Top 5 Masters of Photography Videos on YouTube

When I first learned how to work the camera as a teenager, I only shot with 35mm b&w film. Thirsty for knowledge and history, I combed my high school library (there was no internet as we know it back then!) for books on the masters of photography who also worked in black and white. I loved reading about their lives, the current history and what inspired their eyes. And if I stared long enough at their photographs, perhaps by some strange form of osmosis I could absorb their genius.

These masters of photography respectfully used the camera as an art medium. Working without the ease and instant benefits of digital, they carefully composed their images - film was not to be wasted on mediocre visions.

The video combination of moving images and narration/sound can often teach us more than books. With this in mind, here's a list of my top 5 masters of photography videos on YouTube - enjoy!

1. Gordon Parks

2. Hiroshi Sugimoto

3. Manuel Álvarez Bravo

4. Roy Decarava

5. Tina Modotti (Note: YouTube requires users to sign in to view this video)

PHOTO: Tina Modotti, Mexican sombrero with hammer and sickle, 1927
© The Estate of Tina Modotti

National Geographic 2008 All Roads Photography Program

All Roads is a National Geographic initiative created to provide an international platform for indigenous and underrepresented minority-culture artists to share their cultures, stories, and perspectives through the power of film and photography.

Here are the four photographer All Roads Photography Program 2008 Awardees:

Alejandro Chaskielberg (Argentina)
The High Tide: Native Islanders and the Community of the Paraná River Delta

Rena Effendi (Azerbaijan)
Khinaliq Village: A Staircase to the Sky 2003-2006

Khaled Hasan (Bangladesh)
Living Stone: A Community Losing Its Living Environment

Farzana Wahidy (Afghanistan)
Afghan Women

Also check out the recently launched National Geographic's All Road's Film Project 2008 film festival or buy DVD collections of the past year's films.

PHOTO: Mother and daughter inside a baking room. Rena Effendi/Agency Photographer RU

Iranian photojournalist Newsha Tavakolian

This morning while getting dressed for work, I listed to NPR's interview with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Towards the end Ahmadinejad fervently stated, "There's at least 100 times more freedom in Iran than there is in the United States."

Whether you agree with his statement or not, Iranian photojournalist Newsha Tavakolian, has been able to freely document everyday life in Iran.

Represented by the U.S. photo agency, Polaris Images, Tavakolian has covered the Middle East for major magazines and newspapers like Newsweek and The New York Times.

Given its Western view as a women-oppressed country, it seems odd that a female photographer would be allowed access to photograph life and political events in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Perhaps Tavakolian's economic status affords her a certain kind of freedom? I wonder, does she have to cover herself when she shoots?

In this personal account of her coverage of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, it's interesting to note that Tavakolian's role as photographer on the scene is weighing heavily on her conscience. She even asks, "Will these pictures really help these people or will they only help my portfolio?"

Exhibit - Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs

Curated by Deborah Willis and Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe

Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 18, 2008
6:00pm - 8:00pm

Leica Gallery
670 Broadway, New York, NY

Book description:
Through 150 striking color photographs, Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs charts the road to Barack Obama's nomination as the first African American to lead the presidential ticket of a major party. Announcing his campaign in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007, Obama stood on the grounds of the Old State Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous "House Divided" speech against slavery in 1858. During an eighteen-month campaign, from the snows of Iowa to the hunt for Democratic "superdelegates," this junior senator from Chicago confounded the party establishment and rewrote the playbook on modern presidential campaigning. This amazing collection of photographs captures the public and private moments of his journey, and offers a unique window into one of the great triumphs in American politics.

Buy Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs book from Harper Collins.

Documentary on Black Photography: Through a Lens Darkly

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People is a two-hour documentary and multimedia outreach project that explores how African American communities have used the medium of photography to construct political, aesthetic, and cultural representations of themselves and their world.

Get more info at the official Through a Lens Darkly website and watch the trailer.

Abstract Color Photography: Dee Adams' "World Out of Focus"

Professional designer and artist Dee Adams is one bad mama with camera in hand. I started following Dee on Twitter after randomly finding her within the tweet universe.

Browsing her website, I was instantly drawn to the pebble-like figures of Dee Adam's original works on canvas. Their muted colors are a perfect compliment to any modern interior; it's no wonder why you'll find them in advertisements within popular shelter magazines like domino and Metropolitan Home.

A new tweet (Twitter message) from Dee today exposed me to her abstract color photography. I asked Dee to explain the process behind these sublime, jewel-colored images, she graciously agreed and here's what she said:

"The photos are taken on a digital SLR with a fine macro setting. I manually manipulate the focus to cause the blur in the shots. Sometimes I do longer exposures with a slow movement to capture some of the wave-like patterns you see. I shoot mainly midday for the brighter coloured shots to get the rich colour compositions and late evening for many of the darker shots. Many of the photos you see are of common objects like water in a glass, soda bubbles rising, moving water, glass transparencies etc."

I've usually dismissed abstract photography, especially the blurry kind, as cliche and almost a cop out to learning actual photographic technique. Yet Dee's abstract color photography clearly has a method, a formula derived from careful inspection yet ironically creating uncontrolled washes of pigment. It's almost as if Dee's camera thinks itself to be a paintbrush!

And even though Dee claims to not have a clue about video, somehow she evokes a sexy, jazz blue mood in "Fish Tank Blues".

Latin American, Portuguese and Spanish Photographers Explore Global Migration

Ever since the earth's plates shifted to form the continents, man has been moving.

When you think about it, much of the population of the United States of America is a product of immigration. Whether it be the Pilgrims who came on the Mayflower, Africans brought over as slaves, the Irish and Italians who came through Ellis Island - there are countless stories...

As local economies and governments change (for better or worse), people still find themselves on the move. A new traveling exhibit brings together a collection of photos and videos entitled "Laberinto de Miradas", or Labyrinth of Glances, to be shown in more than 20 countries over the next three years.

Excerpt from the AFP article, Mexico: traveling photo show explores global migration:

According to the IOM (International Organization of Migration) website, there are now about 192 million people living outside their place of birth, or one in every 35 persons in the world.

In one telling photo, a Japanese family carries on native customs in their home in Argentina, while a world away shy, indigenous Mexican children mix traditional and street fashion to try to fit into the sprawling capital.

"What interests me is to document this visual discourse," said Mexican photographer Federico Gama who caputured some of these youngsters with a telephoto lens.

"It's like when someone puts on a mask and immediately changes their character, like an actor," he said.

The exhibition, organized by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development and the Catalunya America House, has been arranged in three parts -- the first to travel through Central America, with detours to Miami and Cuba.

The second and third parts will set off respectively southwards from the Peruvian capital Lima and northwards from Sao Paulo later this year, finishing up in the Spanish city of Barcelona in 2010.

Also check out the International Organization for Migration's Photo Stories page featuring documentary photography of the world's immigration and refugee crises. Especially haunting are the black and white images of "Children at Work" by photographer Fernando Moleres.

Blurb.com Photographers + Photography.Book.Now Competition

Blurb is a self publishing service that enables anyone to create and publish their own book. Their easy to use software is free, featuring flexible templates (you can also do a custom design), various paper stock choices and finishes - with book prices starting at $12.95 - genius!

Upon browsing the entries for Blurb's Photography.Book.Now competition, I've found many photographers of interest. Getting a photo book deal is a highly coveted and rare, but these artists are creating their own opportunities. You can preview all of these online:

Cubano by Baldomero Fernandez

888 Pieces of We, a photo memoir by Keba Armand Konte

Sikhs in America by Fiona Aboud

Kaleidoscope, Perspectives on Being Asian American by JuAnne Ng

Beirut by Eugene Marting

Gordon Parks' Color Photography

Just wanted to share this photograph by the legendary Gordon Parks. Personally, I've never seen his work in color - so this is a real treat for me.

Although the mostly grey and white photo almost feels like his black & white photography. I love how the red of the neon "Colored Entrance" sign is echoed by the red dress in the far distance and the red of the telephone booth across the street on the right. The composition is genius with the two figures (mother and daughter?) in the middle and the neon sign just above their heads - an eerie glimpse into the banality of segregation.

This photo makes me wonder: What the woman is looking at across the street? Is she waiting for her husband, a friend? What did it feel like to have to use the "colored entrance" only?

PHOTO: Courtesy of Gordon Parks' Facebook page

The Visual Gallery at photokina 2008

From September 23 to 28, the Visual Gallery will once again be presenting the best work of internationally known photographers as well as award-winning young artists at photokina, the world's leading fair for the photography and imaging industry.

Some photographers of note at the Visual Gallery include exhibitions from US actor and director Dennis Hopper, Mercedes Barros, Xu Heng and more.

Vogue Magazine Uses India's Poor to Model Luxury Fashion

A recent NY Times article titled "Vogue’s Fashion Photos Spark Debate in India", examines the rise of India's wealthy class and emerging middle class and the mad rush to market luxury brand fashion to them as seen through the editorial spread in Vogue India. The magazine's August issue featured luxury goods (check out the Fendi bib on the little boy in the photo at left) modeled by average Indians - most of whom live on less than $1.25 a day.

Needless to say, many are up in arms about the photo shoot. Given my recent Black Star Rising blog post about the disparity between the photographer and the documented, this Vogue India editorial photo spread raises many questions for me:

- Were the Indian models able to keep the goods (as is typical payoff for traditional high fashion models)?

- Were model releases signed?

- What was the criteria for finding these models?

- What were the working conditions afforded to the Indian models for the photo shoot; for example, was there a buffet table, makeup, etc?

Vogue India editor Priya Tanna's response was somewhat aloof stating that "fashion is no longer a rich man's privilege. Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful," and that "we weren't trying to make a political statement or save the world."

This is certainly NOT the first time non-models were used in fashion shoots but what infuriates me most is something mentioned at the end of the NY Times article. The photos' captions do not mention the Indian models' names but they (of course) credit the luxury items featured. Seems to be a perpetuation of India's caste-based discrimination.

PLEASE COMMENT - What do you think?
Would this Vogue India fashion magazine spread have been more insulting if American Vogue had published it? Is it OK to use poor people as high fashion models?

PHOTO: Vogue India August 2008, Copyright NY Times - In Vogue India magazine, a child from a poor family modeled a Fendi bib, which costs about $100.