Search results for: 'art used for good'

On Reading — stealing from the best Nearly all of my photographs organize themselves into loosely defined, open-ended projects that are never finished but often stop at an interesting place for a portfolio, show, or hand-made book. People often ask; “Where do you get ideas for your projects?” British photographer and educator, David Hurn says; “Our advice to photographers is best expressed by Calvin Trilling: ‘The immature artist borrows; the mature artist steals.’ So steal from the best....

I’m Anil Mistry and I’m a photographer. I shoot a whole variety of work,  including headshots, documentary, portraits and personally initiated projects. Whatever interests me and helps me to improve my body of work. I’ve been asked to talk about an area of my photographic work that I have a real passion for. In my case, that's the capturing of street portraits. Why do I take street portraits? There’s two main reasons I do it, and I’ll try to go through them succinctly: It’s not easy ...

Taking the plunge I'd had this roll of Ilford HP4 for a good few months and was hesitant to put it through a camera. The fact that it was so pristine in it's condition made me feel that whatever I used it for had to be significant. I had to wait for the right opportunity. As the weeks passed,  I began putting unnecessary pressure on myself to plan a shoot around this one film. It was sitting on a shelf, judging me. At this point I decided to stop procrastinating and just shoot the roll, regardless of w...

An experiment in chemical possibilities When I took up a camera after a few years’ hiatus in 1990, I was surprised to discover that I could no longer get a black & white film developed through the nearest camera shop, never mind through the local pharmacy.  If memory serves, I was told it would cost $40 for a single film. Naturally, I returned to processing my own film just I had done when I first took up a camera in the early 1970s. The world had moved on, and colour film was the default medium f...

Tree #8 Technical info: Film Used: Ilford FP4 Format: 6x7 Camera: Mamiya 7ii Lens: 43mm Exposure time: 3 min Other equipment: Lee Filter holder, Lee 4 stop nd, Lee Red #25 filter, B&W 105mm Polarizer, Gitzo Tiopod, Acratech Ballhead. Location: Zion National Park Tell us the story behind this image. What inspired you to shoot it? A couple good friends of mine who know Zion quite well introduced me to this fantastic little tree last Fall. The tree is about 9 feet tall and high up on a ridge ...

An Interest in Large Format Large format is an immensely rewarding and enjoyable way to make a photograph. It can also feel overwhelming when you’re just starting out, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. This article is for anyone with an interest in large format. I got into 4x5 because I wanted to challenge myself, and to try something new. Over the last two years it has become my favourite way to take a photograph. There’s something special about slowing down and being so deliberate with each...

Chemigram workshop On a very hot, sunny Saturday six students from The Mill Arts Centre Trust in Banbury took part in a Chemigram workshop. Chemigrams were established in the 1950s by Belgian artist Pierre Cordier. Chemigrams are created by forcing a chemical reaction between photographic paper and photographic chemistry. In this workshop, we used ILFORD Warmtone Resin Coated Paper, ILFORD Pearl Resin Coated Paper, ILFORD Universal Developer, ILFORD Warmtone Developer and ILFORD Rapid Fixer. Beautiful...

London Fashion Week Earlier this year I shot my fifth season of London Fashion Week. I’ve been trying to incorporate new and different styles into my fashion photojournalism work, in order to stand out and also to exercise my own creativity. I’ve been shooting at London Fashion Week for about as long as I’ve been photographing professionally. It’s a great environment, fantastic for networking opportunities, building a decent portfolio of industry standard work, and also for experimenting with new t...

Of course, we see in color - but vision is just one part of how we sense the environment and moments. In the mountains I see tremendous peaks, I feel and hear the storms, freeze, and feel emotions from success, failure and intense personal experiences. All that black + white can convey more intensively - for me this is not a reduction over colour photography, but an amplification of impressions.  This is the translation of a short text I wrote a few years back for the German Schwarzweiss Magazine. Si...

My love for film is strong, but it wasn’t my first photography love. When I first started out as a landscape photographer my focus was on digital infrared. I was drawn to the unique view that it captures. Last month my two photography loves came together when I was given some SFX200 Extended Red film by ILFORD. When I shoot film I use a different set of skills to when I shoot infrared.  One of the most important elements of shooting infrared digital is the quality of the light - the distribution and o...