Photography

I know a lot of photographers are doing “Best Of” posts for the new year. It’s always great to see those and look back on the previous year.  I wanted to do something slightly different. Instead of doing a “Best Of” I thought I’d show some photos I took in 2014 that aren’t on my site & most people have never seen before.

Martin U. Waltz is an internationally acclaimed award winning photographer based in Berlin, Germany. His photographic work focuses on street photography and portraiture.  I was pleased to have the opportunity to interview Martin for 1st Angel.

By Mark Holborn

William Eggleston was driving with the writer Stanley Booth from Georgia to Tennessee. It was 1978 and Eggleston had acquired an early Kodak instant camera. He started to photograph out of the window of the car and pointed the camera at the sky. The small, rectangular color prints looked to him like fragments of frescoes. The following day he lay back on the ground and looked up at the sky above him. At the zenith he found a heightened clarity. However dramatic the skies then appeared toward the horizon, he imposed upon himself the constant discipline of photographing directly upwards. He was excited by the touches of blue between the clouds an by the intensity of the light. His attitude was one of exploration. He applied his methodical discipline to the quality of blue. Eggleston combines precision with delicacy.

Guest post by Mario Mancuso that explains the importance of choosing a background for your shots. Co

Every time we take a picture, most of our attention is on the main subject.

Certainly we must be careful to place it properly in the frame and position ourselves correctly in relation to the subject, we must avoid cutting off important parts of the photo. After all this attention to the main subject of the photo, we should not forget the background.

As a white man, you can’t walk very far in India with a camera before you hear, "Ay angrez! Meri photo khench!’" (Hey foreigner! Take my photo!) Sometimes, they point to a friend and tell you with a giggle, "Take his picture," but what they mean is, "Take my picture". If you turn toward the catcaller, he will quickly collar an innocent bystander and pull him close in a tight pose. Sometimes a person will stop right in front of you and smile but refuse to let you pass. They don’t need to say anything. The message is made clear by eyebrows that dance in the direction of the camera. Many times, they will engage you in a chat about where you come from and what you’re doing in India. They will talk about anything, just passing time. But it’s obvious what they want: a portrait.

He provokes anger, awe and huge prices for his controversial staged scenes of hostage situations and homeless shelters. The pioneer of ‘non-photography’ talks cliches, creative freedom – and his regrets