Burn Magazine

This week, one of the most important grants of the year was announced, the Emerging Photographer Fund from David Alan Harvey and BURN Magazine. This year, $15,000 is being given away to photographers of any discipline, who are seeking funding to continue their long-term photographic work. I was lucky enough to receive the first of these grants back in 2008 and I can assure you that is well worth your time applying. Last year I wrote a post explaining what the grant had done for me, in terms of my professional development, which you can read here.

Earlier this week, one of my most recent projects ‘China’s Fragile Forests’ was published on Burn Magazine. It’s a perfect venue for the work and I thank David for helping the issue reach more people.

The deadline for the Emerging Photographer Fund is May 15th, 2012. So, start getting that application together. Or, if you have more images to shoot, stop reading this and get out there taking some pictures! Good luck!

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Just a very quick reminder to readers here that there are only 2 days left to submit your entry to the Burn/David Alan Harvey Emerging Photographer Fund. This is a wonderful opportunity for photographers with a very substantial $15,000 for the chosen work. Please take a moment to read an article I wrote in January about the impact on me and my work in receiving the first EPF in 2008. If you decide to enter, best of luck!

Burn

The Emerging Photographer’s Fund is an evolution from discussions on David’s old blog ‘Road Trips‘. Road Trips was David’s first foray into blogging and became and intimate community of people keen to learn from David’s experience as a professional photographer for National Geographic and Magnum.

The appearance of blogging has, I feel, been a gift to aspiring photographers as more and more established professionals have gone online to openly and candidly share their thoughts and experiences with their followers. As a young photographer starting out, one of the things I craved was learning from pro-photographers and learning how they approached their careers and their work. Road Trips was a goldmine for any young photographer looking for information and/or advice. It still is a goldmine, although Road Trips is no longer, and has evolved very successfully into Burn. As I have evolved too as a photographer, making the first forays into the beginning stages of my professional career, I still value the Road Trips/Burn community as much as before.

Road Trips

In the summer of 2007, David announced the idea that he was giving out a grant. He challenged the readers of his blog to find a photo-project which they would ultimately submit and he would consider for further funding. I had been sitting on the idea of photographing the issue of desertification (the gradual expansion of deserts and arid land) for some time but hadn’t found the right time to get the project going. The challenge from David was to be my impetus to start.

I packed some clothes and my camera and booked a flight from Beijing to western China to a place I knew was suffering from desertification. At that time, the trip was funded out of my own pocket and I realistically knew that my chances of being awarded a grant were very small, due to the fact I was sure many good photographers would be entering too. It didn’t really matter to me though, as it was a project that I had wanted to cover for sometime and the challenge was enough to make me want to start. My aim was to get the project started and if I was lucky, get it infront of David on a computer sometime and get a few pieces of advice. I didn’t expect anything else. It’s important when you enter competitions or grants that you don’t expect anything. Continue with your work anyway. If you get any kind of recognition, it’s a bonus. You still need the passion for the subject to continue with it, even if it doesn’t pick up and awards along the way. They should never be your goal.

On new year’s day in 2008, I turned on my computer and went to the Road Trips site checking to see if the winner’s had been updated. To my complete astonishment, there was my name listed as the recipient.

Road Trips

For me, the biggest impact of winning the grant at such an early stage in my career as a photographer, came in terms of confidence. Young photographers are often unsure in their work. Unsure and daunted by the sheer amount of photographic talent there is out there and how they will find a foothold in the industry. Having come from a non-photographic background, my worries about whether photography was the right place for me were completely allayed from that point.

As a result of winning the grant, I also invested in attending two of the major photo-festivals in 2008, Visa Pour L’image and Look3. Attending these festivals was very special for me, as I began to connect with many of the people who I had only known online previously. The encouragement I gained from these individuals was amazing and many of them are now good friends and people whom I regularly seek advice from.

At the end of the day though, if you are a young photographer reading this, the money that the grant awards should not be the motivation. It’s the subject that should be the motivation. If you have found a subject that you really care about, are really passionate about, then this is what is going to make you stand out. If you win the grant, then it’s a bonus. A big bonus, for sure.  Edit tight. Edit to show your vision. Edit to show your feelings. Even if nothing comes from entering, this may be a great chance to really sit down with your work and try to think about it. Talk to others about it. Understand it. Move in the right direction.

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There will be lots of good photographers entering, but you have to put your work in the proverbial mixer. You’ve got to be in it to win it.

I hope this has been helpful to anyone thinking of applying. Good luck!

Click Here

So, I decided to spread some photographic love/respect/links and point you in the direction of what I believe are ‘Probably the Best Photography Blogs in the World’ – please insert tongue in cheek here.

In absolutely no discernible order, and without any official criteria, these are my favourite photo-related blogs that I visit on a pretty regular basis. Why do I visit them? Because they consistently deliver useful, fun, stimulating and interesteing information that enriches my life.

Once you have visited the blogs below, please do remember to come back to mine though

1. Burn - Curated by Magnum and National Geographic Photographer, David Alan Harvey, Burn is one of the best of the best. Showcasing new photo essays every few days, it introduces readers to an eclectic mix of photography. Comments regularly run into the 1000′s and are often insightful, entertaining and emotional.

2. Duckrabbit – I love Duckrabbit’s tagline, “We produce beautifully crafted multimedia”. They do exactly what they say on the tin and also throw in a daily updated blog full of witty and sometimes acerbic viewpoints and comments on the world of photography and multimedia. This UK based team’s fresh approach pulls no punches.

3. A Photo Editor – A stalwart of the blogging scene for some time now, Rob Haggart, former Director of Photography for Men’s Journal and Outside Magazine, offers readers a glimpse into the inner workings of magazines and gets you inside the minds of today’s photo/picture editors. An essential read for aspiring photographers.

4. Photojournalism Links – Finnish photographer Mikko Takkunen has created his own form of blogging resource by using ‘the link’ as his content. He trawls the web for the best of photography and photojournalism and puts all the links in one convenient place, so you don’t have to do anything but click. Hats off to this man.

5. Lens – Showcasing the finest of photography from it’s own photographers and the work of many other freelancers, agency photographers and wire photographers around the world, Lens delivers quality photography day in, day out. Its sleek slideshow format means pictures effortlessly glide in front of you. No page reloading. Just a stream of great pictures.

6. Classroom 1416 – Hosted by Ren Yue, photojournalism lecturer at Beijing’s Renmin University and recipient of the 2008 Howard Chapnick Grant for the advancement of photojournalism. She is at the forefront of showcasing new Chinese talent in photography. She also promotes international photography to her Chinese audience, creating an essential dialogue between east and west. Her blog is in Chinese but don’t let that deter you. That’s what they invented Google Translate for.

7. DSLR News Shooter – If I ever need a tech-fix, I head to this website. Headed by the likeable Guardian staff photographer, Dan Chung, this blog will teach you about every piece of kit you will ever need to know about. You will discover new pieces of equipment that you have never heard of and never knew existed. Videos then show you exactly how pros are using all this technology to make stunning stills and video around the world.

8. National Geographic Blog Central – Well, National Geographic needs no introduction whatsoever. Their blog is updated daily with articles, dispatches and photos that are all of the level that you would expect from this renowned organisation.

9. Telephoto – The photography blog of the UK Telegraph newspaper, ‘telephotography’ offers readers a good insight into the happenings in the gallery world of photography. Keep track of exhibitions, talks and speaking events through their news and events section which contains an impressive up-to-date list of events.

10. ________ – The last spot is all yours. I’d like YOU to fill in this last one. Are there any other vital photo blogs that I’ve missed? Please let us know in the comments below.

FOTOWEEK DC

If you are in the Washington DC area this week, then you should make a beeline for the wealth of photography events they on this week as part of FOTOWEEKDC. I am slightly miffed as I spent the best part of last week in DC and had to leave just before all the events kicked off. Oh well, these things happen, but I am happy as two of my images will be featuring in two different events during the FotoWeek.

The first image is one from my series on desertification in China and it will be in the David Alan Harvey Presents… exhibition. For details of where to find it, please go here. As many of you will already know, this image was featured on David’s Burn magazine a few months ago. I actually bumped into David just the other day when I was in New York. He was passing through on his way to FotoWeek, but we managed to grab a coffee in his apartment in ‘the Kibbutz’ in Brooklyn.  He had just come back the night before from a workshop in Mexico, was off to FotoWeek briefly and then was heading back to Mexico again for another workshop. I thought I had a busy schedule, but David takes it to another level!

David Alan Harvey Presents...Desertification in China

My second image in FotoWeek DC will be part of the Critical Exposure Auction. Critical Exposure is an organisation that promotes young people to use photography as a form of empowerment and provides opportunities for them to change their lives using photography. I was approached last month to donate a print (see image below) to their auction, which will be held on November 12th. More details here. If you are around Georgetown at that time, please head down to support them and maybe even bid for my print!

Critical Exposure Auction | North Korea

Kent State Univeristy

First, I shall be heading the US on Saturday to speak at a number of events for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting who are bringing me to America to take part in a number of outreach programmes, aimed at highlighting their sponsored work and the issues they cover. As a result, I shall be heading to Kent State University in Ohio for two days on the 26th and 27th, speaking in a number of classes and presenting my work on desertification in China. There will be a public presentation I believe on the night of the 26th, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. in Room 340 in the First Energy Room at Franklin Hall, in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. If you are in the Kent State University area, please come by and say hello!

After Kent State, I shall be heading to Washington DC where I am scheduled to be speaking at the American University and Climate Institute. More details on those to follow later. Needless to say, I shall be updated this blog whilst on my travels in the US, so please check back for up to date info.

Heat of the Moment

The next piece of news is that my work on desertification in China has been featured on the new Pulitzer Gateway “Heat of the Moment”, a portal of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting highlighting their work on various climate issues. The subjects are incredibly diverse and it is well worth exploring many of the different topics. The Pulitzer Gateway is another source of outreach, mainly targeting students who will begin to log-in to the site to learn about Global Climate issues. In the next week or two, video interviews will be uploaded to the site and dialogue will begin between the journalists and students. It should be very interesting, so please do check back again sometime to see how it all developing.

Finally and by no means least, exciting news came from the Lucie Awards this week. In an exciting turn, Burn Magazine was awarded a Lucie for the “Best Photography Magazine”. Not only was that good enough,

but it also became the first online magazine to receive the award. As readers here will know, I have a close connection to Burn as I was awarded David Alan Harvey’s first Emerging Photographer’s Fund back in January of 2008. At that time Burn was “Road Trips”, a blog run by DAH. If you haven’t visited it, please do. Even though the dialogue has stopped there, there is still lots of great advice and discussion to read in the archives. So congrats to DAH, Anton Kusters (Burn’s Creative Director) and all other Burnians who have been apart of the evolution of Burn. It’s been a great journey and I am proud to have been a part of it.

burn.gallery.show

Yesterday and today, or today and tomorrow, depending on your time zone sees the launch of the new burn.gallery.show. This is one of the newest ventures for Burn magazine to raise funds and increase exposure for this new and exciting online photography magazine. If you have been living under a little bit of a rock in photography circles recently, then you may not have heard about Burn, the brainchild of the legendary Magnum and National Geographic photographer David Alan Harvey.

I first met David in 2003 when I attended one of his workshops in Lisbon, Portugal. At that time, I was an english teacher in Japan and was experimenting with photography and looking for inspiration, hence I travelled back to Europe to participate in one of his workshops. What I found was a man of incredible passion and enthusiasm for photography that was palpably infectious. Attending his workshop was one of the most important things that happened to me, photographically. On presenting my portfolio to David, he deconstructed it in a way I had never had explained to me before. Critical of many of the photos he saw, only a couple remained the critique that he barely liked. I decided from that moment to prove him, and most importantly myself, that I was able to create good pictures.

On January 1st 2008, through his blog Road Trips, David awarded me his first emerging photographer’s fund. Today, Road Trips has evolved into Burn magazine, which David has created alongside Anton Kusters, his Creative Director. Burn is an inspiration for many photographers who are struggling in a time when it seems that photography is being strangled and devalued.

The burn.gallery.show is the first print exhibition of many of the emerging photographers who have appeared through Road Trips and Burn, alongside legendary photographers such as Elliott Erwitt, Bruce Davidson, Susan Meiselas, Alex Webb etc. I am honored that one of my images has been chosen to run alongside these photographers. The image chosen is this one, that was featured on Burn earlier this year.

To find out what burn is, go here

I just noticed today that I haven’t had a new post up for 10 days! Wow. I have been quite busy of late, having just got back from a shoot in the Chinese city of Hangzhou where I teamed up again with the Globe & Mail’s Mark Mackinnon for a new story. More on that to come in later posts.

A lot of my work appeared online in various blogs and magazines this week, which was great.

Burn Magazine Logo

On David Alan Harvey’s magazine, Burn, he published a short selection of my images that I took from the recent trip I took to North Korea. David edited these images himself actually, sequencing them also in the way he saw best fit. If you read the dialogue, he offers a few insights into how he went about this and his thoughts on editing. As this work is quite new to me, I was more than happy for David to help me create a voice for this work. To see what he came up with, go here.

Resolve Logo

Also, over on the liveBooks’ blog RESOLVE (for whom I am a regular contributor) my final post about some of my experiences photographing desertification for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, went up this week. If you missed some my earlier writings for RESOLVE, please go here, here and here to see them.

Duckrabbit Logo

Finally and by no means least, the excellent multimedia website duckrabbit featured a short highlight of some of my recent work focusing on both my desertification work and that in North Korea.

I can’t encourage you enough to go and check out all three of the above outlets. They are all very exciting venues for photography online at the moment.