Go-Go Gadget: A Camera for the Masses?

courtesy of Engadget

I always love things that are a nod to the nostalgic, but this camera is seriously old-school. The Giroux Daguerreotype was the world's first mass-produced camera, made in 1839! This vintage piece of history is made up of a wooden box and brass lenses. The double box design of the Daguerreotype was focused by moving the smaller inner box away from the front-mounted 15-inch lens and exposures could take up to 1/2 an hour. Not only is it the world's first, it also may soon be the most expensive. Set to go up for auction in vienna later this year, the price will start at upwards of $250,000 and it's predicted that it may go for close to a cool million.

If that's a little out of your price-range, check out the New York Times' review of 9 of the best small, cheap cameras, all with price tags of $300 or less.

via Engadget & The New York Times

Annual Oaxaca Workshop with Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark
Oaxaca 10-day workshop
Oaxaca, Mexico
February 14-24, 2010
Find out more at: www.maryellenmark.com

Jenny Cage & Tom Betterton Booksigning

Jenny Cage & Tom Betterton
Book signing for UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS & OUTSIDE
Clic
255 Centre Street
New York, NY 10013
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 6 - 8 pm

A Conversation with Manjari Sharma

© Manjari Sharma

Last year Manjari Sharma was a winner of the Eye on the Strand Contest and that is how I was introduced to Manjari's work. Her landscapes of her native India made me long for travel and I was intrigued by her portrayal of water. An element she grew up near and clearly has a special connection to.
Manjari since has embarked on a new series in which she photographs strangers in her shower. This daring project has yielded remarkable portraits of instant intimacy that are sometimes melancholic, often fragile and always beautiful and powerful.



© Manjari Sharma

NP: Tell us a little about yourself.

MS: Born and raised in Mumbai, India and miss home often. I believe it's very important to go
away in order to love again. I love food and I love surrounding myself with driven people.
I think its terrific if one can find the ability to laugh at oneself and I've
been known to be that girl, but its equally important to cry and allow yourself to feel broken;
I know I have felt that way and I am certainly a better person for that.



© Manjari Sharma

NP: How did you discover photography?

MS:I was handed a Kodak film point and shoot, it's what we took on our road tripping family vacations through India. I was always the kid lining up the family and wasting way too many rolls of film on everything my heart responded to. I never thought of Photography as a career. I wanted to be a dietitian and take up food and nutrition until a new course was offered in my university in Mumbai. I was the second name in the list to be accepted for this fresh visual communication course. I had no Idea my first SLR, a Nikon FM 10, would change my life forever.




© Manjari Sharma

NP: Where do you find inspiration?

MS: Everywhere I go. But certainly a lot from movies. I do freeze frames and study light when I can. I leave no chance to miss my favorite photo artists when exhibited. Recent inspirations have been Katy Grannan, Hellen Van Meene, George Georgiou. Recently a Jörg Colberg and Robert Lyons workshop that I was selected to be a part of was extremely inspirational.
Shape of a Pocket written by John Berger a suggested reading tip from Robert Lyons was also recently incorporated into the all-time inspiring list for me. An Indian artist whose poetry never fails to inspire me is Mirza Ghalib.



© Manjari Sharma

NP: How do your projects come about?

MS: Often think of an idea for a while, allow it to marinate, read more about it and discuss it with trusted friends and family.
I have come to understand that its important to let a concept age as a thought and mature as a plan until its finally time to execute it.
Sometimes none of the above occurs, sometimes an image or a visual paves the way for a idea and the rest is history. I think how you arrive at your idea is important but how much to let it consume you and develop is just as important if not more.



© Manjari Sharma

NP: What’s next?

MS: Working on getting some play to my current project the Shower Series that I was working on for most of the year. The work on the project will continue but it certainly ready to be viewed and shared. A new project is in the works and new utterances of it will be shared on the blog (www.manjarisharma.wordpress.com) soon!

To see more of Manjari's work please visit www.manjarisharma.com.

Tomorrow: North Texas Women in Photography Panel

(via Marketing Photos with Mary Virginia Swanson)

North Texas Women in Photography

ASMP Dallas is proud to present four talented and accomplished professional photographers at the event North Texas Women in Photography. Each photographer will show and discuss their work in their distinctive fields. Please join us for an evening of images, info and discussion. The evening will be moderated by Betsy Lewis, Associate Producer of KERA’s Thinkand Anything You Ever Wanted to Know.

Featured Speakers;

JEAN ANN BYBEE, commercial
SUSAN KAE GRANT, fine art
CHERYL DIAZ MEYER, photojournalism
ALLISON V SMITH, editorial

When: Thursday February 4 (6pm social, 7pm presentation).
Where: The Women's Museum 3800 Parry Avenue Dallas, TX 75226 214.915.0860

Members and non-members are welcome. Admission is free for ASMP members and $10 for non-members. $5 for students.

Zoe Strauss: I-95

courtesy Zoe Strauss

Picture of the Week: Katrina D'Autremont

© Katrina M. d'Autremont

Katrina d'Autremont's series Si Dios Quiere... documents & explores the home of Katrina's mother's childhood in Argentina. Katrina explores the interfamilial relationships and the role the family home plays in the family's rapport.
These images always stun me because they could have been taken yesterday in Italy at my husband's grandmother house.
It is always a pleasure to encounter art that captures universality and an artist who so willingly searches for truth.

You can see Katrina's work in person through March at:

Silver Eye Center for Photography
1015 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Telephone: 412.431.1810
- through March 20, 2010

Congrats to Livia Corona - Guggenheim Fellow!

Livia Corona was just awarded a Guggenheim fellowship! Congratulations!
Stay tuned for more by Livia on this blog coming next week.
In the mean time visit Livia's site: www.liviacorona.com.

Thursday: Lydia Panas @ Foley

© Lydia Panas

Lydia Panas
The Mark of Abel
Foley Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 5th floor
New York, NY 10001
February 4 - March 20, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 4 6-8pm

Yishay Garbasz in the Telegraph

When we finally arrived in Birkenau, we heard shouts, ‘Schnell, schnell, raus, raus!’ (‘Quick, quick, get out, get out!’ again). There was much pushing and shouting. We were made to form two columns. The men were separated from the women. It was now obvious that only families with older children had been sent from Theresienstadt on this transport. I was only 15 years old, and among the youngest.
While we were waiting in line, some inmates in striped pyjamas told us out of the sides of their mouths to give them our jewels as they would be taken from us anyway. Mother took off her wedding ring and dropped it into a hole in the ground, which she dug with the heel of her shoe.
from In My Mother's Footsteps (28) © Yishay Garbasz

"In order to do this, I needed to see firsthand what remained of my mother's memories. My mother left parts of her soul in those places, and I intended to go back to collect them. I could only do this through intimate familiarity with the locations. And as I am a photographer, the camera was going to be my tool to help me see."

The Telegraph UK just published a wonderful essay by Yishay Garbasz about her book, In My Mother's Footsteps (published by Hatje Cantz).

Stayed tuned for a Nymphoto Conversation with Yishay Garbasz later this month.

(editor's note: unfortunately this article is no longer available)