Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Two Magnum photographers


Shadowed, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I have read three fourths of the book "Magnum Magnum", which contains some great photography (and perhaps also something not so great).

One of the connections I made from the book was Bruce Gilden, of whom I had heard previously, but whom I hadn't understood to belong to the Magnum organization. The Online Photographer recently brought up (once again) an excellent video about Gilden's street photography technique, really something to see. The Magnum book pales in comparison to this video, although the printing of the photos is excellent. Somehow Gilden fits the Youtube better than a pompous book.

Another interesting photographer was Hiroji Kubota, who according to the book made a 1000 day long photography visit to China, shooting over 200,000 photos in all.

I have been shooting 200 photos a day also, so there is a connection. But of course my photos don't aspire to such massive works as the Magnum photographers.

However, this started me to think of a possible project to do: 1000 days of Finnish environment and life, 200 photos per day. Would that be feasible? Would that have any point at all?

One thing which I have noticed is that there is a lot of published photography in Finland, but it doesn't really cover the everyday and the ordinary. So, there probably would be some meaning in such a project. But I'm not going to launch such a thing without thinking about it in earnest.

The photo here was taken today, one of the rare sunny days this winter. And of course I wanted to catch the shadows, which haven't been visible in daytime.

2 comments:

Andreas said...

Oh yes, I know this longing for the sun! This year I'm happy and priviledged, but I remember 2005/2006: How I craved for a tiny bit of color.

Gilden is incredible. Obviously he annoys some Americans as hell, especially those from conservative, rural parts; obviously he is intrusive and rude, obviously there is arrogance in his behaviour even if not in his mind, but: Goodness, this man has big balls :)

I didn't know Kubota. Actually it always amazes me how much I don't know. But anyway, have a look at #28! Oh dear, that's great work.

Juha Haataja said...

Gilden divides opinions, that is for sure, giving raise to all kinds of discussions on "what if someone is a jerk but produces masterworks?" (I don't know anything about the person so can't comment.) But the works are really something.

And in many other areas the great ones weren't so nice either (Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, ...). Sharp elbows may have been an element of greatness, at least in some cases.