Today's British Public

Rankin is one of my favourite photographers, who I can always look for inspiration. In 2009 Rankin started a project called The Live Shoot, capturing today's British public.

I was interested in this project simply because of the fact that it's unusual to be doing documentary photography in a studio. It's interesting not to only see how different today's British public is but also to see how a group of people who are classified under the same name can be so different.

"I believe in the good of people"

Yesterday, Adam Hinton came to the AUCB as a guest speaker. He explained his work and told us a bit about the industry.
It was obvious that he was mainly interested in the documentary genre yet he put that interest into the commercial world and managed to survive as a photographer.

He says: 
"I believe in the good of people. Wherever I have travelled, the people I have met and stayed with have been welcoming and open. Even in the most dire situations, when almost everything seems negative, I find myself photographing the positives." 
And that is what I like about his personal work.

I was also impressed by the quality of his videos. He showed us 'Shanghai' and 'Indonesia' and I thought they were simple but powerful, which is why I like them, also combined with the fact that they do tell a story. Unfortunately, I can't download the video so I can't attach it here but here's the link to the whole lot:
http://www.adamhinton.net/film

You know when, you don't know?

I don't know why I am awake right now at 8 o'clock in the morning -especially having been out yesterday night till about half 3. But I kind of woke up, and didn't want to go back to sleep. Who knows, maybe after this post... But right now, I'm watching people wake up and start their day as the sunlight starts to reflect on buildings.
You know when you don't know, why something inspires you?
Today, the sunrise inspired me.

This is what the world looks like this morning, outside my window...

And this is what my world looked like this morning.

"I have to tell all my friends, my son is famous!"

I've been hearing a lot about Phillip Toledano's Photo Journal covering his ageing father's last years, but I had not seen it untill two days ago. Two days ago, I found the link on the internet and went on the website to have a look.
http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/#/1.
It consisted of a series of amazing photographs and text -both telling about their relationship, his father's personality and life in a story kind of way.

I was so inspired by its honesty and innocence. It was just so touching.

I wanted to express my admiration. So, I emailed Mr Toledano, thinking that there is only a tiny chance of him ever reading it -let alone replying. Yet, he did. 

It might have been one of his assistants, but the voice inside me says it was him.

Maybe it wasn't even a big deal, but my happiness to realise that there are brilliant photographers out there, who aren't too arrogant to be answering admirers, was inexpressible.

And that is how I started looking up to Phillip Toledano.

Naughty Cat

This photograph has been taken by Jaime Ibarra. I came across it when I was searching for inspiration on http://www.deviantart.com/. It said that, whenever the photographer is in the middle of a shoot, the model's pet would come into the picture and just sit there. So this time, he actually captured the cat interrupting the shoot. Yet, it came out to be an interesting photograph.
Even though it is a flat image, I still enjoy the tones, and the blurriness of the background subject just as much as I actually enjoy the form of the cat.
It might have been better in terms of distinguishing between two bodies, if there was not another white coloured item in the image. However, we should remind ourselves that this is not a set-up scene and the photographer was not expecting to have two white coloured objects anyway.

Overall, I just love how sometimes things work itself out in photography and you end up getting something completely different than you plan -caused by coincidences like such.

Is an angel still an angel without wings?

Today at university, we started a new unit where we learn how things work behind the lens (i.e. the business side). I always wanted to create my own blog and the opportunity to finally do it came with this unit.

In my first post, I wanted to show you my recent favourite photograph taken by a Turkish photographer called Mehmet Turgut. I found this image in the Fine Art section, surfing through his website www.mehmetturgut.com.
Looking at this image, first thing that came up to my mind was "simple but stunning". Even though the lighting is not so exciting or unusual, the form AND the subject are still so beautifully presented that it just fits together to make up the perfect photograph.