Wildlife photography is a difficult genre of the craft and often requires cutting-edge equipment to pull off, which in turn requires a high premium. Or does it?

I have done various forms of wildlife photography over the years, but it is not my bread and butter of photography. However, when I’m reviewing a pre-release camera, I am often given the tools to do so and expected to. For example, in Costa Rica, I was given an Olympus body and a howitzer of a telephoto lens on loan to photograph the local creatures. What I was holding while capturing shots of parrots, monkeys, and sloths was worth far in excess of $10,000 and it was, for the most part, necessary. To capture what I wanted, I needed a lens that could reach far into the distance and a body that could handle the settings needed. So, what on earth is the average photographer to do that doesn’t have that sort of cash.

Well, it’s not the cheapest genre to get into and never will be, but we’ve been in the digital realms of photography for so long at this point, that much of the cutting-edge tech of yesteryear has fallen in price. There is also the nether zone between old gear and new gear that can have a bargain. So, if you want to be a bird botherer on a budget, this video is for you.

French Butter, the food and beverage production company, has announced the signing of the accomplished tabletop director and still photographer Jennifer Davick to its roster. Jennifer, who’s based in L.A., brings not only her finely-honed flair for evocative visual storytelling but also access to her fully-equipped Los Angeles production facility, Ingredient Studios, to the French Butter fold. To view her work, go here.

With an eclectic background that includes significant magazine editorial experience prior to her segue into motion work, Jennifer’s showreel boasts work that strikes an appealing balance between dynamic food photography and buoyant lifestyle vignettes, spanning such brands as Starbucks, Fresh Direct, General Mills, Hillshire Farms, Williams Sonoma and others. In a macro study in lusciousness, her short film documenting the sumptuous black sesame dessert at San Francisco’s culinary hotspot Lazy Bear won both the NYC Food Film Festival’s “Best Food Porn” award along with “Best Film Short” in the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Awards.

French Butter’s founding director Brett Froomer is excited about the potential Jennifer’s signing represents for both the company as well as for the director herself. “Jennifer’s eye and aesthetics focus on modern sensibilities towards people and food,” he observes, “and her fresh and enthusiastic personality allows her to approach what’s in front of her lens with a distinctly feminine signature. She’s the entire package – director, photographer, DP and a bright, intuitive character. I’m thrilled to be working with her at French Butter.”

In signing with the woman-owned company, Jennifer says she’s looking forward to being at a food-focused boutique that’s working at the cutting edge of production. “For me, French Butter is appealing because we have a very similar drive. And Brett and I share some common values, too; we’re both very passionate about the work.”

Jennifer says she’s bid against French Butter in the past, and was introduced by a mutual producer contact. “And it just felt like a good fit,” she remarks. “We both have a lot of drive, and work really hard. I see a future for us where we’re setting the standard for innovation and creativity, and adding a sense of emotional resonance to the work we produce.”

Jennifer’s career has taken her from posts in Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, Tel Aviv, New York and Birmingham, Alabama – where she developed a love of Southern cooking – to her final stop in Los Angeles. At each step along the way, she was introduced to new people, new flavours, new tastes and new ingredients; all of them have contributed to the mosaic of styles and influences that drive her career as a filmmaker and photographer. Her transition from stills to motion started during her tenure as senior food photographer at Time, Inc., working at the vaunted lifestyle icon Southern Living magazine.

“I was really interested in that type of storytelling, these feature articles on food, they spoke to so many layers of what I enjoy doing,” Jennifer recalls about her intro to directing. “And there was this complexity to motion that I really enjoyed as well, so the progression felt truly organic.” She describes her work as “comfortable and approachable, sometimes even magical. I fervently believe that food has the power to connect people.”

“Adding Jennifer to French Butter is a tremendous boost in more ways than one,” said executive producer Irec Kriske. “Not only is she supremely talented, with an air of sophisticated confidence about her, but she’s also an amazing entrepreneur: building out and managing a studio space, as she’s done on her own at Ingredient Studios in L.A. With her on board, French Butter adds a West Coast studio to our infrastructure, in addition to our 20,000 square foot Pilsen Studios in Chicago. It gives us tremendous range when it comes to meeting clients’ needs, whether those be creative, budgetary or technical.”

Jennifer savours the possibilities, too. “I joined French Butter to be part of a team, and I think theirs is particularly strong, while also feeling more intimate. I love the fact that I will be a part of this wonderfully talented roster including Brett and Etienne Proulx. And I think I’m going to thrive in this environment. We all share values but offer distinct differences in our approach, which will let us overlap as a team and support each other. This means our clients are going to get really good results.”

Storch – who is the first Kaalaleq (Arctic Inuit) artist to have a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale – aims to capture ‘the Greenlandic everyday’

Arthur Rothstein, Artelia Bendolph, girl at Gee’s Bend, Boykin, Alabama, 1937/Photo: Arthur Rothstein and Gage Gallery

Boykin, Alabama 1937

Ten-year-old Artelia Bendolph looks out the window of her grandfather Patrick’s cabin. The window frame is covered with curling newsprint, makeshift insulation. Artelia squints, her head turns away from the sun’s harsh exposure. Against the texture of the cabin’s mud-packed logs, the wood’s cragginess punctuated by lacy tufts of hanging moss and grasses, you can make out images within the newsprint’s advertisements. A woman happily breaks a loaf of still-fresh bread, while she gives thanks to the cellophane that wrapped the loaf, and a couple laughs with joy for being able to start their day with bowls of Shredded Wheat.

Boykin, also known as Gee’s Bend, is a predominantly Black community now known for its mighty contribution to American visual history and culture: the quilts and quilters of Gee’s Bend. However, in 1937, the small town was primarily composed of sharecropper families who had fallen upon desperate times. While images of the Dust Bowl—western skies, the “Grapes of Wrath,” arid plains and dust storms—tend to dominate popular imaginings of 1930s America, in truth the entire country was impacted by the period’s ecological crises. Various regions were hit by drought, famine and flooding, in addition to the dust storms that ran roughshod over the western plains. The parallel collapse of America’s financial and banking institutions amplified the impact of these ecological disasters. Unprecedented unemployment (at the peak of the Great Depression unemployment rates were around twenty percent) and the lack of a meaningful social safety net, coupled with the possibility of your home and livelihood being washed away or dying before your eyes, totally upended American life.

Arthur Rothstein, sand piled up in front of outhouse on farm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma. 1936/Photo: Arthur Rothstein and Gage Gallery

The convergence of America’s financial collapse and the ecological disasters of the Great Depression are eerily reminiscent of our current moment. From the country’s crumbling infrastructure and unsafe working conditions, to the perilous lives of asylum seekers, and the violent storms caused by global warming, there is much we can and should learn from the period’s repair and renewal of the country’s social safety net. While such efforts were implemented through the national rollout of President Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation, a key piece of the New Deal was how it accounted for, recorded and circulated information on the conditions that necessitated its existence. With no television, and radio inaccessible to many at the time, the American government accomplished this mass education, this truth-telling, through photography.

The photographic unit in the Historical Section of the Resettlement Administration (RA) began as a way to justify the Resettlement Administration’s existence. The RA was charged with building camps for displaced migrant workers and farmers in California and needed a way to record and publicize the poverty that was striking the nation. RA photographers traveled around the country and took images of the devastation they witnessed. Their images were then circulated in newspapers and put in the hands of countless Americans. In 1937, the photo unit was moved to the Farm Security Association and henceforth referred to as the FSA photographic unit. In this same year Arthur Rothstein, a then twenty-two-year-old photographer, was sent to Boykin, Alabama, where he met and photographed a ten-year-old Artelia Bendolph.

Arthur Rothstein, drillers at TVA’s Fort Loudoun Dam, Tennessee, 1942/Photo: Arthur Rothstein and Gage Gallery

Arthur Rothstein is the man of the hour at Gage Gallery’s “New Deal America” exhibition, a study of the photographer’s illustrious career, sponsored by the Center for New Deal Studies at Roosevelt University and the university’s college of humanities, education and social sciences. Gage Gallery, known for its photojournalism exhibitions, is one of the rare spaces in the country that shows documentary photography solely for educational purposes. Gage’s mission coincides nicely with Rothstein’s work, as the photographer was a staunch proponent of the medium’s potential to move its viewers to act in the face of injustice.

While Rothstein began as a young artist with the photo unit, his career lasted over five decades and he was the director of photography at both Look and Parade magazines till his death in the 1980s. However, it is these early photographs, taken during the height of the Great Depression, that form the basis of “New Deal America.” The images are chronologically organized and show both how everyday Americans—from migrant workers to Dakota farmers and New York shoeshiners—were impacted by the crises of the time, and how the country began to recover under the initiatives of the New Deal. From images of families evacuating their homes due to flooding and drought, to unhoused and itinerant workers desperate for relief,  to FDR himself traveling the nation to meet Americans impacted by the Great Depression, to communities coming together through the infrastructural plans initiated with New Deal legislation, the exhibition tells the story of a not too far off America.

Arthur Rothstein, demonstration of the unemployed, Columbus, Kansas, 1936/Photo: Arthur Rothstein and Gage Gallery

The photographs themselves are, frankly astounding, given that many in the show were taken before Rothstein’s twentieth birthday and show an extraordinary amount of empathy for the plight of people the photographer only just met. I’m being effusive in my description because the images warrant effusion; each image’s composition, framing, and point of view work in concert to bring forth a compelling and utterly human story. You’re reminded, you cannot forget, that the people within these photographs existed: they struggled, they survived, they lived. They were here.

The title I chose for this piece is a play on a song from Woody Guthrie’s 1940 album, “Dust Bowl Ballads.” The song’s lyrics articulate the sense of shared, monumental loss many Americans faced during the Great Depression. Many people didn’t “have a home in this world anymore.” Yet, through the collective efforts of artists like Rothstein, in a system that not only valued their work but provided a structure in which art could help catalyze material change, a lost home no longer seemed so out of reach. Take this then as a lesson of Rothstein’s work: art can move, art can tell the truth, art can change you. We’d do well then to heed the lessons of “New Deal,” it’s a prescient reminder of what art can accomplish when supported by a system that cares for the people under its wings.

“New Deal America: Photographs by Arthur Rothstein” is on view at Gage Gallery of Roosevelt University, 425 South Wabash, through May 31.

With that in mind, WePresent decided to put together New Rules, a new series that will positively tackle how to thrive as an artist in unstable creative industries that are changing beyond all recognition. “New Rules: Navigating photography’s unfixed future” is a group portrait by photographers, curators, tastemakers and editors like Emily Keegin, Bubblegum Club, Janina Sabaliauskaitė, Campbell Addy and Antwaun Sargent, many of whom stepped away from the traditional trajectory to find a different path. They have crafted alternative routes forward, embraced marginalized voices and built new infrastructure for coming together to share work and life. None of this was easy, but for many of these artists, as you will soon learn, the real risk was to resist evolving at all. This is not a moment for staying still. It’s time to be part of the change. 

Macro photography is something every photographer should try, as it allows us to explore a view on the world that we wouldn’t normally see. At the same time, it’s a challenging genre of photography that rewards attention to detail and patience.

It also makes for a great at-home project, and that’s something photographer Andrew Lanxon does in this handy introduction to macro shooting and editing. 

What we like about Andrew’s video is it uses a simple setup: a dead flower, a macro lens, and a portable light, and he also spends a bit of time discussing the importance of lighting in macro photography, showcasing how different light positions can dramatically alter the mood and feel of the image.

Better still, Andrew also looks into the technique of focus stacking, and how to capture a series of images at different focus points and then merge them together in post-processing using specialised software like Helicon Focus.

You can see more of Andrew’s great videos on YouTube.

Cover image: iStockphoto

“Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham rebuked a photographer who allegedly asked her to “show” her leg on the red carpet at the Olivier Awards in London, and the moment went viral on social media.

Fans captured the moment when Waddingham, who was hosting the ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday, stopped posing for pictures and confronted the photographer.

“Oh my god, you’d never say that to a man, my friend,” she said.

She said she would move away if they repeated the request, adding: “Don’t say ‘show me your leg.’”

Some of the people watching could be heard cheering as Waddingham walked off, shaking her head before turning back to say, “Have some manners.”

Waddingham was hosting the Olivier Awards, the UK’s most prestigious theater awards, for a second consecutive year and opened the ceremony with a performance of “Anything Goes,” showcasing her own West End background.

With her powerhouse vocals and easy charisma, Waddingham has become an increasingly popular host for such events, particularly after wowing audiences as one of the hosts of last year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

She has picked up several Olivier nominations throughout her career, and has won an Emmy award for her role in “Ted Lasso.”

This year, “Succession” star Sarah Snook picked up the best actress award for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a one-woman play based on Oscar Wilde’s classic novel, while singer Nicole Scherzinger picked up the best actress in a musical award for her portrayal of Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard.”

Scherzinger’s win was one of seven for “Sunset Boulevard,” which became the joint most-awarded musical at the ceremony, equaling the record held by “Matilda,” “Hamilton” and “Cabaret” in a single night.

The supermodel talks about the fashion world, her latest exhibition in Mumbai and love for photography

For Sheetal Mallar, one of India’s leading supermodels, photographs are not just about capturing a moment, but also a way to introspect. That’s one of the ideas she wants to convey through her ongoing exhibition. “Braided”, which started last week at Mumbai’s Art Musings gallery.

The series of mixed-media art, which includes photographs, drawings, text and a self-published photo-book, focuses on the intricacies of identity and ageing, and explores the bond between mothers and daughters. She looked at hair, for instance, to depict how haircare rituals (something as simple as oiling) when done together “are a way to bond”, says Mallar, who recently walked the ramp for Sabyasachi’s jewellery show in Delhi. 

In an interview with Lounge, Mallar talks about modelling, her love for photography and how the fashion world is evolving. Edited excerpts: 

What was the idea behind ‘Braided’? 

I was in a stage where I wanted to look at some emotions that are at my core. In some ways, it was a conscious effort to go back to childhood stories and find threads of those memories. With time, you start realising that you don’t have as much time as you think. Holding on to these stories become very important then, especially when it comes to relationships between moms and daughters. Such bonds are vulnerable as well as beautiful. I feel my maternal figures have been very instrumental in how I have been shaped as a woman. I am understanding them and myself more through the passage of time.

Sheetal Mallar

How has the transition been, from full-time modelling to photography?

My modelling journey has been a big part of my life. I was a baby when I started. I am grateful for all that it has given me and taught me. The transition felt like I was a teenager all over again, treading a new path and everything that comes with it. 

The second chapter with photography and visual arts feels like my calling. I am excited to mix up my favourite media to tell stories. I look at my work like stories. So, the storytelling aspect of it is exciting for me. I also shoot fashion and lifestyle and some commercial works.

Any photographers/artists you admire?

I like are Nan Goldin, Rineke Dijkstra, Cindy Sherman, Dayanita Singh and Gauri Gill. 

Does fashion inform your work in any way?

Modelling gives you a sense of what the business of fashion is. It’s a challenging business and you learn survival through it. Photography and the arts are more voyeuristic and imaginative. It takes another side of oneself to take that forward. 

You are still very much part of the fashion world, with your appearances on the ramp and for brand campaigns. Do you believe fashion is finally becoming more inclusive?

Getting the former supermodels back is a trend, for now. I feel inclusivity is the natural way forward, though I am not sure how long it will last. I hope it becomes a norm.

I have had a great time as a model. We worked with some of the best in the business and the business treated us well. We didn’t need to do a side hustle to survive. Today, I feel the work of models is being shared by actors and other celebrities, so it affects the business of models. I wish models are treated fairly and duly paid. 

 

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