Posted by Elizabeth Stacy | Posted in Featured Photo Blogs & Websites, Photographers
Posted on March 5, 2011

New York photographer, Bruce Gilden began observing urban culture long before taking a photograph.  With growing curiosity of his surroundings he created his first project on the intimacy of the sensual, all types of bodies sprawled across the beach of Coney Island.  Now after many years of being a Magnum photographer, Gilden is working on his current project; No Place Like Home: Foreclosures in America.  For two years he has been documenting the lives of the ones who have been hit the hardest.

©Bruce Gilden

Now he needs the help of others for the continuation of this project.  Gilden has become a part of a wonderful website called Kickstarter, an online funding community for creative and innovative people.  Kickstarter has enabled tens of thousands of creative people to continue their projects, all from supplying a place to share their work.  So far, Gilden has been able to raise more than 50% of his goal.

To see more about his project or to contribute visit Kickstarter, No Place Like Home Project: Foreclosures in America

Posted by Elizabeth Stacy | Posted in Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on February 19, 2011

Started nearly six years ago as an online gallery-style publication, Karin + Raoul has now evolved into a full print magazine showcasing provocative, sexy fashion, documentary and portrait photography.

Below are some samples and excerpts from the most recent issue, The Addiction Issue.

Interview with photographer Photographer Kareem Black

Many people who immerse themselves in the creative process confess that the greatest of their addictions are their creative outlets, and the same is true for Black. He radiates an almost palpable pain when describing being disconnected from his creative process, however brief. “The highs of great shoots are amazing, but those feelings don’t last forever and you’re always looking for the next fix. It can be a very violent thing.” But much unlike most artists who choose to focus solely on their artistry, Black also has a genuine interest in navigating the business world.

© Kareem Black

Women Who Shine : Can’t Slow Down

Close your eyes. Imagine you’re standing in the desert or in the middle of a dry field, with some dry weeds in it. Then, out of nowhere, someone is lighting up matches or a candle. One small light and yest, so significant, so powerful. And then, the wind comes and the candle starts to flicker. It starts to burn into a wild fire. This is how Amy Secada moves and dances. Like a wild fire! (words written by Sylvan Askayo)

© Erica Simone

If you would like to read more from this issue visit Karin + Raoul online here

Our mission is to publish smart and creative imagery from photographers who strive to celebrate and document the sexy world we live in.  We have become dedicated to the cultivation of the personal, the mysterious, and the sexy.  Karin + Raoul serves up a wide cache of sensual art and is a brand that supports the personal works of professional photographers.  Karin + Raoul brings attention to the images, ideas, and products that are stimulating to those of a like sensibility. Our goal is to showcase the common in an uncommon way.

- Karin + Raoul Publications

Posted by Elizabeth Stacy | Posted in Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on February 2, 2011

The Photocrew blog is a community built on experiences from everyone in the photography industry.  It is filled with exciting and relevant content added by contributing members such as photographers, editors, digital techs and even assistants.  They created this blog to help everyone share their ideas to help you learn.

Some of their articles feature what every assistant may need or tips for hair & makeup stylists.  Whether you know or not this blog is where you can start finding all the answers, refresh your skills or keep in touch with others in the industry.

Check out more articles at www.photocrew.com/blog

Posted by Elizabeth Stacy | Posted in Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on January 12, 2011

Scott Schumann is a New York based street photographer who’s work has merged fashion and street photography.   His passion emerged after a long career in sales and marketing for high-end woman’s designers collections.   He began seeing and shooting people on the street the way designers see people.

From his work he created his blog, The Sartorialist, which has grown over the past year to something greater than he ever imagined it would.  Below are samples of his work and a video where Scott shares his experiences and how he creates his work.

To see and learn more make sure to take a look at Scott’s blog

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on September 27, 2010

EyeCurious, is a blog about photography and all things related, written by Marc Feustel an independent curator and writer based in Paris. . His background is in Japanese photography, but eyecurious travels to as many photographic territories as possible through exhibition and book reviews, photographer interviews, random thoughts and a few experiments.

Here are two sample blog posts:

Is the photo-album giving way to the mixtape?

recently attended a ‘conversation’ at the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson  in Paris on the impact of blogs on photographic criticism. A hugely disappointing evening on all counts, including an extended discussion of image rights and how many photos it’s OK to include in a single blog post, however one idea did emerge which piqued my interest. André Gunthert an academic specialized in ‘visual history’ and the founder of the online platform, Culture Visuelle, referred to the fact that academic research in the field of visual studies has been transformed by the availability and accessibility of images through the internet. Gunthert’s point, if I remember it correctly, was that disciplines like history of art had quite limited access to images before the internet due to the expense of image rights and the basic difficulty of getting your hands on a decent reproduction. Nowadays papers are presented supported by a healthy stack of images of all kinds for virtually no cost and this has changed the framework of analysis as it provides an essentially infinite comparative potential.

This struck me as an interesting evolution and got me wondering about the impact of websites and photo-blogs on the way that we consume photographic images. One parallel would be the increasing obsolescence of the album as a musical format. Although artists still produce music in this way for the most part, only a small percentage of listeners are likely to listen to an album from start to finish anymore. The album has essentially been replaced by the mixtape, where music is consumed according to a style, mood, or that little iTunes robot that Apple mistakenly decided to call Genius and its ADD-ridden cousin Shuffle.

Something similar has happened to photography when it comes to the online world. (Read More)

Carlo Van de Roer Capturing the Essence

One of the most worn clichés in the realm of photography is the notion that a photographic portrait can somehow “capture the essence” of its subject. This has always struck me as pretty problematic; the idea that there is a moment that can be captured on film that encapsulates some fundamental truth about us, about who we really are seems to be a little reductive… I have always liked to think there was more to me than that. I can understand a photographer’s search for an image in which the subject is as natural as possible, forgets the camera and maybe even themselves. However, this may not be any more revealing about the person being photographed than an image in which the subject is playing to the camera, showing another side of themselves in the process. (Read More)

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on September 12, 2010

PhotographyNow.Net is a website dedicated to people interested in contemporary and classical photography. At its core, Photography Now is a list of outstanding artists and legends organized in three categories: (1) Masters of Photography (2) Select Contemporary Artists and (3) An index of international photographers.  Wouldn’t it be grand to find your name on one of these lists!

All three lists feature mini-porfolio’s elegantly presented of photographers A-Z including Ansel Adams, Andre Kertesz, Irving Penn and Edward Weston. Select a photographer and you will land on their page featuring a bio and portfolio / look-book. This is a great resource for students learning about the history of photography and the masters behind it all.

Irving Penn
American, born 1917

Born in New Jersey,Irving Penn studied design at the Philadelphia Museum School, where he became a student of Alexey Brodovitch. In 1937, the year before he graduated, several of his drawings were published by Harper’s Bazaar. From 1940 to 1941, he worked for the art and advertising director of Saks Fifth Avenue, and the following year he spent in Mexico painting, a medium he subsequently abandoned. Returning to New York, Penn was hired by Vogue magazine, first to create ideas for cover illustrations, then to photograph covers as well as editorial illustrations for the interior of the magazine. Working closely with Alexander Liberman, Penn developed a highly stylized, graphically compelling form of fashion photography which did much to define post-war notions of feminine chic and glamour. In his fashion and portrait photography, Penn favored the use of a neutral backdrop of gray or white seamless paper, or alternatively, the use of constructed architectural sets which created striking effects with oblique, diving diagonals and upward tipped perspectives. Penn also created numerous still life compositions for the magazine: carefully orchestrated assemblages of food or objects characterized by a play of three-dimensional and two-dimensional forms. In 1953 Penn opened his own commercial studio and almost immediately became one of the most influential and successful advertising photographers in the world. (continue reading)

And according to their web site, here are the 30 most viewed Artists

* Arbus Diane
* Sturges Jock
* Adams Robert
* Adams Ansel
* Mapplethorpe Robert
* Gasser Peter
* Weston Edward
* Witkin Joel Peter
* Avedon Richard
* Sudek Josef
* Penn Irving
* Davidson Bruce
* Callahan Harry
* De Keyzer Carl
* Shore Stephen
* Bravo Manuel Alvarez
* Norfolk Simon
* Atget Eugene
* Kertész André
* Cunningham Imogen
* Salgado Sebastiao
* Imae Yo
* Tice George
* Gowin Emmet
* Stieglitz Alfred
* Evans Walker
* Strand Paul
* Levinthal David
* Nixon Nicholas
* Sheikh Fazal
* Sieff Jeanloup
* Eskildsen Joakim
* Bresson Cartier Henri
* Bellocq E.J
* Dijkstra Rineke
* Sternfeld Joel
* Lux Loretta
* Eggleston_William
* Doisneau Robert
* Burke Bill
* Baltz Lewis
* Friedlander Lee
* Burdeny David
* Yang Yan Kang
* Davies John
* Blossfeldt Karl
* Greenberg Jill
* Sze Tsung Leong
* Hine Lewis
* Maleonn
* Tillim Guy
* Parkeharrison Robert & Shana
* Jiagang Chen
* Porter Eliot
* Feng Bin
* Hugo Pieter
* Yavno Max
* Basilico Gabriele
* Lartigue Jacques Henri
* Sander August

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Business and Marketing Tips, Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on September 6, 2010

Welcome to FotoCare’s featured Photography Blog Series, where we explore interesting examples of  how photographers  are creating more immersive experiences to share their work and/or vision with their friends and fans, clients and prospects, and photo enthusiasts. Ways that are more engaging then the standard static portfolio website. We hope you find this inspiring. We welcome your suggestions for Photography Blogs that you love. Just reply via comments below and maybe your suggestion will be our next FEATURED Blogger.

Nathan Kensinger Photography
The Abandoned & Industrial Edges of New York City

Nathan Kensinger publishes two photo essays a month that capture the lower depths of New York’s urban landscape giving us a backstage pass to places that are typically off-limits to the general public.  Often times he “finds a way” to access these places. Essays range from a sneak peek into underworld of Grand Central Station to traces of life under the Coney Island boardwalk, images of the worlds oldest subway tunnel, to an array of happenings at Gowanus Canal. These are just a few examples of the city you will explore through the lens of Nathan Kensinger as he leads us to the abandoned and industrial edges of New York City.

This type of photography blog takes hours of time, effort, planning and production. As a documentary photographer, on top of shooting and editing, Nathan writes up intriguing blog posts to share the background story on his subject, his experience, and thought provoking commentary. One would have to imagine his essays are a successful path to securing editorial assignments.  It is a good idea to consider establishing an easy-to-execute eMarketing effort to ensure the right folks know about your work and the site so you can share new posts with fans, key clients and prospects (email newsletter).

We have put together a slide show of the work you will find on the site. But do visit if you have the chance, the stories behind each photo are as compelling as the work.

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Business and Marketing Tips, Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on August 26, 2010

Bloggers – you find them everywhere these days. Technology experts, political mavens, fashionistas, foodies everywhere, and of course Photography Blogs– tons of them. However, some really do stand out and attract a loyal crowd. We invite you to share with us your favorite photography blogs. Just comment below and we’ll take a look. Perhaps it will make our next Featured Blogger.

We will feature blogs we find interesting on a monthly basis, and hope you find of interest too. A photo blog is a good example of how a photographer migh move away from a static portfolio-only web site to a more engaging dialog with fans, clients and prospects. This can be done as an addition to your web site or as a stand-alone Blog.

We begin our series with IsoticaEVERYDAY.

IsoticaEVERYDAY is published by Chris Altorf and Jessica Hayes, a photographic team based out of Toronto.  Since the summer of 2005 they have maintained this award winning photoblog which receives thousands of daily visitors. Their skills include film-making, photography, graphic design, photo-retouching, web development. They are also coordinators at WhipperSnapper Gallery,
a not-for-profit space aimed at Canada’s young and emerging art scene.

The blog is short on words. Instead it features a visual library of their work; some with titles some without.   A daily time-line appears across the top of the page. I could be wrong but I would imagine a user could click on a day of the month and an image would appear– this wasn’t working when I visited the site (perhaps it is only a design feature and not part of the functionality of the site. You can follow them via an RSS feed and/or on Flickr.  Here is an example of their work you will find on the site.

© IsotoicaEveryday

© IsotoicaEveryday

© IsotoicaEveryday

© IsotoicaEveryday

© IsotoicaEveryday

© IsotoicaEveryday