Caracas Day 4: People Are People

Posted on March 15th, 2013

Today we finally met our students and looked at their personal work to get a sense of their abilities as photographers. I have to say I haven’t seen such a group of talented photographers in ages. Every one of them had fascinating work. The work ranged from portraiture to documentary to landscape to autobiography to travel to reportage. It was so amazing to see such strong work and meet such motivated students. Janette and I were excited to begin our…

Tagged: caracas, janette beckman, los dos caminos, photography, stella kramer, stellazine

Caracas Day 3: We Go To Petare And Find Tuki

Posted on March 11th, 2013

Tuki music is electronic music that grew out of the barrios of South America. In the same way that “punk” was a slur, so is “tuki.” The dancer we saw on YouTube, Elberth “El Maestro”, seems to be a pretty well-known dancer. Tall and skinny, with rainbow kicks, his body is like a rubberband-malleable and bendable in extraordinary ways. We watched in awe as he and the other dancers in the crew showed their stuff. All around the yard were stenciled images of Chavez: as a b-boy, dunking a basketball, ever present and being whatever people wanted him to be.

Tagged: caracas, chavez, elberth, janette beckman, petare, photography, stella kramer, stellazine, tuki

Hugo Chavez is Dead: Journeys in Caracas

Posted on March 6th, 2013

I returned from Caracas on Monday, and yesterday’s announcement of the death of Hugo Chavez was not unexpected. Just before we left last week, there was a close-up photo released of a smiling, rosy-cheeked Chavez and his daughters. It was the first public photo and mention of Chavez in more than two months. And since the last photo I remember seeing of him had him bloated and hairless from chemo, I wondered when the photo had actually been taken.

Tagged: caracas, Hotel Humboldt, Hugo Chavez, janette beckman, photography, Roberto Mata Taller de Fotographia, venezuela

Teaching & Lecturing in Caracas at the Roberto Mata Taller de Fotografia

Posted on February 24th, 2013

I’m heading down to Caracas, Venezuela to lecture and teach for a week with the incredible Janette Beckman. Having never been there before I’m really excited, and have heard great things about the Roberto Mata Taller de Fotografia, and the students there. Stay tuned to this space for more blogging as I hope to tell you all about it, and show the work of our students.

Tagged: caracas, janette beckman, photography, roberto mata taller de fotografia, stella kramer, stellazine, venezuela

The Things They Bring to Battle

Posted on January 31st, 2013

“Working on a personal project is good break from reality, it’s a way of stepping back and taking a deep breath; it’s refreshing, it gives you the time to realize that War itself is just a frame to everything happening around.”

Tagged: afghanistan, aleppo, conflict photography, free syrian army, haiti, libya, photography, sebastiano tomada piccolomini, syria, the new republic

Bill Eppridge: “If It Moves, I’ll Shoot It”

Posted on January 24th, 2013

Bill Eppridge Robert Kennedy Assassination

Bill Eppridge is one of the giants of photography. I can’t emphasize this enough: Bill Eppridge didn’t just photograph history, he made history (more on that later). As a LIFE photographer, in the days when photo essays would run for pages and there might be 20 or more photos, he was able to examine the world through his photographs. It’s a shame that this no longer exists.

Tagged: bill eppridge, life magazine, photography, robert kennedy

National Geographic: The Past And Future Present

Posted on January 17th, 2013

Eclipse of the Sun by the Earth, 1930s Charles Bittinger / National Geographic Society / Steven Kasher Gallery What a great way to start the New Year, with the National Geographic show, “The Past and Future Present” at Steven Kasher. Mixing vintage illustration with photography, we glimpse the beginning of the world, both real and imagined. From the bottom of the ocean to planets far away, we see things that no longer exist. What was once the ultimate source for…

Tagged: charles bittinger, jacques cousteau, jacques ertaud, national geographic, photography, steven kasher gallery, vittorio sella

My 2012 Shout-Out

Posted on December 28th, 2012

So 2012 is finally drawing to a close, and I for one am not sorry it’s ending. In fact, good riddance! I always have ambivalent thoughts about the beginning of the New Year, but I do want to thank the people who made 2012 for me.

Tagged: aaron graubart, allegra wilde, andy lerner, angela cappetta, ashley gilbertson, axel kessler, barbara bordnick, beth chucker, bob stevens, calli macaw, chris buck, chris fitzgerald, christian kozowyk, daile kaplan, david bram, debbie zimelman, doug menuez, douglas ljunkvist, fadi asmar, fatima nejame, frank edie, gaia danieli, giovanni savino, graham jepson, heather brown, helen jones-florio, henry jacobson, Isa Leshko, isadora kosofsky, janette beckman, jasmes balog, jason florio, jason o'neal, jay trinidad, jeff jacobson, jennifer mcclure, jessie diamond, jocelyn baun, john edwin mason, joseph seif, julie grahame, julien mcroberts, kat kojic, katie baum, katrin eisman, leah nash, louie palu, lynn ursic, mackenzie edie, maiana becker pineda, mariana corporan, marko metzinger, maryann camilleri, matt slaby, micah diamond, michael shaw, mike hartley, mimi ko, noah fecks, paula tognarelli, photography, rita nannini, robert herman, roberto mata, rolando diaz, sam edie, sara terry, sarah fretwell, sari goodfriend, sean corcoran, sebasitano tomada picolomini, stella kramer, stellazine, steve giralt, terri gold, theron humphrey, tony gale, wally mason, wayne parsons

The Favorite Photo Shows of 2012

Posted on December 17th, 2012

I suppose that we all look back at this point and try to remember the high points of the year. And so I asked around and these were the photo shows that people loved in 2012. The great thing about this list is that it spans the world. Enjoy!

Just say “YES”

Posted on November 29th, 2012

How do you handle adversity? Do you lie down and accept the bad turn of events or do you mobilize against it and try things you’ve been afraid of to reap possible benefits? Your choice can be the difference between success and failure. In their APA presented talk, Recovery Act: The Restoration and Reinvention of a Photography Career, William and Susan Brinson give us a look at what can happen when you have nowhere to go but up. It was…

Tagged: apa, blog, branding, creative strategy, facebook, house of brinson, photographers, photography, photography career, reinvention, social media, stella kramer, stellazine, susan brinson, twitter, william brinson

Stella Kramer

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