photocontacts

my cat

2007-07-16T04:30:00.000+02:00

find it :)

a very nice car...

2007-07-03T01:19:00.000+02:00

i was a night in paris when i saw this car...
i couldn't resist to shoot it for you :)

a day in roland garros

2007-06-17T01:55:00.001+02:00

this photos were taken in the match between nadal and montanes (saturday juin 2nd 2007).

"rafa", the winner of roland garros for the third consecutive time (2005, 2006 & 2007)

he's simply great, he tries to reach all the balls, even the impossibles

nadal over an extra world :)

montanes lost, but showed a very beautiful tennis.

i was photographing a photographer, as we say in french "l'arroseur arrosé".

War Photographer- James Natchway

2007-06-13T20:47:00.000+02:00

Most of you in class should have remembered the interesting documentary titled "War Photographer" shown by Mr Cox. For those who weren't present, here is a little short write-up on war-photography, the film and James Natchway himself.

War Photography

War photography depicts the terrors of war by capturing real life images in zones of conflicts. These images usually portray accurately the exact situation in war-torn areas because they are difficult to alter or modify in photographs.

War Photographer

In this film, the director trys to convey the message that although war photographers acts as an eye for the world to realize what is going on in a remote part of the world, many of them do not actually see themselves as part of the scenario. Hence, they are sometimes deemed as an uncompassionate bunch of people because in their quest for the best pictures to appear on their tabloids, some would turn so engrossed in their work and unknowingly yearn to see a human being brutally killed in order to capture a particular picture on their cameras.

James Natchway

Contrary to uncaring war journalists who see themselves as not being part of the situation, James Natchway (picture top), a famous war photographer, emphasizes the need to consider and take into account the sentiments of his subjects. The secret to his works that often display a great amount of intimacy lies simply in his efforts to build a close rapport with them.

Nachtwey was born in New York. Growing up in Massachusetts, he graduated from Leominster High School and attended Dartmouth College from 1966 – 1970 studying art history and political science. Images from the Vietnam War and the American Civil Rights movement had a powerful effect on him and shaped his decision to become a photographer. In 1976, his first step as a newspaper photographer began when he worked at a small newspaper in New Mexico. He moved back to New York in 1980 where he began his career as a freelance photographer. In 1981, he was first assigned overseas to report on civil strife in Northern Ireland during the IRA hunger strike. There was to be no turning back on his passion and he ever since, he had worked in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, South Africa, Russia, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Romania, Brazil and the United States. Nachtwey has been a contract photographer with Time Magazine since 1984.

guess what's this?

2007-06-03T22:16:00.000+02:00

who gonna be the first to guess what is the strange thing in this photo?
@james: you know the answer, don't cheat :)
the answer in a few days.

paris, march 2007.

2007-04-27T23:31:00.000+02:00

these are some photos i've taken last march in paris.

enjoy ;)

Premières photos

2007-04-23T20:24:00.000+02:00

Ce sont quelques photos que j'ai faites, sans grand thème particulier, si vous avez des questions écrivez moi sur pierreguerold@hotmail.com.

Experiencing several exposure times

2007-04-23T16:19:00.000+02:00

A friend and I enjoy riding our bikes in a town located in the Essonne, called Verrières-le-Buisson. We took some photos one afternoon with a digital (reflex) Nikon D50 camera. None of the following photos are retouched.

I took this first photo with 1/15 for an exposure time (the camera automatically adjusted the aperture). Even though it does not appear because of the exposure time, it was becoming dark. I followed my friend the most accurately I could with the camera during his jump so he is quite clearcut, and the background is blurred.

The next photography was taken with an exposure time of 30 seconds. I have put the camera on a stone and I went in front of the camera eye for about 10 seconds. Well, in fact, I guess it was not me but a ghost...

Those last pictures were taken with an exposure time of 15 seconds and are very easy to do.

If you want to see the photos in better quality, don't forget do click on them !

Shadows

2007-04-16T13:51:00.000+02:00

One day I was walking in a park and while I was doing some photos, my camera fall down and one of these photos was made....I thought it was funny to do some other photos like this! This is a part of what I made....

No other comments!

2007-04-03T13:49:00.000+02:00

Between day and night

2007-04-03T13:45:00.000+02:00

I think that this sky is absolutly incredible, don't you think so?

Cemetery and others stuffs (don't be scared !!!)

2007-03-27T15:47:00.000+02:00

A walk in Père Lachaise, not always funny but it remembers history.

The last two haven't been taken in Père Lachaise ! :-)

Life next to Notre-Dame

2007-03-27T09:46:00.000+02:00

We all passed next to Notre-Dame...It's always there but do we always see it?!?

A night in Paris...

2007-03-27T09:29:00.000+02:00

Children playing ...

2007-03-20T17:07:00.000+01:00

Returning from home....

2007-03-20T16:58:00.000+01:00

I wait for comments

about lomography?

2007-03-12T23:51:00.001+01:00

Hi,
For my first post, I would like to send you a little text that I just made about this movement called"Lomography". This movement is mainly based on the use of many cameras as Lomo Lc-a, Holga, Lubitel, Diana etc..

Here is the link to the Pdf document:

http://antoine.levi.free.fr/lomography/lomography.pdf

I'm waiting for your comments.

Antoine

One more

2007-02-23T17:09:00.000+01:00

Last time I forgot a photo taken by night, so I post it now.... This is "roller at Notre Dame " during the same night as the previous photos.
--
Ludo

2007-02-14T10:18:00.000+01:00

Ce sont quelques photos de nuit que j'ai prises. Ce sont mes premiers essais. Je trouve Paris intéressante la nuit....
Some few photos taken by night. This is the first time I tried this kind of photos. I find Paris interesting by night....
Ludo

Exhibition: Roman Vishniac, Un monde disparu

2007-01-12T17:41:00.000+01:00

This photo was taken in Trnava, Czechoslovakia, in 1937. It is part of an exhibition in Paris dedicated to Roman Vishniac (1897-1990). The 70 photos of the exhibit, all in black & white, were taken between 1936 and 1939, and are about Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe before the Holocaust.
Roman Vishniac was a photographer and a biologist born in Russia in 1897. After the communist October Revolution, his family fled from the anti-Semitism spurred by the Third Russian Revolution and moved to Berlin in 1920. When Hitler took over in 1933, Roman Vishniac was aware of the growing threat to the Jews. Commissioned by the American Jewish Joint Distribution, he travelled through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s, taking pictures at great risk to his life with a hidden camera. Nevertheless he took over 16,000 photos; all but 2,000 of these negatives were confiscated and destroyed after he was arrested many times during his tour of Europe.
His photos were published in 1947 (The Vanished World) in the US, where he has lived since 1940.
This is probably a striking exhibition: he knew he could not save his people, but he could try to save their memory. But he did not just want to preserve the memories of the Jews; he actively fought to increase awareness in the West of the worsening situation in Eastern Europe. Through his photographs, he sought to alert the rest of the world to the horrors of the Nazi persecution.
However, I won’t go to this exhibition…I no longer live in Paris this year.

Roman Vishniac, Un monde disparu.
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme, 71 rue du Temple, Paris-3è
Métros : Rambuteau, Hôtel de Ville
Until February, 18th

Descent

2006-12-16T00:47:00.001+01:00

Taken in NYC subway with a Nikon D70, 800 ISO, f-2.8, 1/60 s.

Life is tragedy for those who feel, comedy for those who think

2006-12-14T23:55:00.000+01:00

I'm very pleased that you're submitted some pictures lately. I must say that your submissions are somewhat impressive and show some great skills. Thanks for sharing them with us and the world (our international status allow me to write those kind of sentences ... please notice that I use a "w" and not a "W" ...)!

Christmas times comes, and Santa Pedro de la Claus just bring you some pretty neat stuff to enjoy the cold winter nights (I'm sure mine are colder than yours).

The first website of choice you have to discover is the Digitized Collections Section of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library of Duke University. There, you can find thousands of photographs on very different subjects like African American Women or Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920. Among those subjects you definitly must have a look on William Gedney: photographs and writings collection. This collection allow you to have an intimate glance into the life and motley work of this american photographer. From the homepage:

From the mid 1950s through the early 1980s, William Gedney (1932-1989) photographed throughout the United States, in India, and in Europe. From the commerce of the street outside his Brooklyn apartment to the daily chores of unemployed coal miners, from the indolent lifestyle of hippies in Haight-Ashbury to the sacred rituals of Hindu worshippers, Gedney was able to record the lives of others with remarkable clarity and poignancy. These photographs, along with his notebooks and writings, illuminate the rare vision of an intensely private man who, as a writer and photographer, was able to reveal the lives of others with striking sensitivity. Included here are selections from Gedney's finished prints, work prints, contact sheets, notes, notebooks, handmade photographic books, book dummies, and correspondence.

After digging the underground world of photographer, let's discover some iconic pictures with the Pulitzer Prize section of the Interactive Museum of News (you can also wander in this site to discover tons of amazing stuff). Commented pictures by the photographers are the core of this website. Want some more? Head to the 100 photographs that changed the World by Life Magazine. This allow me to talk about The Digital Journalist, one of the best on-line magazine on photography. Subscribe to their RSS feed to stay tuned on the last trend in digital photography world!

Merry Christmas!

Title quotes Horace Walpole

Modern way of fishing?

2006-12-03T11:53:00.000+01:00

I took this picture in Central Park, two years ago. This bird was quite funny because he was acting like he was surpervising the fisherman. I did not stay enough to know if the fishing was good!

Child labour

2006-12-01T07:53:00.000+01:00

This kid is amongst the workers currently doing a new park in my neighborhood.
Is it close enough for you James ? ;)

Childhood

2006-11-25T17:47:00.000+01:00

Fès, Maroco.

I discovered Maroco as my parents moved on there last year. This is in a traditional market.

The other face of Guadeloupe

2006-11-22T22:28:00.000+01:00

August 2006, Pointe-à-Pitre suburbs.

In 2006, over 200,000 families live in slums, without water and electricity in French overseas regions.

The need for social housing is considerable, because of high rates of unemployment (30 % in average, over 60% in "ZUS" districts) and poverty (high number of recipients of welfare incomes, e.g.10 % of the national total) and the fast demographic growth in this area (which requires an important offer of new housing), because there are much more unsanitary and decrepit housing than in the Hexagon (the French “continent”), because of important natural risks (tropical storms, earthquakes, floods...), because of a GDP per capita three times lower than the national average.

Digital noise

2006-11-16T19:44:00.000+01:00

That's what you get when you push a digital cam (check the noise in full view)
Shot from Meknes, Maroco.

Nighty night!

2006-11-15T16:16:00.000+01:00

Sunset in Paris

2006-11-15T15:20:00.000+01:00

Just a nice sunset in Paris....no other word needed....

Sacré Coeur

2006-11-15T15:02:00.000+01:00

It's always a delight to see the crowd and to hear this strange noise in front of Sacre Coeur...

This is...LIFE!

The Huntchback of Notre Dame

2006-11-15T14:38:00.000+01:00

Living square

2006-11-15T12:10:00.000+01:00

A rainwater tank in front of their house - a cool square to climb on.

New Feature: Post categories!

2006-11-13T01:34:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!

There is a new feature on Photocontacts: a "Post Categories" list on the sidebar. Choose your subject and browse Photocontacts content more easily.

The header photo contest is still running but I have not received any submission yet. Go ahead, send me your best "Photocontacts" pic!

Approaching People

2006-11-08T11:14:00.000+01:00

A few of you have mentioned how difficult it is to approach people you are photographing, so maybe we could discuss that here.

If you are concentrating on a particular group of people, then it's a good idea to spend some time getting to know them before you actually start taking photos. Walk around with your camera so they get used to seeing you with it but forget the photography for a few days. Meet people, get talking to them and tell them what your interested in doing. Carry some of your photos around with you to show them. Get to know the important figures in the community - people who the others respect or look up to. For an example of this, have a look at Jan Grarup's podcast of his work on the Roma community in Slovakia. If there are NGOs or charities working in the area, get in touch and try to get involved in what they're doing. I'm thinking particularly of Sebastien and Sarah's situation here.
You can use telephoto or big zoom lenses to get closer, but these are often more conspicuous and feel more "threatening" to the people you're photographing. The first photo was taken with a small (90mm) telephoto which is a good compromise. With a wide-angle lens you have to get up-close; so close that people in the foreground probably won't even realize that they're in the picture. The second photo was taken with a 35mm lens in a minibus. In situations where focussing is difficult, you can always preset the lens by using the depth of field ( dof ) settings marked on it. Choose a small aperture which will give you a good dof covering the appropriate distance then all you have to do is click at the right moment. The third photo was taken with a 28mm lens which I had preset to hyperfocal distance.

Saxaphone Nation

2006-11-06T23:01:00.000+01:00

I like the RER station at Nation. It is dark and grimey and yet full of colour. I saw this saxaphonist the other day on the way to college.

A website: PBase

2006-11-04T23:27:00.000+01:00

A website about photography

PBase allows everyone in the world to post and share photos. This site hosts some amazing, wonderful, stricking shots (like this one, by Manuel Libres Librodo)
There are millions of pictures there, it is easy to get lost for hours. Personally, I don't mind! One way to discover it is to have a look at the "popular galleries", over different periods (7 days, 90 days, all time) .
I would invite you to have a look at these galleries, they are really worth it. But I am sure the cold and rainy/snowy days of the next few months will be a good reason to stay in front of your computer screen.

PS for those who left ENPC some year(s) ago (...Pierre?): there is now in "our magnificent school" an "official" newspaper, Le Canard des Chaussées. I would like to create/add a heading dedicated to photography (photographers, exhibitions, sites, etc...). It would be an interesting complement to "cinema", "cook" and "sudoku"...

Italy, Part One

2006-11-02T22:27:00.000+01:00

Remember Rome...
This is my first post here...so I would like to share with you a photo taken last year in Italy, this country I'll never forget. B&W, some grain, enough to get an "old times" atmosphere...Rome, the Eternal City.

About me: some of you already know me, some don't. Some have forgotten me, some will...
I am a student from ENPC, currently in internship ("stage long") for one year in Guadeloupe (urban restoration of Pointe-à-Pitre). I will post some pictures here (different ones, different styles...because I don't have MY style). Two subjects: Italy (gallery) and Guadeloupe (reportage on living conditions...work currently in process!) Two hopes: making you discover some parts of our world and getting advices/critics/comments (and why not improve my English!)...Thanks! And thanks for this site, it is a great idea indeed!

Chris Killip - The Man from the Isle of Man

2006-11-02T10:08:00.000+01:00

Chris Killip is one of the leading names in British photography. He is famous for his portraits taken in the north east of England & the Isle of Man where he was born. If you'd like to see more of his work, a good place to start is a book published by Phaidon in their 55 series which is, as they say, available in all good bookshops for about 8€.

Major Changes

2006-11-01T22:44:00.000+01:00

As you may have noticed, Photocontacts is undergoing major changes. As I learn more and more about CSS and coding tricks, I'm able to implement better graphic interface.

I need your opinion on everything: What do you think of the colors? What about the expandable menus? .. etc. Please post your comments, observations, ideas, griefs ... This blog is yours! I design the blog for Firefox, please let me know if you experience some troubles with your prefered browser.

I also need a better header. So, I'm throwing a little game: submit your best pictures related to "Photocontacts". The best one will proudly stand as our official logo and title.The only requirements is that it fit (cropped or not) in the header template.

Good luck! And I'm waiting for your comments and your work!

Google Photography

2006-11-01T21:37:00.000+01:00

A quick post about the not-so-new craze on Google Maps mash-ups.

Some says that Google is frantically trying to own the world. I would rather point the fact that before them, nobody had ever managed to unleash the ever-renewable power of the "community". Google Maps mash-ups are just the next step in community-driven web apps, with a truly simple concept: embedding all kinds of information on a map in a graphical fashion.

Now, imagine you can browse photographs according to their geographical location .... Stop dreaming! Earth Album is now a reality.

Built as a bond between Google Map and Flickr - the well known web photo-community - the new version of Earth Album allows you to browse Youtube video too!

Simply unmissable!

You are interesting by Google Map mash-ups? Have a look at Google Map Mania

The power of abstract

2006-10-31T04:00:00.000+01:00

Those who are not afraid of breaking their beloved camera should consider trying the camera tossing technique. It's very simple: just throw your camera!

Some artists use this technique to draw pattern in space using single light source. This is a clear exemple of why physics can be (sometimes) beautiful ....

JPG Magazine (a great community-driven photo website and paper magazine you should visit just right now if you don't know it yet!) has an article about camera tossing in its sixth issue. So, don't be afraid, be hip, play a role in the next vanguard, toss your camera!

If you need further information, you can find hereafter some links to the camera toss world:

Camera Toss: The Blog
Physiograms, close relatives to camera toss pictures
Kinetic Photography, Ryan Gallagher's website - on the forefront of camera toss craze.

Photo credits: offstage4

Oh Lebanon

2006-10-28T17:19:00.000+02:00

As half of me is Lebanese i wanted to share pictures of that country i love so much, for it's a wonderful place, a little paradise on earth, at least for me... hope one day i'll see you there...

Right: Afkqa, an old "grotte" in the mountain. it's the sourse of the Adonis river.
Down: Afkqa

Faqra: an old phenicien site from the classical periode (greco- roman), in the mountain

Tyr or Sor, in South Lebanon, one of the wonderful places that has been touched by the war...

Enjoy, anne-lise

People from Roumania

2006-10-28T14:02:00.000+02:00

Hi, I'm Melanie, a student from ENPC.

These pictures were taken in Romania, about two years ago. Most of those people didn't see that I was taking pictures of them. When some of them realized it, they looked at me suspiciously but I tried as much as possible to show them that I respect their lifes.

I like the look on their faces, it represents what I felt about Romania : when I was there, it seemed to me it was a country waiting something to begin a new life... let's hope Europe will bring them what they are waiting for.

Workers

2006-10-28T12:08:00.000+02:00

Bangalore typical houses remind me a pastiche of Mondrian's composition.
Sometimes it feels like coming on the screen of this basic camera.

Mois de la Photo

2006-10-26T18:18:00.000+02:00

Réponses Photo magazine has just brought out its 3rd special issue entitled "Ou va la photo?". In it there is a very clear guide to the forthcoming "month of photography". The picture I've chosen to illustrate this is from Nina Korhonen's exhibition at the Centre Culturel Suédois entitled - " Ma mémé americaine".

chicken fly children die

2006-10-24T14:55:00.000+02:00

Don't park here... yet.

2006-10-23T18:01:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone. Do you know there is a free Doisneau exposure in the Hotel de Ville at Paris? Don't worry, it will finish in February.

The photo was taken at Marseille.

Memories

2006-10-23T03:12:00.000+02:00

It takes me a while to post a picture on this blog but it's all Photoshop's fault!

I fight with the script function to built a small plug-in that allow me to create a contact sheet the way I want.

Not very difficult but it can be very tricky when you're not an expert in JavaScript for PS!!! If anyone need some help on scripting or if you wonder what plug-in you really need to get top-notch pictures, ask me, I might be able to help you!

Anyway, last but not least, I post this serie of pictures taken during my stay in the US. A work on time-shifts and memories.

I took them with my old digital cam from Hoboken, New Jersey, right across Manhattan island. I usually took them on my way to or back from my work.

Exhibition in Noisiel

2006-10-22T13:36:00.000+02:00

The 11th "Rencontres photographiques de Noisiel" will take place from the 6th-30th November.

Rencontres photo de Noisiel

More of Gaël Turpo's work can be seen at the following websites:

gaël turpo

gaël turpo2

Let's go to China!!!

2006-10-20T09:48:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone!

A typical Chinese garden...so beautiful!

Mr Cox, if you want, I will change it "black & white"...

but with colors, it is sometimes more alive...

I promise to take photos for the class.

Pupil and rainwater tank

2006-10-19T14:14:00.000+02:00

I see beatiful colours and pictures here in India. I will try to catch some of them and share with you.

Kingsley's Crossing by Olivier Jobard

2006-10-19T10:00:00.000+02:00

Click Here

One of the most acclaimed exhibitions at the Rencontres d'arles photography festival this year was one by Olivier Jobard a French photojournalist entitled "The Hard Way, The Only Way". In it he documented the journey from Cameroon to France of an illegal immigrant called Kingsley. Thanks to Pierre Mainguet who recently emailed me the link to this site.

Let's start then

2006-10-18T22:13:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone!
I am Adrien, from the second group (the one who doesn't talk a lot). It seems that someone has to be the first to post here, so let's start with a basical photo. I take a lot of buildings or ruins photos, so I guess you'll see more of these in a few days.
This one was taken last summer at Fes, Maroco.

I'll be waiting for your comments and for your own shots as soon as posible.

Jumping In

2006-10-16T18:35:00.000+02:00

If you are new to blogging then don't be afraid to jump in and have a go. With Blogger you can post both photos & text. You can upload your best photos and wait for comments from the other students or maybe you're just looking for advice on how to improve your photography. You can also write a short review of an exhibition you've seen or let us know about a photographic event in the area. The more people participate the more interesting & informative it will be.

PS. The photo was taken in Saint Germain-en-laye at a bungee jumping festival.