Sandra Gaspar / Photo: Mário Pires

Having left my Lumix in the closet, and relaying almost exclusively on the iPhone for all my photo needs, i wanted to put myself and the iPhone to the test. Thinking about possible challenges, i remembered that i never did a portrait session.
Portraits are a bit vague, how could i make a series that makes some sense and it’s within my reach ?
I also wanted to draw some attention to it, so it would need a element of defiance. I remembered some talks i had with fellow photographers about wonderful portraits of women smoking. Smoking has gained a rather negative aura in recent times, and because of it the defiance element would be smoke.
Having established portraits of people smoking as the main theme, i needed to narrow it down a bit in order to establish some logistics that i could master for some time.

• Where to find people to photograph ?
• How to ask them ?
• Which gender and age ?

Those questions will be answered in the next post

Photo: Mário Pires

A good example of a series all done in a few hours using just the iPhone, is Coimbra C in Lomoville, an online platform, curated by Susana Paiva, for all photography projects created with plastic lenses or toy cameras and mobile phone cameras

The Ghost of elections past.. (Hipstamatic; iPhone4)

Hipstamatic is a popular photo application for the iPhone, even photojournalist are using it, so i bought it to see what all the fuss was about.
After a very short time i found that this application doesn’t really suits my shooting habits. I take pictures with the iPhone just like any other camera i use, saving the “original” unprossessed picture first. I only run it trough the photo apps if i find it can give the photo a different meaning.
Hipstamatic just saves the processed photo, preventing me from trying other approaches without it’s mark.
But i can see why photojournalists like it though. The UI is build to make us think we are using a classic rangefinder 35mm camera, and if we stick with a lens/film effects combination in the app, we know how the result will be (just like real lens/film/developer in the analog world).

And it was that time of year again, 04-04-2010 at 4a.m. Once again, Karen Stunks, put together the global gathering of heroic insomniacs, eager to go out and photograph when there is no one else on the street (except other photo manics like ourselves).

This time we went to the pleasant Sintra, and clicked away for a hour, in the most pure silence (except for the clicks from the slr’s).

It was a fun experience, congratulations Karen, and see you all next year!

In the first post of the series i talked about the theme and the final output of the project. But what tools should i use to photograph it?

Should i use a DSLR like the Nikon D2x and a varied assortment of lenses ?

Nikon D2x

This is the set up that could give the more flexibility and image quality, what are the disadvantages?
Weight is surely one, carrying a bag and having to change lenses impairs the mobility and can prevent the concentration that i find necessary.

So on the opposite pole i could use a mobile phone with a 3 mpixel camera.

Nokia N73

I would have no weight problem and also no problem in deciding the focal range to use (i would use the lens without any digital zoom). But i was unsure about the quality of the sensor and it’s ability to resolve enough detail so that the final print would look the way i intended.
So i did a test shoot on location to evaluate the lens and sensor. The details were muddy and the color shift between photos taken just seconds apart convinced me to drop this option.

I also have a compact camera, a Nikon Coolpix 885, but it’s a 3 mpixel camera with 8 years that has a very limited zoom range, so it’s not really a option.
But i was not feeling comfortable with the first option, so i was in the market for a new compact camera, one with a good sensor, a generous zoom range and a budget not exceding 250 euros. Is there such a thing ?
Fortunately there is, the Panasonic Lumix TZ6.

Panasonic Lumix TZ6

So, after the tools are chosen it’s time to start photographing.

For some time now that i try to organize the bulk of my photo activity around projects, i still photograph on a loose base when i’m in that mood, but i find it more fulfilling to structure my work this way. For 2010, these are the photo related project i wish to work on.

1. Chiado Project

The Chiado Project is already in motion and is to be completed until the end of February. It is the object of a series of posts that will detail it very thourogly.

2. Prazeres Graveyard

This project was started at the end of 2009a, i hope in the end to put toghether an exibition and self-publish a book trought Blurb. It will be completely in B/W, something i haven’t done in a very long time. The plan for this project is a self-published book and a show if i find a venue for it.

3. MobileOne

This project is about photos taken with mobile phone cameras. Raw unprocessed ones and also some of them processed with applications developed for the iPhone mobile platform. Mobile photos are no different from photos taken with other image capturing devices, when you see them, they must convey a feeling, be somehow worthy of showing to other people. So i take them as seriously as any one i create. Adding effects for me only makes sense when they bring added value, and extra meaning to an already interesting photo.
I don’t focus on the hardware (not really important to me as i don’t care that much about the resolution of the photo), only on the unprocessed photos and also on the mobile applications (at the moment only present on the iPhone platform) that allow us to edit them on mobile devices, avoiding the computer and giving us the ability to capture, edit and share form everywhere there is a net connection.
One thing i dislike a bit about the community that formed around the iPhone photo processing applications, is their focus on the hardware and the unwillingness to accept mobile photos from other platforms. Yes, the applications only run on iPhones and iPods, but i use them to process photos taken on Nokia phones, so if it’s possible to do it why not ?. When i mention this fact i am told that i can not post my work. I know that the rules are made by the people who builded the community and they have every right to do so, but i find much more interesting to build communities “platform free” and focus only what can be achieved regardless of the hardware or software that made i possible. It is the idea and the ability to “see” that really is important.
At the moment i only plan to do a video with some of them, but this is a on-going project so only time will tell what comes out of it

4. “T” Project

Just had the idea and the team to get it up and running. It envolves Lisbon, dance and music. Final outcome is still unknown.

5. 4 Cars…

The last one, is a project i started last week after reading about color and serialization. It’s my “conceptual art” project. Involves cars and color, it’s going to be performed with my Panasonic Lumix TZ6.
It’s not one 356 type photo projects, the concept around it is also time based, but different. There is nothing wrong with those kind of projects, they allow you to train discipline, awareness and can focus you one simple task, it can make you grow as a photographer. But this project does not involve a predetermined time frame, at this point i can find it satisfactory after 3 months, or i can decide to make it last 5 years. The final outcome will be a show and self published book.

I was invited to premiere a new art space in Lisbon
The exhibition has a tight schedule, and i am going to be build it from scratch, i thought it could be a good idea to document the whle project.
The venue will be LiberOffice in the Chiado district of Lisbon, and the theme will be Chiado himself.

How to approach it ? It’s a widely know place with centuries of history and some over-photographed landmarks, so it will be a challenge to come up with something worth looking at.

Hockney on Art - David Hockney

When i was told in the first meeting what the theme was, the way to approach it quickly formed in my mind. And i have to thank David Hockey for it. I am currently reading his book “Hockney on Art” where he discusses among other thing the artificiality of one point perspective, and what he perceived as the inability of photography to overcome this. All his photo work was made in a attempt to fight against that, and then he applied what he had learned to his painted works.

Hockeny on Art

Ever since his Polaroid collages he was trying to get away from one point perspective, bringing cubism to photography.

Hockney on Art

But only with “pearblossom highway” he felt that he had gone as far as possible with photography and expansion of perspective.

Hockney on art

So, the theoretical base for my work his here, on the next post in the series i will discuss, the tools i will use, and the reasoning behind.

After the first series i returned to the Prazeres graveyard. This graveyard is huge, and every visit can unlock a corner gone unnoticed in previous ones. I will continue to go there until i feel i have some 30 or 40 pictures that can be published as a coherent lot.

Some time ago i went to a photowalk that took part in Prazeres graveyard in Lisbon, me and Pedro Pinheiro, Luís Amaral, João Nogueira, Nuno Correia, Bruno Rodrigues,Sérgio Bernardino e João Almeida. The results that came out of it made me want to make a longer series.
Before this photowalk, i decided to just look for details to avoid dispersion, and as a way to get a more focused series. But when this one was over i had some photos i liked a lot, and the idea of returning started to emerge.
To be enthusiastic about a subject and feeling the need to develop it further it’s not usual these days. Most photowalks are a end to itself, fun occasions of sharing photography with like minded people. But from the results of this one i felt the need to develop a full series about this particular graveyard.
Ok, but to do what ?
It’s very important to know the possible outcomes of a series early on, so that we can use the means necessary to show it properly.
Will i make gigantic prints ? Or a very small book ? Will i only show it on-line ?
In my case i’m thinking about a POD book, and maybe a gallery showing if i can find one that is wiling to show an unknown photographer. But before that i need to gather a body of work that deserves to be shown, and that is the first thing i must do, starting now.

Muitos projectos pessoais têm-me retirado o tempo para fotografar todos os concertos que desejaria, estes são dois a que fui recentemente e dos quais saí com um sorriso de satisfação.

These are two concerts i managed to attend and that i enjoyed fully.

Moriarty – Instituto Franco-Português

Danças Ocultas – S. Luiz