Dubai-based wildlife photographer Anish Karingattil observes and photographs insects, amphibians and reptiles in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He says wildlife photography, like this image he took of a red velvet mite, allows people to “tell stories, educate people, and raise awareness about the importance of protecting and conserving wildlife and their habitats.” Scroll through the gallery to see more.
Over 800 individuals have rallied behind a petition initiated by Lincoln-based photographer Rachel Roberts, aiming to encourage a more respectful and considerate approach from church leaders towards wedding photographers. This movement comes in response to an increasing number of reports highlighting ‘aggressive, rude and humiliating’ behavior by clergy members towards photographers during weddings. Such negative experiences have not only deterred couples from opting for church weddings but have also made photographers hesitant about accepting such assignments. The petition seeks to open a dialogue between photographers and church leaders to enhance the wedding experience for couples.
Amidst the sanctity and solemnity of church weddings, photographers face mounting challenges, from outright threats to physical obstructions, greatly hampering their ability to capture key moments of the ceremony. Restrictions vary widely, with some churches disallowing photographs during the ceremony altogether, while others allow limited photography, such as during the signing of the register. Such constraints, coupled with instances of hostility, have led to a noticeable decline in church wedding bookings, with photographers increasingly reluctant to work in such environments.
Rachel Roberts, the photographer behind the petition, emphasizes that while the sanctity of the wedding ceremony is paramount, there exists a possibility for photographers to work discreetly and respectfully, ensuring the couple’s wishes for comprehensive coverage of their special day are met. The petition is not an indictment of the church but a call for open dialogue to reconcile the needs and expectations of marrying couples with the traditions and protocols of church ceremonies. This initiative has garnered support from many within the photography community, sharing their own experiences of aggressive and unprofessional behavior from church officials.
In light of the growing discontent among photographers and marrying couples, the Church of England has acknowledged the issue and responded by creating guidance for couples, officiants, and photographers. This guidance underscores the importance of early communication and setting clear expectations to ensure a smooth collaboration on the wedding day. While this is a step in the right direction, the broader issue of how church leaders interact with photographers remains a point of contention, highlighting the need for ongoing dialogue and mutual respect to bridge the gap between tradition and contemporary expectations.
The movement led by Rachel Roberts and supported by over 800 signatories represents a significant call for change in the way church weddings are conducted. By fostering a more inclusive and respectful approach towards wedding photography, there is hope for a future where couples can freely choose to celebrate their unions in churches without fear of compromise on their cherished memories. The dialogue initiated by this petition may well pave the way for more harmonious relations between church authorities and wedding photographers, ensuring that the joy and sanctity of the occasion are upheld for all involved.
By Gabriel Lucich
Managing Editor
How much do we really pay attention to on our walks around campus or through the various towns in the Portland area? What do we miss because we’re looking at our phones or talking to a friend while on these jaunts about town? In the Alexander Gallery’s latest exhibition, “Every Tree-Top Deserves a Cloud,” photographer Horatio Law shows us many of the things we may have overlooked.
For the past four years he has been making photographic prints of the images that are captured on his daily walks through downtown Portland. Reflected images from shop windows are a recurring theme.
“I can see the reflection behind me, and I can see through the glass to what’s inside the window,” he said. “Things on the surface of the glass. There’s all this space being compressed onto one surface. For me it’s a magical surface that transcends time and space. I imagine I can see back and forth in time and go from one space to another space.”
He also attempts, and frequently succeeds, in finding beauty in the grittiness of the inner city, which he frequently describes as a war.
“This whole war is what I’m talking about,” he said. “Finding beauty in the ugliness of city life, I touch on a lot about homelessness, about disappearing, about finding a home or making a nest.”
Law referred to the picture of an unaccompanied blue sleeping bag at the base of a recently repainted downtown wall. “It’s like a child’s way to reason seeing difficult things. I guess I was a particularly funny child.”
It’s important to note that the majority of Law’s photography is based on something most of us carry around daily, and take for granted as an artistic device:, his iPhone.
“I’m holding this up because it is what I use for all my pictures. It’s amazing what an iPhone or other cell phone can do these days.”
He also treats the subject matter with different filters depending on how it looks to him personally.
“Everything is initially taken as a color image, and I select certain images that are more suitable as black and white as you know,” he said. “Sometimes the color image doesn’t work at all, but when you try it in black and white, it really works. The black and white accentuated the design, the texture and the shape itself, and in color, the color became a distraction.”
Sometimes this is the purpose of an artist’s work, to get us to notice the things we neglect, the overlooked dust-bunnies in the corners of our cities and towns. They help us remember some of the more important things that slip from view when we aren’t paying attention.
Originally from Hong Kong, Law immigrated to the States with his family in 1972. They landed in New York City, where his parents opened a branch of the piano sales and studio business that they had begun in Hong Kong. He and his family immediately felt at home in the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.
“I’m very comfortable in the city environment, you can tell by looking at the images,” said Law. “I went straight from one city into another giant city, so there was no culture shock going from Hong Kong to NYC.”.
Initially studying biology at Johns Hopkins University with the dream of getting into medical school, his love of art finally got the best of him. He enrolled at New York’s School of Visual Arts to continue his education.
“I was working in cancer research full-time, and started doing my time in art school, and it took a long time to finish, and then a long time to decide to get my Master of Fine Art,” Law said. “In the city, everyone around me was working on being a photographer or artist, and had a very good understanding of how the art world is in that environment.”.
After earning his BFA, Law spent about a year in Florence, Italy, working as a print-maker and studying at the International School of Graphic Art.
“Being an artist in Europe is very different from being an artist in the States,” he said. “People will ask you, ‘What do you do for a living,’ and if you’re an artist people appreciate that, it’s just a regular thing to say. The people there just appreciate art and you don’t have to justify the fact that you’re an artist.”
After his time in Florence, he returned to NYC and worked for the family business. The final decision to pursue his MFA took about 10 years.
A friend whomthat he’d met in Florence and eventually convinced him to apply for six different graduate school programs. Washington University in St. Louis gave him the opportunity he was looking for. Finishing his master’s program in 1993, he then moved to Oregon for a residency at the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts in Southwest Portland.
“We (artist residents) had the free-run of campus,” he said. “We got to live there, run around campus, and use the facilities for a whole semester. So I moved out here, and wasn’t going back to St. Louis after that.”
Photography as an art form is recent in Law’s development as an artist, though it was an early interest during his childhood in Hong Kong, when he saved his money and purchased his first camera.
“Horatio Hung-Yan Law; Every Tree-top Deserves a Cloud,” runs through March 15 in the Alexander Gallery at the Neimeyer Center on the Oregon City Campus.
Artist Horatio Hung-Yan Law
Photo Gabriel Lucich
Taylor Swift’s team have hit back after the singer’s dad was accused of assaulting a paparazzo.
The 34-year-old ‘Bad Blood’ singer’s was with her father Scott Swift, 71, in Australia early on Tuesday (27.02.24) when he allegedly hit a photographer at a Sydney ferry wharf as his daughter was getting off a yacht.
Whether it’s the Opera House, Eiffel Tower, or that Wanaka Tree (as I discovered recently), part of the problem is well-known spots like these are usually packed with people who clutter your frame, and it’s also a real challenge to find a new and unique angle to capture them.
Anyway, this fantastic video from Alister Benn of Expressive Photography offers some useful advice for dealing with these very issues.
What I enjoyed most about Benn’s approach is he likes to encourage photographers to work with what you’ve got, and embrace the environment and the crowds, rather than fight against them. This can lead to images that capture something more of the reality of the location, rather than a picture-perfect scene.
You can see more of Alister’s great videos on YouTube.
Cover image: Mike O’Connor
MELBOURNE, Australia — A photographer told police he was punched in the face by Taylor Swift’s father on the Sydney waterfront on Tuesday, hours after the pop star’s Australian tour ended.
Ben McDonald said he provided police with a statement alleging that Scott Swift assaulted him at the Neutral Bay Wharf, where the father and daughter had just come ashore from a yacht.
Why? Simply, it’s not only a comfortable in-field camera backpack, but it pushes to the limit, without going over, the current allowable size for carry-on luggage for many Australian domestic carriers.
First and foremost the thing to note for this bag are its dimensions. With an external length of 55cm, width of 35cm, and a depth of 23cm, the FirstLight 46L dimensions virtually match (without going over) the maximum carry-on luggage allowance for many Australia’s major domestic airlines.
This is great, and I’ll give you a big prime example (excuse the pun) below!
The way it’s designed also allows you to securely wrap the shoulder straps and waist belt around the front, allowing for more compact storage in an overhead locker as well reducing the chance these will become entangled with other people’s baggage.
And unlike most traditional backpacks, it also comes with grab handles placed on the top, the bottom and the side, making it much easier for you to put in and take out of an overhead locker (or any compartment really like the boot of a taxi).
As the name implies, the FirstLight 46L+ has a 46L capacity (which due to an expandable front pocket, actually increase this by another 4 litres).
It comes with water bottle pockets on both sides, a waist-belt stash pocket and a 3.5 litre removable floating top pocket, allowing you to pack soft items under it, or can be taken off and be converted into a belt pack.
There are also more than ten different organizational pockets that are sized and placed for various purposes, and the inside is very very configurable.
But what does this size and configurability mean in a practical sense?
Well on one recent trip I could easily pack in a Sony 600mm f/4 prime (detached), a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6, a 24-70mm f/2.8 and two camera bodies with batteries into it, and all for a weight that was under 10kg.
I could of course have included much more into the space left over (e.g. 6 camera batteries, 2 flashes, a flash trigger, 4 lens filters, a laptop, as well as another small prime lens), but that would have taken me well over the 10kg carry on limit or my carrier, and I would never do that.:).
|
Length (cm) |
Width (cm) |
Depth (cm) |
Weight (kg) |
|
|
FirstLight 46L |
55 |
35 |
23 |
2.7 |
|
Qantas* |
56 |
36 |
23 |
10 |
|
Virgin |
56 |
36 |
23 |
7 |
|
Jetstar |
56 |
36 |
23 |
7 |
*Except dash 8
** Correct at time of publishing. Check with your airline for their current carry-on requirements
Made of ballistic nylon, ripstop nylon, using 3 ply bonded thread and abrasion resistant YKKRCC zippers, a durable water-repellent coating on the outside (and it does come with a rain cover if required), and sturdy sides, the FirstLight 46L is – like all Think Tank products that I have tried – easily tough enough for what I put my equipment through.
With a contoured, 11-point adjustable harness system, weight distribution was fine and it felt pretty comfortable, however I didn’t take it on multi-day long hikes which ThinkTank suggest it could be used for.
As with many other ThinkTank backpacks, a feature it had and I always like, is the option to carry a tripod both on the front or side, and when carrying it on the front, the really cool tuck-away ‘cup’ system that supports the tripod base.
‘Throwing it off’ onto the ground to get quick access to my equipment (and I must stop doing that), everything seemed well protected in the sturdy padded construction, and I had no equipment issues.
But speaking of needing to take it off to get equipment access, if there was one thing that niggled me, was exactly that requirement; having to take it off to get access to equipment.
Having used ThinkTank’s Backlight Series for years, I’m now a big fan of the ability to access my equipment without having to take my bag of (and in doing so potentially getting it dirty or wet).
Everything in life is a compromise of course. So if you don’t need to carry a large piece of glass onto a plane, or don’t want to max out potential carry-on baggage dimensions when flying, then whilst the ThinkTank is a solid performer, I’m guessing there may be other bags in the ThinkTank family that could be better for you.
For example, something in the excellent Backlight Range that I mentioned above (and has been reviewed before) as they are lighter, a little more comfortable for me, and give you the option to access to your equipment whilst still wearing it.
But if you need a camera bag that will allow you to easily take and protect a large lens onto a plane, or a bag that will allow you space to carry lots of equipment in one bag without exceeding many of Australia’s current domestic carrier dimension limits, and also having a very functional backpack style bag to use once you get off the plane, then I’d say the FirstLight 46L+ is really something to consider.
How it works and handles as a piece of carry-on luggage is, its sturdiness, as well as its functionality as in-field back pack, is excellent, and it is now actually my go to bag when travelling on a plane taking a large prime or lots of photography equipment.
The Think Tank FirstLight 46L+ has an RRP of $829, and is distributed locally by Blonde Robot.
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Before Laila Holmes went off to college, she wanted to photograph and preserve the experience of being a teenager in Philadelphia.
The senior at Philadelphia High School For Creative & Performing Arts published her work in a book titled, ‘Etherness.’
“It’s called Etherness, which is the wistful feeling of looking around at a gathering of loved ones and knowing that, although it feels warm and like fun right now, it won’t always be like this,” said Holmes.
Each page acts like a time capsule capturing her friends at the park, on the subway, and in other casual environments.
In the future, Holmes wants to pursue photography in college and work in the fashion and film industries.
Watch the video above to hear Laila Holmes’ story in her own words.
To learn more about her work and her book, visit her website.
RELATED: Pa. author & father opens bookstore to promote Black culture & history
Shaykh Anwar Muhammad created the ‘Black Reserve Bookstore’ in 2017 to introduce all walks of life to Black history year-round.
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