Wednesday March 3rd, 2010
Fred Licht makes his own lenses (a lot of work!) , and some of his images appear in an LA show opening tomorrow at Affinity Galleries, running through April.
Licht discusses why he decided to take on this technical endeavor in the first place :
At my website, you will notice a portfolio entitled “Proprietary Optics”. These are images created with lenses that I have designed and built myself. Some of these images are from assignments where I have been hired specifically because of these lenses. Other images are personal work or personal exploration with these lenses.
My desire to explore optics as a creative tool began with my longstanding interest in 19th century photography. Many of the images from that period have a distinct “look” (as well as other sensibilities) and I began by purchasing lenses from that period of time. I quickly realized that this was not giving me the look that I wanted and I began to research the field of photographic optics. It turns out that nearly all of the lenses that we use today (with the exception of zoom lenses and a few other formulas) were designed in the 19th century and have not really changed. I came to understand that the optical designers of the 19th century, the leading physicists of their time, had been given the task to create lenses that were, technically speaking, as perfect as possible.
Interestingly, many of the leading photographers of the 19th and early 20th Centuries then sought to counteract this “perfection” and devised techniques to make their images less technically accurate and more emotionally grounded. They did this, primarily, through printing techniques, breaking down the image after it was created in the camera, though some did this through optical means as well. I decided to take a more radical approach and alter the optics themselves. I decided to start from scratch, did a great deal of research, and began to create optics that had a more emotional appeal without concern for technical “perfection”.
I have since built four optics, all designed to work on a 4X5 camera, where each has a particular signature. The image is created in the camera, and none of the “effects” are done in postproduction. If I had more time to work with this, I would build more lenses (and use the ones that I have already made!), but this remains an ongoing interest for me.
Here’s one of his lenses:
Fred also shoots with “normal” lenses to capture his architectural and travel subjects:
You can see more on his website.
-Neil Binkley
Wednesday February 24th, 2010
If so you should drop by The Bui Gallery for their opening from 6-9pm featuring photographer Aaron Joel Santos‘ work. In preparation for the show, Aaron visited the gallery’s printer in Singapore to check up on the printing details, and in the process took some colorful and artful photos of the city:
Betty Bui’s gallery came to Vietnam, where Santos is based, a year ago after the success of her Parisian shop. She plans to open another venue in Singapore in the near future. Aaron’s work appears in the show “Days and Nights” alongside several other photographers, and the presentation sounds pretty unorthodox:
In this exhibition, the whole gallery goes black and the four photographers are each curating their own
black box with their photographs. The visitor is not in an open space where he can freely circulate
between the images. Here he must make his way through the four boxes, that are totally dark: dark
walls, dark floors and black velvet curtains. There is nothing that can distract one from the artist’s
works.
In this exhibition, the whole gallery goes black and the four photographers are each curating their own black box with their photographs. The visitor is not in an open space where he can freely circulate between the images. Here he must make his way through the four boxes, that are totally dark: dark walls, dark floors and black velvet curtains. There is nothing that can distract one from the artist’s works.
I’d also be curious to see what the photo below looks like SIX FEET WIDE, which is how it appears in Aaron’s show on Feb. 26th (also my birthday – so it’s an auspicious date). Santos discusses the printing process a little on his blog, too.
Aaron’s work on his website reflects a similar sensibility as the images above, which I find a dreamy blend of fine art, travel and photojournalism. A few from his site:
If you make it to the show, please make sure to say hi to Aaron for us in the eternally-snowbound Northeast USA.
-Neil Binkley
Friday January 29th, 2010
Susan Seubert recently had opportunity to be a “stranger” in her own city, shooting a feature story on Portland, OR for National Geographic Traveller. Here’s the opener:
I say “stranger” to be tongue-in-cheek, but it’s true that travel photographers like Susan often shoot outside their home cities (a little over a year ago she shot the cover story for NGT on San Francisco). And travel photographers need to document their subject matter in a way that appeals to someone who’s not familiar with the destination. Not to mention that Susan spends part of her year in Maui.
Susan on Portland:
It was great to be able to photograph Portland because it is such a rich city on so many levels. The people who live here do so with gusto, so there’s a lot of enthusiasm about the place. I also know it well (making it easier to negotiate a tight schedule) and although I discovered a lot about Portland during the assignment, it’s always different walking around when you have to do so with purpose (I’ve photographed Portland for many other magazines, such as the recently shuttered Gourmet and The New York Times). Cities are in a constant state of change, particularly Portland, so there’s always something new or classic that’s wonderful to photograph.
I learned a lot about the bike culture of Portland. I photographed no less than 5 different bicycling events, including the annual World Naked Bike Ride. I also rented a cargo bike one day and saw the city by bicycle and was amazed by how many bike routes and lanes there are, making it very simple to get around, even with 50 lbs of equipment!
She’s been shooting for National Geographic Traveller since 2004, and their editor-in-chief Keith Bellows just chose this image for “Traveler’s Best Photos of 2009.”
You should click on the image or link above to see the slideshow on their website, because Keith explains on the audtio track why each of the “Best” images stood out to him. He chose Susan’s shot of the Sydney, Australia swim club patrons for its whimsy and composition, making it an atypical travel shot.
Susan Seubert is a Portland based photographer with Wonderful Machine.
-Neil Binkley
