What to buy in November 2009

Elliott Erwitt has been a MAGNUM member since the 1950s and is definitely one of the world’s giants of street photography. His images do not only catch scenes and situations which most of us would not even notice; the special thing about Erwitt is the particular humorist approach toward his subjects.
To me, along with Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt is one of the best street photographers of all time. Famous are his images of dogs (and their owners), people interacting with others or with their environment.

I don’t even know whether There are any publicized images in color, Elliott Erwitt is and will be known as a black&white photographer. This volume shows a number of his most famous photopraphs in a big size book with a great layout on beautiful paper. Special about this publication is also that most o the text is by Erwitt himself, giving an introduction about himself, his life, and his photography.

From the book:
“The dedicated photographer works with his own sensibility, instincts, and experience. He stays curious about everything visible. He looks, looks some more, and then looks again, because that is the fundamental basis of photography. And that’s all…just looking and making your own unique connections.”

This is his website!

You get this edition on discount here!

Love

My wife Ming with my daughter Maya, Oct. 2009:

I just couldn’t find a better title for this image…

Leica M3
Kodak Portra 400VC

My Halloween Strip 2009

Some people are…

Some thoughts from today’s bus ride to work:

Some people are like digital images. They are pretty, colorful and sharp. There is some sort of automatic shadow lighting and they look all perfect and shiny. However, the highlights get burned out quite easily, they all look kind of the same, and most of all: They all seem to lack depth and suffer from chronic shallowness. It’s a quick impression that usually doesn’t last very long.

Fashion photography is similar: Pretty shiny images of beautiful models. Too bad, though, the impression is only meant to last about 10 sec. before we flip to the next page. The image just as the model is forgotten within a moment.

That’s all for today…

What to buy in October 2009

Steve McCurry (by Anthony Bannon)

Steve McCurry is one of the photographers that I was always a bit ambivalent about. Maybe that’s because much of his fame was so much based on this one famous image of an “Afghan Girl” (1979) that he had become much of an icon of mainstream travel photography. Every guy with a big SLR + long lens seemed to try copying that style, the colors etc.

However, when I walked into Kinokuniya Book Store (Singapore) yesterday, I had a look at the Phaidon Edition of Steve McCurry. Phaidon has been publishing this great series of books, introducing icons of photography like Mary Ellen Mark, Andre Kertesz, and others. It turns out that Steve McCurry is an absolute master of color photography, and a great portrait photographer, too. Of course I knew that before, but looking at these fantastic color portraits taken in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I realized that McCurry was at the time able to record South-/Central Asian life in a way which is hardly possible anymore. At the time of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 the country was already wrecked by civil war. However, the general attitude towards the West (i.e America) was not yet as negative as it is today. As McCurry points out himself: Portrait images like he took in Pakistan back then would hardly be possible anymore. Too much china has been broken, I guess.

This edition only gives a glimpse into this famous MAGNUM photographer’s work. The great thing about this series is also, that every image comes with a comment about how it was taken (not technical!). That makes it a pleasure to read. It’s also printed in high quality (Phaidon is a fantastic publishing house!) for a very low price. You can either buy it at your local art book store, or order it here! Check it out, it’s worth it!

My October Strip

Camera Review: PENTAX 67

Today it’s about the dinosaur in my dry case: The PENTAX 67!

I bought the camera last year second hand in a camera store in Seoul/Korea, for an incredible low price. The Korean Won had dropped dramatically during the Financial Crisis, so it was a very good time to shop in Korea. The PENTAX 67 is a 6×7cm negative size Medium Format film camera (SLR) from the 1970s. At the time it was a popular option for professionals, not only because of the attractive 6×7 format and the quality of the Pentax optics; it was also the only Medium Format SLR with a prism viewfinder in the market. That meant it was possible to hold and handle it pretty much like a 35mm camera which gave it an advantage compared to the rather clunky Hasselblads or Mamiyas (I do not consider my Hasselblad “clunky” but some people might).

Well, actually, to me the PENTAX 67 is quite a brick. It’s big, heavy, and compared to my Hasselblad, the mirror sends shock waves through the camera, my hand, and the whole environment. The camera is loud, the film transport requires some new thumb muscles, and the frame counter doesn’t tell you exactly when the film is full. Furthermore, the opening mechanism for the film cassettes is sometimes jammed (or I’m stupid) and the whole procedure of changing a film can be quite time consuming.

But isn’t it a beauty?!!

No, seriously, apart from the (few) negative characteristics of this almost forgotten camera, there are some aspects which make me love the PENTAX 67:

1. The 6×7 format is just beautiful. It’s only slightly bigger than 6×6, giving you more space to compose, but at the same time it is more squarish than 6×45 which still gives you the feeling of harmony within the given space. I love it!
2. The optics are superb and the mechanics of the lenses work smooth and easy. The images come out super sharp, with a soft and smooth bokeh which is quite special and different to all my other Medium Format cameras or Leicas.
3. The viewfinder is spectacular: bright, big, and clear which is the perfect for composing. Even better, the prism viewfinder can be exchanged for a waist level viewfinder (see picture). I love that for the tripod.

The PENTAX 67 is not an easy camera, but it’s a lot of fun and a beauty of a beast! It’s not really a camera that works well without tripod, unless there is a lot of light available and you know how to hold a camera steady. However you decide to use it, it’s a very good tool for portraits because of its format, sharpness, and soft bokeh.
On a daily basis, I still prefer my Hasselblad or the Twin Reflex Mamiya because they are easier to handle; for the special moments, though, the PENTAX 67 is quite something to use. And because nobody seem to want it anymore, it is more than a bargain. Don’t miss it!

What to buy in September 2009

The Polaroid Book:

The Polaroid picture has become an icon of 20th century photography. The possibility to create instant results was a small revolution when it was first presented to the market.
What also made the Polaroid camera special was the close cooperation between famous photographers and Polaroid. People like Ansel Adams contributed to the development of the Polaroid film to achieve the best possible results. The fact that artists embraced this technology lead to a whole new genre of photography.

“The Polaroid Book”, published by TASCHEN, gives a fantastic overview over the range of Polaroid Photography since the 1950. This includes images by Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, Danny Lyon, Barbara Hitchcock, Bill Burke, Robert Mapplethorpe, Elliot Erwitt and many others. It also gives an overview of the history of the Polaroid camera, its creator Edwin Land, and all the different models since its introduction in 1954.
It’s a beautiful book to browse through. Highly recommended!

Camera Review: Leicaflex SL

I do not own this camera. My father does. He bought it sometime in the early 70s and after only one servicing in 2007, it is still serving him perfectly!
So why am I writing about the Leicaflex? Isn’t there the fabulous Leica R9 which is an ergonomic dream (or seems to be)? Well I own a Leica R8 which is a nice camera, apart from being a bit clunky. But last month I had to borrow my father’s Leicaflex since my beloved M6 was damaged. And what happened? I was blown away!

The Leicaflex and its second model “SL” was Leica’s attempt to stay in the professional race after losing the market to SLR cameras in the 1960. Leica had been too comfortable with their very successful M2 and M3 and had not realized that the time of the rangefinder was coming to it’s (temporary) end. By the time they saw it, most professionals had already changed to Nikon, Canon, Pentax etc.
The Leicaflex was the attempt to win back some of that market. Unfortunately it was already too late, the camera didn’t meet the market’s demand and Leica almost went bankrupt. The advanced Leica M5 had also been a flop and it really didn’t look good for the German camera manufacturer.
The Leicaflex was too heavy and big for the photojournalist of the 70s. The optics were fantastic, but also heavy and expensive. Not what the market needed. So the Leicaflex drifted into obscurity and was (and is) mainly used by Leica amateurs who stuck to the system. After Leica started using bodies supplied by Minolta (R-Series) the Leicaflex design got almost forgotten. Today it’s basically a collector’s item.

Unjustified, as I think!

When I tested the Leicaflex SL, the first thing I noticed was the wonderful ergonomics. You don’t believe me? Yes! Even though the camera looks like a brick, it feels good in the hand, perfectly balanced. And the transport lever is the very best what I have ever used. It just fits perfectly with my thumb and moves smoothly when pushed around. The feel of this is even better than shutting the door of a Mercedes Benz! The shutter is an old fashioned “sticking out” shutter. It is positioned in the center of the shutter speed dial an just like the transport lever, it feels just right on the finger. Smooth and “klick”! I love it!

But, and I think this cannot be repeated often enough: What makes a great camera for me is the size and the brightness of the viewfinder! Only a bright viewfinder gives you the right tool to compose a perfect picture. Nobody can bring all the elements of an image properly together while looking at a (DX-) thumbnail. And that what makes the Leicaflex one of the great cameras, next to the Leica M system and the Hasselblad V system. The viewfinder is huge and super sharp, even dwarfing the Leica R9’s finder which is already probably the best SLR finder in the market. What I like most is the prism which has just a big circle in the middle and is perfect for focusing. There is nothing to obstruct the view, nothing gets cut in half, no blinking lights, no stupid green or orange info bars, (almost) just you and the image.

On the bottom you will see the shutter speed (no irritating lights) and on the right the Leicaflex still has one of these “line and circle” things which died out in the 80s, even though it’s so easy to use. Bring the line into the circle by turning the aperture ring and you get the right exposure!

The leicaflex SL is a bargain on the second hand market. Get it with the (outstanding) f2/50mm Summicron and you have a wonderful camera that gives you better SLR quality than 90% of what’s new in the market. After getting used to the handling, you will also find that taking images with this icon is not only a lot of fun but also much easier and more stress free thah with a modern camera full of (useless) functions, menus and dials. Check it out!

Discovering Berlin!

Have you ever been to Berlin, Germany’s capital? If not, you have missed out a lot. Berlin is not only in the heart of Europe and the connection point between Eastern and western Europe (along with Vienna); it is also one of the hottest and most trendy places to be. Berlin has its distinctive style, sub culture and fashion which stand clearly out from mainstream Europe.
Along with that, Berlin offers a lot in terms of Architecture, Historical Places, Nature etc etc etc. This is the place where the cold war adversaries met. Traces of that can still be found everywhere, including parts of the Berlin Wall and other historical sites of that period.

For the photographer Berlin offers numerous opportunities for street photography, people photography, architecture etc. etc. etc.. But where to start and where to go? How do you make the best out of your time and manage to explore a place that has so much to offer?

The Berlin photographer Pierre Vau offers the chance to explore and discover Berlin in a photographic way. “Capital Colors” is a project that offers custom tailored tours through Berlin. Pierre and his partner Anja Meier will take you through Berlin, they will show you places that you would not have found yourself, angles and perspectives that go far beyond the usual tourist guide tour, and this will be complemented with photo workshops and technical help. In the end you will take home a self made (linen bound) book about Berlin that clearly stands out from the usual pile of snaps!

From the website:
Upon my photographic expedition, I would like to:
- Get to know Berlin better
- Discover places off the beaten path which most visitors to Berlin would never see
- Within the parameters of a city tour, take a photographic course in analog or digital photography
- Help me to explore the full potential of my camera equipment
- Improve my photographic skills
- Find motifs which others don?t find
- Gain skills in the Photoshop photo editing program
- Discuss my photos with experienced photographers in the workshop
- Spend my Berlin stay more effectively and pleasantly thanks to optimal preparation
- Have contact with people who know the nightlife scene and are contemporary witnesses to Berlin?s eventful history
- Also receive guided architectural or art tours when participating in a photo safari
- Logically develop a photographic theme for myself, but I need suggestions for this and the opportunity to realize this
- Have a personal coffee table book created which contains my own photos

Here are some more examples of Pierre Vaus’s Berlin photography:

Anyone in Asa who is interested in traveling to Berlin can also contact me and I will help with the set up. I don’t charge a cent!

All images shown here are by Pierre Vau.