Easy Release (created by Washington, DC-based photographer Robert Giroux and software developer Morgan Belford) is an amazingly cool iPhone app, and it’s one of those things I feel like, why didn’t I think of it first! Basically it’s an app for model and property releases. To put it simply, what this means is if you take a photo of a person or a place that you want to use for a project, you need to get a release signed so that you won’t get sued later. I did a photo project awhile back where I was gathering a whole bunch of model releases and it was difficult to organize and remember who signed what, and which person was in which photo. But Easy Release makes it, well, easy!
Not to mention, I had to make my own releases, and this one comes with standard pro documents used by, as it says on the website, “pro photo agencies”. Which may be better than something I randomly type up on my computer. It can email you a pdf or jpg copy of the release, and the wizard will guide you through the filling out process, complete with a place for your model to sign! But I think the coolest part is you can link a photo of the person or property to the release by using your iPhone camera. Amazing.
It’s a bit pricey at $9.99 but well worth it if you do this sort of thing often. Check it out!
Since I live in Toronto, I thought I’d make a list of photo galleries here that you should check out. During Contact (an amazing photography festival in Toronto during the month of May, can’t wait!) all kinds of venues turn into temporary photo galleries. But these galleries have photography year round. Some are exclusively photography galleries, some focus on photography, some are print and services shops that also have galleries. Check out the list below, and please let me know if I’m missing anything (because I’m sure I am!):
Great colours, and serious little kids, two of my favourite things. This is Michal Chelbin, photo series Strangely Familiar C, check out some of my favourites below and his website for even more:
Just saw this on yayeveryday! and I thought it was really clever, by Rubén B:
Sasha Grey was here
Sasha Grey (born Marina Ann Hantziss, born on March 14th 1988 in North Highlands, California) is a pornographic actress who is also active outside pornography through modeling, acting, and music.
Photographer Claire Bayrasy’s photo series, Ride, caught my eye, because I’m so interested in the idea of photographing the minute details of your life- things that seem mundane because they are familiar to you can be so interesting to other people. Here’s the explanation for this series, via Lens Culture:
Ride is more of a visual poem than a photo documentary, where my own confusing identity as a French woman of Chinese heritage is intertwined with China’s rapidly changing cultural identity.
This series of photos was taken in Beijing over the course of one year in 2009 during my daily morning rides to work. On those mornings, I let myself slip into reverie. Enclosed in a narrow vehicle, I acted as a quiet observer. My visual curiosity turned the taxi into a portable laboratory where I got to examine and dissect the ever-changing environment which surrounded me. I saw people, they saw me, but we never met. I silently observed the chaotic ballet of cars, bikes and people. Between voyeurism and contemplation, my focus on insignificant objects and anonymous people seemed to amplify their significance.
The use of blurred photography, the shaky movements of the camera, and the intentionally low quality feel of the images recreate the chaos and confusion in which I was entrapped. This relentless photographic communication with my environment gradually brought me to meditate on the complexity of China, and ponder my own relationship to it. As a Chinese person born in France, I have a volatile identity that refuses to be either one or the other. I feel on the edge and never complete.
Check out some of my favourites below, and Lens Culture for more from this series:
I came across this cool free download on Make for a bounce card from LADIG. Photography gear is expensive (I know this because I recently purchased a bounce card for about $60, if only I had seen this first!) Print it out and attach it to your flash with rubber bands or if you are feeling fancy, velcro:
This is the Kodak Bantam Special, a limited-edition camera designed by Teague and released in 1936. It’s totally art deco and totally beautiful.
Why don’t they make cameras that look this awesome anymore! All cameras look the same these days, they should really consider bringing some style back to the design.
Australian photographer Louise Hawson has taken on a massive project, and I think it’s an amazing idea. It’s called 52 Suburbs. Here’s the description from her website:
My name is Louise. I’ve lived in Sydney for over 30 years but have never set foot in most of its 600 plus suburbs. Now I’m on a mission to explore and photograph one new Sydney suburb a week for a year in search of the beauty in the ‘burb. Care to join me?
What I really like about this project is the way she juxtaposes images together that match, and especially how she interacts with the people she is photographing. She’s not just passively walking around, she’s actually engaging with the people in the neighbourhoods she is visiting. It makes for some great photos!
Check out some of the pink series from the Randwick suburb below:
It was difficult to decide which photos to post from photographer Marc Da Cunha Lopes because all of his stuff is so weird and cool, but I decided on this series of this little girl, I’m not sure what it’s for but I really liked it. Check out his portfolio for more of his surreal (and somewhat disturbing) commercial work!
Easy Release (created by Washington, DC-based photographer Robert Giroux and software developer Morgan Belford) is an amazingly cool iPhone app, and it’s one of those things I feel like, why didn’t I think of it first! Basically it’s an app for model and property releases. To put it simply, what this means is if you take a photo of a person or a place that you want to use for a project, you need to get a release signed so that you won’t get sued later. I did a photo project awhile back where I was gathering a whole bunch of model releases and it was difficult to organize and remember who signed what, and which person was in which photo. But Easy Release makes it, well, easy!
