Travel & Humanitarian Photos
I have a new photographic hero. Well, new to me but his work is anything but recent. 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 [...]
I’m reaching the end of what has been a satisfyingly productive and entertaining week so thought I’d brew up a pot of bergamot-infused Darjeeling tea and take a moment to reflect. A memorable week The week started memorably enough when I witnessed what I’m still describing as a minor miracle when relating the experience to [...]
Keeping to the theme of students who I’ve had the pleasure of working with in recent months, I’m pleased to bring you a small selection of Gaby Thijsse’s photos taken during a recent photo workshop in Bangkok. Gaby is the wife of professional photographer Leen Thijsse and, as she explains on her web site, “was [...]
News of two inspiring events, a photo exhibition and a David duChemin e-book.
Hear Ami Vitale on the Digital trekker’s “Depth of Field” audio podcast series.
I’ve always found that the difficulty of using flash, or strobe, lighting in the field is that it can be difficult to achieve a look that isn’t artificial. Natural light is everything in the work that I do and I’ll base my working day around the times of day when I expect the light to [...]
Smashing Magazine has listed 35 Beautiful Photography Websites and my own is amongst them. I was delighted when I found out. When I looked through the other web sites in the list I was doubly pleased. The legendary Steve McCurry, the fabled Rankin, the acclaimed Brent Stirton, the gorgeous Burn Magazine, the wildly impressive Timothy [...]
Sure, it’s a little more time-consuming but the gear is light, inexpensive and doesn’t suffer from noise in low light. Young Mike LaPalme, who has far more talent than is reasonable for one man, has created a series of etch-a-sketch images, including this one of yours truly taken at the Tattoo Festival earlier in the [...]
Bet you thought I’d run away. Or perhaps that I was trapped beneath a heavy bookcase and unable to reach my keyboard. Or, worse still, that I just didn’t care about you any more. The truth is that I’ve been a tad busy and unable to find the time to conjure up the enchanting mix [...]
A friend of mine has a book coming out and I want to tell you about it but I’m conscious of not wanting it to appear like I’m just plugging a mate’s book as a favour. The truth is that I might consider doing that for a good friend but this is different. I’m telling [...]
I was sorry to hear that Don McCullin has recently suffered a stroke and is currently recovering in hospital. Don was expected to speak at the Travellers’ Tales Festival this month but won’t now be able to. Regular readers of this blog will know that I hold Don in great affection and he is, in [...]
The Boston Globe’s Big Picture web site has rapidly become a popular resource for anyone interested in photojournalism. They’ve just published a series of photos taken by Reuters photographer Finbarr O’Reilly from the Congo. The situation in the Congo continues to deteriorate as the army, the UN and rebel forces move rapidly towards melt-down in [...]
Mitchell Kanashkevich has found a gorgeous tea-shack in Kollam, Kerala and photographed it and its patrons beautifully. Lovely compositions, honey-coloured light and effervescent colours all combine to make some beautifully evocative photographs. My favourite photos are almost inevitably ones that give me a strong desire to visit the place shown in the photo. When I [...]
Occasionally a weekend will come and go which leaves you with a warm glow inside. This has been such a weekend. I’ve known David duChemin and Matt Brandon for a while now but until Friday night it had been an entirely virtual relationship, carried out across continents via the wonders of the Internet. David is [...]
I don’t know why I’m coming to JPG magazine so late in the day. Indeed, not just late in the day but actually long after dark. The online magazine has shut down this month. Rob Haggart has, as is often the case, an interesting take on the concept of web versus printed magazines and his [...]
Matt Brandon, aka the Digital Trekker, has switched his blog from Blogger to WordPress and is loving the new format, and rightly so. He tells us that his new blog has “all kinds of fun stuff” which, when it comes from Matt, you know will be a sure thing. On the tail of this and [...]
Regular readers will remember me writing about Mitchell Kanashkevich’s work before and now you can keep up to date with his latest adventures directly via his new blog. Mitchell has a wonderful eye and his photographs have… (I hesitate to write a much over-used word but it’s appropriate in this case) … his photographs have [...]
On October 3rd James Nachtwey will unveil photographs of an under-reported, global news story. Images will appear in media outlets around the globe, be posted online and even be projected onto landmarks in London, New York and Los Angeles. In order to help promote this story follow the link below, which will direct visitors to [...]
Vincent Laforet has posted a video shot exclusively with a prototype of the new Canon EOS 5D MKII. He has nothing but praise for the camera’s video capabilities and suggests that the new 5D will be a “game changing” camera. I don’t know, I love the idea of shooting video and Laforet gives us a [...]
I know, I know. You’re waiting to find out which was the winning image from the Bangkok Photo Walk. Well, my friends, the decision has been made and the result will appear exclusively on this blog within the next twelve hours. The wait is nearly over. For now, all I can reveal is that I’m [...]
Philip Toledano’s series of photographs of his 98 year-old father are exquisite. If you’ve ever considered taking photos of your family, not just holiday snaps or pictures on somebody’s birthday but everyday portraits that really capture the essence of a personality, then this might inspire you to get started. Philip tells his father’s story with [...]
The annual Association of Photographers Awards is now open for the public to vote for their favourite images. Whilst the judges have already selected the ‘Best in Show’ and their own personal favourites, the Public Vote is arguably the prize that the competing photographers will be most honoured to win. There are 82 photographs to [...]
I awarded myself a day off today and took the Skytrain to Silom where the Kathmandu Photo Gallery is located. The gallery is owned and run by photographer Manit Sriwanichpoom. His own photos are exhibited on the ground floor whilst the first floor is reserved for different exhibitions. I have to apologise for the poor [...]
Not one, not two but three great photo exhibitions in Bangkok over the weekend. The World Press Photo and Thai Press photo exhibitions are thought-provoking if harrowing. Difficult really to look at those photos and to leave the exhibition feeling terribly uplifted but there’s no question that these are images which should be brought to [...]