Magic.
The magic, romance and infinite possibilities of lighter-than-air flight were never better suggested than in these magnificent early pictures of dirigibles from the New York Times at it’s extraordinary ‘Lens’ blog.
Click/touch the image for the photo essay.
Photographer to the Stars.
George Hurrell’s star shone brightest when the Hollywood studio system was in full flow. Stars may not have made the extraordinary compensation packages of today and, indeed, their long term contracts pretty much made them indentured servants to the studio bosses, but they had regular work and who would argue that today’s movies are better?
I was reminded of this splendid book when setting up the lights for our son’s tenth birthday session, and surprised to find I had never mentioned it here. The boom light used on the hair is pure Hurrell, and you will see its effect in almost every picture in the book. I have had this book in my collection for years and it’s still in print, though my Scottish gene reminds me that I almost certainly bought it at a remaindered price.
Highly recommended not just for Hurrell’s tremendous skill with lighting – and we are talking large plate cameras here – but also because of the many memorable images of stars of the golden age of Hollywood. My favourite is Loretta Young – a face of quite exceptional beauty.
The placement of the subject under the boom light is critical with the relatively small light sources used today. Hurrell used enormous light boxes which gave off a broad soft beam, making placement of the subject easier. With small strobes, if your subject is as much as an inch or two too far back the face will wash out into a ghastly death mask. I make things easier for Winston by marking the placement of his toes on the ground with tape, once the right position is determined. The cover photograph, above, interestingly uses the single boom light only, to superb effect.
A pioneering artist.
Until Irving Penn made the style his own, the province of high contrast, high style fashion photography was that of Lillian Bassman, who passed away eight days ago aged 94. Here are a few examples of her beautiful work.
She worked mostly for Harper’s Bazaar in the 1950s.
Another great English photographer.
Click the image to go to Amazon US.
That fine English photographer Roy Hammans mentioned John Blakemore’s new book to me the other day and no more encouragement was needed to wave my credit card in Amazon’s direction.
Blakemore, born in 1936, has gone through several styles in his photographic life, starting with street work in London’s poorer areas (very moving), through theater, landscapes (excellent wind effect pictures) and still lives (see the cover, above), always finding something new and fresh in his approach.
The quality of the book’s production speaks to the photographer’s fastidiousness and perfectionism, the mostly monochrome prints rendered slightly warm to great effect. There is also some limited color content, original and beautifully reproduced.
This book is an example of what high quality photography books should be like. If you like the contemplative approach to these subjects, rendered with originality, this book is strongly recommended.
A world class food photographer.
Andrea Thode is a German photographer who makes his home in Hamburg. I came across his work when he left a comment here a few weeks ago and was immediately struck by the stunning originality of his food photography. Never having seen anything quite like his fish pictures, I dropped Andrea a line asking if he would let me expose his work to readers.
Andrea has asked if I would like to fix the words in his biographical piece but I prefer to leave them unchanged as their meaning is clear.
Thank you Thomas for your interest and letting me contribute to your site.
I’m an almost 40 year old photographer, living in Hamburg/Germany. I took a professional education (technical training) in a big advertising studio in hamburg and finished after three years way back in 1991 as a certificated photographer. I learned to develop and print in black & white as well as color process (E-6/C-41). That was really heavy regarding all the chemicals I used to put together … At this time I did all kind of jobs, from small packshots to jewelry or small cars. I mainly worked with Nikon F3, Mamiya RZ or Plaubel 8×10″.
Something I didn’t learned was photojournalism or people photography at all. I was very shy, when it came to take images of strangers. Now my main inspirations always came from Sebastião Salgado. His books and exhibitions had a huge impact on me from early on. He was so close to people and under worst circumstances, that really shifted the way I saw photography or images as a whole.
Since that time I did all kind of different jobs to make an income, like car salesman or web and screendesign, and boy, how time flies! At some point, I returned to photography, as it was always on the back of my mind. That was almost seven years ago. That was also the time where I sold my Nikon F5 and bought a D2x, my first digital. It really shifted the way I saw things, due to the quick image response. I experimented very much, had some exhibitions and some jobs but gained not enough to make a living. So I kept on working mainly as a webdesign freelancer to finance my photography.
By 2008 I had the opportunity to work employed as a staff photographer at a newly launched print magazine called EFFILEE. Its mainly all about food, people and the world of good cuisine, jump started by a generous gourmet and millionaire named Vijay Sapre. So there I am. Taking Stills and images of food and drinks in my little studio and reportages of old winemakers in Burgundy or portraits of three star michelin chefs and famous restaurants all around germany. I often thought: “I get paid for this? – Sweet!”
That was until the end of january, from now on, I’ll be working as a freelancer again. The crisis hit the print publications the most and time and money is on the short side. But nonetheless, I learned very much by that time, encountered many great people and have now the opportunity to go my own way and take my pictures to the next level. My portfolio got bigger and bigger and I already have some enquiries and so much great overall response that I can stay positive for the future. Its going to be tough and rough and if its not for my personality, it will definitely shape my images.
I will focus more on interesting people and short travel reportages as I really love to know more about people and their jobs. I also love to be flexible and most often I work with small equipment and available light. I met some good journalists and authors and have already made some plans for interesting reportages. So please stay tuned and follow my website for updates, if you like.
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Thank you, Andrea, for allowing me to share your stunning photography with my readers. Be sure to check Andrea’s website for a broader cross-section of his outstanding work.