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Thaipusam Photo Workshop – Day 1

I didn’t take this image but I wish that I had. This is one of the results from Day One of our Thaipusam Photo Workshop, which has been a delightful experience already.

However, first thing this morning when we set our students the challenge of photographing in full Manual Mode, Manual focussing, Monochrome JPEGs (No Raw) and, most challenging of all, with the review function on their camera’s LCD screen set to OFF and with only 36 exposures for the entire morning, they might have been forgiven for searching for the first flight leaving Penang airport. But they rose to the challenge with impressive dedication and this is just one of my favourites.

We’re embedding our students with various individuals and families in Penang and helping them document Thaipusam during the build-up and throughout the festival itself. So, as we’re starting at 5am tomorrow, I should probably get some rest before we head out onto the street again but I thought you might appreciate the simple beauty and uncomplicated, straightforward nature of this affectionate portrait.

More soon….

Feb 06, 2012 | Categories: Blog, Workshops | 1 Comment »

Preparing for our Penang Photo Workshop

It’s been a busy day preparing for our Penang Thaipusam Photo Workshop but it’s shaping up to be a colourful week. Here’s a shot from an on-location test that Matt Brandon and I struggled through this afternoon.

Penang Photo Workshop

Cyndi at the Campbell House Hotel library, Penang, Malaysia
1/125 sec at f/1.2 and ISO100, 85mm Canon EF-L lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Feb 04, 2012 | Categories: Blog, My work, Workshops | 6 Comments »

Brassaï – An Introduction

I have a new photographic hero. Well, new to me but his work is anything but recent.

Brassaï

Gyula Halász, or Brassaï as he was better known, was born in 1899 and is best known for his photographs of Paris, taken in the 1930s. The images are wonderful and capture something of the essence of Paris in those pre-war years. However, it’s this quote from Steve Simon’s wonderful “Passionate Photographer” book (more of that later) which really fired up my interest and has inspired my admiration for the Hungarian photographer.

“Brassaï would wander the streets of Paris at night with his Voigtlander 6×9 plate camera and 105mm f/4.5 lens on a wooden tripod, capturing the beauty, mood and mystery of the city on glass-based negative plates. It was the 1930s, when the process was more cumbersome and difficult. He often needed long exposures, which he measured with lit cigarettes, using a cheap, fast-burning Gauloise for short exposures, and a thicker, slower-burning Boyard for longer exposures.“

How wonderfully bohemian. In this digital age, with Auto-everything, Active-D lighting (what IS that?) and goodness-knows what other technical crutches for us to lean on, perhaps there’s a growing argument for getting back to the basics.

Consequently, participants at our sold-out Thaipusam Photography Workshop in Penang next month will each be issued with a plate camera, wooden tripod, 3 glass negatives, a pack of Gauloise, a pack of Boyard, a box of matches, a trilby (or a fedora if you prefer) and a large coat with an upturned collar.

Probably.

Enjoy this series of Brassaï’s “Paris by Night” images whilst you light up a Gauloise.