Natasha @ Paris

Winter is coming, it was time to try a few portrait / nude sessions indoors. I have been playing a lot with back light, and for editing with the Nik Software excellent and pretty cheap package (review soon):

• Silver Efex Pro to edit RAW files into B&W. 
• Color Efex Pro for well...pretty much anything color.

For a change (ran out of film and the shop was closed), this is digital work, with a Nikon D600  + Nikon 50mm f/1.2 lens.

The beauty and the Beercules, a reflexion on what makes a photograph unique.

Not too long ago, I visited a friend of mine in Barcelona; I hadn't seen her in a long time. I once shot her in Ireland, on the beach near Drogheda (north of Dublin). Back in the days I published very few of those pictures, but visiting her reminded me to look into my old negatives. And that takes me to a interesting point about photography: how unique can a picture actually be? 

Let's take a painter, or a band: both have elements that make them who they are in a unique, hard to replicate way. When you see a Dali, well you know it's a Dali. You can either have a copy, in which case there was no intention to be creative in the first place. Or you can have an other painting inspired by Dali's style, with hopefully an extra personal touch from that other painter, which makes it unique in some way. Back to the musical comparison, no one sounds like Liam Gallagher or Till Lindemann. Sure some bands like Muse and Placebo sound a little bit the same if you don't pay attention, but the lyrics are unique, and the songs and melodies are too.

So what about photography? Let's be honest, in the field of fashion anyone could learn how to reproduce a high production value shot. It's pure technique: get the same/similar model that poses the same way, light can be learned, editing too, cameras all work the same. The fact is, I dare you to tell me in fashion magazines that you can recognize the style of each photographer, and regroup images under the name of who shot them. You just can't. Even guys like Terry Richardson - who has a little "je ne sais quoi" but it's minor and mostly based on sex and celebrities- well even his shots look the same as anybody else's when he tries to do clean fashion. Same goes with landscapes and many other genres.

With the internet we are exposed to a huge melee of good pros, awful photographers that are pros (they earn a living with it, but still sucks balls real bad), and amateurs that are much better than pros. They all post, blog, flickr, and have easy access to millions of images. It leads to uniformity and trends (lately cross processing effects and faded color halos). It is really becoming very hard to shoot with a clean mind, free of all the nice images you've seen somewhere else.

So what makes an photograph unique? In my opinion it is about:

1. the story it tells, and that mostly concerns documentaries and journalists. This is why I worship war photographers and those who seek to be there in that special moment, that image that will tell a story. 
2. your relationship with the people you are shooting, and that is good news. You copied techniques from other photographers? You used the same post processing as many? Don't feel bad. It looks good doesn't it? Then enjoy. The thing is, when you shoot someone you care about, or even hate (as long as there is a feeling), there will be in your picture something that only you can see, whatever is personal. In addition to that, if you friend likes the way he/she feels about himself/herself thru your eyes, you added a nice little thing to your relationship with him/her. That picture won't matter to most, but to you two it will.

This is why I love photography, is it a major form of art in the sense that it's all snobbishly unique and hard to do? No. It is a major form of art because it's accessible, personal, naturally appealing to everyone. People always want to see the pictures don't they? So sure there is a lot of trash among the gazillion tons of pictures that have been posted in the past 20 years, but so much great shots in the middle that could be from anyone. And again, there could be that one picture no one but you cares about but you, because it tells your story and the story of a friend.

So I'm home looking at those old scans (Nikon FE and Mamiya 67 cameras), and as I've had a great time with my friend in Barcelona, getting to know her much better, I now project her personality and emotions onto each image so much more than before. Sometimes, shoot the ones you love instead of random people, you'll like your pictures better, and do something nice for a friend or family member. This is my friend,  her name is Natalija.

Plus, here are more picture of candids from my vacation, no posing, just the moment, our story (D600 and 35mm F2 if you wonder).

This one is mine, miiiine don't even think about it.

Mark Brabant + Me Time

I am delighted, I received the prints of #41, a piece by Mark Brabant based on my photographs. Here it is:

If you are fast enough, you can buy one here !

I am quite proud of that, someone who's work I appreciate actual enjoyed mine enough to use it as raw material for one of his piece, and well, that makes me happy :)

I'd like to thank Mark for contacting me in the first place, I'll rush to a framing shop this week end to ensure this ends up where it deserves, on my living room wall !

I also invite you to check his work here, there's so pretty nice images, I am happy to own a few of those myself.

Here is the series from which is picked the shots he used:

Katia @ Paris

I decided to analyse my shots not, explain why I kept them, what I could have done better. I'll also put some that did not make the cut and explain why. This is all from a Mamiya RZ67II with TMax film and the 110m 2.8.

By the way, I learned that Neopan 400 is dead... it made me sad, it was a great film.

Thanks to the lovely Katia.

A diptych for a change: I tried to play with the change of distance on the same pose. Both shots are spot on focus, perfectly exposed (natural light) and could be self sufficient, but it's worth the attempt. I regret the dark stuff on her back on the right, I might photoshop that in the end.

Same shot as a stand alone for comparison. 

This is a pose I used a lot but not with the models hands placed like that. I wish her eyes were a little more open, and light a little more focused on her face / chest, but white wall makes the room light very even. Appart from that, it is sensual without being gross, so I kept it.

The original left picture on the diptych, uncropped.

I like this because of the 3 layers: black, skin, gray. Also it implies nudity but we don't really see it. Here also I wish I had the eyes looking up or a little more opened, but at the same time they look a little tripy like this.

A pose I used and abused: full nude with nothing showing, emphasis on the face. Nailed it technically yet I wish the room was significantly darker that the skin.

Inspiration...no actually mind fuck of the day: Tim Flach

Those who know me also know that I love animals. More than humans, but that's fairly easy considering the amazing accomplishements of our species in the field of mediocrity. 

Well, I wish I picked a career in the field of animal care, for real. First time I cr... sweated from the eyes was at the end of the Ice Age when Manny meets the human and gives him back his kid, because animal bounding with people is f***ing awesome.

A writer said: "you can judge the worth of people buy the way they treat people/beings who can do nothing for them in return, who can't even express gratitude in return. In our case, the way humans treat animal tells us how rotten we are".

This being said, I found that guys work, Tim Flach. He takes portrait of animals. Actual portraits, as in "let's capture a bit of your personnality" kind of portrait.

He site here.

Inspiration: Radoslaw Pujan (Kinky Wednesday)

"Photographer. Born in Poznan (Poland). Then lived in Krakow, Brussels, Cannes.

Resides in Brussels. Main interest in creative Portrait, Beauty and Fashion photography."

Classic female portraits, you see a lot of this on Flickr but only few pull it really well. He uses medium and large format, which I really like too of course. Not much to say, enjoy.

His stream here.