Hasselblad Masters - Berlin

Right. After leaving Paris, i had a few days in Berlin. I was to attend the Hasslelbad Masters 2012 event there, which sported 100 of the chosen photographers, finalists in the Masters Programme. All fine. We got to the event, which took place at the Delight Studios - for anyone looking to rent out studio spaces in Berlin, they are very good. So we get to the event. We get the branded bracelets, and are allowed in. We got the same feeling as being in a gallery. Everything was neat, labeled and presented in a very tidy manner. We got to play with the new Hasselblad models, H4D60 and the 200mpx product camera. The image on the right is Nick Brandt's. He shot it some years back and

The great thing about having played with the 200mpx camera was ruining the myth. The system is really just a 50mpx H4D, which takes 6 separate shots. Two of them are shot on a Red filter, two on a Green and two on a blue. The Phocus system manages pretty much everything, leaving you with an image made of the 6 overlapped frames. This is pretty awesome if you shoot products. The level of detail in the 1.4 gb image is truly impressive. It also goes to show that the optical side of the Hasselblad is just as great as it was 20 or 40 years ago. The thing was, like with other Hasselblad events i've been to in Europe, that they're sales directed. I learned pretty much everything there is to know about the new models, including something geeky but impressive: How ti control your Hasselblad via your iPhone/iPad, wirelessly through Phocus. I have seen this particular idea before, but in action, it was pretty impressive.

I've been to Hasselblad events in other places in Europe as well, as i mentioned. However, i kinda had high hopes from Germany. Let's say they have a history of being well organized. This was clearly not the case. However well oiled the machines are, the presentation and basically the whole day, lacked any sort of coherence. You had to go around, asking for things about each camera, new lenses, new features, sync options and so on. Rather than having everyone sit down, listen quietly and then fiddle with the cameras, the Berlin team opted for something more towards the "Brownian movement" system. Not the ideal choice, by far.

The models we shot were cool, the lighting was quite impressive (they also showed some Broncolors but really nobody figured they were commercial promotions since it didn't say so anywhere), the space was great. In the evening, we had the classic schedule: wine, dine and gallery show. Pretty good prints of some of the finalists, not all of them. And this is where i come to the end of the post but also to an issue i am curious about: One of the finalists,

i've seen it in dozens of places, including Photomagazine and this year's Paris Photo Show. Good. Great. It means it's famous. Now the picture with the baby elephant with the exact same pose is Joachim Schmeisser's image. I agree that both images are good quality photographs. But, is it not awkward at all that they would pick an image which is post processed in the exact same way as a famous one? Same halo, same vignetting, same pose, same crop (if you look at the web pics, not my screen shot comparison).

Working on a dream

I always felt quite close to films. Somehow, coming to the realization that Anton Corbjin managed to pull both out of the hat, meant i could too. True story.

Now, my first fun assignment had to do with Land Rovers. I couldn't have picked it any better.

We had a 5D Mk2, follow focus rig, dolly and tracks, and a bunch of lenses to go with them. 2 Arri lights, not used that much, and a whole lot of questions i had no answer to. So, armed with all this shit, i proceeded to put on a brave face and go shoot my first presentation film.

These days i'm making real good friends with Final Cut Pro and it's features, trying to get the best of what i shot. Will try to remember all the things i shouldn't do, should do better and so on.

'Till then, here's a couple of film stills.

Alina Manole

Album cover i shot a few weeks ago.

The Commission

We're experimenting heavily. Stay tuned, something really cool is about to be presented.

Old images from a broken drive IV

Old images from a broken drive

Back when i started photography, my mom would save all the pictures I'd send her. Meanwhile i broke the hard drive, one evening and lost quite a bit. I had already gathered quite a little archive which also contained bits from the first semester of Uni. Years later, she's remembered that she kept them and mailed everything back to me. Seeing them all these years later, turns out i wasn't exactly a genius back then - but some aren't half bad. Those I'm going to start posting every now and again, for a little while.



Back then. working on a Nikon FM2 was really the thing to do. These were actually test shots from my first "paid" shoot. I got twenty quid, basically the film money. I must say, i was shit at negotiating.

Late(st) work

This last week we shot a fashion collection. Basically, all fun. Images to come soon.



For now, the Defender and i are going to the national Land Rover meeting for a few beers and a lot of mud. This is not how it'll look Sunday evening :)

Dana

Catalina

Leslie Hawke

Ethan Hawke's mother before giving TEDxWomen talk

Playing in the chop shop

A favor for a friend.

Interior Design

Here's a few pictures from an Interior Designer and her last project, an exclusive penthouse for rent.

About my little holiday

I finally found the time to write a little bit. I am back in Bucharest and i can never stop myself from wondering why ... Poland was beyond brilliant. I am not that fond of my series but people seemed to like it, asked questions and generally had a pretty great private view night. It was a lot of hard work but we pulled it off. The city is, as i said, pretty amazing as well, with the lovely Brama Jazz Cafe where i spent half of my days writing and doing various other cvasi-creative stuff. The prices were fairly low and the atmosphere was lovely.





Later on i jumped on the bus and headed for Berlin, where i crashed at Jessie's and Tommi's place for two nights (thanks guys) and had the most amazing time. Berlin is definitely one of the best cities i've ever visited and it would be nice to live there part time. Tommi and i spent a whole day cycling around the city and visiting all the tourist places while hunting a rare item (when the time will come, the item shall be revealed to the general public). All in all, it was a lovely holiday with small exceptions. I reflected a bit on or image in Europe and got to some 1930's Germany suggestions, but that's another post.

Life Begins

I am currently sitting on a tea house in Bucharest and loving every second of it. University is over and done with and this is where life begins. I'm quite contempt with the way things are going now. It's a rough period and i understand that it'll be difficult to get something going the way i want it but i am too proud to give up and too stubborn to admit that it may be impossible.

In this last week, i met some of the most amazing people, through my girlfriend. I met her canto teacher's boyfriend which just happened to love my Ambassadors and thought: "Let's shoot a movie on this!". When i told him i had plans to shoot myself shaving my head, he went ballistic and so the madness began. We met on and off and discussed lighting and setting up the space for the first show. FYI the images will be set up on the music stands they use in opera concerts so ... there's a win. So, we got to talking and that and set the dates for the shoot. My Defender is currently having an open heart surgery over the weekend so i had to get the Toyota. We shot for 40 hours in a 48 hour time frame and were only fueled by ... well ... momentum. Because as soon as things started slowing down, we fell like flies, dead tired.



Anyway, we shot a 90min experimental film which (fuck it, i am ruining the surprise for Monday - just a good heads up to those who read my blog) will be shown in sync with the classicl music. Each aria of the concerto had a frame thought up which pretty much rocks. It includes me almost falling out of a boat a few times, jumping out of trees, getting my head shaved half naked in a poppy field and many other insane ideas that our tired brains managed to duct tape together. The film will then be a full part of the show, and will be traveling around as a whole. Now all we have to do is sit tight and wait to become famous ... This is how things work, right?




Finance wise, student life is not yet over. I am broke beyond belief and am trying to figure out things ... University is gone and so is all the free equipment. This means investment as well as a great big hit in my already precariously balanced budget (strapping a ridiculously expensive camera to the side door of the Land Cruiser and driving around 60mph also put in a new light the idea of bankruptcy in case the camera fell off. No my bankruptcy however - but the faces of the people we overtook - worth every penny). But you need to spend money to make money and i suspect that this is the part where i have to spend ... That's it for now.

Still alive

It's safe to assume we've mostly finished university. I've been busy with the final project and all that and couldn't find the time to write - but now we are back on track.
Here's some images from two shoots i had yesterday.

Oh yes, and thanks to Mr. Pocock, i am now the proud owner of a brand new obsession: Google SketchUp - PROOF

The Foyer from the Bucharest Operetta ... more or less

Shoot

Preview of my latest shoot. I need a website.

My City of Ruins

The city i grew up in has always had a special place in my photography (to be read as "i've never actually ever taken proper photographs of Bucharest, except journalism stuff). So, since i got stuck there, volcano and all, i figured i should shoot some large format images of how i feel about the place. I got asked why do i want to move back, quite a few times and in shot, the images are a bit of an answer. I'll post a couple every day until they are all exhausted.



PS: I've also got the whole final project series done, but that's only going to be shown later on in the year, during the exhibitions.

Exhibitions and other things.

We're flying home. No time for talks but on the short:

1) Might have concerts on the 7th (TBA), 11th (Slobozia) and 15th (Preoteasa) of April somehwere in the city and also out of it. Confirmation of dates and locations TBA (all in Romania, for now)

2) I shall be having solo project, The Ambassadors shown in the Luton Arts Festival sometime at the end of April - date for private view as well as length of exhibition TBA

3) We (Mr. Octavian Balea and myself) will be having a duo show (They Are Us) in Poland from 12th of June to the 31st of August, in the Fotart Gallery in Szczecin. Private view on the 12th of June around 18:00.

4) I shall be showing a solo project, The Ambassadors, in Balder Piha Gallery in Helsinki from 3rd of September all the way to 17th of September. I suspect that the Private View will be on the 3rd around 18:00 also.

5) Work to be featured in an interesting photography magazine - still working on the interview and the images - name and date of show TBA as well

Working oh three different series plus extra magazine and journalism work so not much time left for anything else. We are still working on a few more exhibitions for what has kind of apparently become a European Series of my final year project. Surprises and such coming soon (ha now i can say "The Ambassadors - coming to a city near you" I always wanted to say that because it sounds so global and i heard it in a Toys'R'Us commercial when i was 6 or 7)

I've also looked at starting the Bucharest Arts Festival 2011 but it's still at the initial stage. Project Competition and a blog/site is going to probably come up sometime not very soon but not quite never.

Until then, yeah, not much else. Just wishing the damn plane won't crash and that my work will keep being a project instead of a retrospective of what could've been a good photographer. Maybe. Not.

When we were beautiful

When i left for the UK, i took a box of film that has been lying around from before i was born. I figured that nobody really cares about it so i might just take it and scan it when i can. It took me three years to get around to doing that. It's dozens of films, beginning with my mother's high school graduation up to some shots of us around 8-12 years old.

Some are brilliant, some i knew and some are very random. There's a whole bunch of unknown people, a funeral, a wedding, a sheep, people i know, cars and teenagers who are probably my mum's age. Anyway, since i'm not going to be writing too much on account of me literally living in the darkroom, this week i'll keep posting images i've scanned from those negs. If they don't say anything about the people, don't worry. It just means i don't know either...

So without further delay (but to my surprise), here's scans from a SLIDE film that my dad shot of us in the park and at Christmas (i suspect)

Old habits die hard II

Spring means sun. Sun means starting my camera obscura series. Again. I did this little test in my room today, out of focus and underexposed and digital. But out comes the Wista tomorrow for a proper shot and the continuation of last year's series.