Tag Archives: phototalk

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Afghan Girl

PhotoTalk 2020/22

In June 1985 Steve McCurry’s photograph (since called Afghan Girl) was printed on the cover of the National Geographic magazine, anyone looking at the magazine was immediately struck by the intent look of an adolescent girl staring intently out from the magazine.

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It is such an iconic image that it has been named “the most recognized photograph” in the history of the magazine.  It portrayed an adolescent Sharbat Gula (or Sharbat Bibi) in a red head scarf, with her striking green eyes staring intently at the camera.  McCurry’s use of Kodachrome film was widely known, and the colours he achieved were brilliant, needless to say he used his tools to advantage.

The context in which the image was published likely aided the readers, but the image itself stands alone.  It has been widely discussed, widely reprinted, and widely reproduced on the internet as well.  McCurry has lost some standing worldwide due to a few scandals involving some of his photographs and “editing”, but the impact of the Afghan Girl image is undeniable.

Fame or infamy, Photo-Journalism or Exploitation? Let’s talk!

#PhotoTalk

Original comments and discussions can be found on the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook post.

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Out of sight…

PhotoTalk 2020/21

A few of us were out on a documentary project, and I noticed Darrell eyeing up a particular shot, I suspected but wasn’t sure what he was looking for. On asking a bit later, his description pretty much met a photo I knew well, and one that I thought most people knew, well, most local people. He didn’t know the one I was referring to; which brings me to today’s PhotoTalk image.

Before turning his attention to Video, John Greene was well known in photography circles, and in society at large who needed photography services.

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This image of his has remained with me for several reasons:

It had the typical John Greene processing in terms of colour and tonality

It captured a scene that was well-known but not often photographed (or publicised through photography)

The composition made it uncomfortable and memorable – and for this I would like to elaborate in comments)

I saw it in more than one local calendar and in printed news media

Paintings like the DaVinci’s Mona Lisa, Van Goth’s Starry Night, Photos like McCurry’s Afghan Girl remain with us because they keep popping up, they are talked about, they remain in reproduction in some form (these days, print and online), they are discussed and they are written about.

For local photographers’ work to achieve this level of recognition, should certain images be identified and promoted? Do any local works stand out? Let’s Talk!!

#PhotoTalk

Original comments and discussion can be seen on the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook post.

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WWII Women

PhotoTalk 2020/20

This weekend, some antic or the other had my daughter mentioning the “woman with the muscles” poster. This got me to thinking about the Rosie the Riveter Posters and the images during World War II, yes, before my time, but still relevant.

During times of conflict, times of dramatic change, photographs (and video) provide a record of people, events, environment, etc. The Rosie the Riveter campaign was responsible for women entering the American workforce in unprecedented numbers, and they were crucial to the war-effort (despite being paid far less than their male counterparts).

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This post is not about Rosie the Riveter nor the campaigns and illustrations of that time, in our April 03, 2020 PhotoTalk #6, we spoke about Margaret Bourke-White, today we show another of her images taken during the war-effort, of women in the work-force. As an image it is powerful, and it should also be said that Bourke-White was one of the first photographers hired for LIFE Magazine and the first female war correspondent.

Even today, it is still a male-centric world, and seeing images like this impresses me, not because I can’t see women doing these things, but maybe because I don’t see it often enough.

So, what’s the importance of a photographic record, in journalism and in art, during times of change, such as our current time? What are your thoughts of the similarities or differences between photographers of different genders and the photos they produce? Lets Talk!

The original comments and discussion can be seen on the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook Group’s post.

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Overtopping

PhotoTalk 2020/19

As a photographer who has a penchant for the seawalls, most of my seascapes and seawall images tend to be at low-tide.   I somehow prefer low-tide…  I will admit that one aspect might be the lack of salt-water spray on the camera, but that’s not the main reason.  I do admire images taken at high tide, especially when they are done right, and by right, I mean that they have an impact.

Two “over-topping” images immediately came to mind when I was thinking of this post, and I decided to use both.  As photographers, I have long admired the amazing nature photography of Bobby Fernandes (Robert J. Fernandes), and I’ve always marvelled at the technical skill in Dwayne Hackett’s studio work, so its no surprise that they both produced the images shown here.

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On the coastland, we live below sea-level, and all that protects us are our natural and man-made sea-defences.  It is our responsibility to maintain these defences, but to also acknowledge that as humans, we are contributing to climate change and the rise of sea-levels, and we, especially in Guyana, are dumping garbage that clogs our drainage, and prevents proper drainage; much of that garbage is thrown back at us by the sea.

Of great interest, although its video and not photography, is Alex Arjoon’s Coastland documentary, you should check that out!

As photographers, are we also responsible for the recording and documenting not only the ravages of the sea, but also the efforts of the builders of our defences? The keepers of our dams and kokers?  Let’s Talk!

#PhotoTalk

You can also see more of Dwayne’s work on his website, and on Instagram.

Original comments and discussion can be seen on the Guyana Photographers’Facebook Group post.

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Moon Landing

PhotoTalk 2020/18

Moon Landing.

On July 20, 1969, the crew of the Apollo 11 landed their Lunar Module on the Moon, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step onto its surface, he was also the crew member trained in the use of the special Hasselblad cameras, and while two such cameras were with the Lunar Module, only one went outside, and Armstrong had that for almost all of the time spent on the moon’s surface, so he was also the first man to take a photograph on the moon’s surface, that of his friend and crew-mate Buzz Aldrin.

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Hasselblad worked with NASA to produce specialised cameras for the missions, there were many things different, but two notable ones were the lack of a viewfinder (not all) and the inclusion of a Réseau plate.

Jennifer Levassur (in 2019) was a curator in charge of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s astronaut cameras, with regards the viewfinder she said “They needed to know that the position of the camera … along their body was going to produce a certain king of image,” While the landings produced some stunning images, it’s not surprising that without a viewfinder, some of them were poorly framed, she says. “There are about 18,000 or so images taken during the Apollo program and there are plenty that aren’t any good.” (taken from NPR.org)

The Réseau plate was a special glass plate included that added several crosshairs to the image, this assisted in correcting any lens distortion as well as to assist in judging sizes and distances of objects in the frame, since the moon is devoid of landmarks and other objects with which to compare scale. (You can probably make them out in the image)

Famous man, famous photo, famous camera, now about the photo… Let’s talk!

Original comments and discussion can be seen on the post in the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook Group.

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Rhine II

PhotoTalk 2020/17

Rhine II
Touching on some things that might prove controversial today.  The Rhine II by Andreas Ghursky is the most expensive photograph in the world, there was one called Phantom that disputes this, but the sale of the Phantom has never been verified.

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The Controversy: why would someone pay US $4,338,500 for a photograph? Let’s deal with the artist’s approach for a bit; by this stage he no longer approached a photograph without a plan, and lots of setting up; as I understand it, he shot several exposures on medium format film, then scanned and combined he images on his computer, with quite a fair bit of digital editing, removing buildings etc.  The print itself is an impressive photographic C-print mounted to acrylic glass at a staggering 73″tall by 143″ wide (that’s roughly six feet by 12 feet).

Is it fair to call it a “photograph”?  Should we call it a composite? Should we call it a photo-illustration? Should we simply classify it as art?

Let’s talk!

Originally posted to the Guyana Photographers’Facebook Group on May 15th, 2020; comments and discussions can be seen on that post.

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Guerrillero Heroico – Alberto Korda

PhotoTalk 2020/02

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Today, let’s discuss “Guerrillero Heroico”

We could talk about the photographer, but this is about the Photo.  Guerrillero Heroico is likely the most printed photo in the world, having appeared in everything from photographic prints, to posters, to attire, to advertising campaigns, tattoos, and eventually to art.

At the time, Alberto Korda was photographing an event, a memorial service for victims of the La Coubre explosion. Today we might say it was part of “event photography” or might classify it as a portrait (Korda did). What you see illustrated here is the original image, what was eventually made famous was a cropped version eliminating the palm tree to the right and the man to the left. What stands out in the image, to me, is the intense expression on Che Guevara’s face.

So, let’s talk, was it a good photo at an event? Was it a situational portrait? Was it a candid “street photograph”? Was it “art”?

Original post on the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook page on March 26th, 2020. Original comments and discussion can be seen on that post.

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PhotoTalk – Wildlife; Kester Clarke and Kwesi Isles

First in the PhotoTalk series.

PhotoTalk 2020/01

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I’ve always admired those folks who do wildlife photography, in Guyana its mostly Bird Photography, but they do get in quite a bit of wildlife too. For local art competitions and exhibitions its been hard for these photos to break into the top where they are considered art.

My view on this has always been that the photographers approach has a lot to do with it. Many Bird Photographers are concentrating on catching the Bird, whether at rest or in flight, its not an easy task to get a great shot of the bird; what results most times are what I consider Bird Portraits, again, excellent work, but often not considered “art” by many.

I was discussing this with an artist and one of the things I came away from that conversation with was that the resulting photographs often lacked other compositional elements related to “story-telling”.

I wanted to mention two “Bird” photographs that, in my opinion, broke through that barrier and by themselves speak volumes. Kester Clarke’s image gives not only action in a still frame, but also offers drama, the shallow depth of field, the sharp details in the birds with the bit of motion blur on the wings makes it an instant pleaser. Kwesi Isles’ image uses subtle background detail with sharp foreground detail in the “post” to add to the main subject in flight, putting it in greyscale lets the viewer see all of this while being undistracted by colour, I haven’t seen the coloured version, but I believe that the background colour would have diminished the clarity seen in the black and white version.

Just my two cents. 

Thanks Kester and Kwesi!

Michael C. Lam

Originally published on the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook page on March 25th, 2020. Comments can be seen there on the post.