I’ve often said that the term migrants needs to change. Many of these people that you see in the news are refugees — and that’s a mirror of the past that we see in Dorothea Lange’s work. Of course, I’m talking about her famous Migrant Mother photograph. Since then, human attention spans have depleted, and humanity is more likely to take things presented to them as they are vs doing their own research. We also tend to absorb media passively rather than actively or when giving it our 100% full attention and critical thinking. That’s because we’re overloaded with information. And by all means, it’s much more difficult for humanity to get a hold of stuff like this. Over a decade ago, all the news became so depressing that people stopped paying attention to it — but journalists persist in trying to show people what’s going on around the world.
When the Sony a9 III was introduced, the company did an incredible job of describing what it could do. But at the same time, they did an awful job of showing us what it could do. When I say us, I mean real photographers — the ones who know how to imagine things instead of looking at the back of a screen and capturing them. It’s the idea of seeing and not looking. Specifically, they didn’t help photographers truly realize what this camera could do for off-camera flash work. Considering how much I love working with off-camera flash, I decided to dedicate pretty much this entire review to off-camera flash work. So if you’re a strobist, this review is for you.
There are lots of reports of new high end cameras coming for things like the Olympics. But to be honest, the Canon EOS R3 is still very capable. It’s also insanely lightweight for what it is. The camera had a firmware update a while back, and so we figured that we’d update our review for the camera. If you shoot for wire services, we think that you’re going to like this one.
The emotional spectrum is a fascinating thing. In the art world, many photographers channel the ideas of painters who came before them. They bring to their art a sense of color that is expressive and meaningful. It’s often something that comes from deep emotional understanding. This is in contrast to what happens in the content creation world, where the idea of attaching teal and orange to everything is more of a trendy thing than something that has a deeper meaning. One of the most channeled colors is blue — and when used intentionally, it can be a creative force worth discussing.
“And money…” is what I thought about every time Leica’s heads talked about art, photography, and community in their speech at the company’s new flagship store in the Meatpacking District in NYC. It’s kind of obvious — they’re next to Rolex, Tudor, Apple, and several other hotels I haven’t been to while sober. The area balances the line between tourist trap, history, and the wealthy. But deep into the back of the store’s first floor is a gallery exhibit featuring Elliot Erwitt — and I’d argue to say that it’s the best display of his images we’ve seen. And that’s not even the best part.
“We’re constantly evolving, working on ways to raise money and not get lost in the clutter of social media and other nonprofits,” photographer Bob Carey, the man behind the Tutu Project, tells the Phoblographer. I truly miss the days of early social media, where art would reign supreme. That’s when the Tutu Project reigned supreme, and folks could get behind the message instead of forgetting about it due to other content. But this project has been going on since 2003 — and it has helped several women who suffer from breast cancer. Yes, it’s still going. But for a long time, the media stopped talking about it even though breast cancer persists.
I mean, who wouldn’t want an f1.1 full-frame lens? This month, the Phoblographer is giving away a beautiful 7Artisans 50mm f1.1 lens in Leica M-mount to one lucky subscriber. It’s overall in pretty great condition and brings with it the patina and aging that makes its beauty shine through. Now, we’re giving it away to …
Sometimes, good things come in small packages — is the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 II one of those good things? The lens is a tiny 2.2 inches long, but you’d be surprised at what the Micro Four Thirds optic is able to pack into that small size.
Every time I speak with Lois Greenfield, she tells me about how she makes incredible photographs of dancers. She doesn’t shoot a ton of frames a second — instead, she simply understands the moment. At times, I swear she called it luck. “No matter how responsive the shutter on your camera is, you still have to take the picture a split second before the peak of the action,” she told us in a 2016 interview. “So it’s best to put your camera on a tripod, and concentrate on what the dancers are doing.” But that’s just the technical part: what Lois makes is art beyond belief. In her latest series called Forces of Nature, she’s returning to directing dancers in studio.
“I feel the work I do definitely is categorized as art,” says photographer Carianne Older to the Phoblographer in an interview. “I am taking timeless photos for people that will live forever. A lot of people out there are just taking iPhone photos or videos for the sake of content.” For sure, a ton of work goes into Carianne’s photographs. She’s been hired by Playboy, Cadillac, Interscope, Sony, Universal and so many more. Oh, and she shoots film!