The Democratic Race 2008

(Click to View)

There are just 4 more days until November 4th so I put together The Democratic Race 2008 photo essay for the web. It is a retrospective look at the democratic race in Nevada leading up to the caucus. The photo essay actually runs in reverse chronological order, starting from the Nevada caucus on January 19, 2008 and ending on one of Barack Obama's early visits to Nevada in late 2007. The context of Nevada lead to an interesting race for the democrats. Third in line, following New Hampshire and Iowa, Nevada became a sort of trivial tie breaker for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Nevada's stage was also set with strong unions on the Las Vegas strip and an increasingly problematic home foreclosure crisis in Clark County, which created an interest situation for the democrats for this 2008 election. Hillary Clinton would later win in Nevada with 51% of the vote, followed by Barack Obama's 45%.

Photo Essay can also be viewed on www.sportsshooter.com/stevenyphoto

Turn around

look away from the center stage, and take a look at life taking place behind you. I think some of the best photographs I have seen from events were not so much of the events themselves but rather of the audiences. Their responses to what is going on can sometimes say something that a photo of what is actually going on cannot say. This is part of Alfred Eisenstaedt's brilliance in the photograph below. Instead of choosing to photograph a puppet show at the Tuileries park in Paris he turned his camera around and captured the response of the children-filled audience. Wide eyes of awe and faces of excitement that could only be fueled by shear passion fill the frame. I don't know what this puppet show was about, but it must have been amazing.

The audience of a puppet show at the Tuileries park in Paris in 1963. Alfred Eisenstaedt.

The faces of a reacting crowd can also make you feel that feeling you can only get from the shock of tragedy. That's what I felt when I first saw Patrick Witty's photograph (below) of a crowd's response to the first tower's fall on that tragic day of 9/11. As I stare into the faces in this photograph I could almost hear the disastrous sounds of the tower's collapse behind, the collapse that they are witnessing. The photograph almost becomes a mirror to America, their responses were also ours, and with that there is a sense of empathy to photo.

A crowd in the streets of New York City witnessing the collapse of the first tower on 9/11. Patrick Witty.

Don't sell yourself short

"Noooo, come back and place a higher bid!"

My exhibition the other night was a success, but not profit wise. I'm actually in a financial crunch now because of exhibition expenses. But like I said before, the experience is really what made this exhibition worth it, and I took a lot of lessons with me from this experience. One of those lessons; don't sell yourself short!

In my case, the starting bid was set too low. I figured that a starting bid should be low as it is the starting bid. But one thing I learned about low starting bids is that it leads to low ending bids. The thing about photographs is that it isn't a common item that a person would go about purchasing regularly. So when it comes to selling photographs, the seller needs to almost guide the buyer by setting the price. Most people don't know how much a framed photograph should cost, so the starting bid should somewhat reflect its worth. The starting bids for my photographs began at an average of $10, under the assumption that a starting bid should start low. Instead the starting bid should have begun at around cost to ensure that I could at least break even.

So to anyone out there planning on selling their work, don't self yourself short. If you are confident that your work will impress, then set the price to reflect that confidence. It doesn't matter if the buyer is impressed, they won't buy high if you start them at nothing.

The Democratic Race 2008 Exhibition

So I had my exhibition the other night and it turned out pretty well. The exhibition was held for the college democrats at my school and it took place during the yearly Jefferson Jackson Dinner held by the local democrats. I know, I know, what happened to objectivity? Well I do admit I am voting for Barack Obama, but that is for personal reasons that I would love to discuss.. but maybe another time. Regardless of who I am voting for, this election, as the late Tim Russert put it, has been "the most exciting election we've had in such a long time." That was mainly why I wanted to hold this exhibition, to share this story that I had compiled to somebody, anybody, before the end of the election. It also provided a bit of exposure which is great since I am a new to Indiana.

Turn out was great since the exhibition was a part of the annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner that the local democrats hold. A crowd of politicians and campaign contributors attended that night, a great crowd to be exposed to.

The feedback I received for my work was definitely full of interest and encouraging words. Above all else this would probably be the defining factor in deciding if the exhibition was successful, the reviews.


All in all, the exhibition was a success. Profits were disappointing, but the experience in itself was worth everything. Now on to a new project.

60th Anniversary - Declaration of Human Rights and VII Agency

"ARTICLE 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. CAPTION - Prisoners crowd a jail cell in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gary Knight/VII"

"The 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights will take place on December 10, 2008. To mark this important milestone, the VII Photo agency has created an exhibition that will be shown in more than 50 cities around the world over the coming months. They include Baghdad, Kabul, Ramallah, Khartoum, Tbilisi, Caracas, Kathmandu, Lima, Port Moresby, Hong Kong, Prague, and Oslo, to name but a few. A slideshow of the work will be shown in another 180 cities/venues."
-VII Photo Agency


Like the quote above says, the VII Photo Agency will be having exhibitions to commemorate the day that the UN General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For each of the 30 articles of the UDHR, the VII Agency has selected 30 photographs. The exhibition also includes photographs by VII Network photographers such as Eric Bouvet and Balazs Gardi.

"ARTICLE 30: Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. CAPTION - A boy swings from a gun turret of an abandoned tank in Managua, Nicaragua. James Nachtwey/VII"

I haven't been able to find event schedules on their site or others, but I will be sure to stay posted on any event schedule updates. Until then, the 30 selected photos can be seen on the VII website.

Related Links:
www.viiphoto.com
UDHR

Clicking through images is old news.

"I am apparently the last blogger in the world to discover Cooliris."
-PDNPulse (August 2008)

Nope, I guess I am. I just downloaded Cooliris the other day, and I am thoroughly amazed. Cooliris is a very lightweight Firefox browser extension that allows you to browse through images in a streamline, full-screen, 3D interface. With Cooliris you can transform websites like Google Images, Flickr, Deviant Art, and more into a three dimensional wall of images. The program is very visually appealing, and the controls are very intuitive (reminds me of an iphone).


You can download it on Cooliris's website, www.cooliris.com.

Exhibition stuff

The set up begins.

For the past month or so I've been working on my exhibition, The Race 2008. The photos will be from the events of the 2008 presidential race that I had a chance to cover while living in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 16 photos being exhibited will be up for auction to benefit the College Democrats of Purdue University. This will be my first exhibition ever, and it has definitely been a learning experience for me.

Matting and mounting.

After plans for the exhibition were set, the first thing on the agenda were the prints. I always order my prints from Mpix, and this time was no exception. Mpix has always delivered results right to my door, and I don't have to worry about print hassles like supplies and color matching (but I should still probably invest in my own printer eventually, but till then Mpix will be more than fine). As expected, the prints arrived and looked great. They ranged in size from 18x12, 15x10, to 12x9.

Now that the prints are here, uh, what do I do with them? What do I do with them? Should I frame them? Frames are rather pricey. Should I just mount and hang them with swiss clips? That might not entice big bids. These thoughts ran through my mind for weeks till I finally decided on framing. After advice from friends and the web I decided frames were worth the somewhat heavy price, and after framing them I realized they really did show their worth. Prints in frames and behind glass look amazing. The frames really finish it off, shouting "I'm ready to be shown to the world." I decided on the standard matte black frames from American Frame along with slim, 1" white mats. This slim frame/mat combo not only had the modern look I had hoped for but also left the photo it encompassed as the dominant. Now that I see how great my prints look framed I don't regret framing them, even if they don't rake in high bids.

Assembly reminded me of legos. Legos were great.

Final product, smile on face, definitely worth it.

Well, 16 prints and frames later and I was done with that part of it. Now on to captions and actual set up of the exhibition. I'll post updates on that as it happens.

Color v. Black and White

Color or black and white? Its a pretty basic question, but at some point during the creation of every photograph, the photographer will have to decide between the two. There are those who strictly shoot one of the two, and for them the decision is clearly easy. But for those of us who shoot between the two, deciding between black and white or color can sometimes leave us in a dilemma. This is a problem for someone as indecisive as me but I manage by keeping two aspects into consideration; the situation and/or technical limitations.

Often times I decide between black and white or color the moment I see the photograph play out in front of me simply based on the situation. What do I want to tell about the situation through my photo, and which of the two would better tell it? I do generally prefer black and white over color. The elegant simplicity and dramatic contrast of opposites appeals to me, especially when I am attempting to illustrate emotion in a photograph. Color's complexity can sometimes become distracting from the emotion of the photograph. Black and white's dramatic contrast of opposites also accentuates emotion and highlights the expressions of the subject.

NPPL San Diego 2006, Photo by Steven Yang

Color has its purpose too, but as Henri Cartier-Bresson says , it should be looked at by "an approach different than that which is appropriate for black and white." Black and white accentuates emotion, color accentuates sensation. There is something about the color of photographs that recreates the feeling of being there. "You can only get that sense in color, you can smell it, you can smell everything in those kodachromes" says Trent Parke, "you can feel it."

David Alan Harvey, GERMANY. Hanover. 1989. Berlin Wall.



I also use color when color is the subject. The inferno colors of a sunset sky, the warm tone of fall leaves, or in the case of the photo below, the colors of the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fremont Street, Las Vegas. Steven Yang

In the end, these are just rules that I follow, made by me from observations behind a camera. The capabilities of photography are available to be used at the photographer's content, so don't let me define them for you.

James Nachtwey Revealed His TED Project

There has been word lately that James Nachtwey would be announcing his recent TED Prize funded photo project. According to the speech above, Nachtwey has been covering "a story that the world needs to know about." Nachtwey's announced plans were to use the $100,00 TED Prize grant to "break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age." This could be a big moment for the new face of digital photojournalism, and yesterday James Nachtwey announced his TED Prize Project; Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Nachtwey has traveled to 7 countries (Cambodia, South Africa, Swaziland, Thailand, Siberia, Lesotho, India) which have been effected by this new form of TB. By documenting XDR-TB's effects, Nachtwey's TED wish is to raise awareness with his work and to ultimately reach a conclusion to the problem.


Photos from this project can be seen on xdrtb.org, but that is only the start of James Nachtwey's efforts to spread awareness. Expect to see Nachtwey's essay "The Forgotten Plague" in Time magazine, screenings in cities around the world, and the use of new and innovative digital mediums.

A patient in Battambang Provincial Hospital, Battambang, Cambodia, coinfected with TB and Aids is comforted by a medical worker during a visit by the NGO, Cambodian Health Committee. (James Nachtwey, VII)

Related Links:
TED Prize 2007
xdrtb.org
VII Photo Agency

The photo above was taken in 2006 by Peter van Agtmael during his time covering the war in Iraq. It is a part of his series War Graffiti which covers an interesting place in the Iraq conflict, the bathroom stall. A place of no accountability. A place where anything can be said, and everything is said. The doors and partitions of these stalls are filled with words written by soldiers. These words almost provide a glimpse into the minds of the those who wrote them. Looking through the series, I wondered what motivated the writing. In the instance of the photo above, it seems that the bathroom stall became a place for an anonymous release of emotion. For the faceless soldier who wrote a plea for God's forgiveness and assurance, the bathroom stall became a confessional. For the writer of the obsene response, the walls may have become a place to release the resentment caused by the bitter realities of war. Or could it simply be a trivial remark? The motives are obscure, but that obscurity compells curiosity, a curiosity that can only be filled with the products of imagination.

"My photographs are primarily about contradictions" says Agtmael, and the contridiction is in plain view. Along with obscurity, the photo bares obviousness. The vulgar response to the written prayer is loud and clear. The obcene outweighs the sincere in size and intensity, yet the weight of the photograph is balanced. The two statements evenly balance their position within the frame, one with content, the other with visual intensity.

Orphan Works Bill, Closer to Reality

This is sort of late (6 days late actually) but if you are a visual artist of any sort then this is probably important to you. The Orphan Works Copyright Act (Senate Bill 2913) has passed in the Senate on September 27, 2008. The act was created to free up the use of copyrighted work in the event that the owner cannot be identified after a "diligent effort" has been made to find the author. It has strongly been opposed by many in the photography and visual arts community because of fear that their work may not be protected to the extent of current copyright laws. The act still needs to go through the House and the president before it becomes law.

Whether or not this bill passes, copyright laws will not be immune to change. This act is a preview of the future of copyright in an ever-growing information age. So what can you do to protect your work? Well, make yourself easy to get a hold of. Provide contact information where your work is available. What about providing the information right on the work? Watermarks have always been used by photographers to protect their work, although some would argue that watermarks detract from the work. Who would want Picasso stamped across the Guernica? Well then again, who would want to see their work published without adequate compensation?

Related Links

Senate Bill 2913
PDN Pulse Report