New Feature - In Between Rains, Vancouver
 Construction site of the Olympic Villages for the 2010 Winter Olympics
I've recently edited images I photographed in Vancouver for the past three years, which I'm showcasing them in the portfolio section entitled 'In Between Rains, Vancouver'. As the title reflects most of the shots were captured in between rains, which rarely occurred there.
I moved to Vancouver with my family in 2005 after failed attempt to have immigration status granted by the US, which I lived between 1993 - 2005. Not knowing so much about the city I relied on family friend's experience at first. But it turned out to be quite a contrary than what I sensed since her social life does not really extend beyond Chinese communities. So I started to wondering around the street trying to understand more about the city which eventually became a series which I worked on unintentionally.
I guess for many tourist the impression they perceive of Vancouver is a city surrounded by beautiful scenery and lots of outdoor activities. Though it is not quite the case since many of the tourists came to the city in the summer, which is the only time of year the city received a clear weather. Like Seattle Vancouver is under the grey sky for the most part and the weather affects many of the residents' emotion. It is a culturally well integrated city yet at the same time there's a distinct social divide between communities. It has voted as the most liveable city on the planet yet the sudden increase of housing price has driving a lot of people out. Then there The Rockies which separates Vancouver from rest of Canada and acts as both physical and psychological barrier. The barrier provides a sense of isolation that reflects on the city and its residents.
It is a city with lots of contradictions. Yet this is what made Vancouver so intriguing.....and depressing. Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Leaving Vancouver.....
 View from my balcony onto downtown Toronto.
It was a decision that was made about a year ago when I attended the workshop here in Toronto. Though couldn't materialize until about a month ago after worked countless overtime on a half decent job that gave me enough saving to be here.
Several reasons why I decide to come here instead of staying in Vancouver. Top them all would be cost of living. I've lived quite a few places in the past 20 years and I have never seen commodity and housing prices as high as Vancouver. Of course one could argue that it is on the cheap side compare to cities like Tokyo or London. But then I would never consider to settle in those two cities since I'm not Japanese and I have no interest to settle in Europe. Then there's the fact which high cost of living in those two cities were compensated by high wages which in some way balanced out itself, even it's just barely. It is not really the case in Vancouver which wages could not catch up with cost. Take my friend's case for example she made about $30,000 a year but a studio apartment already swallowed half of her income annually. Then there is the grocery which cost 2-3 times as much compare to Toronto. Add all these up and put tax deduction into the consideration then you get a general picture of how difficult it is to live in Vancouver, specially for people who'd like to start a career or a family.
Of course there's other factors I decide to move to Toronto like lack of support for the arts, weather, attitude issues with the locals.....etc. But then they're just personal opinions for the most part and I'm pretty sure if you're coming from different neighbourhood in Vancouver experiences are not the same. But most importantly is that I'm not the resident there anymore so I won't have to deal with these issues on every day basis. Which means I'll leave all these behind and starts a fresh new life herein Toronto. Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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An Unforgettable Tour
 On the BC interior for a job and it won't be days before I'll get back to the city. Frankly, I'm not really feel like doing this.....specially going back to towns where I had quite unpleasant trip last time make this job a bit more on the mix side.
My In-law parents came visit little over a month ago for about ten days and had to showed them around the city here in Vancouver and Victoria and later followed them to the Rocky mountains and parts of BC interior with the tour. It was a brutal 10 days as we were rushed from Victoria, BC to Calgary, AB at their request due to the fact that they are a bit more demanding than normal parents. This is more or less because they're working for the government in South Korea(Thank god its South....) and because they spent so much time on their jobs the attitude sort of carried over onto their private lives. In some occasions you can clear feel that they were acting like state officials visiting foreign country rather than seeing their daughter. They're constantly harassing their daughter for being fat(not true.....) and they were very ignorant toward local custom. But what irritates me the most is that fact that they were kept on telling their fellow Koreans while we were on the tour that they're government officials in order to gain some respect....which no one cares.
As chaotic as it was, I did learned a thing or two out of this trip. First, I really do feel that The Rockys separates BC from rest of Canada psychologically if not physically. Which explain why Vancouver feel so different than all the other Canadian cities I visited. Then there's whole reminder of why I prefer driving by myself rather than join the tour. But the most important thing is after watching my parents in-law it serve as reminder for me and my wife not to become them.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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The Shootout......
 About threes years ago when I started to work with this commercial photography company specialize in grad photos they were experimenting an event by inviting few selected customers to pose as models for staff photographers who interesting in shooting them. An event was based out of an incident prior to my employment which saw a major dispute between the employer and the photogs and this is part of the initiative to try to smooth relationship between photographers and the employer. Since then it became a ritual which staff photographers gather every year and snap their shutters away like there is no tomorrow in order to strengthen their portfolios.
Since my interest of photography is not in the area of fashion or commercial so I was not so much excited about dedicate myself entirely to this event. However, curiosity drew me to be present every year as an observer......and eventually picked up my own camera and snapped a few photos.
This year I was rather uninterested in shooting models so I began focusing on the progression of the event and photographers. Much like documenting a fashion show or a fashion shoot. Naturally this is something the company is unlikely to use because the style of photography is not what they are promoting. Then again, I was not commercial photographer to begin with.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Happy Chinese New Year, Politician Style
It's a common sense that celebrities and politicians like to get attention - Whether their intention is to send a message or just simply attracting potential support. When in public, they will perform pretty much every act they can think of or pull off shamelessly to get the message across.......
I was photographing the Chinese New Year Parade few days back as part of the personal project documenting Chinatown. While I was shooting I spot Premier of BC sneaked up on the third group which is ready to start marching. Immediately dozens of cameras started to show up in front of the group and snapping away like mad dog. This puts the parade to a temporary halt for few minutes while a cop along with volunteers from the organizing committee trying to push the "unexpected crowds" to the roadside. Then the premier done something which is quite comical to me while cops and volunteers trying to chasing away the snappers - he started to greeting and waving at spectators on all directions, even though majority of the crowds couldn't even spot him. By then it was clear he was putting on a show to the media.......
By the way, I'm not writing this because I despise him or his party, I just thought it's a interesting story to tell because it's funny and ironic at the same time.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Seasons Greeting
 When I moved here 3 years ago people were telling me how beautiful the weather is in Vancouver....then the fall came and it was pissing rain till spring. Then 2 years ago it started to snow hard towards the winter, which came into shock to the locals but not so much for me because the geographical location of the city means we could not immune from the bitter cold winter when the arctic wind found its way to crash on us.
And this year is even more dramatic. It was very mild up to mid December then all of the sudden it became extremely cold....then the usual non-stop pissing rain that the locals accommodate to became a non-stop snow(as of now, 70cm of snow covering metro Vancouver) for about a week. In short, the unfamiliar weather just made the entire metro area a chaos.
But the good thing is that I was able to get enough snow to make a snowman......
Anyway, to people who visit this blog, friends and strangers alike, I wish you all a very happy holiday.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Fashion With Voice
 About two weeks ago I was browsing around events in town trying to photograph something unfamiliar to me........kind of giving myself a break after months of wondering through Vancouver's Chinatown. Then I received the email about a political fashion show called SCRAP organized by Kalayaan Center, a non-profit organization with it's purpose of serving the Filipino community here in Vancouver. So I placed a call for access........and days later there I was.
To understand the motive behind the SCRAP fashion show there is some background needs to be learned. Every year there's a significant amount of immigrants from the Philippines to Canada either through marriage catalogue, employment program or other means. With large portion of them women they are subject to abuse through workplace or in domestic settings. With this fashion show which using ordinary women with customs that has messages tailor to them the organizer hope bring the awareness to the public.
My original intent was using this event as a warm up for the bigger and purely commercial Vancouver Fashion Week which was happening last week but then, as happened so many times in the past, busy schedule with my day job just killed my personal plan. And there is also a lost of interest of photographing a commercial fashion show after done this one because of its uniqueness.
That being said, cat walk with tall blonde beautiful models on the stage for commercial and entertainment purposes was never really my thing I guess.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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And The Result........
 After a long and agony wait, the result are finally decided by the people down south....... and as expected Obama won the presidency. Honestly, with millions of people hoping for the change after 8 years of mess Bush had brought to the world, it's about time to have a fresh start.....
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Political Event, Chinatown Style
Guests at Political lunch event at Chinese restaurant during the National Day of Republic of China(Taiwan) celebration.
Since May this year I was working on the personal project documenting Chinatown and one thing led to another I began to get in contact with some of the old , semi-political organizations that have long history with the community. Then about a week ago I was photographing the political event which marks the national day of Taiwan - or Republic of China, the island's official name.
To understand why these people celebrating the holiday that is only marked in the calender in Taiwan there's a bit history lesson to be learned.........To put it simple, this so called National Day which is on Oct. 10th was celebrated in China before 1949 prior to the People's Republic. Then The Chinese Nationalist lost the civil war and retreated to Taiwan so the National Day on Oct. 10th is only celebrated on the territory that Nationalist controls. However for the oversea Chinese organizations, specially the old ones that are locate in Chinatowns, are still supporting the Nationalist so naturally they're celebrating ROC's National day as well.
So what do I make of this? Well, I personally felt like I went into an living antique shop when I attending the event not only because of age group of the attendees but also the propaganda - may it be the slogan they shouted during the event or the text on the wall. All these remind me of my elementary school times in taiwan 20 years back.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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The Travelling Eye
 Four of my images from 'Winter Tale, Korea' series were selected for the group exhibition 'The Travelling Eye' at Exposure Gallery here in Vancouver. The openning is tonight(Oct. 17th) at 8pm. Come and see the show for which not only I but my colleague Geoff Wallang's work was also been selected for this exhibition.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Nachtwey and Towell
 The image on the left is photographed by James Nachtwey in Swaziland, part of a project he worked on in the past year on XDR-TB. The image on the right is by Larry Towell, my mentor during the Magnum Workshop Toronto and a well known Canadian photographer from Magnum.
James Nachtwey, a veteran war photographer received TED Prize of $100,000 USD which he utilize the fund for the project about XDR-TB, the mutated form of TB which is very resistant to drugs and is becoming a major health crisis on parts of the world. At the time of receiving the award he was telling the audience that was "working on a story the world need to know about" then he disappeared for the next 18 months. Then few days before October 3rd, which was the schedule date to break the story there's a huge press release to remind us about the event. This prompt some heated debate on morality of Nachtwey's strategy of bringing the attetion to the masses about the issue.
While the fuzz and focus was on Nachtwey's story my attention was turned to my former colleague Jeff Ladd's photography book review blog 5B4. He posted a review on my mentor Larry Towell's latest book The World from My Front Porch, which he spent nearly 20 years photographing his own family. At the book launch which is during the workshop Larry gave his reason why he started pointing his camera to his own family and was plain simple - he was unemployed(think part of it was a joke). But instead of a global crisis which you need a megaphone to announce to the world it was just a small event with live performance by Larry himself(Yes, he sings and I even have his CD). The book by the way is very compelling and I could say this would be an ultimate family photo album.
So whyt do I presenting a two very distinct work? well, honestly I was somewhat reserve about Nachtwey's strategy of bringing the issue to the masses. True, this is a issue that needs a grave attention but by holding back the story till certain date like product launch makes photographer vulnerable to criticism and ultimately play down the real issue.
And there's also a shift of the kind of story that appeal to me....part of the reason why I brought Larry Towell's work and drew the comparison.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Cyber Temptation
 My wife Ju-Won surfing the internet at home.
Last week I had a chance listened to a radio documentary downloaded from BBC about computer addiction issues in South Korea. This is something not only limited to the South Korea but other Asian countries as well. However, in a country which a good on-line gamer can become a celebrity and been sponsored by conglomerate firms with TV channels dedicate to on-line gaming competition it is hard for outsiders not to scrutinize the phenomenon with microscope.
There is a lot to explain why Koreans are so craze over the on-line gaming, which ranging from stress relief to high cost of console gaming to even self confidence issues. But what really concerns me is the fact that in a country which people are eager to show off their strength and shook off their turbulent past are often become more vulnerable to the kind of marketing that is associate with national pride but not necessarily good for the people.
Take on-line gaming for an example. Gaming along with push for more use of computer products was originally promoted by the government in South Korea started in the 1990s when the country became the major peripheral exporter. It's intention is to transform the country into a high tech nation which everything is digitized. Now the very same agency which did the promotion are now setting up treatment centers for people who suffer from cyber addiction.
This should send a warning signals to everyone - The use of commercialism to promote national pride is an effective tool but can become very destructive when things gone wrong - Cyber craze in South Korea offers a good example.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Same Youth, World Apart
 Few days ago a friend of mine Lucas Mulder wrote a piece about poverty in Guatemala on his blog 100CM [METRE] and his personal encounter with teens trying to make ends meet so that he and his family can survive the other day. All the startling reminder of dire need to eliminate poverty.
Interestingly, On the other end of the world I've been working on this day job of photographing the would be high school grads. A pretty high tempo job which you have deal with kids who grew up in the environment that was very well protected........The ideal environment for raising kids I suppose but it does has draw backs. Kids who grew up here are demanding, they think they deserve everything and most of all they often have no regard to others.......and these characteristics became more apparent when they are in front of the camera.
So for the last couple days while I was dealing with these kids, I often thought about that kid Lucas encountered in Guatemala......what would he thinks if he sees what I see?
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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A little circle of friends.......
At My old colleage friend's apartment in Surrey, BC. The one on the background is my wife Christine.
Takako, My old College friend and Christine moved to Vancouver within two years after I settled here. Though the motive to be here are a bit different. Christine moved here because....well....I'm here. But Takako settled here mainly because she wasn't able to secure a permanent residence in the U.S. after spending about 10 years working and studying, and Canadian citizenship became a next best option for her.
Regardless of the intention for resettlement one thing they share about their experiences in Vancouver is that they can't wait to get out of this place. This is something I'm hearing more and more from people of around my age both immigrants and natives alike. The grim fact is that Vancouver is becoming one of the most expensive city to live in North America but at the same time salaries for average people living Vancouver has not risen in the past seven years other than few sectors. This caused a great stress for young people who want to start a life here and many of them end up leaving the place for good. Oh, and the rainy weather seems to make a already stressful life even grimmer......like salt on the injury.
So with Takako's case she was lucky enough to find a somewhat decent job recently after worked in a Japanese owned firm with shitty pay. But as for me and my wife we decide to leave this place as early as next year. The reason? This place is simply not a place for photography.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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O Canada x 14........
 For people who work in the the grad photo sector June is usually a very busy time since pretty much every school on the face of the planet are holding ceremonies for youngsters who are ready to move on to the next stage of their lives. And since I happened to work at one of the grad studio as the day job I was part of this June madness as well......
From the beginning of June I was pretty much on location or out of town mostly photographing ceremonies, with bulk of them university grads. Strangely enough I always end up in Victoria, BC shooting the ceremonies there. Of course it was not a bad place to be and since the city has one of oldest Chinatown in Canada this means I can use my spare times working on my personal project, which is about Chinatown around the world. But then after spent almost two weeks of the entire month in Victoria and sit through the same ceremonies eight times.....it started to get repetitive......
But on the brighter side after having listen through national anthem of Canada for about 14 times I think I don't have worry about failing the citizenship exam on that part......
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Migration
For years I was using a bad French phrase as my domain address because I thought it was different(was studying French at the time, which I failed miserably). But then I moved to Canada and had a chance to travel to Europe this domain printed on my business card started to taken toll on me slowly as I encounter more and more French. I did thought about having a domain name change few month after I register the site but because the process was quite complicated so I decide to put on hold....without even realizing that I end up having this monster which was even more difficult to rebuild.
Anyway, Starting from today I will be slowly but painfully migrating contents from the current site to the new one. The web address for the new site will be http://www.benhuangphotos.com. Hopefully the new site will be up and running in the complete form by the end of this week. In the meantime when you visit this site in the near future you will also be redirected automatically to that of new one. Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Four Days Vitoria, One Week Toronto, and Exhibition Here and There
It's been a very intensive two weeks which I've been travel out of town for very two different purposes. Between Late april and early May I was on the job at Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia, for about 4 days. Then I have to rush back to Vancouver to attend an opening of a show which exhibit some of my work at Exposure Gallery (I mentioned on earlier post). Days later, I was in Toronto attend a photography workshop organized by CONTACT and Magnum Photos.
The job in Victoria was not so much of the exciting ones. It's a typical job if you involved in school photography - Just go there and taking picture of people's faces. Though off the job I did spend sometime wondering around town trying to get the sense of the city. I have to say having spend two years living in Vancouver, Victoria is a eye re-freshener for me. The first thing you noticed about Victoria is that older buildings, regardless of residential, commercial or historical buildings are well maintained by the locals - something you can find less in Vancouver these days. Then as you get in contact with locals you started to notice a mellow less self centered attitude across them. So in the end not a most exciting trip ever but did have a moment of pleasure here and there.
As for the opening of the show at Exposure Gallery, since I already mentioned on the earlier post so I won't elaborate details here. But prior to the show I invited some of my friends and co-workers for the opening and in the end only one showed up - Yes, ONE - and I missed her because after stayed in the gallery for about an hour I just have to go partly a little upset on people's lack of commitment but also the fact that there's way too many people in the gallery and I just need to get some fresh air outside after few drinks.
Anyway, days later I was on the plane to Toronto for Magnum workshop. I have to say up to the first day of the workshop I was quite nervous about this event because first I wasn't sure my tuition payment got through or not since I paid on the last minute. Then there's uncertainty of what would people think of my work especially from my group instructor Larry Towell, who is among one of my most respected photographer from Magnum. But after the first day of the workshop all doubts were out - I received a positive feedback from people in the workshop on the project I did on the theme parks, including Larry himself. The following four days after the first day of the workshop was just intensive shooting and critic session which I produced some of best images in months and was fortunate enough to be nominated for the Scotia Bank Prize - The award designed for outstanding student from the workshop.
By the way, this workshop also gave me a chance to spark a new idea for the next project I want to work on for sometime. I'll try to post them on the website when it is ready.
One more thing before I go, photographs I produced during the workshop will be part of group exhibition at CONTACT gallery in Toronto until Jun 10th or longer. So if you're in the area and an interested in photography pleas do go and check it out.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Group Show At Exposure Gallery
I've been fortunate to have my works selected for the upcoming group show at Exposure Gallery in Vancouver. It's a gallery which the curator selected a theme in about once every two months to its members and have members submit their photographic work based on that theme. The upcoming group show is "Street" and three of my photographs were selected for this show.
The Opening night is on May 2nd at 8pm and the show will run from May 2nd to May 18th. Please do come and enjoy the show if you live in Vancouver or near by area.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Burt Glinn 1925-2008
Burt Glinn, One of the first American photographers joined Magnum Photos passed away on the early morning of April 9th, 2008.
Below is his short bio derived from Magnum Blog:
"Versatile and technically brilliant, Glinn was one of Magnum's great corporate and advertising photographers. He had received numerous awards for his editorial and commercial photography, including the Best Book of Photographic Reporting from Abroad from the Overseas Press Club and the Best Print Ad of the Year from the Art Directors Club of New York. Glinn has served as president of the American Society of Media Photographers. He was president of Magnum between 1972 and 1975, and was re-elected to the post in 1987." Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Philip Jones Griffiths 1936-2008
Yet another veteran photojournalist passed away, and this time it is the one I respect the most. Philip Jones Griffiths, a veteran war photographer who made his fame capturing the brutality during the Vietnam War passed away on 18th of March, 2008 after years of struggle with cancer. His compelling images which later became a well-known book Vietnam Inc. challenge the attitude towards the war in the US. His images and his book had profound influence on me in storytelling with photographs and helped me to be a better photo narrator. But what's more important is that his book Vietnam Inc. left a lasting legacy even today because if you look at the words in the book and compare to the situation in Iraq you'll find a close resemblance as to the philosophical approach between the two.
My condolences goes to Philip, his close ones and friends at Magnum Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Embracing Obstacles
About two weeks ago I had a chance through my colleague at work place to photograph a wedding. Though it was a freebie because the client only wish for video service which my colleague does, it gave me a chance to have some wedding photographs of my own to show potential clients in the future. But photographs aside, through this wedding I was finally able to embrace an obstacle I had on photographing weddings. Something I had purposely avoid for years. Back in the days when I began to study photography my very first job was assisting a photographer who owns a wedding studio in Southern California. It was mentally and psychically draining job because this particular studio serve mostly Chinese weddings(To gave you some idea Chinese/Taiwanese weddings usually runs about 8-10 hours because there're more ceremonies to go through), which means we usually spent the entire day running around places and by the time it was over it's almost mid-night. Salary was pathetic for the obvious fact that I was on student visa and they can't really hire me. Adding to the matter worse the boss is a very short-tempered man and for a smallest mistake he would yelled at you for hours(Only years later I heard through family that he suffered from depression, which explained his temper). Finally after little over than three months it was too much for me to take so I resigned.
Years after I left this studio I had several people asked me if I photograph weddings, especially here in Vancouver. But I always trying to avoid doing weddings for the unpleasant experience I had back in the US(even though I've done something more stressful in the past six years). It was not until sometime ago I began to play around with the idea again because wedding photography is quiet a significant sector in Vancouver. In addition I was trying to incorporate wedding photography with my own style. But what's more important is that this time I'm not working under anyone so there won't be a boss yelling at me. And this led to the wedding I photographed two weeks ago.
The result? Well......you'll be the judge.....  Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Snow, Snow, On My Yard.....
It's a great view if you asked me.....
But still I wasn't really expecting this much snow on this part of Canada(Even though I'm living on the "Great White North").
Well, enough of the view.....time for snow shelving......@#%*#!...... Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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When Photographer Meets Would Be Educators.....
The photographer was applauded by the physical appearance of these potential young teachers.....
Well, not exactly.....but I was having a bit of trouble picturing these university grads teaching in elementary schools, which is the program allow them to do once they're complete. They're more conscious about their looks and they're very intimidating when it comes to communicating, which is somewhat common among people who work in this sector (my parents in law who work in the Ministry of Education in Korea share some of these characters, for example). But their physical appearance.....let's just put this way.....they're so damn hot!!! And they're not afraid to show off their bodies if I allowed them to.
This is when I wished I hadn't had my elementary school in Asia and wished these people are my teachers.....
But again, do I really want to? Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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From Vietnam to Paris
I'm sure everybody in the media would be frustrated by the constant exposure of entertainment news which by now filled our magazine stands, TVs and webs. This booming sector of news also generate battalions of paparazzis devote to capture images of celebrities in the most humiliating way in order to feed the hungry mass. Worst still with digital capture device widely available almost anyone can have a chance to get a picture of celebrities' ugly side(That is if you seen one).
A while ago I was watching a documentary on CBC talking about the phenomenon. Though I was aware of this long ago but watching how far down this sector had become just make me shook my head away. But what really hits me is the article published not so long ago by Telegraph that draws comparison of two photographs shot by the same photographer Nick Ut. The first photograph was captured in 1972 in Vietnam where Nick photographed a 9 yeas old Vietnamese girl striped naked running toward him after she got burned by napalm bombs. The second one was captured recently which crying Paris Hilton was sitting behind the police patrol car in LA. Both photographs marks his career as a photographer but at the same time symbolized the change in mass culture.
By the way, as if this is not chaotic enough an American cable network has been planning on airing a reality TV show in which photogs compete to get a 'money shot' of celebrities. This has been in production for sometime now and don't know(or don't wanna know?) if it is on air now..... Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Happy New Year(Sort Of)
2007 is something of nightmare for me. From diarrhea while working on the project in Florida to collapse of my agency..........It seems like nothing is going well with the life I'm trying to pursue. Though financially income grew steadily compare to 2006 thanks to the job I resent.
But just when you think it would be better on 2008 psychics gave you a shitty forecast: 2008 will be even worse than 2007. Seems like I'll embrace waves of troubles and disasters yet again for the coming months.
And I guess this is probably why I don't make new year resolution this year - knowing that things will not improve any time soon any resolution I make now will not be fulfilled. But I do have a one hope which i made a while ago - leaving the job I currently on and doing something I'm really passionate about and make a living out of it.
Well, guess I'll stop ranting over here and instead wish everyone a very happy new year. And may all the resolutions you make be fulfilled before 2009. Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Black Out
It's always suck to work during the holiday season, specially when there's not enough people working during this time and customers come like herds with variety of requests that overwhelm you. It would not be so much headache if it is something you feel passionate about. But when it's not then this will turn into your worst nightmare.
This is exactly what I was experiencing in the last two weeks - Photographing hundreds of potential grads from universities who decide to show up en masse with their family and friends and expecting me to take a good casual or group photo of them in 10 minutes. In the meantime we had very few people working through holidays but at the same time appointments were booked beyond the capacity of three photogs per shift. Yet, because this studio is having people crunch since October so they were having hard time even finding someone to relief us. I personally had to work through weekends without any day off for the past week. The amount of work in this studio during the holiday season was so enormous that some of photogs were murmuring about walkout during the job among themselves to prove their frustration.
But then just when we were about to reach the boiling point a miracle happened. On Saturday night while we were photographing customers some car 10-15 blocks away hit the power grid which caused a section of the city blacked out. The damage to the grid was so extensive that it took 2-3 hours for BC Hydro to put the power back on, which forced us to close down the studio early......very early. To the eye of the owner, which was there at the time, this blows because he lost revenue for a day(that's all he sees). But to me at least I'm more than happy to sacrifice profit just for one night for some good rest.....which I haven't had one for a long while.
By the way, I have to photograph all day on Dec. 31st......which in the way ruined my new year's eve plan....thanks a lot.
Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Achromatic World Through My Glass
I've been known among my circle of friends for my color photographs. And it is true that most of works I've done over the years are in color. However, between assignments and projects I often photograph my surroundings in black and white and kept as visual journal of some sort. Gradually, these images of monochrome became a collection significant enough for me not to ignore and yet does not hold any editorial or commercial values. So after some thoughts I decide to share them here and let you see the other side of the world I see when I "off assignment"
Interesting enough though I tell you images were captured off assignment but when you're not leaving your camera behind are you really "off assignment"? Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Sub-Tropical Boy In The North Country.....
It has been little more than two years since I've been in Vancouver and though for the most part I've somewhat adopted the life here, there is still aspects of life which I still having hard time to cope with. Of all things I can't cope with living in Vancouver winter is perhaps on the top of the list......although its not the physical environment of the winter I despised.
Being lived in many part of the world from tropics to temperate climate I could say I'm very good at adopting weathers regardless of hot humid sun or snow(though my preferable weather has always been ones similar to San Francisco). To prove my point I spent last two winters under the snow both in Canada and South Korea and though its troublesome when it comes to commuting and shelving but I absolutely love the scenery. But I guess it's all the warm clothes wrapped around me or the cozy room temperature or something I always felt as if I entered into "hybernation mode" when winter hits. It gets worse further up north I go(well...duh....) even being busy working would not make my sleepy lazy head go away.
Anyway, according to weather tomorrow's going to snow........hope I'll be conscious enough to realize I wrote post this blog tonight. Labels: Notes and Thoughts, winter
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Boiling Point
Last week some of photogs met with our employer to discuss about current state of the studio. Issues like shooters pulled out to shoot on location which cause studio stretched thin and overbooking which sacrificed our break. As I sit and listen to my co-workers presented these problems I could not help to shake my head for the response from the employer. He just pulled out a data sheet and said everything worked out fine. Not only that he was accusing us for being slacking around when he comes down (On the note, he usually comes down around the time when we were not busy) and wants photogs not to come at same time for their shifts. He gave an example of the same rule implemented with CSRs at front counter which helped the productivity and most importantly happier employees. On that note, the example my employer was given at the front counter certainly did not convince me because if system worked perfectly fine why nearly half of the CSRs hired this summer left by now? And does he not know data does not often reflect reality? Anyway, the only good news came out of me in the mist of all these is that I've been promoted to be a supervisor(at short notice).....something that should happen but came in the time when most of the photogs including me are thinking about not coming back for the next season. Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Size Matters
 Not quiet my style of shooting but still can't get this out of my head...... Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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Crunch Time
For the last month or so the photography studio I'm working in faced a severe shortage in shooters doing on location. This comes when grad photo requests just reach to its climax and orders started to come in like madness so any shortage in hand would put a burden on all of us. It certainly does. The studio which I'm currently working is specialize in grad photos, which is one of few photography business that can actually make money in Vancouver. It divides its shooter into two teams during the grad photo season which is studio and on location. I've been hired for shooting studio for quite some time now and was never thought about shooting on location. But in the last few weeks most of shooters responsible for on location resigned en masse due to miscommunication in pay rate between management and photographers. Desperate to get the job done management started to pull shooters from studio team out for on location which put us in stretch as far as number of available shooters we can put in studio (just to give you an example for the last week studio was one shooter short because I was on location and supervisor had to cover the job of missing shooter while oversee the work flow). Then yesterday a supervisor was seriously ill while one shooter was pulled out for on location. The result? Me along with the rest of shooters in the morning sacrifice our lunch break and pushed it through till evening shift shooters came by and relief us. So what do I think of this? I think there need to be a clean up in the management because for the last year or so I have never seen a clear direction from them. But the worse of all the way management trying to squeeze its employees and talented people is just terrifying. For instance while studio in similar business in town offer competitive base rate for shooters this one still resisting on raise the base rate even to a dollar. Not to mention short while ago when we started to feel the stretch the management still think they can squeeze it though the rest of the season. Now you wonder why very few shooters stayed more than 3 years. Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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PDN Artiicle on Group M35
The long awaited article on the short lived Photographic Agency Group M35 is finally out on This month's issue of PDN(Photo district News). It is also a relief because for months I've hoped to have this account go public because for what Charles Clark, the man who started all, had done to my friend (and colleague at the time) Joeseph Symanski as well as other fellow photographers. And thanks to him my career path on photography is currently on a detour...... Many thanks to Daryl Lang of PDN for putting his time and effort for this. Link to the PDN article: http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003659389P.S. By the way, I think the photo published on the article captured my face(blury one on the left)....... Labels: Cahrles Clark, group m35, Notes and Thoughts, PDN, photography
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Reasons I Don't(Or Still Not) Sign Up For Facebook
Not quite saying I won't. But at this point I'm not in the mood of signing up for Facebook even though I received gazillion verbal recommandations and constant email invitation. Not to mention we've all seen this whole trend before with Myspace......so sooner or later people will move on to other social networking site. I remember back in the days when i first sign up for Friendster I thought this is a great way to connect old friends. But then Friendsters quickly fell apart when people discovered Myspace....which to my personal opinion is a great layout disaster. As much joke as it is Myspace was a huge success and was really popular among teens. Then facebook came along......started by a university student who had very simple intention - connecting friends. The rest is hisory. So will I sign up in the end? Possible. But I probably not going to put down anything other than my name and weblink for this site so I can redirect friends here since this is THE place where I'm active. Although part of me still want to stay away from social networking site so I can stay invisible to some of old friends. Labels: Facebook, Notes and Thoughts
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Obituary: Photojournalist Alexandra Boulat, 45
Lately there's a quiet a few well known photographer or people who had significant role played in the history of photography passed away. But on the symbolic level it represents an end of the era, whether you like it or not. However this one hits me particularly hard since she passed away at prime. An statement passed out on Oct. 05 to the public about photojournalist Alexandra Boulat from VII passed away in the hospital in France. She had suffered from brain aneurysm back in June while photographing in Gaza and never recovered after surgery. My condolences goes to Alexandra, her the family and her friends at VII Photos. Labels: alexandra boulat, Notes and Thoughts, Obituary
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The Routy Genereation
Like many people who chose photography as their career once in a while he/she take a detour just to make the ends meet or just out of curiosity. I for one took this job for both reason - photographing high school students who are about to graduate in months time. It's a seasonal job that pays OK but at the same time very demanding since in six hours time you have to shoot about 80-120 students.....meaning 5 minutes per student. Stressful job aside, observing these young customers coming for their photographs that representing a crucial part of their lives are entirely different matter. As expected when these teens coming for being photographed for their grduation purpose they would dress formally. But then some of the dress these teens wearing are just down right irritating(specially girls - big pink dress and tiara - princess wanna be). Then there's a whole phenomenon of just being teenagers - loud, routy, never take direction well, trashy talks, always left the mess behind and endless complaining - All signs of hermon still running high. These all take customer service as far as photographer's end to another level which is more or less between service and prenting. The most interesting with all thesse teenagers, however, is that they are reflecting a generation who grew up with the kind of pop culture in favour of glamour and self-destructive-like self expression(e.g. Hilton and Spears) which make all the ugly side of growing up as teenager much more visible. Adding to the problem most of the kids grew up here are from fairly well off family so in certain extend they are a bit spoiled. Watching these kids running around the studio chaotically I wonder: what's teens gonna be like generation to come? Labels: Notes and Thoughts, teens
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Madeline McCann's Case
Days before I returned back from France I was flipping channels in the hotel room in Paris. While most French channels were almost all focus on Rugby World Cup held in France this year the English Channels were almost focus on the news of a missing girl of the UK nationals disappeared in Portugal months back. The day when I was doing the channel flipping both CNN and BBC was doing live breaking news of the missing girl's parents flying back to UK from Portugal after being named as 'suspects' by the Portuguese police(though because they're not formally charged they can still travel freely). Later on at night BBC ran a talk show program which several editors were invited to talk about issues happened in the news. The missing girl's case, Madeline McCann, was one of the topic on the agenda. One of the editor thought the case has been sensationalized because of her background - a middle class white girl. She went on to say that there's stack of missing black girls' cases in or around London but rarely anyone talked about it. On that note I am in full agreement with that editor's comment. Major Medias(Primarily English speaking ones) is obsessing on Madeline's case while ignoring the fact that there are many more cases out there which are far worse than this but always buried in the news because they didn't grasp enough attention. In addition having devote so much air time just reporting on one missing girl's case major medias in the way pushed aside other more important reports which should be aired. By the way, Madeline's case only mentioned briefly in the French news. Labels: child abduction, media, Notes and Thoughts
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Perpignan
"Hey, you're back, how was France?" "Drink too much, smoke too much, and looking at way too many pictures of death and poverty." This is how I told friends and colleagues here in Vancouver when I got back from France attending Visa pour L'image in Perpignan. Though when I arrived the city I wasn't in the mood of having a good time, specially having my luggage(with portfolio inside) lost at airport in Paris. Not to mention it was Sunday when I arrived Perpignan and didn't realized most shops and buses don't work in France. So after 2 hours of wandering with inadequate map I gave up and called the taxi to the hotel. For the first few days when the festival kicked off I was mostly agonizing on how I get my work tobe seen without a portfolio and dying laptop which only contains low-res files. In the end I did showed someone and received a very constructive criticism out of it.....and by far the most constructive I ever received. The only regret is that my computer died before the Magnum photographers held a separate portfolio review during the festival. As happened every year the organizers present a slide show at Campo Santo every night for a week and after the show most professionals gathered at a bar called La Poste for a drink. This is where I met most of my Italian friends and man.....aren't they crazy.....but I really admire and respect their warm personality and their strong visual works. Of course La Poste is also the place to spot some of the established photogs and able to have few drink with them if 1. they ever show up in Perpignan and 2. if you don't live near where they live. To summed up.....a week in Perpignan for the Visa pour L'image is an very intense and overwhelming experience. But at the same time it's an experience that'll help you grow as a photojournalist because of the amount of information you obtain and amount of good photographs exhibited. On top of that, here is also a great place to extend your network of photo friends which you might need an assistance from or the other way around someday. Oh, and don't forget editors and agencies from around the world where you talked to too. By the way, I already decide I'm coming back next year(and making sure my portfolio is with me) and because next year is the 20th anniversary I expect things going to be quite interesting. Labels: Notes and Thoughts, perpignan, Visa pour L'image
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Airport Fiasco: YVR -> DUS -> CDG
"Honey, have a safe trip, and be sure to call back home when you get there, ok?" "Sure thing" This is the last verbal contact when I left Vancouver on August 31st with my wife. What happened in the next 10 days was an epic journey that are so dramatic it almost felt like I'm a new person when I returned home. I left Vancouver to Europe on August 31st to attend Visa pour L'image, photojournalism festival held in southern French town of Perpignan. This is not only the first time I attend the festival but first time to set a foot on Europe ever. But the journey has a rough start. Once I said farewell to my wife I noticed my flight schedule has been changed because of the delay. Of course it doesn't affect me since I have to wait for about 8 hours in Dusseldorf, Germany for the transfer flights to Paris. So on to the check-in counter for baggage check in.....and little does I know this would be the last time I seen my luggage.... The agonizing 7 hours wandering and waiting at Dusseldorf airport is a both pleasant and overwhelming experience. Pleasant because this particular airport offers a variety of shops and special interest facilities for people to enjoy - from luxury goods to electronics to open air observation deck if you want to view the entire airport. I even happen to stumble upon a model shop specialize in model planes. In addition if you're a smoker and happen to transfer flights in Dusseldorf then you're in heaven because you can smoke almost anywhere you want inside the building. But as much as this is a pleasant place to wait for the flight 7 hours is just too much. Not to mention Europeans are not as well mannered on the public places as many people would imagine. So, after 7 long painful hours I finally got on a flights to Paris. First impression after arriving at the airport was that it feels like a dungeon. Then the lost luggage drama. Then dealing with the lady at service counter for the lost luggage, which is by far the most 'straight forward' attitude I ever encounter.....well, I guess I could say very 'French'. I still haven't found my luggage yet which contains my portfolio, clothes, shoes and other accessories. But thank god I carried my cameras, computer and cash with me at the time which kept me moved on with my journey. Otherwise I would probably still stuck in Paris freaking out...... Labels: airport, Notes and Thoughts
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The Grey Summer
Vancouver along with northwest region is known for its beautiful sceneries and depressing rains(that is if you live here). But between June and early September sun usually shines high above with relatively few or no clouds most of the time. This summer, however, things are a bit different. When the summer officially kicked in I was sort of expecting warm summer with high UV rating like any other summer. What I encountered for last three months are frequent overcasts and few drops of rains occasionally. In some cases thunder storm took place. Of course above normal wet weathers wasn't all that bad - Forest fire dropped down significantly this year compare to the data shown 2 years back. Else where in the world seems to be experiencing the same wet weather phenomenon this summer - extensive rain caused severe flooding in many parts of US as well as Asia. New York's subway was even disrupted due to the thunder storm. Sign of global warming? Certainly looks like it. But as far as this region goes I won't jump into the conclusion about this year's abnormal summer until scientific result come out. Labels: Notes and Thoughts, weather
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That Fallen Green
Woke up early than usual after having trouble sleeping last night - Something happen once in a while when the weather changes. So, drag my exhausted but restless body to the coffee maker and then turned on the TV. What came to me next is bunch of red and green numbers. As I read through all my sleepiness turned into amusement - TSX down over 600 points (Of course by the closing time was went back up so it ended down 200 points). The current stock frenzy has relate to the collapsing of sublime loan in the US, which directly caused the confidence of many people globally. It was something my family foresaw while we were still live in the US. The cause is simple - financial institutions lent out too many loans to home buyers, including ones whose financial background is not so healthy and when borrowers couldn't pay the interest they defaulted. Institutions then sensed the alarm and tighten the restriction and next thing we know domino effect started to occur. Well, thank god my family sold the house in the US and thank god my investment in the US liquidated right before all these happened. But what I really feel lucky is the fact that I don't have any investment in stock just yet, or else I would really get heart attack....he. Labels: Notes and Thoughts, stock market
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Jean-Francois Leroy On Visa pour L'Image
Jean-Francois Leroy, the man behind the Visa pour L'image in Perpignan, France gave an interview for Digital Journalist. Below is the link: http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0708/visa_movie01.htmlhttp://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0708/visa_movie02.htmlOne of the interesting aspect of this clip is that during the interview Jean was concerned about how digital photography disconnected photographers from telling a good visual story. During the interview he quote "Digital its good and bad......it's impossible to make bad picture......but it doesn't make you photographer". Ironic that the interview was done by a on-line digest which is always a big pusher for digital visual-journalism. Oh, Did I mention I'm in preparation for Visa pour L'image? Labels: Notes and Thoughts, photography, Visa pour L'image
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Flickrites' Sweet Rants
In the last two days or so there's a passionate reaction to comments posted by Magnum photographer Alec Soth on photo sharing site Flickr. So much so as of today there are over 200 comments reacted to that single post. It started when Soth posted a quote from Stephen Shore's comment on Flickr during a talk at Henry Art Gallery in Seattle. Followed by the quote Soth then asking for good photographs posted from Flickr. This is when hundreds of Flickrites jumped on the board and reacts to the post.
Interesting enough while many of the respondents were focusing on Stephen Shore's comments and/or feeding links of particular Flickr page which they thought are good photographic works(and to some 'shameless self promotion' - lol) not many people were responding to the Bill Jay's article which occupied significant portion of Soth's post. It just so happened that because I have a visa appointment with French Consulate that morning when the post was up(technically, the post was up for hours when I read it) so I grabbed the pdf file, print it out and read it on the bus. What I discovered is a most hysterical essay about photography and the whole time I was trying to keep my emotion under control during the morning rush hour on the bus to avoid strange stare.
Of course the reason why Soth brought quotes from Jay's writing has something to do with his earlier humorous post on his fan base at Flickr were unmatched to that o Martin Parr, another Magnum photographer. But as the comments started to build I started to see a strange irony between whopping numbers of responds and Bill Jay's essay. Could it be that by coming out and bashing Stephen Shore and/or suggesting a good Flickr site on Alec Soth's blog commentators are subconsciously trying to achieve something that they're unaware of - which is fame?
By the way, I don't use Flickr, or I should say not yet. But I’m doing so for logistic reason - Because after signed up at Friendster, MSN Live Space, Myspace, Hi5 and abandoned all I just tired of managing another site which I have little control of on the layout.
To find out more detail about the post visit here
Labels: alec soth, flickr, Notes and Thoughts, photography
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Hiroshima 1945, Flash to Hell
Over the weekend CBC Newsworld was broadcasting a docu-drama about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima which along with the other one dropped in Nagasaki help to end the Second World War in 1945. I was a bit puzzled about the airing and couldn't help to ask why all the sudden Hiroshima became a hot topic again on this part of the world. It wasn't until after the show when I checked the calendar(Have to admit I missed the date that appeared during the program) all the mystery became clear - Today, or rather yesterday in Japan is the 62 years anniversary of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. The atomic bomb that dropped in Japan is the event which only recently been questioned in the West of its morality and depending on which part of the world you're from you'll receive a wide range of opinion on this(from White racism to Japan deserves it). It is an event that gets tricky for me to comment on as my grand parents' generation witnessed the brutality carried out by Japanese military(topic which often avoided by the Japanese when the issue brought up) in East Asia. But on the other hand I do think dropping atom bombs on Japan was a hasty decision only to be realized on the aftermath. So what's my stand on this? Doesn't matter, because at end of the day wherever there is a conflict it's always innocent people who suffer. Labels: atom bomb, hiroshima, Notes and Thoughts
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On to the Vitual Age! - Part II
Anyone who is aware of the history of photography(Or just aware of history) would know that the evolution on image capturing method has always link to technology. One could say that without technological advancement there would not be the invention of camera, which changed the way we capture reality from brushes to little black box. Similarly, without technology the little black box which enabled us to freeze a movement in time would not evolve from mechanical device to electronic ones. When discuss technological advancement one could not talk about Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was born out of severe labour shortage which Europeans were facing after the content went through Black Death that killed thousands. In order to replace shortages in manual labour machines were invented. What they did not realize at the time is that the scope in which machines were transformed our social behaviour. In stead of producing goods with tools, which functioned as a handler would like it to be, machines became the central objects to produce goods and humans became operators that ensure machines are operating. The changing relationship between men and apparatus also found its parallel with the invention of camera. Prior to camera came into existence humans recorded their reality through tools e.g. brushes. With the invention of camera we the humans became operators of these mechanical boxes to ensure reality is captured. But while machines and cameras have a same linear pattern of operation camera operator need to decide what portion of 'reality' he/she need to be captured when operating the device. If the Industrial revolution transformed the society into a mechanical world, the introduction of computer changed the world into that of virtual ones. Goods we produced in the digitized world no longer have to be physical objects. It can be stored, processed and delivered through a virtual reality through computer e.g. books which need machines to mass produce them can be able to read through internet. The disappearances of physical goods because of their new refuge on the virtual world are found its way to photography when digital camera became popularized. Like mechanical camera which was by product of industrial revolution, digital camera is the by product of virtual age. Operators of digital camera no longer need a medium to store information but rather the information stored directly into the camera's memory device. Print is not necessary in order to examine the information. In stead information can be viewed directly from any available or compatible viewing screen. But the biggest shift in practice is that information stored from digital camera enables operator to share it in the virtual word. The transition from mechanical to digital is, of course, not without concern. One of the issue with the transition period which we are in currently is how to leave an evidence behind(which is a common human practice) in the virtual reality for future generation to discover. Unlike information stored in pre-industrial age and industrial age, information stored in the virtual age has a vulnerability to be disappeared by replacement of formats. Unless in the later generation humans found a solution to this evidences in the virtual world will always be visible for a limit time. Labels: Notes and Thoughts, photography, virtual world
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D'oh! That Damn Exclamation Point!
When misuse of words and punctuation marks appear on the blog it always spread like cancer. This one is no exception. A California based photo agency Zuma Press disclosed licensing deal within hours after bridge collapsed in Minneapolis yesterday through local shooters. Email press announcement were sent out in order to reach potential buyers. The message which is photos of fallen bridge with text like this(notice frequent appearance of exclamation points) : Breaking News!
EXCLUSIVE IMAGE! Freeway bridge collapses into Mississippi River during rush hour in Minneapolis, with at least six people are dead, dozens more are injured, some critically. The Interstate 35 bridge, under repair between St. Paul and Minneapolis, breaks into several huge sections and falls into the water with vehicles. An estimated 50 vehicles plunged into the water and onto the land below.
RESTRICTIONS: USA Tabloid RIGHTS OUT! Mags and TV Call 949.481.3747 For Price !!
Need I say more? If you wanna get more perspective on this please visit PDNPulse, alec soth - blog and Waiting on a Moment by Tim Gruber. Labels: Minneapolis, Notes and Thoughts, photojournaism
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Hostage In The Kabuland
Been following the hostage crisis in Afghanistan since it started while preparing documents for visa to France. Although kidnapping is almost becoming a norm in Iraq and Afghanistan where American and Western nation's presence is strong and visible, Far East Asians are rarely a target partially because there's very little connection and understanding on either side. But things started to change in around 2004 when a South Korean worker was beheaded by his kidnappers in Iraq. South Korea has about 2,500 plus troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan for both constructional works and training troops for both countries. Their non-combat oriented activies and low visibility gain some acceptance in both countries as oppose to their American counterparts. In addition to their low profile presence many of South Korean troops stations were converted to Islam as the result, according to an article posted on the web. But military presence in countries who see any foreign troops in their soil as enemies will always find a chance to kidnap a foreign nationals and use troop withdraw as a bargain. The death of South Korean worker in 2004 in the exact product of that. In the case of the kidnapping of 23 Korean aid workers, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated than troop withdraw. Prior to this kidnapping an Italian journalist was kidnapped by Taliban. But instead of demanding troop withdraw Taliban was asking for prisoners swap. The government of Afghanistan did gave in in the end in exchange for the journalist's freedom. Similarly, the kidnap of South Koreans are aiming for same goal. Exchanging hostages for prisoners aside, there's serious question as far as my concern needs to be answered. As I understand the kidnapped Koreans were on the humanitarian mission to Southern part of Afghanistan. The mission, as pure as it looks is a religion oriented mission because all 23 victims are part of Christian aid group. They were traveled to Afghanistan under the defiance of travel restriction to Afghanistan issued from Korean government to its citizens. In the country where majority of the people are Muslins, having a presence of Christian missionary is always a sensitive issue and often times draws attention to trouble. With that in mind, the question I have is: Were these Korean aid workers truly understand the scope of the mission including the risk they're facing and still volunteered to go or were they persuaded by the church, whichever it is, in Korea without given proper risk assessment? If the answer is later then there should be an inquiry by proper authority to curb the issue because sending aid workers without given them proper information about their potential risk is same as blindly sending soldiers to take over machine gun bunker on the hill without any fire support. Labels: hostage, Korea, Notes and Thoughts
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Restrictions After Restrictions
Seemed like these days there are restrictions everywhere when it comes to photograph in the public places in many parts of the world. First we've seen France(and later similar one in Quebec) introducing laws which make people easier to sue publications for their faces being recognizable in the photograph. This means even for a photojournalist he/she will have to take a big pile of model releases or contracts or to have selected photographs pixelated so the subject won't be recognized. Ironic for such law taken place in a nation that produced many legendary photographer like Henri Cartier-Bresson. Elsewhere came a ban on Silver Spring, Virginia which a section of street in the city's downtown is off limit for people who wants raise their camera and snap away. The reason: that section of the street which photography is banned is built by private company therefore should be consider as 'private property'. But the biggest buzz came from the Big Apple which quietly introduce a measure require shooters in the group of two or more who are shooting on the one point public places for more than 30 minutes and the group of five or more people shooting with tripod for more than 10 minutes to acquire a permit and a one million dollar liability insurance. The measure will not target tourists according to the city, but how do you distinct them? I don't usually advocate for the issue, but on this particular matter I think I really need to address. While I do believe that paparazzi and post 911 environment hurt photographers' images and their ability to work on the street, but having a restriction will not taking the issue to a manageable level. Rather it will seriously damage enthusiasts and professionals for their freedom of expression and their artistic creativity. There is a petition here for people who can sign up to urge the city to reconsider the law. I strongly encourage people who either live in the US or oversea American to sign the petition. for more info please visit: Alec Soth - BlogMagnum BlogMostly PhotographyNew York TimesPDF of proposed measuresLabels: Notes and Thoughts, photography
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On to the Vitual Age! - Part I
Ever since the introduction of affordable digital camera to the consumer world the practice which photography has been evolved in the last one hundred and sixty some years took a dramatic path. With the ease of having digitally captured images able to store in computer or similar electronic devices instantly and share with people at the distant miles in just a bottom click the evolution quickly popularized the mass who can afford them. Understandably, with the arrival of cheap digital cameras 'image information', like text information counterpart, exploded through the internet world. Along the wide embracement of the mass over the digital capture came with criticism and resistance among scholars and practitioners alike. They pointed out that with the new technology available a new problem emerged which involved with the habit of instant editing and image storage, in itself still evolving. Skeptics predict that this may be known as a blank period as far as image preservation concern. Preservability aside, the argument seems to be raging on and on from image quality to aesthetics even to just being prestige..........the debate, far from diminishing, is looking more like fueling up over the last couple years, even as many major film developers and manufacturers are either switching its attention to digital or file bankruptcy. As a film shooter who has also been using digital camera occasionally for number of years. Because my involvement and my experiences I do understand the argument which is fueling the debate either over on periodical pieces or on the blog world. However, rather than having a discussion of supremacy over which format I would more like use this opportunity to talk about the issue in a historical, social and cultural context. Over the next few weeks I will began series of thoughts which will appear here. Labels: Notes and Thoughts, photography, virtual world
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Feedburner issue
Been a bit quiet lately, but the relative calm does not mean I'm disappearing from earth. Some of you may noticed some cosmetic change on this site while others may noticed the reset of reader stats via feed burner. This is all thanks to origins who pointed out this afternoon the syndication problem with feedburner. After numeral unsuccessful tries I decided to reset the feed address again and it worked like a charm In the meantime, I would like to apologize for the trouble I bring and please stay tuned for more things to come on this blog Labels: feed, feedburner, Notes and Thoughts
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That Creeping Metadata
A report on Times of London surfaced today about the upcoming Harry Potter book been photographed by unknown person and published online. But the person who infringed author's right by capturing the content and published it in advance without creator's consensus will soon be revealed - Expert at Canon UK was able to extract the metadata embedded in the photographs and figured out the serial no. of the camera. Similar story involving metadata being used as investigative tool occurred in the death of Reuters' stringer in Iraq. Namir Noor-Eldeen, photojournalist worked for Reuters in Iraq, was killed in a firefight while US military was conducting a raid last week. According to the US military officials Namir was killed by cross fire during the operation. However, after examining cameras' info retreat from dead photographer and interviewing witness Reuters raised a serious doubt about military's statement and demanding for more investigation. The two stories, though completely unrelated, have an interesting common thread - That investigators were able to use data stored in cameras to uncover the truth. The invention of digital camera not only changed the way images are captured but datas that are embedded in these images enable us to organized photographs on the computer with great ease. It also give manufacturers a break identifying their customers' needs when it comes to problem solving. e.g. repair and maintainence. The paranoids, on the other hand, might freak out about the whole idea of using the data creeping in the photographs for investigation because of possible infringement of privacy and potential mis-practice by the government or business alike. In other word - 'big brother' fear But whether for ease of organizing photos or shorten the investigation time the fact that we the mass do have take some responsibility for embracing digital evolution in the first place. The convenience which many consumer products like digital camera brought often blind us the potential damage it may bring about. So at this point instead of being paranoid about privacy infringement we should start to draw a clear border on the issue. In a unrelated news - At Mostly Photography there's comment about new 'dress code' for NFL shooters. Labels: digital camera, metadata, Notes and Thoughts
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End of Martial Law In Taiwan, 20 Years On
20 Years ago today the Nationalist government in Taiwan lifted the world's longest martial law ever imposed in the history of man kind(39 years). Though the implementation of the law was only emphasize on political dissidents between 1949 to 1987 and not extended to economy or daily lives of the people but that was enough to made thousands of people imprisoned, executed and missing. But what followed the lift is series of demand for reform on almost every level of the society. From the late 1980s until early 1990s Taiwan endured hundreds of demonstrations demanding change from labor protection to environmental law to wider political reform. Demonstrations which in some case turned violent in scale unseen since 1947 when Nationalist government sent troops from mainland to crack down dissidents in Taiwan. Interesting enough I was actually taken by my mom to participate one of the demonstration opposing new nuclear plant during this time....and I was only 11. Today while people of Taiwan are celebrating the historical moment which democracy finally blossomed on the island many people are also frustrated with the fact that the slow progress of structural reform on the government, lack of social benefit, and deeper ideological divide on the future of the island. However, One thing is certain - We can not and will not go back to the time of martial law. So, on this day, I pay tribute to those who fought for freedom and democracy 20 years ago - even though I may not agree their political view today. Labels: martial law, Notes and Thoughts, taiwan
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From Mr. Rodgers to "Strawberry Kids"
Stumbled upon a news article this week about the effect which TV icon Fred Rodgers' words on generations of children in America who grew up watching Mr. Rodgers' show on PBS. It emphasized that the kind, gentle words of Mr. Rodgers to children and telling them how 'special' they are left a grave impression in which children grew up felt they're entitled to what they pursued. It article went on to explain how the phenomenon extended to parenting which some parents are often times missing their opportunities to guide children to acceptable behavior because they felt that children are special and they should be let loose to explore the world on their own. The article, however, used a somewhat arguable example to compare the behavioral problem of young generations of America. It quote from one university professor praising Asian born students accepting whatever grades they receive and take low grade as motivation to work harder, as oppose to American students would fight their way up to revoke the low grade because they felt that they deserve it. While I don't argue the unexpected end result Fred Rodgers produced for decades, I don't feel that the article using Asian born students as a right example to support the argument. It is generally true that many of Asian born student do accept their grades as is but they're not necessarily accept in heart. Nor do they necessarily feel that they will work harder to achieve their goal. In fact I believe Asian born students who came to this world in the time which their native countries saw a great economic growth represented a behavioral problem on the other spectrum. To understand the behavioral problem which Asian born students are facing, one has to understand the social background which they're growing up to. From the late 1970s and onward Asia-Pacific region saw a tremendous economic growth in which improved many people's lives. parents who gave birth at this prosperous period felt that their children should deserve anything that they did not enjoy as kids. While growing up these children were given excessive protection, care, and material needs. The end result of the overprotection is Asian born students who grew up in that time period have low tolerance to the stress which evolve into low motivation when facing obstacle. Other behaviors include very self-centered and excessive spending without considering the financial risk they're getting into since parents will always rescue them. In Taiwan, people refer the generation growing up from that time period 'Strawberry Kids' - Meaning they look good but when you squeeze it everything just crumble apart. So while Mr. Rodgers may produced generations of Americans who felt they're entitled to everything because they're special, Asians who grew up in parents' overprotection are self-centered yet vulnerable to obstacle. As for me, I didn't grew up with either Mr Rodgers or from overprotecting parents so I'm glad to say that these problem doesn't reflect on me..... Labels: mr rodgers, Notes and Thoughts, strawberry kids
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John Szarkowski dies at 81
John Szarkowski, one of most influential figure in the history of photography, dies at age 81 on Saturday July 7th, 2007. Through his writings and curating he changed the perception of our thinking in photography over the last four decades and elevated the medium to that of fine art. He is perhaps the most important figure in photography in the post modern era. Labels: john szarkowski, Notes and Thoughts
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Group M35
Over at Mostly Photography a former colleague Joe Szymanski gave his account on a small agency known as Group M35 came to existence but quickly fell apart with in three years. Although the drama has been over for sometime now but I feel that, as a former member, I should give my account on how i got involve with it until everything fell apart, or should I say there's wasn't anything to begin with? In about late 2004 toward the end of my college I was in the process of switching my student visa in the US to temporary working visa and was hunting for the photography related jobs(part of regulation) in order to secure the work visa which allow you to stay in the US for longer time. I came across my former instructor Charles Clark, who at the time was in San Francisco area. I approached him several times and showed the series I was working on. Few month later while I was having conversation at his place I mentioned about the visa issue I was having and he pitched his idea about establishing a agency where like-minded photographer could feel like home. He then asked me to be part of it and that way my visa issue would be solved. Having no clear direction on where my visa issue would take me I joined the agency. Little does I know less than a year later my family's immigration case to Canada got approved. I guess my suspection on the agency was around winter of 2006 while I was in Korea. I received a surprising email from Charles about ceasing the operations in San Francisco Studio and moved it entirely to New York. Although it seems legitimate that operating in New York will generate our exposure. After all, this is a place where it is considered industry heavy weight. However I felt that there should be some kind of notice in advance or at least a consensus among members through email rather than rush to New York, as the content of the surprising email feel like. Regardless the suspection quickly went away during the meeting at summer of 2006 when members gathered for the first since the establishment. As any other organization, there's heated debate, but everyone seemed to have an hope that this project can work. There's even a promise of gallery space in San Francisco where there would be a first group show. Well, the group show as promised never materialized. In fact little does I know the building where it supposed to be agency's future gallery space has been sold by the landlord. Adding to the already twisted story even more bizzard is that in May 2007 when I stopped by New York other than few people working in the office none of the NY based member were aware my visit beforehand. Then Charles came along talking about having a exhibition in South Korea which would be a great help to me. Now, although I'm no Korean but since my wife is and she knows a little bit of art scene over there I knew right away that either something of a miracle happened or it's just another ambitious BS(I'm more toward later). What's next came out his mouth is even more shocking - he was planning on ceasing the operation in studio and having it move to his apartment. You don't have to be a detective to smell something's up. But I was not experienced enough to notice the agency is gearing toward oblivion. Two days later, the news I was fearing was finally delivered - Group M35 is over. As much as I blame Charles for his act there is a partial responsibility on me for not communicating enough with both agency and other members. During those three years I was constantly moving around first San Francisco to Oakland then to Los Angeles then Canada. Even in Canada my family was renting a house and wasn't until March 2007 I was finally have a somewhat stable place to stay. So much moving that it took a toll on me for not keeping touch with what's going on in NYC. I guess not having a stable place can really be vulnerable. Finally, if you want to know Joe's account on the agency please click here. Labels: agency, group m35, Notes and Thoughts, photography
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Blackwater
I'm usually not being persuaded by TV hosts when they recommending a book off their TV shows. To me it's either the context does not fit to my interest, writers who show up for the interview aren't intelligent enough(believe me, there's quiet a few out there) or the content of subject is just too shallow. However, this book which was recommended by the host of CBC's The Hour really grasped my attention and I finally able to remember and get off my butt and bought it. The book 'Blackwater - The rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army' by Jeremy Scahill tells a story of a security firm manage to expand itself into a multi million monster through contracts outsourced by US government led by Bush and neo-con politicians. It gave a chilling detail on how the company were manage to integrate as part of 'Total Force' in Iraq as Donald Rumsfeld puts it but at the same time immune to any accountability since there are too many gray areas on contracting private army. Finally it shows a ambitious plan to expand the company in which recruits are not limit to people from the west but anyone who has skill and good resume. The most frightening to me, however, is not that this multi-million dollar mercenary company is fighting an unseen dirty war somewhere in this world for the US. The most frightening part is that the religious background of people at helm makes it a grave potential for an all out religious war in the future if a serious misconduct in the Middle East where Blackwater is currently active occurred. Check out the book if you have time. I guarantee you'll walk away from your chair, table, bench, bed......wherever with a dead chill Labels: blackwater, book, Notes and Thoughts
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The Dark Side Of Art Dealing
Any business builds on trust - whether you are in trading or banking or whatever. But in the business of art dealing the trust are particularly vital because it's the artist's work, financial well beings even reputation are on the line. The impact of trusting a wrong dealer can be extremely grave for artists. Unfortunately in this sensitive sector you still face a chance of falling into a wrong dealer by the ratio of 50-75 to 1. In recent months there is an incident occurred within the art community here in Vancouver where a man name Sergio Patrich chased by artists across Canada for owing them commissions and submitted art works. The person who first smell the rat is a guy who design a website for Sergio's galleries in town but did not receive any payment. He posted his story on the website(URL here) and that's how the ball started rolling. One by one artist started to tell their experiences dealing with Sergio and forced him to close down his gallery. But apparently he did not learn from this lesson well and chose to open up two galleries at the other location. The result? Same scam but at much bigger scale, and naturally crumbling down at faster rate. This time not only tons of artists sue the crap out of him and landlord of the gallery space he rent evict him for not receive payment, he even got himself into a federal case which the government were investigating his holding company. So, you would think after two failing scams he might be in the dark for a while.....guess again, currently he's trying to open another gallery out in Squamish, British Columbia, which is a town two hours drive north from Vancouver. For more detail about Sergio's bad practices please visit Gallery Owe blogsite Labels: art dealing, Notes and Thoughts
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Technology - Does it helps us or hurts us?
While I was in Korea visiting my girlfriend(who is now my wife) I got a chance to observe some interesting phenomenon which I've been hearing for some time - Koreans as to all Asians in general embraced technology and any new high-tech gadgets that are put out there on the market. Their love for the new 'toys' are so incredible that in order to keep up your trend you have to constantly replacing new gadgets like cell phones, MP3 players, TVs......etc to the point that a person's familiarity to the object he or she bought could not keep up with the speed of replacement. This was a real eye opener to a person who live on the other side of Pacific for almost 15 years. But the point in case here is not about Korea. Sure they may be blamed or laughed at for their worship on latest high-tech consumer products but it is only a small picture of a wider issue that are debating among people in the developed and some developing nation today - Does our craze over technology actually help us or hurt us? On one side the supporters say these technologies are helping us in every way from communication to getting information to organizing works. On the other hand however there are people who have serious doubt if they are assisting ours lives. In fact, they believe that technologies isolated us and kept us distracted, as well as the potential to paralyzes us if these high-tech product are defunct. As to my opinion, I do agree that technology does help as far as organizing your workflows or absorbing informations. But this is where my support ends. The fact that technological advancement are limiting our imagination and creativity is serious. Take a look at photography which had huge advancement in the last 10 years as far as moving from analog to digital to now digital capturing still image in a cell phone or video camera. Functions on camera and other image capturing devices are tripled compare to the film era and graphic-related computer softwares are making editing job quicker and smoother. But how about the quality of pictures which photographers and amateurs bring? Well, just goto any of the popular photo sharing site and you'll get the idea. So, Does technology helps us or hurts us? I guess the answer is best to leave you the reader to judge........since I already told mine  Labels: Notes and Thoughts, technology
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Thougths on Doctored Photographs
In the last few months I came across few news articles regarding to photographs that are digitally manipulated slipped through editors' eye and were published on newspapers or magazines. No that the issue was something new but it seems to me that the pattern is on the rise. Being as ethical problem aside, I think there should be a re-education and new discipline guideline to many of the photographers out there to reaffirm them on what is unethical when it comes to adjusting photographs through software for media usage such as newspaper. We're in the age in which image capturing and editing is so fast and convenient that with ease of the button you can get the image you want in a matter of minute, that is if you own a right gadgets. The problem to it is that it make the market ever more competitive since everyone can be commercial photographer, photojournalist, wedding photographer.....etc. For few who are eagerly want to stay on the game they cheated. In the case of media photographers, few bad apples cheated by sending doctored photos. Nevertheless, the core lesson to me of all these is that too much choice creates more desire. And the desire can lead to greed....... Labels: digital manipulation, doctored photos, Notes and Thoughts
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Multiculturalism vs. Melting Pot
Little more than a year ago when I immigrated to Canada the word "multiculturalism" kept on mentioned in the media and among the people here. At the time I was a little bit confused about the term since having living in the US for sometime the word , at least on the surface, is very close to the meaning "melting pot" which the Americans like to use for their uniqueness as multi ethnicity society. It was until few days ago I happened to stumble through a short article from local Chinese newspaper was I start to clarify the definitional differences and understanding the concept. The idea of multiculturalism is that immigrants who live on the foreign land are in every way still retain its heritage, customs, language ....etc. at the same time still have a strong tie with its native land. In other words, my cultural uniqueness is part of your nation's social structure. The evident example of this can be found on the street of Vancouver where a lot of second generation immigrants who are born and grew up here but still very much look like they were just arrived the country - whether from appearance or practices. The concept of melting pot, on the other hand, has a limitation to how much cultural identity an immigrant can retain on the land you move to. the concept allow immigrants still retain their cultural uniqueness but at the same time require them to accept the value and certain custom which the native have been practiced over the centuries. It is under this concept in which cultural ties between immigrants and their native land are less visible. An example of this can be found in San Francisco's Chinatown where to a modern Chinese is like stepping to a past yet still very foreign in terms of lifestyle. So, if you ask me which concept is superior? Hard to say. I think there is much to learn for practitioners of either concept - in this case Canada and the US. The downside of multiculturalism is that sometimes cultural practices that immigrants brought along can be disrespectful or unethical to locals. The downside of melting pot is that immigrants can have difficulty accepting values which the country they move to impose upon, which would cause potential uneasiness and hatred among the locals. Whichever the case, I personally think it's just a wording game. But I think that managing a multi ethnic society itself is a enormous task and creating a structure that can catering and couping with wide differences of ethnic groups would still take sometime before it would become ideal. Labels: melting pot, muticulturalism, Notes and Thoughts
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World Refugee Day
Nearly 10 million people are classified as refugee by UNHCR and about 24 million more are internally displaced - all due to conflict, economical hardship, political indifference and many more. As the world celebrate the world refugee day a disturbing trend report presented by UNHCR shows that the number of refugees as of 2006 is actually increasing with conflict in middle east one of major contributing factor. Although it is only one day celebration we can not ignore the fact that the issue is ongoing and needs to be bring about constantly, not just once a year. So, spread the word over the issue and contribute any possible way you can to bring about change. Labels: Notes and Thoughts, world refugee day
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Life, unexpected
Life is always full of surprise and unexpectedness. Like back in the time of my early college years my every effort was to getting a degree in international politics. But somehow things took a unpredictable turn and here I am now, drifting around both familiar and foreign places capturing moments and presenting them either in a media or an art form. Last night I was organizing all the feeds I've been gathered recently and stumbled upon a blog which my friend is managing. One of the thing I remembered about this person is that toward the end of her high school she asked me to photograph her portfolio so that she can send a series of slides to New York as part of application to a prominent fashion design school. Well, to make a story short, she got accepted and went to New York. But returned to LA after a year for an untold reason. Nevertheless she did go on to finish college in LA and move(or should I say back?) to Taiwan to work. Then I guess things got unexpected turn for her too.....she's now an entertainer in Taiwan...... While I was reading her posts a thought came into my mind - What if she decide to stay in New York and went on to be a fashion designer? Labels: Notes and Thoughts
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