 100 film developed in Pyro. The lighting setup was very crude, simple painter’s lamps with tissue paper to diffuse the light. Most of the lighting effect was created with dodging masks during the platinum print exposure.
If your in New Jersey this week stop by his show or if you are in Los Angeles like I am stop by his website to see is most recent work and what he is up to.
The French Agency Buzzman created a great interactive campaign for Tippex utilizing Youtube. “Hunter and Bears” Biggest Party has over 10 interactive endings. By choosing which Year they visit Hunter And Bear share many different journeys with Dinosaur’s, Indian’s and even Film Nior. via CeativeReviewUK
Sharing Photography with the Masses
Online photo schools are popping up all over. Workshops can be found in almost every major city across America. How do you know if you are getting quality information? Is a six week course really going to teach you everything? Looking around the sea of information I stumbled across one that offers a bit more than the others. Some of the perks are pretty swell too. You complete the course assignment’s when you want and submit online when you want. Then you get feed back from your tutor that is matched to your interests.
Check them out for yourself. See what you think.
‘pantone 1797 c’, a tart created by emilie de griottes for fricote magazine via DesignBoom
Licious* Art????
(Licious*shortened version of delicious. used for particularly delicious foods/drinks.)
I had a chance to have a chat with photographer James Florio about is recent adventures in Chile.
recent
Pixfeedla:How long have you been photographing?
James:Well, I remember as a little kid my father would let me run around on vacations snapping shots with the family camera..I thought it was so cool to hear that ‘click’….and a few of them were pretty good! jaja. However I bought my first ‘real’ camera and began developing/printingwhen I was 15, so I have been shooting for just over 15 years.
PixfeedLA: What is the scariest thing that’s happened on your ventures?
James: That’s tough, a lot of moments here and there, I was in Haiti shooting after the earthquake and was in a motorcycle accident (one of 3 on that trip), and I remember the rain pouring in the dusk and in slow motion seeing myself flying over my guide and the bike head first…and in that moment everything just stopped for a split second. The other moment was in Chihuahua Mexico about 2 years ago traveling to Copper Canyon from Juarez. It was really late in the night and we stopped in a tiny mountain town to get some food. I hopped out of the truck to smoke and stretch a bit. I was talking to my buddy in the drivers seat when a truck with 4 guys pulled up next to us and just stopped, I could feel them looking at us, and could hear the specific music playing that is very popular with “la linea” (one the main drug cartels). Any way the truck continued on and circled around 3 or 4 times and as we left, started to follow us out of town. It was probably my tensest moment being out there with just my buddy, in tiny Mexican town controlled by the cartel, waiting to see what would happen. I could really feel my heart beating then. In the end they followed us to the edge of town and let us pass. Now that I think of it there where a few such ‘cartel’ moments like that in the 7 years I visited the Sierra Madre Region…
PixfeedLA: What one of the more recent projects you have been working on ( include images) James: Lots of projects, which keeps me always busy and always searching…. One project that I have put a lot of energy into and will be Exhibited here in March is called “San Bernardo es Orgullo” which mean that San Bernardo (the largest community in Santiago de Chile) is/has Pride. I have been following 2 families that live in what we would call slums and here is call a ‘campomento’. Illegal squatting, pallet housing, drugs, violence, lack of water, illegal electricity, etc. This particular campomento is being closed down (this month) and destroyed, over the next 1-2 years government housing will be built and they will return to have a real house. It’s really amazing to see whats happening now, in the same moment there is a lot of hope for the future and change, and yet along side this the day to day struggle to make ends meet still exists. I think in Chile even with a very strong economy there is a huge class split. A very large upper/middle class and a very large poor class. In other Latin countries there is generally a much larger percentage of poor than wealthy. Because of this unbalance, or split, the food, clothing, metro, bus etc are all set to the much higher standard of living. In general the cost of these daily necessities are more expensive than in the USA, and when you have a large population in which the family earns 180,000 pesos (about 375 Dollars) a month it can be very difficult raise a family and to rise out of poverty. This unbalance exists all over the world, but it strikes me as much more apparent here, as Chile continues to rise and grow rapidly a lot of people are left behind. I have witnessed some terrible things and yet a mist it all there is so much beauty. Especially the kids, really amazing. I remember shooting one evening and as it was just getting dark when in a second everyone scattered as a man with a gun came running through the campomento looking for another man he had been arguing with in the street. I was waiting, listening, and looking out the window with a little boy (Fabian, 5 years old). I could see and really feel his fear, his eyes on verge of tears. Powerful. But what impressed me the most was about 15 minutes later, after the gunshots passed (we couldn’t see what happened) and with the streets slightly calmer, watching him run around and laugh and play joyfully like nothing had happened. How quickly he could return to his normal terrorizing 5 year old self!
Fashion photographer Lillian Bassman dead at 94. According to an obituary in the New York Times, during her first flourishing, Bassman “became highly sought after for her expressive portraits of slender, long-necked models advertising lingerie, cosmetics and fabrics. Her lingerie work in particular brought lightness and glamour to an arena previously known for heavy, middle-aged women posing in industrial-strength corsets.” via LA TIMES
ARTIST INTERVIEW: RAINER HOSCH
“How did Tour de Monde start?
Dedon’s marketing director approached me with an idea to travel around the world with their furniture. It wasn’t as literal as it sounded, we didn’t pack it on a truck and drive it around the world, but we did end up picking 8 different countries to visit. But out of that I ended up taking a bunch of personal shots, which became Tour de Monde.” via Daniel Rolnik
