Black Bloc Occupiers Turn Violent Against Photographers
On May 2nd, news started coming in that the previous day’s MayDay Occupy protests in New York had turned violent towards photographers. At first, people viewed the assaults as unplanned, isolated incidents; but since the attacks took place, a piece on Anarchist News has been released to set the record straight: photographers, apparently, are the...
Teen Collects 50,000 Signatures to Protest the Use of Photoshop by Magazines
It’s common knowledge that models in magazines are Photoshopped to look the way that they do — often to the detriment of the young girls that aspire to have these computer generated figures — but for the most part protests have come in the form of ad campaigns like Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. But...
Why Instagram is Terrible for You, and Why You Should Use It
Although everyone has an opinion on Facebook’s purchase of Instagram for $1b, I think we can all agree: Instagram is terrible for photographers (Gotcha). Why? Let’s count the ways. Why Instagram is Terrible for Photographers… The rights grab Let’s look at the Terms of Use: …By displaying or publishing (“posting”) any Content on or through...
How Playing Video Games Can Help You Become a Better Street Photographer
People ask me, “Jun Shen, how do you shoot so fast on the streets?!?” I’m like a ninja, whipping out my camera, shooting it, and putting it away so quickly that my subjects don’t know what hit them. They walk away whispering to themselves, “What was that? Did he take our photo? It’s thanks to...
Polaroid Land Camera Advertisements from the 1950s and 1960s
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Polaroid sponsored shows like “The Tonight Show” during which the hosts would take time to endorse the cameras during the show itself rather than cut to commercials. The montage above takes viewers back to a time when fancy new Polaroid cameras cost $69.95 — or $1.19 a week. Here’s...
Flash Game: Escape From the Darkroom
“Darkroom Escape” is a simple flash game in which you’re stuck in the darkroom of a photo studio and must escape using only the items in the room. The idea is pretty simple, but the difficulty is pretty ridiculous. If you can figure everything out without looking up the answers, you’re either a savant or...
An Artist Goes Undercover at a JC Penney Portrait Studio
Hyperallergic has published an essay about a project titled Free Sitting done by artist Nora Herting, who got a job as a photographer at a JC Penny portrait studio for the project. Here’s the essay’s description of the project: The portrait serves a testament to the subjects’ prosperity and personal relations, and yet, despite the...
London Olympics’ Photo Policy Not as Draconian as It Sounds
Amateur Photographer sparked some controversy amongst photographers this past Tuesday after it pointed out a section in the London Olympics’ ticketholder policies that states: Images, video and sound recordings of the Games taken by a Ticket Holder cannot be used for any purpose other than for private and domestic purposes and a Ticket Holder may...
Vintage Photos Turned Into Superhero Ancestor Portraits
Foto Marvellini, an art workshop based in Milan, came up with the interesting idea of collecting vintage portraits and transforming them into photos showing the ancestors of Marvel superheroes. Eventually the project, began including characters from DC Comics and Japanese anime as well. You can find more of these photos here. Foto Marvellini (via Nerdcore)...
Olympics’ Security Guards Trained to Hinder Photographers
The Olympics are a big deal, and an even bigger opportunity for the country’s photographers. From the moment the next Olympic city is announced, preparations begin and an endless number of photo ops present themselves. That is, if the security guards don’t start harassing you. Incidentally, that’s exactly what happened the other day in London when security guards...
