#46-47 May - june 2015

ISSN: 2285-5734

Challenge Creativity

Matt Black
Javier Corso
Andrea Torrei
Sergey Poteryaev

Summary

#46-47 MaY - june 2015

7 | Editorial
8 | Events
Argentik II @ Photo Romania Festival
2015

52 | Watch & Learn

60 | Photo populis

88 | Journey = Photography
Our way up to CUBA

102 | On SPOT
110 | PhoneCam Project
118 | Guy Tal on photography

72 | Project4all

14 | Photo Books
Somalia The Invisible Trace
Sketchbook:

Composition Studies for Film

The Jazz Image:

Masters of Jazz Photography

Photojournalism: 150 Years of

Outstanding Press Photography

20 | Portfolio
Matt Black
Javier Corso
Andrea Torrei

Senior Editor: Cristina int

(cristina.tinta@foto4all.ro)
Editors: Cristian Bassa, Andrei Baciu,
Emilian Chiril, Dorin Bofan
Contributors: Bence Makkai, Guy Tal,
Mirela Momanu - On Spot
Translators: Cristina int, Mirela Momanu,
Loredana Btculescu
Graphic concept: studio seven (www.studioseven.ro)
DTP: Ilie Popa (ilie.popa@gmail.com)
Cover photo: Matt Black
Marketing: Cristina int
Online editor: Ionu Dorneanu
Legal owner: S.C. SALES EXPRESS NETWORK S.R.L.,
VAT no. 28241939
Suporters: ANZI SOFT SRL, Andrei Zincenco
The authors of each article shall be liable for the
content they provide. Any copyright infringement,
whether it is total or partial, shall be punished
according to the applicable law. The property of
each image and article published by our magazine
belongs to the authors and to FOTO4all.ro.
e-mail: publish@foto4all.ro
FOTO4ALL.ro 20122015

Editorial

It takes responsibility...
Why are photographs so compelling? The fact that
many people nowadays take pictures on a weekly
or even daily basis has not served to diminish the
magic either of certain personal snapshots or of the
works that you can find in galleries or photo albums.
However, it made things harder and for the majority
it got tougher to reach the good stuff.
Why? Due to our laziness on first hand but also
because it became harder to select, to distinguish.
The Internet has made photography more available
to us, but it also pushed us towards an uneven visual
culture. Where some know what it is all about, while
the others are confused and circling round and
round. Did we imprisoned ourselves into smaller
groups that miss the bigger picture? Might be the
case...And is this the new challenge? How do we
break out of that and how do we get to grow?
It takes culture...somebody said. But also

responsibility... Because the few who know how to

distinguish and to select should pass further what they
know... Drop by drop, man by man, until the circle gets
big again and we escape the smaller communities and
groups in which alike minded individuals craft visual
work. Because being interested in photography used
to allow one to feel grounded while venturing into
all the aspects of the past and present it has touched
and transformed. And that should not change...And
valuable work should continue to be brought forward.

Cristina int
Editor-in-Chief
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Events

Events

Argentik II @ Photo
Romania Festival 2015
For the second time around Oitzarisme, Allkimik,
Foma Mures, Czech Center and Photo Romania
Festival present you with Argentik II- a film street
photography event. Twenty film photographers
were each given a roll of Foma 100 film, two
weeks time and, as inspiration, the famous Czech
photographer Josef Koudeka - to shoot their best
street shots up to date. Paul Musescu, Ionut
Radulescu, Oliver Merce, Andrei Gindac, Andrei
Szabo, Andrea Wolfer, Sergiu Dobos, Emi Cercel,
Laszlo-Tibor Olah, Andrei Lumpan, Marius Caraliu,
Victor Dia, George Marian Predut, Adrian Mitu,
Mihai Olaru, Dafina Jeaca, Florin Ghebosu, Dragos
Radu Dumitrescu, Vali Barbulescu, Vlad Florut
were the participants in this second edition. Each
participant would have two photos chosen from
the film and analog printed and exhibited. The
exhibition event took place at Photo Romania
Festival 2015. Three winners were chosen and
all participants received the roll of film back,
scans and Josef Koudelka photbook.

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Events

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Events

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Events

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Events

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Photo book

Photo book
Sketchbook: Composition Studies for Film
by Hans P. Bacher

Featuring hundreds of carefully hand-crafted

illustrations by the internationally renowned
production designer Hans Bacher, Sketchbook Composition Studies for Film is a unique journey
through the mind and creative process of one
of the artistic legends in animation film design.
Having shaped such films as The Lion King, Mulan
and Beauty and the Beast to name a few, Hans's
work is a part of the very cultural fabric of our
age. Here the artist puts on display the rarely
discussed first part of image making for film, the
conceptual thumbnail. Exquisitely beautiful in
themselves, these small illustrations represent
the birth of what eventually becomes the iconic
images we experience on the silver screen.

Essential to anyone interested in understanding

the skeletal structure that exists underneath
stunning imagery in all forms of media, this book
is especially relevant today with the dramatic
increase of interest in film and game design.
Although students today have ready access to and
an understanding of technical aspects of the craft
using associated software, the area most lacking in
accessible information is this quintessential first
part of thumb-nailing an image. This unique book
will provide the student and professional with the
fundamentals of conceptualizing images, and how
these can be used in composition in the related
fields of illustration, graphic novels, 2D animation,
3D animation, photography and cinematography.

Photojournalism:
150 Years of
Outstanding Press
Photography
By Reuel Golden

The events of recent years, from 9/11 to

the Japanese earthquake and tsunami
disaster, have once again shown that
photography remains the ideal tool for
capturing human emotion, drama, and
tragedy. Photojournalism presents the
extraordinary history of this indispensable
means of reporting. Starting with some
of the first key figures, such as Roger
Fenton, who photographed the Crimean
War with a bulky large-format camera,
it moves through the decades, from the
Great Depression to space missions, the
dismantling of the Berlin Wall, and the war
in Iraq--all illustrated with stirring images
from the world's greatest photojournalists.

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Photo book

Photo book
Somalia The Invisible Trace
By Pep Bonet

The Jazz Image:

Masters of Jazz
Photography
By Lee Tanner

Somalia: anarchy, abandonment and oblivion are

the best words to define it. Without an effective
government for years, a contemporary feudalism
has reigned, the warlords imposing their way of
life as the only way of measuring time. Surviving
from day to day is the only aim, in a place where the
clan system prevents the common good from being
more valuable than private interests.
Insecurity banishes any chance of planning a future,
of developing and breaking the myth that has
placed Somalia within the realms of the impossible
for many years. Legendary danger and fear has
led to international organisations and foreign aid
keeping away, leaving the country in the hands of
its shortcomings. The lack of infrastructure, health
staff, the dryness and poverty mean it has among
the lowest health standards in the world.

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The great improvisational American

jazz musicians of the mid-20th century
inspired a generation of photographers to
develop a looser, moodier style of visual
expression. That evocative approach is on
striking display in The Jazz Image. Covering
six decades of performers from Louis
Armstrong and Duke Ellington to John
Coltrane and Miles Davisthis unique
collection is as much a comprehensive
catalogue of jazz greats as it is a salute to
the photographers who captured them.
Lee Tanner, a leading authority on jazz
photography, has selected worksby such
noted jazz photographers as Herman
Leonard, Bob Willoughby, Milt Hinton,
and Bill Claxtonthat are iconic, candid,
explosive, and intimate. They provide a
simultaneous look at jazz, photography, and
America from 1935 into the 1990s.

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Portfolio

Matt Black

an interview by Cristian Bassa

C.B.: Tell us a little about Matt Black the photographer:

how did you start taking photos and why? What drove
you to documentary photography?
M.B.: Photography for me has always been
documentary. I started as a newspaper photographer
when I was quite young and thats where I learned
the craft.

C.B.: You are using film a lot. But also digital. Any
preferences or favorites?
M.B.: If film prices hadnt went up, Id still be using film.

C.B.: Are you a technical person? How much do you

value the technical aspect of photography versus its
message?
M.B.: Im not interested in the technical part of
photography. What the pictures say is all I really
care about.

C.B.: In your photos the boundaries between documentary

and artistic photography are blurred. If you agree, it would
be interesting to know why you took this approach?
M.B.: I dont think about it at all. I feel what I
photograph strongly, Im wrapped up in the ideas,
and the pictures are the one voice I have.

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C.B.: How do you achieve the type of aesthetics present

in your photos?
M.B.: Being there.

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C.B.: When looking at your photos the viewer gets a

strange familiar feeling. They feel somehow close to
you, close to your subjects.
M.B.: Well, thats good.
C.B.: In your photos there is also much respect towards
the subject. You feel a certain warmth, there is a close
relation between the photographer and the people and
situations he shoots.
M.B.: I have a hard time photographing people I
dont like, or feel connected to in some way. Maybe
thats it.
C.B.: You tackle themes like migration, farming, poverty.
Do you think photography can make a difference? Do
you think it can save something?
M.B.: I think thats too general. Have my pictures
helped shape how certain places or things are seen
and understood? I think so.
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C.B.: Powerful stories like yours must have lots of

emotional charge. Does it affect you directly? How do
you handle that?
M.B.: Ive been doing this for a while. You are there
for a reason, doing your work. You are not a tourist.
C.B.: What do you experience when you finish a project?
How would you want people to react when you see your
work?
M.B.: I want people to see the work of course, but
the everything else I leave to them.
C.B.: Do you have any landmark photographers? Or
other people that inspire you?
M.B.: People inspire me all the time, but I really
dont think it changes what I do.
C.B.: Any plans for future project? Maybe a photobook?
What is the next project from Matt Black going to show us?
M.B.: Theres always new projects.
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Portfolio

Javier Corso
-an interview by Cristina int

C..: Who is Javier Corso and how did he discover

photography?
J.C.: Corso was born in Barcelona, during my formative
years.I studied photography and photojournalism,also
a master degree in cinematography. In 2011 I started
my professional career as a freelance photographer,
combining some jobs in all photography areas with
my own documentary projects.
I loved painting and drawing eight years ago, but
i understood very quickly the limits of my abilities
with the pencil and brush. The times required to
make a work was also a problem for my. I was young,
foto4all.ro 32

and the patience was not my virtue. I wanted travels

around the world, meet new and different people
who help me to have an other point of view of my
world. And then someone put in my hands the 35
mm. Probably I am part of the last generation who
learned to shoot in film.
C..: What is photography for you?
J.C.: Photography is my tool to understand the world,
to explore myself and other realities. The camera
sometimes looks like a weapon when you try to
report things that are not well, but sometimes is a
shield, even for myself.
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C..: Why fotojournalism and documentary photography?

(and not other types of photography)
J.C.: Why photojournalism and documentary
photography? Humans. The answer is always the
people. Their best and worse faces. Peace and War. My
subjects are people living their own lives, and if i take
pictures about them is because I feel fascinated in one
or other sense. I try to be invisible to portray the life,
however I must involve myself, be part of something, to
finally become invisible when I need to take the photo.

grayscale before starting to shoot, because you are

looking for different things. It is a different dialect
in the same language. And I always need a powerful
reason to work without color. I see the world with
a lot of them, if I decide subtract this part of the
photo is because it helps me to transmit something
in relationship with the emotions of my theme.
Actually I only have one project in BW, and if you
see the pictures you can understand why.

C..: What attracted you towards that?

J.C.: My lack of knowledge of the world. My loneliness.
And the desire to change it. Live other lives through
the lens to be wiser, accumulating experiences
worldwide.

C..: Your favourite project so far? Why? What about

your own favourite image? Tell us a little about it.
J.C.: All of them are important. FISHSHOT is my last
one, and could be my most personal project. My
point of view over a different country, exploring the
problems of the people who I respect and love.

C..: You work both in color and bw. Which suits what
better? Or how do you choose wether to convert the
images or not?
J.C.: The digital camera takes the pictures in colors.
You must take the decision of making a project in

Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one

I'm going to take tomorrow. Imogen Cunningham.
It is a quote, but it's true. If I feel that I already made
my favorite picture, probably will be more difficult
wake up in the morning.

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I can tell you a few words about my last work,

FISHSHOT, a photography and audiovisual
documentary project, which shows the hardest
and least known Finlands reality. A country that
stands for quality of life but at the same time hides
high rates of suicide, homicide and violence. The
excessive consumption of alcohol is present in more
than half of the mentioned cases. A problem rooted
in Finnish society that causes, directly or indirectly, a
huge number of deaths among the population.
A subjective look that is based on the geographical
and social environment surrounding the individual
and the experience gathered in the country: the
emotional isolation, emotional repression and
exaltation of self-sufficiency largely explain the
causes of their problems.
C..: What inspires you?
J.C.: Books, music, paintings, comics, movies, the
thing I really know and the unknown. Women.
Also photography, but less Why? Because if I only
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search my inspiration in pictures my work will be

an emulation of the really good job of the other
photographers.
C..: What about who inspires you? Any role-models or
favourite photographers?
J.C.: Robert Capa. He inspired me in many senses,
and for me his photographs are only a part of him.
He represents the power of the desire to change
and reinvent, be better, give more. Also a personal
ethic code. Probably when he said "if your pictures
aren't good enough you're not close enough", he
was talking about people and situations, not the
subject itself.
C..: What do you think is or should be the role of
photojournalism today?
J.C.: The antidote to cure the entertainment without
content around us. I can't change the world with
pictures, but I can try to understand more about it
to take decisions.
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C..: In photojournalism, at times, you may encounter

very difficult or even painfull to see situations. What
do you think is the secret for these photographers to
preserve their inner equilibrium? Not all manage to do
that...but most if them do. What is your opinion?
J.C.: Determination. You need to be aware all the
time of what are you doing there and why you are
there. Without resolution you will go down your
camera. Sometimes I do, but I need to understand
why to continue taking pictures.
C..: Any advice for emerging photographers that are
pasionate about photojpurnalism and documentary
photography? I know you are still at the beginning of
the road yourself, but you already won a few prizes and
participated in several exhibitions, festivals etc.? How
did you get there?
J.C.: Constancy and perseverance. The world is full
of fleeting talents. Make a good pre production,
be close and take your pictures as well as you can.
Move your work, believe in yourself and listen the
others, but take care, not all the opinions have the
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same weight. Be critic but constructive.

C..: Any regrets related to photography?
J.C.: Made me more undecided. I am this kind
of photographer who needs to choose between
shooting or enjoying the view. I am not interested
in immortality. If I take pictures is to communicate
something. So, when i am not working you will
rarely see me with a camera. However, I take some
pictures in film for my own archive: friends, road
trips, women... But definitely the photography gives
me more, so this is not a regret.
C..: What about future plans?
J.C.: I will publish my first photobook in a few
months. I will have one year of move with a
travelling exhibition, and now I am preparing two
new projects in South-America and Africa.
You can learn more about Javier Corso here: http://
www.javiercorso.com/
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Andrea Torrei
an interview by Cristina int

We discovered Andrea on Facebook and later on we

met her in Rome. She walked us a long on the streets
and it was a good way of understanding who she was
and what she does. Therefore, I thought of having
this interview as well...a talk about discovering
photography and not being able to let it go.
C..: How did you discover photography? Tell us your
story.
A.T.: My encounter with photography is quite recent
and since then I experience my life on a new
level. Photography makes me more aware of my
surroundings and, above all, of myself.
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I have always been fascinated by it, by its capacity

to evoke and/or interpret the world around us.
C..: Why the preference for street photography? What
do you like most about it?
A.T.: Street photography has taken hold of me. I see
people and things in a very different light.
I find myself looking for slices of daily life and to
portray people in their everyday contact with the
street and trying, for example, to catch an emotion,
an expression or join them to a particular happening
to tell a story.
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C..: How would you define street photography?

A.T.: How to define street photography is still an
open question to me. Also there is an open and
heated debate on what street photography is. Some
pictures are what is in essence a documentary
report, others capture brilliant evocative moments
left to the imagination of the viewers. Still others
capture a mood rather than the actual image.
C..: Color or black and white? Or whatever works best
in different circumstances?
A.T.: I would say both, according to circumstances
C..: Does black and white often reduce things to their
essence? What do you think?
A.T.: Quite a few mantain that BW concentrates on
essence and imagination, but I am not that sure
about that. Many photographs are suggestive and
magical thanks to the colors. The choice is very
subjective
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C..: Are you rather intuitive or cerebral when shooting?

A.T.: With people my approch is very instinctive,
intuitive. In other situations I lay out a scenario and
wait for events to unfold.
C..: What is a good photograph?
A.T.: To my view a good photograph is a whole of
different elements. It depends much on the visual
perception and photographic culture one has. I love
very much multilayered images that like a tale,
guide you into the picture gradually revailing its
point. But also minimal photos are intriguing.
C..: How would your life be without photography?
A.T.: I always carry along my camera. One never can
tell what may appear before you. I cant imagine life
without photography now.
C..: How is the photographic scene in Italy? Are there
communities and events happening? What about the
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public, are they interested in photography?

A.T.: Italy has a long and strong tradition in
photography with great Masters appreciated
throughout the world. There is a diffused interest for
photography in the way of exibitions, associations,
schools and several contests.
C..: 10 Favourite places to photograph in Rome? What
abou the world you've seen so far?
A.T.: I have no favorite places in my city Rome. If I
point to people it could be anywhere, a gas station
or a marketplace.
Recently I have visited Cuba and been in New York
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City, two magical places for photographyor so they

say. But, I am convinced that is not necessary to
travel far. Great photos can be made even on your
own door step.
C..: Future plans related to photography?
A.T.: Yes, a very challenging plan: discovering my
city!
C..: And last but not least...a few words for those
pasionate about photography and street photography.
A.T.: It takes a lot of patience and determination.
Reading a lot is important as it is looking at the
pictures of other authors and shoot! Shoot a lot!
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Watch & Learn

Watch & Learn

Bill Jay
photo by
Burk Uzzle

Confessions of a gallery hater

by Bill Jay

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There's something basically wrong with art

exhibitions. To be more specific, art exhibitions of the
type which have become commonplace today always
leave me feeling dissatisfied, as though the effort
of taking a shower, traveling to the gallery, making
small talk with the other guests, is never compensated
by the experience of seeing the images. For me, art
exhibitions are a draining, deenergizing experience.
Yet the best of art is always energizing. "Art", as
Ozenfant says, "tends to elevate us." [His emphasis]

So there is a discrepancy here between the art

itself and the exhibition experience. The only
logical solution to the problem as I see it is that the
environment and the atmosphere surrounding the art
tends to dull its significance and drain its power. It is
possible that I have become jaded over the years, and
am suffering from ennui, a boredom with images, and
that the surfeit of pictures in my past has produced
an art-dyspepsia. I do not think this is true. I can still
be immeasurably moved, excited, energized, angered
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Watch & Learn

and emotionally and intellectually charged by images

in almost any other context than hanging in pristine
splendor in a spartan gallery setting. I do not find the
usual gallery ambiance very conducive to a personal
relationship with a picture.
One reason for this state of affairs is that most
modern shows are hung for commercial reasons to sell pictures off the wall. I have nothing against
this idea per se and it would be foolishly naive not
to recognize the business of art. But I must admit
that I feel (am encouraged to feel?) slightly guilty
about the fact that I am there to (merely) enjoy
the works and not buy any of them. Inevitably my
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appreciation of the images suffers unfairly because

I am constantly reminded by the environment that
these are commercial objects, and that although
browsing is tolerated it is not wholly welcome.
I confess, also, to a feeling of intimidation in the average
gallery. The environment reeks of wealth, privilege and
preciousness. I am well aware of the efforts on the
part of caring directors to obviate this anxiety in the
gallery-goer, but the fact remains that galleries are
inevitably associated with a small and favored class
of society, one in which I suspect I do not belong. So
I tiptoe around the hushed, empty space, staring with
isolated reverence at perhaps a print, surrounded by
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acres of whitewash or fancy wall covering, as if in the

presence of some sacred icon of Art. Anything the work
itself might be saying to me is drowned out by the fear
and guilt of being in the place at all.
I bet it was a lot more fun to visit exhibitions 100
years ago. Then, pictures were individually and often
eccentrically framed, butted together from floor
to ceiling, and competed for attention with floral
wallpaper, gas fittings and furniture. What a mess but also what an adventure to find the memorable
images! Of course the idea was usually taken to
excess. I love the announcement of an exhibition
of photographs held at the Royal Horticultural Hall,
London, in 1907. 50,000 prints were on display for
only three days. That would mean looking at just
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Watch & Learn

over 16,666 prints per day; a viewing of over 2,000

prints per hour, assuming an eight-hour day. Or
approximately half-asecond for each photograph, and
moving on to the next. I, for one, would welcome now
and again the excitement, and even the mistakes, of a
wall-packed, diverse and chaotic excess of pictures, in
a multitude of styles and presentations and subjects
- especially if the exhibition was held away from the
gallery in a horticultural hall.

Over the years there have been many isolated

experiments in alternative venues - in buses,
projected onto the outside walls of buildings at night,
on freestanding screens in shopping malls, propped
against steps, trees and benches in public spaces,
pinned to trees in parks, and a host of other creative
spaces. When young photographers complain about
the lack of gallery opportunities, my first reaction is
that they lack the imagination to find alternatives.

Perhaps this example is exaggerating towards the

absurd. But the point of the story is sincere and it
is this. The assumption that a small number of art
pieces, isolated in wall space and with a presentation
of rarified refinement is the only method of properly
presenting art is equally absurd.

Even establishment galleries can sometimes (but

not often enough) expand their audience, and please
me at the same time, by taking art into different
environments. I fondly remember, for example, an
exhibition arranged by the Eaton/Shoen Gallery. It
wanted to celebrate the anniversary of its opening

with a special exhibition featuring a large selection

of works from its first eight shows. The exhibition
was held in Frank Lloyd Wright's 1957 desert home
(known as the H. C. Price "grandmother" House) in
Scottsdale, Arizona, although the gallery is based in
San Francisco.
The art objects were hung on the walls, as if they
belonged in the home, and sculpture was placed in
the central atrium and in the surrounding desert.
In the house, and unlike in a gallery, the art and
all the accoutrements of a home came to a mutual
understanding. The art did not proclaim itself like
a prostitute in a hotel lobby, as it would have done
in a sales place, but allowed the visitor to search
out new friends in an atmosphere of relaxation and
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generosity. A Nassos Daphnis piece of plywood and

paint was like an exotic plant of the future, placed by
the atrium fountain - and perhaps it is no coincidence
that Daphnis is also a distinguished horticulturist.
A nice touch: an easy chair faced the Daphnis piece
and looked out the garden to the pool. Similarly a
large photomural by Keith Smith and Philip Lange
was a folding screen which shielded the corridor to
the bathroom. On a bookshelf nearby, what else, but
artist-made books and "Gathering Dust" by Donald
Lipski. The garden gazebo was in fact a cast aluminum,
steel, wire and acrylic sculpture by Clarice Dreyer. And
so it continued, each work of art complementing the
environment, appearing naturally and inevitably a
part of the home. They belonged.
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A good example of this art/life synthesis was the set

of photographs by Bernard Plossu. Not only do his
images invite intimacy by the deceptive simplicity of
his seeing, but their regular display down a corridor
of the home gave the impression that the owner
had proudly placed his own momentos of faces and
places on the ideal wall.
There was a similar inevitability about all the art
works in the house. Because the art belonged there,
so did the visitor. It was more than an impressive
exhibition; it was an enjoyable, invigorating
experience. And that, for me, is a rare enough event
to be celebrated in these words.

Photo populis

shoot publish
in your world

in ours

We are publishing your photos. We are eager to

publish what you photograph. If you want to see your
own photos inside our magazine, you can either send
them to this section or to Under the magnifying
glass column. One other way of having your images
published is to participate in the thematic photo

Goodtoknow
My portraits are more about me than they
are about the people I photograph.
(Richard Avedon)

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contest or challenge we put up every month.The idea

is simple: keep sending your photographs to us at
publish@foto4all.ro.
Every month we will select and publish 5 images in
color and 5 in black and white.

The photographs you send should

meet the following specifications:
JPEG file, 1600px on their long side,
150 dpi, no frame attached. They
can be in color, black and white,
edited or not, its up to you. Please
send them without watermark.

Together with your images (not

more than 3) please add to the
email: your name, your age, some
details about the camera you are
using and a few words or a title
for your photographs.

There is no special theme. We are

looking for photographs that tell
stories.

Only your talent counts.

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Photo populis

Photo populis

Ctlin Caciuc

Szabo Andrei

Photography is not selfish. Although it captures the moment,

it doesnt keep it. Photography gives back to the viewer the
fraction of time which it once captured. Making it generous
for years and even generations to come.
- Mickey Burrow

Black & White

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Ctlin Caciuc
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Photo populis

Photo populis

Black & White

Cristina int

Gina Buliga

The eye should learn to listen before it looks.

- Robert Frank

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Photo populis

Photo populis
A photograph is a moral decision taken in one eighth of a second.
- Salman Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet

Anghel Florin Alexandru

Color
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Marilena Ditrik

Gina Buliga

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Photo populis

Photo populis

Florin Ghebosu

Florin Ghebosu

YOU ca
pture

h
s
i
l
b
u
p
e
W
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Taking a photograph is a lot like falling in love. You see a light and it
intrigues you; and you want to see or be in that light forever.
- Mickey Burrow

Color

Send yor work at:

publish@foto4all.ro
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Project4all

Project4all

Staraya Utka
by Sergey Poteryaev
Staraya Utka (in Russian it sounds like an old duck) is a village in Sverdlovsk region of the
Urals. It sprang to life and prospered after a factory was built in the firth of River Utka in
1729. But at some point the administration lost concern in the development of the factory,
and the productivity fell. This Factory Staro-Utkinsky Metallurgical Factory was feeding
the growth of the village, so when its productivity fell, the life of the village started to wither.
Unfortunately, that is the typical faith of many Ural villages. While travelling in Urals you
come across the same landscape time and time again a dam, reservoir and factory, with
residential buildings around. In most cases the factories are no longer working, so the fate
of the villages is clear decay. In more fortunate places some work is provided by timber
plants, that appear in place of closed deteriorated factories. For this project I used my own
photographs together with the ones I found in the archives of the residents. I was using
montage to understand whether there is anything similar in the life of people of Staraya
Utka then and now, and what changes did the factory closure bring to the life of residents.
Leran more about Sergey Poteryaev here: http://cargocollective.com/sergeypoteryaev
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Project4all

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Project4all

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Project4all

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Project4all

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Project4all

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Journey = Photography

Journey = Photography

Our way up to CUBA

By Gina Buliga & Bogdan Comnescu

Cuba is not an experience to describe in words...

Therefore we will write less and let you enjoy the
images... Everything is so visualy strong there and
no matter the metaphors that we use, they will never
be enough. From the sublime light of the Havana
mornings, to the expressions and gestures of people,
the colors, the old cars and that life vibration, making
you feel alive... Cuba has an organized chaos, an
armony that we've never encountered before.
Our photos are rather street & documentary, but
the stories within out heart are so much more. We
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managed to comunicate with the locals beyond the

words...We found a lot of symbolism in Cuba, many
stories about wonderful people, kids playing in the
street, the cars of the 50s, a lot of ease..people are
joking, talking to you..dancing in the streets, inviting
you into their world, allowing you to get a glimpse
of what it means to feel and be alive.
We hope to return soon and meanwhile, keep your
eyes on us and Nikon Romania, as we are preparing a
little surprise related to the Cuba project. Until then,
enjoy the images that follow.
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OnSpot

OnSpot

Be On SPOT
Our story:
On SPOT was born from a simple idea: we wanted to
have a team and to go in the streets to photograph
and to have a good time together. We are friends who
share the same passion and try to learn from each
other, to develop together and most of all, to have
great time doing it!
The group was created by Mirela Momanu and
Fred Fogherty, after the Street Portraits Workshop
which was held during Bucharest Photo Week, a
workshop with more than 30 participants and over
100 images. Take a look here.(https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=6PbkobqUSLU)
The best of the photos were awarded and presented
during the exhibition at Casa Universitarilor in
Bucharest, at the end of the event.( https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=43iJq3FmnwA).
Once the group was established, the best way to
share the work was to create a Facebook page as
well, where to announce the events in time, to post
and share the photos taken from the photowalks, to
see and comment them, with the desire to become
better at it. Now the group has over 200 members,
not only from Bucharest, but also from other cities
in the country and from other countries as well.
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/ONSPOTGROUP/)
The streets are calling us, not only from Bucharest
but from other cities as well. A train ride to Brasov
was a great opportunity to know each other and to
discuss different topics, while doing also photos of
train passengers on our way to Brasov! We must reveal
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that our photowalks always have some surprises,

from challenges to team missions J So, the result is
not only having good photos, but also learning and
inspiring each other!

join to participate with captures on a certain theme),

and last but not least, they select best images posted
by the members for the On SPOT Gallery.
The On SPOT Gallery presents the most special
images taken during photowalks and challenges, and
is the base for the next photographic exhibitions
and e-books, articles and promotion of the group
members. (https://www.facebook.com/onspotgallery)
As future plans, the group has in mind some editing
sessions and software presentations, as well as more
photowalks and meetings with photographers from

other Romanian cities ( Sibiu, Constanta, Iasi, Timisoara

etc) or even European (Rome, Lisbon, Berlin, London,
Venice etc). In April 2015, On SPOT is already inviting
you to see the selection of its best photos made by
the members, during an exhibition which will unite
over 100 photos and will be organized in Bucharest.
You are welcome to join On SPOT and to follow us,
and starting from now and in the future issues of
FOTO4all magazine, you will find in this column
images made by our members.
Enjoy & Be On SPOT !

If we had fun on our trip, you can see for yourself!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN62gC1lQPU)
During our photowalks all photographers in any
level are welcome: beginners, amateurs, experienced
and professional, we all have the same passion and
desire to spot the world and to capture it. Freeze the
moment or play with it, a photo as they say, is worth
more than 1000 words!
That is why we initiated a more remote photowalk, on
the streets of Istanbul, in November 2014! There we met
Silvio Naf and Elif Suyabatmaz, wonderful people and
photographers who joined us to discover more of this
life and of the people in the streets of that amazing city.
As a proof that the passion for photography unites
people from all over the world, Silvio accepted
our invitation to discover the streets of Bucharest,
together with Romanian members of On SPOT,
in January 2015, for a whole week. Not even the
temperature of -17 degrees during day time dared
to stop our adventure on the streets Bucharest!
For now, On SPOT group has a team of 5 administrators
(Mirela Momanu, Loredana Bitculescu, Adrian Mitu,
Cristina int and Dana Corina Popescu), which initiate
and follow the photowalks events, inside and outside
the country, moderate the critique day (when any
member can post images to get ideas and feedback),
create the weekly challenges (where any member can

Antonio Ojeda
Amrita- Photo made in Carmona, Sevilla, Spain, june 2014
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OnSpot

Andrea Torrei
A smooth walking in the sunset glimmer of Trastevere, in Rome.

Laureniu Srbu

Mirela Momanu
Image taken during an afternoon On SPOT photowalk, while the shadows in
the sunset make their own stories. In a split of second, my eyes were attracted
by the juxtaposition of a couple shadows, completed by a young lady sitting
alone. The scenario was ready, just the simple gesture of pressing the shutter
made this scene captured forever.
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I was really lucky here, as I remember I had four, five frames left and
I started shooting some silly stuff just to finish the film when this
interesting lady with her nice ribbon stopped near me at a headlight.
First two frames were total waist, as almost everyone was busy checking
their phones and then only for a split second before the light turned
green did the guy in the foreground grab his girlfriend from her phone
and lady in the foreground looked away from the phone in her hand.
Not a perfect frame, a little unbalanced to the left I think, but some
nice emotions from their gestures together with her details, earring and
ribbon, make it work for me.

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OnSpot

OnSpot

Silvio Naf
I saw the woman from passing tram out. At the next station I got out
and ran back. When I brought me position she was very surprised and
did not know how to react. I thanked her and wished her a nice day.
Rome, Via del Corso

Dana Corina Popescu

During the last OnSpot photowalk in Rome I was at MACRO - Romes
Museum of Contemporary Art. This building, a true architectural landscape
designed by Odile Decq is very photogenic and I spent a few hours there.
I was fascinated by the explosive red volume of the auditorium, in a
large, open foyer, which receives the blue natural light through the
glass ceiling in harmony with the interior yellow light. I liked how these
primary colors are combined and I waited for someone to pass and to
give life to my picture. And this is the result.

Cem Bayir
This picture was taken in a street of the Langstrasse neighbourhood in Zurich.
It is the first of May. The atmosphere is highly charged. The police are on
standby. It is the calm before the storm. Three masked persons cause confusion.
Smoke-bombs set off in protest cover the streets in green, red and yellow
colours. For the police this is a declaration of war. They intervene.
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OnSpot
Adrian Mitu

Rui Lacerda

Exploration is experiencing
what you have not experienced
before, and the street offers a
natural, always changing, scene
and characters. . .and a good,
comfortable, red pair of shoes,
maybe a skateboard.

Somewhere in Havana in 2009,

a subtle moment that chance
has given us, a witnesss memory
of a feeling we do not know.
An intuitive time to store in
memory, rather than a record, an
interrogative!

Loredana Btculescu

Andrei Szabo

Now this was a really lucky shoot! I was in Rome, Italy with On Spot
and it was our first day. I was excited to be there, I was fascinated by
architecture, people were incredible beautiful and streets were full of life.
We found a tunnel, I entered it and I went a little far away because I saw
a person approaching and I wanted to try my luck. And man, I got lucky!
The man was on the opposite sidewalk and he had a perfect walk. And
I mean PERFECT! Arms, legs, head straight up, chest in front, everything
about him was just great. I asked a lot of people to walk for me, to take
a shot I had in my mind and none of them had managed to have that
perfect walk! He was walking towards the light, with his perfect walk,
with his head up high, I just clicked, he did the rest!

When viewing or shooting street photography Im trying to elevate my

mind and my soul through watching and enjoying the city. I am learning
to love a city that sometimes disappointed me.. For this particular shot I
used my basic setup, a rangefinder with a 40mm lens with an Ilford film.
It was an evening photowalk so I decided to push my film by 2 stops up
to 1600ASA. Yes I like to shoot fast film.. At one point I just saw the lady
turning her head in her rush so I decided to wait for another character
to fill the story of my frame. While staring at her, trying to find her eyes,
I shot 2 frames but I was not happy so I waited for 1 more frame that
came the next minute. In one word, Im just trying to see what the city
hides from me.
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PhoneCam project

PhoneCam Project

PhoneCam Project
The PhoneCam Project Group is a community that believes that art is
not expensive technology and expensive technology is not art.
Visual arts, and most of all Photography is not about the gear you buy,
its about the image you see and the message you send.
Although the intrinsic message needs no tools to be understood, if you
want to draw, you need at least a pencil and a sheet of paper. Its the
same with Photography. You need at least a camera. Any kind of camera.
Techniques and technology, especially in photography is often mixed up
with arts, and this is why art photography lost in value in digital era.
The most common confusion is: expensive gear = great art.
The PhoneCam Project aims to eliminate this distorted perception about
photograpyh, with a very challenging and very large scaled project: we
can create art even with a 2mpx phone camera.
If you are into arts, if you have a message to share and if you think that the
tool is not an impediment in creating images and messages, feel free to post
here (http://www.facebook.com/groups/ThePhoneCamProject/) your works.
We have only two limitations: phone cameras only and no Instagram, please.

Lepedus-Sisko Pter

Bence Makkai
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Cristina Georgescu

PhoneCam Project

Mihai Ursea

Albert Adrian Vrbiu

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PhoneCam Project

Laura Pnksti

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Szcs Tams

Szabo Andrei

Szcs Tams

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Szcs Tams

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Guy Tal on photography

Guy Tal on photography

The Patina of
Digitality
Technology is the knack of so arranging the
world that we do not experience it.
Rollo May

Speaking about the role of the artist in conservation,

Ansel Adams proclaimed, The curse of all art is
the patina of sentimentality. Perhaps a curious
observation from one who devoted much of his
life and work to promote conservation under a
creed borrowed from Alfred Stieglitz, which is the
affirmation of life. And the case can also be made
that Adams put the curse to very effective use in
advocating for the environment. Today, we face a
similar curse of perception whose effect is somewhat
less obvious: the prejudices and misconceptions
associated with the use of digital technology.
Most photographic work today is both created and
showcased electronically and in greater abundance
than previously possible, raising new challenges
for photographic artists. Among these are some
obvious shortfalls of the digital medium, such as
having limited control over the appearance of the
work on monitors of varying sizes and qualities. In
addition, the sheer number of images posted online
inevitably means that viewers are rarely afforded
(or motivated to take) the time to study the finer
nuances of photographs, and generally peruse them
for seconds at a time, lending advantage to images
that are high in visual impact, to the detriment of
more subtle or sophisticated works.
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Some challenges in the digital age, however, are less

obvious. In an experiment conducted a few years
ago, subjects in their twenties (a generation having
no inherent discomfort with digital technology)
were shown a series of abstract images. Some were
labeled as gallery images and some as computer

We face a similar curse of perception whose

effect is somewhat less obvious: the prejudices
and misconceptions associated with the use of
digital technology.

images. According to the studys authors, statistical

analysis revealed that the stimuli were rated as
being significantly more aesthetically pleasing when
labelled as gallery than when labelled as computer,
indicating an innate bias toward placing higher value
on traditional contexts for art.
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Guy Tal on photography

Another advantage to traditional venues for art comes

from the fact that the experience is multisensory
and multidimensional, whereas the digital viewing
experience generally is entirely visual, lacking the
tactile sensations of a printed image; the scents of
paper and ink; the sounds of turning pages or the
hushed voices of visitors in museums or galleries.
A study conducted in 2014 found that, Memories
for objects originally encountered in a multisensory
context can be more robust than those for objects
encountered in an exclusively visual or auditory
context, meaning that images encountered online
may be less memorable than those studied as prints
or in other material contexts.
Today we consider digital imaging mostly as a
technological revolution, but more careful study may
suggest that, despite greater ease and control offered
by digital tools, the experience of viewing images
may in fact be somewhat diminished when compared
with traditional contexts for viewing art. It may be
that the revolution will not truly be complete until
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a change in perception also occurs over time a

change in the way viewers intuitively assign value
and importance to digital images and select those
works worthy of committing to memory.

About the Author

Guy Tal is a published author and photographic artist. He
resides in a remote part of Utah, in a high desert region
known as the Colorado Plateau a place that inspired
him deeply for much of his life and that continues to
feature in his images and writing. In his photographic
work, Guy seeks to articulate a reverence for the wild.
He writes about, and teaches, the values of living a
creative life and finding fulfillment through ones art.
www.guytal.com