31 May 2008
F is for Family
This is my grandfather Carl S. Buchanan. Jaunty hat, enigmatic grin…external details that belie his true character. I met him once at a family reunion when I was a child and he never spoke. Just a perfunctory pat on the head as he turned back to his cigarette. Over the years I have heard stories about his life in Tennessee. He lived with my grandmother and their seven children in a small, rural town, sharing a tiny two-room shack. He was a moonshiner and a gambler…evading the law…a picturesque character… But then the other stories have surfaced, acts of cruelty too horrific to mention here. Sometimes we look back at family albums to understand where we came from. But we also look back to see what we have escaped…
(I'm not sure who took this picture but it appears to be a studio picture taken in the 40's or 50's)
From family archives
I received these lines from Emese Altnöder, Hungary; "the photographer unknown, on the picture my grandfather visible diving, a picture from the family archive."On the F Blog we are open to all possible directions or categories of photography, helping us to explain what the magic of photography is about. We will continue to show photojournalism, realism, surrealism, modernism or any other "ism" related to photography you may think of or invent...yes even pictorialism! When it comes to technique we have pinhole photos, pictures made with large format cameras, digital, film etc. To us it is the image that matters, not the "category" or "technique" or the name of the photographer.
I think it is by time that we have a look into the family albums to see what they hold. Welcome to send pictures to our inbox. Please only send pictures that are in your possesion, it doesn´t matter if it is your old grandfather's album or some photo found in a shoebox etc. If you know about the photographer, give him or her credit. If not, you just name it "photographer unknown". Come to think of it (F)amily begins with F too! Stay tuned to the coolest photoblog around! There for Photography.
invited guest: Francisco Mata Rosas
México Tenochtitlán
Throughout the years, I’ve often discovered existing parallels between traditional festivals and daily life inMexico City
In these neighborhoods, in these festivities, in these streets, I often ran into what I had already seen; and within the visual disorder and chaos I recognized pre-hispanic, colonial, and contemporary art, one only has to separate them. I almost always felt limited by the medium that I had chosen, photography, but on the other hand I recognized its qualities of synthesis, dramatization and, above all, metaphor.
Additionally, I understood that the city is too vast to be contained or photographed in its totality. When this certainty became part of my work, my angst and aspirations diminished, I no longer wanted to document extensively the traditions, I was no longer concerned with offering a definitive testament about Mexico City at the very end of the 20th Century, and I only wanted to be there, be part of the cycles, to confirm my pleasure in chaos and order that are created during the
All text and photos © 2008 Francisco Mata Rosas.
Francisco Mata Rosas, is one ofMexico
Recently, as an invited guest, Francisco’s outstanding work done inCuba Mexico City
Throughout the years, I’ve often discovered existing parallels between traditional festivals and daily life in
In these neighborhoods, in these festivities, in these streets, I often ran into what I had already seen; and within the visual disorder and chaos I recognized pre-hispanic, colonial, and contemporary art, one only has to separate them. I almost always felt limited by the medium that I had chosen, photography, but on the other hand I recognized its qualities of synthesis, dramatization and, above all, metaphor.
Additionally, I understood that the city is too vast to be contained or photographed in its totality. When this certainty became part of my work, my angst and aspirations diminished, I no longer wanted to document extensively the traditions, I was no longer concerned with offering a definitive testament about Mexico City at the very end of the 20th Century, and I only wanted to be there, be part of the cycles, to confirm my pleasure in chaos and order that are created during the
All text and photos © 2008 Francisco Mata Rosas.Francisco Mata Rosas, is one of
Recently, as an invited guest, Francisco’s outstanding work done in
30 May 2008
invited guest: Micke Berg
Once again I am very proud to present Micke Berg and some of his fascinating and inspiring photograph's. I strongly recommend all the F blog readers to check out his many photobooks – my personal favourite is Stockholm blues.
If you are in Stockholm during 6-8 June don't miss Micke Berg's exhibition "No Comments"- perhaps the most dark, beautiful and sensual exhibition in and about Stockholm ever. It's on Cafe Spuntino, Erstagatan 9. Vernissage: Friday 6 June, 13.00 – 17.00.
Please also search for Micke Berg's earlier posts on the F blog and visit his homepage. And if you can read Swedish – don't miss his blog!
All photograph's by Micke Berg. Invited by Fredrik Skott.
If you are in Stockholm during 6-8 June don't miss Micke Berg's exhibition "No Comments"- perhaps the most dark, beautiful and sensual exhibition in and about Stockholm ever. It's on Cafe Spuntino, Erstagatan 9. Vernissage: Friday 6 June, 13.00 – 17.00.
Please also search for Micke Berg's earlier posts on the F blog and visit his homepage. And if you can read Swedish – don't miss his blog!
All photograph's by Micke Berg. Invited by Fredrik Skott.
Lennart Nilsson: Somewhere in Stockholm - opening tomorrow
Riksbanken 1955 ©Lennart Nilsson.Lennart Nilsson, born 1922 is widely known for his medical photography. In association with researchers and with specially designed equipment, he has documented the inside of man down to the level of a cell. Find out more on lennart.nilsson.com
However, the exhibition opening tomorrow in Kulturhuset is covering Lennart Nilsson´s work as a photojournalist in Stockholm during the 1940-1950's. It´s a remarkable exhibition depicting everyday life in Stockholm of that time. The picture above is from The Riksbank of Sweden where the officials are seen practising how to shoot with a pistol ( and the woman keeps on working, without even bothering to look at them)
It´s a great exhibition. I urge all of you who love the art of photography to go and see this exhibition opening tomorrow in Kulturhuset. The book "Någonstans in Stockholm" will also be released then. You will find it on Max Ströms förlag.
I had the great honour to interview this legendary photographer today, an interview that will be published later this summer on The F Blog. The exhibition is on until 7 September. Stay tuned.
/Ulf Fågelhammar
(F)riday's print
photo: Jeanne WellsI'm uploading Thursday's Daily Print today, instead of Friday's Daily Print -- just because it's prettier!
Don't know what I'm talking about? I don't either, but someone here might know.
As always, my gratitude to the support of my fellow Fers & F Blog readers.
29 May 2008
invited photographer: Félix Cúneo Escamilla
"As a photographer born and living in a port, the port of Veracruz, my work is, in most cases, about the sea and the people of the port. Images of ships, sailors and mythological marine fauna.In my work I try to stick to the idea that photography has to be fun and spontaneous, I want to see with the same enthusiasm as a child, observing the street and what surrounds me with fantasy and excitement as if I saw it for the first time.
I am not bound by rigorous aesthetics or technical aspects of photography, I photograph to remember and to feel good and always with the intention to leave something to the people who view my work." - Félix Cúneo Escamilla
Félix Cúneo Escamilla was born in Veracruz, Mexico 1974. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the University of Veracruz. He began his photographic training in 1992 in the Visual Arts Workshops of Veracruz. Felix has participated in various solo and group exhibitions in Mexico and abroad. He has been giving workshops on the photographic image in the "Facultad de Comunicación de la Universidad Veracruzana" and "Universidad Cristóbal Colón de Veracruz".
His photographic work has been published by various media, such as Southern Veracruz, AZ, La Jornada, Reform, Mural Agency Process Agency Jammedia and The Washington Post.
Felix currently works in the Department of "Conservación y Reproducción de la Fototeca de Veracruz" and as a freelance photographer. See more of his work here.
invited by ulf fågelhammar
28 May 2008
invited guest: Alyson Belcher
The Body"My work combines pinhole photography with improvisational performance, and stems from the idea that everything we experience is stored somewhere in our bodies. Movement is one way to access and give visual form to what lies beneath the surface of the skin. The making of these photographs is an exploration of the nature of each movement and where it originates internally.
Because of the unpredictable nature of pinhole photography, there is no way to really know how an image will turn out. I don’t usually begin with a clearly defined idea. The images often reveal stories that may or may not have been known to me previously. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t my stories. Often the body remembers what the mind has forgotten. 
The CameraThe pinhole camera is low tech; it is the most basic tool for making a photographic image. There is no lens to interfere with the light as it travels from the subject to the film. Because there is no viewfinder through which to preview the image, it’s a relatively blind process.
The element of time in pinhole photography allows something to arise that might never be revealed by modern photographic technology. The long exposure times give me an opportunity to explore the space in front of the camera. I may have the impulse to move, or I may chose to remain still- although the body is never completely still, and even the smallest movements leave traces on the film." - Alyson Belcher
Alyson Belcher graduated from San Francisco State University: MFA Photography in 1999. She has exhibited her work extensively in the San Fransisco area and elsewhere. Since 2000 she is teaching at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco Faculty, School of Photography. I highly recommend you to visit Alyson´s homepage. The design is great (easy to navigate!) and there is a lot more information to find about her work, pinhole photography etc.invited by ulf fågelhammar
