Archive for category The Human Condition
The Killer Of Film
Posted by bruce in Art, History, The Human Condition on May 16, 2012
Bermaloid of the film shelf, May 2012
Commentary by Professor B KIller
Is it really over? Film? Well, actually that’s impossible. Film is any medium that can hold an image (my translation).
But is it that film that has silver on it on an “acetate” base is over with?
Pretty much.
I teach at a university. I’ve been there for four years. When I got there I was shocked to find out that they still had darkrooms. For one reason or another we kept them. I couldn’t arrive on the job, announce “The Darkrooms Are Dead” and be the killer!
And, as we went on, the students kept saying, “We love this.”
Well, some did. Soime hated it. Some loved and hated it. Many went on to be excellent photographers (in digital).
The point was that they were still learning some good lessons -as I and my generation did- in that dim room, swathed in yellow-red light, interacting with each other as they struggled with the old wet process of film and enlarged prints.
Cool but archaic.
So, here we are, at the end of another year, and as I look forward I struggle, once again, with the idea of being the Killer.
Anyone out there have any comments on this? Opinions? Experience with being the Killer Of The Darkroom or having fought off the axe of extinction?
Register on the blog and let me know.
The Morgue (The Good One!)
Posted by bruce in Art, Documentary Photography, History, News, social displacement, Technology, The Human Condition on May 15, 2012
You got to love paper. And aging. And photos. And writing.
Yes, it’s all in the “database” there, at the end of the keyboard, through Google. But is it?
Even if it is it has no texture, no odor, no reality.
Take this trip to The New York Times Morgue. A perfectly wonderful place to spend a lifetime.
A Documentary Survey Project From China
Posted by bruce in Documentary Photography, Photography That Matters, Photojournalism, Street Photography, The Human Condition on February 10, 2012
Bruce Berman Shoots Juárez
Posted by bruce in Conflict, Documentary Photography, Mexico, Photojournalism, The Human Condition, Uncategorized, War on October 8, 2011
[flagallery gid=1 name="Gallery"]
El Paso —-
Bruce shoots Juárez. Reluctantly and with remorse.
Since 2008 the photographer has been documenting the aftermath of violence in the troubled northern Mexico city. His interest is in the effect of the Cartel War on the population of the city, particularly the effect on the children of the city who have grown up knowing little else.
His current work is in a mental institution in the city, what he refers to as “The House Of The Abandoned.”.
The body of work -The Other Truth- will appear on this site on November 18th.
Ami Vitale; Beauty, Power, Life
Posted by bruce in Africa, Art, Children, Conflict, Documentary Photography, Middle East, News, Photography That Matters, Photojournalism, social displacement, South America, The Americas, The Human Condition on September 2, 2011
Hungary Baths by Amy Vitale©2011
From Ami Vitale’s website (http://www.amivitale.com):
Ami Vitale’s journey as a photojournalist has taken her to more than 75 countries. She has witnessed civil unrest, poverty, destruction of life, and unspeakable violence. But she has also experienced surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit, and she is committed to highlighting the surprising and subtle similarities between cultures. Her photographs have been
exhibited around the world in museums and galleries and published in international magazines including National Geographic, Adventure, Geo, Newsweek, Time, Smithsonian. Her work has garnered multiple awards from prestigious organizations including World Press Photos, the Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism, Lucie awards, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting, and the Magazine Photographer of the Year award, among many others.
Now based in Montana, Vitale is a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine and frequently gives workshops throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. She is also making a documentary film on migration in Bangladesh and writing a book about the stories behind the images.
Henri Still Kicks!
Posted by bruce in Documentary Photography, Photography That Matters, The Human Condition on July 2, 2011
Article posted courtesy of Huffington Post and Steve Ettlinger
Is Photojournalism Dead Yet?
by Steve Ettlinger
Born in the 1930?s, come of age in the 1950?s and 60?s, and pronounced near dead in the 1970?s and virtually buried by the closing of magazines/rise of the internet–you have to wonder how it is that some aspects of this wonderful world are still around. Read the rest of this entry »
Andrea Bruce Shoots You In The Heart
Posted by bruce in Conflict, Documentary Photography, Middle East, Photography That Matters, social displacement, The Human Condition, War, Women on July 2, 2010
Ingushetia by Andrea Bruce
Andrea Bruce is a passionate, stylish, skilled documentary photography who’s images -in the best traditions of still photography- sear your soul and drive their point through your heart, restoring it instead of terminating it. She is the new breed of documentary photographer that blends all the skills of good journalism with all the skills of great graphic image-making and produces a coctail that is nothing less than photo alchemy.
Take a look: http://www.andreabruce.com
Moises Saman: Lost Boys of Afghanistan
Posted by bruce in Children, Documentary Photography, Middle East, The Human Condition on August 31, 2009
Lost Boys of Afghanistan by Moises Saman
See this stirring slideshow by Moises Saman shot for The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/08/27/world/20090827AFGHANMINORS_index.html
Evgen Bavcar: The Blind Photographer
Posted by bruce in Documentary Photography, Photography That Matters, The Human Condition on August 18, 2009
Self portrait by Evegen Bavcar
Photography has always been thought about as “another,” way of seeing.
And it is.
But, usually, we think about that as a person looking through the camera, seeing what’s there, and, through the magic of the camera and the film -or digital- capture process, one sees the world in different way.
More advanced photographers and appreciators of photography then allow for the transformative recognition of the quality and angle of light, of the Decisive Moment, of the power of distance to subject or, even, luck or magic.
It is this latter idea that infuses the work of Evgen Bavcar ((“E-oo-gen Ba-oo-char”), the Slovenian photographer is completely blind, completely eccentric and his images are totally wonderful. Read the rest of this entry »
Dhiraj Singh: Video Biographer
Posted by admin in Documentary Photography, Photography That Matters, social displacement, The Human Condition on August 7, 2009
[pro-player]http://documentaryshooters.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/my-name-is-dechen.flv[/pro-player]
“My name is Dechen.”
Watch this touching video done by Dhiraj Singh.
He did an interesting thing: A Video Biograph.
In a way, all Visual Journalists who do stories on people, are doing “biography,” but with the addition of audio, where the subject can speak for themselves (edited, of course), where the image-maker can animate the images and drive the viewer’s emotions, the subject of the story becomes more “alive,” the depth is ratcheted up, and, potentially, the medium is beginning to resolve the age old struggle of photojournalism: Who’s viewpoint is this about? The subject’s or the photographer’s? Read the rest of this entry »
Dhiraj Singh: The (New) Eyes Of India
Posted by bruce in Documentary Photography, Photography That Matters, social displacement, Sub Continent, The Human Condition, War on August 6, 2009
From “Six Feet Under,” ©2009Dhiraj Singh
For more work by Dhiraj Singh, SEE: http://www.dhirajsingh.com/01.htm
Dhiraj Singh is a Photojournalist who lives in Mumbai, India. His work has been published in numerous international magazines and online journals, including Newsweek, Vanity Fair, msnbc.com, The Wall Street Journal, L’Expresso, and, many others. He has won numerous awards (see his “bio,” on his site, above) and participated in many exhibitions. His pictures of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 were part of the prestigious group exhibition titled, ‘Bearing Witness’ held in Mumbai in 2009.
Documentaryshooters is honored to have permission to publish Mr. Singh’s work. We feel he has the insights and skills to show India as it is, depicting its greatness and its struggles, its deep and ancient soul as well as its modern and energetic heart. He, as no other photographer has, since, the great Raghu Rai’s seminal work of the 1970′s, ’80′s and 90′s, not only shows India and the sub continent, he makes us feel it. Read the rest of this entry »
Vote
Posted by bruce in Documentary Photography, Photography That Matters, social displacement, The Human Condition on July 2, 2009
“Vote,” Selma Voting Rights March, 1965
©Bruce Davidson
Sometimes we forget that the “Big Work,” the work that one becomes known for making isn’t all there is.
Bruce Davidson went south, from Chicago, on instinct.
The world was shaking and he felt the vibe.
The time was now: Civil Rights.
Real change.
Without assignment or specific destination he “nailed it,” and was able to work on the edges of the news, tell the story from a personal and deeply intimate viewpoint.
This image, for me, is one his best. Beautiful composition. Beatiful moment. Beautiful storyline. Iconic and packed with all the elements that make it a novel unto itself, if this was the only photography that existed from the era it was shot in, it would, I think, be enough to tell the story of the struggle.
One word and one image: sometimes it’s enough: Vote.
For More on Bruce Davidson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Davidson_(photographer)
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Photography Sites
Border-Blog- Back From Teacherland: Watch Out!Low Rider’s Crucufix, east El Paso-May 2012 ©Bruce Berman One sees the world through one’s own window. This is the Low Rider’s punta de vista. What’s your’s? Rato Vato.…I’m back! Copyright secured by Digiprove […]
- Lost And Looking For Redemption In The Mountains of JuarezMan#26, The Other Truth series, Juarez, May 2011 Christmas Eve/El Paso A Personal Narrative Lost and abandoned. Christmas Eve reminds me of that, right now, as I look out my south-facing window to Juarez (three blocks away) across the valley of Juarez, to the foothills of the Sierra Madre, where Creamac sits, CREAMAC, the “mental […]
- Crossing the Rio without ConfusionUndocumented Women CrossingThe R2, Juraez-El Paso, 1984 Text and photograph by Bruce Berman The river with two names: Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte. Depends where you begin and where you end and where you return to. These women are heading north. It was a long time ago. Everything has changed and nothing has changed and […]
- Man In The SegundoMan in the Segundo, El Paso — Sept. 2011 Photo and Text by Bruce Berman Man from Anthony, New Mexico, describing his younger days in the Segundo barrio. The Segundo barrio is El Paso’s most historic neighborhood, hugging the border with Juarez, Mexico and architecturally intact from the 1880’s “railroad boom,” that brought fired […]
- Robot Geeks Attack El PasoV.I.P. at Robo-Geek Fest, El Paso, Texas all photographs by Bruce Berman Robots at Robo-Geek Fest, El Paso, Texas Robot attacks little girl at Robo-Geek Fest, El Paso, Texas Story by Bruce Berman El Paso —- Four-wheeled robots wielding paintball guns took over the Western Technical College Northeast campus on October 15, when students […]
- Night Out With The Man Who Loves DogsThe man who loves dogs (who doesn’t?), Las Cruces, New Mexico, September 2011 FOR SLIDESHOW: Photos and Text by Bruce Berman Las Cruces NM — Gary Bailey. Mensch (in Yiddish it means “a person of integrity and honor”). He is the man who loves dogs. One of them. He rescued all five of these. The […]
- House of the AbandonedMaria Full Of Grace, from The Other Truth (T.O.T.) series, Juárez, May 2011 Photo and Text by Bruce Berman Juárez — Maria. Full of grace. And other emotions. A permanent resident of CREAMAC, in the hills of Juárez, way up there, near the Guadalupe, the last place on one of the last streets, near the […]
- An Iconic Survey of the Border Funklands:1975–2011Teepee on the Carlsbad Highway, from the Funklands Project ©Bruce Berman FOR SLIDESHOW: […]
- The Heart of El Paso/Alligators And Kids With HeartLuis Jimenez’ Largartos (Alligators) in San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas, July 2011 by Bruce Berman El Paso – by Bruce Berman This is what kids do on their Quincineras in El Paso. They go to the heart of El Paso. They go to the downtown plaza, the “San Jacinto Plaza.” This is […]
- Prom Night: The Boogie Man Is A Long Way AwayProm Girl, El Paso, Texas –May 2011 Murder schmurder! It’s Prom Night in El Paso. Those buildings in the background are downtown El Paso. The space behind, the mountain, that’s Juarez. That girl there, in the foreground, the one with the whimsy and the joy and the hopes and the fragility, she’s a […]
- Back From Teacherland: Watch Out!