Photographer Interview: Neelakshi Vidyalankara

The work of UK photographer Neelakshi Vidyalankara amazed me both for it's commercial and documentary aspects. She covers a wide range of social issues like young mothers in prison, swingers and members of the Chicago chapter of the Nation of Islam.

Outside of her commissioned work, Neelakshi has also been published in several newspapers and magazines, and still finds time to nurture a family. You can connect with Neelakshi on Facebook.

D&B: Where are you from?
NV: I was born in Sri Lanka and came to the UK when I was 4 years old with my family. I am currently based in London, where I have lived for the past 25+ years.

D&B: What kind of photography do you shoot and how did you get started - any "formal" training?
NV: I discovered photography late in life - in my early 20s. I completed a Postgraduate course in Photojournalism at the world-renowned London College of Communication. In terms of shooting, I’d best describe my style as a documentary journalist. However, more recently I’ve been approached to do everything from children’s portraits to corporate assignments.

D&B: What cameras or techniques do you use?
NV: I learned basic photography on a Nikon FM II. For current day-to-day use I use a Canon 5D. I also enjoy shooting with my old Hasselblad for personal work.

D&B: Who are your mentors (in photography)?
NV: My early inspirations were from the classic masters of reportage like Walker Evans, Cartier-Bresson and Eve Arnold. There are so many amazing photographers out there whom I take inspiration from, especially now with the scope of the internet. I am amazed every day.

D&B: Have you experienced any setbacks or different treatment along your photography career that you would attribute to being a woman and/or photographer of color? (this question is optional)
NV: Often working for editorial clients you tend to get 'pigeon-holed' for certain commissions where they think you may fit the brief. That said, I don’t see it as a negative as I try to use EVERY opportunity that presents itself in a positive way. 'Pigeon-holing' can be frustrating at times but I have used it to my advantage. As a female photographer clients often think you're more suited to more sensitive subject matter.

D&B: When did you realize you could have a career in photography? Describe your journey towards becoming a working photographer.
NV: After leaving the course and working in a photo library I started getting commissions. I was lucky. They gave me a chance and they seemed to like my work. So in hindsight, I guess I made some of my own luck.

D&B: What do you hope to achieve with your photography?
NV: A living! My ideals aren’t as high as they used to be but I’m managing to hold my own making a living as a photographer, for which I am privileged.

D&B: What's your dream photography project?
NV: To go to South America (a Continent that I have always wanted to see) and travel.

D&B: What's the biggest (life) lesson you've learned through photography?
NV: Don't sit around waiting for things to happen! You need to be proactive in order to realize your potential and achieve your dreams. I'm still trying...

Next week's Photographer Interview on Dodge & Burn: George Pitts

Read previous interviews with:
María Fernanda Hubeaut (Argentina)
Elia Alba (NYC)
Jaime Permuth (Guatemala)
William Vazquez (NYC/Puerto Rico)

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Photographer Interview: María Fernanda Hubeaut

The following photographs are part of a series titled Rayuela (translated in English meaning "hopscotch"), based on the novel of the same name by famed Argentinian author Julio Cortázar.

See more of this work at María Fernanda Hubeaut's website and read her blog (in Spanish).


D&B: Where are you from?
MFH: I’m from Argentina, from a small city called Santa Fe. I’ve being living in the New York and New Jersey area since 1999.

D&B: What kind of photography do you shoot and how did you get started - any "formal" training?
MFH: I am a photographer, and I do documentary and artistic [fine art] photography, but I love photography in any kind of genre. It is for me a precious instrument to have the possibility to recreate and help create the reality that surrounds us.

I have a master's degree in Social Communications from Argentina, but before I decided to formally study I was (during my teenage years) a self-taught photographer. In my adolescence, photography was a special part of my daily routine: to discover things and people around me through my camera.

From the series, Rayuela © María Fernanda Hubeaut

D&B: What cameras or techniques do you use?
MFH: In the beginning, I used film, I used an old Pentax Spotmatic. Now, I use a Leica M6 and the Canon 40D for my commercial work.

Special technique? None at all. Most important for me is to be present at the moment to catch the instant and be aware of the light. These two things are for me the most important in this path.

D&B: Who are your mentors (in photography)?
MFH: Well, my first mentors were my grandfather and my father (both of them were into the practice of photography) and then the books that showed me all the great photographers from the amazing history of photography. Today, I am still learning from them and from everyone in this field.

D&B: Have you experienced any setbacks or different treatment along your photography career that you would attribute to being a woman and/or photographer of color? (this question is optional)
MFH: Sometimes, I am surprised that here in America still exists discrimination against women, more in the journalism area. Honestly, I expected this type of discrimination to happen in my country or in other Latin American countries, but it is happening here, too. That is very sad and I would like things to really change in that aspect.

From the series, Rayuela © María Fernanda Hubeaut

D&B: When did you realize you could have a career in photography? Describe your journey towards becoming a working photographer.
MFH: At the university [in Argentina] I taught and worked as a photographer, but I formally decided to become one at the age of 19. I knew then that no matter what happened, I wanted to follow the photography path.

In Argentina this wasn’t easy. I wanted to keep myself working in the field - this was the principal motor of my travels around the world and the cause that finally led me to live in the USA.

Sometimes it is difficult to make a living only as a photographer, but I never give up. I’m also working as a freelance reporter and writer, and all of these together make a good combination that nourishes and allows me growing deeply into my goals as a photographer.

D&B: What do you hope to achieve with your photography?
MFH: The power to change “La Mirada” of people... meaning the way people look at things. To use the images to help them heal. To be more open and creative to their own reality. I would like to achieve that kind of communication, that kind of joy with my work.

D&B: What's your dream photography project?
MFH: Right now, my new photo essay is in progress, Independence. A series of human portraits that intends to awaken the sense of independence in every human being and in every possible way that people choose to show it in their own skin.

D&B: What's the biggest (life) lesson you've learned through photography?
MFH: Respect, openness and consistence. That it is what I want for myself and also for everyone that it is in front of my pictures.

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Roy DeCarava Quotes from 1996 Charlie Rose Interview

As readers of this blog you already know I love photographer interviews. When I interview a photographer, I'm not just interested in their technique and equipment. I'm more interested in their artistic tendencies - the questions, theories and truths that drive them to make pictures as a means of expression.

Towards the middle of this interview, Charlie Rose asks, "What haven't you been able to photograph that you've very much wanted to?"

Just when you think he's going to name some great historical figure, Roy smiles innocently, almost as if embarrassed by his answer, "The wind."

Here are some my favorite quotes from Charlie Rose's 1996 interview with DeCarava, the same year of his Museum of Modern Art retrospective.

"It's the not the subject that interests me as much as my perception of the subject."

"I don't really think that the technique really determines the veracity of the image. It's what the image does to the viewer that determines whether it's right or wrong."

"My life has been pretty rainbow-colored in the sense that I lived in many areas of the city that weren't completely black... So I wound up photographing a lot of different people."

"Seeing your work on the wall is like the ultimate thing that can happen."

"Artists are a very important part of our society because they make a great contribution to our values. The artist creates a value system that we all grow up on, whether we know it or not."

"The artist creates the material that we look back upon as part of history."

"The artist is a kind of a seer and by nature he is optimistic because he believes in the future."

DeCarava also talks about how he came to collaborate with author Langston Hughes on the book that chronicled Harlem's noble side, The Sweet Flypaper of Life. Watch the 14 minute interview below.



R.I.P. Roy DeCarava, we'll miss your eye on life.

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New Photography Shows, Call for Entries and Books: October 2009

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW XIV is scheduled for Friday, November 13, 2009 at the Aperture Foundation in Chelsea and will be co-curated by Lesley Martin, Aperture's book publisher. The theme of the 14th show in New York City is INSIDE OUT and the submission deadline has been extended to Wednesday, November 4th.

The Indo-American Arts Council seeks submissions from artists who identify themselves as having origins in the Indian Subcontinent for the Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 2010. The exhibition will be curated by Vijay Kumar and will travel to several key galleries and museums in North America from February through December each year.

The Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Festival and Competition All photographers in Canada, the UK and the US, 34 years of age and under, may submit. Submissions open on Monday, October 12, 2009 and close on Thursday, December 31, 2009.

Open Call: 31 under 31: Young Women in Art Photography II
Humble Arts Foundation is currently accepting submissions for 31 under 31 (women photographers born after March 1, 1979), curated by Charlotte Cotton and Jon Feinstein.

31 Under 31 Submission Deadlines
Early: Friday, November 20, 2009, 12 am ET
Late: Friday, December 18, 2009, 12 am ET

And finally... PDN's Darren Ching recommends 18 Photography Exhibits to See in New York City. Also from PDN is this must-read article, PDN Stories of Hope featuring United Nations, Olympus Visionary photographer John Isaac.

One of Issac's students had this to say about him: "He told us about times when he hadn't taken a picture because he didn't want to exploit someone. He always puts his ethics and morals first. I wish everyone could be like him."

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Darine Stern: First Black Woman to Grace Playboy Cover in 1971

Feeling compelled to post this as an homage to Darine Stern - the first African American woman to pose on the cover of Playboy in 1971.

Apparently the folks at Playboy used this image of Darine as inspiration for their latest issue with "The Simpsons" cartoon character Marge on the cover. This CNN article quotes the magazine's editorial director Jimmy Jellinick, "Marge's sexy blue beehive immediately made us think of Darine Stern, whose beautiful, voluminous hairdo was front and center on the October 1971 cover."

A cartoon character's "sexy" blue beehive = '70s black power afro? Don't quite get that connection and I'm not a fan of this "gentleman's" magazine, but I do love the original image of Darine. The back lighting on her hair is quite angelic.

According to Black Beauty of the Day, Stern died of breast cancer at age 46. Ironically, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month - perhaps this is the real moral of this story.

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11 Free MFA Programs to Study Photography

The decision to pursue higher education is always one fraught with anxiety over whether or not you can afford it.

After student loans for college, mortgages, plus credit card debt that most Americans have, who can even think about taking on another expense? For those who truly want to pursue higher education in photography, this post will list eleven free MFA programs within the United States that can help you do it debt free.

Baffled by the exorbitant costs for higher education in this country, one day I thought, is there such a thing as "free tuition"? Using Google I combed through comments left on forums and found graduate schools in the U.S. that offer fellowships and "tuition waivers", a form of financial assistance in which the school charges little or no tuition.

Some observations from my search:

• Only 1 of these programs listed below specifically offer an MFA in Photography, the others offer an MFA in Studio Art with the ability to specialize in photo - the benefit of studio art programs is that if interested, you can often take classes in other art forms
  
  
• Very few are located on the East or West coasts.
  
  
• Some schools also offer (teaching-assistantship) stipends for related or personal expenses.
  
  
• Admission prerequisites typically require a BFA in Art or Studio Art (including courses in art or art history) but some exceptions can be made, for example if you have a BA/BS in Studio Art - check each school's website for details.
  
  
• There are few slots available, less than 10 in most cases - so it's no surprise that competition is fierce.
  
  
• Application fees seem lower (compared to MFA Photo programs) and in some cases you may be able to get it waived too.
  

Here's a list of 11 free MFA programs you should check out, in no priority order. I've provided links to their websites for details and recommend you do your own research and verify their commitments to providing tuition waivers and fellowships if/before you apply.

1. Tulane University
   
   
2. University of New Orleans
   
   
3. University of Delaware
   
   
4. University of Illinios, Urbana Champagne
   
   
5. University of Connecticut
   
   
6. University of Albany, NY
   
   
7. University of Notre Dame - South Bend, Indiana
   
   
8. University of South Florida, Tampa
   
   
9. University of Arizona, Tuscon
   
   
10. University of Nevada, Las Vegas
    
    
11. Ohio State University, Columbus

Do you know of other free MFA programs with concentrations in photography? Please list them below in the comments!

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New Photography Shows and Books: September 2009

This month Dodge & Burn kicks off a monthly series of posts about new photography books and shows. Feel free to send me any tips or announcements to contribute.

Mil Besos: 1,000 Kisses (Rizzoli)
This book is a must-have for your coffee-table collection, featuring dramatic photographs of the flamenco women of Spain shot by Colombian-born Ruven Afanador with an introduction by Christian Dior's head designer John Galliano plus contributions from fashion icons Diane Von Furstenberg, Iman and Heidi Klum.

You may recognize Afanador's unique style from his many editorials in Vogue, Vanity Fair and Italian Elle, among others.

Preview these gritty yet elegant black and white fashion portraits: watch this video of a public exhibition of Ruven Afanador's Mil Besos in Sevilla Spain on the Avenida de la Constitución, with music by the brilliant duo Bebo y Cigala. The book will be released on September 29, 2009.



If you like this work, you might also like Afanador's debut book Torero, portrait series of bullfighters from Spain and Latin America.

Laogai: The Machinery of Repression in China (Umbrage Editions)
Released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Communist rule in China, edited by Nicole Kempton and Nan Richardson, with essays from renowned dissident Harry Wu and eminent China scholar Andrew Nathan.

An eloquent and vivid summary in shocking, never-before-seen photographs smuggled out of the People Republic of China, LAOGAI exposes the human rights record of the world’s most authoritarian state—a nation whose own remarkable transformation has not extended to the basic demands of its people’s freedom.

Watch a slide show of the photographs on the Umbrage Gallery blog.



Samaná: Images of the Dominican Republic @ Hostos Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
Sept 28 — Nov 7, 2009
Opening Reception: Oct 7, 5 - 9 pm ET

An exhibition of photographs by José Bermúdez, Marino Corniel, Wallace Edgecombe, Elaine Eversley, Ryan Mann-Hamilton, Carlos Sanabria and Sterling Wadsworth.

In other photography news, congratulations to photojournalist Lynsey Addario who has won a MacArthur grant for her depiction of contemporary life in Darfur, Afghanistan and Iraq.

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