Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Photo Exhibits in NYC
Posted on December 5, 2011

Here is a compelling exhibit from photographer G.M.B Akash at the Anastasia Photo Gallery –one not to be missed!  Born in 1977 in Dhaka. Bangladesh, Akash is a photojournalist that has already won more than 60 international awards, including the World Press Photo Award.

G.M.B Akash Photo Exhibit at Anastasia Photo Gallery
166 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002
212.677.9725
http://www.Anastasia-Photo.com
The gallery is open seven days a week, 11:00 – 7:00

“To be able to articulate the experiences of the voiceless and to bring their identities to the forefront gives meaning and purpose to my own life.”

Eleven year old working in a silver cooking pot factory

Akash’s current show, Survivors, spans a 10-year period where he aims his lens at child laborers and sex workers in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Pakistan, and Bhutan. The New York exhibit showcases photographs from Bangladesh. While the images will tug at your heart, Akash successfully documents, even in the most trying circumstances, the resilience of the human spirit.

The owner of a texture factory beating a twelve-your old child laborer. The boy works for 10 hours a day and earns about $1. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2005

A child working in a textile factory in Dhaka. The average child laborer earns between 400 to 700 taka (1 USD = 70 taka) per month

Children carry bricks on their heads at a brick factory. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2003

When asked how he is able to get so close to what is going on or to capture an injustice to a child, he explains,   “In the beginning, it feels like forbidden territory, a place you are not supposed to enter surrounded by borders of privacy… You, the photographer, are there at a factory or brothel with your simple black bag hanging from your shoulder…the first days following these intrusions, I never take pictures, they would not be good. I have a friendly conversation….and there is consent. People don’t accuse me, reject me or pose in unnatural ways. Then I click away and it feels like conversation.”

Judith is preparing for her clients as the evening crowd gathers. Bonded sex workers put on make-up several times between the morning and midnight, transforming their faces into white masks which is considered beautiful by their clients.

What’s astonishing about these pictures is seeing close-ups of children working for ten dollars a month in extremely hazardous jobs to support their families. Often times the families do not care of the child’s welfare–they welcome the money to the family. Each of the fifteen photographs in the exhibition has very descriptive captions that add to the sadness/power of the photos. For example, several captions explain how underage sex workers in the brothel are given a drug that makes them appear older since the law says they have to be 18. It also causes them to retain water and appear plump—which some Bangladeshi men like.

Anastasia Photo specializes in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism. The gallery also serves as a center for discussion and portfolio review. To connect these photographic images and the events they depict, Anastasia Photo endows each exhibition with a related, on site, philanthropic organization. For this exhibition, we have chosen Free the Slaves (www.freetheslaves.net), which is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending slavery worldwide.

Anastasia Photo specializes in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism. The gallery also serves as a center for discussion and portfolio review. To connect these photographic images and the events they depict, Anastasia Photo endows each exhibition with a related, on site, philanthropic organization. For more information about the charitable organizations we help fund, click on the links below:

A River Blue
A Leg To Stand On
Focus For Humanity
Free the Slaves
Partners in Health
Reporters Without Borders
Sacre Coeur
Save the Elephants
St. Kizito Orphanage

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Announcements, Photography Event
Posted on November 17, 2011

Manfrotto/Gitzo will be in Foto Care on Friday, November 18th and Saturday, November 19th taking your trade-ins towards a new tripod!

Hours

Friday, Nov. 18th 12-6

Saturday, Nov. 19th 12-4

Each day there will be a drawing and one lucky person will win a free photo bag or backpack!

(Need not be present to win)

Here are the offerings:

Manfrotto

$25 received for the trade-in of a head

$75 received for the trade-in of a tripod

$100 received for the trade-in of a kit

Gitzo

$50 received for the trade-in of a head

$150 received for the trade-in of a tripod

$200 received for the trade-in of a kit

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Announcements
Posted on November 15, 2011

Kodak has made a few major changes to their film lines, including the move of some stock to special order only.  Only the listed products are effected, all other films and/or formats of the film types below will not be discontinued and will continue to be produced.

Discontinued

Kodak Professional Plus-X 125 Film/px135-24

Kodak Professional Plus-X 125 Film/px135-36

Special Order

Kodak Professional T-Max 100 film/ 35mm x 100ft

Kodak Professional Tri-X 320 film/ 320 TXP/ 10 sh 8×10 in

Kodak Professional Ektar 100 film/ 10 sh 8×10 in

Packaging Changes- these products have a different look

Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 film/ TX 120

Kodak Professional T-Max 400 film/ TMY 120

Kodak Professional Ektachrome film E100VS/ 120

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Announcements
Posted on November 15, 2011

Jonathan Lipkin’s Photographs from Livingston County is open at the Ramapo College of New Jersey’s Pascal Gallery

See more work on Jonathan Lipkin’s Portfolio Site.

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Foto Care Interviews
Posted on November 10, 2011

Foto Care is pleased to share an exclusive interview with Brooklyn based photographer Jason Gardner, an award-winning portrait, music and event photographer, specializing in creating images and telling stories for magazine, corporate, and non-profits. He is currently documenting traditional musicians and culture in Brazil’s Northeast states.

Tell us about yourself and how you got into this field?

While I had always dreamed of being a photographer, it was only after returning from a two-year trip around the world did I dedicate myself to image making as a career. After a while, I realized that I don’t just shoot pictures. I practice visual anthropology, telling image-based stories based on a framework of culture, tradition, and practices usually behind the public’s view. I do this in my work documenting Carnival around the world, a marketing campaign for a business, or when I photograph a musician for their promo kit.

Visual anthropology means learning as much as possible about what to shoot before I shoot it. It means listening to my inner voice, and potentially photographing things that would not normally be captured — a symbol on a wall; a backyard shrine; certain tattoos or markings; maybe a kind of costume or how it is being made; or one aspect of a ceremony.

What was your break out job that helped launch your career?

One break out job was photographing the band Antibalas. They have many musicians in their collective, so the opportunity to have them together was limited. In a short time, we shot some outdoor, conceptual work, some studio work, and I added a serendipitous shot to the range of images. While moving to another planned location, the band was walking in a V formation and I captured that. It was a long and hectic day but the band members still tell me they’ve never had group shots quite like the ones from that day. This was a breakout because they are a major band and the shoot was for the cover of a national music magazine and the band licensed them for promotion. The label distributed my photos widely. Even now, years later, they’re still using a few of those images.

What has been your favorite assignment to date?

My favorite project has been my multiple visits to Pernambuco, the state in the northeast of Brazil, because it has been the most significant toward forming my point of view of being a visual anthropologist. I started by documenting one traditional music group by taking photos of their preparation for and performance during Carnaval. As I gained their trust, they started to invite me to their sacred spaces to photograph the private rituals and shrines that were intertwined with their identity and their involvement in the culture. Then I continued with other traditional music groups and movements in the area.

I strive to place my photos of culture, music, dance, and ritual in a larger framework. Carnaval is more than just the popular conception of a wild party, especially in Pernambuco, where it’s widely recognized as an authentic, folkloric blend of color and tradition, as well as having a democratic and populist nature, being largely free and in the streets.

This work has resulted in photos published in Rolling Stone Brazil, articles in the world music magazine Global Rhythm, an assignment with the Associated Press, a photo license contract with Putumayo Records, publication in Revista Magazine of Harvard University, and exhibits sponsored by the Brazilian Consulate in New York in 2007 and San Francisco in 2010.

What do you do to marketing you services?

I publish a monthly newsletter informing my database of updated projects and images. I do a lot of networking in the creative and general business community. I also co-produce a networking event for people in the creative industry, called Toasted Almonds. Last event had over 150 attendees!  Since I do not have a traditional formal education in photography, I’ve had to rely on the power of word of mouth and marketing to drive my business. I always recommend to other photographers to visit events outside of their normal circle of contacts. Pick an alumni association, church group, or any kind of gathering where there is a shared affiliation to tell your story in a group setting.

Do you use Social Media as part of your marketing mix? Do you think it is effective?

Yes, I use social media, and I’ve seen results from it. I used Facebook, Twitter and Linked In to promote an exhibition I had in San Francisco last year. I only knew a few people in the city before I installed the show, yet by tweeting every day to promote the exhibition, and promoting a FB event invitation, more than 200 people came to the opening. It was amazing! One FB friend invited 1500 of his friends. I sold books and prints that night

Where is your work heading next? Where do you see yourself in the future?

I’m aiming my work toward multimedia and video space, especially as I work on documenting more culture, music, and events that require audio and visual components. I see myself doing longer, larger projects, perhaps working with cultural foundations and universities to not only document culture but also to travel and teach, showing the importance of culture as a dynamic force in our modern lives.

Do you work with Video? Have you stepped into the Hybrid Video market at all?

I’m experimenting with video, and learning about the technical and creative aspects of storyboarding, shooting, and editing, using all assets available to me to tell a story — video, audio, still and archival footage.

I’m finishing a video I shot in New Orleans earlier this year, interviewing a Big Chief of the Mardi Gras Indian tribes, and interweaving that with live footage and still photos. I’m showing another side to New Orleans Mardi Gras — the societal influences. Hopefully my work will allow viewers to develop a richer understanding of the world around them. For me, culture reveals the universal ways humans communicate their most profound thoughts and beliefs.

When did you first hear about Foto Care?

I’ve known about Fotocare since the beginning of my career. In the beginning, when I assisted photographers, and when I was doing tests, their rental department was phenomenal, patiently explaining the ins and outs of certain equipment setups. They’ve been always supportive of emerging photographers. Their service is among the best, and photographers know that and keep returning.

To learn more about Jason Gardner check out his website: Jason Gardner Photography

Based in Brooklyn, NY, his photography has been published by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Photo District News, Time Out New York, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Daily News, SPIN Magazine, Harvard University’s Revista Magazine, Relix Magazine, and Global Rhythm Magazine.

He has completed assignments for Stern Magazine, Gourmet Magazine, Epitaph Records, Putumayo Records, AFS International, Adelphi University, and various corporations, nonprofits, and design companies. Jason was the official photographer for Celebrate Brooklyn’s 2008 season, shooting over 25 performances in one summer.

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Announcements
Posted on November 7, 2011

Foto Care mourns the loss of Pierre Bron, the “photographic industrialist”, who passed away peacefully in Switzerland on November 5th.  Pierre and his brother co-founded Bron Elektronik AG in 1948, quickly rising to prominence in the photographic world.  A more detailed history of Pierre and Bron Elektronik AG can be found on the Bron Imaging Blog.  Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Foto Care Favorites
Posted on November 7, 2011

The Artist as Art
The Gallery at Hallmark is pleased to announce the opening of “The Artist as Art”, a stunning series of intimate portraits by photographer Ellen Denuto. A successful commercial photographer based in New York and New Jersey, Ms. Denuto is also an accomplished fine art photographer. Her series includes images of artists such as poet Allen Ginsberg and photographer/musician/writer Gordon Parks.

Denuto has been working on the series for a number of years, inspired by the creativity of the artists, photographers, writers, musicians and actors in front of her lens. She asks the question, “Why do artists create?” As an artist herself, she says the answer is always the same: “Because I must.” Her intent is to capture this truth in her portraits.

Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Foto Care Interviews
Posted on November 2, 2011

Foto Care is pleased to present an exclusive interview with entertainment photographer Charlie Gross.  Based in New York City, Mr. Gross is well known in the music industry, having worked for labels such as Universal, Interscope, Geffen, Sony, Matador, Eremite, Downtown and Naive; and for his outstanding work as the exclusive personal photographer for Beck, touring worldwide and resulting in a minor opus of editorial publications, publicity, album art and books.

Charlie began his career in photography with an internship at the Annie Leibovitz Studio after studying Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He also holds a graduate degree in psychology.

  In addition to the work done in the entertainment field he as also shot for Rolling Stone, V, Interview, Spin, Elle, People, Jane, Seventeen, The New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal and CMJ; and for commercial clients including Earl Jeans, Grove Press, Shore Fire Media, Scrollmotion, World Science Festival and Songs Publishing.

Tell us about yourself and how you got into this field?

I have always been drawn to both the visual and the academic. I found my identity as a photographer as early as high school but got into the field professionally in the late 1990s. I was interning at Annie Leibovitz’s studio and had on opportunity to take some pictures of Beck.  He liked what I had done and a bit later, I was offered to be a tour photographer for him.  The same week I was offered a spot in an Anthropology PhD program, but I took the Beck job, and it turned out to be a starting point for working in the music industry and in doing personal fine art work that has a psychological and cultural basis to it.

ELLIOT SMITH

What has been your favorite assignment to date?

There have been many great shoots, but my work with Beck over a period of years had a special quality by the nature of the fact that it was a long-term artistic collaboration with a subject who is extremely well-versed in visual and cultural references.  I would most describe my work as environmental portraiture, and working in such a diversity of locations really solidified my style and provided my first publications. I also love the elements of chance and spontaneity that come with shooting on location — it ends up feeling like an interaction not just with the subject but with the environment itself in often unpredictable ways.  The challenge of creating a strong, often formal-feeling portrait in a reportage context is extremely exciting to me.

BECK

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I am inspired by music, film and psychology.  I love old photos and old magazines and the nostalgia that is embedded in the look of even the most banal of old pictures. In my most recent work shooting album art and press for Meshell Ndegeocello, I was wanting to do something that felt loosely like Christopher Doyle’s work in Wong Kar Wai’s movies.  It’s very tapped territory, but I love how his work and lighting feels incredibly real and surreal at the same time — how characters just appear in their lives as if in a dream. I like to document the irony, humor, beauty and absurdism of subjects captured by their surroundings in ways they may not even be aware of.  And separately, I always admire photographers who shoot so much that it feels like they must have captured the beauty of their every waking moment – like Araki.

How has your work changed in the last few years?

I actually took a break from shooting too much professionally for a bit and went to graduate school for psychology. In the last couple of years though, I have been shooting actively again, and while it may be a unique path, it has led to me having a stronger, more mature vision of where I want to go in terms of professional photography. I have come to see much less of a division between professional and personal work, and I believe this makes both stronger.  Technically, like almost everyone else, I have transitioned to shooting less film and more digital, which I resent for being so good and so fun.  I have become more concerned with manipulating light as opposed to making the most out of available light.

Where is your work heading next? Where do you see yourself in the future?

I see shooting more psychologically and culturally focused portrait and reportage projects and have a few ideas percolating that make sense in terms of my photography and psychology background.  I also see expanding my work as an environmental portraitist in a greater a variety of contexts and applications whether commercial, editorial or fine art.  Music is a first love, but I would love to shoot more writers, beekeepers and manicurists.

JIM CARROL

What equipment are you currently using to produce your work?

Digitally, I shoot with a NIkon D-700 with mostly prime, fast lenses, some old and some new depending on the application. I shoot Leica for film and Fuji 6×9 for medium format and occasionally Mamiya RZ.  I love low light, so Nikon’s high ISO performance and Leica/Fuji rangefinders and fast lenses are a natural.  When not using or diffusing the sun or ambient artificial light, I use both strobe and constant source light — usually Profoto or a K5600 Joker Bug respectively.

What equipment would you most like to own but don’t yet have?

I covet the Leica M9, so I could put my beloved Leica lenses to more frequent use. It’s not the most perfect or versatile camera, but it spits the world back as a beautiful film still.

To see more of Charlie Gross’ work check out his website: http://www.charliegrossphoto.com