Archive for September, 2009

dana popa: not natasha

I was fascinated by this photo series “Not Natasha” by photographer Dana Popa. She photographed women in the Republic of Moldova who were sold for sex trafficking, basically as sex slaves. The photos I’ve seen from this series are so sad and intense. Often these girls can be as young as 15 years old. They are usually sold by family members, fathers, husbands for small amounts of money.

One site I found some of these photos on states: “Natasha is a nickname given to prostitutes with Eastern European looks. Sex-trafficked girls hate it.” It’s a horrible life where they are constantly raped and beaten daily, and it is almost impossible to escape.

Check out some of the photos from the series. Amazing photography:

fotopedia

I’m really excited about this new project Fotopedia. It’s like Wikipedia, but with photos! It’s still in the process of building photos for all topics, so you probably won’t be able to find everything at the moment. For example, I did a search for “Guitar Hero” and found no result. Someone needs to get on that!

I like that the photos are user voted so hopefully the community will continue to maintain the high quality of photography that is currently on the site. I love that the photos are big too. What an amazing resource this could be for bloggers eventually, considering most (if not all?) of the photos are Creative Commons licensced.

Check out some of my favourite photos from “India”:

vee speers

Here are some photos from the photo series, The Birthday Party, from photographer Vee Speers, and since I seem to be all into creepy and unusual child portraits these days, obviously I love it.

hiroshi sugimoto, lightning fields

Everyone’s seen photos of when lightning strikes, and while difficult to photograph, it’s not exactly revolutionary. But have you seen photos of electricity being applied directly to film? I found Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photos via PDN: “Each image is a unique document of an electrical current. Hiroshi Sugimoto uses a 400,000-volt Van De Graaff generator to apply an electrical charge directly onto his film.” I love how they look like landscapes, or even drawings of electricity. What a cool and interesting idea to experiment with:

bored models

I liked this photo series, Bored Models, from Magnum/Slate. Photoshoots can often seem glamorous, but can actually be a lot of waiting around and hanging out. I also like seeing the “behind the scenes” activities. It gives you a glimpse into the real world, and not always the airbrushed, photoshopped final version of a shoot. Check out some of my favourites below:

alejandra laviada

I really liked these “photo sculptures” by photographer, Alejandra Laviada. She rearranges everyday objects in the places she finds them. Very cool idea, a mix of sculpture and photography. Check them out:

camera line drawings

I’m in love with these camera line drawings and solid line drawings by illustrator Rod Hunting, on T26. The only thing that would make it better is if there was a Pentax K1000, aka My Favourite Camera Ever.

i’m a photographer, not a terrorist

I’m A Photographer, Not A Terrorist aims to help photographers who get into legally ambiguous situations and are having their rights violated. They also actively participate in events and protests that advocate photographer’s rights. I’m posting the Bust Card they have on their website with a link to the PDF that you can print out and keep in your wallet. Basically it gives you a quick summary of your rights and what they police can and cannot do to you as a photographer in the US. Very interesting stuff, and even though the law is probably a bit more lax here in Canada, I would love to see a Canadian version of this!

jeremy and claire weiss

How fun would it be to work together with your partner and be this awesome photographer team? It’s kind of like my dream of one day having a family band. Jeremy and Claire Weiss make some amazing photography together. Check out some of my favourites from their portfolio and go see their website, there’s tons of great photos:

1000 words photography

I found this really cool online mag called 1000 Words Photography. The current issue, Portraits, features some amazing photographers that I already know and love, as well as a couple I haven’t heard of before. I like how as you browse through the artist’s work, there are descriptions, artist statements, and information in between each photo. It feels like being at a gallery, plus I love being able to read more about a series and what the artist is trying to communicate.

Here are some of my favorites from the Portraits issue, but seriously, check out the rest because there is a lot of great work there: