Man Ray exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Another must see exhibit by one of my favorite Places in the world. And Man Ray should be a draw to anyone anyways, wherever he’s shown. And this is astonishingly the first major retrospective of his work.

Man-Ray-Piccasso

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t wait to see it in person.

Here’s a great article in the Telegraph, discussing Catherine Deneuve’s last sitting with him.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9821467/Catherine-Deneuve-interview-Man-Ray-and-me.html

‘Man Ray Portraits’ is at the National Portrait Gallery, London W1, from Feb 7 until May 27, 2013. More info at npg.org.uk

 

Faking it at the Met Museum, NYC

Great exhibit on photography and it’s manipulation over the decades. Nice to bring this back into peopels minds what was done prior to Photoshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most prominent examples i recall seeing recently was a Christie’s auction a couple of years back, the retouching on the original print on the waist in Horst’s famous “Mainbocher Corset” image. Scrapped off waistline then repro-photographed and reprinted, classic. But unfortunately not in this show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at my own career, i have to say that i’m fortunate and thankful to have learned and worked on some multilayer composites in the darkroom/repro camera while starting out at Henner Prefi’s studio back in Frankfurt. Nobody was doing that kind of work that i ever seen before. We did a lot of comps for Deutsche Bank but also great projects like the Homage to Giorgio Morandi in 3-7 layered photographs and multilayered jewelry photography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, a great quick visit to the Metropolitan Museeum is always fun and this exhibit a great standout, open till January 2013.

Unseen Amsel Adams prints at UC Berkley

Great story and as a fan of AA i can’t wait to see the whole lot. The published images are great and show the appliction of great photography in a commercial project and the commitment from such an outstanding instituon to use oustanding talent to get their image across.

Check out the article at the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Ansel-Adams-prints-found-at-UC-Berkeley-3909179.php#photo-3521174

Avedon at Christie’s Fall Photo auction 2012

Here’s another classic:

A special section and auction of some genius work. And an entire set of the family portraits for Rolling Stone 1976.

It’s great to see the actual prints side by side, the presentation is great and interesting to note the shoot dates as well.

And besides 2 versions of the Stephanie Seymour in black see through dress, great to compare contrast and printing on both. Will we ever see this again in one room??

Time to collect some…

at Christie’s Rockefeller center on display Oct. 1-3 and sale on the 4th.

Adobe Creative Cloud or classic upgrade

Something to seriously think about, upgrading the system would cost $1000 or so (from CS5 Master), the cloud version $50 per month, so in a year (till the next upgrade that’s $600, and then the next upgrade for $500-600 is due).

I guess it’s cheaper, but what i really like is the 20GB storage and unlimited iPad App development option.

That sounds great and something to look into.

I appreciate any thoughts on this as we’re talking to people and do a test drive. We do use photoshelter and APF for image delivery, so that’s not a pressing issue, not paying for updates and freeing the machines from unsused applications that we might need for specific projects is more to the point.

Canon 5D Mark III is here

Now we have to work in to the workflow. For the video part i like the new head phone out and the ability to adjust the recoding volume. Otherwise it seems the same, i can’t believe Canon is not able to increase the resolution (and bit depth while they’re at it). So on the still image side i feel it’s at a stand still. The high ISO settings feel promising and will be finally giving us the quality we need for the more frequent low light behind the scenes work. Now i just wish it would be truly quite shutter release for that.

But overall a nice improvement and the 5D II’s and their support equipment will go on eBay soon. Now a full upgrade of system accessories, it never stops.

I wish they could price it at least similar, but there might be more coming in the future…

Herb Ritts – LA Style now at The Getty, LA

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Herb, one of my favorite living photographers growing up!

That WAS the photo business in LA as far as i was concerned from my little german perspective.

The light, the locations, all exotic and yet very bare elements, and modern at the same time. It just amazed me working in a studio in grey rainy Germany that this world exists, Thank you HR.

I always loved the simplicity, reduction to the most significant element, that was basically the hallmark of his photography, and who can forget his music videos or ad movies…

Well, The Getty in LA took it on to mount a retrospective, so go see it till August 26, 2012. They’re closed Mondays, otherwise 10-5:30, stay for the view and have a bite.

 

Night ocean series now for sale at amProjects, Belgium

I’m pleased to announce that Mark Mertens at amprojects.be is now representing this series exclusively in Europe and beyond for resale. I always loved Marks sensibility in creating the most fantastic spaces for residences and commercial projects and see how this series fits into the overall aesthetics and color palette.

20121011-154210.jpg

Annie Leibovitz showing “Pilgrimage” at the Smithsonian, Washington DC

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After a short preview in NY the “Pilgrimage” show of Annie’s recent still life book is opening today in Washington, DC. We’re just on the train going back to NYC after a great opening evening at the Smithsonian Art Museum and a later night at the Hay…

I highly recommend a visit, it’s free, open every day (till May 20, 2012), and most obvious a fantastic collection of mostly American Icons and pieces of history that sometimes just missed the spotlight. It’s really great to see the prints on the wall and i highly recommend collecting the prints if they become available…

One of my favorites, Sigmund Freud’s couch in London (a rare international artifact), ahh the days…

Carmen, a model portfolio in London

  

 

From the Telegraph, London:

Camen Dell’Orefice is showing her body of work as a model over the last decades at the London College of Fashion.

She’s such a great character and one of the most standout models i ever met and had the pleasure working with in Paris.

 

I can’t wait  to see this and if you’re in London i highly recommend this treasure of fashion photography history.

Carmen: A Life In Fashion’ runs from Wednesday, November 16, 2011 to Saturday, January 14, 2012 at the Fashion Space Gallery, London College of Fashion, John Princes Street, London W1; fashion.arts.ac.uk

Profoto Battery systems

After years of using Pro 6/7 on generators, then upgrading to the incredible Pro-7b packs, we decided it’s time to change it up and get the newish Profoto Acute 600b with the incredible lightweight LiFe batteries.

Mostly due to shooting a lot with 35mm DSLRS which needs less light than in the medium format film days, we can finally downsize this part of the equipment collections as well (not having  to travel with a separate case of film was already genius).

It’s a fantastic system with the same light quality of the Pro-7 system but in a much smaller package, which can be easily carried all day and fits in a much smaller case.

We’re now using the Tenba 38″ Rolling tripod case for 2 kits, stands and some umbrellas/soft boxes. Pure brilliance.

And it reduces the weight and cases by half. Much better on everybody’s budgets and joints.

4.1.1

Sarah Moon exhibit in LA

If you find yourself in LA these weeks spend an hour at Fahey/Klein Gallery and see the Sarah Moon show (LaBrea and 1st ave.), till May 21, 2011.

Just exquisit photography that just seemes to me like it happened yesterday.

True genius is timeless and never goes away, it just gets neglected by the mainstream.

And the best part, you can actually own these pieces, beats the auction market.

Irving Penn at Sotheby’s

Spring auctions are on these days and the most intriguing piece i saw was the georgeous portrait of Cate Blanchett by Irving Penn, 2007.

Just brilliant and in the usual manner perfectly printed, mounted and signed, just oustanding.

Now i hope it gets the price it deserves, estimate is very fair considering the other IP’s for sale:

TRX, workout wherever

A great thing i recently found and totally unrelated with photography (or maybe not):

It’s TRX suspension training. I discovered it at Fusion, my physical therapy place of choice ever since going bionic.

Anyway, the problem, who wants to work out early or late in the Hotel gym? I use this suspension system and just do my strength training/rehab in my room (or somewhere outside). It fits in a small bag, you can work out pretty much everything and stretch as well. Great little videos online and you can get creative with all the moves.

I think it’s an essential tool for everyone on the move that needs to keep fit and lift stuff, like 5 pounds of cameras, on a frequent bases. It seems the military, especially the SEALs, is starting to use this extensively as well.

 

Here’s a photo of the basic kit with a door anchor and a loop for small trees, etc.

TRX Pro Kit

Malik Sidibé show at MB Gallery, LA

Always loved his work, straight forward  that reminds me of August Sander great look at the Germans early 1930ties, just with african charm. The eye of Bamako is a great show in a great space, up till April 9, 2011 , so if you’re in LA you have to swing by

akick Sidibe

M+B
612 NORTH ALMONT DRIVE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90069

Homework picked up by Fox Searchlight

If you haven’t heard, and follow this story, the movie was picked up at Sundance by Fox Searchlight Pictures a couple of days ago. I hope that the press coverage, with the images we did, helped this project along to get recognized by the right people.

I even got my first NY Post reprint (interesting how this lines up with Fox Searchlight), if that pushed, it i’m extremely pleased with the outcome.

So congratulations to Gavin, the producers and the whole crew, and especially the actors, who barely had time to hold for a minute for stills (thanks).

You all probably worked as hard as i ever seen somebody, sleep deprived, but always cordial and nice.

Homework made it into Sundance

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It’s official: Gavin Wiesen’s directorial debut made it in.

My first movie that i shot stills and portraits during the whole shoot.

With such a fantastic cast and crew we can only hope it makes it big next year, so stay tuned and come to Utah. But please don’t break a leg, as i did for our friend Steven Sebring and his doc about Patti Smith in 2008 (which worked by the way, but i still suffer today, so don’t don’t).

See you out West…

Sargent and the Sea

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En Route pour la pêche

The Luminescent ocean view, the scenes on the beaches. Interesting how it can all remain in the vision of the sea in photographs. I felt very connected to the light and decisive play of light, shadow and clouds that create such a great pallet of colors. One can nearly smell the ocean and salt in the moist summer air.

Still up for a couple of days at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, just around the corner of our new favorite, the Brown’s Hotel on Albermarle.

Hipstamatic and the new iPhone

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Finally we’re moving into serious snapshot territory with the new iPhone. While it’s all nice and new (and quicker, with higher res. screen), the best part of this is that i finally discovered Hipstamatic.

I thought i have to move to Williamsburg to truly enjoy it, but the stuff i shot so far are dangerously fun by themselves. Thanks Steven for the intro on my birthday…

I promise i’ll post more snaps in the future

Adding sound

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And while getting serious about the moving image it becomes clear that sound needs to become it’s own item.

Not only does it alow to mix the image seperate from ther sound track, the sound quality is so much better, due to much less and better compression on the audio recorders.
It really is a different Element, that needs serious consideration and equipment.
And with the input from my shoot as stiil photographer on the set of “Homework” i got a serious headstart into this not so new field (My dad was a sound engineer and is a huge Jazz collector, so i kind of grew up behind a mixing board).

Again a nice amount amount of reseach was helpfull (and online resources can point very much in the right direction, but real world feedback is still the best, so thank you, Pro-Sound New York).

I rented the Zoom h4n and the Sennheiser M66/K6, both great units, form them for a test. While i liked the mic, even that it was on the dry side (Think Zeiss lenses) i wasn’t in love with the recorder. The XLR plugs don’t have a secure lock and after researching a bit i came across the Tascam DR-100 which a lot of people like better.
I wanted to up the quality and got a Marantz PMD-661, upgraded by the Oade brothers with better components. That is twice the price of the others but the sound is fantastic.
We also got Rode NTG-2 mics for boom (to the PMD) and on camera with a XLR to
stereo plug. The reason for Rode, great reviews, “cheap” and Phantom and AA power.

We also got the Rode Stereo video mic for room sound, that i personally hate, the base level of the noise is too high (hissing, think grain). Also, forget the build in mics of the Canons, Marantz PMD or any other handheld recorder for anything but emergency backup. The noise of actually just holding the unit actually gets recorded, so put it on a stand and just turn it on if you have to.

Oh, another necessary thing is to get is a nice set of headphones, Sony MDR 7506 seems the standard on movie sets, and that’s what we use now.

Our whole kit, PMD-661 ($650), 2 Rode NTG-2 ($250 each), 1 Rode SVM ($250), 1 Sony headphones ($95) and a couple of cables, rechargeable AA batteries and SD cards (probably $150), total $1645 for audio (Lav mics, to pin on, we rent as needed).

Getting just a small recorder, like the Tascam DR-100 ($300) and Rode NTG-2 with headphones gets you in the door for around $750 (cables, SD and batteries).

As for top of the crop recorders there’s Sound Devices, but that’s a very different category.

If you’re in NY, talk to Pro Sound or Abel Cine, both great outfits with very deep knowledge, a movie background and equipment to demo and rent.

As for shooting, the best option is obviously to work with a pro sound guy, but in a pinch (and a doc we’re working on right now) we do it ourselves with great results, but it needs to be monitored all the time, juts like the camera…

Coney Island visit

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Living in Manhattan makes you forget how unique this city really is.

We did a fun excursion (with our niece) to Coney Island yesterday.

The textures, people, color, it just pops and works in it’s slight dysfunction.

I really recommend the trip to anyone. And if you go early, there’s even street parking.

And bring a camera…

Hand held rig for the Canon 5D Mark II

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After doing research online and reading all the reviews I could get my hands on, testing equipment from Fotocare and Able cinema we got around to put a nice and small system together for better camera handling while shooting moving images with the Canon 5D.

What I do find interesting is that the Movie Directors of Photography keep the cameras and accessories small, with prime lenses and very little other equipment, maybe a loupe, maybe a small LCD.

But the still photographers try to add everything possible to the unit, large Matt boxes, a separate audio recorder with shotgun mics and huge shoulder rigs in addition to the loupe and monitor.

The last resulting in the most comical contraption that’s unwieldy and takes up huge amount of space to transport, rig and move around. Kind of defying the purpose of the small unit with incredible image quality.
The solution that I prefer is a simple Redrock rig with two handles upfront and a simple gun stock, while the camera gets a Zacuto loupe mounted on the small LCD.
I could see adding a 7″ Marshall LCD at some point, especially when shooting from a tripod.
But I really like the feeling of the handheld shooting, conveying and more engaging with an immediate point of view.

A great addition to the still image, i can see this mixing well on the iPad and web editions of stories all the while keeping the feel and perspective very close.

Homework Movie Poster for Cannes 2010

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Homework Movie Poster

Emma Roberts and Freddie Highmore on the Poster for the new movie Homework

This just in, during my month on the set i got some great photographs. And the shot of Emma Roberts and Freddie Highmore along with a NYC scape made it to become the poster (or One Sheet in movie land dialect).

Now we just need national and international distribution for which the film will be showcased in Cannes, France this week.

new Canon 70-200 2.8 II lens, what a gem

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I always hated those obnoxious, huge, heavy (and white) lenses. Never shot with them, hate the focal length, you get my drift.

But i had to get one for a shoot on a movie set that i was doing for the last month (in case you missed me).

And i have to say i’m flored, it’s still heavy white and enormous, but the image quality, handling and pure genius that allows low light photography at exposure times previously unheard of, is pure magic. I got fantastic shots with 200mm at 1/20sec, various ISO, super low light on the film set, at night, i still can’t believe it. I actually prefered the lens over the much lighter 24-105 lens i used on the other camera, just due to the stabilizing abilities and the rendition of the scene.

It will be some time till i can post a gallery on the site, the client is getting proofs today and the movie is supposed to be done by the fall.

iPad, what else is the world talking about

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I wonder, will it save publishing, will it replace my print portfolio, will we be able to replace Laptops, will we able to set it up as a preview screen on a shoot, how will my iPhone feel…

Anyhow, i can’t wait, my 3G is on the way, perfect for my trip to Europe. The hype is a little overblown, but it will do a lot.

I feel we’ll be ending up like those little round guys in WALL-E, sitting on a hover chair and having a iPad strapped in front of us. Interesting to think that Steve Jobs vision of the future is laid out in a children’s animation movie and no one picks up on this (iAd anyone?).

ICP: Atget and Miroslav Tichy show

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What a great selection of photographs.

I always loved the Atget view of Paris. I still it believe it exists, those quite moments in a large city and especially in Paris. They make every city magical, otherworldly, quite; an emotion that’s very hard to comunicate. And Atget stands the test of time.

On the other hand the great self build camera and the resulting images that Miroslav Tichy creates, come straight out of his phantasy, well excuted with a handmade edge that seems to be disapperaing very rapidly these days.

Both are at the ICP in NY til May 09, 2010

A View from the Bridge

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I just saw the play on 48th street. Great cast and great use of the set. Even the clothes felt strangely modern yet classic. Flowing coats and skirts and the men somewhat reminded me of the current inspirations of Steven Alan, J. Crew etc.

Anyhow, Scarlett was great, we saw her quickly after the show, nice as ever, with her hat pulled down and smoking away.

I think it’s her first big show on Broadway and she said she’s exhausted from the schedule, but that’s theater. I remember her, sitting in the back of the car, singing Disney tunes wile we’re driving all the way from MRY to the Ventana for a shoot a couple of years back.

Walking out into the street, flashlight mayhem with hundreds of fans, and that according to her, every night. All the while the rest of the cast just walks into the night or even rode their bikes home, love it…

It runs for only one more week and i highly suggest to go and see it, if you can score tickets.

Video kills the …

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Wasn’t there something like this not too long ago. Radio survived and that’s a good thing.

Now video is again at it, and the photo world seems to discover a new calling. Only, isn’t there something like a Director of Photography (who are great photographers themselves) on every film set. Nobody is waiting for the still photographers to come and reinvent the wheel. The DP’s are taking the small DSLRS and shoot footage previously unable or only obtainable with very difficult rigging. Maybe that’s the convergence of technologies. And it will be interesting finally and really incorporating editorial photography with video, at least to an extend…

My prediction: Still photography will come out of this even stronger than before. It’s hard to hang a movie or video on the wall, and moving images will enhance and add to the still portfolio in any publication (once we all have an iPad).

People will go back to actually capturing a moment rather than spending days reviewing, developing and editing RAW RED footage… In the end it’s all about the efficient method to get to the final product.

Irving Penn show at The National Portrait Gallery, London

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I just got the book a couple of days ago and it’s a brilliant little gem. But i really urge everyone interested in the best photographical portrait work ever done, to see the show in person.

It’s up at the National Portrait Gallery in London until June 6, 2010 and then at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome from July 1st through September 19th, 2010.

Alexander McQueen died today

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What a sad, tragic and early end to a fantastic designer who i expected to continue to fight against the demise of ambitious and great fashion.

I remember well when he first came to Paris in’96, changing Givenchy; not the easiest transition, after the genius John Galliano moved to Dior.

I felt recently he really hit a stride and I thought he’s just warming up…

Photoshop turns 20

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20 years of exponential improvements of post production (Whatever happened to Quantel??).

I thought i loved photography when the final image was “only” an 8×10 slide and everything had to be in that frame, exposure, contrast and color where you needed it.

I remember when the first rounds of Photoshop hit, i so desperately wanted a Mac and play around with black and white pictures. But at the time it was really a low quality tech geek with very little if any artistic or high end vision involved. Am i happy this changed and the artists were able to take over and claim photography once again for the art form with all the possibilities once the image is recorded electronically.

Today I feel i can push the picture much quicker, more precisely and repeatably to exactly what i want and feel about the subject and situation. And i don’t need a lab or digital technician. I’m still not a fan of artificial constructed visions of never occurred events (that’s called CGI and not photography) but i’m warming to this as well…

Anyhow, thanks to the Knoll brother’s and the team at Adobe to enhance Photography, making it a much more popular art form along the way and bring on discussions of relevance, reality and our image of beauty and distortion.

Promo Postcards going greener as well

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Mailing post cards always makes me think and hope that one day email marketing will replace the paper campaign. But while i’m conviced that it’s still a viable and necessary way of showing off some new work, i’m always concerned about the impact this has on the environment.

So it’s nice to know that my vendor, Modern Postcard in Carlsbad, CA now only uses pulp from sustainable forests that conform to the www.sfiprogram.org and www.fsc.org .

And above that the printing paper they actually use has a 30% post consumer waste content to cut down the use of new fiber overall.

If you haven’t received a mailer from me recently let me know, but also check you email inbox. I do send out email much more often and to a little bit larger crowd..

Irving Penn’s small trades at the Getty, LA

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I always loved that portfolio. It fits right between the Peru studio portraits early in his career and the tent/tribes shoots across the world in “Worlds in a small room”.

I just got back from the show at the Getty center in LA (where admission is free but parking $15, really) and was again impressed by the collection.

The prints had various qualities to them, from fiber based prints to variations in the platinum coatings, but it was a nice treat to see them all lined up for comparison. From the subjects, to the way they carried themselves and their tools, their facial expressions; all very intriguing.

The only disappointing part was that due to the sheer amount of prints some hang a little to high for closer review, but i guess that a nice problem to have with around 250 prints…

And i really enjoyed that the actual print size was not at such a monster scale that are shown i recent years, like this the photograph can be viewed as one whole image and the eye doesn’t have to wander.

Copyright alliance

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As you might be aware the wide spread usage (and resuse) of internet content undermines the legal status of many copyright issues. Even that the usage is clearly regulated, new ways of communicating are taking away licensing fees from artists and writers in a big way.

Therefore i support the Copyright Alliance effort to protect and extend what already is status quo and internationally recognized.

To learn more about this initiative and help bringing this matter to larger attention on a national level i suggest following the link below and signing the letter to the US President.

www.copyrightalliance.org/letter/

PhotoPlus Expo, Suza and Nachtwey

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Another year, another geek show. Few interesting tech things to see, Canon showed of the new 1D Mark IV cameras, great for movement, dance, jumps etc. With this, I don’t see shooting the RED camera ever again, 1o frames per second, 16MB RAW files. That’s great for a full page and beyond and much less footage (and tech/crew setup) to work with. NICE…

Now, if I actually get my new Canon S90 p&s camera and the printer that Epson promised last month and still has not delivered.

But the better part was a little history talk about The White House Photographers.

Led by Pete Souza, David Hume Kennerly and Robert McNeely it was a nice event that I wished would have been taped for the public with great personal insights and little quips about the daily life in 1600 Penn. Ave. and the obvious history witnessed by these great guys.

But I have to admit that James Nachtwey presentation on Saturday was beyond words.

The world’s misery that he witnessed and brought to the audience over the last 25+ years is just staggering. Probably the best photography done in this field and gorgeously printed by Jim Megargee, if it wouldn’t be for the just excruciating subject matter I could start hanging them in our house. Afterwards it was a standing ovation and had everybody reevaluate their life.

I do want to point to his tuberculosis initiative that he started with the help of TED in 2008.

Tuberculosis is shaping up to the most threatening disease making its comeback. Once though extinct it’s now multi/extremely drug resistant and taking a huge toll on populations across the planet and in conjunction with HIV is eradicating entire generations.

http://www.xdrtb.org/

“Learning from Light”, I. M. Pei documentary screening

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The Hampton film festival, what a surprise. I have to go there more often. Besides the panel yesterday, I’m again very impressed with a movie.

“Learning from Light”, which photographer wouldn’t want to see this, is a documentary on the great architect I.M. Pei and the construction of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.

Besides the introduction to his creative process and research, the difficulties of the construction itself, it was a fantastic revelation of one of the greatest minds of our time. And I loved his devotion and observation of light, it’s quality; the appreciation of the singularity of sunlight and the usage of simplistic shapes, along with his humor and Great Spirit.

Mr. Pei himself being present for this world premiere topped all of this. What a treat on a Sunday morning…

Now if I could watch this in HD. Somebody has to pick this up for distribution.

And I would really like to photograph him…

movie industry is going green

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Our great friend Alysse Bezahler was part of a panel of Movie and TV producers at the Hampton Film festival today, discussing the efforts of making movie productions more environmentally friendly.

And I really think there’s a lot that still photo productions can learn. From exclusive digital communication and file exchange in the production phase to renting Hybrid’s, renting equipment so it can be reused, using low power lighting solutions. To cutting down is disposable everything from foam core to foam cups, water bottles etc., and asking suppliers for “greener” and recycled products in general.

More ideas are here:

http://www.pgagreen.org

I’m happy that we implemented already a great deal of these ideas, from preproduction mostly done online; to the actual digital shoot, which requires less equipment, no chemicals and smaller crews; to digital file delivery versus the trusty world wide courier system.

And nice side effect was that productions also saved money implementing these changes, something that entirely makes sense.