SIGMA lenses offer a combination of technical prowess and versatility, allowing photographers to explore their creativity across various shooting scenarios. In particular, the SIGMA Art series has long been a favourite of wedding photographers. With over 7 lenses available in the series, it could be challenging for a photographer to choose the right one.

We bring you the top 3 lenses professional wedding photographers must have in their wedding photography kit.

SIGMA 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS – The Versatile Workhorse

Versatility is crucial for wedding photography, and the SIGMA 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS excels in this regard. Its splash- and dust-resistant design guarantees dependability in every shooting situation, and its lightweight magnesium build enables mobility without sacrificing durability.

This lens, which has 10 low-dispersion glass elements (FLD and SLD glass among them), has outstanding colour correction and resolution, making it ideal for capturing the minute details and vivid colours of wedding sceneries. Its soft bokeh effect ensures that every moment is captured with grace and elegance, making it perfect for intimate portraiture.

This lens guarantees perfect image quality and pairs perfectly with Canon’s Lens Aberration Correction feature, making it a dependable partner for capturing the magic of weddings, from intimate moments to lavish celebrations.

Corresponding Mount: L-Mount, Sony E-mount

Cost: ₹1,64,100

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SIGMA 50mm F1.2 DG DN – The Artistic Vision

The SIGMA 50mm F1.2 DG DN lens revolutionises wedding photography with its groundbreaking F1.2 maximum aperture, allowing photographers to excel in low-light conditions. This lens effortlessly captures intimate moments and venue ambiance, preserving every detail of the wedding day with unparalleled clarity and depth. Its innovative design ensures photographers can immortalise the essence of love and celebration in any lighting scenario.

What truly sets the SIGMA 50mm F1.2 DG DN lens apart is its exceptional descriptive power, delivering unparalleled clarity and depth to every image. From tender exchanges of vows to joyful celebrations, this lens preserves the essence of each moment with stunning precision. Its lightweight yet robust construction enables photographers to move freely and confidently, ensuring every fleeting emotion is captured without compromise.

Designed with the needs of professionals in mind, the SIGMA 50mm F1.2 DG DN lens is not just a tool but a partner in creating timeless memories. From its intuitive controls to its included accessories like the lens hood and case, every aspect of this lens is crafted to enhance usability and functionality. With the SIGMA 50mm F1.2 DG DN lens in hand, wedding photographers can elevate their craft to new heights, delivering breathtaking images that truly encapsulate the magic of love and celebration.

Corresponding Mount: L-Mount, Sony E-mount

Cost: ₹1,33,200

SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG DN – The Artistic Storyteller

Every wedding has a special backstory, and the SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG DN is the ideal lens for capturing those moments. Thanks to its superb optical performance and sophisticated focusing system, this lens is able to capture every moment with unmatched clarity and accuracy.

This lens’s advanced optical design, which includes SLD, FLD, and ELD glass components, reduces aberrations and flare to produce clear, high-contrast images even in dimly lit environments. Its broad aperture and rounded diaphragm blades produce a silky, smooth bokeh that enhances both candid and wedding portrait photography by giving them more depth and character.

Designed with professional features such as an aperture ring, focus mode switch, and AFL button, the SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG DN offers unparalleled versatility and control, allowing photographers to adapt seamlessly to any wedding scenario. Combined with its durable, weather-sealed construction, this lens is built to withstand the rigours of professional use, ensuring the reliability and performance that wedding photographers can depend on.

Corresponding Mount: Sony E-mount

Cost: ₹83,100

Where to Buy:www.sigmainda.in

And Something More!!

And here’s something more awesome! If you are a wedding photographer based in India, participate in SIGMA’s Wedding Photography Competition #LensnLyric and win a SIGMA fp L camera worth INR 1,99,000!! View more detailshere

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.ht b

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Published: 29 May 2024, 07:13 PM IST

“Fragile Beauty” is an exhibition of extremes. The new show of “Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection” at London’s Victoria & Albert museum (V&A) is at turns glitzy and gritty; joyfully pop and heart-wrenchingly poignant. On one hand it’s high-gloss portraits of Marilyn Monroe; on the other it’s the raw, intimate snapshots of Nan Goldin, a no-holds-barred ode to love and loss, sensuality and suffering.

“The title is key,” said exhibition co-curator Duncan Forbes. “‘Fragile Beauty’ was chosen by Elton. It’s something that runs like a silver thread through the whole show: the vulnerability that underpins the human condition.”

Since the 1990s, the British singer-songwriter and his filmmaker husband have amassed some 7,000 works. The result is “one of the great contemporary photography collections of our era”, writes V&A director Tristram Hunt in the exhibition catalogue. Previously shown in Atlanta in 2000, then at London’s Tate Modern in 2016, the collection’s latest outing features more than 300 images, ranging from midcentury up to the present day.

Among the earliest works is a 1955 Richard Avedon: the wildly fantastical “Dovima with Elephants”, part of a fashion shoot that first appeared in Harper’s Bazaar magazine and epitomizes his approach to photography as “a vacation from life.” The most contemporary piece on display, meanwhile, is from 2022; by 29-year-old American photographer Tyler Mitchell (best known for his Vogue cover of Beyoncé) and titled “Simply Fragile”, the delicate depiction of a boy with a beetle on his nose is part of what Mitchell has referred to as a “Black utopic vision”.

The show, however, is not chronological; instead it’s grouped into “chapters,” from “Fashion” and “Stars of Stage Screen and Studio” to “Reportage” and “Desire.” The themes arose from how John and Furnish live with the prints, rotated in salon-style displays across their homes — from London to Los Angeles. “Their LA house has these wonderful (William) Egglestons — all early dyed transfer prints, very rare, very sought after — on the wall of the dining room,” said Newell Harbin, director of The Sir Elton John and David Furnish Photography Collection, and a co-curator of “Fragile Beauty”. “Then you go into their Atlanta home and it has so many wonderful (Peter) Hujars.”

A collection that ‘speaks to’ Elton John

“We really began to construct this exhibition while sitting at Elton and David’s kitchen table,” confirmed Forbes. “This is a very personal collection. Some collections are built by art advisers; this is not a collection built by an art adviser. This is a collection passionately constructed by the two men that are in it.”

Working closely with John and Furnish since 2010, Harbin helps to build and shape the collection in a process of constant dialogue. Each piece “has to speak to them,” she said. “They’re not just after a big name or somebody who is making a splash right now in the art scene. It’s a rather organic process,” she said, highlighting a recent sale of some of their pieces at Christie’s and added; “We’re still bringing in new works all the time.” The latest addition is Avedon’s famous 1981 portrait of Ronald Fisher — a beekeeper shown with the insects crawling over his naked chest — featured in the “Fragile Beauty” show.

For Newell, one of the most powerful works in the exhibition is the last self-portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe. “It tells a very sad story about an artist that we lost way too soon to Aids,” she said of the stark image of the American photographer holding a skull-topped walking cane, his gaze intense and direct. Known for his portraits, sensual depictions of flowers (one of which graces the cover of the “Fragile Beauty” catalogue) and portrayals of New York’s BDSM gay bars, Mapplethorpe died in 1989 at the age of 42. Newell added: “It’s a great reminder of how their collection crosses over into their lives and all of the work they’ve done with the Elton John Aids Foundation.”

Across the exhibition, the display calls attention to both gay liberation — an image from Sunil Gupta’s series “Christopher Street”, for instance, captures gay visibility in 1970s New York — and queer artists, from American artist George Platt Lynes in the 1940s to contemporary South African artist Zanele Muholi, whose self-portraits emphasize Black queer visibility.

The room titled “Desire” is a joyful celebration of the male form, which encompasses Mel Roberts’ 1970s shots for beefcake magazine “The Young Physique”; Gilbert & George’s “Naked Body” (1991); Ryan McGinley’s raw and intimate “Having Sex”; and a trio of Don Herron’s “Tub Shots”, capturing pioneering queer artists Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe and Peter Hujar while bathing.

Photography as a visual journal

One section, too, is titled “Fragile Beauty”, featuring work by Mapplethorpe, Hujar and McGinley. Among the work of documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark, a portrait of a 14-year-old Seattle prostitute known as “Tiny” is particularly affecting, while the space centers on an encompassing floor-to-ceiling installation of Goldin’s 149-photo series “Thanksgiving.” Taken between 1973 and 1999, the images are a visual journal of the downtown New York art world and its debauchery, capturing Goldin’s own bruised and beaten face, the result of an abusive relationship, and the harrowing effects of drug addiction and Aids among her friends.

John’s own struggles with addiction have no-doubt informed his selection; it was after leaving rehab in 1990 that he began to collect photography. “He has told the story numerous times of seeing a print for the first time with fresh, sober eyes, and how impactful it was for him,” says Harbin, referring to a meeting with photography dealer David Fahey over lunch at a south-of-France chateau.

“I had just seen a collector in London so happened to have all these photographs with me,” recalled Fahey over Zoom. “It was suggested that I bring them out to show everyone… It was a fragile, delicate time for Elton and he responded emotionally to the pictures he was looking at,” of how John became enamored with the work of 20th-century fashion photographers such as Irving Penn, Herb Ritts and Horst P. Horst. “He selected about 10 pictures and then walked over and gave half of them to our host. It was a demonstration of his gift-giving abilities, and his need to share photographs with people.”

In an inscription to Fahey in the catalogue to John’s 2000 Atlanta exhibition, the singer notes the importance of their initial encounter; “otherwise my ignorance about photography and all its beauty would probably still be inside of me. Instead, my eyes have been opened to the most visual stirring world,” he wrote.

“He’s an obsessive collector,” added Fahey, noting John’s dramatic shift in focus from “striking, beautiful objects” into “hardcore documentary and photojournalism”.

At the V&A, the “Reportage” section is startling. “It’s grounded in photography from the American civil rights movement,” explained Forbes, who highlighted a piece by New York-based, African American artist Roy DeCarava as “one of the most beautiful photographs I’ve ever seen in my life. His work has hardly ever been shown in Britain.” Other images are instantly recognizable, such as Associated Press photographer Julio Cortez’s viral image of a protester in Minneapolis in May 2020, following the murder of George Floyd.

The scope is at times overwhelming, but as Hunt concludes: “There is a richness and drama and beauty and tragedy in this exhibition, the emotional intensity of which I have rarely witnessed in a photography show.”

“Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection,” is on at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, until January 5. 2025.

Looking at my Brother by Julian Slagman is a coming-of-age story spanning over a decade, with tender photographs documenting the process of growing up with scoliosis

The Masters in Algorithmic and Networked Photography course at Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering explores digital imagery through lectures and workshops.

School: Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering
Course: Master in Algorithmic and Networked Photography
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Course dates: September 2024 to July 2025
Application deadline: 15 July 2024

This masters course redefines the role of the photography and examines CGI, AI-generated images, screenshots and in-game photography.

Contemporary forms of digital image capture, circulation and consumption have been redefining the role of photography as an expanded and exciting field of visual culture in constant mutation. From AI-generated images and computer-generated imagery to screenshotting. From CGI to Photoshop, from VR to in-game photography, practices of image-making and modes of experiencing visual art have created a vast and rich territory, explored by contemporary artists, photographers, curators, researchers, technologists and designers.

The Masters in Algorithmic and Networked Photography offers an uncompromising investigation into the world of chronically digital images and terminally online visual culture. Through a series of lectures and workshops from some of the most relevant and inspiring actors in the field, this one-year masters programme combines a sharply curated scholarly foundation with an intensely practical education.

Creative, conceptual and critical, the programme provides a theoretical and practical knowledge of post-photography, AI images, networked images, machine vision and synthetic imaging. It invites participants to reflect upon the social, political and economic implications of different technological imaging systems.

Simultaneously, the programme encourages students to experiment and create with hardware and software, as well as appropriating and misusing media platforms through artistic and alternative forms of image-making.

Find out more about the course and apply ›

Top image: duckrabbit.tv, Simone C Niquille.

Dezeen Courses

Dezeen Courses is a service from Dezeen that provides details of architecture, interiors and design courses around the world. Click here for more information.

Pietermaritzburg is mourning the death of veteran photographer and journalist Soobramoney Yenkiah “Shan” Pillay.

Pillay (88) died on Tuesday, and tributes have been pouring in, remembering him for his contribution to the media fraternity and for his expert Tamil cultural and religious knowledge.

He was known both locally and internationally for his photojournalism skills, which he used to capture pivotal poignant moments during the freedom struggle.

ALSO READ | Photographer and veteran journalist, Shan Pillay, has died

Speaking at Pillay’s Mountain Rise home on Tuesday, Nellan Pillay said that his father was born and bred in Pietermaritzburg. He came from humble beginnings, but his love for journalism and photography earned him a doctorate.

He was 17 years old when he started working at Eddels Shoe Factory and then at Jaguar Shoes. His passion for journalism and photography saw him going to many places during the apartheid era. He took risks because of his passion. He made many friends locally and abroad.

“We received a message from India, from a media mogul that he assisted. He called my father ‘Godfather’ because of his assistance with starting his company,” said Nellan.

Nellan described his father as a vibrant person who loved life and was always on the go. “He loved his children and grandchildren. He loved spending time with us. He was well-travelled. Among other countries, he visited India 33 times. He loved good food and could have a conversation with anyone. He could speak to the youth and was very smart as he would know what to do in any situation,” said Nellan.

Pillay’s grandchildren reminisced on their time together with him.

“He was so proud of all of us and loved telling us about all the stories he wrote about. We know that he wrote multiple stories for many publications. He loved fishing, and we had a great relationship with him,” said his grandchildren.

ALSO READ | A fitting tribute to canoeing legend John Oliver

Pillay’s love for writing and politics took him to the All In Africa Conference in 1961, where the late President Nelson Mandela delivered his last speech at the Arya Samaj Hall (now the Manaye Hall) before he went underground. He met Mandela and narrated his experience to him in the City Hall when he visited Pietermaritzburg in 1995.

Pillay’s love for photography and media saw him share his knowledge and experiences with novice journalists and photographers in the field.

He was also known for his promotion of cultural values.

President of the Midlands Hindu Society, Ranjiv Nirghin said that “a baobab has fallen”.

“A few years ago, the Midlands Hindu Society collaborated with African Lotus Productions and SABC 3 to produce Msunduzi Deepam, a programme that has since aired annually on SABC 3 during Diwali.

“Shan Pillay shared some insights into the history of the Pietermaritzburg community that he was able to capture through the lens of his camera over the past decades. The dark days of apartheid and the notorious activities of the security branch, studded with the lighter moments of humanity, which shone through even during those dark days.

“He was an ocean of knowledge and a library of experience whose passing shall leave a void in our community that no other will be able to fill. The affiliates and executive of Midlands Hindu Society offer our sincere condolences to the Pillay family. Aum Sathgati Shan Pillay. May your legacy live on!” said Nirghin.

Former news editor of Sunday Tribune newspaper, Yogin Devan, said Pillay was one of the last among a coterie of courageous journalists who had the honour and privilege to capture the struggle for freedom from a front-row seat.

“He was an avid fan of Tamil movies and made several trips to India to meet leading film stars. He also promoted the Tamil language, arts, culture, and religion, and for this, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters by the International Tamil University in Maryland, U.S., at a ceremony in December 2017 at Madurai, South India,” said Devan.

ALSO READ | Tributes for Pietermaritzburg advocate

Riquadeu Jacobs, CEO of The Natal Witness Printing and Publishing Company, described Pillay as a humble community icon who made a significant contribution to journalism.

Shan made an immense contribution to photojournalism. Not only did he have the technical mastery of his craft, but he also had a remarkable news sense. He worked with legendary editors, Richard Steyn and Stan Elridge, the latter having given him a regular column to cover his frequent cultural trips to India and Sri Lanka. He was a humble man who lived a remarkable life, and we are proud to have shared many memorable moments with him.

“Throughout his illustrious career in journalism, he mentored many young reporters and aspirant photojournalists,” said Jacobs.

Pillay is survived by his two children, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

I have a lot of automotive predilections and near-fetishes that seem peculiar, even to myself. And yet, at the same time, I’m powerless to fight against them; they have the power to stay my gaze and grab my attention like a sky-herd of owls seizing an abandoned prairie-meatloaf. One category of these predilections is the type of utility vehicle that is known by various names: cab-over, one-box, bread loaf, hoodless wonder, you name it. Sometimes they’re trucks, sometimes vans, sometimes buses, but they’re always strangely appealing.

And, even better, when photographed for their brochures and advertisements, there seems to be some unspoken rule that a full-frontal picture must be taken of their strange, cute-ugly gremlinly faces. All seem to have roughly the same sort of gumdrop shape and proportions, along with very expressive arrangements of lights, bumpers, grilles, and the other elements and details that form the front end of an automobile.

I love these front-end views of these utility vehicles, so I’m going to share a bunch of mid-century (and some ’70s) examples with you, until you either delight and agree with me or run away, screaming.

Honestly, either reaction works, so let’s dig in.

Unic has an unfortunate name but was an early 20th-century maker of passenger cars and trucks. This particular one has a great, sort of Art Deco-ish look, and I think those inner lamps are part lamp and part horn?

Ford of Britain’s Thames vans were analogous to American Ford’s Econoline – the ubiquitous workhorses that formed the backbone of a nation’s move-crap-around network. They had a good, gremliny face, even with detailing that suggested a nose, a rarity on these sorts of machines.

Ford of Germany built the Taunus Transit, which used the V4 and V6 engines from the Taunus passenger cars. Also, with a great, slightly worried-looking face.

Possibly the best-known in this category, Volkswagen’s rear-engined Type 2 buses and vans all had simple, grille-less faces. As I’ve noted before, these could take on some very specific Muppet-related looks.

The Hanomag Garant had a lot of swoopy, curvy details, and, as shown here in green, was highly reminiscent of some sort of bulky frog or toad.

The legendary Mercedes-Benz Unimog is an interesting, go-anywhere example of this cabover/one box design philosophy, and the addition of the high ride height and huge tires gives the machine a more rugged sort of character; it’s more feral, less civilized.

We’ve got another Hanomag here, A Kurier, essentially the same body as the Garant, but in red, far less froggy. This is a great example of the suggestive power of color.

Saviem (Société Anonyme de Véhicules Industriels et d’Équipements Mécaniques) was part of Renault, and made all sorts of trucks and buses and other hardworking machines. This 1963 Saviem S5 is a great example, and has a great cabover-gumdrop-gremlin face, as seen from the front, with just enough oddly whimsical detailing – check out the eyebrow-like swoops over the headlamps – to make it a great example of this genre.

Some manufacturer needs to bring back a modern truck or van with these proportions and this sort of evocative and expressive face! They feel like creatures, and I think more strange creatures roaming around our roads, delivering our beer and toilet paper and selling us tacos and ice cream can only be a net positive for society, right?

Right.

The 10 Arab and Iranian photographers featured in “Louder Than Hearts” at the Middle East Institute’s gallery are not only all women, but their subjects are almost entirely female as well. This emphasis feels fitting for the first exhibition curated by Rania Matar, a photographer known for her nuanced, intimate portraits of women and girls in the Middle East and the United States.

Posted: 29th May, 2024 by The Editor

The multi-genre trio, Khruangbin, played an amazing show at Philly’s The Met. The ambiance of the venue coupled with the band’s sultury and enticing sound made for a night to remember. With opener, John Karoll Kirby, the whole show was one to remember, and a nice break from the chaos of the day-to-day. Jay took some incredible photos, check them out!

Photos by Jay Leiby

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