EMBEDDED PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCES EMBEDDED OPINION

This is a post that will move some reaction, and probably many will think there is something personal.. My intentions wish to go much further then individual photographers experiences and stories.
When I see war images nowadays I mostly see stories shoot while embedded within an Army, or escorted by some force. There are some personal and regional exception, of course, and sometimes I see a story as "seen and told" from the "other side".
In certain cases it might be the relative facility to access a difficult situation (and also the relative safety) to induce the photographer to go this way, but the larger reality is that the big guys have learned the lesson and are avoiding the old mistakes.
It's well known that the US lost the Vietnam war more for the protests back home then for the Vietcong fighters. They just don't want this to happen again. So they will not allow photographers and journalists to go too close to certain realities, and even less to tell the story from the opposed side. This is understandable, but not acceptable.
We hear frequent reports of civilian victims in Afghanistan due to mistaken military actions, but I have never seen photos of those victims. In Vietnam the Mylay massacre on the contrary sparkled open discussions and criticism on certain behaviour of the army toward the population.
Even worse, introducing the concept of privacy (in a war? Please! nothing is private for a soldier in a war!) the governments are now asking not to publish images of wounded or dead soldiers (even their coffins going back home were off-limits to reporters). Again, you may remember how impressive were the photos of actual wounded and suffering young Americans in Vietnam.
The worst part though is the general assumption that there are no doubts on the rightness of an action or a war, or better, no doubts should be stated in the media. Of course I'm not defending the Talebans, or Saddam Hussein, but I have never read of any possible argument the other side could stand for. There was open criticism on the rightness of the Iraq intervention, but never a discussion on principles.
Going back to war photography today. I see very good images of "our" soldiers in action, their tensions, some interactions with civilians. Some of these works are really strong (think of the Restrepo documentary), and telling these stories is good. But it's an incomplete panorama for most of the reportages I see: where are the civilians? Where are the enemies? Where are the consequences of the fights on both sides?
If photojournalism will not fight to get it's independence back it will lose all it's credibility and, in the end, all the interest from the narrow market left for it. But, above all, it's a matter of intellectual and human freedom that is at stake here. We criticise China for it's media control without seeing that the Western media are even more "controlled". We have to get it back! Us, the photographers.

PHNOM PENH 24-1.4

 

Photography is, or should be, the exercise of searching, thinking, experimenting. Especially now that digital (and optical) technology is offering us daily improvements and goes beyond the limits we have suffered for years.

In my last visit to Phnom Penh last week, a short three days stay, I decided to play this vital game. With a Nikon D3S that can easily shoot at low light and a 24mm F1.4 lens I went around without no precise scope except keeping the maximum aperture on the lens, whenever possible.

I posted a short portfolio in Padplaces (for free download; if you don't have an iPad yet sorry, you'll have to wait for the next Apple OS).

I love technology when it gives you freedom of expression: we just have to be careful and not become slaves to it!

THE 2011 CALENDAR IS NOW ON LINE

The 2011 desktop calendar is ready and available for download from the website. Just go to this link and choose your screen format. I hope you like it and will be a good omen for next year! Manolesta did a great job, once again!

IT'S NOT A LAND OF SMILES..

The first thing you notice arriving in Cambodia after spending times in Thailand is the absence of open smiles on people's faces. When you cross your sight with a passerby in Bangkok, when you ask for information to somebody that doesn't even speak English, what you get is that, a smile. Even during the red shirts revolution on the barricades you would mostly notice smiles (until the shootout started, of course). In Phnom Penh the mood is different. Culture is certainly different, the character is different, but what is really different, is my opinion, is the recent history of these countries. Thailand has not known the war for centuries now: it was untouched in the 2nd WW and it was an heaven during the Vietnam war. Cambodia, viceversa, is still recovering from the deepest darkness, social and human darkness, we can imagine: decades of war, civil repression, massacres, poverty. Even worse then Vietnam, in many ways. Today it's economy is slowly growing, but under the heavy hand of China that is not paying much attention to social differences here.
I visited the Tuol Sleng today, the Genocide Museum that was the slaughterhouse under the Khmer Rouge regime. A long gallery of cells, torture chambers, and thousands of pictures of people that died here. And then you understand why people are not smiling, at least not yet. It will take generations for wounds to heal, for Cambodians to look at others seeing friendly visitors, or at least not indifferent foreigners. The world was silent, for too long.

INTRODUCING PADPLACES

I have been silent these days, but definitely not inactive. I'm introducing PadPlaces, the application for iPad that wants to respond to the radical changes of our editorial market.
Here is an introduction to it, but you are invited to follow it on it's BLOG, or WEBSITE, or FACEBOOK, or download the app on your iPad.
But, above all, please send me you opinions and feedback!

WHAT IS PadPlaces?

It's the new way to distribute photo stories and documentary reportages on the iPad and other tablets that will follow.
The application is a browser that will allow you to see what's available and download to your iPad full stories for a minimal price and portfolios for free.
At the moment I keep this platform open to my stories only, but it's possible I will enlarge the number of fellow photographers showing.
Stories are divided into New (the most recent stories), Travel and Documentary, depending on subject and style.

WHY PadPlaces?

iPad has changed the way editorial publications are distributed.
Now we are able to show full stories (not just the selection published on magazines) in the style (often not reproduced by printed publications) and sequence that represents the original author's idea and work.
For a small price, that will depend on novelty and number of images, you can download and keep on you tablet the full stories for future review.

WHAT THERE IS INSIDE AND WHAT THERE WILL BE?

Recent stories will be uploaded.
My plan is to include E-photo books that will have a proper section and will represent a new media experience.
We are thinking also of video and audio addition.

HOW WILL I COMMUNICATE WITH YOU?

The website padplaces.com will give indications on content and news.
This blog will be the opinion and comments exchange place between author and viewers: you are invited to participate on any matter.
Through twitter we'll also give updates on new stories addition and relevant news.

TPW ORIENT - BURMA & MEKONG

TPW Orient, the new project dedicated to South East Asia, is ready with details. At this point I can announce the two traveling programs that i will direct in February and March 2011. A first trip will be through Burma, into the very heart of the country, and a second on the most culturally rich section of the Mekong River, between Laos and Cambodia.
In both cases this will not be yet another tour with many cameras on the shoulders, but rather a true, intense photographic workshop where participants will be encouraged to work on personal projects and evolve their vision.
I know both areas very well, and I can count on excellent local connections. This will ensure the best possible attention to the relevant travel aspects, going out of the obvious touristic routes and icons, concentrating our attention to the essence of the amazing situations we will find.
Visit the TPW website for a program presentation, (of Burma or Mekong) and keep in mind that details will be available very soon.
TPW Orient is planning also a two weeks teaching program, like in Tuscany with several photographers, based in Bangkok. That full schedule is available on TPW website.

WHAT IDEA FOR THIS FORMAT? OR VICEVERSA?

It's a common assumption that your camera will determine how you photograph. Your Leica will let you interact with your subject. The wide angle will push you closer. A medium format camera will force more attention to composition and details. A square frame will pull attention to the centre and give you more focus. As a consequence many photographers decide to use certain equipment on which to base their vision: but is this the right approach?
I think it should be exactly the opposite. The author should develop an idea and then make a decision on what equipment is more suitable to obtain the desired results. Yes, I know, this is the Utopian world where you can afford the (very expensive) cameras and lenses you want, but I'm talking principles here. Why you can't envision a square frame image in your 35mm digital camera and you think you need a Hasselblad?
In today's photography the lack of original ideas is pushing the search toward any possible shortcut and diversion, including giving the precedence to technique over idea. Nothing is more self-deceiving then this: your camera is, or should be, the extension of your mind, the instrument to realize your vision, to put into a bi-dimensional frame your idea. This is true also with post-production techniques, of course: the implementation of color and exposure transformation (still based on the chemical precesses, and why, I wonder why, we don't explore new expressions) cannot cover the emptiness of weak images.
Let's keep creating, starting with the strongest instrument we already have: our brain. And it's still free!

MORE ON DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

I find myself in total agreement with the comment left by "Art Sediments" on my latest post that I have decided to publish it, hoping this will give more food for thought!

"I have no doubt that this is a period of self-analysis and transition for photography. As you rightly point out, everyone has a cheap fool-proof camera in his pocket. Does this means that I see more interesting pictures around? I would say no. Kitsch is the dominating trend, meaning that digital photography most of the time is trying to emulate Kodachrome or B&W in the same way photography in the XIX centuries tried to emulate paintings.

I believe digital photography has still to find his own voice, as photography did many years after its started with Weston or Strand. Is conceptual art the path? I don't believe so. Art can be conceptual, but does not need to. But it is mandatory for art to create real emotions. From what I see around, the emotion created by digital photography are based on the mimicking of traditional photography. As I can be moved by Ingres, but not by an arty photograph of the XIX century, I can cry in front of a great B&W print, but not in front of a Photoshop creation copying Cartier-Bresson. Is not about being purist, is about moving forward..."

CONCEPT TIMES

Contemporary art is conceptual. This means the idea behind the artwork is more important then the technical skill. You can be an artist, say a painter, without knowing how to use a brush, or a sculptor just making a drawing that will then be carved out of marble by a capable "scarpellino" in a Carrara workshop. Even more contentious is the installation world, where an empty environment, pieces of materials, blinking bulbs or static videos are considered as artistic as a Michelangelo's Sacred Family. Many people refuse to accept this art (I always remember the fantastic movie with Alberto Sordi and wife visiting the Biennale in Venice!) but it has too long a story to be labeled as a cheap trick.
The question is how this culture is influencing photography, the most technical of modern arts. Since everybody is talking of how the Photographer should identify himself in this world where everybody is owning and carrying a camera in his pocket, style and ideas become crucial. Should we go concept?
That a photo just depicting a place or event without a personal interpretation has no photographic sense or monetary value nowadays is common agreement. But how far the personal touch and interpretation of the artist should go in this conceptual panorama is everybody's guess, or madness. Let's leave photojournalism aside in this path: the need to report the truth -even if with a personal eye and approach- has (or should have) the precedence on any artistic ambition. The fine art world is completely different, though. Honestly I'm really fed up with photos of cypress trees and empty country roads ant dusk printed extremely large on grainy papers. This is just concept conceptualism, food for marketing critics that will make a lot of money out of certified smoke. But an image that can transmit you a sense of loneliness, longing, that makes you think and wonder even without a clear subject depicted, is something that we have to appreciate. Probably a visual language that we should learn, develop, introduce to our vision.

WISE GOVERNMENT IS GOOD!

In 1977 I wandered the roads of Spain with friends on a old Renault 4. When we sow the industrial-smog-blackened roofs of Bilbao we just kept going: it was a dreadful nothingness. In 1997 the local government, induced by the industrial crisis, had invited Guggenheim to open their European landmark museum in the city. In 1998 I came to shoot a story on positive change: how the dreamy shapes of Frank Ghery were attracting visitors, educated ones. It was incredible how this single landmark was already redefining the perception of this unknown industrial city to the whole continent.
Today I'm back here, to shoot a story on a city that did not stop at that successful step but kept investing on art and architecture as a meaning of development. And I'm astonished again. So many famous architects have been invited to work here that is difficult even to give a serious panorama. Spain has changed as a whole, it's true, and Spanish people are perfect Europeans nowadays, but this city is really special.
Just think of the Alhondiga. An old building whose redevelopment as a public space was assigned to a visionary like Philippe Starck. An amazing concentrate of dreamy design and useful utilities: a pool on the roof (transparent from below the building) with a gigantic open air platform that becomes a beach in summer; a mediateca large like a whole museum; a gymnasium as wide as a stadium, and so on..
Among so many negative stories of bad government and corruption is refreshing to see something so promising and enriching for the people. If, as I said in a previous post, Europe is a living museum, this place is the avantgarde of it!

WORKING FOR A NEW WAY

The iPad introduction to the media market has started a veritable revolution in the communication world. Many will dislike what the new media represents, but, like every technical instrument, the way it is used will determine it's true value.
The iPad, and the other tablets that will follow, have changed the concept of how the media contents will be created, distributed and consumed. More multimedia platforms will give more freedom of expression, more space (written stories are already longer then on printed newspapers, more images will be visible). Publishers jumped to ask money for content (a step that was necessary to keep the industry alive) but will need to offer quality to justify this request and beat the very large competition. Content consumers finally will have a huge choice, easy interaction with authors and producers, and will become more selective.
But what I find really exciting is a completely new opening of the creative to the public. Publishers will be important for aggregation and focus, but will not be an indispensable gate. We can offer our productions directly to the public, and bet only on our quality for acceptance and diffusion. This is challenging, but a fantastic opportunity.
I'm working on such a way, and will keep you posted on progress. But rest assured, a great revolution in publishing has started, and you may be part of it!

LOOK, THINK (POSITIVE), AND SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT...

I have friends that fear my analysis of the actual professional situation may sound too pessimist.. People who knows me know very well that my attitude is quite the opposite. Sure, I tend to criticize what I see, an ancient Tuscan attitude, but I mean this as an incentive to myself as well as to others. Self satisfaction is deceiving and dangerous, although we certainly need gratifications. But I well aware of being part of that lucky portion of humanity that can express itself with no real limits, with plenty of freedom, with great instruments of expression.
Facing the reality is not pessimism: it is, or wants to be, a push toward change. Change for good!
Therefore, my message to all people is: keep making photos to express yourself! But think a lot, face realities, catch something that is good for others as well as for yourself.. If you are a pro and/or a photojournalist taking photos is also a social responsibility.. But keep shooting, shooting, shooting...

EUROPEAN LIVING MUSEUM

I just finished an assignment through the Norwegian Fjords (you can see some iPhone images in this Facebook gallery). The nature is still awesome, powerful, immense. The weather is really dominating your destiny here, and you feel overwhelmed by the light even in a rainy day!
But the country, the humanized part of it, has changed a lot. Even with this population, probably the European one whose life is the most depending on nature, and therefore very mindful of it in habits and sensibilities, modernity has traced changes. Behind the red huts reflecting in every fjord shoreline, there is a technological evolution that has completely changed the way of life in the vastness of the countryside. Maybe alcohol is still a stigma, but internet goes well with it! And Oil is pumping money!
But my thoughts are going to a much larger point of reflexion then the Norwegian life. Is the condition of the European continent in this century that is really interesting me.
We, the modern Europeans, are part of a living museum. From Greece to Italy, from France to England, we were the cradle of western civilization. Art, philosophy, industry, social order were born here and then given, or imposed, to the world. Of course the past century has seen the passage of power to the American continent. Still today are the United States the place where ideas are born and developed. Asia is still only the large factory to these ideas: nothing really new is coming from there, yet. It will come, eventually, in a few decades.
But Europe has lost for good. It's is a good place to live. Probably the best in the world. From the fjords here to the Greek islands; from the art cities of Italy to the Highlands of Scotland; from the vineyards of France to Andalusia.. and endless gallery of beauty and social peace and wealth that fears no comparison. Or it does?
If you are a young European with ideas, do you feel you are in the right continent? Or you feel like innovation, creativity, inventiveness are escaping you? The world is shaping up somewhere else, and I feel like we lost the train.
But the entire humanity is globalized and connected. It's easy to get off. If you feel like you want to be part of the changing, with an active role, don't sit in this comfortable chair overlooking ancient beauty. Go where the heart is beating, be part of the big game, do something good.

WHY YOU WANT TO BE A PROFESSIONAL?

If you are passionate with bricolage (Do It Yourself) generally you don't wish to become a carpenter! For years I have wondered why this is different in photography: whoever has a camera thinks that the obvious way to evolve is to go professional. Nothing is wronger then this, of course. First of all if you are a pro you must photograph not only what your client wants rather then what you like, but also in a way that responds as close as possible to the client needs and not to your personal creativity. This is the exact opposite of any photographer wish and dream.
I understand very well that the idea of earning a life through traveling and taking pictures is a great attraction to many, but this possibility is long gone (see the recent posts on the crisis of travel photography) and the opportunities of something similar are fewer and fewer as the days passes by. We, my generation and few others, were lucky enough to have some of these opportunities, but time have changed for good (for bad, actually!).
So, why would you want to become a professional photographer today? If your passion is photography, go for what you like to do and forget the business side. If you are good that will be the natural consequence of your evolution, eventually. If travel and/or documentary are what you like (as it is in the vast majority of cases) use photography as your way of interpreting and going deeper into the situations you find. Leave the thought of a possible publication: it's a far possibility that will spoil your true expression. Instead free your creativity and vision into a personal and innovative way of reporting: if you are really good success will find you.
Going professional is a though choice, a difficult way to follow, especially nowadays. Business matters will be well prevailing over aesthetic ones, and few people have this in mind (or are able to face it). I think that if you are really willing to do something in this life you can achieve it. But this is true for a few, capable and determined guys. If you think you are one of them...

PUBLISHERS

Another follow up to the ongoing discussion on the Travel Photography crisis/changes in the world. Some friends suggested that publishers should be the principal actors in the evolution of the market. They should create publications (on paper or on the web) that answer the changing expectations of the public, still pointing to a quality that should give reasons to search for something else (e.g. better) then the avalanche of images freely available on the net. Yes, they should: if they were still there. Unfortunately real publishers are gone from several years!
Big good publishing names are still there (Time Inc, Newsweek, NYT, Gruner, The Time, NGS and others) but they represent only a small portion of the Travel Publishing world market. And the problem in basically on quality evaluation.
An long experienced editor, Luciano di Pietro, that just retired after a life spent in reporting and publishing, pointed out the essence of the drama. He said that real publishers had gone leaving their companies in the hands on managers with no attention at all to contents and quality. The Italian story is emblematic. We had really great guys who started a florid season of media evolution in the 60s: Mondadori, Rusconi, Rizzoli created little empires still prolific. They were entrepreneurs, looking for profit, but recognized the value of quality and would not renounce an author they considered valuable. They have been replaced today by managers (the dreaded CEO) that come from different industries and go to others with only numbers in their minds. There is only the cost of a photo in proportion to the page-filled space, the quality of it is insignificant. Their major attention is to their personal careers, determined by the profit realized in the few years of activity in this industry. Why they should worry if they'll be selling burgers in a year of two?
Of course this is not always the case, but it is for the vast majority of the market, and this trend has compromised not only the quality offered but the public expectations as well. The real question is, in fact, how many people will appreciate quality over fast-consuming quantity in the near future? Will the young generations still appreciate good images over mobile snapshots? The multinationals wish, work and push for a massified, low requiring market, and they are strong. But we can resist, resist resist....