There is always an abundance of advice, readily available to all, on ways to achieve success in any given field. Invariably, they are written by authors of questionable success themselves and whilst that does not necessarily mean they are wrong, it makes it more likely that they are.
The best people to ask about how to achieve success as a photographer are photographers who are top of their field. This is exactly what the chaps over at Fstoppers did on their recent visit to Gulf Photo Plus 2013. They interview big players in the industry from Gregory Heisler to Joe McNally. There is some truly invaluable insight to be heard.
The creation of a photography book is something many photographers try. It is an effective method of collating images which pertain to a certain theme. One of the primary difficulties to be overcome in creating a successful photography book is consistent quality. It is one thing to have a great idea, but quite another to deliver on all of the theme’s constituent images. Finnish photographer Petri Artturi Asikainen and his book 100 Year in Tokyo are all the more impressive for that reason (among others). Asikainen set out to take a photograph of a male and a female of every age between 0 and 100, resulting in 202 portraits without sacrificing quality.
Petri Artturi Asikainen’s website
In a previous video we posted – a short documentary on Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist - one moment that stood out to me was a woman’s aspiration to be photographed by Schuman; the lady confessed to having joked about such a thing happening. This isn’t particularly unusual or inexplicable but this is almost the soft rumblings of something a bit darker and a bit more sinister. The practice of ‘peacocking’ is nothing new nor is it a fascinating insight in to the human mind. However, the extent to which some people will go to for the attention they crave within a fashion context is somewhat surprising. Furthermore, as the film makers of this video observe, it can be rather frustrating for the fashion editors.
An act of desperation or a necessary move to make ripples in a vast body of water?
Anyone who has done any form of photo shoot will know that you can accumulate a rather vast pool of images. Even with just one hundred images, the time it takes to narrow down the collection to the images you like, to separate them from the pack and to process them can take hours. Fashion photographer Nick Fancher shows just how quickly this laborious task can be with a basic understanding of Adobe Lightroom.
Nick Fancher is a fantastic photographer and I urge you to look through his work over at www.nickfancher.com - I will be featuring another video of him soon.
Here are Acufocal’s top 10 men’s watches for 2013. This list was compiled without budget as a consideration. If you’re of a weak disposition, look away now.
Rado – rado.com – £11,950
Nomos – nomos-glashuette.com – £2,760
Montblanc – montblanc.com – £198,000
Louis Vuitton – louisvuitton.com – £39,000
Jaeger-LeCoultre – jaeger-lecoultre.com – £175,000 EST
Cartier – Cartier.com – POA
Breguet – breguet.com – £120,000
Tag Heuer – tagheuer.com – £5,295
Brietling – breitling.com - £12,040
Rolex – rolex.com – TBC
A documentary on Richard Avendon, one of the most successful fashion and portrait photographers of modernity. His portfolio boasted portraits including the likes of Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles and Andy Warhol.
“…his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century.” – The New York Times (2004)
