Rangefinder Cameras: A History & Introduction (Part 2)

IPA Craft & Tools 4 Comments

The M mount In 1954, Leica launched the M3 rangefinder camera, which featured a new bayonet lens mount, a high magnification viewfinder, as well as an improved film transport. This was the beginning of the M System we know today. The Leica IIIg, which was launched in 1957, was the last thread mount camera that Leica offered. However, it is important to note that the new M mount did not spell an end to the now ubiquitous Leica Thread Mount (LTM) lenses. Instead of being an obsolete system, LTM lenses can be mounted on M mount cameras via thread to …

Rangefinder Cameras.

Rangefinder Cameras: A History & Introduction (Part 1)

IPA Craft & Tools 11 Comments

Guest Post by Benny Ng. In the beginning.. In the early 1900s, there was a man with a vision for portable photography. His name was Oskar Barnack, and in 1914, he created the Ur-Leica, forefather of the 35mm film format that we know today. This camera was also the cornerstone of the evolution of the rangefinder system of photography. In the early days of rangefinder photography, there were several manufacturers and quite a few differing formats of lens to camera interface as each sought to develop their own proprietary mount. Many of the early lens mounts were not coupled as …

Sebastiao Salgado on the Decisive Moment.

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A beautiful description of Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment” by Sebastiao Salgado. “His operating philosophy, this integration with the subject, is different from Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment”, a theory that the photographer must catch the instant when the elements present reach a balance. Salgado, borrowing from geometry, describes the ambiance of a scene as a crescendo of moments, a rising curve. The critical moment for Cartier-Bresson, Salgado says, would be when the curve reaches its peak and begins to fall. Salgado wants to live within the curve, experiencing all of it with the subject.” Source: New York Times

Invisible Interview: Li Wei

IPA Invisible Interviews, PROJECTS 8 Comments

Li Wei, was born in Inner Mongolia, but now works as a freelance documentary photographer in Beijing. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions in China and internationally. “The Earth” and his photographs of post-quake Wen Chuan, both captured on 6×7 photographs, are wonderful dream-like dedications from a son to his beloved motherland. In this Invisible Interview, Li Wei tells us more about himself, his photography and his inspiration.

Kashmir Living, by Zishaan Akbar Latif

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My account of Kashmir is not conflict driven but irony driven. What I read is not what I almost saw or experienced. What I experienced was far more impactful than the misconstrued and misleading bits of news I got to read or see in the ‘safer’ parts of India. What I experienced hands-on was important to understand the ground realities of a land torn between 2 egoistic countries calling this magnificent stretch of land an “integral” part of ones country without really providing its people the elementary necessities of choice and a voice to express their need for an education, …

Invisible Interview: Hin Chua, After The Fall

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Malaysian-born Hin Chua once wrote code as a computer science graduate. He now writes with light, creating surreal and beautiful documentary, or fine art as he prefers, photographs.

Invisible Interview: Ying Tang

IPA Invisible Interviews, Street Photography 22 Comments

Shanghai-based Ying Tang works as a magazine photographer by day, and moonlights as a charismatic street photographer by night. Her work has been featured in the British Journal Of Photography and numerous other publications, and her Sakura Love Flickr page is a favourite amongst many adoring fans. In this exclusive Invisible Interview, she shares some insight into her beautiful work and what inspires them. To accompany the interview, Ying Tang has also compiled an exclusive essay of her choice photographs. Invisible Photographer Asia: Your street photography in Shanghai is one of the best and most unique we’ve seen, what inspires them? …

Invisible Interview: Jonathan van Smit

IPA Invisible Interviews 21 Comments

Some of you asked for it – here it is. An exclusive interview with Jonathan van Smit also known as K_iwi. Referred by some as fearless, Jonathan hails from New Zealand, and is a Gweilo (as he proudly carries the label) street photographer in Hong Kong. His photographs are a stream of stark, grungy, noir-ish beauty. To accompany the interview, Jonathan has also compiled an exclusive essay of his choice photographs. Invisible Photographer Asia: Firstly, what’s a Gweilo Street Photographer doing in Hong Kong? Jonathan: I came here in early 2008, moving from New Zealand where I lived next to …

Invisible Interview: Tamara Voninski

IPA Invisible Interviews, PROJECTS 19 Comments

Tamara Voninski is a founding member of Oculi, a collective of award-winning documentary photographers in Australia founded in 2000. Numerous of her photography projects have garnered recognition from the Leica/CCP Documentary Photography Award over the years. Her photographs of Polynesia and Shanghai are sensitive and quirky, reflecting a wandering soul, and a curious eye behind the lens that captured them. Invisible Photographer Asia: Love your documentary photography, can you tell us more – What inspires them? Tamara Voninski: Inspiration to wander and raise the camera is like receiving moments of divine magic which unfold in front of the camera.  My personal …

BJP's International Photography Award 2010

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BJP’s International Photography Award has no theme. Photographs can be captured in any format, and in any style or genre. Anyone can enter, from the UK or abroad. All we ask is for fantastic images in two categories – a coherent body of work and a stunning single image. Submission deadline is 2pm, 10 September 2010. More information: BJP’s International Photography Award 2010

The Impossible Collection

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The Impossible Collection is a new archive of contemporary Instant Photography artworks initiated by The Impossible Project to coincide with their revival of PX100 instant film for Polaroid cameras. Inspired by Edwin Land, the inventor of Instant Photography, and his own archival project, the Impossible archive will serve as a permanent collection of instant photography submitted by artists around the world. View the first few images in The Impossible Collection.

PhotoPhilanthropy Activist Awards

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Photo essays documenting non-profit organizations and their work form the basis of this annual photo competition, awarded by PhotoPhilanthropy, an organization that aims to connect photographers with non-profit organizations around the world. Competition categories include Professional, Amateur, Student, and Community-based. Prizes range from $2,000 to $15,000. All photo essays accepted into the competition will be posted on www.photophilanthropy.org. Submission period is from May 1, 2010 until October 1, 2010. Read More: PhotoPhilanthropy Activist Awards