by Anna Cox | Oct 7, 2014 | Stories, You Are Grryo
As a filmmaker, I’m always looking for new projects, developing short film ideas and collaborating with creative individuals. I found Nicholai’s work online and liked his style as an artist straight away. His photos of abandoned houses stood out to me and I thought it would make an interesting film. I contacted him, discussed some ideas and a few days later we were shooting.
The premise was pretty simple – drive around Minnesota for a few hours and look for abandoned houses. I interviewed him the day before and wanted to get some shots that captured the abandoned vibes found in his work. When I started this project, I set out to document him exploring these places without interfering with his creative process. When he would find a cool looking place, I followed him with my camera while he searched for the right shot. He would look for a spot with an interesting background or good light and I would just sit back and film his natural workflow.
The houses we found looked untouched. There was a calendar from the early 90’s tacked on the wall, toothbrushes by the sink, floral couches and old televisions… It was surreal. Definitely makes you think about the house’s history, who lived there before and why they left. Going somewhere unknown and being a little out of your comfort zone is my idea of an adventure, even if it did get pretty sketchy at times. You never know what you might find in those places when you turn a corner. But from a cinematography standpoint, every direction I pointed my lens at looked interesting because it was an environment I had never seen before.
The purpose behind his work is to capture the feel of places that rarely get noticed. It’s a brilliant example of what you can find if you explore and look for things that normally get passed up. I’m glad I got to go along for the ride and document everything. Nicholai just moved out to LA so be sure to keep an eye on him and his upcoming projects.
For more about Caleb and his films.
by Bridgette | Oct 6, 2014 | 1000 Words, Bridgette Shima, Stories
Photo by Jen Bracewell
1,000 Words is under the premise that “a photograph says a thousand words”.
Grryo believes that mobile photographers/artists tell stories through the photographs/images and art that represent their families, their environment, themselves. This is important because of the level of communication that is portrayed in imaging today.
This month, Grryo storytellers sent in one photograph depicting what FREE means to each one of us.
We hope that you enjoy this showcase as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together.
Photo by Rebecca Cornwell
Photo by Natalie Maddon
Photo by Andy Butler
Photo by Matthew Wylie
Photo by Brandon Kidwell
Photo by Josh St. Germain
Photo by Hector Navarro Torres
Photo by Matt Coch
Photo by Todd Leban
Photo by Jeff Kelley
Photo by Bridgette Shima
by Josh St. Germain | Oct 5, 2014 | Stories
Welcome to the tenth edition of the GRRYO 1000 Words Facebook Showcase! Since the creation of the Facebook group, we have seen it grow and watched inspiring work being posted daily. We are happy to be able to showcase some of the outstanding work that is being shared.
GRRYO believes that mobile photographers/ artists tell stories through the photographs/ images and art that represents their families, their environment, themselves. This is important because of the level of communication that is portrayed in imaging today.
We want to support the mobile arts community by having a place for artists to share, discuss, and critique (if requested by individual). These dialogues help the individuals and the community to grow.
We look forward to you and your art. We thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/ arts community. To submit your work click here.
“Let me ease your pain…” by Rob Depaolo
“I have always had a thing for “dark” art as well as for the steampunk aesthetic. In particular, the “Plague Doctor” look has always fascinated me, and I’ve recently acquired a few different masks of this sort to use in some of my conceptual work. This photo is the first in what will be an ongoing series that I will add to slowly over time. I won’t say where it is going, but it will continue to evolve at a slow pace.
As human beings, we all wear various “masks” throughout our lives. They are the different personas, attitudes, and images that we “wear” when interacting with others. Deep down we know that we are all hiding our true selves from others, and to see someone wearing a mask can be an unsettling reminder of our own inauthenticity. If we were truly comfortable with ourselves as we really are, the sight of someone else in a mask would be as natural as seeing clouds in the sky.
This photo was shot with an iPhone 5s using the beta version of the new 645 Pro with manual controls. The manual exposure control, in particular, made it easier to get the exposure I wanted for the dark feel of this image. I edited this photo in primarily in Filterstorm Neue with subtle textures added in Mextures.”
On most days, I would say that the intricate textures, shape, and intimate quality of this Queen Anne’s Lace drew me to this particular flower. Although, this day, very soon after the recent death of my dad, it was more about capturing the beauty that exists all around us, everywhere.Setup included small studio with black backdrop with lighting. Initial shot was taken using Pureshot. The edit was in Snapseed, adjusting the brightness and adding details. I then used the curves feature in Filterstorm/Nueue to dramatically darken the background. The shot is titled… Fibonacci
“The queens command” by Stef LP
Website
“Thrilled to be able to do multiple exposures with my iPad I began experimenting with it.
This particular shot came after a series of light and shadow that felt empty.
I wanted to add something
Randomly hanging around,
-this mask worked well for me.
These heads can be very moody looking and represent a neutral but universal presentation of being.
There was no post processing other then increasing contrast.”
“The Rudeboy Barbers at Somerset House” by Vivi Hanson
Apps used : ProCamera 7 to take photo, Snapseed, BlurFX, Mextures
I love visiting Somerset House in London http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/ and always go in to photograph it’s magnificent staircase! Somerset House always has really interesting exhibitions and on this occasion there was a fantastic exhibition of The Return of the Rudeboy which combined beautiful portrait photography, music, fashion and barbering! http://modernbarber.co.uk/check-in-at-somerset-house-for-return-of-the-rudeboy/ The set up was wonderful and I asked the barber if I could take his photo and he gave me a huge smile! Loved that I got the customer in the mirror!
I wanted to focus my edit on the barber and his customer so used BlurFX to blur everything else out. Then edited my image using one of my B&W presets in Mextures.
“Little Dolls” by Aldo Pacheco
Flickr // EyeEm
I took the photo with native camera from iPhone 4s, when I went to a local thrift store looking of I don’t remember what. Then I get to the toys section of the store and I found little dolls form many brands packed in plastic bags, and the “babies” called my attention, they look weird and kind of sexual. So I took the chance to shot some photos before I left the store empty handed.
The process was very simple and I only used Snapseed to work around the color and make it soft, the add a little grunge and crop to square format
“Fok” by Andy Alexandre
Instagram // Facebook
I’m Andy, i’m french from Marseille, and my way is to use only iPhone to take and to edit pictures.
I like to work on bodies and faces with different mood and touch.
All male bodies part are mine.
– Fok – (inspired by Olafur Arnalds – music)
To start i used “Timer” to shoot myself with delay.
I use “Mextures” to create a texture background.
With “Image Blender” I can overlay my selfie onto the background picture.
I use “IcoloramaS” to create this effect explode on my head.
To add clouds i use “SpacePaint”
And finaly “Mextures” to add some scratch for a vintage atmosphere.
by Jeff Kelley | Oct 4, 2014 | Jeff Kelley, Stories
JUXTAPOSITION
noun
1. the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side.
2. the state of being so placed.
—–
We asked what JUXTAPOSITION means to you.
The following have been selected from more than 100 images tagged:
Photo by @clence
Photo by @dbrondeau
Photo by @basia_pro
Photo by @sirreal
—–
SPECIAL MENTIONS
Photo by @strongcomet
Photo by @natehill
by André Hermann | Oct 3, 2014 | Stories
If you’ve ever gone to school to pursue a career in the arts you know how important assignments were. Whether we liked the assignments or not, they guided us, gave us reason for being, kept us inspired and creating. But we all know those assignments wouldn’t last forever. All too often you’d hear people give one very important piece of advice, “stay on top of giving yourself assignments”. After you graduate there is no one to provide you with those thought provoking assignments, well, until you begin acquiring work. There is no longer the responsibility of performing or earning a grade to get that expensive piece of paper. If you talk with most graduates from art school, or any creative degree program, they will tell you that the scariest aspect of graduating besides job availability is staying motivated and producing new work.
If you do a Google search for ‘photo challenge’ or ‘photo assignment’ you will face 458 million search results. Yes friend, you read correctly. 458 million. Now narrow your search to the reasonable first three to ten pages. Everybody and their brother has a page dedicated to the ‘photo challenge’ or ‘photo assignment’. There is one for every genre and sub-genre of photography as well. The problem is that these challenges and assignments are dominated by the 365-selfie, 52-week, 30-day, 24-hour, photo-a-day challenges. Are you seeing the pattern here? It sounds like a diet. Believe me, I’ve tried all of these and found myself in most cases miserably bored and quitting. Photography was no longer fun. It actually became more of a chore. The problem is that these challenges and assignments do not give us any real world parameters that could spawn creativity besides a time frame. Yes, the time constraint is a real world challenge, but the creative limitations our environment or clients challenge us with are far more helpful in sparking creative, new ideas.
Just telling someone to think outside of the box isn’t always enough. You have to challenge people with limitations. By doing so you draw a line in the sand and dare them to cross it. Parameters. Boundaries. We need to define the box before we can step outside of it, right? If you look closely, the one thing that these challenges listed above are missing, are rules and guidelines. No, I don’t mean “your image must have these dimension, at this ppi, titled this way, uploaded here, by this time”. No, what I am talking about is a set of parameters that we have to work with. We all know what happens when we are put in a box. We want to get out. When we step out from the confines of the box we take our first risk. This first risk leads to more risk taking. In photography, when risks are taken, scary and interesting things happen. We learn about ourselves and others. We find our voice. We discover some new worlds. Most importantly, we create new work.
The whole point to my story here is to share with you a collection of challenges and assignments. Some are my own, and others I have found scouring the web (sorry, not all 458 million search results), looking for the most interesting challenges and assignments. These are blogs, websites and books that offer other-than-the-normal tired assignments and challenges. In some cases I might have found them inspiring to begin with— adding a few parameters of my own. Lastly, I was inspired to write this after giving my Fundamentals Of Photography students at Houston Community College a final assignment to photograph a bench. You can read about it here. Otherwise, enjoy the list. I hope you find inspiration and begin seeing things a little differently.
Some interesting links:
• A really interesting way to rethink time constraints
• National Geographic is always a great source for assignments – They have a page dedicated to assignments. If you knock it out of the park, you may get chosen for their online gallery.
• ‘Gain access to…’ and, ‘It would it be interesting if… – A student’s reflection on her instructor’s assignment that she continues to give to her students now.
• An interesting way to look at people in their cars on the freeway.
• CNN has a page dedicated to assignments
• Project Soul Pancake• Reddit picture challenge
• The worlds longest list of photo contest ideas (challenges)
• Google’s page dedicated to photo challenges
• An interesting list of words to to challenge yourself visually with
Interesting assignments I’ve given my students in the past, or that were given to me while I was a student in school:
• A portrait or self-portrait without showing us a person.
• Tell a complete story in 3 images.
• 10 photos, one subject (Shoot from the hip. You cannot look through the viewfinder).
• Light as subject (photograph light as if it is a person).
• 4×4 space. Find a space and map out a mental or physical perimeter and photograph everything you can within that space using multiple camera angles, perspectives, and POVs. (Try to capture a sense of place, space, mood, tone, and structure.) Explore photographing something that lies beyond the boundaries (box).
• Get out of your own head, “How would [enter person’s name here who isn’t a photographer] photograph it? My favorite person to think about is Gene Simmons of KISS in full make-up and theatrical garb.
• Make an ordinary object look unrecognizable.
• Visualize a classical music piece, or your favorite song using only colors and textures as the subject.
• Sometimes just a phrase can offer challenging parameters, “I can barely remember…”.
• Visualize the scent of a woman, or a man.
• Photos from your neighborhood from someone else’s perspective. Walk around and have someone else tell you what to shoot.
• 25 strangers (one of my favorites). No, not your friends and family. People you don’t know. You have to be close enough to hear them respond when you ask their name.
• Walk blindfolded (with help from someone) and when you bump into something photograph it.
• Recreate an image or mimic the style of a photography master.
• Photograph a park bench. You only get 36 frames. No more no less. Choose your 8 best images.
Books with some thought provoking assignments:
The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas
I know there are so many more amazing assignments and challenges out there. Hell, I only made it through the first 10 pages worth of millions of search results. Give these a try. Search flickr, or other photo sharing communities, for groups who are creating amazing challenges. Don’t be surprised if all you find is words to visualize. If you are that type of person who likes visualizing a word like ‘blue’ or ‘love’ or ‘sorry’, try challenging yourself by creating an image visualizing the word using the ‘LIFE formula for visual variety’. I’ll leave that one for you to research on your own.
