WINk Magazine Blog

Vincent Laforet at Broncolor’s Shoot NYC

WINk Blog — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 01:43:08 +0000

Interview with Vincent Laforet 22/10/10
Natalie Lloyd

Two years ago Broncolor photographer Vincent Laforet was a name associated primarily with high end commercial photography that incorporated innovative tilt-shift techniques with aerial shots. Roll on this year and Vincent has become one of the most progressive men in the industry, pushing the boundaries of photography with his work in the field of HD-capable DSLR cameras. Already, Laforet has collected a hoard of awards ranging from a Pulitzer Prize to becoming a three-time winner at the 2010 Cannes International Advertising Festival, and he assures me that he’s not going to stop now.

N: The transition from your work from still to motion appears so fluid and effortless – still applying your same visual thumbprint to both mediums, do you think it’s hard for a photographer to make this transition? Or is it something that came naturally for you?

V: Everything looks fluid from the outside! I think of there being two types of film making that photographers might be entering (generalizing here of course). There’s the high-end level like the movies you see at the cinema which involve Art Directors, actors and the camera having a lot more movement; and then there’s the other side which has a lower “production value” if you will – which is of course for the photographer to aim form at least initially. Film making is a craft that combines many different skills – not something that anyone can learn overnight – it takes time. That’s understandable – I think that most photographers would find it insulting if a Film Director came into photography thinking he could translate everything he knew into creating a fantastic still image without having to learn the nuances of the still photography craft. There’s a learning curve on both ends. As a film maker you have to learn about the nuances of moving a camera and how to light continuously as opposed to lighting with strobes that photographers usually work in. Photographers create a story in one image, the decisive moment, and that image lives and dies on it’s own merit whereas in film the idea is to get each image/shot to flow to the next seamlessly – you have to know how and when to switch angles and movement to better tell the story – and to allow it to flow.

I think it’s important for photographers to at the very least experiment with video and not be afraid to do so, and to understand that it’s OK to ask questions. I from a friend that Spielberg called an animation director from Pixar in because he was impressed with one of the camera moves he’d used – it was one that he’d never seen. The point is: even Spielberg is looking to continuously learn and grow. My father told me one of the reasons he loves photography is because even after 20 years in the business he hadn’t stop learning.

N: If you had to give one piece of advice to a photographer who currently works solely in still imagery but is looking to make the crossover to motion imagery, what would it be?

V: Stop watching television passively! You have to start deconstructing what you see. Ask yourself: where is the camera? How is it moving? Is it a wide or close-up shot? How is the scene lit? How are the actors places and why is the director choosing this shot, or movement versus another? It’s also incredibly useful to watch really bad movies – you can learn a lot from them, as you can see what is being done in those movies that clearly doesn’t work.

N: It sounds like there is a lot to consider, how do you keep yourself motivated?

V: I have a bit of a ‘disease’ if you will; I really like to be the first to do something and I’m not destined to walk on the moon! Therefore I focus on what I can do in my field. I’m always looking for new ideas, things that haven’t been seen or done before, even in photography I was constantly looking for unique angles or ways of shooting the “same old thing.”

N: The progress of digital technology and open source information has meant that we are now able to share all these innovations at a rate that we’ve never achieved previously; most predominantly through social media. Do you think it’s important for photographers to look at blogs?

V: There are people out there that can live in a cave and still produce the work of a genius… I’m definitely not one of those people … Ever since I was 15, I would look through every magazine, book, and newspaper that I could get my hands on – and not just in my field… I’d look at fashion, fine art, nature – even though I was studying to be a photojournalist… It’s important to look at these and other places for inspiration, to understand what’s trending and what other people are doing. That way you can avoid “falling behind” but I hope more importantly – that you can set your own trends by doing something new – that isn’t being done by others.

You can catch Vincent, Broncolor Speaker at Shoot NYC, October 28th-29th along with workshops on blogging, trending and film making for photographers.

WIN-Initiative is proud to sponsor Shoot NYC 2010
http://www.shoot-nyc.com/
http://www.laforetvisuals.com/
http://www.win-initiative.com/

Shoot-NYC Photography Forum October 28 and 29th

WINk Blog — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:37:09 +0000

WIN is honored to Sponsor Shoot NYC, an exciting and informative forum hosted by photographic industry leaders Broncolor and Hasselblad. This event features live interactive shooting sets incorporating the latest photographic technology on the market today. In addition, there is a schedule of educational seminars covering a wide variety of subjects that affect the business of today’s professional photographer.

Attend Shoot-NYC and learn how professional photographers are harnessing and integrating the power of today’s most advanced professional photographic tools and education into their business. In addition, take a tour of the Hasselblad Masters exhibition, which will make its 2010 U.S. debut at Shoot-NYC!

Featuring a full slate of educational workshops, specifically chosen to address the business of today’s professional photographer. Including close friend of WIN, Karen D’Silva. You can register for the workshops during the standard event registration process.

OCTOBER 28 & 29 NYC

THE TERMINAL WAREHOUSE 11TH AVE & WEST 28TH ST. NEW YORK CITY

www.shoot-nyc.com/index

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Top Photographers to Present Young Photographers Alliance Awards

WINk Blog — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:32:04 +0000

NEW YORK, NY — September 30, 2010 — Young Photographers Alliance (YPA), a 501(c)3 educational foundation dedicated to inspiring, educating and empowering the next generation of image-makers, is delighted to have six of America’s leading photographers present the 2010 YPA Scholarship awards on Tuesday, October 12th. YPA is honored to have Barbara Bordnick, Doug Menuez, Eric Meola, Michel Tcherevkoff, Ron Haviv, and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders present this year’s awards to six promising young photographers at the YPA Award Ceremony and Benefit Auction, to be held at the Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, from 7pm to 10pm on Tuesday, October 12th.

The scholarship awards are just one of the programs YPA runs with the aim of nurturing talented young photographers to emerge as tomorrow’s top visual artists and documenters of our world. A preview of the results from this year’s mentoring program will also be on show at the event: images on the theme of Answering Adversity, created by eleven teams of young photographers in the US, Canada and UK, will be exhibited for the
first time.

The Benefit Auction, which will begin at the Award Ceremony and continue online until October 28th, will include highly collectable signed prints by renowned photographers Amy Arbus, Antoine Verglas, Barbara Bordnick, Brad Trent, Cameron Davidson, Chris Jordan, Daniel Kramer, Darrell Gulin, Doug Menuez, Hans Neleman, Henry Horenstein, Howard Schatz, Jill Enfield, John Lund, Marcus Gaab, Martyn Thompson, Russ Quackenbush, Sean Justice, Sebastian Smith, Shannon Fagan, Spencer Jones, Stephen Mallon, Toby McFarlan Pond, Vincent Dixon, and others. There will also be prints by the 2010 and 2009 YPA Scholarship winners. Images can be previewed from October 1st a www.youngphotographersalliance.org/auction.
The Award Ceremony and Benefit Auction is YPA’s principal fundraising vehicle. The event is open to all and is a unique opportunity to meet leading players in the photography and stock image business; to delight in – and possibly acquire – some stunning photography; to enjoy complimentary beer, wine, hors d’oeuvres and live jazz; and to celebrate and support young talent. Tickets may be purchased online and cost $50 ($75 at the door). For more information or to buy tickets, see www.youngphotographersalliance.org/events

About YPA
Young Photographers Alliance is a global community where young photographers connect with the inspiration, resources and contacts they need to build successful and sustainable careers as the artists, communicators and documenters of the future. The foundation brings together a wealth of industry experience through its board and membership, and offers real-world knowledge, insight, experience, and contacts to help students and other emerging photographers develop their artistic skills and business acumen as photography professionals. Likewise, through its programs, YPA helps established photography professionals connect with the next generation of innovative image-makers. For more information, visit www.YoungPhotographersAlliance.org.

About the scholarships
The awards this year have been sponsored by ASMP Foundation, APA, Alamy, Jerry Tavin, and Photolibrary. The scholarship program is administered in cooperation with the Worldstudio AIGA Scholarship Program. The judging panel for this year’s awards comprised: Stephen Mayes (Managing Director at VII Photo), Steve Diamond (Executive Director of Photography at Scholastic Inc.), Spencer Jones (CEO at Glasshouse Images), and Jerry Tavin (YPA founder).

Photo essays submitted by the award winners are available to download from: www.youngphotographersalliance.org/programs/scholarships.php

About the presenters
 Barbara Bordnick (www.barbarabordnick.com) is an internationally renowned portrait and fashion photographer, one of whose images, a portrait of Yip Harburg, appeared on a US postage stamp in 2005.

 Doug Menuez (www.menuez.com) is famed for his coverage of the rise of Silicon Valley, and award-winning advertising campaigns for many leading global brands. His work has been featured in nine of the bestselling “Day in the Life” books.

 Eric Meola (www.ericmeola.com) is most famous for his graphic and innovative use of color. One of his most famous images, Coca Kid, featured in Life magazine’s “100 Magnificent Images”.

 Michel Tcherevkoff (www.tcherevkoff.com) is famed for his unconventional advertising images of the 1970s, and continued innovation in visual imaging thereafter.

 Ron Haviv (www.ronhaviv.com) is a widely-published photojournalist, best known for his unflinching images of conflict and humanitarian crises, aimed at raising awareness for human rights.

 Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (www.greenfield-sanders.com) is a prolific and widely published portrait photographer, whose work may be found in the permanent collections of the leading US art galleries.

About the mentoring program
This year’s mentoring program was sponsored by by ASMP Foundation, and involved students led by established photographers in Columbus, OH (George Anderson); Dallas, TX (Stewart Cohen); Los Angeles, CA (Edie Tobias); New York, NY (Stephen Mallon); Pittsburgh, PA (Richard Kelly); Rochester, NY (Don Cochran); San Francisco, CA (Trinette Reed); Santa Fe, NM (Nevada Wier); Seattle, WA (Dan Lamont); Toronto and Ottawa, Canada (Yuri Dojc); London, UK (Vicki Couchman and Justin Sutcliffe).

Additional materials
The YPA logo and photos from last year’s Award Ceremony may be downloaded from: www.youngphotographersalliance.org/PR/

YPA can provide additional materials to any editors or writers who would like to produce a feature article on the award ceremony, scholarship winners, or mentoring program. Please contact Deborah Free at 585-768-7880 or deborah@youngphotographersalliance.org to discuss your requirements and deadlines.

Thank you Friends of WIN!

WINk Blog — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:49:26 +0000

Dear Friends of WIN, we recently sent out a mass email asking for the help of our friends, colleagues and contributors in an effort to raise funds to help out our studio manager’s fiancee who was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

People from all over the world shared stories and offered to contribute to help out Alina and Percy. We are so touched by all of the donations that have already started coming in and we received many personal letters that have encouraged her in these difficult times.

So far we have received commitments from 25 photographers who will be donating prints. Many of our international WIN friends have given permission to print their images and/or sending us High Res files.

The prints you donate will be exhibited at our gallery in November.

Ten photographers have also donated their time to shoot portraits to raise funds. There will be sign in sheets to connect sitters and shooters at the Take 5ive event, as well as a live photo shoot. There will be many great prizes for a big time raffle to be held the same night: including cameras, portfolio reviews, and many in kind donations.

We will keep you updated about our progress and please remember you can still send us images for the exhibition, or send us your raffle item.

Thanks again!

Hans, Percy and Chrissy

Above image by Holger Thoss is one of the donated prints for the benefit.

WIN-Initiative takes part in Visual Connections NYC 2010

WINk Blog — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:48:43 +0000

In 2009 Visual Connections in NY attracted over 700 picture buyers. Win is looking forward to focus it’s promotional campaign on broadening it’s client base in all market sectors especially to encourage its marketing to obtain more direct sales.
” We have spent a great deal of energy these last few years to build a solid foundation both in terms of attracting the right talent as well as creating a unique image collection that is aimed at pushing the industry to new and more creative heights. We have gained much support from the U.S and international photographic community. Now’s the perfect time to start attracting direct business alliances to our own website. I am truly excited to promote our Talent and get us more exposure.” -Chrissy Reilly, Operations Director at WIN-Initiative.

Visual Connections (formerly Picturehouse Marketing US) is all about connecting suppliers and buyers of visual media.
They offer a portfolio of marketing services to suppliers of visual media and related services, including stock image and footage agencies, photographers, production companies, and font foundries. VC are totally focused on the image licensing industry and are therefore uniquely placed, in terms of knowledge and contacts, to help you develop our business.

Deborah Free has 21 years of experience in developing and marketing stock agencies she is an organizer of industry events in New York, Chicago and San Francisco since 2003.

Her partner Edward Leigh worked the IT side of the stock photography business for 18 years now. He was a Research and Development Manager at Getty Images until 1996 and since then has consulted many agencies making the transition into the digital age.

“Our fairs are a fantastic opportunity to gain new business and build loyalty from existing clients. We also manage an international online directory of visual media suppliers, plus a variety of other cost-effective marketing and promotion services, from print advertising to press release distribution.” –Deborah Free

Click here to find out more about Visual Connections

WIN to host The BIG Hipstamatic Print Show; Dark Night of The Soul, September 24th

WINk Blog — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:22:41 +0000

WIN-Initiative has teamed up with Hipstamatic to Host; Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s, Dark Night of the Soul, an exhibition of winning images from the contest that Hipstamatic held this summer. The concept was inspired by the song “Dark Night of The Soul” that the two artist collaborated on together. Hipstamatic released the concept of the competition to follow along with the artists’ original intent for the CD art, asking fellow artists to visually represent their interpretation of the song.

The exhibition will be curated by Savannah Spirit. Prints will all be printed out of Hipstamatic’s new feature “Hipstamart.com”. Sangria will be served and a live feed projector show will take place that could feature your Hipstamatic images!

The dynamic duo of Aesthetic Apparatus also created screen printed posters of their take on the DNOTS challenge. Posters will be available at the event for $20.

Filmmaker and visual artist, David Lynch was one of the personally chosen artists to create these images for the CD booklet. He has donated signed prints of his images to be given to the 9 winning artists of the competition.

Inspired by the five minute presentation of Mario Estrada (Community Director at Synthetic) at our September Take 5ive Event, WIN recognized how Hipstamatic is trying to support the photographic community. “We believe in the creative endeavors of Hipstamatic and we are excited to have this exhibition”, says Hans Neleman, WIN-Initiative Founder. You can check out more about this competition here

MORE ON DNOTS
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse were due to release an album in the summer of 2009 entitled Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul (together with a 100+ photo book with photographs by David Lynch). Due to a dispute with EMI the album was not released officially until 12 July 2010 . However, the BBC reported that Danger Mouse plans to release a full illustrated jewel case with a blank CD-R included in it. The CD-R will be labeled:
“For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.”

WIN-Initiative at the Eddie Adams Workshop (October 9th)

WINk Blog — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:45:53 +0000

Hans Neleman will be lecturing and reviewing portfolios at the Eddie Adams workshop Saturday October 9th.
Neleman is going to give a lecture on his editorial, commercial and stock photography career for the 100 hand selected photographers. This opportunity was given because of Neleman’s and WIN-Initiative’s strong ties to supporting young photography communities around the world. Portfolio reviews to follow the lecture.

ABOUT THE EDDIE ADAMS WORKSHOP
The Eddie Adams Workshop is an intense four-day gathering of the top professionals in photojournalism, along with 100 carefully selected students. The Workshop’s purpose is to create a forum in which an exchange of ideas, techniques, and philosophies can be shared between both established members and newcomers of the profession of picture journalism. The Workshop is tuition-free, and the 100 students are chosen based on the merit of their portfolios. 2008 will mark the 21st year of the Eddie Adams Workshop.
The Workshop Board of Directors reviews students’ portfolios and recommendations. The top 100 chosen students will be divided into 10 teams of 10. A photographer, an editor and a researcher, all professionals within the profession of picture journalism, will lead each team. The four days are divided between shooting, editing, speeches and panel discussions. Students will have the opportunity for one-on-one time with editors to discuss their portfolios at what is known as the 11:30 Club. Barnstorm is 100% digital, giving students and faculty access to a variety of the best professional equipment available, including Nikon digital SLR’s and the latest Apple computers. During the Workshop, the students have constant interaction with the biggest and brightest minds in photography today- nowhere else will you find 150 top-notch faculty members for 100 students!

Click to view slideshow.
For more information on the Eddie Adams workshop please click here

If you are interested in having a workshop by WIN-Initiative, please email worshops@win-initiative.com

Neleman Rallies for Print Donations from WIN photographers for YPA

WINk Blog — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:33:51 +0000

In support of the YPA (Young Photographers Alliance) and the efforts of stock photography guru Jerry Tavin- Hans Neleman, WIN Founder has donated three limited edition (24″ x 20″) signed prints to be exhibited and auctioned off during the second annual YPA Award Ceremony and Benefit Auction on October 12th, 2010 in New York City. The images are from Nelemans’ still life book SILENCE, photographs that start as assemblages and explore his interest in modern taboos, decay and morbid beauty. Tavin handpicked these prints from Neleman’s portfolio at the Take 5ive event on September 9th. Neleman told WINk, “What Jerry is doing is wonderful and completely in line with what WIN has done since it’s inception. We need to encourage and wake the fire in the hearts of the next generation. Winning awards was a large part of my success as a photographer and I feel it is essential to the start of new careers.”

WIN-Initiative is also calling out to it’s nearly 800 international photographers to get involved. “Here is the perfect opportunity to gain exposure and help out the photographers of the next generation”, says Chrissy Reilly, Operations Director at WIN-Initiative, “every young artist deserves the chance to express their creativity… let’s help get those tools in their hands.”

To donate your work please email: info@win-initiative.com

ABOUT THE YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS ALLIANCE
The Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) is a global community where young photographers connect with the inspiration, resources and contacts they need to build successful and sustainable careers as the great artists and communicators of the future.

For more information on The Young Photographers Alliance click here

September Take 5ive!

WINk Blog — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:41:42 +0000

September’s Take 5ive was a great evening. Hans Neleman hosted and Chrissy Reilly emceed a packed WIN headquarters where once again creative conversation mixed with food and cocktails. The panel for the evening was curated by social media marketing and business trending specialist Karen D’Silva, an exhibition by Stanislava Georgieva, and music by jazz and blues vocalist Emily Braden. Our 5 minute guest presenters included:

Stanislava Georgieva
Karen D’Silva
Jerry Tavin
Andy Katz
Mario Estrada
Sonya Giacobbe
Sean Justice
Manuela Fassbender
Savannah Spirit
Click to view slideshow.
About Take 5ive

Take 5ive is an info exchange party where ten people (WIN or unrelated) each have up to five minutes to talk about a photo related subject, voice a concern or show recent work (theirs or otherwise). The speakers will include industry leaders and new win-talent.

Photo Credits to Carissa Pelleteri and Tony Gale

Die Toten Hosen for WIN Tee-Shirts sold out in Germany in 3 hours!

WINk Blog — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:52:30 +0000

Die Toten Hosen for WIN-Initiative Limited Edition Tee Shirts sold out in Germany in Less then 3 hours! Not to worry, we still have a few here in the US waiting to be purchased (you can visit: http://www.win-initiative.com/win-shop.shtml)

The Toten Hosen have decided to donate the proceeds of the tee shirts to the charity Oxfam Deutschland! This organization focuses on a “Just world without poverty”. You can read more about Oxfam Deutschland on their website: http://www.oxfam.de/

Thanks to The Toten Hosen for all of their support!

You can purchase a special edition tee-shirt here

Check out Die Toten Hosen