by Sam Smotherman | Jun 17, 2013 | Stories
This week We Are Juxt is grabbing a pencil and taking notes in summer school. Sam Smotherman of The 24 Hour Project will be leading this class every Monday. He will be teaching the fundamentals of street photography and giving assignments every week. Not a street photographer? Show up to class anyway, there is something for everyone in Summer School.
Assignment One: Understanding your light source and how it will effect your photograph
If you have ever taken a sketching class or lesson you will quickly remember working on turning to circle into a sphere with the use of shading. This week we are going to be doing something similar with an subject and a flashlight. Working on understanding how the direction of light effects the subject is integral to creating dynamic portraits . This weeks subject is the human face. This exsize will help you understand how light affects your subject and how it can also be a part of the story telling.
Tools:
A subject
A camera
A flashlight
Assignment:
1. To understand how a light source will affect your subject set up in a dimly light or dark room. Next you are to shine the light onto your subject in the ten positions shown below. Take at least one picture you are pleased with for every position. At the end, place the light where you think it looks best for the subject even if its not one of the ten points and take a photograph. When you are finished you should have at least 9 photographs of your subject.
2. Look through the photographs and pay attention to how each lighting position changes your composition. Take note of the mood or feeling each position dictates. Write a quick summary for each lighting position and how it effected the subject. You may want to answer the following questions when looking at each photograph:
What mood or emotion did the position evoke?
Was the lighting effective?
When might this positioning work for a photograph?
Is this a position you could utilize when shooting?
Was the lighting too harsh, highlighting the right area, or detracting from the subject?
How story could this position tell viewers?
3. Once you have finished taking the photographs and analyzing your data, post your favorite one with a description of why this position was the most effect and use the hashtag #juxtsummerschool_assignment1 to receive feedback for your work.
by Sam Smotherman | May 20, 2013 | Stories
The 24 Hour Project stands alone as the largest street photography event of its kind in the world. The 24 Hour Project, a completely unique experiment in photography, is a true marathon for participants. The project pushes the limits of the photographer emotionally, physically and creatively and was envisioned by street photographers Renzo Grande and Juxt member Sam Smotherman in 2011. The 24 Hour Project is a day with 24 dead lines and no room to make up a lost opportunity. One image from every hour is chosen to represent those 60 minutes in a permanent gallery online and also select shots will be hung in actual gallery shows.
This project is unique in the way the photographs are shared during each photographers 24 hours. It utilizes the immediacy of social media platforms but the project is more than mobile photography and social media. While there are strong roots in both of these areas the project is, in the end, about the pursuit of capturing the world around us no matter the tools for capturing and sharing.
On the weekend of June 8th-9th, the 24 Hour Conference will be held in the Los Angeles area. This is a two day event spanning 24 hours and will offer an opportunity for lovers of street photographer to take in a gallery show, a workshop and panels with world renown street photographers. The latter event is graciously being hosted by local NPR station 89.3 KPCC.
The Conference will consist of three events: a gallery show and talk by photographers, a workshop, and a free public event hosted by NPR station 89.3 KPCC. The workshop which costs and the KPCC which is a free event are ticketed events with limited space.
The events will begin on June 8th and opens with the gallery show. The Space Gallery is hosting the show with doors opening at 6PM at 250 W 2nd Street, Pomona, CA 91766. The gallery show will be representing only part of the 2011 – 2012 years with work of over a hundred street photographers. The gallery contains a selection culled from two years of shots and showcases only a small percentage of the three thousand plus shots that were uploaded worldwide. During the show, participating photographers will host a panel to discuss their craft and other issues within the realm of street photography. The panel portion of the conference will include photographers who have participated in one or both years of the project, including both of the projects founders Renzo Grande and Sam Smotherman. Other notable panelists include Juxt members: Brad Puet, Koci Richard Hernandez, and Tammy George as well as photographers Robert Stacy and Tony Marquez.
On June 9th the speakers from the gallery opening will be offering the first 24 Hour Project Workshop focusing on the ins and outs for street photography. Your guides will be Renzo Grande, Sam Smotherman, Brad Puet, Koci Richard Hernandez, Tammy George, Robert Stacy, Tony Marquez along with SF street photographers Benjamin Heath and Travis Jensen. Space is limited for the workshop is to keep groups small and intimate. The walk will be held in Downtown Los Angeles and will span over three hours of on the street shooting and learning. After the work, panelists will be available to review portfolios. More information and ticket availability at www.the24hourproject.com/confrence
The 24 Hour Conference will then wrap up with a free panel discussion on street photography hosted by KPCC at the Crawford Hall. Eight photographers who lead the workshop will join us to talk about making images with everything from a mobile phone to a film camera on the streets of the cities where they live. The day will be broken up into three segments.
The Snap: Find Your Approach to Taking Pictures
The Edit: Cultivating Creativity Through Selectivity
The Share: Navigating the World of Social Photography and Beyond
If anyone wants to attend the free public event MUST RSVP on this page http://www.scpr.org/events/2013/06/09/24-hour-projectworkshop-kpcc/. This includes anyone participating in the morning workshop.
The complete portfolios of both 2012 and 2013 can be viewed at
www.the24hourproject.net
Please also visit the work of the panelists and Juxt members
Brad Puet
Koci Hernandez
Tammy George
Sam Smotherman
Cofounder of the 24 Hour Project
Renzo Grande
and
Benjamin Heath
Travis Jensen
Tony Marquez
Robert Stacy
by Sam Smotherman | Mar 29, 2013 | 24HRProject
The 24 Hour Project: 2013
Created by Street Photographers Sam Smotherman and Renzo Grande.
On March 23th, 2013 65+ Street Photographers in 35+ Cities and 5 Continents plus other 245+ guest partcipants shared the human aspect of their city story with 1 photo, every hour for 24 hours. This year’s theme was Ethni[city].
This is a powerful, communal marathon utilizing the power of social networking showcasing the best in street photography from around the world. The project began in the winter of 2011. The mission of the project is to show through both real time photos as the event unfolds and allowing an artist to review their work to show their best pictures captured of the city the photographer lives in with the world we all share – one hour at a time.
Mobile photography has democratized the world of photography. The social network platforms like Instagram, EyeEm, Backspaces, and many others have assisted to solidify relationships with photographers from around the world. Enthusiasts, amateurs, and professional photographers have all joined in the 24 Hour Project to showcase their cities, their streets in real time.
The goal for the 24 Hour Project after the marathon event, is to push the idea of mobile photography and street photography into our own communities. The project is looking to expand to workshops and presentations, publications, and exhibitions around the world. The starting point will be from June 8-15, 2013 at The Space Gallery in Pomona, CA.
The project needs your support. Tell your family, tell your friends.
Visit the 24 Hour Project, download the press release, find allies who would like to support this project. For any inquiries of partnership and/or sponsorship, please contact Sam Smotherman or Renzo Grande.
The 24 Hour Project
Instagram / Twitter / Backspaces / EyeEm / Flickr / Facebook / Website
Read about the 24 Hour Project on Juxt from 2012 and 2013 #24HR13
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THE PHOTOGRAPHERS!
Sami Alramyan, Kuwait
IG / Website
4:38am “Who’s this guy with a camera at 4am?!” Alfajr Pray, Kuwait
11:21pm, “Super Hero, when the world forgot him”, Kuwait
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Aikibengchia, Singapore
Juxt / IG / EyeEm / Twitter / Website
1st 12 Hours, Singapore
2nd 12 Hours, Singapore
Sam Smotherman, Los Angeles, California
Juxt / IG / EyeEm / Twitter
“It’s all been a learning experience.” – Lesley, Los Angeles, California 2013
Mary (red haired) full Mexican and Megan (blue hair) mixed Mexican and white – cousins. They are dressed in mild cosplay as charters from the Japanese video game Persona 3, Los Angeles, California 2013
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Tilman Haerdle, Munich, Germany
IG / Twitter / Flickr
15:41. “Satisfaction”, Munich, Germany, 2013
Description: Taken at the Hofbräuhaus. This guy let me willingly take his picture. He’s one of several people visiting the Hofbräuhaus in their traditional outfit. While the Hofbräuhaus is a tourist trap, it still has reasonable prices, good food and beer and service staff that is not more unfriendly as absolutely necessary.
3:55. “Too cold outside”, Munich, Germany
Description: This homeless fellow stood right at the door at McDonalds close to Marienplatz. Later he took a seat inside. About 15 minutes on a waitress came and asked him if he wanted something to eat. Now he’s having a softdrink and some fries on the house. As I visited several public locations I always saw homeless people sitting in diners and fast food restaurants. Seemingly the owners or employees leave them undisturbed or are helping them – it’s -2 degrees outside and I couldn’t imagine being outside for the whole night.
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David James, New York City, New York
IG / EyeEm
1100 “the Spine” Union Square Park, New York City
1500 “Liber-three”, Battery Park, New York City
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Flor Montes, Madrid, Spain
IG / Email / FB
01.43 am, Night-watcher, Madrid, Spain
01.59 pm, Woman on Top, Madrid, Spain
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Giulio Giacconi, Trieste, Italy
IG / EyeEm / FB / Email
#1, Trieste, Italy
#2, Milan, Italy
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Claudine Moitie, Paris, France
Juxt / IG / EyeEm / Flickr / Twitter / Backspaces / Website
2AM, Paris, France
Description: This one was taken around 2am, it was pretty cold in Paris, and we were in a large street where there was no one! But, fortunately, from time to time, a bike was passing through. I made this panning shot.
6AM, Along the River Siene, Paris, France
Description: I was taking a group of 4 young people, then they began to call me “Hey, are you taking our picture? Aren’t we so beautiful, lady?” I was just about to meet Ilan and his friend. The 4 were full of love, probably high or too in lack of sleeping. Then, Eros and Latife join us and we all speak together… and took their portrait. Here is Ilan.
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Agus Siregar , Singapore
IG
1am “Soap Bubbles And The Street Vendor” Location , Little India Singapore
6pm, “21st Century Singh” Chinatown, Singapore
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Aurora Michavila, Madrid, Spain
IG / EyeEm / Twitter
01.16am, “When nothing else matters”, Plaza Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain
10.09am, “Saturday mornings are meant to be spent in bed”, Subway, Madrid, Spain
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Robert Stacy, Los Angeles, California
IG / EyeEm / Website
1246 AM, David eats food he retrieved from trash can., Los Angeles, California
101AM, Bernard, aka Amnesia, is a gangster for God., Los Angeles, California
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Georgi Tsekov, Sofia, Bulgaria
IG / Twitter
1st 12 Hours, Who Watches the Watchmen, Sofia, Bulgaria
2nd 12 Hours, Love Birds, Sofia, Bulgaria
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Giovanna Taddei, Milan, Italy
IG / FB / Email
Robert Doisneau, Milan, Italy
Fashion Victims, Milan, Italy
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Latife B, Paris, France
IG / Twitter
09 am, The orange seller, Paris, France
06 pm, The mother, Paris, France
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Sheldon Serkin, New York City, New York
IG / EyeEm / Twitter / Flickr
3:00 AM, “Libation”, New York City, NY
6:45 AM, “Rahul”, New York City, NY
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Jason Flett, Melbourne, Australia
Juxt / IG / Twitter / FB
5am, Early Morning Noodles, Melbourne, Australia
12pm, Fishy Tales on Smith Street, Melbourne, Australia
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Fabs Grassi, São Paulo, Brasil
Juxt / IG / EyeEm / Twitter / FB / Website
00:00 am, not alone, São Paulo, Brasil
11:00 am, pointing bubbles, São Paulo, Brasil
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Andrés de León, Barcelona, Spain
IG / Freaksbcn
0500am, Barcelona, Spain
0700am, Barcelona, Spain
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Carol de Britos, Barcelona, Spain
IG / Twitter / Website / Freaksbcn
08:43, “Post office”, Barcelona, Spain
04:42, “Passing by”, Barcelona, Spain
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Vlad Chirkov, Portland, Oregon
Juxt / IG / Twitter / Tiny Collective
#1, Portland, Oregon
#2, Portland, Oregon
by Sam Smotherman | Mar 22, 2013 | 24HRProject
A creation of Street Photographers Renzo Grande (@) and Sam Smotherman to document the human aspect of multiple cities in 24 Hours.
On March 23th, 40+street photographers in 35+ Cities and 5 Continents will share capturing their city story with 1 Photo, every hour for 24 hours. Building on the success of 2012’s event which was an extraordinary experience of sharing multiple points of view by city local street photographers. The project this year works to keep in mind the the ethnicity of of the city or spaced experienced within a day. A gallery show is scheduled at The Space in Pomona, Ca on June 8th with speakers who have participated in one or both years of the event: Richard Koci Hernandez, Travis Jensen, Brad Puet, Robert Stacey, Benjamin Heath, Sam Smotherman, Tony Marquez and Tammy George.
A work shop is in the works with the featured panelists the following day in Los Angeles – details forthcoming.
Read about the 24 Hour Project on Juxt from 2012 and 2013 #24HR13
as well as by following on:
Web / Instagram / Twitter / Backspaces
Press Release The 24 Project (download)
Partners
Juxt / Backspaces / EyeEm / Hipstamatic
Read 2012 Juxt Articles
Los Angeles / Singapore / Seattle / New York City / Sao Paolo, Brasil / Leeds, England / Berlin, Germany
“No one looks back on their life and remember the nights they had plenty of sleep” dont know who said this, but it worked for this project. – Fabiano Grassi, São Paulo – Brasil.“no one looks back on their life and remember the nights they had plenty of sleep” dont know who said this, but it worked for this project. – Fabiano Grassi, São Paulo – Brasil.
Great – and yeah brilliant idea. Loved doing it – the whole get a pic for the hour constraint really pushed us to keep trying – no resting on the success of one hour. – Lafletcher, Melbourn – Australia
Photo Credit: Aurora M, Spain
Photo Credit: Richard Koci Hernandez, Bay Area, CA
Photo Credit: Tammy George, Oakland, CA
Photo Credit: Fabs Grassi, Sao Paolo, Brasil
by Sam Smotherman | Feb 13, 2013 | Featured Articles
Nobody Walks in LA by Sam
You only see ’em drivin’ cars out on the street – Missing Persons
Street photography in Los Angeles and the search for stories
I’ve described LA as a fractured empire and that’s what it is, a disharmonious collection of cities that bleed into each other through arteries and veins as freeways and streets, where no body walks in LA. While street photography isn’t all about the pedestrian it is about people and that can be difficult to capture in the city that created the car culture.
There are pockets, neighborhoods and where you can find opportunities to see people engaging each other outside of contrived setting of a mall or shopping center. The area I am most familiar with is Down Town Los Angeles and its eastern fringes the Toy and Garment Districts and Skid Row. In these areas there is mix returning. For years and until about ten years ago with the bravery of some forward thinking folks, down town la (DTLA) was a virtual ghost town with those employed in the area fleeing, heading back to their homes out in the suburbs. As the rich and well to do, have started to return and stay, the mix is back, for the time being, people, in various stations of life, from the homeless, working poor, hustlers, rich and hipsters.
This mixes is likely to go away with the pendulum swinging in the other direction with gentrification hitting its stride. Case in point the ending of a era with the purchasing of of self proclaimed “last dive bar in LA”, King Edwards Saloon in Skid Row, closing its doors, ending over a hundred year run. But like the new management and its handling of the once King Eddy, nothing is official, yet, and still the low down of the town’s future is yet to be written.
An exit from the freeway and a crossing of the 4th Street, bridge five dollars for parking are the bugles to me, the releasing of the hounds, the hunt is on. For me, it is not only about the picture, but about a story, about an interaction. My photography I often lead with my ears – that is i am looking for that story and the accompanying picture. One making the other more than the sum of their parts. What makes this person tick? What is life like for them on the other side of their eyes – how different is their world from mine?
In a place like LA with a lack of widespread public space it is important to learn the art of conversation and story telling. There is a beauty of connection if you have a willing ear – which is something you can learn but not fake. I’ve had the pleasure of learning from two master story tellers, which has helped me to document Los Angeles.
Shooting with Story Tellers
I’ve been able learn the art of the long story from Robert @visualwhiplash_ who I’ve seen disarm an angry drunk with a few well placed question and a quick personal connection. And from someone who feels relaxed and at ease a story most always follows. There have been times where some extremely personal stories of tragedy or success and some times with in the same story as in the case of John, Robert recounts his story,
“I stabbed the guy seven times. I didn’t handle it right…Seven years hence, things are looking up though: he’s off drugs and has two grandchildren whom he proudly pronounced were potty trained by him.”
This you won’t find or see with just a portrait or just a candid shot. There needs to be a connection longer than a focus and white balancing some semblance of trust. I am not naive to think that all of what I’m being told is gospel truth but I tend not to think its all a lie either. But even if it is a lie it is OK with me, as I account this to be a skill of survival and the story is based off their read of me and what they’ve assessed will be a working tale. Maybe it will be to get a burger, beer, or blunt. While I have my beliefs, which is a big part of why I’m here in the first place, I am not there to pass it on those who I photograph – but now this is starting to sound like my next article…
The art of the short story has been taught to me by @cachafaz on Instagram Pachi in life. The dignity of a just a first name, to not be counted as unseen, to have an identity, a past, an existence. While Pachi will sometimes engage in a longer story, to me, it’s his use of a name, a picture, repeated, that has given his work such power:
Dhurba, Curtiss, Alonso, Dave, Daniel, Taylor, Nelson, Samuel, Robert, Mike, Pablo Perez, Jamal, Anthony, John
Portraits with names taken with my brief time with Patch on his last visit to Los Angeles.
This has been my approach to street photography in a land, city and time where where folks are out and about mixing with each other are hard to come by in a space so large. I’m not an expert of LA and so my search continues to find people to hear stories, but I know that where ever I go LA has taught me well, that its isn’t always just about the snap but about the connection with the ear.
As I’m fond of saying, “A picture of a white whale doesn’t tell the story of Moby Dick.”
