we produce beautifully crafted multimedia

Photographers…Nose/Grindstone

David White — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:12:23 +0000

LPV mag with some fine work and words:

“The best advice I could possibly give you, and forgive me if this seems glib, is to work. Work. Work. Work. Every day. At the same time every day. For as long as you can take it every day, work, work, work. Understand? Talent is for shit. I’ve taught school for nearly thirty years and never met a student who did not have some talent. It is as common as house dust or kudzu vine in Alabama and is just about as valuable. Nothing is as valuable as the habit of work, and work has to become a habit.”

– Barry Moser

Can’t stop…got a job.

Seeing the light, the freelance way.

John Macpherson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:20:49 +0000

I think it’s time to post something a little more lighthearted! Looking back over my recent posts I’m struck by how serious the subject matter is in some of them: being mistaken for a child molester, being thrown out of pubs, challenged by security guards and so on. Anyone reading them would get the impression I have a life full of deadly serious and profound happenings and looming disasters.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is I inhabit a universe where it’s quite often either utterly hilarious or totally unremarkable, and more often than not, the former. Although to be fair in the pursuit of images I have driven into a terrorist ambush in a VW beach buggy, been held hostage by a dog’s hairdresser (male), and hit by lightning, although thankfully not all at the same time, but there’ll be none of that kind of silly nonsense in this post. Naw, this post is about something that was even more daunting…..

“Would you consider running a photography workshop for about 16 women on a hen party weekend in a lighthouse on a very remote west coast cliff please? My friend Cerian is getting married and I think it’d be nice to do something different and creative for a day!” said the email.

Why yes, says I without hesitation, of course!

Hands up all who want to photograph lighthouses. © The Hens

And we had a lovely time. All that was required was a big bag of digital cameras, three tripods, a laptop and extra monitor, too many wires and lots of warm clothes. I’d free rein to do whatever I felt might work for the group, all eager to hone their photography skills, so I decided that EVERY image they took must include two things – a lighthouse and a person. Now the lighthouse was obvious, but the lovely thing is that the interior of the lighthouse is littered, decorated, filled, nay overflowing with lighthouses – appearing as, or on, ornaments, etchings, tapestries, stencils, carvings, pottery, candlesticks, jugs, mugs, photos, carpets, doors, windows, books, t shirts, mirrors, light switches and so on – so lots of scope for indoors as well as outdoors pictures for the group.

Cerian snapping a lighthouse as she gets snapped by other photogs snapping a bigger lighthouse. © The Hens

And the inclusion of a person – well these events can come and go, but they’re all about people, being surrounded by your friends, so I felt it would be a really nice thing to have everyone photographing everyone else (as they photographed other people!) as a record of the weekend and their collective participation.

Surprisingly none of the eager young women had noticed that to choose a lighthouse for a hen party was to have selected the largest phallic symbol in the district. This raised a few giggles and at least one red face when I pointed it out shortly after I arrived. And elicited even more giggles when I suggested this was the reason why I thought it should feature in ALL the images taken at a hen party!

Cerian, the chief 'hen' does a flashing Lady GaGa turn outside in the wind and rain at dusk © John MacPherson

It was a frantic but fun and very creative morning photographing, downloading stacks of images over a late lunch, doing some more twilight images as the lighthouse lamp came on in late afternoon when the weather turned manky. And then presenting a short slide show culled from the hundreds and hundreds of images taken by ‘the hens’, accompanied by lots of laughs before I packed up to leave them to their night-time revelry. It was a very nice creative day. Followed by many well-earned sore heads (for them) and a long drive home for me.

Cerian & lighthouse picture on my laptop as her pals watch the final slide show on the monitor. © John MacPherson

Freelancing anyone? Sometimes it is a very serious undertaking fraught with difficulty, deadlines and nerves, but on many occasions its just about pure fun.

That’s why its worth doing!

Thievery, and Volvos.

David White — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:50:42 +0000

God damn it. Some bastard has just been round the back of my house and half inched a beautiful and incredibly heavy B20 engine for my ancient Volvo Amazon, and thieved my beloved welder.

I don’t know why I’m telling you.. other than to ask you to keep your eye out down the pub. Down the bloody scrapyard more like. Oh, and I suppose it’s a good opportunity to post a pic of the car the engine was for, and which the welder has welded (sob). This car is my sanity when all the world goes to shit. Oh, her name’s Lola by the way. If you see her, give her a wave.

To keep this post on a photographic bent I used some off camera flash. So there.

Thanks. I feel better now. A bit.

Jobs…they’re like buses.

David White — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:58:30 +0000

Sort of. Well, not at all actually, but here’s another one….Staff Photo editor for Bloomberg in London Town.

Job! And a sweet one at that.

David White — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:41:10 +0000

Ey up. Photo editor job for the frankly great MSF.

Could this be for you? You’ve got to like Brussels though, and they make you fart.

===============================================================================================================================

PHOTO EDITOR

Background and objectives:
The PHOTO EDITOR position aims to contribute to MSF’s communication and information activities through photography.

Together with the Photo Production Advisor, he/she works on selecting photos, helping with photo production and diffusion, and advising on lay-out. He/She also assists with the management of photo archives.

The position is half-time and is based in Brussels.

The PHOTO EDITOR works within the MSF OCB Audiovisual Unit and reports to the Communications and Audiovisual Coordinator. He/She works in very close collaboration with the Photo Production Advisor. He/She will work as a team with the Video Producer and Editor, as well as with the various Communications Officers of the Combo team.

Main responsibilities
• Select and prepare pictures for internal and external publications
• Supports the Photo Production Advisor on photo production and diffusion
• Advise on matters of layout and design
• Assist with the management of photo archives

Tasks
• Select pictures for internal and external publications, including slideshows and photo-films
• Prepare selected photos and upload them on the international media database
• Follow up with the Communications Officers of the Combo team on the accompanying info for pictures (dates, captions, keywords, authors, etc.)
• Supports the Photo Production Advisor on photo production and diffusion
• Produce photography in the office or for MSF in Belgium
• Develop and maintain a photo database of key MSF spokespeople in the field and HQ
• Occasionally, may produce photo reports in MSF field projects
• Advise on matters of lay-out and design both for print and online publications produced by the Combo team
• Maintain a network of quality designers motivated to work for MSF
• Assist with the management of the MSF OCB photo archive
• Be the reference photo person in the absence of the Photo Production Advisor

Together with the Photo Production Advisor:
• Promote the work of the audiovisual unit internally
• Provide support to and advise field communication staff and other MSF field staff with regards to photography
• Promote MSF photo guidelines – including usage rules and photo ethics – among MSF teams
• Support with the acquisition, maintenance and use of MSF OCB photo equipment

Qualifications
• Previous professional experience in photography or at a picture desk of a major publication
• A strong sense of initiative as well as team play
• A good judgement of ethical aspects of photography
• A strong motivation for working with a humanitarian organisation
• Experience in lay-out and design
• Fluency in English and French
• Basic knowledge of Dutch is a plus

Conditions
- Based part time in Brussels
- Post to be filled at once.

CV + application letter to be sent before 14/02/2012 to Thalia Maes,
Communication Department, Rue Dupré 94, 1090 Brussels.
E-mail : thalia.maes@brussels.msf.org

Photographers…got a good feature?

David White — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:12:47 +0000

Heads up. I’ve been asked by the acting features director on UK Marie Claire magazine (Kasie Davies) to put this up for you all:

“I am on the look out for a ‘weird world’ type feature. By this I mean projects that might involve crazy pageants, conventions, people doing strange things that make remarkable pictures. I’m sure you know the type of thing I mean. Images are everything for this one, but it also needs to be surprising. Nothing worthy – more light, funny and visually compelling.”

That’s pretty wide open. Before you punt up anything to Kasie, stop and think. Think about the magazine, and whether your work is right for it and the brief above. Think about the presentation of your proposal, and make sure you make it easy for Kasie to see the work without having to trawl through 326 links before she gets to it. Do not send massive files, and make sure you have a good story. Do not spell her name wrong. If you can offer an unpublished exclusive then even better. Black and white is almost guaranteed to not be accepted. War, destruction, rape, starvation, emaciation, disease and death are not wanted. Save that lot for the World Press. Kasie will pay well, and will guarantee a good spread, but make sure you keep your syndication rights….Marie Claire have a lot of sister titles and if your work is of quality they will likely want to re-use it across other country editions.

This could be the start of a beautiful relationship between you and the magazine.

Send your work here: kasie_davies@ipcmedia.com

Please do not send owt to me or duckrabbit.

If you get published, I, as your agent, will be taking 70%. Ha. Only joking. Buy me a beer.

Oh…and good luck.

#FF Funky Friday

David White — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:36:00 +0000

Well well well. It’s about that time. Amongst the myriad of things to do, Funky Friday must not be forgotten.

Enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Cameras, they steal your soul, so they do.”

John Macpherson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:37:01 +0000

I mentioned previously I might write a little on photographing people and ‘inhibition’ following a comment made to a rece nt post. This post is also, I guess, a wee bit about perception, and how what you perceive to be the content, and indeed the intent of your images, may not be shared so precisely by your subject. I’ll also add up front that none of the following is any reason not to engage with people to photograph them; quite the contrary, the hard lessons about interaction you learn with a camera in your hand are ones that should make you think more carefully about your work, and perhaps care a little more deeply about your subject. And thats a very good thing in my humble opinion.

I’m a fairly upfront kind of guy. Meeting and photographing people is something I enjoy, and quite often it involves verbally engaging people to conspire with me to create the image. And the responses I get are interesting. So here’s the sort of things that can happen by engaging the public, some predictable, others less so.

I was working on the Isle of Mull for a book publisher gathering material for a small photo book on the island, and pretty much left to my own devices regarding content so long as some specifics were included. I decided that some of the issues that are key to island life should be included, such as seasonal tourism, (un)employment, homelessness etc., if I could manage to find suitable material to illustrate it.

And so I encountered a lovely scene one summer day, which you will need to imagine, because it went unrecorded. Very low tide, acres of exposed dark green and brown seaweed, and in the middle of it, 200m out in the bay was a baby’s pram, brand new bright and shiny. I was astonished, then spotted several dark clad figures bent over double behind the pram gathering shellfish. They had obviously carried their offspring out to be beside them as they worked. This activity, as I am well aware, is a black economy cash-in-hand one. So off I slithered across the greasy slimy rocks and duly arrived, unavoidably noisily, at the group. Introduced myself, explained my work and asked permission to photograph them and baby, and a big bloke responded, but quite friendly, that “well no, I’m not really happy with that mate” , as behind him his male and female companions approached. We had a pleasant enough chat but one of the women was slightly hostile, and despite my highland credentials, accent and acknowledgement of their potential tax-dodge work and assurance that it was only their bottoms bent over with the pram in the foreground I needed to show, she was not happy. So I said “no problems, I’ll leave you to get back to your work then folks, thanks for the blether”. And the woman remarked in a slightly sarcastic tone “cameras, they steal your soul, so they do” and gave me a sly half-smile, knowing that I knew how sarcastic she was being. I smiled and replied jovially, “aye they might, you best keep yours intact then”. And off I went.

The irony was that behind them was a small low island which would have appeared in my intended photo, and on its rocky side an almost indistinct dark mark, a cave, in which evidence of shellfish gathering had been uncovered and dated to at least 5000 years ago. These folks with their small child were simply carrying on an age-old tradition of marine resource use on this rocky shore, inextricably linked by their labour to a long and noble history of such gathering.

The next day was one of epic rainfall, that stair-rod, monsoon, deluge, torrential unrelenting west coast downpour kind of rain. So I went to Tobermory village to try to get some images that reflected the interest in Balamory, the popular children’s tv programme which is filmed there, and attracts lots of families to the island dramatically boosting the tourism spend, and this being the school holidays there might be something worth capturing. First thing I spotted on the seafront, braving the deluge, were three Indian folks togged up against the rain. A quick chat revealed they worked for a bank based in Edinburgh, were in the UK on a training course and were having a weekend off on Mull, loving the rain and atmosphere of the island, and were delighted to pose, smile and be in a book. A lovely brief encounter with three very generous people.

And then I noticed a family, father frantically using a compact camera trying to take a photo of wife and daughter with the village behind in the downpour. I ran over offered to take the picture for them and as I did so mentioned I had an ulterior motive and if they didn’t mind could I take a picture of the three of them for a book. Yes of course the father said smiling, and they lined up and all smiled.

What happened next I could clearly see later in editing the images as the mother’s expression visibly changed across the frames, but at the time I was simply snapping several frames and asking the little girl to lift her Balamory dolly up so it was more visible. I asked them to give me an email address so I could send them some photos in case theirs didn’t come out and handed over my notepad to the mother, whilst the father and I talked as he took more pictures of his daughter.

The mother asked what the book title was and I replied that it had not been decided yet and gave a few of the preliminary titles; then she asked when it was coming out and I said it had no date set yet as it depended on the printing schedule of the publisher; finally she asked who was writing it and I said I did not know because it would only have a foreword and they’d not decided on anyone yet. And she started to quiz me – “so you’re supposed to be doing a book but you don’t seem to know very much about it do you?” And I said this is what the publishing world is like, it’s not that unusual. And off they went.

Less than a minute later as I was walking back to my van I was roughly grabbed by the slightly flustered mother saying loudly and quite aggressively “give me the notebook, give me it” and so I handed it over and she ripped the address page out saying “I don’t know why you need our home address, I’m not happy, give me it” and I said somewhat perplexed “Home address? I asked for your email address….I dont have your home address” but off she strode, paper in hand, obviously still flustered and angry. I was really quite surprised. And then it dawned on me that my entirely innocent request for a photo had been interpreted as being something else, something more sinister, and she feared I might have been trying to get photos of their small child. I’ve worked professionally with young people for decades, and at that moment I had no less than three full and valid CRB clearances, one for each organisation/employer I was working for, making me probably one of the ‘safest’ people they could have encountered. To say I was very upset would be an understatement.

I dumped my gear in the van and rooted around for a business card and went to look for them. The thought that they’d had their day spoiled by this serious misunderstanding was pretty distressing and I felt compelled to reassure them. However despite legging it up and down the street numerous times and going into various shops and cafes there was no sign of them. Thoroughly disheartened, I gave up photographing for the day, and now feeling as miserable as the weather, spent the evening in the van consoling myself with several large numbing drams.

The ‘contract of engagement’ we photographers enter into when we interact with people brings with it a multitude of possibilities. Some outcomes you can predict, others you could never guess at. Occasionally a little bit of magic results and you gain something, learn a wee bit that changes you and leaves your subject inspired by being considered as special; and sometimes, just sometimes, you all lose.

Sat alone, whisky in hand in my small van in the incessantly drumming rain, I recalled the shellfish gatherer’s comment from the previous day, “Cameras, they steal your soul, so they do”. And realised that earlier this afternoon I had indeed lost a wee bit of mine.

‘A woman sits for a final photograph with her dying mother’ or just another great post on Conscientious

duckrabbit — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:23:18 +0000

If you only read one thing about photography this week, next week, or for the rest of the year, read this post.

‘Even if your photographic diet only consisted of, let’s say, James Nachtwey photographs, I am relatively certain – relatively, not absolutely – that this photograph will move you. It might even shock you. Needless to say, that is not why this is a good photograph. This is not why you might want to use it as an example of what photographs can do. For the shock, all you’d need is something by Nachtwey. But for something that strikes your innermost self, this photograph is an amazing example. It is a photograph that, to (mis-)use Francis Bacon’s words, speaks directly to the nervous system.‘

WOW!

duckrabbit — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:25:55 +0000

I’ve has just told me this will be the venue for our photofilm workshop at Contact photo festival in May in Toronto:

I thought our pad next to Tower Bridge in London is pretty hard to beat but once again Mooserabbit (aka Daniel Seguin) has upped the ante.

And if you’re thinking about joining us in Canada, or on The Hinterlands (our only UK workshop till June not sold out) then watch the film below for a flavor of what to expect. (Warning the films kicks off with an entirely justified swear word)

More info on our training here. Get in touch here. And if you want to know if it works here’s a lovely email I received last week:

Hi Benjamin,

I would like to tell you that my first photofilm for a news outlet will be published tomorrow! It’s by the Dutch RTL News.

I would like to thank you for the inspiring workshop two years ago which opened my eyes and made me decide to focus fully on multimedia and photography. Since last year I’ve been making photofilms for one organization which gives grants to student abroad. Right now I am sending you this message from Milan, as they are sending me to all these places where students are (UK, Finland, Swiss and Italy so far).

So I must say, your workshop meant a lot for my career!

Cheers,
Emiel