We are calling this a new project, even though it is really a variation on an old project. I am double exposing a frame with a famous quote and then a subject just like I did with the polaroid project I started back at the beginning of 2011. First I take a photo of white text on the black screen, then a photo of the something in this case My new ONA Brixton.
Because It is a digital double exposure I have a finite amount of time before the camera shuts down and the first half of the exposure is recorded just as a single image which limits the second exposure to something within the house or on the block. However, that said I have shot a roll of Kodak B&W film using the Nikon and then re-wound the roll and I am now going to shoot on it again which will allow me to go anywhere wherever and shoot but that will take time to see the outcome.
The new part of this project will involve some quick (and I stress quick, this is not an honours thesis or anything but I will do my best to get this info direct from the source and not just regurgitate a wiki article) researching into the quotes author and some loose ramblings about them or their work. This is a neat way to systematically look at the photographic ‘greats’ and learn a little something new.
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Today’s Multiple exposure camera quote photo comes from Steve McCurry.
Steve McCurry is well known for his National Geographic cover photo ‘Afghan Girl’
but if you look through his vast body of work you will soon discover that you will already recognize most of his work as being famous.
Some notes that I learned about watching how he works.
When it comes to lighting he prefers to not shoot in the sun. He has been called the Prince of Darkness because he likes to shoot in the subdued light or the hour before Sunrise. He has said that he prefers soft even light from cloudy/overcast days, & never really uses a flash, & rarely a tripod. Personally I think he should come to Vancouver as this basically describes 4-6’s months of the year :)
I know personally this is my favourite time of year to go out and shoot. the colours POP when the light is subdued. Rainy days = the best colour Evah!!
His preshoot preparation is very minimal, very simple, and his shooting is mostly unscripted & unplanned. He will often will just walk out of the hotel or place that he is staying and start walking around getting into a particular frame of mind. He will start engaging with people that he meets and let the day slowly get into a particular zone, almost a meditation.
His gear is minimal! One camera, one lens, no extra equipment. Just a very simple approach everything with that one camera.
He holds the camera in an an odd way with his right hand using a stick grip and operating the controls with his left.
Apparently (according to some guy on Flickr) this is because he injured his right hand which is why he operated the camera the way he does. I did also notice that he writes/signs with his left hand so it could be that he is just left handed.
He could be called the King Of Kodachrome In fact he was filmed in a National Geographic special about his endeavor to shoot the last roll of Kodachrome. and he says that he has maybe 800,000 exposed slides of Kodachrome in his studio.
His work
His photos strike me as being either an anonymous portrayal of a particular scene or the complete opposite with portraits that are intensely connected to the subject.
He never wanted to be known as a war photographer, instead prefers to document the civilians that are affected by the conflict. The story is not with the people creating the conflict but with those affected by it.
He feels that the picture lives or dies based on the story, on the emotional component of the image. He doesn’t want it to be about some filter, lens, or a technique.
Wants to document the way we were, to have some record of the past.
An active Full Magnum Member since 1986
Links
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/how-to/icons-of-photography/535892/steve-mccurry-iconic-photographer
http://stevemccurry.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/SteveMcCurryStudios
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McCurry
http://ca.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/articles/2013/july/29/introducing-steve-mccurry-untold/
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