Recently in Photographers Category

Tasteless espresso

By Martin Joergensen | December 20, 2008 2:08 AM |

leibovitz.jpg I usually respect Annie Leibovitz for her work. I read Vanity Fair regularly, and Leibovitz' pictures are always worth some attention. I'm not exactly overwhelmed by her style, her compositions or her lighting skills. My guess is that most skilled professionals would be able to do a lot of what Leibovitz does, if they had the resources that she has. But she sure does a decent job of most assignments given to her.

Continue reading Tasteless espresso.


Why free can make you money

By Martin Joergensen | December 8, 2008 7:20 PM | | Comments ( 3)

MJ0_2056-01.jpgGiving stuff away for free can be a very good way of making money. I have written about that before, and the current economic state of the world makes this even more true. People will spend money even more unwillingly due to threats of downfall and recession. It's not like they won't spend money. They will. In particular if they know that the stuff they buy is good.

The last few weeks there have been a few entries on Danish professional photographer's web sites – mainly on the Photographer's union's web pages. Most of these photographer's are photojournalists who come from a world of stable jobs, regular freelance agreements, strict segregation between amateurs and professionals and magazines and newspapers as the typical customers paying the tariff.
One entry reads “Free images, free newspapers, free stories, free entry. Soon the only thing not free will be the ride to work”. This piece and a couple of others on similar photojournalist's sites mainly cover an incident where a newspaper published images taken by an amateur photographer who gained free entry to a concert in exchange. Continue reading Why free can make you money.


How to look good

By Martin Joergensen | October 23, 2008 1:02 PM |

how-to-look-good.jpgThe series "How to look good in pictures" created by Nikon is simply brilliant! This little online show focuses mainly on the models: expression, clothing, poses etc. and contains all kinds of neat and easy tricks to look good in good portraits. But it also gives the photographer a lot of hints to how he or she can get a good shot.

The host of the show is Carson Kressley, who is just perfect for the role as an instructor. Carson used to be one of the hosts in the surprise hit show "Queer eye for the straight guy", which started back in 2003. In this show five gay men helps a straight guy get some style in his appearance, home, cooking and other things in order  to impress a girl.

Carson's manners are, eh... manners... A bit exaggerated, maybe, but close to perfect for the concept. He is very nice and engaged and does indeed "strike a pose" every time the camera points at him. But no matter what, he gets the message over, talking to celebs, pro photographers or just people in the streets of New York.


Shot by the famous

By Martin Joergensen | October 19, 2008 12:14 PM | | Comments ( 1)

dennis-hopper-andy-warhol.jpgWe see celebrity pictures all over the place, all the time, and mostly too many of them if you ask me. But it's not often we see pictures shot by the celebrities themselves.
Famous people, usually spending their time in front of the lens, can be great photographers too.

Dennis Hopper has been my all time favorite celeb-shooter. I saw some of his images at Photokina recently, where they were shown in large copies. His fame comes primarily from his acting - Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet, Red Rock West and many more - but his stylish shots of artists like Bill Cosby, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney as well as his shots from the sixties' civil rights demonstrations in the US have proven him quite accomplished behind a camera. It almost makes me forgive him for Waterworld... almost.


Continue reading Shot by the famous.


Reuter's Olympics

By Martin Joergensen | October 15, 2008 10:49 PM |

reuters.jpgIf you think that any of those many great press bureau pictures that you saw from the Olympics in Beijing were just lucky punches, think again. This little video from Reuters shows with all possible clarity that it's hard work and tonnes of resources that gets the photographers 80% of the way towards the great pictures - the last 20% is skill and some luck.

Reuters brought 40 photographers and 25 people to edit, process, transfer etc. to the games, and the video illustrates some of the efforts and preparations made to grab the right shot of the right person in the right moment. Impressing!


Ten movies that inspired my photography

By Martin Joergensen | October 13, 2008 2:03 PM |

night-of-the-hunter.jpgI stumbled over these lists on the web site Film in Focus - different visual artists, photographers included, who listed their five most influential films. Gregory Crewdson, Larry Sultan, Amy Stein and many more reveal their favorite films with regards to imagery.

That made me think: being a movie buff, from which movies did I pick out photographic inspiration? Several of Film in Focus' guests mention Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter. Can't remember having seen that, so it's now on my to-see list.

But making my own top-five list was way too easy, and I had to expand it to ten. There are many more when I start thinking, but I have to limit myself.
Here they are in no particular order: Continue reading Ten movies that inspired my photography.


iheartphotograph

By Martin Joergensen | October 3, 2008 3:20 PM |

One of my absolute favorite photographic blogs is iheartphotograph - like in I love photograph with the heart symbol. Iheartphotograph is a daily dose of different photography gathered and published by New York based art curator Laurel Ptak.

And when I say different I really mean it. This huge collection of photographs and display of photographer's works is quite far from what I shoot myself (and then again, see later), and quite far from the type of photos I mostly look at in galleries, on the web, in books or in magazines.

Continue reading iheartphotograph.


Nachtwey's TED wish

By Martin Joergensen | September 30, 2008 6:17 PM |

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I have always been fascinated by the work of war photographer James Nachtwey. I have been captured by Nachtwey's graphical and unpleasant yet stunningly beautiful photos ever since I saw a documentary about him shooting amongst others a father in Indonesia, who had not only lost an arm and a leg in a railway accident, but also lived on a piece of cardboard literally between two railway tracks with his family.

One of Nachtwey's pictures of this man is seen here.

Continue reading Nachtwey's TED wish.


Canon:Nikon - 1:2

By Martin Joergensen | August 15, 2008 3:14 PM | | Comments ( 2)

canon-vs-nikon.jpgAs the Olympics roll over the arenas of Beijing and the screens of the world, I have been following a lot of photographer's blogs. I have noticed two things that has made me a happier photographer:

1) An increasing number of professional photographers share their experiences and knowledge through blogs, picture galleries and articles in their respective media. This is a very positive development in the photographic community, where more and more see the value and importance of sharing and the positive effects of telling people what you know.

Continue reading Canon:Nikon - 1:2.


What the world eats

By Martin Joergensen | July 30, 2008 1:36 PM |

peter-menzel-equador.jpgI browse a lot of images on the web, and very often bump into photographers or individual images that fascinate me. But rarely do I find pictures that leave an impression like Peter Menzel's series "What the world eats". This is a very simple concept, which has been brilliantly executed by Menzel and has resulted in a large series of images, that not only illustrate the point extremely well, but also in all aspects are very well done. Great photography, human warmth, clear and bright signals and no judgment on the wealthy or false compassion for the poor.

Continue reading What the world eats.


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