The F Blog

07 August 2007

06 August 2007

We all recognize photo-icons. Those pictures are automatically linked with certain epoque and author – usually important for the history of photography. But this feeling refers not just to those historical and widely recognized pictures. I think we all have pictures which are for any reason important to us – personally. Those pictures became icons for each of us, individually. Seeing those pictures we feel butterflies in stomach, something switches automatically also in our minds.

Dorothea Lange, "Migrant Mother"

Recently I started to see something worrying. Those icons faded away with time. The same I feel about their authors. As they were always far away, unreachable for me. Maybe it is a mixture of my complexes, especially today, when the author is still alive you can just post an email, and then you know that from the other side there is sitting a man like me, but usually more busy.For many it is perhaps obvious, but I need something that will recall those icons in my head. All of those great photographers we admire today they were also starting one day. They were making their first pictures, then participating in bigger and smaller photographic projects. Recently, one of such a reminders came into my hands.

The picture comes from the book: "Poland, 1946 - The Photographs and Letters of John Vachon"

Vachon was one of photographers working for FSA - Farm Security Administration. In 1946 he went to Poland to picture first months of after-war Poland. The book is a selection of his pictures and most of all private letters he was writing to his wife Penny. At the picture we see his family (from the left): daughter Ann, his mother Ann, wife Penny and son Brian. In the background pictures of Dorothea Lange and Jack Delano, divided perhaps by the picture of one of the kids.

At my room I also have such a place space where there is and will be lots of pictures made by my friends. I wish them to became great photographers. But at the same time they will be my friends. All that thinking lead me to the conclusion that you have to do that what you feel and just throw away the complexes.

Thanks for translation from polish by Marcin Gorski.

my own dark streets

05 August 2007

just to join the dark series

The dark side

The days are getting shorter, the fall is just around the corner- time to light the red bulb.
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photo: abeku

world beneath

under cover

Picture by Markus Jenemark

04 August 2007

on the way...

03 August 2007

a new generation - by Saga Berlin

pictures by © Saga Berlin

invited guest: Alberto Monteiro - projecto lagarto

“Lagartos” is the portuguese word for “Lizards”

“Sardão”, is a kind of lizard

“Sardoal”, is the place where the “Sardão” (lizard) lives

The ancient town of Sardoal, in Portugal, 150 kilometres northeast of Lisbon, is a place trying to keep its traditions alive by promoting them in the main cultural cities of Portugal. Its inhabitants are proud of their rich history and traditions and keep their way of life somewhere between “modernity”
and “ancient” rituals and traditions.
Throughout one year of photographic work, I visited Sardoal to capture its people and their traditions. As Sardoal is devotedly Catholic, most of the festivals there are religious but, I also captured some other important local activities that people relate to.

you may find more works (also more works from this series) of Alberto at his site. I belive we show not the last time his works at the F blog.

Alberto always appeared to me as photographer with the philosophy of photographing most suiting to mine, perhaps this is why (and of course - because he shows Portugal) his works are appeal to me strongly.

Alberto is very active photographer but also animator of photo-life in the net and in real life.

He's creator of cult portal fotoalternativa.net

invited by Marcin Górski

02 August 2007

Girls just wanna have fun!

01 August 2007

Polish photography in southern France

since today till the end of August are opened individual exhibitions of 3 Polish photographers in Montpellier, France. Works of Joanna Kinowska, Artur Allan Willman and Marcin Górski will be shown at the hall d'honour of Midi Libre. Exhibitions are organised by Photo Club Midi Libre thanx to enthusiasm of Vincent Lacour and his friends.

30 July 2007

Ingmar Bergman has passed away

Ingmar Bergman, one of the greatest film directors ever has passed away today. The films he made, many of them together with the photographer Sven Nykvist, have had a very deep impact and influence on me. Just to mention a few masterpieces: "The Seventh Seal", "Wild Strawberries", "Autumn Sonata" and "Fanny & Alexander".
More information can be found at the site http://www.ingmarbergman.com/ and http://www.ingmarbergman.se/. To see the master at work have a look at Beata Bergströms pictures.
- A sad day indeed.

acropolis

27 July 2007

the bridge

Rio-Antirio bridge, pride of Greece

invited guest: Alfredo Muñoz de Oliveira

For a certain time I had an impression, that contemporary Portuguese photographers are doing everything to take the odium and stylistic of Lisbon Story out. Looking at portuguese photography I've seen mainly creative or poetic works, looked as nobody is really interested in documenting how is the Portugal today.

But, that was just on the surface, what I found looking deeper was much reliefing - there are documentalists in Portugal, and I will try to show their works to you.

The presentation starts with chosen works of Alfredo Muñoz de Oliveira.

To photograph the world around me, stories of the day by day or just only places that wakes me up emotions and sensibilities as a reflection of myself and where I build my everyday selfportrait. Maybe one day I will be a photographer... Born in 1959, designer as a profession, I had my first contact with photography through my father, amateur photographer, that gave me a Nikon F and one Exakta behond his studio equipment. During my life, photography always walked side by side having as first references the portuguese photographers Alexandre Delgado O'Neill, Paulo Nozolino and Gerard Castello Lopes. It was after I saw an exhibit of Sebastião Salgado in NYC that my passion for photography comes back with another strength. It is essencially in the documentary photography that I like to be involved, telling stories of ordinary and forgotten people.
www.magnumphotos.com for masters references.
Member of the:
www.photojournale.com
http://PHOTOLIFEREPORTERS.blogspot.com