Åhlens
Photographer: Viktor Gårdsäter
05 November 2008
04 November 2008
Face to Face on Election Eve
I went to one of the large Obama rallies in the waning days of the election. It was an incredible gathering of diversity, like a peace rally without pot. A few things were evident. Obama's is a youth movement. For them, he has the air of a movie star or musician. He speaks to them of justice and power. The crowd consisted of approximately equal proportions of white and non-white, male and female. It was overwhelmingly working class. And it was overwhelmingly anti-Bush.
I could not find a McCain rally to attend, but I managed to find a Sarah Palin event. It was much different. It was overwhelmingly white, and people stood in a long line to enter the building in which the rally was held. It was a bit like waiting for a ride at Disneyworld.
photos and text by William Schmidt
03 November 2008
Iranian Photography Now
Earlier the F blog have reported about the anthology Iranian Photography Now. In the Swedish magazine ETC there is this week an extensive review of the fascinating book. If you can read Swedish, check it out here.
02 November 2008
01 November 2008
invited photographer - Thomas H Johnsson
Again I am very happy to present Thomas H Johnsson as an invited photographer. This time with a series in progress called "Lilla landet" ("the small country"). If you do not have discovered his blog, check it out. And search the F blog for his earlier contributions, columns as well as photographs, to this blog. - F.
Countries need to be recorded. They need to be depicted and revalued as places and social contexts. That I why I present – lilla landet (the small country)
I am photographing where I stand and live, at the moment. I let the image come to me and not the contrary. My methods are simple. With a small analogue compact loaded with the usual Tri-X, I am photographing in the queue at the supermarket, on the bus, or when I am walking with my dog. I believe in the authentic moment, that which happens for real, because it surpasses the credibility of the staged image. When you look at my pictures, you should know that what you see happened in real life. The only thing I control is compositions, slants and copying. Just for the record, I certainly do not want to call my photos objective, they are in the highest degree subjective. They are my personal stories and experiences.
Sweden is changing, rapidly, so it is important that we see ourselves in the mundane. Many pictures are taken today from a news perspective, images of big and important events, it is good and necessary. But my images tell the exact opposite, there are subtle images of ordinary people in everyday life, without labels or lectures, just about the little man here and now.
Thomas H Johnsson
All photos © Thomas H Johnsson
Invited by Fredrik Skott and Rhonda Prince
30 October 2008
Darren Hepburn joins The F Blog
My name is Darren Hepburn. I’m a photographer from Scotland. I’m delighted to join the ‘F Blog’ as an author. I’ve been with the ‘F Blog’ in spirit for some time, occasionally posting images and have enjoyed experiencing many, many fine photographs from around the world.
My first camera was won at Broxburn fairground in 1983...a moment of joy amongst the candyfloss, toffee apples and hot donuts. A good willed teacher showed me a few basics of photography as a child and later, it was becoming published in a school magazine that kept the photography flame flickering. Some years later I had a ‘real’ camera, a 35mm Minolta...it was then that the journey into process and concept began in earnest.
Process: I agree the with the self-taught photographer, David Bailey. Photography can be learned in 6 months. It is not needed to spend 3 or 4 years studying for a degree. A pile of books worked for me, I found it alot more engaging to embark upon a private journey rather than labour over the ‘dry’ workbooks that were dished out when I studied photography at college...I found that I loathed the place and left after 3 weeks! For me, technical knowledge is a ‘means to an end’...a framework in which to make progress towards the final result. My knowledge of ‘process’ is ever expanding, and will continue to do so throught my life. I shoot both film and digital...both have their merits.
Concept: I usually work within a preplanned conceptual ‘framework’, both for individual shots and series. This is worked out beforehand, often late at night over numerous cups of tea. I’m constantly referring to this ‘framework’ whether it be a ‘construction’ within a few square feet on a coffee table or loosely in street photographs. I do shoot intuitively, in which I may be subconsciously motivated by life experiences, some of which include working with psychiatric patients in a secure ward and living in a hostel for the homeless whilst attending an ‘exclusive’ school.
Again, I’m delighted to be a part of the ‘F Blog’...a place where many of my favourite photographers have already made an appearance.
29 October 2008
Invited guest: Mark Rubenstein
Common Place is a multi-part series that unfolds to tell the story of one's own evolution: the coming of sentience (the quality or state of consciousness). These images are about the idea of an evolution of one's self. The world in which these scenes take place is unusual and floats in and out of reality.
28 October 2008
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