Agenda: An Expedition (And Exhibition) Across the East River
This month the inventive curators at United Photo Industries, the org that produces the Photoville pop-up art event at Brooklyn Bridge Park, is launching “Drawn to Water,” a four-month-long series of photo exhibitions that will be mounted … on East River Ferry vessels. Commuters will be able to contemplate man’s relationship to bodies of water through three different bodies of work: National Geographic’s photographer David Doubilet’s underwater imagery, Joni Sternbach’s tintype portraits of surfers around the world, and Stephen Mallon’s images of NYC subway cars tossed into the Atlantic to form new coral reefs. Read the full Story >>
Industry News: Yahoo to Buy Tumblr
Is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer about to make a game-changing acquisition? asks Adweek. It appears so: Yahoo's board voted yesterday to acquire the photo-GIF-and-video-driven social-blogging site. Price: $1.1 billion. While its revenue is modest, Tumblr has positioned itself as the domain of the young, cool ,and creative crowd—not currently a Yahoo sweet spot. Tumblr has more than 108 million blogs. Read the full Story >>
Insight: Photog Blair Bunting Shoots Pitcher Clayton Kershaw
Blair Bunting has photographed his share of star big-league pitchers—from Justin Verlander and Cliff Lee to Josh Beckett and Felix Hernandez—but his recent session with L.A. Dodger ace Clayton Kerhsaw for a Muscle Milk ad campaign was a standout. Bunting describes his planning, preparation, and execution at Fstoppers: All went well, until Kershaw stepped onto his mark … and realized he’d forgotten his glove. An emergency trip to a nearby sporting goods store was the solution. In photography, it’s all about problem solving. Read the full Story >>
Follow-Up: New Yorkers Threaten Suit Over Apartment Photos
Last week we noted that artist Arne Svenson’s peeping-Tom pictures of his NYC neighbors had raised some critical concern over privacy issues. Now the New York Post reports that the neighbors themselves are concerned, and furious, and threatening to sue the photographer. “You can argue artistic license all you want, but that’s really not the issue here,” says one of the residents of the luxury Tribeca highrise that Svenson aimed at. The series of images, called “The Neighbors,” is now on view at Chelsea’s Julie Saul Gallery. Read the full Story >>
Dept of Ideas: Spectacular "Focus-Stacked" Photos of Bugs
Photographer Nicolas Reusens says he has always been interested in insects, so when he purchased his first DSLR three years ago, he immediately dove into macro photography. By using the technique known as focus stacking—combining several images taken at different depths of field—he has generated some eye-popping photos of bugs from all over the world, declares PetaPixel. Using Zerene Stacker software, he combines two to 200 exposures, which, he says, would be “physically impossible with normal imaging equipment.” Read the full Story >>
Discoveries: Photos Show the Final Days of the Romanovs
Photos recently discovered in a remote museum in the Ural Mountains are giving historians an intimate look at the last days of Tsar Nicholas II and his family before their execution by Bolsheviks in 1918, reports Discovery.com. Taken by the Tsar or his children, the 210 photographs were put together in a modest album by Nicholas himself while in exile with his family in western Siberia between 1917 and 1918. One of the most touching photos shows Anastasia Romanov, then 15, enjoying a cigarette at the urging of her father. Read the full Story >>
Let's Continue the Conversation ...
Please contact me (button at top) to let me know about any books, shows, or projects you’ve got going. If you "Like" the Pro Photo Daily Facebook page, you'll get updates of stories that don't make the Daily and shared stories from others. And of course we hope you will give us your opinions on some of the issues we address. You can find an archive of Pro Photo Daily posts at http://www.ai-ap.com/prophotodaily/. Follow me on Twitter @davidschonauer. Read the full Story >>
Glittering Prizes: Best Night-Sky Pictures of 2013 Named
French photographer Stephane Vetter is the grand-prize winner of the 2013 Earth & Sky Photo Contest, notes National Geographic, which features his image of a silhouetted sky watcher set against the grandeur of a double cosmic arch encapsulating the Milky Way and the northern lights. The picture, a panorama made from four separate photos taken in Iceland in March, also manages to include the picturesque Godafoss waterfall and surrounding frozen landscape. This is the fourth edition of the contest, which was founded by The World at Night organization and the Dark Skies Awareness project. Go to the contest’s website for more of the winning entries. And prepare to be astounded. Read the full Story >>
Legal File: Suit Claims Baltimore Cops Beat Woman Who Filmed Them
The Baltimore Police Department is being sued for attacking a woman and smashing her camera phone after she recorded them beating a man, reports Reason.com. The woman, Makia Smith, claims that cops beat her, saying “You want to film something bitch? Film this!" notes Courthouse News Service. This is the second time in two years the BPD has been sued for destroying footage. The first suit earned them a federal reprimand. Last year the department issued guidelines instructing officers to not seize the cameras or video recording devices of bystanders, notes Poynter. Read the full Story >>
In Focus: A Military Photojournalist Recovers From War
Yesterday the New York Times reported on a troubling rise in the number of suicides in the U.S. military. Stacy Pearsall, a former Air Force combat photographer, sheds light on the problem in the newspaper’s Lens photo column. Pearsall, twice named the National Press Photographers Association’s military photographer of the year, tells of her medical discharge from the military after suffering a number of injuries. Plagued by depression, she once thought of taking her own life. “The one thing about PTSD is it’s the war that never ends,” she says. Read the full Story >>
Follow-Up: Beyonce Photo Ban Sparks Press Backlash
Guidelines issued by the publicists for Beyonce banning professional photographers from her concerts have sparked a backlash from press organizations, reports Poynter. Beyonce’s publicity firm issued the ban after unflattering images of the singer’s Super Bowl halftime performance in February became an Internet meme. Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, wrote a letter to Beyonce’s publicity firm on behalf of 19 news organizations opposing the ban. Read the full Story >>
Tech News: Automated Photo Editing for Google+, Hangouts
Google began rolling out a new design and major updates to its Google+ social network this week, among them some sophisticated photo-editing tools that can automatically adjust exposure, color, grain, and white balance and apply red-eye removal. The tools, which can be turned on or off globally or for each image, draw on substantial innovations in computer vision. SocialTimes explains. AppNewser is also impressed by the new photo-centric Google+. Read the full Story >>
Annals of Art: Richter Photo-Based Painting Sets Record for Living Artist
We close the week with a look at the high end of the art market—the very high end: AP reports that a monumental photo-based painting by Gerhard Richter sold for $37 million at a sale in New York this week—setting a record for any living artist at auction. The German artist’s 9-foot-by-9-foot oil “Domplatz, Mailand” was sold to an unnamed American collector. The 1968 work is considered an outstanding example of Richter's photo-painting technique. Read the full Story >>
Let's Continue the Conversation ...
Please contact me (button at top) to let me know about any books, shows, or projects you’ve got going. If you "Like" the Pro Photo Daily Facebook page, you'll get updates of stories that don't make the Daily and shared stories from others. And of course we hope you will give us your opinions on some of the issues we address. You can find an archive of Pro Photo Daily posts at http://www.ai-ap.com/prophotodaily/. Follow me on Twitter @davidschonauer. Read the full Story >>
Tomas Munita to Receive Chris Hondros Fund Award
Chilean photographer Tomás Munita is the recipient of the 2013 Getty Images and Chris Hondros Fund Award, reports Time’s LightBox blog. The Chris Hondros Fund is a non-profit organization founded by Christina Piaia to honor her late fiancé, who was killed in a mortar attack while covering the conflict in Libya in 2011. Munita, who has worked throughout Latin America and the Middle East, was cited for “exceptional photographic ability coupled with a spirited commitment to the craft of photojournalism.” He will receive $20,000. Bryan Denton, a photojournalist based in Beirut, was named a finalist for the award and will receive a grant of $5,000. The NY Times also features work by Munita and Denton. Read the full Story >>
Agenda: The Project Amelia Fundraiser, Tonight in NYC
If you are in New York City tonight and want to do something great, you should go to the Project Amelia fundraiser, from 6 pm to 11 pm at Hudson Terrace (621 W, 46th Street). Money raised at the event goes to help pay the medical bills of Amelia Coffaro, a talented 28-year-old Brooklyn-based freelance photographer who was diagnosed with stage III inflammatory breast cancer two weeks ago. A $25 donation is suggested. If you can’t make it to the event, you can donate via the GiveForward crowdfunding site. Read the full Story >>
Tech News: Nikon Unveils Super-Fast 32mm f/1.2 Lens
Nikon has unveiled a new addition to the Nikon 1 system, a 32mm f/1.2 lens that is not only the fastest lens in the 1 Nikkor lineup, but also the fastest lens available for any mirrorless system, notes PDN Pulse. It is also the first Nikon 1 system lens to come equipped with a manual focus ring, as well as a Nano Crystal Coat and a Silent Wave Motor for videographers who want to keep focus noise to a minimum, notes PetaPixel, which thinks the lens will be perfect for low-light shooting when you don’t want to use a flash. Read the full Story >>
In Focus: Photog Bob Croslin's Artful Effort for Injured Birds
The always-interesting This Is The What blog spotlights Florida-based photographer Bob Croslin’s “Grounded” project on injured birds, which was awarded first place in the 2013 Pictures of the Year International’s Science and Nature picture story category. “I knew I wanted to do dramatic portraits of the birds and that it would involve a backdrop, lights and multiple handlers to execute it,” Croslin says. He started with a white pelican that lost a wing to fishing line. Though the bird was used to humans, Croslin spent three hours chasing it around light stands. Read the full Story >>
Art News: New York Dealer Yossi Milo Makes History Down Under
Photo dealer Yossi Milo will make history this week when he becomes the first New York gallerist to present a stand-alone exhibition in Australia, notes Artinfo. The exhibition, featuring work by photographers Doug Rickard and Tim Hetherington, coincides with Australia’s largest photo festival, the Head On Photo Festival, which opens tomorrow in Sydney. Read the full Story >>
Annals of Photoshop: Re-Interpreting Time's "Millennial" Cover
Time magazine’s recent cover story on “Millennials” has struck a nerve with 20-somethings, notes Mashable. The cover depicts a teenage girl snapping a selfie, and brands those individuals born between 1980 and 2000 as "entitled narcissists." Some brilliant people—we assume they are millennials—responded with a Tumblr-full of outstanding Photoshop humor featuring cats, cicadas, Muppets, pastries and other generational markers. PPD thinks the blog describes millennials better than Time did. Read the full Story >>