photog friday: dan winters

Photog Friday is back on track!

Dan Winters. Last Friday I got to meet Dan Winters! He was Icon No. 16 for the photography series hosted by the Austin Center for Photography. It was great to get an in-depth look and hear the stories behind some of his most famous images. Best part besides getting to meet him? The fact that he had to turn down the lights in the auditorium until we could only see his face occasionally lit by his computer screen because he was nervous. All photographers are the same in this way. We can turn our camera to the world, but when it is turned on us we hide. Where do we go? Who we are is hidden in our photographs.

The photograph below, is the closest thing I have to anything resembling a Dan Winters photograph, or even channeling him. I love this photo of First Lady Barbara Bush. This was in the Green Room before going onstage for "The Enduring Legacies of America's First Ladies: Reflections of First Ladies" on November 15, 2012. It was the LBJ Presidential Library's final program of the season and one of the highlights of my photography career. Here, she was talking to David Valdez, who was the Bush's photographer during their time at the White House. I love the look on her face, happy to see an old friend, very regal and proud, like a mother looking at a son.

First Lady Barbara Bush - November 15, 2012

photog friday: elliott erwitt

Elliott Erwitt. He is probably what made taking funny pictures of our pets so popular. The subtle humor in his photographs is unmatched by anyone. He is best known for his humorous photos of dogs. Mr. Erwitt is a member of Magnum Photos like Eli and shoots exclusively in black and white (to be accurate, at least, I've never seen a color image of his). If you are ever having a bad day check out some of his photos, or just troll cat videos online as they have taken over the internet and don't even care. Anyway, the thing I like to think about when looking at Elliott Erwitt's photography is how do you even come upon so many moments like these? For most of us, it doesn't happen that often. Photography-wise, it's only happened to me once. My grandma was in our backyard trying to get her dog, Charlie, to come inside the house. Of course, he wouldn't listen so she tried to pick him up herself and at the same time he tried to wiggle himself away. Luckily, I had my camera and caught this lovely moment on camera. Don't worry, I helped her get him inside immediately afterwards.

Dog Gone Mad - El Paso, Texas

photog friday: eli reed

Eli Reed. He is a mentor, a friend, and one heck of a storyteller. What Eli taught me, I take with me every time I put the camera up to my eye.

Outside the Festival - Austin, Texas - January 21, 2013

This was the last photo I took for the MLK Day festival. I was done for the day and we were walking back to our car. Just outside the festival grounds at the University is a residential area. I heard this woman yelling to kids inside the house, while raking leaves in her yard. She seemed strained from the loud music that was blasting half a block away.  Without even really thinking about it, I lifted up the camera and snapped one picture. I think she might have heard it, but I just kept on walking with my sister and the woman kept on with her yard work.

Street photography isn't something I usually do and it sometimes takes me a while even in a controlled environment to get up close. It wasn't until I got home and zoomed in real tight that I realized she's looking right at me. At first I was quite proud of myself for getting out of my comfort zone and taking pictures just to take pictures, but now I feel very much a coward.

This picture is not representative of Eli Reed's photography at all. I feel that it is the opposite, but I'm posting it because it reminds me of an important lesson that Eli taught me that I forgot on this day. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" Courage is not something they can teach you in the classroom, it is something to be inspired by and then found on your own. Eli has travelled all over the world taking pictures, and the most important thing in his "camera bag" is his courage. He has no fear of getting up close. This is something that I admire greatly about him.

Eli Reed is currently the clinical professor of photojournalism at UT. Check out some of his work here.

photog friday: constantine manos

If you guessed Constantine Manos for yesterday's trivia question, you were right!

Constantine Manos. He is best known for his photography book American Color, a collection of color photographs capturing the eccentricities of American life. The thing I love a about these particular photos besides the obvious - color - is the composition and the found in between moments. I can imagine the photographer walking by, snapping the photo, and walking away, the subject never aware that their image remains on Kodachrome celluloid.

Here is a link to some unpublished photos from the American Color collection and a video of the photographer discussing his book.

Folsom Street, San Francisco - September 26, 2010

Folsom Street, San Francisco - September 26, 2010

photog friday: man ray

This was Kyle's idea and I like it a lot. Photog Friday starts today. Every Friday, I will post about a photographer that has inspired me, along with a photo of mine that was influenced by their work.

Man Ray. If you ever forget who he is, just remember Man Ray, X-Ray. Some of his early work on light-sensitive paper looks like an x-ray, or "rayograms," as he called them. Literally an American in Paris, he was a significant contributor of the Dada and Surrealist movements in the 1920s moving forward. Here is a link to some of his work.

This is one of the first pictures I ever took. It was shortly after my dad taught me how to use a film camera. I went off experimenting, forcing my sister to model for me. I love the ghostly affect the over exposure gives to her face. It's not quite as Surreal as some of Man Ray's photos, but it does remind me of one of his photograms, where there is a very small latitude for the exposure, accentuating the contrast between white and black, leaving very little room for gray area.

Lindz - El Paso, Texas