Photography - This Photography Life

Dispatches from the Polish-Ukrainian Border

Megan Kwasniak — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 22:06:00 +0000

The dusk came quickly and it started to rain again. The chilly, damp air permeated through all my layers of clothing, sending a shiver down my spine. It was our last day at the border and we have just said our goodbyes. The orange vests we wore throughout the week were now neatly placed on the bench beside us, ready to be picked up by someone else tomorrow. We exited the tent, illuminated by the warm glow of a fireplace and into the cold, damp evening, cameras hanging from our sides. We did not want to miss any potential photo story on our way out. We stepped onto the wet ground and took the same walk we have been taking this entire week – past all the volunteer tents set up to welcome and aid the refugees, past the hot food stalls and the vet clinic. We waved good bye to the familiar faces we’ve befriended over the past few days. At the very end of the path, we came to the bus stop. We had passed it multiple times daily before and watched groups of refugees climb its steps inside. Today, someone had set up a temporary awning to protect those waiting in the rain. Just a couple of hours earlier, the awning was not there. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it must have been set up in response to the changing weather conditions. We were almost out of the camp and past the makeshift bus stop when something made me glance back briefly. As I turned my head, my eyes met someone else’s waiting at the top. It took me a minute to recognize the familiar face. It was a young woman whom we had treated earlier at the tent. She was barely eighteen though appearing much older, with dark hair and stark green eyes. She was bundled up from the cold and waiting for the next bus to arrive. I couldn’t help but ponder, where would it take her? At this point, I knew the options were limited. Having gotten familiar with the situation over the past seven days, I realized that she’d likely be taken to the large refugee center in Przemysl, a converted shopping mall now occupied by more than five thousand people. And from there, what next? Her future was extremely uncertain. Perhaps she had a family living somewhere in Europe and would get to meet them eventually, after a few more days of travel. Perhaps she had no one and would have to spend some time at the center, with hundreds of others who had been forced to flee their homes. I didn’t know and perhaps she didn’t either. But one thing was certain: I had a home to go back to. She did not. As our eyes met, she smiled faintly at me. I had an urge to point my camera and take a photograph – I believe she would have happily obliged. But I stopped myself. I could not get myself to do it. I desperately wanted her to know that I cared deeply about her and about her suffering. That it wasn’t just about the photograph and I worried about sending the wrong message. It was precisely a situation like hers that had brought me here, to Medyka, in the first place. Now, after a week that went by too quickly, my time volunteering was over. I was going back home. And she, like thousands of others affected by this war were stuck in the uncertain state, displaced from their homes and faraway from everything they had known their entire lives. As we drove away from the camp, my heart ached. And I questioned whether anything I had done this past week made any positive difference to those in my presence. The choice to come to Medyka at the Polish-Ukrainian border was a spontaneous one. I had plans to spend three weeks in Madrid taking dance classes at one of the studios I have been following on social media for the past several months. But as the war broke out in Ukraine, I became restless and anxious watching the situation unfold. I was also learning about the various ways the Polish nation had stepped up to help those fleeing Ukraine, including members of my own family, and so I decided to get involved as well. In a way, having the time off for a trip to Madrid made it much easier to make this happen – I could just hop on the plane and be in Poland in less than four hours. My friend Sonia, a Ukrainian whose family emigrated to the USA many years ago decided to join me on this trip as well. We arranged to stay with my family members who live relatively close to the border, driving daily each way for an hour to get to Medyka. My role as a volunteer involved staffing the medical tent which was located directly across from the actual border crossing itself. Standing just outside of it, you could watch small groups of people walk down the long path shortly after their passports had been examined. All day we heard the familiar sound of suitcase wheels rolling against the concrete ground. Our tent was the first to be seen on the Polish side of the crossing. If any of the refugees were in need of medical help, we’d be the first to provide it. Many had stopped requesting evaluation or specific medications. While most cases were not severe enough to require hospitalization, the option to call an ambulance was available to us. The biggest ailment proved to be psychological trauma, one that will certainly be the most difficult to treat and one that will remain a challenge for years to come. Sonia, speaking fluent Russian, was able to communicate with most refugees on a deeper level. She worked as a translator at the tent and took the time to talk to everyone who reached out to her. I tagged along her side at times, taking photographs and listening to people’s stories when they were willing to share them. As I write this, the war is far from over. There are new groups of refugees getting ready to cross into Poland, as Russia is planning its ongoing offensive in eastern Ukraine. Sonia is getting ready to go back to Medyka and I’m getting ready to leave Madrid. I will not be able to join her this time as I have to go back to work in the ER. Either way, the war remains deeply etched in my mind. Perhaps I’ll get to help somehow again, but for now, I’m sharing the images of the people who kindly agreed to be photographed and wanted the world to know their story. And I ask all of you reading this, please don’t forget Ukraine. She needs all the support we can give her right now.

The post Dispatches from the Polish-Ukrainian Border first appeared on This Photography Life.

The post Dispatches from the Polish-Ukrainian Border appeared first on This Photography Life.

Photographer Spotlight: Mauro De Bettio

Megan Kwasniak — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 19:29:37 +0000

Have you ever felt as if you’ve gotten to know someone based on social media following alone? While this may not be a common occurrence, I’ve certainly been able to connect with a few photographers on Instagram that it feels as if we’ve become friends. Mauro DeBettio is one of them. I cannot recall the first time I have seen or learned about his work, but his photography has fascinated me since. Mauro travels all over the world to photograph people and their cultures…He dives deep into the subjects he is passionate about and brings their stories to light. But I’ll save the spoilers and let him tell the the rest 🙂 1) Mauro, thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview! I am honored. Please tell us a little bit about yourself, where you are from and where you currently reside. I was born and raised in a little village in the Alps, in the north of Italy. From a young age I have felt the desire to tell stories and soon discovered that a camera was the right tool to do it with, an eye of sorts to communicate with others. It became an instrument towards a long journey of self discovery. In my village I had been working in a factory so it was quite difficult to find the possibilities to express myself creatively. One day, due to a combination of factors, I decided to leave everything behind. My big dream was to visit India, a country that I discovered in the pages of a novel (which I heartily recommend to everyone: The City of Joy). Since the day I got on that plane, what I call “my second life” had begun. The trip had turned out to be a wonderful experience that allowed me to meet many beautiful people and to prepare for everything that came after. Since then I’ve been to India six more times, followed by Bangladesh, Nepal and Africa. Over time, travel and photography have also become my job. I have the great fortune to experience exceptional places and cultures so, whenever I can, I organize tours and photography courses around the world. When I’m not traveling, my “base” is Barcelona, Spain. It is a city that I love because it is multicultural yet simple at the same time. And then there is the coast and the sea, which I love the most. I’ve created a very simple life for myself here and the only things I own are a bike and a surfboard. 2) What type of photographer do you consider yourself to be? Do you believe committing to a specific genre is important for a photographer or is it more beneficial to become more well rounded in all aspects of this creative art? Before figuring out what exactly I want to do with my camera, I undertook a long journey in which I experimented with different forms of photography. I started by photographing fauna (living in the Alps), then I did landscape, a little bit of macro and only at the end I started approaching human subjects. People were the ones who intimidated me the most. For this reason I started from far away and slowly approached closer. Documentary photography is undoubtedly the genre I’ve reached after this long journey. It’s the type of photography that represents my way of seeing and that, above all, allows me to live the lifestyle I want to live. As a matter of fact, I believe that I am a traveler first and a photographer second. I am certain that trying each of these different types of photography has helped me become the documentarian I am today, by combining different techniques and perspectives over time. 3) As you have mentioned before, you’ve been traveling all over the world to document people and their stories. Tell me about one trip that has left a truly deep impact in your heart and why. During my long trips I’ve had the good fortune to meet many great people and from each one I’ve absorbed something: happiness, joy, passions, and sometimes even anger, sadness and shame. In Ethiopia I climbed a mountain barefoot to photograph a priest in front of a church carved into a rock, in Nepal I hung on a rope to photograph honey hunters and in Bangladesh I stayed on the roofs of moving trains to make photographs. There have been many epic adventures. I have visited quite unique and crazy places that allowed me to create very unique stories. But the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m most proud of happened in Nairobi. During one of my trips to Kenya I had the opportunity to share my time and get closer to the street children of Nairobi. There are between 250,000-300,000 children living on the streets across Kenya, with more than 60,000 of them in the capital city of Nairobi. These children are often without shelter and go without food every day. I realized soon that these souls were in extreme need of help and decided to give birth to what today is called the “Malaika foundation”. Right now Malaika Foundation is focused on providing a home cooked meal to over 100 street children daily. This, however, is just the beginning. With people’s support, we hope we’ll soon be able to do much more. 4) A good portion of your photographs feature portraits from around the world. What is your best advice for someone who would like to photograph more people, but is shy or hesitant to do so? In one word: trust! I always feel a huge responsibility in finding the correct approach with people, to be able to properly explain with the images what they experience and who they are. Communication is always the first move to make, but sometimes even that is not necessary. Sometimes smiles and glances are enough to build mutual trust and break the mental and emotional barrier between me and the people I meet. Despite being in situations which are not often comfortable or easy, I always do my best to capture smiles and joy. It’s extremely important for me to show those particular emotions because they represent people’s strength and resilience. I am convinced smiles are a source of inspiration for all of us because they show that anything is possible when you face something with heart and courage from within. The determination which people show in the images I take is an extraordinary example of how every challenge can be converted into opportunity. My purpose in producing images that encompass different feelings is to evoke these emotions in the viewer. I want the viewer to stop and think about these real-life situations or hidden realities. In that way the camera is a vital tool that can help bring about social change. 5) You’ve organized photography trips for a small group of enthusiasts to various places in the world. Can you tell us a little more about these trips and what can we expect when embarking on a journey with you as a leader? The main and most important element when I organize and take people with me on my travels is ethics. For this reason I organize two to three trips maximum per year and only with a small group of four to five people. My tours have been created with extensive prior research in the field. A lot of time has been invested in findings the best areas, villages, landscapes and populations to ensure that my clients have the most amazing experience that these places can offer. The tours are focused on photography and on achieving the best photo opportunities but are also blended with a relaxed atmosphere that helps the participants maximize their creative and technical potential. As a participant, you will have the opportunity to learn and practice new and different photographic techniques, in various lighting situations and interesting environments. The tours are designed to have all the time necessary to experience unique encounters and create dream shots. Another unique and beautiful thing are the opportunities we bring to the communities we visit. In addition to financial aid, specific supplies and materials are delivered so that the people can sell or repurpose them to their own specific needs. I have gotten to know the places and communities we visit very well and a mutual trust has now been established. I am very proud of this. 6) What is next for Mauro? What are some of the projects you are currently working on or want to delve into? Soon I will be leaving for Nigeria for a project born last minute and which has changed all the other plans I had for this year. I have been contacted by a local writer who offered me a collaboration for a book on the tribes of Nigeria and of course I accepted immediately. In July I will return to Kenya for the new tour in Lake Turkana (soon I will announce the exact dates) and then I will continue some work on a personal photo project I started last year. In autumn I will visit India, my “second home”, the place I undoubtedly love the most. I will spend most of my time in Varanasi, for another personal project that I have been thinking about for years. You can learn more about Mauro, his projects, his photography tours as well as the Malaika Foundation on his website https://www.maurodebettio.com/ as well as his Instagram @mauro_de_bettio

The post Photographer Spotlight: Mauro De Bettio first appeared on This Photography Life.

The post Photographer Spotlight: Mauro De Bettio appeared first on This Photography Life.

Must Visit Places on your Northern California Photo Itinerary

Megan Kwasniak — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 01:58:28 +0000

Every few months, my friend Sonia and I become very restless and decide to take a trip together. Sonia is a fellow photographer and understands the logistics of travel when it comes to making images. Quite contrary to popular belief, image making is an intense, energy consuming process. Days are planned around the most ideal light, there are early wake up calls and late nights and scouting picturesque locations becomes more of a priority than eating at fancy restaurants. Photographers travel differently but I will write more on that subject in another blog post. The most recent trip Sonia and I had taken together was Northern California at the beginning of September. The main goal was a road trip through the Pacific Coast Highway. We had both dreamt up our own versions of what that road trip would look like and while we were able to experience a lot during this eight day journey, I can tell you this for sure: the trip has stirred my appetite for more. I now want to go even further north, exploring the places that are less known and less crowded than the famous PCH of the Californian coast. Pacific Coast Highway is a route that takes you from south to north of California, or vice versa, depending on where you are starting from. The road itself extends into Oregon as well, but we did not have time to venture that far. Our starting point was a place I had long wanted to visit: Point Reyes National Seashore. I have first read about it in Outdoor Photographer Magazine many years ago when I just started dabbling into photography. The photos of the foggy, somewhat mysterious coastline mesmerized me at that time…It’s been 10+ something years that I finally got to see it in person and it was, hands down, my absolute favorite place of the entire trip. In fact, I really need to go back there again 🙂 In a nutshell, Point Reyes was chilly, foggy and desolate – the perfect conditions for some moody-type photos. There are many hikes you can take in the area but even the drive itself is an absolute delight. We had the fortune of being on the main road just prior to sunset. Heading north in our rental car, we took notice of the sun setting to our right, turning the sky golden pink, drowning the scenery in pastel hues, too incredible to ignore. Any time one of us wanted to make a photograph, we were able to pull over as the road was practically empty. At one point, a herd of long antler dear appeared on the horizon. They trotted calmly, oblivious to our presence. I got out of the car to capture the animals’ long antlers silhouetted again the setting sun. At that moment, I was incredibly thankful not just for the scene before me, but for listening to my gut about packing the telephoto lens earlier – 20mm would have not been able to capture the majesty of the animals against the setting sky quite the same way. Point Reyes was the best place for moody, quiet type of photography. It left me with a sense of remoteness of a place and vast coastlines waiting to be explored. I’d definitely recommend bringing a telephoto lens (anything 85-400mm) to this location in addition to your wide angle, as you never know what wildlife you may encounter or if you decide to “compress” the jagged hills of the sprawling coastline. Point Reyes is also the home of a very famous landmark – the Cypress Tree Tunnel, the photos of which most of you have inevitably seen at some point while browsing the net. The literal alley of giant Cypress trees terminates at the gates of an abandoned historic building that you cannot enter, nonetheless this is a very interesting place to photograph. I chose it as the place for my Red Dress Travels series. Sonia and I stayed here for almost an hour making all kinds of images from different angles. Choosing sunset was the best idea for this and once again, we practically had the place to ourselved with very few other travelers appearing for short periods of time. Next we headed south and visited towns like Santa Cruz, Monterey and Big Sur, the more popular destinations on the PCH and thus, unfortunately, way more crowded. We could tell that the world, just the same as us, had become restless and was yearning to travel once again, despite the pandemic being still not quite such a distant memory. The key feature of all these destinations is their smaller town charm and it’s unmistakable beach vibes. There are plenty of photo opportunities there, from street style photography to quiet seascapes. In Santa Cruz we photographed during the most beautiful sunset and chased after surfers hitting the big waves – with our cameras of course 🙂 Even though scenes like these reminded me of Florida, the chilly air called for warm jackets and the water was not swimmable without at least a wet suit. Other than swimming, we explored the coastline; ragged, stormy and sometimes quite difficult to get to. We got lost looking for a “secret beach” that a local recommended in his youtube videos, but we never quite made it. Instead, we walked more than 5 miles in each direction, stumbling upon a dead seal and a group of hungry vultures waiting to pounce on its not yet decaying body. Nonetheless, the walk was beautiful and worth it. Many times not a single other person was found in sight. It was a perfect place to create landscape type photos or an environmental portrait type session. We finished our trip in San Francisco and I decided to photograph the famous Golden Gate Bridge. I will admit that photographing as iconic of a sight as this famous bridge can be daunting, but I didn’t want to leave the trip without at least one image of the landmark. Not knowing the city well, I could only focus on the locations that are more known among travelers and photograph it from there. The fog of san Francisco has always fascinated me and the season to “catch” most of it was at the beginning of September. Instead of worrying that I’m not an expert of the area, I decided to plan a bit more and take advantage of whatever presents itself to me. I made sure to get up at sunrise and visit the bridge from up close and from some distance, choosing to walk the famous Baker’s Beach and chatting up with locals along the way. I may not have captured the most unique photo of the bridge, but I managed to get a few interesting shots to be added to my collection 🙂 Again, a telephoto lens came very much in handy, as it allowed me to compress the bridge against the fog and the clouds, creating somewhat of a surreal mood. For all those thinking of driving the Pacific Coast Highway, I’d definitely say go for it; it’s a beautiful route to take on and to create many beautiful images. But for this one, research ahead of time, as seasons can greatly affect availability of lodging: this is a very popular road to drive and visit. For those of you who prefer more peaceful, less crowded destinations I’d say go as north as possible within the state and stay north, as it seems far less crowded than the south. Bring at least two types of lenses: wide angle and a telephoto as walking long distances with heavy gear should not be an issue for the most part. As always, plan around the best light and take advantage of all that comes your way, allowing your creative vision to shine through 🙂

The post Must Visit Places on your Northern California Photo Itinerary first appeared on This Photography Life.

The post Must Visit Places on your Northern California Photo Itinerary appeared first on This Photography Life.

Photographer Spotlight – Sofia Sebastian

Megan Kwasniak — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 01:50:03 +0000

Hi Sofia! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions! I am so glad we got to meet last year, during the Miami Street Photography Festival, where you were one of the speakers. Can you tell us a little more about who you are, where you are from and what you do? You’re welcome! I love your blog and I’m honored to be part of it. Miami was amazing and meeting you and Sonia was one of the best parts. I am originally from Madrid but now I live in Washington DC. I studied international relations in college and right there I knew I wanted to travel and live in different places. I came to the US to continue my studies, then moved to London to do a doctorate, worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and end up back in the US for personal reasons. For the longest time I was a library rat. 2. I noted that you have a background and education in economics, social science and foreign affairs, but I mainly know you as a fantastic street photographer! What was the journey like for you, going from unrelated fields and into street photography? How did you get started in this particular field? What is it about street photography that draws you in and compels you to photograph it? My first encounter with photography happened when I was 15 years old. There was a TV show in Spain that played classic movies and featured a debate with prominent experts in the field that thoroughly discussed the movie every week. I probably spent more than 500 nights watching these films. I fell in love with movie masters such as F.W. Murnau, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Francois Truffaut, Luis Bunuel and many others. I didn’t know at the time but the visuals from these movies became embedded in my brain. Instead of following this early passion of mine, I went on to pursue a career in political science and international relations. It was much later that I discovered my love for street photography. After a year of waiting for my security clearance for a state department job, I got restless. When a friend asked me to join him in a street photography workshop I didn’t hesitate. I have been hooked ever since. For me, street photography is about exploration – I love getting lost in cities and experiencing the street. But it is also about the chase and the reward. It’s about bringing it all together and creating something new that is meaningful and unique, it’s about that split of a second that brings together a beautiful or mysterious moment. 3. You are the first female photographer I had gotten to know personally who has young children. What are some of the challenges you face as a mother and photographer? Does being a parent help you create stronger visual work? If yes, in what ways? It is a bit challenging sometimes. When I started doing street photography theone thing I kept hearing was that you should do it everyday. I knew that that was not going to work for me. But then I realized that you have to adjust your practice to your lifestyle and to your personality. You have to do what feels right for you. There are no rules. Before the pandemic, for example, I would do short trips to New York, alone, so that I could be fully focused on photography. No distractions. I really enjoyed that. But with the pandemic I’m not sure when I will be able to do that again.All in all, it is undeniable that having kids poses some extra challenges in terms of finding time to photograph but it is a challenge I accept and try to make the most of it. I have started to find ways to incorporate my kids into my street work, which is exciting for me.In terms of how being a parent may help create stronger visual work, I am not sure. Maybe it makes you more productive when you go out because your time is limited. Perhaps I am more focused. Maybe. Although I also have really bad, unproductive days like everyone else! 4. Your photographs often depict a wonderful play of light and shadow and carry an air of mystery to them. Are there any particular elements you focus on that help you achieve this type of look in your work or do you leave it more to chance? Is any time a good time to photograph the streets or is it better to preplan a little bit? I do love how light can turn ordinary situations into something extraordinary and unique. I know a few places in Washington DC and NYC that allow me to play with light and shadows and I go back to these places quite often. Generally speaking, I tend to look for interesting light arrangements and wait for something to happen like I did in one of my black and white pictures of the train station in Washington DC. But often times I simply walk and leave it to chance. When I started photographing the street, I would go out at any time during the day. But I became obsessed with good lighting to the point that I only go out when the light is most beautiful, that is at the end of the day. I realize this is a mistake and I am trying to address it. Now, I take a camera with me wherever I go, just in case. There’s always an opportunity for a great picture just around the corner! 5. How has the pandemic and subsequent quarantine affected your creative process and your photography? Not being able to take pictures on the street, did you find yourself shooting at home or did you put your camera away altogether? The pandemic has been incredibly challenging in so many respects. For the first couple of weeks I couldn’t function. I was paralyzed, trying not to think about the implications of it all. I was also worried about my family in Spain, one of the hardest hit countries, so I was in a constant state of anxiety. But soon things started to look like a new normal. And the photography community became very active right away. I joined a couple of initiatives and started to feel inspired by other photographers taking pictures during the pandemic. I took my camera. My kids were home with me so I couldn’t go outside but I turned my camera to them. The work that I have done during the pandemic feels very personal and very different from my street work so I have not shared a lot. I don’t even know if these pictures are any good! But I have really enjoyed being creative in a different way. It has also kept me motivated during this difficult time. 6. Are there any particular projects you are currently working on? Or do you have any in mind that you’d like to materialize sometime in the near future? Before the pandemic I was working on a project on and off about social fragmentation in urban spaces. I am fascinated by the business of everyday life in big cities, but my interest in this series was driven by the sense of chaos. In these pictures people are competing for a space that I create with my camera. The characters are not interacting with each other; they are mostly engaged with something that happens outside of the frame. But the common denominator is that there is an element of distress. I use the deep contrast provided by light and shadows to accentuate the drama. I like to get very close to people so I am not sure when I will be able to resume this project. I enjoy doing different things to keep myself motivated so it may be good to have a bit of separation from this work and explore other venues. More recently, and before the pandemic, I started taking pictures during my outings with the kids, which I would like to turn into a series, but this is in a very early stage. All in all, I still prefer to go out on the street with no agenda and see what kind of photographs I can make. I like to experiment and be surprised. I have been using some flash lately to create more drama in my images but I’m still pretty clueless about it. The results have been for the most part unexpected, which can be good and very bad sometimes! 7. What is your best advice for someone just starting out in street photography? What is the one thing you’d like them to know and focus on? Go out and discover the magic in the street, with no pressures, just for the sake of exploring like it is completely new to you. Practice as much as you can and learn from your failures and successes. Study your pictures and think about the common elements that interest you and then shoot more. Once you become more familiar with your own style and triggers, you can start looking for them in advance. If you can, get some feedback from a street photographer you like or trust. Try to join a street photography photo walk or workshop, if there are any in your city. These are great opportunities to hone your skills, meet other photographers, create a community, and get valuable feedback. Most importantly, study and review the work of the masters of street photography or other artists you like. Look for guidance and inspiration in them. Ask yourself what pictures you like best and try to understand why (so that you can better understand your own work). At first, it is ok to emulate what others have done or are doing. It is helpful to learn from others’ bodies of work, methods, and techniques. But ultimately, you have to follow your own path, develop your own methods and your vision, and adjust street photography to your lifestyle. It is not easy and it will not happen overnight but I believe this is the ultimate goal, to make the process of shooting and the pictures you make your own.

The post Photographer Spotlight – Sofia Sebastian first appeared on This Photography Life.

The post Photographer Spotlight – Sofia Sebastian appeared first on This Photography Life.

Photographer spotlight – Harvey Stein

Megan Kwasniak — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 22:16:55 +0000

1) Thank you so much for being on the blog today Harvey! Please tell us a little bit about yourself. How and when did you start in photography? Hi Megan, and thank you for interviewing me for your terrific blog. I didn’t begin to photograph until I was 22 years old. This is considered “old” these days, so many people now begin to photograph in their teens and major in photography in college. When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, I was into playing sports and studying a lot for my high school classes. I enrolled via scholarship at Carnegie Mellon, a university that I could walk to from my home. Four years later, I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering. But I was surrounded by students who were art and drama majors in addition to engineering students. I loved my elective classes, including anthropology, English Lit, and Drama. When I graduated, I knew I would not work as an engineer for long. I was always seeking more creative outlets in college then what engineering could provide. After graduation, I wrote short stories, took ceramic classes, and tried to paint. A year after graduation I found myself in Germany in the U.S. Army (I took R.O.T.C. in college and had a two-year obligation to serve in the army). I bought a Zeiss Contaflex camera there to document my experiences and travels during this time. Once I began shooting I knew that photography could be that creative outlet I hungered for. Upon returning to the states, I moved to New York City, enrolled in a graduate program at Columbia University, and took several photo classes. I was hooked and have never looked back. I began shooting in the grimy streets of New York, it’s people and it’s decay in the early 1970’s. It was thrilling; photography became my profession and my life. 2) Who would you say were your biggest influencers when you first ventured out onto this journey? Were they photographers, painters or artists in other genres? What was it about them that attracted you to their work? My biggest influence was one of my first photo teachers, the important street photographer of the 1970’s and 80’s, Ben Fernandez. He was a big, rough guy from East Harlem; he was an aggressive, in your face photographer with whom I was fortunate enough to study and then teach for at the New School here in New York. He told me to get a Leica M4, get a 21mm lens and go to Coney Island to photograph. Being the good little student that I was, I did all three. Now, nearly 50 years later, I still have the M4 and 21mm lens and still go to Coney Island. I just signed a contract to do my third book about Coney Island, it will be called Coney Island People: 50 Years and will be published in May 2022. Coney is my home away from home. Other influences include Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and the great Garry Winogrand. Although often lumped together because they became well known together due to their group exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967, their work is quite different from one another. But what unites them is that they mostly use the street as the place where they do their photography but in unique and distinctive ways. Each makes me think in a different way and challenges my notions of what a photograph should look like and can be. 3) Other than New York City, what are some of your favorite places to photograph? Is there any particular city or country you love to come back to over time and if yes, why? I love photographing in New York City, of the nine books I have had published, six have been shot in New York. And the tenth book, the new Coney Island book will make it seven of ten. I have lived here since the mid-60s and cannot imagine living anywhere else. It’s a fascinating and endless city. I am known as a New York photographer, and have been called a visual poet of New York. Next to New York, a favorite country to photograph is Mexico; my book Mexico Between Life and Death was published by Kehrer (German publisher) in 2018. The photographs were made during 14 trips to Mexico between 1993 to 2010. My new love is India, I visited India this January/February, and have made five trips there since 2013. Both countries have a vibrant street life, amazing light and colors, and very curious people who mostly enjoy interacting with travelers and their cameras. I hope to make a book of the India work one of these days. Both countries provide new sights, experiences and shooting opportunities and certainly broaden my education and understanding of the human condition. 4) How (or if) has the pandemic changed your outlook on the photographic process? Do you feel that the quarantine has limited or liberated you in a way? Were you able to take any photographs during this time or did you mostly forgo making new work altogether focusing on other things? The pandemic is terrible and has made 2020 very difficult for everyone on this earth. Our country has been completely unprepared for it, and our administration has failed us greatly in handling this scourge. But it hasn’t changed my outlook about photography. I love most things about this art form but the pandemic has indeed limited my normal photographic practice. Mostly, I photograph on the streets, and the great social street events in New York, including parades, block parties, crowded gatherings, beaches, etc. All this has been cancelled and neutralized, and who knows when they will return. I miss the action and interaction of the streets and photographing the strange and wonderful people found there. The street is now more surreal than I could ever imagine or arrange. However, since I don’t have a car and using public transportation isn’t a safe option yet, I have been forced to shoot in my neighborhood the last two months—-the local streets and parks that are so familiar to me that I have overlooked as viable subjects. I have found that people wearing masks are friendly and open to being photographed, and usually easily engaged in conversation. I also begun a new project to make portraits of the staff and workers of my apartment building–the superintendent in the boiler room, the doormen in the lobby and at the door, the porters gathering the garbage or sweeping the floors, the mail carrier; the people who do all the mundane chores that keep the building running and clean; the jobs that we as tenants take for granted. I’ve gotten to know the staff a little better and have learned more about their lives, a worthwhile endeavor. While the pandemic is having a negative effect on our lives, it is up to us to stay positive, working and engaged. I’ve seen some amazing images made as a reaction to the virus and that has to be considered a positive. 5) You have authored several books over the course of your career. What would be your best advice for new photographers considering publication of their work in this format? In the digital era we are currently living in, is making books still as important as it was years ago? I will always believe that making books is very very important, no matter the time or age. Making photobooks has been a major goal for me, it’s very important and informs my work almost totally. My first book, Parallels: A Look at Twins was published in 1978 and was very well received. I’m now working on my tenth book. It doesn’t get easier the more books you do, it is still difficult to find a publisher and almost none exist now that will not expect the photographer to pay for it. That wasn’t true until the last 10 years ago, so this is a major change. I love the process of doing books—the fact it’s all up to the artist, that there are no real deadlines, and the book is the artist’s vision in long form. There are so many reasons to do a book, but it’s not easy to accomplish. My advice is to become an expert in the subject of the book, whether it’s the depiction of a family or a geographic location. My advice is to cover the subject from all angles and sides, to not rush anything, to take time shooting it. All but one of my books has taken me at least six years to shoot, one has taken 40 years, and the next one covers 50 years of photographing. We need to be patient, thorough and complete in the making of the book. Research is important, it’s not just about making the images, it’s also about learning deeply about the subject. Listen to others, but ultimately, believe in yourself and what you are doing. 6) What’s next for Harvey Stein? What should we be on the lookout for and where can we find your work? I have an online exhibit of work from my Coney Island 40 Years book with my gallery, Sous Les Etoiles, dates are June 9th through July. Check it out, the link is http://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/exhibitions/harvey-stein As I’ve mentioned, I’ll have another book published in two years so I am working on that, making prints, editing and sequencing images, writing, conducting interviews and thinking about the book’s introduction. Additionally, my latest book, Then and There: Mardi Gras 1979, was to be introduced this April at the Paris Photo New York International Photo Fair here in Manhattan. Of course this was cancelled, so the publisher has postponed the introduction until the September or October. I also conduct travel photo workshops around the world, one was planned to China this fall, that isn’t possible but I am busy planning workshops for next year to Myanmar, India, and New Mexico among other destinations. It’s a full slate, and I hope that things will be much more “normal” next year for many good things to happen. Thanks so much for the interview, some of my work can be seen on Facebook, on Instagram @stein.harvey and on my website at www.harveysteinphoto.com *** cover photo by Sonia Goydenko

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Medicine Meets Photography – Nepal 2011

Megan Kwasniak — Sun, 14 Jun 2020 22:14:32 +0000

The road became more and more bumpy as we approached our final destination. The driver came to a stop at the bottom of a steep hill. A group of local school children waved to us from an overcrowded yellow bus parked nearby. The group made its way slowly up the hill, wiping dust particles from our eyes. As usual, I stayed slightly behind, making photographs of the joyful children and deliberately taking everything in. I’ve felt overwhelmed since my arrival here few days ago, but there was no time to process anything as of yet. First Kathmandu, then my first trek ever across the Nepalese Himalayas, I knew the trip would be intense like no other before. To give a little context, I have never thought I’d be combining my love of photography with medicine. Lacking that “outsider’s perspective”, I’ve always viewed medicine (and thus my job as an Emergency Physician) as a medium somewhat devoid of color and creativity. Medicine became, after so many years of training and dedication, a duty rather than an artistic endeavor. Now, many do people believe that practicing medicine is a form of art and in a way, I agree with them. But it wasn’t something I viewed in the same way I viewed photography. The two were always strictly divided and the line was almost never crossed. I say “almost” because there were a couple of exceptions. The first exception occurred on this very trip during my third year of residency, in November of 2011. As third year residents, we had a chance to take an elective pertaining to the practice of medicine anywhere abroad. When the opportunity to traverse the Manaslu trek in the Gorkha region of Nepal presented itself, I immediately jumped on it. As part of the elective, a small group of medical students and residents would get to assess the work of an NGO providing medical assistance to the most remote regions of the Himalayas. We would also visit a few government run and private hospitals in more urban areas of Nepal prior to the trek. One of them became of special interest to me. The hospital was called Anandaban Leprosy Hospital. It was founded mainly to diagnose and treat the relatively small yet often neglected population of Nepal infected with Mycobacterium leprae. Due to the disfiguring nature of the disease, individuals affected by leprosy tend to become marginalized by their society. They suffer extreme socioeconomic consequences that extend beyond the course of their illness. We, in the developed world, may only hear of leprosy from historical or religious texts, but to many people in places like Nepal, the disease remains a tangible threat. Therefore, having the chance to visit such unique hospital, I was not only intrigued to witness the mysterious illness from my medical textbooks, my heart also leaped at the possibility of photographing it too. After securing permission from my leaders and the patients themselves, I was able to take photographs I deeply cherish to this day. For the first time ever, the marriage of photography and medicine became part of my creative world. Previously, many of the hospitals I’ve visited during my travels outside the US left an aching feeling in my chest. They were usually not the clean, brightly lit and well equipped facilities I was so used to back at home. It’s a sad reality, but access to and quality of healthcare in most developing nations is not a governmental priority and often takes a back seat to everything else. This leads to a very underfunded, overcrowded and overwhelmed medical system that struggles to deliver any kind of quality of care to its citizens. Imagine being treated in a dim, bare and overcrowded Emergency Ward where there are multiple beds placed next to each other, barely separated by a thin curtain and certainly devoid of any privacy. Perhaps the nurse that comes to start your IV doesn’t have proper gloves. Perhaps the IV fluids or the medicine you need cost more than your family can afford. Maybe the basic treatment you’ll receive will be enough, but for so many, it is not. This is the sad reality for many people across the world, constantly challenged by the lack of access or quality of medical care available to them. It is a complex issue far from being solved today. Thankfully, Anandaban Leprosy Hospital accepts support from abroad and provides respectable care to all of its patients. Not only do the ill get full medical treatment at the facility, but many continue to receive economic and social assistance after their recovery which is essential for their integration back into society. I was glad to see many smiling faces on the wards. The disease was palpably present, however, we got to meet a lot of patients who have fully recovered and are ready to go back home. During my time in Nepal, I was at the very early stages of my photographic journey. I enjoyed taking pictures and I brought my camera everywhere with me. But my photographs quite frankly, were not that good. I am not ashamed of this. I believe that we have to start somewhere and that the only thing that matters is that we keep going. If I became discouraged early on, I would have never accomplished what I have today. It’s important to honor those early days in whatever venture we set ourselves on. They define who we are later in the future. Therefore, I want to share these early images with you, from the leprosy hospital and beyond. Nepal holds a very special place in my heart and I hope to come back one day, perhaps to visit Anandaban and see the Himalayas once more. I am certain my photographs will be different then, maybe a little more refined, maybe deeper in context and meaning. Regardless, I know I’ll always look back on this trip with much nostalgia and warmth in my heart.

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Photographer Spotlight: Chris Suspect

Megan Kwasniak — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 23:05:19 +0000

Throughout the recent years, as I’ve attended various photography events, I’ve come to know many wonderful and talented photographers, some of whom have become my friends. I first got to know Christ Suspect at a San Francisco street photography festival last year and was blown away by his work. As a member of the audience, I got to watch Chris’ presentation of the photographs he has taken at various parties throughout the years. It was nothing like I’ve ever seen before. The rawness and honesty of the images shown truly captivated me. It was one of those photography collections that are not easily forgotten. Fast forward a year later and I’m honored to share an interview with Chris as part of my Photographer Spotlight series. It’s truly fantastic to hear his story, discuss photographic style and get a sneak peak into the projects he has been working on, especially his newest book Gratuity Included. Take a look! It’s really great to have you here in this digital space Chris! I was first introduced to your work at the San Francisco Street Photography Festival last year and have become a big fan since. Tell me more about who you are and how you started in photography. I am 51 years old and I live in Hyattsville, MD, right on the border with Washington, DC. I got into photography later in life after the birth of my son. We needed a camera to take photos so we bought a Canon PowerShot and I read the manual and fiddled with the settings as I walked around my neighborhood trying to figure out how it worked. When I was much younger I used to go to punk rock shows a lot and really admired a lot of the images punk bands were using on their album covers and inserts, whether it be protest photos, photojournalism, war reportage, crime scenes or weird creations using photo montage. After learning the basic functions of the camera, I started to go shoot protests in DC and current punk rock shows. I would also spend hours walking around the city just trying to catch cool street photos. I really had no idea at that time I was doing “street photography” but in essence that’s what I was doing. After a period of time I got more serious and bought a film camera and took a color film photography class at the Corcoran School of Arts. Since then I have never looked back and to this day I am always trying to further the craft by reading books, going to exhibits and learning as much as I can about all kinds of photography. Would you say you identify yourself with any particular genre of photography? Do you find this association more limiting or rather liberating to your work as an artist and photographer? That’s an interesting question because I personally don’t identify with a specific genre, but labels have often been applied to me as I present different bodies of work over time. At first I identified as a street photographer because I was entering lots of street photography contests and doing well, but then I published a book on the DC punk scene and became the punk rock photographer. I also started posting crazy party scene images and I became the party photographer. I find that people like to pigeonhole you so they can fit you into a box that makes sense to them. I don’t mind this but it can also make it tough when you try to present something different as people build up preconceptions of your work and style and often won’t give you a chance if you are doing something new. I am a big fan of the photographer Lee Friedlander, and while Friedlander is generally considered a street photographer, he has done so much more from Jazz portraits to nudes to landscapes and even still lifes. I strive to be like Friedlander in the way that he can traverse many genres while at the same time his style and viewpoint transcend his subject matter. I personally enjoy doing new things and ideally reaching new audiences. I have some new work coming out that focuses on various aspects of LGBTQ communities. In fact I am currently part of an LGBTQ exhibit at PHOTO LA this year. I guess that’s going to make me the gay photographer now LOL… Your social media handle is @gratuity_included. What lies behind this unique name and what does it refer to? My @gratuityincluded account on instagram is really a project focused account. All the time I was taking the punk rock photos I would find myself at various parties where people were having fun and acting crazy. I really enjoyed taking these images and so I started to search out unusual events just so I could shoot them. Other times I would just go out into the city on my own and insert myself into different party scenes. Most of these parties and bars I went to were attended by millenials and many worked in the service industry. So the name is a double entendre if you will. It reflects the nature of the places and people I shot while at the same time giving a nod to the provoking imagery that I was creating. I really like making images that scratch the lizard or reptilian parts of our brains, ie photographs that can give rise to our primitive urges and desires. Tell me about a project you are currently working on or have worked on in the past that you were particularly passionate about? What made you decide to do it? FAITH a long term project about a gay African American religious community that I did several years ago. It started in 2013 when I witnessed a minor accident where a pedestrian was hit by a taxi. I took photos of the scene and gave the victim Bilal Ali the images for his lawyer. A few months later Bilal called me up and asked if I would shoot a party he was throwing at a restaurant he rented out in the Dupont Circle area of DC. This photo shoot turned out to be an introduction to a community of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender African Americans that would blossom into a full scale, long term project that I worked on over several years. I admit when I started this project I knew very little about the issues gay African Americans face in today’s society. I incorrectly assumed that since the momentum towards the acceptance of same-sex marriage in numerous states and the culmination of this recognition by the US Supreme Court in 2015 that all was equal under the rainbow flag. But that is not the case as all things still aren’t equal today. American society is highly segregated and it should come as no surprise that the American LGBT movement is mostly represented by white gays and lesbians. Black gays lack their own prominent voice or representation on a national level. Despite the support of prominent national, African American leaders, like Obama and Oprah, show for gay culture in general, many black gays feel they do not provide a voice for their community. In communities, black families may accept their children’s sexuality but not openly, compared to many white families who proudly accept their children’s sexual orientation. The black Baptist Church is also notoriously intolerant of homosexuality, so the people I met in this project have been ostracized in the churches of their upbringing. Through this project I learned that in many of Washington, DC’s gay clubs African Americans often face prejudice. Discrimination can take the form of bogus dress codes or even charging significantly higher drink prices to African Americans, to discourage them from returning. In addition, many profiles on gay dating apps say “no blacks.” In response to all of this, the people in my project have created their own environments to express their lives. They gather at private parties organized in homes, restaurants or underground venues friendly to their lifestyle. They have also established their own church, The Community Church, in Washington, D.C., where they are fully accepted and worship freely. In shooting this project I went to their parties, homes and church services. I met all kinds of wonderful and amazing people who welcomed me into their community and allowed me extended looks into their personal lives. Nothing is held back from what I photographed, from the erotic to the spiritual. For me it embodies the relentless determination of an empowered community I have had the privilege to get to know. When I look at your work, I can almost certainly spot a certain style of photography. What constitutes style and how does one develop it? What advice would you give photographers eager to develop their own, but who are not quite there yet? Style is in essence one’s personal voice projected through their medium of choice, whether that be writing, art, clothing, dance, etc. Everyone has their own intrinsic style, the challenge is how to express it in an authentic manner that reflects your identity, values and aesthetics. This can be a long journey as it requires you to not only look deep inside but to learn the crafts that will help you express yourself. For my journey what I found that worked was to educate myself about the history of photography, specifically street and art photography. I wanted to know why people considered some people masters of their craft. For example, when I started, I really didn’t get people like Garry Winogrand, Cindy Sherman, Francesca Woodman or Joel Peter-Witkin. It wasn’t until I read books, articles and blogs about their lives and looked at their work in earnest that I began to understand why people considered them to be great. This in turn inspired me to see if I can create something similar or infuse some of what they were expressing and how they were expressing it into my own work. Overtime, you will transition from what can seem like a copy of an idea or style into something truly authentic. But first you need to understand the foundations that these previous artists have established and your role is to then continue that visual conversation by adding something new. As portraitist Dawoud Bey says in his recently published workshop book on Aperture, “you have to share a language even if you don’t share an intention.” What’s the next chapter for Chris Suspect? What should we look out for? I am glad you asked this question because this year I have set a lofty goal for myself. My plan is to publish four zines/mini-books per quarter in limited edition runs. I am starting with Gratuity Included and this publication will have 41 images in 6 sequences separated by translucent red poly pages. It will also have a red poly cover. The next book will be Leather Boyz and it explores 6 years’ worth of images taken at the Mid Atlantic Leather festival in Washington, DC. This publication will have four gatefold spreads and will also have a blue poly cover. I plan to follow that with a book on the Black Sea beach town Vama Veche in Romana and then my last will be called Revolution Rock and Roll which will pull images from a 24 hour period in Philadelphia in which I shot a music video for the band Low Cut Connie. This will come with a download code for the song with the same name. All of these first editions will be limited to 150 copies, but subsequent editions will not include special features like poly page covers, separations or music download codes. It’s been more than five years since I had my first book “Suspect Device” published and it’s time for some new things to come out. I plan to release Gratuity Included in mid-March and will be taking pre-orders on my site, www.chrissuspect.com soon!

The post Photographer Spotlight: Chris Suspect first appeared on This Photography Life.

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Why You Should NOT Buy the New Camera…and Use Your Phone Instead

Megan Kwasniak — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:48:24 +0000

This is a post I have been meaning to write for a while. It’s a post for all my friends and colleagues who have come to me over the years asking the seemingly simple yet actually very problematical question: WHAT CAMERA SHOULD I BUY? Believe it or not, but this question to me is a little like asking, what career should I choose in life? Before you become outraged and claim this comparison to be over the top, let me explain. You see my dear readers, currently there are hundreds of cameras on the market. All quite excellent in terms of quality, they range in a variety of brands and prices, each promising to deliver a better photo than its next door competitor. Point and shoot, DSLR, mirrorless and film cameras are all competing for your attention, the potential buyer. But before you decide on whether Nikon or Sony or Fuji are the ones that deserve your hard earned money, consider this most important question: what exactly do I like and what am going to shoot? If you are a young and budding photographer or just simply a photo enthusiast who wants to bring better photos back from her oversees vacations, to you specifically I say this: DO NOT BUY A NEW CAMERA. Please, just DON’T. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and skip getting new gear altogether. Here’s why: * Cameras do not capture photos. YOU DO. If you do not know the basics of photography, the new gear will not teach you. As a matter of fact, this new camera you have just bought and taken out of the box the day before your exciting trip will become a burden rather than a tool. It will not fix your faulty composition, your lack of understanding of light or your sharpness. After a few snapped photos that do not meet your expectations, you will likely leave it in your bag and not take it out until you’re back home again. Your hard earned $850 will not fix what you don’t know. * Given how affordable and accessible photography gear has become in the recent years, you likely already own a camera of sorts that can capture excellent photos if you simply allow yourself to learn how to use it. Yes, that includes your phone! Mobile cameras have reached excellent quality and can be used to a great advantage. The key is to learn HOW to use them. No matter what smart phone you currently have, they all posses some excellent features that will improve your photography. The obstacle lies in the fact that most people never take the time to learn how to use them. Take a good look at your “old” camera. Take out the users manual or if you don’t have one, search for it online. Most exist as a digital version as well as a paper copy. Learn the basics and go out and shoot with it! Nothing trumps experience of actually using your gear and making work with it. * Instead of spending close to a $1000 for a new gear, spend $25 for a proper photography manual. There are many great ones on the market. Instead of wasting hours searching whether to buy a Cannon or a Nikon, spend that time learning about the basics of light, composition and shutter speed. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING will improve your photography faster than learning a few basic rules and shooting with those rules in mind, no matter what camera you currently own. I challenge you to really embrace this, it will change your photography forever. * If you absolutely must buy the new piece of gear you’ve been desiring for so long, please get it a few weeks before that fantastic trip you have been planning and not the day before. There is nothing more frustrating in life than trying to capture something you’ve been wanting to see for a while while fumbling with buttons and functions in a camera you just acquired and are not sure how to use. New gear, just like a new lover, takes time to reveal itself to you and while the process can be super exciting, don’t expect it to perform at its fullest potential the day you meet each other for the first time 🙂 Take a moment to get know it, learn its secrets and test it out before you commit fully. You never know whether you’ll be compatible for good 😉 To illustrate my point a little more concretely, all the photos in this post have been taken with my camera phone. It truly isn’t the gear, but the photographer and her vision that make great work. Keeping in mind some rules of composition and knowing how to read light correctly can transform your photos, even when using a simple point and shoot camera. Please let me know what you think and share this post with anyone you think might find it useful! Onwards my friends! ***all photos taken with iphone X

The post Why You Should NOT Buy the New Camera…and Use Your Phone Instead first appeared on This Photography Life.

The post Why You Should NOT Buy the New Camera…and Use Your Phone Instead appeared first on This Photography Life.

Photographer Spotlight: Sonia Goydenko

Megan Kwasniak — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 00:11:13 +0000

Hello my dear readers! I’m super excited to introduce a new section into this blog that will highlight all the amazing photographers that inspire me and from whom I learn on daily basis. I actually have interviewed someone before when my blog was still very new (check out the post with Satesth Ramjattan here), but this time I plan on doing it on a more consistent basis. I hope the interviews with these amazing photographers bring you as much value and inspiration as they have brought me. So without further ado, I introduce you to my dear friend and street photographer extraordinaire, Sonia Goydenko. Sonia and I met in New Mexico at a photography workshop she was part of. We’ve become close friends since and I have been honored to be part of her photographic journey. She is incredibly talented. Her work carries an air of mystery to it. She has exhibited her photographs in several places around the world and has been published and interviewed by several street photography mediums. Her eloquent and in depth responses to my questions are a true delight to read. I learn a lot from Sonia and I hope you will too. 1) Tell me about your journey to become a street photographer. How and where did this all begin? My stepfather bought me a little point and shoot camera when I just got out of college, but I like to think that my journey started way before that. I’ve always been keen on noticing things while walking the streets. I remember when I was 5 years old and my grandfather would take me on all day walks. We’d start out in the morning and didn’t return until late in the day. We would walk all around the neighborhood and even though my grandfather only knew 3 phrases in English he still managed to stop and talk to everyone we met along the way. There’s one woman I remember vividly in my mind. She lived in the building next door and would sit outside on a chair in the parking garage, drinking beer every single afternoon. My favorite thing about her was that her entire back was covered with a giant tattoo of a naked mermaid. This was a time when almost nobody had tattoos, especially ones that covered the entire body. I remember staring at her back and tracing the mermaid with my finger while my grandfather and her talked. I think of these long walks as a primer for how I view the world now. They’ve made me opened and engaged with the world, rather than afraid of it. 2) Why street photography? What draws you to it? What makes it unique and distinguishes it from other genres? Street photography is the most difficult type of photography in my opinion. The photographer has to create order out of chaos. There is only the moment in front of them. No do-overs. Once the moment is gone, it’s gone. That’s what excites me about street photography. It’s so fleeting. It’s like life. There is no guarantee of a future, only the present moment. The act of street photography forces the photographer to act on the present moment. To say yes to it. Yes to capturing it. Yes to life. 3) Who are your favorite top three street photographers and why? What are the biggest lessons they have taught you? I actually have four favorites and they are as follows: Diane Arbus: The portraits that Diane Arbus have made are absolutely mind-blowing. She was able to approach a person she didn’t know on the street and in a short span of time, bring out remarkable qualities in them. She mostly photographed people on the fringes of society who were almost never photographed. Some critics say that she took advantage of them, but I believe that without her images of the subjects, we wouldn’t have the intimate, visual history we have of them now. Her work has convinced me of the importance of photography and gave me the confidence to head out into the streets and shoot. She’s made me feel that what I am doing matters. Garry Winogrand: No one’s work has influenced my own as much as Garry Winogrands’. A firm believer in learning by doing, I was first introduced to his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014. Never had I seen such a large collection of street photographs. The amount of energy and character in each one truly amazed me. Winogrand was able to document a dynamic, lively event and present it in an even more interesting way. I learned more about the American people in three hours at Winogrand’s exhibition than in all my studies of US history at school. His photographs portrayed an evolving nation: a postwar 1950s America, a socio-politically charged 1960s America, and a glamorous yet grotesque 1970s America. The reason I have named Garry Winogrand as the most influential photographer for me is not only because he got me into photographing the streets. What really hooked me on to his work was the length of time I could spend viewing his photos. At first glance, his photographs seem random and chaotic: a group of faces here, a stray limb there. However, when looking at his image for a prolonged period of time, the viewer begins to see and feel an underlying depth and psychology to each photograph. Although humorous, edgy, and visually exciting, there also lies an isolation and inner struggle of the people in the photo. His photographs depicting middle class and extravagant American women remind me of the paintings of German artist Otto Dix. Though not as grotesque as Dix, Winogrand’s photos do show a depth and darkness buried beneath the veneer of the American dream. Marc Riboud Although not as widely known as Henri Cartier-Bresson or Garry Winogrand, Marc Riboud’s work documenting Asian cultures is unsurpassed. His photographs of Vietnam, China, Afghanistan, and Iran left a lasting impact on me when I viewed them at the Rubin Museum in New York some years ago. Through his work he is able to show the life of ordinary people in these countries in an honest way. When looking at his work you feel that you are seeing the real inhabitants of the places; not posed, and not staged to fit the photographer’s fancy. Not only was I impressed and influenced by Riboud’s photographs, but also by the personal difficulties he experienced as an emerging photographer. When starting out, Riboud was very shy, something which I can very much relate to. He would use his camera as a shield. It gave him an excuse to get close to people and document their lives when approaching them directly. Photographing on the street I often find that my camera acts as a kind of protector that gives me the confidence to get much closer to a situation than I would otherwise. Admiring how intimate and perfectly composed Riboud’s photographs are and then learning of the struggles he faced when taking them humanizes the photographer for me. Often we are presented with immaculate photographs and assume that the photographer who took them must have either been a genius or gotten very lucky. Learning that Marc Riboud used his camera as a shield because he felt too shy to approach people directly shows him as a real person with struggles and makes the medium more accessible to emerging photographers who are still trying to find their confidence and own style of shooting. Gueorgui Pinkhassov Gueorgui Pinkhassov, a photographer that I have recently discovered, has blown me away with his color photography. His work has been very influential in the structuring of my own. Pinkhassov has shown me that constant curiosity and the need to change one’s perspective is necessary for creating meaningful work. His photographs; some done in an impressionist style, give a surreal mood to the streets and people he is documenting. His education in cinematography is apparent in all of his work. Each image looks as though it has been taken as a still from a film. It is no surprise that the Russian film director, Andrei Tarkovsky invited Pinkhassov to work on the set of his film, Stalker. In a masterful display of shadows and light, each image of his differs from the next, yet all are immediately recognizable as his work. This is what I hope to achieve with my photography: a series of meaningful images that are not repetitive, but all have an underlying thread that unites them. 4) Tell me about a particular project you are currently working on or have worked on in the past. There is a project I have been working on for about 4 years now titled ‘Fragments of Consciousness’. It has already been published and I have been interviewed about it. I hope to eventually make it into a book. The images were taken in New York City and depict people who are present in the physical sense, but appear disconnected from reality. Visibly tired of the hustle and bustle of urban life, people retreat to empty subway cars and darkened street corners to have a moment to themselves. Some are compressed by the spaces they are in and by the strangers who surround them. Others appear minuscule or lifeless, as if part of a movie backdrop. In this series, I strive to show the loneliness and restlessness that a person living in a big city often experiences. Living in a huge metropolis is something relatively new to human civilization and I have been exploring and documenting the toll this lifestyle has taken on people, myself included. In general, I am very interested in how different people choose to live their lives, how there is no one fixed solution for a “happy” life, even though advertising and media constantly try to convince us that there is. I am especially fascinated with the Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, specifically their rituals and holidays and have spent time documenting them this past year and a half. In addition to all of that, I am working on a project titled ‘Playground of the World’, which depicts the daily life I see during my weekly trips to Coney Island during the summer and winter. Coney Island was once described as the “playground of the world” because there was no other place like it. People of different classes, backgrounds, and races all came to Coney to enjoy the beaches and the boardwalk. In this series, I want to share with my viewers the incredible diversity that the place still offers even though it has undergone some dramatic changes over the last twenty years. Coney Island still retains an air of the mysterious and draws people from all walks of life to it. Perhaps this is why photographers are so attracted to it. Lastly, I am making plans to start a project about Kiev, Ukraine, the city of my birth. This will be very personal work and will require me to travel there and spend a few months getting to know the city I easily could have grown up in. 5) What would you say to someone starting out in street photography? What advice would you give them? Get a camera and get out there! You don’t need a formal art education to become a street photographer. Look at lots of photobooks, watch beautiful films, go to art shows and photo exhibits. Find street photographers in your community, shoot with them and discuss photography. Always have your camera on you. It can be your cell phone. As long as it takes pictures, it is enough. Partner up with someone if you are just starting out and feel nervous about shooting on the street. It’s a lot of fun and you will also get to see how the other person approaches certain situations. Learn from them. If you’re very shy, try shooting parades, events or demonstrations. Anywhere there is a public gathering of people, there’s a great opportunity to take photographs. The people usually expect to be photographed so you won’t stick out or look strange. Remember that photographing someone on the street is like paying them a compliment. Out of everything that is in front of you, you choose them as a subject. If you put yourself into that mindset when shooting on the street, it will make the whole experience much more pleasant and enjoyable. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t shoot. If you want to photograph a homeless person, then do it. Just remember to always be respectful. During the editing process look at the photo and try to understand what you were trying to say with this image. Look at other photographers who made similar projects to yours. Educate yourself about the subject matter and try to understand WHY you are drawn to it. Hope you enjoyed this conversation I had with Sonia and stay tuned for more photography interviews in future posts! Please leave your thoughts, it always helps me bring the best value to all of you my dear readers. Attachments area

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Goals vs Resolutions: Which One Will You Choose?

Megan Kwasniak — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 14:40:40 +0000

Happy New Year everybody! I cannot believe we are here already, at the start of a new decade. Although not much of a New Year’s Eve socialite, I do love to use the very first day of a new year to reflect a bit and to set goals for the future. I have much to be grateful for as I say good bye to 2019. I have visited many beautiful places, been recognized for my photographs, met many wonderful people and strengthened my relationships with the ones already present in my life. I have accomplished some very important goals which in turn has given me courage to keep going and keep aiming high. Of course I could not have done any of this without the support of my wonderful family and friends and all of you my readers, who give me the necessary push and encouragement to keep going in this endeavor. I want to take this opportunity of welcoming the New Year to talk a little about New Year’s resolutions. For a very long time, I used to be the person that would enthusiastically set some very ambitious ones as soon as January 1st hit, only to completely forget them by the time next month rolled in. It left me feeling frustrated and annoyed with myself. I couldn’t quite figure out why it was so easy to make these resolutions but yet even easier to abandon them at the first opportunity. It wasn’t until I started going deep and doing research that I realized where the crux of the problem is. In a gist, what I realized is that New Year’s resolutions tend to be quite…vague. We make promises to each other to be more fit, eat less junk food, lose the weight, call our mothers more etc…But these statements are mere expressions for what we wish to happen without any actual specifics on how to bring them into reality. This is why most New Year resolutions don’t work – they don’t include a concrete plan on how to achieve them! And without any concrete plans of execution, things tend to fall apart the moment we start feeling less motivated. Instead of resolutions, I started to set specific goals for the coming year. Goals imply a much more specific blueprint for action. There is a popular saying going around online whose author is long forgotten but whose words resonate loudly: “A dream without a plan is just a dream. A dream with a plan becomes a goal.” Or something like that 😉 The point being is that when we write down our desires for what we wish to accomplish in the coming year in a specific and intentional way, we are much more likely to stick it out and bring it into fruition. For example, instead of proclaiming, “In 2020 I will finally lose the weight,” narrowing down how much weight we want to lose and by what day we will lose it can truly help propel us in the right direction. This can be further broken down into specific steps we need to take to make this goal achievable. I will use my own goal as an example to illustrate this concept. Usually it goes something like this: In 2020, I’m committing myself to continue my South Beach photography project for the next twelve months. I plan to go down to South Beach at least twice monthly to shoot for two hours. I commit to go over my images with my dear friend Sonia who will hold me accountable to my goal. By the end of the year, I will have collected at least a 1000 images as part of the project. The other important aspect of goal setting is going deep into ourselves and asking the big WHY. Why do I want to start a photography project? Is it because I want to get motivated to shoot more? To hone my skills as a photographer? To get published in a magazine? To share the uniqueness of South Beach with other people through my photography? Asking ourselves the why and answering it honestly helps us stay motivated when things get busy and remind us of the bigger purpose behind what we are trying to achieve. Of course no plan, no matter how detailed or specific, absolutely one hundred percent guarantees that we will stick to it, but becoming more concrete and intentional breaks our seemingly grand goals into small specific steps that are much more easily manageable. I must tell you, since I’ve started doing this, I have been able to achieve most of what I’ve set out to do. And I’m just at the beginning of it all. As my research has shown me, most of those people whose work I admire have been using this method successfully to achieve their own dreams and resolutions. Personally I have several goals that I’d like to achieve in the coming year. I had sat down on the morning of New Year’s Day with a cup of steaming coffee in my hand and wrote down all that I’d like to see happen in 2020. I plan on revisiting this list quite frequently, tweak it as necessary and hold myself accountable to my achievements. I hope to see you do the same. May 2020 be a year of accomplishment, gratitude and fulfillment, no matter how small or grand our goals are. *** pictures taken last year in the Swiss Alps, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Funny enough, I realized I never got to posting these pictures before ***

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The post Goals vs Resolutions: Which One Will You Choose? appeared first on This Photography Life.