portraits, music, fashion
Its never a bad thing to do something different, to start again, to make a change. In this case, what’s old is new again.
The internet is full of inspirational words and quotes by many an inspiring person. So I won’t try to add my “wisdom” to the pile.
All I know is here I am in New York. And it is 2012.
Hang on.
Leon
Posted in Uncategorized.
– January 4, 2012
I hope I don’t sound like a broken record. Actually, even if I do its all good.
If there is one thing that I believe my Photo Fundamentals students should remember due to my constant repetition its DON”T DELETE!
Time and time again I stumble upon an image. It usually occurs when I am in the middle of doing something completely unrelated. In this case I was immersed in data storage and the joys involved in moving gigs and gigs of data from one place to another. I found a folder in one of my external drives called “Transfer to Mac” which has images that I wanted to move over to my Mac once I had finally made the switch from PC. Among those images I found the above shot taken over two three years ago at the Concrete and Glass Festival in East London. Its Tunde of TV on The Radio, one of my favorite bands. I was lucky enough to get a press pass to their gig at that festival and had an amazing experience while catching a few snaps.
You never know.
Peace,
Leon
Ps. Comments about this phenomenon? Feel free to leave them below.
Posted in Art, Observation, Photography, Post-Procesing, Tutorials.
– November 28, 2011
Some of you may have seen him before but I reckon most haven’t. Tomby is my assistant and is always willing to function as a model when I am testing lighting at home.
Bit nutty eh? Not really. I posted this for a reason. There are many folk who love art and photography and are keen to start producing exciting works of art. However, often there are boundaries that exist for one reason or another. Or rather, persons allow boundaries to exist and hold them back from learning, growing and creating.
Sure it would be ideal to have a human assistant to help me test out lighting but in absence of that there is Tomby.
Live your dream.
Peace,
Leon
Posted in Art, Photography.
– November 18, 2011
I am not a huge street photographer. To clarify, I really appreciate and actually love street photography in general, but I have never fully got into it myself.
So when I first saw Steve i didn’t ask to take a photograph of him because it felt slightly, well opportunistic. But for some reason today, it felt ok. Maybe it is because I already had my camera out and around my neck making it easier to get prepared for the quick portrait. Or perhaps because I was just in that kind of mood. Who knows.
In any event, I offered to buy a Big Issue in exchange for a shot of him and he was really cool about it. Nice guy too. Glad I finally took the time to talk to Steve.
Peace,
Leon
Posted in Exploration, Observation, Photography.
– October 28, 2011
I love this. Can’t think of anything more exciting or fulfilling than creating something from scratch.
As you may know, I am part of the AVART Collective along with musicians ddubble and various producers.
Above is an image from the next AVART project…video promo coming soon so stay tuned….
Posted in Art, Photography.
– October 27, 2011
Man (or woman) and the Machine. Of course there is the camera, lenses and gear, studio, etc. But truth be told, this is where you will spend a tremendous amount of time as a freelancer.
To clarify, as discussed by Lara Jade at the Canon Pro Solutions show, there are basically two ‘environments’ for the photographer. Home-based with outsourced studio, or running your own separate studio and staff. I would say that the majority of photographers are running option A. And here it is, in living colour – or shadows as the case may be.
And yes, it is you and the machine. No one else. For countless hours.
Truth be told, its all good. Delivering and sharing photography has become more open and seamless than ever before. Taking the photograph is merely a small fraction of the entire thing and there is not problem getting involved in all that is required to be able to deliver and share your individual vision.
So, welcome to my world.
Peace,
Leon
Posted in Observation, Photography.
– October 25, 2011
Finally watched the movie The Bang Bang Club – the film about photo journalists covering the period that led to the end of apartheid in South Africa.
I have the highest respect for photojournalists – specifically Tim Hetherington, Chris Hondros, Kevin Carter and many others that have put their lives on the line documenting history in the midst of some of the most horrible, violent and dangerous conflicts in the world.
Watching the very graphic scenes in the film made me think more about what part of the human existence I would not be willing or able to photograph – where do my boundaries lie?
A few times I have been commissioned to photograph funerals. Strangely even from the first time I was asked it never felt weird to me. Perhaps because I immediately knew that I would be obsessing over f-stops and available light and in essence removing myself emotionally from the moment. Being asked to perform in that capacity at this type of ceremony means that you are expected to switch into mode and deliver to the best of your ability – despite the circumstances.
Expectedly, I have had to field the ethical question, “How could you photograph a funeral?” I truly believe that it is a part of the journey and If we can photograph births, weddings and birthdays then why not farewell ceremonies. In some ways, I believe that funerals could be the most important ceremony of our individual existence and I am flattered to have been trusted to deliver the memories of this event for the respective families and loved ones.
The Bang Bang Club has made it clearer to me now that everybody has a threshold. I think mine might be somewhere around documenting various stages of a person’s life but certainly stops short of taking photographs during a conflict while experiencing humanity at its very worst.
As always, your thoughts are welcomed.
Peace,
Leon
Posted in Exploration, Observation, Photography.
– September 14, 2011
Once in a while I get stuck. When I took these images months ago, I couldn’t decide on which I liked best. Often when you revisit work after a little while, the ‘right’ image jumps out at you. However, in this case I am still stumped. So which one do you prefer? Portrait – P, or Landscape – L?
P
L
Extra points for whoever can guess the light source.
Peace,
Leon
Posted in Art, Observation, Photography.
– September 6, 2011
As I think back, I always loved photography because it allowed me to re-live a time and place long gone. As a young child growing up in New York, photos from my earlier life in London provided comfort as I was now growing up in a world that was completely different to what I had known. Now, when connecting the dots of my life it makes sense that my mother’s love of photography from a life-documenting perspective, combined with my sense of nostalgia, somehow brought me to this current state of obsession with this medium.
This shot was taken during a trip to Amsterdam less than a year after my re-re-location to the UK. I think most folk can use their imagination to figure out the type of shop I was patronizing when I took this photo.
As I looked at this shot tonight, it brought me right back to that trip, and more importantly that time of my life. I had just returned to the UK and was soaking it all in…everything that my passport and bank account would allow. A magical time it was, forever immortalized in the many photographs I took during that period. This shot being one of my favorites.
Keep shooting.
Peace,
Leon
Posted in Observation, Photography.
– August 27, 2011
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