invited guest: Patrycja Dołowy - “The Story”

“The Story”, unlike my previous works, was supposed to be nice and easy, but in fact is not, as I believe. That which was obscure and unspoken within the pictures became far more significant than I had intended. In two different ways and with two different tales “The Story” talks about ordinary life without luxury. Instead of demon seductresses and charlatans, there are mothers and fathers. Instead of divine mistresses and lovers, we see wives and husbands.

The main part of “The Story” is called Hard Boiled Wonderland. It consists of scenes resembling those from fairy tales and old books with pictures of otherwordly characters. They are magical and colourful but covered with dust and dirt. They are heavy, muggy and worn out. What all of those pictures have in common is a banana motif. In each picture bananas play different roles. Why bananas? What do they convey? The first and obvious meaning is a sexual one as the banana is one of the well-known phallic emblems. The second one is less obvious but I believe it to be essential. Bananas bring back to my mind the scarce, delightful tidbit of my childhood. They were so rare under communism that when you somehow got hold of one, its divine taste would bring unequalled bliss. Nowadays, bananas have become common. Only when part of an elaborate dish (served with ice-cream, in cakes, pudding etc.), they regain some sort of uniqueness. One must make an attempt in order to make them delicious again.

In this series, I try to talk about steadiness - about happiness but also the pain it brings. “The Story” does not glorify beauty but rather the process of becoming beautiful.

The second part of “The Story” – The Banana Story – is less serious. Each picture constitutes one haiku conceived by a moment. These are recordings of our mornings – happy mornings (maybe: happy at last). Although it should be an honest depiction of everyday reality, the photographs have been coloured. Why? And why should anyone find that ‘unreal’?

cleaning the window

Photo: Bengt Björkbom

Sydney police mug shots, 1912-1930

Lou Sterling, 1921 Central cells*

"We have learned to be suspicious of the photographic image." This is the starting point of an essay written by Peter Doyle who teaches writing in the Media Department, Macquarie University, Sydney. (Scan vol 2 number 3 december 2005)

Over a four year research period, Doyle examined around two thirds of the pre-1950 section of the NSW Police forensic archive — around fifteen thousand glass plate and acetate negatives.

In the essay he uses a collection of police "mug shots" to examine the relationship between
- the subjects of the photographs and the camera
- the photographic subject and the police photographer
- the subjects "captured" in the photographs and the viewer of the pictures

Doyle writes: "As historical documents, as instances of an important type in the evolutionary history of the photograph, and as gripping images, the prison mug shots are clearly of great importance. Yet I came to dread them. The refrain of defeat and despair became increasingly oppressive. The affectless convict stare seemed to convey neither acceptance nor even anger."

Doyle about the picture above: "Among the most surprising are the many smiling subjects found among the Special Photographs, such as jaunty pickpocket and gunman Lou Sterling, a well-known crime figure of the 1920s"

Scan is an on-line journal devoted to the media arts and culture, hosted by the Media Department at Macquarie University, Sydney.

Happy Holidays to the F Blog !

Photo: Rhonda Prince

God Jul all F'ers from the Moominpup

Be kind, be careful, be silly!

December Blues

Photos: Markus Jenemark
Markus says: "Merry Christmas to you and thanks for a damned good photo blog!"
F says: Many thanks for your great contributions to the blog and stay tuned"

Fotos encontradas en las calles de Buenos Aires

Remember our invited guest Pablo Cruz Aguirre? Watch this video produced by Clara Charlo and please have a look at "Fotos encontradas" on the blog as well./ulf
Fotos encontradas
Pedazos
from our friend in Buenos Aires

Photographs by Shotaro Shimomura 1934-1935

"Magasin du Nord of Copenhagen, Denmark"
Silver-Gelatine Print by Shotaro Shimomura XXI (1883-1944), 6" x 8". Private Collection. Courtesy of American Museum of Photography

"An eye for the world" is the title of an online exhibition hosted by the American Museum of Photography showing 17 pictures by Mr Shimomura. He toured Europe and the United States to study the management of department stores and returned to Japan with these remarkable photos now being rediscovered. You will find the exhibition here.

Child labor - Lewis W Hine collection online

TITLE: Toting wood - Scavenger. Location: Fall River, Massachusetts / Lewis W. Hine.
CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1916 June 16.
CREATOR: Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, [reproduction number, LC-DIG-nclc-05048]

Lewis W Hine was employed by the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and documented working and living conditions of children in USA between 1908 and 1924. Go and have a look at this remarkable collection that consist of more than 5,100 photographic prints and 355 glass negatives, given to the Library of Congress.

For more pictures by this great photographer, see George Eastman House Still Photograph Archive with 105 Selected Images.

the emotional reality

What is reality i photography? Is it my way of feeling that what is around or is it just the way I document some moments, but maybe it is the way I understand the moment caught/created in the picture. Is the first picture my way of feeling reality? The second one is closer to reality probably, but it can be just the way I see the Silesian backyard. When You look at this photos You have to decide what is real and try to understand what is there, but You also feel something it can be boredom or confusion or nostalgia or plenty other feelings - thats the other emotional reality which is also important, but often neglected.

Photos and text by Grzegorz Lizurek

An Italian in Stockholm

Photos: Tiberio Fanti
Many thanks for sending us this colorful December blues from Stockholm,/Ulf

Skorj revisiting

The other day I got a mail from skorj who I invited to the Fblog abot a year ago. He had some new, excellent, photos to show us and I'm very happy to be able to present some more of his work. By the way, skorj is one of the editors of the site www.filmwasters.com where you can find lots and lots of really great photography. Enjoy!
/markus

advent

photo: Ulla Larsson

Fountain of youth

IRL conversations

Photos: Bengt Björkbom
1960´s

Is Photography Dead ?

In a very interesting article in the NEWSWEEK Dec 10, 2007 Issue, Peter Plagans discusses the status of current photography, related to the evolution of photography as an art form. He says: "A digital photograph...can be a Photoshop fairy tale, containing only a tiny trace of a small fragment of reality. By now, we've witnessed all the magical morphing and seen all the clever tricks that have turned so many photographers—formerly bearers of truth—into conjurers of fiction."

Plagans concludes his article by saying: "The next great photographers—if there are to be any—will have to find a way to reclaim photography's special link to reality. And they'll have to do it in a brand-new way."

Read full article here

lighting up December

Lucia celebration, Dagis 2006. The children are wearing their winter clothes under the costumes /Ulf

whistles and thunder

It´s always a pleasure to receive pictures from GC, Toronto, Canada. This is from his magic series of Dianavision. For more visit GC's homepage.

Thanks/Ulf

Queen of light - Santa Lucia preparing

Photos: Bengt Björkbom, 1980's

"In Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, Lucy (called Lucia) is venerated on December 13 in a ceremony where an elected girl, portraying Lucia, walks, with a crown of candles, ahead of a procession of other women holding a candle each. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take St. Lucy's life when she was sentenced to be burned. The women sing a Lucia song while entering the room, to the melody of the traditional Neapolitan song Santa Lucia..."

Full article on Wiki

In Search of the Pure Photograph

On 14 December a disputation is held at the Department of Art History, Uppsala University, Sweden. The doctorand Cecilia Strandroth has made a Historiographic Study of the Farm Security Administration. See some details below. We are hoping to hear more here on The F Blog from Cecilia Strandroth in the near future about the study. We have published several pictures from the FSA archives on the F Blog. Use the Blogger search tool to find out more.
-----------------------
Research Interests
The history and theory of photography, historiography, gender, visual culture, internet image use

Dissertation
In Search of the Pure Photograph. A Historiographic Study of the Farm Security Administration, Walker Evans, and the Survey Histories of Photography.

invited guest: Amani Willett (part two)

Amani Willett is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. I like his modern style of street photography a lot. For more see part one of this invitation and amaniwillett.com
/Ulf

Korvkiosken

This picture is from around 1960, Bengt has told me. Two young ladies waiting for their orders at the hot dog stand, known as "korvkiosken" in Swedish. This was a sacred place by the 1950´s and early 1960´s.

People in Sweden were unaware of sushi, meze, kebab, hamburgers and even pizza. Ingemar Johansson from Gothenburg was probably the heavy weight champion of the world. This was pre-Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay. Definitely pre-Mohammed Ali. So the choice was - a sausage in bread or a sausage with mashed potatoes. If you were lucky to live in Skåne (I was one of the lucky one´s btw) you could even get a decent sausage.

I am thinking of three things seeing this picture. Is Günther still around? His korvkiosk located on Karlbergsvägen in Stockholm is the best in the city to my knowledge. Where are my negatives, with the pictures of his place and have I ever taken Bengt to Günthers korvkiosk. Well I have to find out about all of these things very soon. /Ulf

When You Feel Transparent

All photos by ©Malin Hellesø

invited guest: Tatiana Cardeal

Independent photographer visual artist dreamer, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
I used to work for the editorial market as art director and graphic designer, but since 2005,
I have been moving my focus to photography, keeping my way close to educational and cultural issues, social development, seeking for inspiring values of humanity.
It's my everyday beginning.

Tatiana was working for major magazines in Brazil such as Elle, Saúde, Placar and four years at the Victor Civita Foundation, a Brazilian educational non-profit organization, she shifted her focus to photography, social and cultural issues and human rights.

Today, she works mostly independent, does her own research and her travels are paid from her own pockets. She occasionally accepts a few assignments, but she still prefers to develop her own issues and follows her own agenda and principles. Tati published her works around the globe from Brazil to Australia, from Germany to Peru. Watching her touching, sociological records of forgotten nations, I have no doubts, why her works find such an attention.

More of Tatiana pictures you may find here.
We will hear about Tati soon at the F blog soon, stay tuned.

Invited by Marcin Górski

invited guest: Amani Willett (part one)

"Sight is often taken for granted: we frequently assume that people interpret a given situation in similar ways. This could not be further from the truth. In reality, people often perceive identical situations in astonishingly different ways. The beauty of a photograph is that it can compel us to re-examine seemingly mundane scenes and events of everyday life."







It´s a pleasure to explore the work of Amani and I am glad to see it at the F Blog. For more, you have to wait for part two. If you can´t wait... go to his homepage and discover some great photography. Amani Willet was born in Tanzania and lives in Brooklyn. In 2003 his pictures were included in an anthology of young American artists called “Re Generation: Telling Stories From Our Twenties.” Isn´t that what we are looking for - the stories from our Twenties? /ulf
http;//amaniwillett.com

images and statement by © Amani Willett