Asian photographers who live and work in Asia, and especially in developing countries like Myanmar, don’t often get much attention in the West. This is now beginning to change, but only slowly. One such photographer breaking through is Burma’s most famous all around lensman, Kyaw Kyaw Winn.
A Brief Meeting with a Photography Legend Sebastião Salgado
Sebastião Salgado is a world famous photographer, who needs no introduction. He is certainly the most illustrious photographer in Brazil and, perhaps, one of the most known in the world. Besides authoring more than 30 photo books and winning numerous international awards (World Press Photo, Photography of the Year by the American Society of Magazine, Photojournalist of the Year, Visa Dór, Photography Book of the Year), Salgado was president of the Magnum agency in Europe for several years. However, to enumerate his prizes is not the goal here.
Construction of a Photograph: The Process of Visualization
Hello, my name is Rick Keller. I am an amateur photographer who lives in San Diego, CA, one of many readers of Photography Life, and an occasional participant in its forums. Recently, after having participated in the Photography Life Photo Critique and Weekly Critique Section, Nasim Mansurov graciously and enthusiastically extended me an invitation to write a guest article for Photography Life to share more of my film work and discuss the tools and methodology that I use. I wholeheartedly accepted the invitation. As I pondered this task, it was immediately apparent that I could write such an article in a variety of ways, each of which might lead to a discussion of additional subtopics in both general photography and film photography.
Portrait Photography Tips
As a photojournalist for 25 years and shooting for much longer, I may have a different or expanded definition of what a portrait is, and what it takes to produce them. There are genres of portraiture, of course, such as: editorial, corporate, commercial/retail, documentary or candid, and illustrative portraits. With some you exercise almost no control (e.g., William Albert Allard), and with others almost total control (e.g., Annie Leibovitz). There is no right or wrong answer … the photographer chooses their style! There are many photographers whose portraits I love, and not all of them are pure portrait photographers. Allard is a documentary photographer, but his found portraits are wonderful. Annie L. imposes her will on her subjects, but the results are fascinating and something I’d love to be able to do. If I were to pick my top 3 pure portraitists, it might be Arnold Newman, Gregory Heisler, and Annie L, in no special order. I went back and read my Arnold Newman’s “One Mind’s Eye” the other day, and was struck by how many of his images don’t use “perfect” light by today’s standards, but so many are amazing. This one, of Igor Stravinsky, is still one of the most brilliant photo portraits ever taken, I think. It’s interesting to know that Greg Heisler was one of Newman’s last assistants.
Mary Poppins With a Camera: Vivian Maier
We received a short video from one of our readers, Christopher Tobutt, who wanted us to share the photographic work of an ordinary nanny from Chicago. Vivian Maier turned out to be quite a secret street photographer, even before the term existed. Her work was discovered right before she passed away. Take a look at some of the great shots from her below.