James in the street (London, 2005)
I recently watched Simon Sinek’s talk entitled ‘How great leaders inspire action’. Although I don’t agree with everything he’s saying, the base principal of reversing the typical what? how? why? sequence, to the why? how? what? sequence used by those we are all aiming to be…seems an interesting place to start the year from.
Food for thought.
I guess like most people who have their heads down with work deadlines there is the tendancy to sometimes just ‘miss’ things, when something really important just happens to slip past your radar.
And when you eventually stop and take it in, and actually ‘get it’ you wonder how on earth you had hadn’t known about it sooner? Maybe you missed the News that night, TV coverage or Tweet…or maybe you watched it, but in a blur of media channel hopping one night – it didn’t stick?
The ‘Pacific Garbage Patch is one of those things for me. I had heard of it, I had googled it, watched a few you tube clips, and thought to myself something really really must be done about this huge amount of garbage floating around the North Pacific. This especially, as I had spent almost a month in Hawaii a few years ago and couldn’t reconcile plastic with the remoteness and beauty of the Hawaiian Islands.
Then I guess like can happen to most of us, it slowly slipped off my agenda as I got busy again. That was until I randomly came across this article on the Environmental News Network entitled: Birds and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Enter the work of photographer Chris Jordan & his team at Midway.
Copyright Chris Jordan - Midway: Message from the Gyre
I followed up by researching some of Chris Jordan’s photographic work on the Midway Atoll and have to admit being deeply impacted on what I saw and read on the links below. I implore you to take 5 minutes read the text, look at the images and watch the movie clips. Hopefully it will impact you in the same way.
“On Midway Atoll, a remote cluster of islands more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent, the detritus of our mass consumption surfaces in an astonishing place: inside the stomachs of thousands of dead baby albatrosses. The nesting chicks are fed lethal quantities of plastic by their parents, who mistake the floating trash for food as they forage over the vast polluted Pacific Ocean.
For me, kneeling over their carcasses is like looking into a macabre mirror. These birds reflect back an appallingly emblematic result of the collective trance of our consumerism and runaway industrial growth. Like the albatross, we first-world humans find ourselves lacking the ability to discern anymore what is nourishing from what is toxic to our lives and our spirits. Choked to death on our waste, the mythical albatross calls upon us to recognize that our greatest challenge lies not out there, but in here.”
From Chris Jordan’s Website http://www.chrisjordan.com
See the Photographs: Message from the Gyre
Copyright Chris Jordan - Midway: Message from the Gyre
Copyright Chris Jordan - Midway: Message from the Gyre
Copyright Chris Jordan - Midway: Message from the Gyre
Chris’ short movie trailer that must be watched can be viewed here:Midway
MIDWAY : trailer : a film by Chris Jordan from Midway on Vimeo.
“In the Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a king who was cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity.
A beach cleanup on Midway Atoll made us feel just like Sisyphus.There are millions of tons of plastics present in our oceans, and these are constantly fragmenting into smaller and smaller pieces which are scattered throughout the water column and present, in different densities, throughout all the world’s oceans. Contrary to what many people believe, there are no visible islands of trash anywhere –even if some areas, the gyres, accumulate higher densities of plastic pollution. In actuality, what is happening is much more complex and scary: our oceans are becoming a planetary soup laced with plastic.
To make thing worse, these tiny pieces of plastic are extremely powerful chemical accumulators for organic persistent pollutants present in ambient sea water such as DDE’s and PCB’s. The whole food chain, from filtering invertebrates to marine mammals are eating plastic and /or other animals who have plastic in them. This means that we are. Like the albatrosses on Midway, we carry the garbage patch inside of us.
Cleaning up this mess is not feasible, technically or economically. Even if all the boats in the world were put to the task somehow, the cleanup would not only remove the plastics but also the plankton, which is the base of the food chain, and is responsible for capturing half of the CO2 of our atmosphere and generating half of the oxygen we need to breathe.
But even if this problem was solved too somehow, the amount of plastic that we could capture, at an immense cost, would be a drop in the bucket as compared to the amount that flows into the ocean every day. No matter how hard we push, in terms of technology or money, the boulder will be rolling back down the hill, throughout eternity, unless we stop putting more plastics into our environment.
The good news is that we can do this. We can do this now. We need to start a social movement that spreads virally and creates a critical mass of concerned citizens who pledge to move away from our disposable habits, and who raise their voice to reject and reverse a throwaway culture that might be profitable, but whose consequences are intolerable.”
From Manuel Maqueda.(Used with permission from this link: http://vimeo.com/8177268 )
I am left wondering; How on earth, can the world at large let this continue?
We need to be affected and moved to do something about this.
Having asked friends from Cape Town, London and New York if they had even heard about this, the response was unfortunately the same. NO.
So apart from the obvious action, to create awareness…blog, tweet, email, etc…to get the word out. We just have to stop buying and using disposable plastic.
(To quote Manuel in an email response to me): ‘Plastic pollution needs to be stopped at source, by refusing single use and disposable plastics.’
To make a small impact to an enormous problem, please visit and support the links below:
Chris Jordan’s website and contact info: www.ChrisJordan.com
Midway Project blog, team details, photos, videos: www.MidwayJourney.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Midway-Journey/117981432917
Donate: www.razoo.com/story/MidwayJourney
*Images and text are used with permission.
And finally for the sceptics…it’s not setup: http://vimeo.com/6640042
If you happen to find yourself in Amsterdam between now and September you might want to go and see the Anton Corbijn – inwards and onwards exhibition at Foam. For along time one of my favourite photographers.
In my opinion, probably Johnny Cash’s most moving song, a cover version of “Hurt”
and the song below “Redemption” both just seem to flow on from the theme of last post;
The (Good) Book Of Eli.
For whatever unrelated or connected reasons take a listen.
Shot on the RED system, the Book Of Eli ends with the beautiful prayer below. Unusual but no less powerful given the graphic visual content.
Dear Lord, Thank you for giving me the strength and the conviction to complete the task you entrusted to me. Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path. And for keeping me resolute when all around seemed lost. Thank you for your protection and your many signs along the way. Thank you for any good that I may have done, I’m so sorry about the bad. Thank you for the friend I made. Please watch over her as you watched over me. Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I’m so very tired, but I go now to my rest at peace. I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith.
Photographically, dusty, desaturated, hyper-sepia, HDR esque, it’s a very interesting film by the Hughes Brothers and Director of Photography Don Burgess.
On Sunday I had the privilege of visiting the Nick Brandt photographic exhibition ON THIS EARTH, A SHADOW FALLS at the Gadfly Gallery in Dalkeith, Perth, WA.
I have been a fan of Nick’s work for some time now but have never had the opportunity to see the prints in a gallery setting.
I was struck on many levels by the exhibition.
As a photographer interested in the commercial aspect (of the creation of fine art) I think Nick has created a body of work that is without question both beautiful, (and therefore appealing en-mass to the buyer) and financially lucrative (something to aspire to), with his consistent application of a unique technical approach re-enforcing the strength of his collection and therefore the value.
As a photographer too, I am struck by both his proximity to these animals and unique way in which he has photographed them. Having myself, on many occasions, been close to African wildlife in varying degrees of comfort or discomfort…the latter being charged, on foot, by an unhappy African Elephant in the Mana Pools Valley (Zimbabwe), I can attest to the fact that to take pictures like this is not something easily achieved.
As a ‘lover of the great outdoors’, Nick has made the beauty of Kenya accessible and most importantly (evolutionary debates aside) Nick has given his art and his work meaning in the creation and support of biglifeafrica.org.
The poaching of these magnificent animals is not only totally irresponsible and short-sighted but bordering on evil. The shadow that falls on this earth is indeed dark…
As I have found with many of the truly great photographers, their work has meaning beyond self glorification. Take James Natchwey or Yann Bertrand for example.
This is the arena where I believe you create a legacy and make a difference with the short time one is given on God’s Earth. Nick Brandt for what its worth I applaud your efforts and wish you immensely more success as you make a difference.
On This Earth A Shadow Falls
The exhibition closes on the 18th, make time to see it. Further details here. And if you cannot get there buy the signed book (see above), proceeds go to charity and it will be worth every cent.
3 part series of video lectures by Andrew L. Moore.
Brilliant.
ANDREW MOORE: PHOTOGRAPHS Part 1
Originally seen on PIC’s Noticeboard. Thanks.
I have been captivated and moved by the work of photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand , since visiting the ‘Earth from the Air’ exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London.
The aspect that sets Yann apart from many other photographers / people is the underlying importance of the message in his work.
The message from ‘HOME’ for me is a simple one concerning beauty (earth) and greed (humanity). I wasn’t really prepared for the impact ‘HOME’ would have and how it would subsequently keep playing on both my sub concious and my conscience.
Whoever you are, or wherever you live, this film is relevant to you…go and buy this film, or at very least watch it (for free) on-line:
The photography is awe inspiring and deeply emotive, fantastically composed and inspirational. The message is sobering. Whether or not you have any kind of faith or ‘spiritual’ bent I find the movie intrinsicly linked to this statement from the Bible: ‘Each of us will have to give a personal account to God’. Romans 14:12 I am not here to give a sermon, but we are responsible for our planet and we have to take responsibility for our actions, and at very least make some part of our lives / work in some way help to save the planet.
As the movie describes, the lesson is there to learn from Easter Island, but it seems like we have not learned it.
To summarise, take Dubai, as illustrated in the film – a place so unnaturally focused on growth and development, pillaging and raping the earth to get to where it is, it then ships in all the essentials you need for daily life: food & water, etc..to the extent that the very essentials it needs to survive are not as important as the superfluous beast that it is…look in the mirror and I guess you will find there’s a little ‘Dubai’ in each of us.
See Yann’s Charities and find out more here: www.goodplanet.org
Watch the movie here: www.youtube.com/homeproject
This stage set is simply about visual impact.
Artificial light
Projection
Colour
Motion
(Noise)
and ultimately Experience…
…the announcement that U2 will be bringing the 360° Tour to Australia, reminded me to re-visit a few clips I took at the concert in London a year ago this time…(see a few more here)… I wasn’t there to video or photograph but just to savour the best around in terms of stadium concert visual impact…and for visual impact this concert has to rate right up there. I have certainly never seen anything like it in a live setting. To understand more about the concept design read:this.
Like most intelligent creative ideas, it’s the strength of an original concept, well executed and completed, which creates the best result. If you are interested in seeing this kind of creativity I can think of few better ways of spending an evening ‘soaking up’ some of the best ‘creative visual impact’ the world has on offer; whilst simultaneously, listening to (arguably) the best rock group on the planet.
I have never left a U2 concert feeling uninspired, photographically or otherwise.
I am not a sports photographer.
But, I am inspired by great sports photographs and the images in this years 2010 red bull illume competition…(as emailed to me yesterday) are no exception.
But, there is a difference between inspiration and imitation.
Earlier this morning, I had a few bizzare moments that photographer’s amongst you are probably familiar with – where another ”photographer” (or two in this case) tries and not very convincingly ‘copy’ the shot you are composing, whilst you are there! ..it’s happened before and will again but, I always find it comical/sad that some ”photographers” will literally do this in front of you, rather than try and create or see something in the moment for themselves.
I could have pointed my camera at my own backside and they might well have looked to see what the shot was…
If you are looking for some inspiration here’s a great place to start…or alternatively wake up earlier.
Things have clearly been a bit crazy in Thailand …and it’s easy with the news bombarding us every minute to skim over such articles and events, placing war, rebellion, injustice…etc next to sport or financial highlights…but, when you get sent a link to a specific ‘situation’, it brings it all a little closer…what’s someone’s news, is someone else’s reality.
I don’t think we all can be, or want to be James Nachtwey, but those photographers who are out there ‘documenting someone else’s reality’ need to be given recognition – for helping us to wake-up … while we ‘the rest of us’ sit in relative comfort.
The video above is a simple, unedited, real, close-up view of a little part of the current Thailand events by Alan James. Feedback via YouTube…
I for one, will take some more notice of the situation; and at very least start asking the question…what is this all about?
After having the privilege of hearing Ken Duncan speak and workshop over the last 2 weekends, I’d like to take a leaf from his book, and suggest a little communicating with God (esp. in light of world events) sounds like a very good idea.
Whether it’s about a volcano in your ‘backyard’ or a capital full of protestors.
***WARNING LINKS CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES***
So, I just got back from the World Press Photo and Nikon-Walkley Photographic Exhibition in Northbridge (Perth), both on exhibit, as part of the FOTOFREO 2010 Exhibition at the Western Australian Museum.
I highly suggest if you are into journalistic photography or just need to catch a wake-up call as to what a crazy, messed up state the world is in…and maybe need to realise how fortunate you are…I suggest; if you are not having a cold beer watching the Red Bull Air Race, you get on down there immediately before the exhibition closes today.
“In your teens you feel like you can drive that car as fast as you can and you won’t come off at the bend. In your twenties, you have some near misses. In your thirties you realize you are in danger. And in your forties, I think you are just really glad if you wake up in the morning. “
Bono (page 299, from U2 by U2, the last of the rock stars, 1998-2001)
I have spent the last few hours sitting on the couch flipping through U2 by U2, a book by journalist and music critic Neil Mccormick.
Having been a U2 fan since about 11 years old there are obvious reasons as to why this large coffee table book is in my collection; the largely unpublished personal snapshots and the incredible cross section of Anton Corbijn’s photography come to mind… but primarily, I have – over the years – an increasing interest with the personal journey of Bono ‘the man’, outside of, the band.
I continue to find his ‘striving’ (for lack of a better word), to balance faith, music, family, success and (somehow combine this with an agenda for helping) those in need, to be an incredible source of inspiration.
Bono & the Edge on stage at Wembley Arena, London, August 2009. Photograph Douglas Mark Black
What are we on earth to do?
How does this affect our creative indulgences and visions?
What does this mean for the photography I take and expose to the world?
How will this affect the day that I meet my maker?
Can I be accountable for my time and actions?
Has any of what I produce, contributed to or been beneficial to anyone?
Has it helped?
Or, to paraphrase Warhol, has it just been for the indulgent 15 minutes of fame…as tantalizing as that appears?
How will all these thoughts affect today, the way forward, my photography and my life?
Does any of it matter?
“For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36
JM Coetzee, John Malkovich, Eastern Cape, South Africa…a recipe for something of interest…disgrace.
If you have been following the retrospective posts you will be aware of the time I spent in South Africa last year – in the heart of the Eastern Cape – 100 kilometers from Grahamstown – it’s currently a dry place where ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa doesn’t neccesarily carry the same understanding as it may in other parts of the world…the film is worth watching…
'small town, eastern cape'
About the photograph:
‘small town, eastern cape’, Adelaide, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 2009′
View from ‘Nel’s Hill’ over the town of Adelaide, with the Winterberg Mountains in the background.
_dmb
Watch the film…
It’s been a month since my last blog post.
___________________________________
Q: Why might someone who is trying to promote their photography take a off month between posts?
…and while I am at it, take another few before the next one…?
A: Because someone may have lost direction, taken a detour?
Back in February I caught a post on Chase Jarvis’ brilliant blog (link here) to a video by the photographer Zack Arias, entitled: Transform. (watch it here) .
STOP.
Seriously.
If you are into any creative endevour watch it.
Thanks Zack.
Sometimes, we do just have to transform, and to nick the U2 lyrics from ‘unkown caller’:
RESTART AND REBOOT YOURSELF…
I have been in Perth, WA now for two weeks, having moved accross the world from London…so it’s the new home at least for now and I have decided to take some time out do just that.
NO BLOG. NO TWEETS.NO PHOTOS.
Catch you on the other side…
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Barcelona is definitely one of the most amazing cities I have had the priviledge of visiting…and just around from my hotel (highly recommended HOTEL JAZZ) was a building I had been wanting to see and photograph for ages.
Richard Meier is one of the great Architect’s of our time and this building is certainly testament to that, inspired by the ‘gattica’ tone, and a desire to create very abstract imagery I thought I would give it a go…I guess my only regret is that Uma Thurman wasn’t walking around the building…that said, I find architectural photography without a human element much more appealing, which is still ironic given the fact that buildings are designed for people.
See the images here let me know what you think?
Ok, so I missed a few days during the month of June on what inspires me (I will filter those in during July!)…and hopefully they’ll be worth the wait…
Here’s a quick summary of June’s inspiration:
YOU
RICK & DICK HOYT
EXERCISE
FAMILY
CHRIS BROGAN
3 GREAT LOCATIONS FOR LANDSCAPES
TED
HUMOUR
LONDON & PARIS
MY HOLGA
ALTERNATIVE WEBSITES
THE BIBLE
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
THE SKY
BUSINESS / FINANCIAL WEBLINKS THAT INSPIRE
CHASE JARVIS
SACHA DEAN BIYAN
KEVIN MAX, POERTY & LYRICS…
ISLANDS
JAMES NACHTWEY
I am going to try something different for July.
More image less text.
31 photos taken with my Blackberry.
Why?
Irrespective of equipment, the ‘art of seeing a photo’ is what its ultimately all about IMHO and I am going to give it a go…nothing new here in the concept…but something might come out of it you just never know…
To quote sevendust007′s write up on this video, ‘But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.’ … read it, and the video all falls into place… if that isnt inspirational then I dont know what is…
Maybe its the current Lion’s Tour in South Africa, or the fact that my parents place, (where I am currently staying) has an ample selection of mountain bikes, but while out kicking a rugby ball around the garden this morning I realised how far I’d let my fitness slip. Heck, to kick and catch the ball is one thing, but then to imagine doing this whilst someone like Victor Matfield or Bakkies Botha is bearing down on you…
Some famous quote which I am sure you are familiar with says; ‘…the things that are easy to do are also easy not to do…’
…yip I know this blog is about photography, but next time your brain hits a wall and creativity and inspiration decide to take a time out…tell me you’re not inspired after a bit of exercise.
…better get mine in before 3:00pm Sat and we pull out the steak & beer…
