Terrorists 'sick of being treated like photographers'

This made me chuckle!

Terrorists 'sick of being treated like photographers' |

newsarse.com

Lewis Hine

The Mill - Lewis Hine

Lewis Hine is another of my favourite American photographers. Hine's early work, around 1905, was concerned with working conditions in the steel industry. As he travelled, he became more interested in child labour, from around 1908 - 1912 - so much so that he left his job as a teacher in order to become an investigative journalist for the National Child Labor Committee.

Hine is now regarded as a master photographer, and rightly so. His images of children, often in terrible working environments, are still powerful today. Occasionally, we see images of sweatshop factories in Asia - but I still haven't seen anything as powerful as those shot by Hine. Some of his images are, admittedly, posed - probably including the example above - but it makes a powerful statement. The girl in this image is only 11 years old, and claimed that she had already been working in the mill for a year. This was unusual - most children told Hine that they were 14 (the legal working age of the time), or that they were just "helping out" casually. It seems remarkable that Hine was able to gain access to all the factories and mills as he did.

Hine died in poverty in 1940, with only one book published in his lifetime, documenting the construction of the Empire State Building. Nevertheless, it is his early images that he is best remembered for. Hine was never regarded much as a photographer within his lifetime - just as a sociologist and campaigner. Today, his images are powerful statements - masterful documentary images in every sense. His legacy was the abandonment of child labour in America. For this reason, Hine deserves his place among the great photographers.

For more of Hine's images, see the online collection held by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where around 5000 of his images of child poverty can be seen.

Shorpy

I've just added a link to Shorpy - a historic photographic archive chronicling American life from the 1850's to the 1950's. It's an amazing blog, well worthy of the widespread recognition it receives. The images are largely taken from the Library of Congress archives and cover an extensive range of topics. They also sell prints of the images.

The motto of Shorpy is "Always Something Interesting" - a conclusion I wholeheartedly agree with.

Captured: America in Color, 1939 - 1943

The Denver Post has just added a stunning collection of images from 1939 - 1943, showing (largely) American rural life at the time. The gallery, titled Captured: America in Color, 1939 - 1943, shows just what was possible with colour film long before it became widely used in a consumer format. None of the images would rank as "famous", but they are evocative - particularly those of black Americans living alongside whites. Compare the work in the cotton fields to the 4th of July celebrations, especially, and the "Juke" joint.

Joel Sternfeld - McLean, Virginia

McLean, Virginia - Joel Sternfeld

I found this image in a book of modern American photography. Taken in 1975, it shows firefighters attending a blazing house in the background, while another fireman selects a couple of pumpkins from a nearby farm shop. The blaze in the background looks pretty serious, yet the relaxed fireman looks anything but - it is an amusing contrast. I find that the colour guides my eye throughout the image - almost everything is orange, from the pumpkins to the ground, the fireman, the signs and the fire itself.

It reminds me of my own experience of standing on the scene of a major fire in Camden, London, a few years ago. Granted, there isn't a great deal for the police to do while a fire is raging, but the overwhelming impression I got from the fire brigade was one of relaxed professionalism. A blazing building isn't special to them. I've driven with all sirens blaring to the scene of a massive gang-fight involving knives, bottles, metal bars, etc, while debating with the driver whether roast beef is preferable to chicken. It's just what we do. For me, this image sums that up perfectly.

The original is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Microglobe

I've added Microglobe to my list of recommended sellers, as I've used them a couple of times recently for cables and bits & pieces. They're predominantly an online retailer, but actually do have a small shop off Bury Place near the British Museum. Microglobe have seemed very competitive in their pricing to me, and aren't in the business of grey imports. However, they do believe in piling it high and selling it cheap. This is good, if you know what you want.

The shop is quite funny - boxes literally piled from floor to ceiling - and it's so crammed, there's about 6ft of space for customers and not much more for the two staff (there is no separate stockroom). I don't suggest it as a model for all businesses, but it lets me purchase a remote cable for £12.50 instead of £25 that everyone else is charging, and £47 for a sync cable that others wanted £85 for. Don't go there for technical support, advice on shooting photos or to peruse the latest kit - just use them for bits & bobs at a reasonable price.

AS11-40-5903

The title is the innocuous official NASA catalogue reference for this image on the left, one of my favourite photos of all time.

It is so iconic, showing Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, on the moon, that it has almost become a cliche. Yet, look at it again with fresh eyes, and admire it from a photographic perspective. It is simply astonishing. The strong light from the sun, the reflection of Armstrong in the visor taking the photo, the LEM nearby, the footprints in the dust, the pure blackness of space around - it all adds up to one of the most powerful images in human history.

I wholly encourage you to look at the large version on the NASA website, even if you've seen it all before:

http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/kippsphotos/5903.jpg