Studio photography I like

You're thinking Tim Burton Ain't ya?

Blind shot

I've read and seen work by blind photographers and the thought and motions fascinate me. What is the sixth sense? How do they do it?

Here is a shot of my good mate Dave. We were going underground and exploring old abandoned WWII bunkers. This shot was taken in pitch black, no light to even focus. Luckily the walls were all white and the flash went off. Dave was standing in total darkness, no idea where to stand or what to do. I got the shot. I was blind.

Sometimes you just need to shoot in to the dark and see what happens.

Kras

Right Here, Right Now

This is a big one for lovers of street photography. Actually, fuck that. This is a big one for lovers of good photography

Format 11

"Established in 2004 in Derby UK, FORMAT is one of the UK's leading international contemporary festivals of photography and related media.

This year's programme is curated around the theme of street photography. It consists of exhibitions, portfolio reviews, workshops, commissions, screenings, mass participation, talks, photo collectives, publications, a summer school, conference and much more, all focusing on showing new work premiering in the UK, alongside the best established practitioners in the world. 

I ruined a perfectly good pair of underpants when I saw all the work that's to be exhibited . I hope you're sitting on the bog here Kras as Vivian Maiers works going to be on display. Bruce Gilden, Richard Kalvar & Chris Steele-Perkins are putting on The Magnum Workshop


Nick Turpin will be providing portfolio reviews.


He's also made a film for format called 'in-sight'




'in-sight' trailer from Nick Turpin on Vimeo.




I've punched all the air out of Keane HQ.  I'm going outside, might even take a shot or two.

Has it all been done before?

There's 60 billion photos on facebook, yep, 60 billion. That's about 55 billion more than flickr


None of them are mine.

And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate . . .
And what there is to conquer
By strength and submission, has already been discovered
Once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope
To emulate -- but there is no competition --
There is only the fight to recover what has been lost
And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions
That seem unpropitious.
But perhaps neither gain nor loss.
For us, there is only the trying.
The rest is not our business


T.S Eliot  

That passage can be found on the last page of Robert Adams beautiful essay: Making art new.


I'm going to keep trying


Sean

Not another kid shot

Yeah man

                                                                   

  

That's six billion and two

Quote Of The Day

"You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to you.”


 Heraclitus

(Or was it Bresson?)

Some bit of man flu going on at Kras HQ, but here is something to enjoy (turn your speakers on). I'll be doing a post on Bob Robinson soon. Thanks to Dan Young for putting this up on YouTube. It's brilliant. Click on to YouTube and watch in full screen, it's the only way.

 

It's been a bit of a mad week here at Keane HQ. I'll be picking fluff out of my belly button in due course. Here's something to enjoy in the mean time




More

Broken Manual

Been waiting half a year for this, arrived today. First impression is mid life and all that. Second impression is far deeper. It hits the spot.

The "book" is an edition of  300, it feels like an edition of one. It's that good. You unwrap it from the box, tear away the bubble wrap and then open it . . . it's like seeing a private diary, you know you need to keep it a secret . . .

Alec Soth

It's a book of dreams. 

Ken

Polaroid may be dead

So says Oliver Laurent (BJP). In fact it is alive and kicking. You only have to do a simple search on Polaroid to see what is happening. Gaga does not help I think, but she has a younger audience.

For me, I love my digital Pogo and I'm looking forward to the new "model".

Ken

Polaroid is Dead

Polaroid kills Polaroid

Goodbye Polaroid

My packs of fresh Polaroids are up for sale tonight.

"The damn thing will do anything you point it at.  You have to really know something before you dare point it anywhere.  You have to know what you're pointing it at, and why, even if it's only instinctive."  

Walker Evans talking about shooting with a Polaroid SX-70.

 

Ken

The Bungalow

Yesterday I got a collection of half plate ( 6.5" x 4.75" ) glass negatives from I guess round about the early 1920s. The collection of 13 showed a family in the usual special moments a family might have. But what struck me the most is the way the photographer (unknown) spent what must have been such an effort to get these family shots, a love to get the best he/she could. They are not the usual Brownie type snapshots.

This one is my favourite. A couple were very blurry, you can see the rest in the   slideshow.

 

Photographer unknown

Ken

Idiotic Hat

A blog I regularly follow. The reading and the photography is always something to enjoy.

Idiotic Hat

Ken