by Grryo Community | Jul 16, 2014 | Stories
Streets of Toronto by Matthew Wylie
Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with almost 50% of its population foreign born. As such, the richness of its streets – from inhabitants, architecture, and city life – creates such a palette for the eye on any given day. The city is truly a tone poem.
Shooting quickly and usually from the hip, I focus on single subjects in the attempt to isolate and accentuate a moment and I do not focus on captures that will lead the viewer to an obvious story. I want only to provide the impetus for one, which the viewer, not I, can tell.
The following photographs are meant not to encapsulate Toronto’s richness or diversity, but simply to provide an impression, from the hip, of her streets, her people, and the possibility of her narratives.
“To read fiction means to play a game by which we give sense to the immensity of things that happened, are happening, or will happen in the actual world.” – Umberto Eco
by Grryo HQ | Jul 14, 2014 | Stories
A partnership between the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), PhotoPhilanthropy & Grryo
Submission period: July 14 – August 11, 2014
Grand Prize: $1,000
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and PhotoPhilanthropy are excited to announce the World Fights AIDS Photo Contest on Instagram. We are seeking photos from across the globe that resonate with the mission of EGPAF, the global leader in the fight to end AIDS.
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation isn’t only fighting AIDS, they are changing the way the world fights AIDS. They work hand-in-hand with governments, partners, mothers, families, volunteers and donors toward a health and social infrastructure that can end HIV/AIDS – and keep it eliminated.
Your assignment: Every community across the world has at least one unsung hero or grassroots organization working to eradicate this epidemic or ease the suffering of those who live with it. Share a photograph on Instagram of a group or individual in your community who is fighting against HIV/AIDS. Tag it with #WorldFightsAIDS and your photo will automatically be entered into the contest. Please also tag @photophilanthropyand @egpaf. The winning photographer will receive the Grand Prize of $1,000 USD.
All entries must include a caption that tells a short story about the person, people or subject matter in your photograph. Where was it taken? Who is in the photo? How are they fighting against stigma? How are they working to end HIV/AIDS?
After submitting a photo, contestants are encouraged to search other submissions using the #WorldFightsAIDS hashtag and like and leave comments on other photos that are not their own.
Deadline for entries is August 11, 2014.
For full contest rules read the Submission Guidelines below.
PhotoPhilanthropy and EGPAF will highlight photo entries throughout the contest submission period and EGPAF will ask resident HIV/AIDS experts to comment on the selected photos.EGPAF will also use the photographs in their outreach and advocacy work. The result will be a compelling mix of photos, stories and conversations that paint a picture of how the world fights AIDS.
Submission Guidelines
The World Fights AIDS Photo Contest is a partnership between the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and PhotoPhilanthropy.
This contest is open to all photographers regardless of age, gender, or nationality. Contestants under 18 years of age require the permission of a parent or guardian. By entering the contest, entrants under 18 years of age indicate that they have obtained the permission of a parent or guardian.
An Instagram account is required to enter this contest.
To enter the contest, upload a photo to Instagram and use the hashtag #WorldFightsAIDS. Please also tag @photophilanthropy and @egpaf. Previously uploaded photos may also be submitted by using this same hashtag.
All entries must include a caption that tells a short story about the person, people or subject matter in your photograph. Where was it taken? Who is in the photo? How are they fighting against stigma? How are they working to end HIV/AIDS?
In order to reflect current issues, photographs must have been taken within the last three years. Multiple entries are allowed, but we encourage entrants to submit only their best work.
After submitting a photo, contestants are encouraged to search other submissions using the #WorldFightsAIDS hashtag and leave comments and like on at least two photos that are not their own.
PhotoPhilanthropy and EGPAF have the right to copy, publish and display all submitted materials in print or electronic form, without compensation, for use in promoting our programs, including exhibitions, multimedia stories and future programs for the purpose of the advancement of the goals and mission of PhotoPhilanthropy and EGPAF. The photographer’s credit will appear if the image is used for these purposes. No images will be redistributed or sold to third parties for re-use. Any inquiries for licensing of images will be redirected to the photographer.
All entries must be uploaded and tagged by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 11, 2014.
The winning photo will be announced on August 18, 2014. The winning photographer will receive the Grand Prize of $1,000 USD. Photographs selected as finalists will also be used by EGPAF in their outreach and advocacy work.
Photos by James Pursey on behalf of EGPAF.
World Fights AIDS Contest Partners:
by André Hermann | Jul 11, 2014 | Stories, Storyteller
Emulating Edward Weston
Introduction
Its been a long time since my last post here as a juxter now grryo. Earlier this year I moved from San Francisco, California to Houston, Texas to teach photography full-time at Houston Community College. Now that I’ve made it through my first semester and settled into my new digs, I am ready to write about photography again.
I’m no stranger to the classroom. I taught documentary photography, and multimedia storytelling in San Francisco, California for two years at The Academy of Art University. During this past spring semester I taught ‘Fundamentals of Photography’ for the first time in Texas. Besides introducing my students to the importance of the exposure triangle, the importance of carrying a camera everywhere and practice, I introduced them to the ‘masters of photography.’
Without learning about the masters and what makes a great photo, well, great, is like operating in a vacuum. In order to develop our skills, our photographic eye, in order to become better visual storytellers we must have a mentor, a photography hero, a source of inspiration. Yes, everyone should have one, actually many.
Emulating Irving Penn
After students have an understanding of how the camera works, along with a general understanding of light and composition, I give them their first major creative assignment: Explore the masters of photography. Choose one photographer from my impressive, yet far from complete list of masters, who’s work emotionally connects with you. “And there will be,” I tell them. Study that person’s work, style, subject matter, and composition. Think about ‘intent, content, and composition.’ Ask questions. Search for answers, and then try to emulate the person’s work. They are given one week to research a photographer and two weeks to create 6-8 images. For some students this will be a truly emotional experience that will transform them.
This assignment, my friends, is what inspired me to write this post. Besides learning the fundamentals, this assignment plays an important role in the development of any photographer. I have seen it change students who entered the classroom lacking vision, understanding, or inspiration in the beginning. They left the class with a new found passion, excitement for photography, and personal vision.
Today I am going to share this assignment with you as well. No matter where you are at in your photographic career everyone should try this assignment. You might just find a new source of inspiration.
Emulating David LaChapelle
One thing to keep in mind: Intent, content, and composition
What makes a photographer and his/her work great? This is a question that is often asked by anyone remotely interested in looking at or practicing photography. In many cases these photographers do not just have one great image, they have many—portfolios of amazing images that have helped them earn the title of ‘iconic,’ joining the group of the photographic immortals that are talked about in classrooms, galleries and museums.
As visual storytellers it is of the utmost importance that we know the masters. There’s a lot to be learned by studying their images, and contact sheets. I remind my students to not only be producers of images but also be consumers. Be ravenous. Devour as much great visual content as you possibly can. Collect images, start a scrapbook or a pin board on pinterest. Collect photo books of the photographers you admire. Study them regularly. Pick their images apart. Try to understand how and why it works. Study their Composition—how have they consciously decided to arrange the visual elements in the frame. Intent—Why did they create these images, and for who? Content—What have they chosen to include, or exclude from the frame? How does it make you feel?
Emulating Berenice Abbott
Assignment instructions, and your chance to be featured here on the grryo blog
This assignment can be challenging yet very fulfilling. Please click here to download the .pdf explaining the assignment in more detail, including the list of photographers. You will have two weeks to explore the list and create 6-8 images. Post your images to your preferred photo sharing site, particularly IG, flickr, FB, and eyeem. Include the name of the photographer you’re emulating in the description. Hashtag your image using #grryoMOP After two weeks of this assignment being published to grryo.com, we will review the images and curate a gallery of the best images with the hashtag. I will choose the most interesting images and highlight those photographers in part 2 of this post. You can have as much time as you need. In order to be featured in the online gallery you must meet the deadline.
My students love this assignment. I hope you all will as well. Have fun with it because it is only photography, right? I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s work.
–André (shutter_se7en)
by David Norbut | Jul 10, 2014 | Stories
Winter is a good time to think, make plans and visualize. Sometime after the snow began to melt I decided it’d be a good time to try my hand at moving pictures. I was testing out a Nokia Lumia 1020, and friends of mine were working on a new record.
It was the perfect scenario for an experiment.
I haven’t even thought about filming anything since college but lately I think about it more and more.
So with no real plan, I caught a train from Wilmington to Manhattan to meet up with the dudes in Aircrafting. Jon (singer/guitar) and I talked over beers of ideas, concepts and inspiration. We had a loose idea of how we wanted to do it, but I was relying more on the idea of making moving photographs then anything else. I wanted the video to have the same feel as my photography. That was the most important aspect for me.
It was a crisp, late winter morning and I found myself riding out of the city from Brooklyn to Queens to a sculpture garden in Roslyn, NY.
With nothing more than a feeling and the demo playing on our phones… I filmed for a few hours, doing only one or two takes of each scene. I wanted an unrehearsed and real feeling, still hoping to also capture a dreamy quality, if that makes sense. The dudes were quite easy to work with and really understood what I was asking for.
Everything you see here is filmed through the native camera on a Nokia Lumia 1020 and it’s all hand held. The camera itself worked perfectly and did exactly what I’d hoped it would do. In hindsight, I learned a lot and there are certainly some things I would do differently, though I am quite happy with the final product…
With that being said, I hope you enjoy the song and the moving photographs!
Find more music here or connect with them on Facebook
by Hector Navarro | Jul 9, 2014 | Stories
Grryo Storyteller Series: Eder Samayoa by Héctor Navarro
I want to introduce you to a great friend and fantastic storyteller who has an intriguing photographic series that I enjoy every time he shares his vision through social networks.
His name is Eder Samayoa from Veracruz, México. Here I share his bio:
“My passion for photography began two years ago when I started looking at pictures of many photographers on Instagram. Until today I’ve been working as a musician and never as a professional photographer. I am part of a Christian community in which I’ve had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country and bring medical help to poor areas. Thanks to these trips it’s where I have valued and loved photography the most, besides the pleasure of sharing these amazing places I’ve seen with other people. Taking some tips from big photographers, I try my best to take good pictures from these places. Some of my hobbies are: martial arts, writing, singing and learning to play different musical instruments, but without a doubt nothing has caught my attention as much as photography. Now, I, at least set a day of the week to go out and take photos of the city where I live, but still, no matter where I go, I take my iPod with me ready to photograph any image that brightens before my eyes.”
Héctor: What message do you wish to convey through your pictures?
Eder: Perfection. Each person, moment, feeling, and place has a footprint of perfection, for the world and everything that we see in it (visible or invisible) was designed by the power and wisdom of a perfect God. Many times it’s hard to see this perfection in some things, but opening our eyes and our mind to see it and believe it, is enough. I see perfection when I see the vastness of the sky and everything that happens in it from down here, but I also see perfection in all things we can see and do under heaven. Photography has lead me to stop and observe this and more.
H: Have you always been a spiritual person?
E: No, I always thought I was, but it was when I had 18 that I began to have a real and personal relationship with God.
H: Did something happen in your life that made you spiritual? Religious?
E: Not precisely. I just know that God wanted to give me a new life and I don’t know why frankly, but I’m just enjoying it.
H: Are the photos in your gallery taken where you live?
E: Some are, but others are from different cities and towns of Mexico.
H:For example, in this picture, what motivated you so much to capture it as to posses it? What was happening in that moment that motivated you to shoot it?
E: Well, the life situation in that moment of that girl was hard, her along with her brothers and mother were exiled of their community for being Christians. In that moment that girl was not very healthy because of the lack of food, and she was going to be assisted by a doctor. Her situation and crying was my motivation to take a picture and share it.
H: Do you have series about “parallel lives” like some of your captions of your pictures?
E: No I don’t, but in two pictures I used that title. As you can see we can get to be similar in many aspects even when we have different cultures. In the first picture there are two girls, one is an indigenous and the other one isn’t, and they were both playing to be doctors. The second picture shows a doctor and an indigenous woman peeking outside their kitchen window, both working for someone else.
EDER SAMAYOA
Follow him : Instagram // EyeEm
