Walking on Thursday

April 07 2008

For two years we've walked on Thursdays. There's no good explanation for it. It's just something we do. It's part of who we are. It's part of what Utata is. It's a tribal thing.

Mono No Aware

January 22 2007

There is a worldview that suggests life is as short and as hauntingly beautiful as the thrum of a bell resonating in a courtyard. A gentle sadness accompanies that perspective. The Japanese call it mono no aware.

Hands

June 05 2006

"A portrait of someone's hands," says Meera Sethi, "is always a nude." This perceptive Concept piece interprets the subtle grammar of hands and makes it clear that when hands speak, people should listen.

Rain

September 26 2005

Rain. Water falling from the sky. We're so accustomed to it that we fail to recognize how incredible it is. Rain ought to be the stuff of tabloid headlines: Baby Born with the Ears of a Bat! Statue of Lincoln Found on Mars! Water Falls from Sky! Even artists and poets, people who appreciate the beauty of rain, rarely reflect on what they're witnessing.

The Nap

August 28 2005

Whether you do it for pleasure or of necessity, napping is universal. It knows no age or class distinction. When our eyes close and we nod off, we're all the same; just a bunch of sleeping boys and girls. Or are we?

Articulating the Empty Chair

July 08 2005

Andrew Wyeth featured an empty chair in one of his paintings. So did David Hockney. Van Gogh did it twice. Photographs of empty chairs abound. Visual artists are drawn to the image of the empty chair. ... Why does such a mundane object draw so many artists? How does a chair acquire that much emotional power?

I believe I can fly

March 20 2006

Beckett is not only a very creative photographer, but she is also one of those super mothers of twins who actually goes much further in helping her children live their dreams: she creates beautiful and inspiring images that gives them food for their imaginations, taking them into a realm where everything is possible.

Deconstructing Frida

January 26 2006

Indeed, most self-portraitists do know themselves better than everyone else, but when you see how Kate O'Brian captures each and every one of the characters in her pictures, you will wish you were her model. You might even wish she were your best friend.

Transcending Photography

January 20 2006

Some people are happy with photographs coming straight out of the camera and could never envision altering them. Other people take photographs with a vision in mind and will tweak them in post processing until they obtain the desired result. There is no right or wrong in Art. Art is whatever we define it to be. Just ask Maureen.

H2O

January 12 2006

David Kirkby, also known as Darkmatter, has never failed to impress me since the first day I saw his work on Flickr. His shots are a mix of ingeniousness, excellent composition and impressive Photoshop technique which give them a wow! factor that makes me stare at them for long periods of time.

Freeze Frame

July 17 2005

The panning shot strikes me as magical. It freezes an instant in time, bringing a single object or person to a total halt while the rest of the world continues to spin around. That sort of magic requires a deep knowledge of photography, infinite patience, and a dollop of luck.

Loving Observation

May 09 2008

In an unabashed celebration of science-geekery, Meera Sethi has turned her eye toward the under-appreciated museums of science and natural history, revealing a strange and wondrous beauty hidden among the carefully collected bones and the strange bottled specimens.

Three Sisters

April 25 2008

Rachel Irving reflects on the process of watching—and documenting—her three young daughters as they grow into sisterhood. In doing so she reveals the impossibility of predicting the behavior of even those whom you love the most, and the paradoxical pleasure of that very failure.

Woman With Rooms

September 12 2006

With honesty and clarity, Stephanie Fysh describes the process by which she created her Rooms with Woman series of photographs.

Getting All In A Flap

May 08 2006

Socar Myles takes flight in this inspired article that explores the genesis of her Packbawky series, in which she transforms herself into a bird.

Self:Interest

September 23 2005

Every photograph we make is part of a learning process. We turn our lens on our respective worlds, on the people who inhabit it, on the new places we discover, and on the scenes we've created. We find truth and we create fiction with our cameras. It seems a natural thing to turn the camera around and examine ourselves, or even to recreate ourselves.

Saint John, New Brunswick

April 16 2007

Sometimes it takes a haze of fog to produce our clearest visions. Adam Graham's gentle, reflective essay about the misty city where he grew up is also a moving meditation on becoming a photographer.

Vienna, Austria

December 13 2006

It's a wonderful thing when someone who knows Vienna well issues a warm, effusive invitation to explore it by her side. Monika Fahrnberger's lively prose will leave you in no doubt of her own affection for this city of history and culture, and you'll come away seeing her hometown's charms (and quirks) through her eyes.

Bangkok, Thailand

November 01 2006

It's difficult to write about a place like Bangkok. Add up all the clichés, and you're still nowhere near the real heart of the city. In this graceful article, Mai An Hoa teaches us to listen before we look -- and in the process reveals the smiling face of the town she loves.

Hurghada, Egypt

September 01 2006

Located on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, Hurghada is primarily a venue for tourists; but Brittney Bush steps off the tourist paths and discovers the real Hurghada...an oasis of bright color in an otherwise beige desert.

Tjörn, Sweden

January 17 2006

Tracey Marshall starts out this article on her hometown with the advice that, "like many great stories, the story of my town is one of love, tragedy and great change. How I got here is the part about love, a brief interlude is the part about tragedy. And the great change? Well, that’s just the way of the world."

Masterton, New Zealand

December 14 2005

From my travels around New Zealand, I knew that certain towns had iconic statues to represent them. Ohakune has the Giant Carrot, Cromwell the Giant Apricot, Paeroa the giant L&P (soft drink) bottle. It seems that a giant could eat and drink his way around New Zealand with no worries. In Masterton, he'd probably get a haircut.

Manchester, England

November 30 2005

Commonly referred to as the UK's "second city", Manchester is currently thriving. Whatever your pleasure, you can largely indulge it. There is something to occupy you every night of the week...if you can afford it. T

Jakarta, Indonesia

November 14 2005

I awoke one morning to the realization that in the years I'd spent living in Jakarta, I had never stepped foot off the path of security and familiarity so common to expats in Indonesia. My Jakarta was a zone carefully constructed upon a foundation of Starbucks and fitness clubs. My goal for that Sunday was to burst through the womb of my comfort zone.

A Village In Israel

November 01 2005

I am not sure if it is possible to sort out my personal childhood fantasies and dreams from the collective Israeli psyche of the time. Walking barefoot in a ploughed field or picking oranges in a grove were the dreams of my childhood. I wanted to be the girl in that photograph.

Seeing New York

June 17 2006

It was tranquil, calm, serene, and he watched the Verrazano bridge shine in the far-off glitter of evening.

Truths and Half-Truths

August 22 2006

The interiors that appear in the photographs of Lori Andrews are full of truths and half-truths; only she knows which are which…and she's not telling.

The Gramophone Emporium

June 21 2006

The Gramophone Emporium in Edinburgh is a place out of time. Its window (broken) is crammed with gramophone parts. It has no website, no phone line, and despite being in a trendy boho part of town, no passing custom. But ...

VanDigiCam

June 14 2006

Rachael Ashe nervously attended her first meeting of a Flickr-based digital camera group in Vancouver, only to discover a gathering of like-minded, adventurous souls who emboldened her to become a better photographer and fueled her creativity.

To Show or Not to Show?

May 31 2006

Liz West asks herself a simple question, and after some thought and consideration, she responds with a simple answer. But not all questions are as simple as they first appear, nor are all answers easily achieved. To show or not to show, that is the question. The answer? Read on....

The Nature of Dog

February 06 2006

Karen James wonders "What makes a good dog picture?" Good dog photography isn’t just about creating a lovely portrait. It’s not difficult to get yourself down to his level and fill the frame with a sharply focused image of your wonderful dog. What makes a dog photo good is ultimately capturing the nature of the dog.

The Right Thing?

September 19 2005

I thought it would be simple to write an informative piece on photographing children. After all, I do it on a daily basis either professionally or personally. Once I began to write, however, I realized that what I have to offer by way of instruction can be summed up in two sentences: "Get closer" and "Be patient: you may have to try again another day." .. A person could starve on that much food for thought.

Holga Magic

August 23 2005

It sounds like a river in Russia; it's actually a cheap plastic Chinese camera... with the emphasis on cheap. A couple months ago a friend bought one on impulse. He treated it as a toy and soon became frustrated with its limitations. Lucky for me, because I've had the benefit of working with it ever since. I've come to think of the Holga as a 'fine arty' camera.