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06/10/2005 10:30:07 AM · #1 |
After visiting the South Bank Centre last week to see the big prints of the results of the World Press Photo competition, I very nearly posted to ask if anyone knew how David Burnett took his photographs of the Athens Olympic Games. The focus of the image looks artificial, but it is perfect. I had wondered if it was taken using something akin to a lensbaby, or done in post processing.
I have found out the answer from this article from the NY Times.
The interview with Burnett is very humbling: the answer to my question was that he lugged around a 55-year-old 4-by-5-inch Graflex Speed Graphic camera, complete with tripod, to accompany his 20d. He uses a variety of equipment to capture different moods. For example, he used a Holga to take a shot that won the 2001 White House News Photographers' Association's Eyes of History contest(here is one of his from the same year that looks like a it was taken with a Holga). He took these because everyone i the press pack was using the same types of equipment (3-4 dig-bodies and lens combinations), and he thought that everything was getting a little too similar in quality.
It is a reminder that there are a lot of ways to make great photographs, and to stand out sometimes one must take a different approach to the rest of the crowd. It is also a reminder that it is not necessary to use the latest nor expensive equipment to take wonderful photographs. Also, finally, while equipment does not make the photographer, a photographer must be the master of his equipment.
I am going to dig out my Holga and shall try to remember to keep using a variety of formats.
Message edited by author 2005-06-10 10:31:21.
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06/10/2005 10:47:30 AM · #2 |
His shot of the women's hockey competition looks like they're miniature figurines placed on a table.
Image
An interesting selection that shows the technicals dont always have to be perfect in order to create a unique and moody image. |
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06/10/2005 11:23:12 AM · #3 |
The NY Times aarticel is intensely interesting, and unlike many articles in the general press, actually sheds quite a bit of light on the impact of equipment and technique. Interesting that he actually carries a Holga, and uses it!
OTOH, I found the article a little one-dimensional in it's depiction of digital as harshly reproducing reality, and being incapable of producing the beautiful effects that he accomplished with the SpeedGraphic. I think, with a tilt/shift lens, that a digital camera could in fact approximate the same effects, however the smaller format would imply that the results would not be identical.
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06/10/2005 11:59:49 AM · #4 |
it looks like they were taken with a lensbaby
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06/10/2005 12:04:52 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by moodville:
His shot of the women's hockey competition looks like they're miniature figurines placed on a table....An interesting selection that shows the technicals dont always have to be perfect in order to create a unique and moody image. |
I stood transfixed by that hockey image at the WPP exhibition - it is utterly unreal, but I thought that was a result of technical perfection rather than a fault. However, his other images (esp. the Holga ones) show that technical imperfections do not always matter and sometime improve an image. On the topic of technical perfection in professional photography, I also read this interesting article which deals with the paparazzi psyche. On the topic of technical merit, I like this quote:
"A young L.A.-based photographer, Steven Ginsburg, described the relationship between quality and profit in less than flattering terms. "If it was a picture of you, Peter," he proclaimed, "it would have to be sharp and correctly exposed, because you're nobody. But if it was a shot of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman getting back together, then a shadow would do." "
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06/10/2005 12:08:35 PM · #6 |
i love the fact that he shoots with a holga
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06/10/2005 12:16:38 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by ericlimon:
i love the fact that he shoots with a holga |
It is a lot of fun shooting with a Holga. I have a few rolls of medium format shots from it. Quite expensive to have them printed, though, and hard to see the transparencies without a light table.
I will have to remember to take it with me on hols though: interesting images, and Fuji Velvia is quite luscious. Only 12 frames per roll of 120 means that you think about the image. Having only two controls (flash: on/off, shutter speed: sunny/cloudy) also simplifies the process! Might have to buy some more masking tape first though (to tape up the camera, as it leaks light all over the place).
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