Photographer Paul Schiek
Paul has a show at the Stephen Wirtz Gallery in California from September 4th - October 18th titled the thing about you is you will end up like me. Check it out if you can! I wish i could.
I’ve been a fan of his work for the last few years, falling in love when i first saw into his Polaroid panoramics. Whether you’re a long time ogler of his work or are just learning of it now you will be stoked to know that These Birds Walk has just published a book of his work. This book is one of a series of affordable art books that include works from 3 more of my favorite photographers! Ari Marcopoulos, Mike Brodie, and Jim Goldberg. Ari and Jim’s books are yet to come but Mike Brodie’s (aka the Polaroid Kid’s) book was amazing. I cant wait to see what Jim and Ari have in store for us!
APERTURE - National Photography Workshop
The is nothing more practical for learning than to be surrounded by mentors and get your feet wet. Scott Bourne is leading the charge. Check his G9 videos on his site.
The Aperture Nature Photography Workshops at Olympic, Tetons, Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks will take four groups of professional and amateur photographers to America’s most scenic destinations to make spectacular images while learning how to get the most out of Apple professional photo editing application, Aperture.
Beginning in September 24-27, 2008, a group of four professional photographers will be joined by four amateur photographers at Grand Tetons National Park for unparalleled photo opportunities, followed by first-hand instruction in Apple Aperture by a team of Apple-certified Aperture trainers.
Prizes: Prizes will be awarded to each winning photographer. The prize package is subject to change at the full discretion of the Aperture Nature Photography Workshops.
As of August 1, 2008 the prize package includes but is not limited to:
1 USB Drobo - approximate value $500
1 Lensbaby - approximate value $350
1 Premium subscription to lynda.com value $375
1 set of all current Peachpit Press Photo-related books - approximate value $500
1 ThinkTank 360 Photo Bag - approximate value $350
1 Apple Aperture 2.1 - approximate value $200
1 Lifetime Pro Membership to Photrade - approximate value $500
HOW: Each participant may submit one photograph in total. All images must be digitally uploaded.
WHEN: Submissions open August 15 at Noon, PST and close September 5, 2008 at 5:00 PM, PST.
Questions can be address here:
aperturenatureworkshops@gmail.com
Alexey Titarenko
Alexey Titarenko was born in St.Petersburg in 1962. Since 2005, he has lived and worked in both his beloved native city and in New York.
Photography as “art,” I sometimes have a hard time with. There are so many mechanical pieces to the image that are out of the photographers control that it is really hard to stand out and be original. Alexey has exploited the medium to own his original approach to tell a story about his surroundings.
“Titarenko’s image of St. Petersburg presents the compressed urban space as abounding in dichotomies and gray areas. In big cities, beauty and ugliness, wealth and poverty, education and ignorance, violence and serenity are never far apart.”
– Ferdinand Protzman
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Ben Horan- a cinderella story
Na huh?
So Ben Horan is this amazing wakeskater on the Nike 6.0 team. He is from Nahunta, GA. Just say it one more time….hear it start rollin’ off your tongue like a real southern boy. So, what do you call a “cinderella story” if it’s a guy? Just doesn’t sound right like that. Anyways…for lack of better words, thats the deal with Ben. He was picked up by a sheer matter of fortunate circumstances that put him and his abilities in front of the right people. I couldn’t wish for it to happen to anyone better. The kid is the most down-to-earth person you will come across, humbled by his peers and supported by the limbs of his distinct family tree.
I had the chance to spend a few days up in home town with him just doing what he does. That experience really put all the pieces together for me. It was clear to see why Ben is who he is. We made cheeseburgers with his mom, winched a rail on his neighbors farm lake, skated his satellite dish in the driveway, played with his turtle “shredder” and hung out at the DQ. I am sure there are 100 kids in other similar small towns doing nearly the same thing. Ok, so maybe not quite as good. Did i mention that his sister drives the winch for him? Well, yes she does. Thats pretty cool. Thanks for the hospitality
Ben, I’ll be back.
-josh
Frozen Fish - Josh Letchworth on assignment
“Back in the day” we used to have Pen Pals. Today, we Twitter, IM and email all our friends and colleagues. Josh Letchworth has been sending me the Eye Candy to keep me stoked up while I jockey my desk at Nemo Design. Josh is living at sea level doing the STANDARD magazine project. Recently, Ski Doo brought him up to the mountain to shoot snowmobiles and he shared some of his thoughts and shots from the adventure in Yellowstone:You know, now I understand the “fish out of water” feeling TG was getting when he was down in the keys for the Nike shoot last spring. In December, I had the chance to shoot up in West Yellowstone for Ski Doo. Yes it was cold, there was a lot of snow and I quickly learned that jeans and a pair of flip flops just wouldn’t cut it. So, before i left, I made this laundry list of questions to ask Trevor about how to survive out there. He kindly replied with some vital info and many links to REI’s website. Thanks, now I am addicted to buying really cool stuff that i will never use. Love it. The trip was great. I actually really enjoyed shooting in those conditions once I got in my rhythm. It was all about having the right stuff at the right time…like fingerless gloves, pocket warmers, lithium batteries and a good backpack. i found it nice to not be sweating, salty and sunburned. The light bounced around off the snow like a giant studio and when it did get cloudy, at least the light was even. I guess that’s what is fun about life sometimes….stepping outside of your comfort zone. You always come back a bit more perspective on things. I’d go back to shoot in the snow anytime, just have the fire burning and the hot toddy ready by 5. -josh 
Nemo Studio update
The studio is getting along with its Patrick Swaize facelift. I just got back from the CES show in Las Vegas and saw a billboard with Carrot Top. Carrot Top has a better (or worse) face lift than Patrick. Yikes.
The sanders are out in full force preping the studio floor for it’s new and shinny epoxy covering! Its going to look sweet!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=eveldawg]
Re: shooting in the snow
My buddy, wake shooter and the STANDARD wake quarterly magazine editor, Josh Letchworth hit me up with an email the other day asking about some insight to shooting in the snow. In the spirit of knowledge sharing I have attached the context of the email in this post.
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if you have to work 8 hours a day…..
Dad shares the secret to success
There is a tipping point in a young person’s life where they get asked by their uncle “what do you want to do when you grow up”? What a retarded question to ask a 10 year old. At 10 I would challenge you to remember if you even knew what you ones own father did for a living let alone what I was going to be.
As an amateur anthropologist, my mind wanders and wonders about what it is in our brains that makes us be unique individuals. Today I sit here and add an entry to this journal and at the same time there were so many forks in the road that molded my life path. In the states we open up social introduction with the standard, what do you do for a living question and doing so limit what we get to know about this person. This job title follows us and somehow defines us. Today I sit before you and say that I am a photographer. I also wonder why that happens?
In those “Wonder Years” (ages 10 -14_ when we have learned 80% of what we will need and use in our adult life and how we channel that knowledge to a career path is the secret to happiness.
David Graves. In 1970s this man went to work on a factory line at Bristol Meyers and support his young family. I was the oldest of three. In those days it wasn’t that children were seen and not heard, it was more that my father was seen and seldom spoke. Of course he spoke when he needed to discipline but the Mr. Mom fuzziness of the modern father were not crafted into my father’s skills. Mom would remind us how hard my Dad would work to support the family. I must have been about twelve or so and somehow in the context of what I was doing with my Dad he gave me some advise. What ever you do in life be sure you like what do. You’re committed to working 8 hours for a company each day, a minimum of 40 hours a week and your going to spend more time working than being with your family, then you had better like what you’re doing. Don’t worry about the money because even if you have the money you’re going to be miserable. The Rockefellers put their pants on one leg at a time and I cant say they are any happier than you or I. It stuck and it wasn’t till many years later when I worked the line with my Dad, did I understand that he was trying to save me from the fate that his life had taken. Did he really like fixing the bottlenecks on this pill bottler that his advise was to be like him or was he helping steer me not to be like him and just punch a clock to pay the bills?
The schools at the time would test students to see if there were career paths that made sense. I wasn’t a slouch student and had good grades. They tested me and advised me that I would be a good architect or engineer. The career planner got me into a job-shadowing program at Crouse Hines; if you have seen a traffic signal then you have seen one of their products. For the times it was an advance idea, job shadowing. However, by the second day I was ready to put a gun to my head. These guys were so boring and the work was so mechanical I knew the engineer life wasn’t for me. In hindsight the experience was life changing in that at the rip age of 15 I knew what I didn’t want to do in life!
The fork in the road had me down a new path. College plans were being made and in y immediate family no one had ever gone to college. I was to be the first one. I had some engineering option is the city (NYC) and then I dawned on me. I wanted to go into commercial arts. The program at the time was advertising arts and production and it wasn’t al liberal artsy and hard to see a career path. It had real world jobs that were tied to the craft of the arts. Perfect. Dad, I am going to college to get a degree in design. To my Fathers credit, the first big fork in the road was taken. College introduced me to the world of typography, photography, design, illustration and a new field, computer arts. The use of my brain to fore sees images manifested into photography quickly. I had no real intentions of having the job description of photographer but as the photography chemicals pickled my senses, the transition happened.