A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is
transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion.
::: Richard Avedon :::

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.

~Henry Ward Beecher

Kia ora tatou:

In the course of this blog, I have from time to time, been asked why I photograph. Believe me, I ask this of myself most days. Sometimes the answers are firm, self-assured. At other times doubts have set in and I wonder why I do it.

In the previous post, SG asked this  question:

On another track, I’ve just finished going through ‘letters to Beth’. I think there is no greater or lesser (Ansel Adams/Robert Frank) – they just both great but different. To me is important why they did photography. Once I came across the life story of Jimmy Forsyth – a man with one eye due to a work accident, very little or no money and no idea of photography. On a whim he bought an old Kodak and in forty odd years Jimmy Forsyth produced the most outstanding record of his community. Why did Jimmy Forsyth do photography? “I was just catching what I knew was going to disappear” JF

What are you catching Tony? Why photography? (more…)

Updated 18/12/2008

Kia ora tatou:

A number of you may remember a post where I drew attention to the fact that I had been challenged to pick up my film camera again.

The results were exciting and opened me to old/new possibilities in picture-making. I will restate that: it opened me to revisiting old school technologies and incorporating them into a new way of working. Can I try that again: it offered the opportunity to take old-school technologies and use old methodologies to make…O, forget it.

When I walked away from film some 3 years ago, I never thought I would return, and all that knowledge gathered over a 15-year stretch with fil would become redundant. For  some reason, I held on to my EOS 1vHS. Back then I could have got a reasonable amount for the camera. Today a camera (hardly-used) which cost me $4.5k to buy is worth, at best, $300 to trade. All that time it has sat there, forlorn and forgotten, in my gear safe. In the last few weeks, however, it has had more work than my 1DS Mk III.

And I am loving it (are you reading this, Doc? Stop sniggering). (more…)

Kia ora tatou:
Help needed!
If anybody out there has the following, which they don’t want, I would love to get my hands on it…..
-Fast slide film (ISO 400 or faster)
-an unused film scanner (3000dpi or better) you might be willing to lend/sell me… ( sorted-thanks)

I am currently working on my mannequins project and shooting it in film (I will bet a number of you never thought you would hear me say that!
Many thanks

Kia ora tatou:

As I move to offer more and more workshops ( I am now commited until May 2009), beacuse I love sharing and teaching, I have put up a number over summer.

Summer is a time to kick back and reflect, before you get back into the year. A time for sun and wine and good music ( I am currently loving the Eagles’ Long Road out of Eden, and my truck stereo is starting to get sick of playing  Busy Being Fabulous and Waiting in the Weeds). It is also a great time to do a few photography  workshops.

Well, have I got some options for you! I have got together with a few of my talented friends ( Mary Jo, Doc Ross and Nick Heaphy) to bring you some very interesting days….

Have a look here. If they look interesting, be in!

Look forward to seeing you there…

Noho ra mai

I have become a big fan of plugins!
Lately I have watched some big shifts in my style and what I want to be able to do with my images. Actually, when I use my 20:20 hindsight, I realise it is a natural progression that has been taking place over the last 2-3 years, as I get out of my own way, particularly the prejudice that says I should stick to the medium’s mores and traditions.

If all of our photographs are autobiographical (and I believe every single image we make is autobiographical), then what is it we are sending to the world (and ourselves)? There is the real lesson: what we can learn about ourselves from our images (as well as pleasing our clients!)? For me, the joy in making an image for a paying client is in creating one that pleases them on the one hand and offers me a new view of my own journey, in other words that has something to say to me as well. I invite your comments.

Last Saturday I had the honour to photograph Jennifer and Gino (their English names) who are getting part-married in New Zealand and part-married back in Taiwan…(don’t ask: it is complicated!). A long time ago I taught Jennifer English and I was humbled that she would track me down from Taipei after all these years to photograph her wedding . She is a Buddhist and one of those brides who are beautiful inside and out. (more…)

The copyright demon: is somebody stealing your work?

Over the last few years, at seminars and workshops, I have been asked the question: what do you do when somebody steals your image? My answer has been somewhat vague, as I haven’t really had any direct experience of it.

Well, now I have. And I know more.

A month or so ago, I was photographing in town and walked past a small gallery in Central Christchurch. There, sitting in the window was an image I had shot for an organisation, printed (badly), enlarged to around 30″ by 40″, in a frame and for sale. It was the first I knew about it. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

I wonder how many of us read those EULA’s ( End User Licence Agreements) we agree to when we install software or sign up for an online service. I would bet  not many of us.

This came to me today from what I take to be a reputable source.

Hi everyone,

This was mentioned briefly at the XXXX XXXX lecture on Monday, but for
those of you who weren’t there please be aware that when you open a Flickr
account (or use any Yahoo!Xtra service) you are agreeing to the following
Terms of Service: (more…)