Weekend Inspiration #13 – Change, Challenge and Creativity

Posted on May 18, 2012 by czed

Feeling the winds of change

I somehow knew it was coming. I wasn’t totally surprised. It was just so “improbable” and “unlikely” that it would reach me. But it still did.

I had worked hard. Invested myself. Made changes, built a team and momentum, had a vision and strategy, planned, implemented, increased engagement and income. But time was against it. I knew I had to get significant results within half a year. Realistically, I probably had 4 months.

Yet, it’s not about me. It’s not about what I did or didn’t do. It is just what it is.

Change is good

Change has always happened. Knowledge changes. Measurements shift. Frameworks break. The world is a transient place. It keeps turning. Ideas, ways of doing things, priorities and focus changes. We are all artists in a floating world.

As I reflect on what was and what is now I am thankful. This is actually very exciting!!!! A new door opened. I am still here. Still doing what I love. Still using my talents. Still among great people. Still being me.

I watched PressPausePlay tonight. I had downloaded it some time ago, but never got to see it. Just what I needed. Real. Inspiring. It’s all about change, too. All about how to stay open to it and grasp the opportunities in it.

But change isn’t easy. Sometimes it happens too often. Often it hurts. But ultimately change challenges us to move on, to not get stuck. To not assume. To not play it safe. To not take for granted. But to follow our dreams. To keep the eyes on the horizon and to do keep doing the right thing, despite it all. To live humbly, and to live now.

And you can grab Seth Godin’s ebook “Unleashing the Idea Virus” for free here.

I like what Gary Chapman does in Haiti.

SOP 1 Classroom-Photo by Bethani Montgomery - Gary Chapman

SOP 1 Classroom-Photo by Bethani Montgomery - Image: Gary Chapman

He is sharing the basics of photography, story-telling, humanitarian, non-profit, NGO photography touching on ethics and digital workflow.

I know too much about this stuff anyway. Heck, I am doing a Masters on this. It’s time to pass some on. Time to give. Time to create change.

I’m reminded that I am too busy. That I have been wanting to to speak to my old friend Gavin of Compass Arts Down Under for years now. He lives on the edge, he is not afraid, he is a wild one who passes on his talents, creativity, and passion – empowering those that need empowerment, hope and a vision for the future.

I am changing this “should” to a “must”. Now!

There is more to come.

PS: In case I am rambling on for too long check out this video of what it might take to face some challenges and follow your dreams. Would I do this if each image cost me $500 a shot?

Silver & Light

(via Mediastorm)

Beyond the Nakumatt Generation

Posted on May 14, 2012 by czed

Africa is changing. The old “colonial paradigm” has shifted (if you didn’t notice) and it has been doing so for a while now. The 90′s were a decade of massive changes, political, social and economical. And some of the biggest changes can be seen in countries like Kenya.

This video is addressing the concerns of the poorest households and facilitating the inclusion of smallholders in modern distribution chains should be a priority in all East African countries. 

World Bank Link: “Beyond the Nakumatt Generation: Distribution Services in East Africa“, World Bank Policy Note No. 26, Oct 2011)

via @JKE

A different review of the Leica M Monochrome

Posted on May 12, 2012 by czed

Leica surprised the world once again.

The recent release of the Leica M Monochrome, has raised a few eyebrows, mainly due to it’s price tag and the audacity of elitism that rings through. The Leica Monochrome is beautiful, classic, minimal and solid. As always, it symbolizes perfection. Made in Germany.

Leica. Das Wesentliche – Berlin, May 10th 2012 from Leica Camera on Vimeo.

Not for the Everyday Shooter

Clearly, the Monochrome isn’t for the everyday shooter, it’s not for the many DSLR entry photogs that want to make it big and become the new rich with their photographic art. Its not really for the working photog either, – like the news/sports/wedding/shooter, where speed and gear and quick deadlines are dictating the workflow and stifling creativity.

No, the Leica Monochrome, like all Leicas, is made for the Image-Artisan, the Artist, the Time-Rich. Those whose highest priority is Quality, Design, Essentialsm – das Wesentliche. Those that want to focus on the image and the Art of taking it. Those who think and see differently, who create in their own time & space and with their own creative agenda.

Daring to simplify, to go monochrome and thus to reject the hype and distraction that colour brings, to force the photographer to focus on subject matter, light, composition and to be of a certain single-mindedness about each shot, is what this camera stands for. Leica stripped back, the quality of the camera and the pieces of art made with it, are now judged by the most subtle differences, and the finest details in shades of grey. And all of that makes this camera so appealing.

Have a look at this video (and enjoy some fun german accent, too .-)

A Critical thought about the Appeal of the Leica Monochrome

If you think about it more critically, Leica built into a camera-body the essence of that, which we imagine to be “pure” photography – envisioned in the decisive moments of Cartier-Bresson, the art and vision of Helmut (Neustädter) Newton, the emotion and realism of Dorothea Lange.

HCB_1933_Alicante-Spain

It is this imagining that is part of the attraction, that owning a Leica Monochrome is proof that one is in this league of legends. It is appealing then, one might argue, to the creation not only of images but of self-image, positioning oneself as a “true creative” in the photographic landscape. It is, in a sense, vanity technologically justified – and suddenly it makes the camera not seem that expensive anymore. This is very targeted branding and positioning, the price tag making sure the dream remains a little more unattainable for the everybody. (Which is not unlike how Apple positioned their products before the switch to Intel)

I have no doubt the Leica M Monochrome will be very successful.
What do you think? Any thought’s on this? Show us some love and leave a comment below.

The 1.26 Million EUR Vintage Leica

PS:If you think this the Monochrome is expensive, a Leica might be the best investment you’ll ever make. This 1923 0-Series Vintage Leica, was sold at a Vienna Auction for €2.16 million (US$ 2.79m).

A 1923 vintage Leica with 50mm f1.35 lens

It was one of a series of 25 made 89 years ago, of which there are only 12 remaining. It apparently carries the unique number 116 – which I would assume refers back to the total number of cameras made to that date.

This vintage 1923 Leica fetched 2.16 million Euro at a Vienna auction

Dreams and Stories

Posted on May 8, 2012 by cziegenhardt

The social media diva put a shout out, and I’m following. Of course! Who could resist? ,-) No seriously, the ideas is to write about dreams.

“The stuff that inspired us, changed us, and fuelled our love for life and/or God. The things that had us move job, continents and through relationships. It’s based on the belief that when we share our dreams, we are dared to chase them. They remind us that everything is possible. In doing so, we hope to remind all of our readers and each other how important sharing our deepest hopes and desires is… for support, for honesty and for accountability.”

So here I am. I guess I’m here (in Melbourne/Australia, working for an NGO, doing photography, online marketing, communications), because many moons ago, when I lived in Nairobi, in the 90′s, my heart was stirred by the things that went down in East Africa.

It was years of uncertainty in Nairobi (my dad got car-jacked, I got knifed, neighbours got shot and cars burned), while Kenya was transitioning from single to “multiparty democracy”, Kevin Carter won a Pulitzer with his epic image of a starving child in Sudan, Mohammed Amin, covered the Ethiopian Civil War, Mogadishu was going crazy, and there was just so much injustice poverty, corruption, violence as part of the every day. Lifeline Sudan was happening.

It stirred in me the longing, the hope for a better world, a just place, and I knew I wanted to play a role in it.

Loading up at Wilson Airport Nairobi

I had just about finished high school and had the opportunity to get to Southern Sudan. It was a bit of an undercover operation (my code name was Charlie Zoo, and we had Sat Phone). We flew in from Lokichiko, Northern Kenya with an old Convair turboprop plane (the queen’s mum used to own it, I think) delivering 20 tons of food, grain, medication, clothes, maize, sugar, oil, soap etc. to a small town a few flight hours across the border. There were only old people, some women and small kids. Everyone else was gone or killed in the 32 years of war. From the air, most of the land below was burned and bomb craters were everywhere. It was absolutely surreal.

Lifeline Sudan Planes in Lokichokio

World Food Program Lifeline Sudan

Small Sudanese Boy with Walking Stick

There is this one image burned into my mind of a small kid, half naked and malnourished, coming to the airstrip and picking up every little tiny piece of maize that had fallen out of the bags and landed on the ground. I can not forget this vision – it truly made me a different person. It’s the picture I call back to mind when I get stressed about my iphone not working, and when this consumerism stuff gets too important.

I remember distinctly how as I sat in this plane, hydraulic fluid dripping from the cargo door actuator, that I had this “burning bush” experience. There was the inner voice saying “This is for you”. And I knew it was.

I followed this voice. It took me to my creative side – I became a designer & multimedia producer and photographer. Started my own business. I drew me towards aviation & piloting – I wanted to be a pilot to do disaster emergency relief work.

I lived in Germany for 10 years and was now in Australia – and here, having JUST received my wings, it also all crashed. The dream of flying, working in Africa ended abruptly. Heaps of frustration and questions followed.

And yet, it was just the beginning of where I am now and what I do, and I realize in hindsight that it’s all gone full circle. I now work for NGOs in Asia and Africa, I’m using my skills and talents in design, communication and photography. And as I am building the area of shooting humanitarian documentary, I realize, what motivated me wasn’t aviation, it wasn’t design and creative direction, and it is in many ways not even photography per se. (Though I love it!)

Family outside a hut in Lokichokio

What really inspires and drives me to do what I do, to get better at what I do is knowing that I am making a difference. That my work, my photography is actually helping relieve poverty, restoring hope. Fighting for freedom and justice – and ultimately making this world a better place.

So what’s the dream now? I revolves around all of this. Getting into more NGOs. Doing more humanitarian photography. Covering emergencies. Doing online/social media marketing. Being a creative consultant to organizations that work to make a difference, too.

Weekend Inspiration #12 – Humanitarian NGO Photography

Posted on April 29, 2012 by czed

I’ve been following Karl Grobl’s work for a few years now, and it seems that lately he’s had more time to update his website, jump on social and do the online marketing thing. (Did it all beging when he made the switch from Canon to Nikon? .-)

Karl is super experienced and he’s done the all the big NGO names and been a shooting photojournalist for 15 years or so now.

He does what I do or what I am working towards: “Specializing in the photographic documentation of relief efforts and development work of NGOs worldwide, Karl has shot for more than 80 different NGOs in over 50 countries. His images have appeared in publications such as Newsweek, CNN, Geo, Town and Country magazine and The Chronicle of Philanthropy, but the largest majority of his photos appear in the annual reports, newsletters and communications materials of his humanitarian organization clients.”

Now I havent been published on CNN and Newsweek yet, but instead most of my work – like Karl’s appears in NGO publication. Often without attributions or acknowledgments, which is why I’m starting to put my work out here a bit more.

Anyhow, I checked Karl’s site again and found this BTS videos. That’s what it’s like:

Apart from reminding me that I started to do video on my last trip, which I never edited, shame … what strikes me with that, is how different yet similar my approach is. It feels like Karl has heaps of freedom to roam around and shoot whatever he sees, so to speak – which is great.

With my clients work is often more prescribed in a sense that I organise and plan before I leave. I will know (pretty much) what kind of clients I will interview and photograph. So that’s different. And 30min-1hr interviews are pretty much always part of my workflow.

The other video I came across is the is of John Keatley. He seems like a super nice guy, pretty caring thoughtful.

I cringed a bit at the intro, validating his work only because he photographed “celebrities”, but I’m posting this because after the hoohaa of that (at 28:50min) there is a shift to some work he did in Liberia. Quite interesting to hear John’s thoughts on this.

Amanda & Shaun – Sneak Peak

Posted on April 21, 2012 by czed

I’m not really a “professional wedding photog” but when the good Manda & Shaun decided it’s better together, I packed my stuff and flew over to sunny Perth. ‘Twas a good day, starting out in Fremantle, heading to the Freo Round House, and wedding party at Little Creatures Brewery – A fun 12hr shoot. Something different to break it up .-)

Here’s a sneak peak:

Weekend Inspiration #11 – Street, Photojournalism and what it’s all about.

Posted on April 9, 2012 by czed

Joel Meyerowitz : Street photography is magical, balletic, physical. it’s ideas not just good pictures. A deepening experience in the world. That makes me feel alive and awake and conscious.

Jodi Bieber : Bringing something that is YOU, into the image. Just recording isn’t enough any more.

Jean-Francois Leroy : Photojournalism is telling me how is the world, how it works, with all the drama, problems, showing, witnessing – for that it deserves respect.

Ethical Lying and Journalism

Posted on April 7, 2012 by cziegenhardt

Thinking about the paradox of Ethical Lying, one might start under the impression that ethical lying is only possible from an Utilitarian point of view. Afterall, a moral outcome creating the most amount of pleasure for the largest group of people, would justify an act of lying – or so it seems. However, dealing with Kantʼs Deontology and his Categorical Imperative (CI) in particular, one needs to establish if an action is morally right, by taking an individual action as a general principle (Individual Maxim, MI) and making it a universal principle (Universal Maxim, MU). If the MI can be made an MU, without contradicting other general universal principles and being unethical, then the action is moral and right.

In Kantʼs view however, lying clearly is wrong and telling the truth is a universal maxim (Al-Fedaghi, S 2005). From this point of view it seems highly improbable to find argumentation that would allow for ethical lying, which can be validated with the CI. Perhaps, it is also a matter of defining what exactly one means when speaking about a lie. In other words: What is a lie?

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Doing it right, backing up on the G-Safe

Posted on April 5, 2012 by czed

A few weeks ago I finally found a solution to the problem of backing up my ever-growing image library.

I’ve tried the Drobo (Gen1) back in the days, which was loud, clunky, heavy and sensitive. And worst of all encoded all my images so that in the worst case, I’d have to get another box to get my files back.

I tried arrays of hardrives and just copying files manually, which worked ok, until drives got too full, and I ended up distributing stuff across devices – all in all a clutter and just unpractical.

And then I got a G-Safe. It’s surprisingly small, quiet and pretty fast with FW800. Sweet. I also got a third drive to back files up and store them off-site, swapping them over weekly. I felt my files were safe. I had peace of mind. Great.

G-Safe Drives OK

Until this little question came up the other day … how do I KNOW?? that the box actually backs up my files as it should? Why does the display not tell me what the box is doing, and why the heck, does it never seem to move files, when I swap drives?

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Weekend Inspiration #10 – Photojournalism

Posted on April 1, 2012 by czed

Here is a massive list of photojournalism links, agency news, awards and other photojournalism related links:

Middle East
Moises Saman: Refugees Flee Syrian Violence in Turkey (NYT)
Ed Ou: Syrians Find Refuge in Lebanon (NYT)
William Daniels: Escape from Syria (Lightbox)
Tyler Hicks: Glimpses of the Armed Opposition in Syria (NYT)
Rodrigo Abd: Inside Syria (Lightbox) from Guardian
Adam Ferguson: Christians Flee Iraq (NYT)
Stefano de Luigi: Cinema in Iran (Lightbox)
Franco Pagetti: Egypt (VII)
Davide Monteleone: Libya : Winners and Losers (VII)
Alixandra Fazzina: Over Mountains, Underg round (NOOR)
Jason P Howe: Afghanistan: Saving Private Bainbridge (Telegraph)
Andrea Bruce: Skiing in Afghanistan (NYT Lens)
Larry Towell: Afghanistan (Lightbox)
Tyler Hicks: Bearing Witness in Syria: A Correspondent’s Last Days (NYT)
Javier Espinosa: How I escaped from Homs as Syrian forces closed in (Guardian)
Zohra Bensemra: My journey into Syria’s nightmare (Reuters)

South America
Tyrone Turner: Where Slaves Ruled (Brazil) (NGM)
Meredith Kohut: In Salvador, Prisons Packed to the Bars (NYT)
Spencer Platt: Haiti Landfills (MSNBC photo blog)
Alex Troesch and Aline Paley: Mexican Pointy Boots (Lightbox)
Peggy Peattie: Angels of Milot (zReportage)

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