A small crowd gathered

This week went so quickly and I have to confess in the end I did not apply for the Magnum Workshop. I have ummed and ahhed, but came to the conclusion that unfortunately I do not have the time. I have so many projects on, plus my partner is doing his PHD performance a week after the workshop (a gigantic set involved) that I felt I would not have had the piece of mind to simply enjoy the challenge of taking photos that week. But the thought of the workshop inspired me to think about a new series. Well this was supposed to be a short story, but coffee can do this sometimes to you... anyway.... today I came across Isa Leshko and was delighted by her series "T&C" series. I miss my bw darkroom. Happy weekend.

Scandinavian minimalism.

Erwan Compes here and here and I am sure in many more places says: "Photography is a chance to capture fleeting slices of reality, to freeze time without injuring eternity. Our world is profuse all around, munificently rewarding for a bit of paid attention. I will read this book of life, and keep doing so till I'm out of days." His pictures make my heart flutter.

On distractions and more

Had a lovely lunch in the park, made a coffee, but still find my mind wandering instead of concentrating on the new brochure I should be designing. What better excuse then to search for a photographer? I just had the pleasure to look through Tema Stauffer's work and below are some of her images from "American stills". She also has a great blog. Ok no more distractions.

To travel

Todays stunning images are from the series "Marrakech" by Oliver Weber a German photographer who lives on the Canary Island “La Gomera” in Spain. I can not wait to put on my back pack again and go traveling again.

The art of books

For the last few months I have tried to find a way to print UYW. I have looked at Blurb and while I have not held a copy yet, I do not think the quality will be as high as I expect it. If I have to pay roughly $80-$100 for a book, well I want it to be first class - if somehow possible. So I ordered "Life is a Series of Small Moments" by Elizabeth Fleming from MagCloud to check out the quality of the paper and print. Unfortunately if I were to print over 64 pages, the paper will be very thin and there will be see through. So my other option is to print a few here (has to be a bigger order as it is more expensive to do one at the time) in Australia by the lovely guys from Impact Digital, choose the paper I want, have a thicker cover then the inside pages and have it saddle stitched and voila a copy to my hearts desire. But it would be much more expensive and I wonder who might still be interested to purchase it as there are so many other and cheaper books/journals out there.... but I think there will always be a trade off. I often see "cheap" books/journals and often wonder how it is possible to produce them at that price + maybe a tiny mark up? So I am sorry, but I think you all have to be a bit more patient, because there wont be a printed copy until I have found the quality I want and a price I think is ok and will make you happy.
There is also a great interview on Larissa Leclair blog with Elisabeth on this very issue.

Unfolding

When I started my blog a year ago, I collected websites from photographers who inspired me. In hindsight that was a rather naive process, and these days I do not believe it is possible to run out of great photographers. I do not know why I have never encountered the work of David Hilliard before, but I was blown away by his constructions. I have to confess I have tried this many times as well but never successfully. Something was always missing, not quite right, but looking at Davids images I feel I have learnt something. I am drawn into his images and his focus directs my eyes across his image in a pleasant way. I discovered David via Two Way lens.

Glorious seasons

Yeah - I had my first weekend off... I managed to catch up with friends, went out for breakfast, saw an exhibition, had a swim at the beach and tried to go and see a show (unfortunately we went to the wrong theater). I feel refreshed and eager to begin this week.

Today's inspiring images are from Michael Werner series "Lands of Milk and Honey". Michael is also the author of Two Way Lens where he features the experiences and opinions of other photographers who inspired him. Great selection of photographers to read and learn from.

I wish

Recently I came upon two amazing workshops and over the weekend I decided to apply for the Magnum Workshop run in Fremantle WA 15-19 March - part of FotoFreo 2010. It is always nice to dream.

The other workshop is run by J.H. Engström in Stord, Norway, from 11-18 June 2010 but unfortunately Norway and Melbourne are miles and miles apart.

Solitude

Sometimes it is impossible to decide which images to show. Celine Clanet has so many stunning images from her series in north of Norway. On her website Celine says: "Between 2005 and 2009, I travelled regularly to Máze, a small Sámi village located at the highest point of the European map, far above the Arctic Circle, in Norwegian Lapland. There, I met quiet people, sometimes melancholic, captivating, very proud of their village and territory, of these landscapes they are constantly gazing at with binoculars they never separate from, even at home." I almost showed only the images of people with their binoculars as I found them rather touching. They see their landscapes all the time and yet they are so happy and proud of it, that they wish to gaze beyond.

Brief moments

A quick post today with some gorgeous images by Frank Gross.

Search for my home

Todays post is not about my house - even if our kitchen probably could do with a tidy, but it is "College Still Lives" from 244 Rutgers st. Rochester, NY by Matt Thomas. About this series he says: "This is college life. To forget and eventually loose your home, and focus solely on academia. The light would cleanse what could not possibly be cleansed in life. The quadrilateral frame of my camera would organize what could never physically be organized. This would be how I turn this space into my home."

Last week I stumbled upon Ben Huff's website and found his images about "The last road north" very inspiring.