Lights, camera, action

Anton Corbijn takes official portraits of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and gets criticized by Koss Breukel, the pictures are seen as … well, not what could be expected. Perhaps that is what this post at Rood Petje’s blog is about. I wouldn’t know, I don’t understand Dutch.

Pictures in the usual Corbijn style wouldn’t fit in the genre “famous photographers takes official colour portraits of royalty” - Cecil Beaton and all that -, so criticizing Corbijn for not delivering the great heavy b&w we all love him for is, I think, a bit strange. But let’s make a thought experiment; who knows, Corbijn might have slipped an A12 loaded with Tri-X in after the colour stuff was done?

Don’t think so.

Fuji shows a prototype camera behind glass at PMA, a camera that we don’t know that much about - it is supposed to be a 6×7 folder with rangefinder focusing, manual and aperture priority exposure, and an 80/3.5 lens - and the web response is huge; hundreds of posts on blogs and forums. Look here or here; David Bram links to a short video clip about the camera.

Amateur Photographer has talked to a project manager at Fuji, who claims that they have not yet decided whether to market the camera.

MF rangefinders are an interesting niche, and with Fuji’s history in that segment, it might very well turn out good. Prices for used Mamiya 6’s and Fuji rangefinders seem to hold up well, so there are probably some people out there who would buy the Fuji. If it ever reaches the market.

Ré Soupault’s pictures are currently on display at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin (runs till 13 August). More information here.

An article on WH Auden mentioned the author’s interest in photography (Nicholas Jenkins, “Historical as Munich - Auden at 100: Who is he now?”, TLS 9 February 2007, 12-15). I would like to read more about that, and see some of his pictures; there is a resemblance between the precise literary expression, and photography.

Generally, it is interesting with a passion for photography in people that, while not being ‘real photographers’, are good at something else.

A parallel case that has been discussed recently is the photography of Sammy Davis, Jr. Here are 18 of his pictures, including good portraits of Tony Curtis and a self portrait. (Found via this thread at RFF, which also has more backround information.)

Jonathan Elderfield has a great portfolio with pictures from Chicago. I really like this kind of street photography; so much better than some of the boring staged diorama-style that pass as “art photography”. A collection of his Chicago pictures is exhibited at the CUE art foundation, NYC, 26 April-2 June.

There’s a Cindy Sherman retrospective at Louisiana (quite close to Copenhagen). More information on the 250 pictures exhibition that ends 20 May here. I plan to go there soon; even though staged diorama-like photography is not my favourite style, one of course would like to see this exhibition.

It’s nice not being in love with photography … You have to be very, very careful …… not hiding behind the technique and the camera, the tool … Every photographer is a voyeur …

Lens culture publish several new pictures by Anders Petersen (2005-2006), as well as an interview (18 minutes).

One of the masters of twentieth-century photography, Czech-born Josef Koudelka has made a unique contribution to the language of photography with his eloquent and transformative images that stand outside time and place. Coinciding with the publication of his stunning new monograph Koudelka (Aperture, March 2007), Aperture Gallery is proud to host a rare intimate conversation between Koudelka, art critic and writer Vicki Goldberg, and an audience of fans. This is an unprecedented and unique opportunity to get up close and personal with one of the photography world’s living legends.

Conversation and booksigning with Josef Koudelka at Aperture foundation, New York, 5 April.

Simon Roberts has travelled extensively in Russia. His exhibition, “Motherland”, will be shown at the Photofusion Gallery, London, 13 April - 25 May; the book has recently been published, check out its website for pictures and more information. A number of prints are for sale at the The Photographer’s Galler Print Sales.

Great work.

Ricoh announces the Caplio GX100. Seems like we have something of a trend here, with the Ricoh GRD, the Sigma DP1 and now the GX100.

Maybe, someday we will have a great camera along the lines of:

* large sensor
* prime lens with big aperture, 35/2.0 or 50/2.0
* negligible shutterlag
* optical viewfinder
* traditional knob controls
* no LCD
* manual focus

That is, a digital version of the Minox 35 GT, the Olympus 35 RD/SP, the Canonet QL 17, the Konica Auto S3 or a host of other quality compact cameras from the film era. Strange thing that the digital camera designers just can’t seem to come up with one of those.

Also, read Mike Johnston’s thoughts along similar lines.