Kinda sick, right? Maybe a bit skeezy? Photographically speaking, that’s a lot like one of my guilty pleasures lately: Terry Richardson’s Tumblr.

Richardson's Diary

I mean, we’re talking about a guy who doesn’t really have a great repertoire in technique. This is a guy with a ton of tattoos, who looks like a Kentucky hick, is known to have downed drugs in quantities that would kill me, and has published a book that reportedly involved the photographer himself getting a beej.

I can’t tear my eyes away.

Police clashed with protesters in Athens as Greek unions held demonstrations over austerity measures being applied as the government struggles to avoid a catastrophic default. Across Greece public transport was paralysed, flights cancelled, schools and courts closed, and hospitals operated only an emergency service.

Emphasis mine – click the image to see the text in full detail.

I have a few issues with this description.  First of all, this doesn’t look like a protester to me.  All that camera gear hanging off of her waist?  That’s quite a commitment, lugging it around.  Normal people don’t do that.  Amateur photographers don’t even do that.

But the professionals do that.

Seeing a police-type decking a photographer smacks of censorship.  What’s he hiding?  What is really going on? I won’t know from over here, but it sure makes it look like the government/police types aren’t the good guys.

Does anyone out there know the background behind this pic? I’m curious: who is the photographer, why is she being attacked, and what was the outcome?

This doesn't look like a protester to me

In fact, start here, then click through the “next day” links. Might be worth it, if you’re into that kind of stuff. An example:

Tree at night, handheld

Take this image, for example (screenshot with surrounding text):

Screenshot of Pictory blog

This came from one of Pictory’s recent blog posts (here, specifically). On its own, the image doesn’t mean much to me. An older lady spending some time with a hobby, perhaps. Some focused light and nice, deep shadows. But with the text, it turns into a human story, and gives a new meaning: in this case, it screams of loneliness and abandonment.

It’s quite a sad image. Yet there is an uplifting message, that you make your own happiness.

This would be lost without the text.

In your situation, would you have done anything different?

View from Kalaulau

Originally posted on the family site.  I really like this one, though, so I’m posting it again.

Stop thinking that, you perv. Totally out of professional respect (or, as the kids say, “no homo”).

He’s in the news these days for beating up a poor guy who accidentally borrowed one of his images (turn on you sarcasm detector, dude. Best summary: read TOP – I side with Ctein on this ‘un). But as this brouhaha builds up, he posts a beautiful retrospective of his daughter.

Something that caught my eye early on was a comment of his daughter’s from when she was 17:

These photos are not cropped, retouched, or altered. None are artificially lit or set up. At this point, I am more concerned with observation than with creation. This series is an attempt to show how the act of looking can totally redefine objects and moments in everyday life.

What a mature point of view!  This is a perspective that takes self confidence and wisdom.  Shoot, I’m not even close to that point yet, much less most photographers I’ve met.

Be sure to check out his images of his daughter as she grew up. This is exactly why I got into photography in the first place.

I’m a bit distracted, though: it seems that they (Kelby Training) made a deliberate decision to film the video in black and white. I’m a fan of B&W, so don’t get me wrong – but this?

Black and White screenshot

It feels like a eulogy.

With so many friends passing away (another just late last week), I hate thinking about what this implies. Oh, and I do get it: they’re making a contrast between the talk & the images created (which are gorgeous, and full color). But the melancholy that the video evokes is, to my mind, palpable.

Dirty sunrise

Originally posted on my Tumblr blog. You might want to check it out if you haven’t seen it in a while. I have been sporadically posting cell phone shots there.  In some cases (like the dirty sunrise posted here), I like them better than my higher-quality ones.

Even if they tend towards the hipster side.

Via Jim Goldstein’s twitter

I’m a bit torn on the subject. I admit to not being a fan of online learning, and I expect “books” to be purchased. Electronic books? Garbage, to me. I want my cellulose interface.

This isn’t really a book, though – even though it’s described as one. It seems to be more like online non-interactive instruction. A subtle difference, to be sure.

Ultimately, I’m not sure why people even care. It should be easy enough to grab a one-year subscription & save copies of any content that you care about. Even though that may not be strictly legal, I doubt that anyone could possibly get a conviction so long as it’s used for personal use.  Shoot, a typical browser will cache the content.

So I’m torn, but I’m thinking I’ll go for it.  Ultimately, I’ll doubtlessly save copies of text that I find useful, and read what I can stand.  And maybe print off a bunch of pages so I can stand to read it in the first place.

At the very least, at least the money is going to the content creator, not the publisher.