A suitcase containing thousands of negatives shot by the photographer, Robert Capa during the Spanish Civil War has been found.
The discovery has caused excitement throughout the photography world, because it may prove whether one of the most famous war images of all time was staged or real. The image known as the 'The Falling Soldier', shows a Spanish Republican militiaman reeling backward at what appears to be the instant a bullet strikes his chest or head on a hillside near Córdoba in 1936.
I have just bought a Zoom H2 sound recorder (A full review will be coming soon) to record interviews for Soundslide presentations.
Up to now all my post production has involved editing and normalising in Audacity. However I just discovered 'The Levelator. This program runs on Windows, OS X (universal binary), or Linux (Ubuntu) and adjusts the audio levels within sound files for variations from one voice to the next, for example. It's not a compressor, normalizer or limiter although it contains all three. It's much more than those tools, and it's much simpler to use. The GUI is very easy: Drag-and-drop any WAV or AIFF file onto The Levelator's application window, and a few moments later you'll find a new version which just sounds better.
I have to admit I was very skeptical, but it does work - I should also mention that it is free, so give it a go! Click on the logo for more details.
I regularly get asked to provide images for publications for nothing. Funnily enough the BBC seem to be the worst offenders. In future I am just going to point people to this video:
As I have mentioned previously, I am a big fan of the SoundSlides program for creating online audio visual presentations. Joe has recently included a page on his website that creates the code to embed your slide shows into your site. Its simple to use, all you do is paste in the address of the piece and it creates the code. Copy and paste this into your web page or blog and its done. EASY!
Over the last six years, photographer Simon Norfolk has roamed the world for The New York Times Magazine. Here is a selection of MultiMedia pieces that show some of the projects he has worked on.
I recently interviewed Martin Parr at his home for an article I am writing. Whilst I was there I also took the opportunity of doing an environmental (360 VR) portrait of him. Click on the thumbnail to view - requires Apple Quicktime.
In addition to taking pictures Martin is an avid collector of objects and ephemera, check out the cabinet on the right.
One of the most memorable things about studying photography at college was being introduced to work that I hadn’t come across before. During one crit, I was told to go and look at the work of Garry Winogrand and in particular the book ‘Public Relations’….
For me this was one of those special moments when suddenly the lights go on. At the time there were a couple of agencies working for the political/trade union press in the UK. There were some nice images being produced, but it was hard to differentiate one photographer from another (This may have been due to the fact that most of the photographers working in this area were either working for or had worked for the 'Report' agency run by Simon Guttman).
The Garry Winogrand images blew me away, there was a style and humour to them that made them unique to him. If you are interested in in finding out more about Garry Winogand there are a couple of resources that I recently found on the internet:
Bill was an important figure in British photography in the 60s and 70s he edited the very influential magazine Creative Camera. An editorial that he wrote in the May 68 edition sums up his forthright views.
‘Contemporary photography is full of crap – the most pungent pile Is the belief that ’good’ is synonymous with unintelligible. In fact the opposite is true. The best photography communicates and continues to communicate with the viewer. And this is the most difficult style to achieve since it demands so much more from the photographer (in a word, integrity) and so little from the technique. The history of good photography has been the history of pure photography…. In no other magazine anywhere will you find so many examples of the best of contemporary photography of the purist style. And that’s a fact.’
That was written in 1968, but it still rings true. Bill where are you now? We need you!
A must read for photography students is a book that he wrote with the Magnum photographer David Hurn ‘On Being a Photographer.’ This short volume distils years of experience that the two of them have into an absolute gem of a book.
HP have introduced a point and press camera that is guaranteed to make you look slimmer. After taking an image, you can select a 'slim' effect that automatically sheds those unwanted pounds. You will never be able to trust those holiday snaps from aunty Betty again!
As newspapers continue to develop their web presence. new ways of telling stories are being explored.
The Guardian's photographer and filmmaker Sean Smith, spent two months embedded with US troops in Baghdad and Anbar province. His harrowing documentary exposes the exhaustion and disillusionment of the soldiers.
Looking at different ways of showing documentary photography.... Exploring new opportunities that the internet and new technology offer the photographer.
