Photographing Such a Waste

October 15, 2015October 15, 2015 marceleverts Leave a comment

One of the things that makes photography great is it opens doors which normally stay closed. Visiting places you normally wouldn’t see. And smell. Yesterday my camera brought me to a waste processing plant. I was asked to take a couple of photographs for a big regional newspaper (De Gelderlander).

A bit out of my comfort zone. Normally I’m pretty much in control. Being more of a studio photographer. But to go out there and just do it, really helped me in adjusting quickly to low light situations, different color temperatures and a non controllable situation. Plus I learned a little something about processing and recycling waste.

Photos taken for De Gelderlander at Attero in Wijster, Drenthe, the Netherlands.

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Before the group suited up and visited the actual plant, an insightful presentation about waste, plastic and recycling.

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Am I still needed? 😛

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Tons of waste, live on tv 😉
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Looking at the impressive machineries.

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Good thing the smell stays there…

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Again? One more time and I quit 😛

_DSC9479 I really hope they painted everything this colorful to cheer up the employees a bit. Given they have to work in that special and thick odor.

_DSC9515 It really was a maze.

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Okay, that’s it…

Touching Street Encounters

January 7, 2015 marceleverts Leave a comment

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The key to good street photography is a very keen eye for those special moments that happen all the time around us. Henri Cartier-Bresson had it, Robert Doisneau had it and more recently Matt Stuart has it. The work of these photographers make us smile and giggle at touching moments in the ordinary streets of Europe. And now we can add China to this list. Self thought photographer Tao Liu Has took up the camera while working as a water meter reader.

His work as a water meter reader, as wonderful as it is to say, the job really was dull and boring. He made use of his daily strolls trough the streets of Hefei in the Anhui Province. And in-between the reading of water meters he photographed the streets. In a fun and joyful manner. He really has a keen eye for those brief moments, that when we realize what we have witnessed it has already gone. Luckily there is Tao Lui Has. Check out his profile on Flickr to find more wonders of the streets of Hefei.

Tao Lui Has’ Flickr account: www.flickr.com/photos/58083590@N05/

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Tao Lui Has’ Flickr account: www.flickr.com/photos/58083590@N05/

The Neighbors by Arne Svenson

May 20, 2013 marceleverts Leave a comment

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Controversy is always something that can help promote your work. Because of all the commotion around the photo series The Neighbors it manages to come across my table. And that’s why I’m sharing it with you. So in a way the saying, bad publicity is good publicity worked for photographer Arne Svenson. In his series he pointed the camera at the apartment building across from his studio. It shows us snippets of the lives lived in these stacked living spaces. A series of anonymous lives lived behind the windows of downtown Manhattan.

The photos have a painting like quality. The framing of the windows mimic that of paintings. And they remind me of the works of Edwards Hopper. Moments captured in a wonderful composition. It leave much to the imagination. The subjects aren’t recognizable. The artist allows us to create our own story. A theatrical way of looking at ordinary life. It also reminded me of the series Windows by Michael Wolf.

Read about the controversy of being secretly photographed and putting the work up for sale here. I can understand the feelings of being photographed in your private homes. It does raise some privacy questions but overall the work doesn’t seem to be about those specific neighbors. It shows a stage we can recognize. If I was Arne’s neighbor I would ask for a print. Not sue him for making such an interesting series.

Arne Svenson’s website: arnesvenson.com

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Arne Svenson’s website: arnesvenson.com

Time Travel by Flóra Borsi

April 20, 2013 marceleverts Leave a comment

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A dream perhaps of many. Traveling through time. Hungarian photographer Flóra Borsi used Photoshop to ‘see’ some of the biggest artists, musicians and moments in western history first hand. She created images that shows her in the presence of these famous persons and moments. Capturing Elvis on stage, sneaky taking a shot of Marilyn Monroe in a bathroom or documenting the civil rights movement. Where would you love to be? You can recreate history if you are as photoshop savvy as Borsi is.

I hope her next series will show us the results of this fantastic way of traveling through time. That would really make for an amazing series.

Flóra Borsi’s profile on Behance: www.behance.net/yayuniversal

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Flóra Borsi’s profile on Behance: www.behance.net/yayuniversal

Drive by Shooting by Johnny Tergo

April 10, 2013 marceleverts Leave a comment

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Google Streets eat your hearth out. Photographer Johnny Tergo combined the mapping style of google with the drive by shooting we know out of those certain neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Which happens to be the photographers home town. Tergo drives around in a car tricked out with strobes. He shoots LA’s pedestrians. Some photographs look to be straight from a hollywood movie. His strobes help to achieve this effect. The side mirror of the car can be seen in each image. It reminds us of being in a car. Looking at people whom we come across as we drive along the streets of Los Angeles. The series is called Passenger Side Window. The complete series now consist out of 62 photographs. Visit his website to see the complete set.

“I am Constantly seeing interesting people whom I have the urge to photograph while driving past them on the streets. I built a series of interesting images of people on the street without the individuals knowledge, just as I saw it before me. I accomplished this by building a custom rig in my truck that is made up of generators, strobes, a digital capture station with remote fire capability and of course a mounted camera. This method also allowed me to light the images without having to set-up a series of lights for each individual portrait. In essence I built myself a driving studio.

In this series I seek to explore the interplay of environment and the individuals that occupy the space.“

Johnny Tergo’s website: johnnytergo.com

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VIDEO: Beijing Silvermine – Thomas Sauvin

March 24, 2013 marceleverts Leave a comment

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Beijing Silvermine is a unique photographic portrait of the capital and the life of its inhabitants following the Cultural Revolution. It covers a period of 20 years, from 1985, namely when silver film started being used massively in China, to 2005, when digital photography started taking over. These 20 years are those of China’s economic opening, when people started prospering, travelling, consuming, having fun.

Kids Posing with Their Favorite Toys by Gabriele Galimberti

March 22, 2013 marceleverts Leave a comment

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We all had or still have them. The toys we’ve spent hours with. Creating different worlds while playing with that toy. Gabriele Galimerti visited many children in different countries to photograph them with their favorite toys. The series is called Toy Stories.

The story behind the photograph above:

Maudy was born in a hut in a small village close to Kalulushi, in Zambia. She grew up playing in the street with the other children in the village, who all attend the same school, where students ages 3 to 10 years old are in the same class. The village has no shops, restaurants or hotels, and just a few children are lucky enough to have toys. Maudy and her friends found a box full of sunglasses on the street, which quickly became their favorite toys.

A series showing that imagination is a big and important part of growing up. It also shows the world the child is growing up in. A glimpse in their personalities, economic statuses, interests and countries. Visit her website to see and learn more about this wonderful series.

Gabriele Galimberti’s website: www.gabrielegalimberti.com

Exploding Street Style Fashion Photography

March 18, 2013 marceleverts Leave a comment

The art of Fashion needs to be covered. And photography is perhaps the perfect way to capture and share those new styles and trends in fashion. And with social media and fashion blogs on the internet it’s easy to reach a large crowd fast. The editors and photographers of these blogs swarm around the fashionable people attracted by Fashion Weeks held around the world. Chasing them, photographing them and in a way consuming their fashion styles to be shared among their hundreds or thousands, perhaps millions followers.

The short documentary created by Garage Magazine is called Take My Picture that explores this explosion in Street Fashion Photography.

When we set out to make this short, our intention simply was to observe the phenomenon of fashion bloggers and street style stars. As we started to review the footage, two salient trends became apparent: fashion editors frustrated by the ensuing commotion outside of shows, and the rise of “peacocking” street style stars as a result of the proliferation of blogs. This film examines these themes from both perspectives. – GARAGE MAGAZINE

Watching Weight Watchers

February 8, 2013February 8, 2013 marceleverts Leave a comment

Photographer Haley Morris-Cafiero has created a series in which she herself is situated. We see her in different locations. But the subject are the people surrounding her. Being a person that struggles with her weight, hearing people commenting about her physique has always been part of her life. But capturing the looks and the stares was something that she never thought possible. Until she took photos of herself in Times Square and notices something. In several photographs she notices that different people were staring and some had an expression of disgust on their faces. A new series was born.

The series is called “Wait Watchers”. She places a camera in view and photographed herself doing different things. Such as reading, sketching and talking on the phone. But the one activity that created the most response was when she was eating. For her it is not really certain if people watch her because she’s fat or perhaps she’s taking a photo of herself.

Whether people may look at her for taking a photograph or with the idea “look at that fat lady” is not sure. But what is for sure is that the time we live in has placed a stigma on being a large person. Looking at commercials, magazines and models a standard of size has been set. Compare them to models from the twenties and thirties Or even in art from the 1800s. A difference can be seen. In a way Morris-Cafiero is putting the shame back to ones thoughts. Judging yourself and not someone else.

I have always been aware of people making faces, commenting and laughing at me about my size. I now reverse the gaze and record their reactions to me while I perform mundane tasks in public spaces. I seek out spaces that are visually interesting and geographically diverse. I try to place myself in compositions that contain feminine icons or advertisements.

Haley Morris-Cafiero’s website: haleymorriscafiero.com