Kodakism

"Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies." Diane Arbus

Words of wisdom from Roger Deakins, one of my favorite cinematographers:

Things usually work out better than you plan. When you’re shooting a film you’re so close to it, it rarely lives up to your expectations while you’re there. You always want it to be better, more perfect. When you see a cut, maybe two or three months later, you come to it fresh. It’s generally much better than you thought it would be.

Someone said to me, early on in film school… if you can photograph the human face you can photograph anything, because that is the most difficult and most interesting thing to photograph. If you can light and photograph the human face to bring out what’s within that human face you can do anything.

All I’ve ever wanted to do is take stills of people, or take documentaries about people, and try to express to an audience how somebody lives next door. You know what I mean? Just how similar we all are as individuals.

On a film like ‘Serious Man,’ without a huge budget, you’re on a tight schedule and shoot when you have to, even if the light isn’t exactly what you want. If you do a digital intermediate (DI) you can change the lighting, the saturation and the contrast. You can do a lot without spending the money to go to an effects house. — on preferring to do post-production on a film electronically

The prep period is especially important. Joel and Ethan Coen and I really enjoy it. By the time we’re on the set, we’re discussing not what we’re doing that day but rather something we’re doing later that may be a problem.

The photographs above are taken from his 1972 Beaford, N Devon series. 

Here are a few shots from my incredibly talented friend, Simon Marsham. I wish he would shoot more, I can spend hours looking at his blog(s).

Here is his Flickr, Tumblr, and his site I Hardly Know Her. 

Along with his friend Cherry Styles, Simon also writes about other photographers on his blog NOT CONTENT. 

Enjoy

For the longest time, I wondered if Annie Leibovitz had ever met Diane Arbus when she was still alive. Since they both knew Susan Sontag quite well, I thought maybe they had. I loved the idea of both photographers talking together… The idea of the great Diane Arbus giving tips to a young and ambitious Annie Leibovitz. A few days ago, I decided I wasn’t going to live in the dark any longer and so I Googled the following words:  “Leibovitz, Arbus, ever met?” Stupid, I know. Still, I needed to know. The first result that appeared was this amazing 1998 interview of Annie Leibovitz by Anna B. Bohdziewicz at the Warsaw’s Hotel in Poland. ENJOY - Have you ever met Diane Arbus? - I never met her but I knew people who knew her. I remember coming to New York in the seventies to live there. When I was walking dawn the streets I remember thinking - oh! Diane Arbus had it so easy, there is like Diane’s Arbus picture every single corner in New York! That is a bit simplified with Diane’s Arbus work becauseDiane Arbus really knew people she photographed and became friends with them and went into the cave, sort of speak… She was a very, very important photographer because she was taking pictures of people that we as a society did not want to look at. Not that we didn’t want to look at them, we didn’t even see them. - She committed suicide. Do you think it was because how deep she went into the subject? - I think it’s so complicated. It was not just because of one thing. She was always very troubled. One could read all kinds of things into it. Did you read the Patricia Boss book about her? - I read a quite thick biography of Arbus but I don’t remember the author. - I did not want to read it but I read it and then I wished I could read more… I think that she probably felt comfortable with people she was photographing maybe more so than with other people. Is the question that she saw these people and got so depressed that she killed herself? No… - No, no, no… - She saw those people because she related to them, and she probably really enjoyed them, they were real friends … Anyone who lives in New York knows that this is perfect New York. That’s why when I first moved to New York at every corner I could see Diane Arbus picture. But I would not even see these people unless I looked into Diane’s Arbus pictures. I would mentally not been looking at these people. - Richard Avedon in his book “The American West” tired to repeat Diane’s Arbus work? - He wished. He whished… He wanted to be Diane Arbus, very bad… He was criticized because he wanted to be Diane Arbus, but it is perfectly all right. I think he did a great work in the West. He is very, very honest about how and what he did and why he did it. He was totally impressed with Diane Arbus and admired her, embraced her. Her douthers, Amy and Doon, are his best friends right now. How can one not amire his work embracing that brilliance. He could never be Diane Arbus but he could certainly integrate in his work what he saw there in her work. And we all do that, we all do that! That what’s wonderful! There’s nothing wrong with that. We all live in this world and we all feed of each other. That’s part of it. It’s great, it’s great! You know…   Read the rest of the interview here.

For the longest time, I wondered if Annie Leibovitz had ever met Diane Arbus when she was still alive. Since they both knew Susan Sontag quite well, I thought maybe they had. I loved the idea of both photographers talking together… The idea of the great Diane Arbus giving tips to a young and ambitious Annie Leibovitz.

A few days ago, I decided I wasn’t going to live in the dark any longer and so I Googled the following words:  “Leibovitz, Arbus, ever met?”

Stupid, I know.

Still, I needed to know.

The first result that appeared was this amazing 1998 interview of Annie Leibovitz by Anna B. Bohdziewicz at the Warsaw’s Hotel in Poland.

ENJOY

- Have you ever met Diane Arbus?

- I never met her but I knew people who knew her. I remember coming to New York in the seventies to live there. When I was walking dawn the streets I remember thinking - oh! Diane Arbus had it so easy, there is like Diane’s Arbus picture every single corner in New York! That is a bit simplified with Diane’s Arbus work becauseDiane Arbus really knew people she photographed and became friends with them and went into the cave, sort of speak… She was a very, very important photographer because she was taking pictures of people that we as a society did not want to look at. Not that we didn’t want to look at them, we didn’t even see them.

- She committed suicide. Do you think it was because how deep she went into the subject?

- I think it’s so complicated. It was not just because of one thing. She was always very troubled. One could read all kinds of things into it. Did you read the Patricia Boss book about her?

- I read a quite thick biography of Arbus but I don’t remember the author.

- I did not want to read it but I read it and then I wished I could read more… I think that she probably felt comfortable with people she was photographing maybe more so than with other people. Is the question that she saw these people and got so depressed that she killed herself? No…

- No, no, no…

- She saw those people because she related to them, and she probably really enjoyed them, they were real friends … Anyone who lives in New York knows that this is perfect New York. That’s why when I first moved to New York at every corner I could see Diane Arbus picture. But I would not even see these people unless I looked into Diane’s Arbus pictures. I would mentally not been looking at these people.

- Richard Avedon in his book “The American West” tired to repeat Diane’s Arbus work?

- He wished. He whished… He wanted to be Diane Arbus, very bad… He was criticized because he wanted to be Diane Arbus, but it is perfectly all right. I think he did a great work in the West. He is very, very honest about how and what he did and why he did it. He was totally impressed with Diane Arbus and admired her, embraced her. Her douthers, Amy and Doon, are his best friends right now. How can one not amire his work embracing that brilliance. He could never be Diane Arbus but he could certainly integrate in his work what he saw there in her work. And we all do that, we all do that! That what’s wonderful! There’s nothing wrong with that. We all live in this world and we all feed of each other. That’s part of it. It’s great, it’s great! You know…

 

Read the rest of the interview here.

Leibovitz / Williams / Monroe

Annie Leibovitz shot Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe for Vogue last October.

What do you think?

I’ve read a lot of hostile comments online, but I think the photos work great. You can read Michelle Williams’ interview here and watch the trailer for “My Week With Marilyn” here.

Jill Greenberg “Glass Ceiling” (2011)

Jill Greenberg’s interest in feminist art can be traced back to the year 1989, when the photographer wrote her senior thesis for the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) on “The Female Object”. In this project, she denounced the impact and predominance of the “panoptical male gaze in the female consciousness”. 

Since then, Greenberg’s work has been strongly influenced by issues of “what is tolerated by women in our culture”. The idea behind this series - entitled “Glass Ceiling” (2011) - came from a promotional shoot in which Greenberg was asked to photograph members of the US Olympic Synchronized Swim Team in high heels. 

This odd combination highlights these athlete’s sexuality whilst restraining their ability. Are these women breaking through the tension glass? are they trying to grasp for air?

As said in a recent press release regarding the exhibition, “The result is a sadly relevant series of shots depicting women struggling to keep head above water in a context defined by the constraints pressed upon them by others.”

Breathe. 

Amy Winehouse by Hedi Slimane

(Source: fakedan)

Lee Towndrow:

I was watching The National’s Fake Empire video the other day and realized how great the cinematography was. I looked up Lee Towndrow’s work and really liked it. I only put a few pictures on here, but make sure you visit his website. I don’t know much about the photographer, I just wanted to share a little bit of his talent with you.

In his own words, Lee Towndrow…

“… was a designer upon starting out. Made album covers. Was moved by kissing robots to become flame*artist. Built a darkroom, made bread (the kind you eat). Moved to Buenos Aires to try to grow up. Learned Spanish, loved, lost. Worked with great artists. Made photos, made feature films. Still making a life.”

Words of wisdom from Joel Meyerowitz

“What I think is so extraordinary about the photograph is that we have a piece of paper with this image adhered to it, etched on it, which interposes itself into the plane of time that we are actually in at that moment. Even if it comes from as far back as 150 years ago, or as recently as yesterday, or a minute before as a Polaroid color photograph, suddenly you bring it into your experience. You look at it, and all around the real world is humming, buzzing and moving, and yet in this little frame there is stillness that looks like the world. That connection, that collision, that interfacing, is one of the most astonishing things we can experience.” 

Play Time by Jacques Tati (1967)

I was wasting time on Tumblr yesterday when I stumbled upon a post by “whenwewerecool”, showing stills from Jacques Tati’s Play Time. I was 7 years old when I first saw this movie and I have not seen it ever since. I remember the images vividly though, and looking at a few of them again yesterday compelled me to do this post. 

Tati was a genius in many ways. If you haven’t had the chance to see his work, both Play Time and Mr. Hulot’s Holiday are available on Netflix instant. I chose a few stills from the film to show you. As you can see -  and as Radiohead would sing - “everything (is) in its right place”.

One last thing, I was reading about his unique style on his wikipedia page and I thought I’d share a few sentences with you. 

Tati wanted the film to be in color but look like it was filmed in black and white; an effect he had previously employed to some extent in Mon Oncle. Predominant colors are in shades of grey, blue, black, and greyish white. Green and red are used as occasional accent colors: for example, the greenish hue of patrons lit by a neon sign in a sterile and modern lunch counter, or the flashing red light on an office intercom. It has been said that Tati had one red item in every shot. 

Enjoy, and make sure you follow whenwewerecool!

For more screenshots of the film, click here.