In GRRYO’s Instagram account we feature a photo prompt each Monday and ask our audience to share their stories to accompany the image. We would love for you to join us and share what each photo says to you. November found us putting ourselves in the place of the subject of each week’s photo and offering stories from a first person perspective. You will be pleased not only by the images provided by our fantastic Grryo photographers but also by the stories that accompany them. So come and browse through this digest, savoring the delicacies of street life and a clown. We look forward to seeing you next Monday on Instagram to participate in our present theme.
I was in shock and awe, completely dumbfounded at the revelation of the news from my mum. Iggy Pop was my Dad! I knew I was from great lineage and now my chance at stardom was finally upon me.
To all the clowns out there, please do not take offence by what I am about to say, you see, looking at you makes me sad, not happy at all. I don’t know how it happened, maybe it was your fake painted on smiles, or your oversized dirty shoes that scared me at my first circus. Or perhaps that as a child you seemed to want to come real close, gain my confidence and then do some stupid thing that scared the crap out of me. And now what I see behind the outfit are lonely guys, men who most likely once were funny, the jokers from high school now down on their luck and having to work weekends or creepy movie stereotypes. So dear clowns I am one of the ones keeping my distance, standing back from the crowd, please leave me there and don’t come over bringing me wilted flowers it’s never going to make me laugh. I know because I am one of you.
That bitch. That FUCKING bitch! I can’t believe she’d throw that night back in my face. The entire debacle was HER FAULT and hers alone… she knows it, I know it, everyone that was there knows it! Delusional. Straight up cray cray. Bitch!
These kids think they know it all with their faces in their gizmos. They don’t know diddley squat! And what are those metal cigarettes? Smoke a real one with real tobacco. Hey, we got some things right in our day. We knew how to live!
You wanna know something about me? My underwear are too tight, I passionately love macaroni and cheese, and I owe Discover Financial Services $46,500 because those years of five-figure bonuses are as rare now as the all-nighters at the brightly lit, yet sub-humanly depressing blue cubicle that birthed them. I still dream of that place some nights. Only I’m not wearing pants and I forgot my Blackberry. It’s a badly faded memory, darkened with time and overworked cortisol. It’s all over now, and that’s probably ok. I’ve got a family to hang out with instead. And I’ve got a family to provide for. That’s why I’m glad you’ve made the first move. Let me clue you in on a little secret. The secret to longevity. Look at me. I look good. Damn good. I’m 57 years old, but I look 42. Just follow me down to the end of the corridor here where we can talk in private. Ok good. Now, the first thing you need to know is…*THUNK*
Of all the things I could do in my life, I never imagined that a photography exhibition in Tehran would be one of them. Instead, a few weeks ago I found myself (@eauditalie) on a plane bound for Tehran, for the first group exhibition of Hikari Creative, the Instagram photography group that Q. Sakamaki, Ako Salemi, Eric Mencher and I founded in December 2014 to create and curate artistic street photography, showcasing the best pictures from around the world. Since we launched, Hikari Creative has become a significant point of reference for artistic street photography on Instagram, which is something we’re truly proud of.
The Hikari Creative team (minus one): Ako Salemi (right), Q. Sakamaki (centre) and me.
The exhibition – called Chance Encounters – was held at N.6 Gallery in Tehran and was a big success. An amazing crowd turned up for the opening and it was great to discover that in Tehran there is a wonderful community of people passionate about photography. In many ways this isn’t surprising, if you think of the great film directors and photographers that Iran has produced over the past decades and the fact that for millennia Iran has been a cradle of visual beauty.
Ako Salemi, the man who made it all happen
This passion for the arts is what made our first Hikari Creative exhibition happen in Tehran instead of – for example – Rome or New York: the owner of the gallery, Mrs. Katy Dechamani, is a great fan of Ako Salemi’s work, and it was thanks to her and Ako that we founders of Hikari Creative had our first collective show.
Q. Sakamaki taking pictures at the exhibition
Eric Mencher’s wall at the exhibition
Some of my photos up on the wall
In all I spent just three days in Tehran because my official job (which is that of creating perfumes) didn’t allow me to take more time off, but thanks to Ako’s Salemi brilliant flair for organization I was able – together with Q. Sakamaki and his wife Kuniko – to spend all of my free time photographing the streets and people of Tehran.
Devotees at the Shrine of Imamzadeh Saleh in north Tehran
Ladies at the Shrine
For me the most interesting places to shoot were the Shrine of Imamzadeh Saleh in North Tehran, the bazaars – particularly Tajrish bazaar, which is one of the oldest – and also the giant cemetery outside Tehran, which is next to Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum, still under construction.
Carpet seller in the Grand Bazaar
Closing time, Tajrish Bazaar
Tehran is a city blighted by smog so, even though the sun was out, we actually never saw it. The good side to the pollution was that it gave a rather melancholy and mysterious atmosphere to most situations, which is something I really like in photography. Everybody everywhere was helpful, charming and kind, and I was able to shoot in each place as much as I wanted.
Lone woman walking outside the Imam Khomeini Mausoleum
Child playing in front of Imam Khomeini’s portrait at the Mausoleum
Mosque under construction
Martyr’s tomb at the Tehran Cementery
I only wish I’d had more time in Tehran. I hope to go back soon to see and photograph more of the country and its wonderful people – till then Tehran will remain in my heart as one of the most fascinating and interesting places I’ve ever been to.
Floating memories – Tehran
To see more of Marinas’ fantastic images please visit :
Every city has its own flair and specialty. We often don’t observe and see things that are right in front of us. When it comes to exploring our city, we tend to get carried away with our life and daily routine. Many times we travel the world and express how great a city or a country is, forgetting that the grass may be greenest in our own garden. Being born and raised in Jakarta, there have been times in the past that I have complained about the city. Jakarta’s traffic can be crazy, the unending line of malls everywhere can be dull, and the pollution is bad too. Nonetheless, I have learned to look at my city with a new pair of eyes.
There are many ways to explore a city; alone or with friends. I have managed to discover my city with a group of explorers by visiting different parts of the city. Little did I know that despite the traffic and modernization, our city is still rich in history and culture. There are many places I didn’t know about and the experience has broadened my horizons completely. I shall highlight some of the places I enjoyed exploring and learning about. Capturing moments through these trips was an interesting experience. It helped by enhancing my knowledge in photography and practicing to shoot in manual mode. Even while capturing on the iPhone I was able to learn more in terms of exposure, contrast and finding the right balance when shooting.
In Jakarta we have various aspects of culture and history spread in different parts of the city such as museums, historical sites, markets, or even the harbor. As much as I love going to museums, I’d like to highlight the places that made me appreciate my city more.
Glodok
Glodok is considered our “Chinatown” although it is completely different from the Chinatown in other cities around the world. The history of this area dates back to the Dutch era, where they were brought to Indonesia as slaves from China. They resided in this area and many of them have remained in the area till date. Although, currently the local chinese community have moved to different areas in Jakarta, Glodok still remains the main hub for their supplies of food, vegetables, and medicines. The tour around this place was thoroughly fun. In Jakarta, we are used to traveling around in cars, unlike other cities where you can enjoy the pleasure of walking and taking the local transportation. Thus, walking around Glodok and the markets was a new experience for me. We learned about the cultural heritage and historical treasures. The narrow alleys, the muddy streets and the rundown buildings were part of our adventure. We were able to see a few Buddhist Temples that still exist, and had a good walk around the markets to understand more about the traditional foods among the Chinese community. Taking pictures of the surroundings made one feel like part of their daily routine.
Kota Tua
Kota Tua means Old Town, which is the original downtown area of Jakarta. It is also known as Old Batavia. It’s called Old Town because it is the older part of Jakarta which was built during the Dutch colonial rule. There are a few museums around Kota Tua, namely the Wayang Museum (Puppet Museum), the Historical Museum, and the Fine Art & Ceramic Museum. Whilst touring this area, I didn’t feel I was in Jakarta. The architecture and the layout transports you to another place. There is much hope to restore this area to rejuvenate Old Jakarta’s legacy. Some of the buildings are run down but still have some heritage. On the inside of one of the buildings we found stained glass windows, which date back to older times. This was a very rare find and a fascinating one too.
Mosque and Church
The Masjid Istiqlal (Independence Mosque) is known to be one of the largest mosques in Southeast Asia. The national mosque was built to commemorate Indonesian Independence. When entering the Mosque, as any other religious holy place, you feel peaceful and calm. It was a fulfilling experience to explore the architecture of the mosque and feel the atmosphere inside it. It is a massive building and can accommodate up to more than 120,000 people. The building near the Mosque, the Jakarta Cathedral (Roman Catholic Cathedral), also has a very fine and intricate architecture. This building reminded me of the churches we see in European countries. The way it’s built, the feeling inside the church and the complete structure of it is beautiful. It was irresistible not to take a snap or two to capture the details of these buildings.
Sunda Kelapa Harbor
Lastly, our famous Sunda Kelapa harbor, located north of Jakarta, is the old port of our city. Although it is now only a minor port, Jakarta had its origins in Sunda Kelapa and it played a significant role in the city’s development. While walking around the area, there were some interesting spots like the Watch Tower and Maritime Museum. Some of the buildings and the Museum in this area have a lot of history and make one feel nostalgic. The way the ships were lined up, as well as the people and the scenes from the harbor, make you want to capture the moments.
There are still many more interesting sites to see in my wonderful city. It is filled with various colors and exploring it like a tourist, has made me value it even more. I look forward to many more moments of discovering the wonders of Jakarta. I hope you enjoyed walking with me through my pictures and short story. Jakarta may not have a perfect description but it is a part of Indonesia, a country which is diverse, yet united.
Simran is a passionate photographer. She writes for INK361 and with this article we welcome her to the GRRYO team.
Every Monday we feature a photo prompt and ask our audience to share their stories to accompany the image on Instagram. We would love for you to join us and share what each photo says to you. In October we walked down some paths of fear selecting photos that drew frightful stories from our followers. As always some of our fantastic Grryo photographers supplied us with inspiration for the subject. We invite you to step through this digest of photos and stories. There’s nothing to fear but fear itself. Storytellers and photographers alike would love to hear your encouragement and comments!
They silently screamed, reaching for the last rays of light. The sun slowly faded behind the clouds. A sun whose warmth they would not feel for another season. For their planet was one in which it perpetually rained, the sun shining for but a short day each year.
He stood there with his hand against the cool, smooth glass. The scene that kept playing through his mind was like a background of his life. A few people gathered on the street, cars and buses flying past, and the light flashing “DON’T WALK.” Even though the room was quiet he could hear the roar of engines and the squeal of tires. Horns honked competing with the shouts of pedestrians. The most frightening sound that gripped his heart and rendered him paralyzed was the dull “thud” he remembered as his mother had stepped off the curb and into a city taxi. The street, it’s sounds and the color yellow keep him as a prisoner in his room to this day.
“I did it!”, Lucy exclaimed, “I conquered it.” She let out the breath she’d been holding in, turned around and looked back up at the blinding sunlight. She had been terrified to walk down these dark stairs… unable to see the bottom from her starting point above. Her imagination had filled that dark place with dangers and torments unknown, but she willed herself down the long stairway anyway only to discover an empty place where fears dwell if you let them. She felt light as a bird – and looked back up to light and life, turning her back forever on that which had kept her paralyzed. As she drew in a breath to begin her ascent, something moved in the blackness behind her.
This image for me represents fear and the possibility of encountering bad moments. “…I don’t like the feeling of closed spaces, dark tight places, where you have to hold your breath. Anticipating the worst time, I just know that I must move faster and get through it this time, unscathed…” So, this image becomes a metaphor for moving through one’s life with as little resistance as is possible. When one makes the decision to run into a dark tunnel, accept it but move quickly, you can ponder the experience for the rest of your life.
Antonio Denti has been a Reuters staff cameraman for 17 years, covering historical events in different parts of the world: from Indonesia to Turkey to the Vatican.
Instagram has become the avenue for Antonio to process his experience as a news cameraman into a personal artistic expression. His images are provoking as they serve as evidence of historical events as they unfold. Here is Antonio’s story by his words and images.
Even though I have worked on stories alongside famed photographers, journalists and documentarists, most news cameramen like me are anonymous. For example, many may know Robert Capa as the one who photographed D-day, but very few know the names of the other cameramen who documented and risked their lives to record that event.
Besides anonymity, the work of a news cameraman is like the life of a mayfly. Very quick passages in one-minute TV reports. I don’t even know if some of the stories that meant more to me, like the one on Baghdad’s mental hospital at the start of my Instagram project, were ever aired by any news channel.
When my first son started walking, this last winter, something changed. I continue to respect the job that feeds me and my family, but I wanted to give some space to the real reasons why I have chosen this field of work.
As a photographer, I study the lives of others as as a profession. The people I have photographed were the ones really affected by what was happening. In every place and situation, even though I was there, I was the least affected. What allowed me to feel that I could look at them in the eyes and keep working was not a moral motive, but a personal one.
I would try my best to get the essence of what was happening to them, the spirit behind the facts, the expression (good or bad) of the universal human condition that was happening in their lives and take it with me, to try and learn something of myself and of my life. I do not believe media coverage necessarily helps people. Sometimes it can damage them. However, I think that human affairs are important and precious, meaningful and full of sense. And if you try to catch that sense, a portion of that sense, you celebrate and respect the people whose lives you have intruded upon.
This principle, which is very important for me, has no room in news coverage as it is now, despite the great freedom and respect I have enjoyed from the agency I work for.
Instagram gave me a platform to work on it, as a laboratory for this random cameraman’s diary. Also because, when I think back of things I have seen, they usually come back as stills, not as moving pictures.
The project is entirely made by iPhone captures of my own professional photography over the years. I try to post an image every Thursday, with no definite theme or plan. Like many of my ‘experienced colleagues’ (as in aging) I have captured a lot of moments of people’s lives and this project will continue for some time… I hope.
You can find Antonio’s project on his Instagram page, where he is @antclick.
We find quite an uncommon Barbie in @mssolobarbie‘s account. Here the icon prototype of successful beauty is a normal girl, able to move (her eyes are, if necessary, now blue, now gray, black, cheerful, full of tears for no reason) and to be unhappy (someone said: she has something on her, kind of unhappiness)
It’s a muffled world in which Barbie lives, far away from the limelight; a full collection of 48 dolls is shown in elegant images where vibrant colours are softened by dim light. It’s a gallery full of details where Maria Soldi accompanies her delicate images with words both personal and borrowed. Barbie is shown to us in her everyday life. There’s nothing spectacular in what she does, but she is magical, like special people are. This Barbie is us.
She leads a normal life: goes to the supermarket and cooks homemade pasta, does laundry and goes to the swimming pool and loves being in contact with Nature (the wind ruffles her, with no other purpose than to blow) (and what in the foreground? Ah, whatever, as long as it’s a bird just passing in flight)
We scroll her daily life and her thoughts (every beginning as a matter of fact is a sequel; and the book of events is just half open) and her desire of living all the little things around her femininity (brooches, this or that comb, a twine so that I can say: I don’t regret anything)
Traces of the icon’s mundane aspects are still present, but we find the same attention when showing the pleasure of coming back home.
Mother consoling (why don’t you sleep, my love?), adolescent waiting (as I don’t know when dawn comes, I’ll keep open every door), woman in love (I have to shorten the distance) and determined (if someone is stepping on my feet or pricks me with a pin I feel nothing), fresh bride with traditional white dress (yes, I will) and very private person (no one knows what she does when at home). A soft vignette makes her world separated from ours.
Barbie crosses all the ages of life, without a chronological order. A gallery where “theright balance” is metaphorically between two birds’ weights and where freedom and initiative are shown with an “I fly alone“. What is here still of the Icon? Just a woman receiving flowers, but soon after we find her shining her husband’s footwear…
…sewing a hem, ironing or doing housework. The woman supposed to be an Icon looks in a mirror not to admire herself, but rather to clean it with a spray and catch that instant to reflect about the fact “each mirror gives me different news“.
She is still a bejeweled Barbie sometimes, but jewels are also the raindrops on the window glass (how light is this light in a raindrop). A melancholic beauty, she is not sure about her own loveliness (a face who didn’t know she could be lovely) as often happens to those who are naturally beautiful.
She does not spend her time facing a mirror to admire herself, but rather to love the beauty all around. In spite of all that, she is doubtful about living up to the world’s expectations of someone it deems beautiful. Barbie is a woman whose desires are both simple and deep. But she is aware that she is an icon and accepts her role: the world wants to find hope in a face.
Maria Soldi | @mssolobarbie is a 55 year old Italian photographer living in the north of the Country. As a child she never owned a Barbie, and her playmates didn’t have one. But having since met the famous doll, she has been cultivating a passion she was a little bit ashamed of, until a friend gave her the first Barbie at the age of 40. Since then Maria and Barbie have never left, and now that doll is part of a collection of 48. Maria has enjoyed shooting since she was 18, and the desire to take shots daily, combined with the lack of a model for portraits, made her decide to open an account dedicated to Barbie.
La vita segreta di Barbie
È una Barbie inconsueta quella che ci viene descritta da Maria Soldi nel suo account @mssolobarbie. L’icona prototipo del successo è una ragazza normale che si commuove (ha gli occhi se occorre ora azzurri, ora grigi, neri, allegri, senza motivo pieni di lacrime) e può essere infelice ( qualcuno diceva: ha qualcosa addosso, come una specie di infelicita’ ) . È un mondo ovattato e discreto quello in cui si muove Barbie, lontano dalle luci della ribalta. La collezione di 48 esemplari ci viene mostrata in eleganti immagini dove i colori vibranti sono attenuati dalla penombra. Una galleria piena di dettagli che Maria Soldi accompagna con pensieri propri o presi in prestito.
Barbie è raccontata nella sua quotidianità. Non vi è nulla di spettacolare in quello che fa, eppure è magica, come lo sono tutte le persone speciali: questa Barbie siamo noi. Barbie conduce una vita normale, va al supermercato e fa la pasta in casa, fa il bucato e va in piscina, ama essere in contatto con la natura ( il vento la scompiglia, senza altri motivi se non quello di soffiare ) ( e che cosa in primo piano? Ah, qualunque cosa, purché sia un uccello che stia giusto passando in volo).
Vediamo scorrere insieme alla sua vita quotidiana i suoi pensieri ( ogni inizio infatti è’ solo un seguito e il libro degli eventi è’ solo aperto a metà ) ed il desiderio di vivere tutte le piccole cose attorno alla propria femminilità ( spille, questo e quel pettine, uno spago perché io possa dire: non rimpiango nulla).
Sono ancora presenti gli aspetti mondani (mi metto le scarpe e arrivo) ma vi è altrettanta cura nel descrivere il piacere del ritorno tra le mura domestiche (finalmente a casa). Mamma che consola (non piangere- amore, perché non dormi?), adolescente in attesa (non sapendo quando l alba arriverà tengo aperta ogni porta), donna innamorata ( devo accorciare le distanze) e determinata (se qualcuno mi pesta i piedi o mi punge con uno spillo non sento niente ), fresca sposa col tradizionale abito bianco (si, lo voglio). Ma anche riservatissima (nessuno sa cosa faccia a casa).
Barbie attraversa tutte le età della vita, senza un ordine cronologico. Una galleria dove “il giusto equilibrio” e’ metaforicamente tra il peso di un uccellino e un altro, e dove la libertà e l’ iniziativa viene rappresentata con un “volo da sola” . Dell’icona qui rimane una donna che riceve dei fiori, ma la troviamo poco dopo a lucidare le scarpe del suo compagno (mi prendo cura delle tue scarpe) a cucire, stirare o fare le quotidiane pulizie di casa. Barbie si riflette in uno specchio non per ammirarsi ma mentre lo sta pulendo con uno spray e coglie quell’ istante per riflettere sul fatto che “ogni specchio ha per me notizie differenti“. È ancora una donna ingioiellata, a volte, ma gioielli diventano anche le gocce di pioggia sul vetro ( “quanto è leggero tutto questo in una goccia di pioggia “).
Una malinconica bellezza che non è sicura di se stessa (un viso che non sapeva di poter essere bello), come spesso accade a chi, pur essendo bella, non passa la vita davanti ad uno specchio ad ammirarsi ma piuttosto ammira la bellezza attorno a se’, e si chiede se ne è all ‘ altezza. Barbie è una donna dai desideri semplici e profondi. Ma consapevole di essere anche, per gli altri, un’icona, ne accetta il ruolo : il mondo vuole vedere la speranza sul viso.
Maria Soldi (@mssolobarbie) è una fotografa italiana di 55 anni. Vive in una cittadina dell’Italia Settentrionale e da bambina non ha mai avuto una Barbie, come del resto le sue compagne di gioco. Ma dal momento in cui ha incontrato, più tardi, la famosa bambola, ha coltivato una passione di cui un po’ si vergognava, fino a quando un amico non gliene ha regalata una all’età di 40 anni. Da quel momento in poi Maria e Barbie non si sono più lasciate, e adesso quella prima bambola fa parte di una collezione di 48 esemplari. Maria sin dall’età di 18 anni ama fare fotografie e la necessità di fotografare quotidianamente associata alla mancanza di modelle disponibili per ritratti ha fatto si che si decidesse a creare un account dedicato a Barbie.
Every Monday we feature a photo prompt and ask our audience to share their stories to accompany it with us on Instagram. We would love for you to join us and share what each photo says to you. In September we paired stories that reflected the loneliness found in images from our excellent Grryo photographers. Take a moment to drink in the lines that we have here for you and enjoy the photos that inspired them. Storytellers and photographers alike would love to hear your encouragement and comments!
Ed waited all day for his ex wife to drop off his daughter Chloe. Surrounded by so many people, but feeling so alone. Once again Ed would spend his birthday in solitude.
After learning to walk on glass, he sat down and was overwhelmed, not by the accomplishment but by the pain. There was no one that witnessed his feat (feet) and the realization of what he had done really did not matter, he was alone.
Gertrude was the name on her birth certificate but everyone on the street called her “Candy” and those who knew her well called her “Sweet Candy.” She did her rounds morning and night checking on the homeless and occasionally offering oatmeal cookies she made from scratch. The people considered her a saint except for 2 young men who attempted to snatch Candy’s purse and met Candy’s walking stick instead. After one suffered a well-deserved concussion and the other a broken nose, they called her “Candy Cane.”
Lani wished she could simply vanish… melt away into her surroundings. Lured to this location by the mysterious stranger whose texts had instructed her to be in this very place, at this very time, it was completely empty, half dark and half filled with light, and she could not tear her eyes away from the empty screen of her phone. Her dark clothes, her dark mood, in complete opposition to the wall that was holding her up – light, bright, strong. This rendezvous… her racing heart causing a blush to cross her face that looked like anger and her mind moving too fast to make any sense. Lani’s phone remained silent, as if rebuking her impetuousness.
It all started with a flea market find. I stumbled across a box of old cameras; sifted through them and picked a couple out, not knowing anything about them. At five bucks apiece, though, I figured that at the very least, they’d make good bookends. But then, I had an idea.
The idea was this: shoot a picture using film, shoot from the same spot using my iPhone, then attempt to edit the latter to look something like the former. After all, there are so many apps that seem to be designed to replicate film. Even the term ‘filter’, which is sometimes mocked due to its frequent use in mobile editing, comes from what was originally a film camera method. Anyway, I roped a couple friends into the adventure, and, many (many!) months later, we are ready to report to you, the esteemed reader, the results of our experiment.
Film photography is the only photography I really do. I prefer negatives to image files, I just always have. So there isn’t really any story to how I got into it, I’ve been lugging a camera around since I was a kid. The first was a plastic point and shoot, the sort you could pick up at any pharmacy in a hurry for cheap. It took AA batteries, it was bright blue, the lens cover broke and the photos it took were usually blurry. Basically, it was awful, but I carried it around all the time anyway. I made the jump to an SLR my first year of college, a gift from my parents. Since then I’ve experimented a lot with camera types and film formats. I wandered into digital photography a bit, at the urging of a friend, but didn’t stay long. They’ve always seemed like two different arts to me, only sometimes having the same goal. So I think that was the most challenging part of this project for me, taking one and forcing it to look like the other. Even though they look the same or, if I were any good at editing digital photos, practically identical, they don’t feel the same. It’s a silly observation, really, to most people the end result is more important than the process, if the photograph is good then everyone feels exactly what the photographer hoped they would feel. The process doesn’t matter. Well that and not destroying a roll of film so completely you couldn’t even tell there ever were images on it, but mostly the other thing.
Click on any photo to start slideshow. Order is as follows: iPhone shot, film shot, then edited iPhone shot.
{shot with an iPhone 5s}
{shot with a Nikon N80 with damaged Kodak Gold 400}
{iPhone shot, edited with VSCO, Mextures, and PhotoWizard}
{shot on an iPhone 5s}
{shot with a Nikon N80 with damaged Kodak Gold 400}
{iPhone shot, edited with VSCO, Mextures, and PhotoWizard}
I’ll have to admit I know very little about film photography, despite being the only kid I knew that had a SLR, a camera I used for at least 15 years. But looking back through my childhood film adventures, quantity seems to reign over quality. I do have a decent collection of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes, not to mention a good number of mid-nineteenth-century thermoplastic cases that are works of art in and of themselves. The fact that they secretly scream out to me in the middle of the night, “sell us on eBay; you only look at us once a year; you need the money!” just makes me want to tell them all to screw off, but the ability to date them to within less than a decade (hair, clothes, and case mat styles) makes my little historian heart happy, although I guess that’s the thing about photos, right? You can look at one and just tell almost immediately when they were taken (with some research, of course, unless you were born before 1839). So here we are trying to subvert this little bit of fabulousness that has literally defined the photograph in all its forms, formats, and styles for the past 175 years.
That said, once I was asked to contribute to this project, I at once jumped at the chance while secretly, selfishly, mourning what a poor choice Jeff had made to include me, the procrastinator of all procrastinators. In any case, I went once again to the old Minolta SLR. I replaced the long-expired batteries (yep). I turned it on. Nothing. I cleaned it; I shook it. Nothing. Next choice was grandma’s old 1970s Instamatic 314. I removed the even-longer-ago-expired batteries (yep). I cleaned out the corrosion. I wistfully thought about how many pictures of my childhood were produced of this little gem. Then I found out they no longer made batteries or film for it. Film is easy; batteries…not so much. Moving on, I at last decided to brave the romance of the Brownie! A great idea, I told myself. Just point, er, look down and make sure your subject is level, and click. I found a decent one at an antique store for $20. Of course, the original 620 film isn’t made any longer, so I purchased an expired roll of 1983 film and hoped I wasn’t wasting more time and money.
The second camera and film experiment, another that harkens back to the retro days of the 1980s (yeah, baby, yeah!), is, of course the Polaroid. During the 80s my trusty Polaroid and I spent many hours documenting my stuffed animals, my live animals, and, of course, my very own self animal. I took selfies. I used a stick. A real stick. If only I knew then what I know now, I’d be rich. Rich, I tell you! But then again, 11-year-old girls don’t think too far into the future, as a rule. Just put on a hat and makeup, grab a stick from the yard, stabilize the camera, and, you know, selfie. But having said all that, I never really enjoyed the way Polaroids look. Still don’t, actually. But because of our history together, I HAD to go there. Again, I bought some expired 600 film, but this time I declined the stick method in order to see if I could actually take a decent photo with this thing. I couldn’t.
What did I learn? There’s more to film than just film, and the least fun part of this was recreating it with the phone shots. Especially the Polaroids. And old photos are pretty damn cool. If I had a ca. 1860s wet plate camera…I wouldn’t know what the hell to do with it. I would probably sell it on eBay for a decent amount of cash. The end of this finds me at a point where I am not in the least bit interested in editing right now, and making these pictures look worse didn’t help. So I did spend some time making edits I actually like. So, in the end, it’s been cathartic I suppose. And I do like the physical act of taking a picture with a Polaroid camera. So, yeah, maybe I’ll continue that, just for shits and giggles if nothing else. Hell, maybe I’ll pick up a stick and use it.
{shot on an iPhone 5}
{shot on a Kodak Brownie with expired film}
{iPhone shot, edited with Analog Film and VSCO}
{shot on an iPhone 5}
{shot on a Polaroid}
{iPhone shot edited with Mextures, ArtStudio, Afterlight}
I think the last time I’d shot film was with a Kodak disc camera (anyone else remember those?) that my grandfather had given me. I was probably ten. I actually still had it, and tried it, but it was no longer working. Next, I tried one of the flea market finds–an old Ricoh–with some DIY damaged film. The pharmacy mail-order developer returned it with a note: “Film Received Damaged”. Duh. Then, a borrowed Polaroid camera from a friend, with some Impossible Project film. Success! After that, I tried out some water damaged film given to me, and then, developed by, our resident film expert. (that would be Megan, from above.) Finally, I had a handful of images I was able to work with. What did I learn? Well, for one, the random results that film will give you are really cool. I think, in fact, I’m starting to enjoy not knowing what I’m going to get, rather than trying so hard to achieve a particular look- it’s rather freeing! I’ve since had fun trying other films and cameras out, and I’m now constantly looking for thrift shop bargains. It’s like my photography journey has gone from one extreme to the other.
{shot with an iPhone 5}
{shot with a Polaroid, using Impossible Project 660 film}
{iPhone shot, edited with ArtStudio, SnapSeed, Mextures, Polamatic, Union}
{shot with an iPhone 5}
{shot with a Ricoh TLX Focal 1000, using water damaged bnw film}
{iPhone shot, edited with Snapseed and Mextures}
We’d love to see your film experiments, whether they are mobile phone comparisons or just straight out of the camera photos. Add the tag #wearegrryo_phoneyfilm on Instagram and share them with us.
Ebrahim Mirmalek takes us on a hypnotic visual and sensory journey that is infused with stories within stories … as he passes through rugged terrain in the small border towns of Iran he is not only observing, but living, breathing and sending visceral echoes over and through these vast landscapes and majestic mountains to his lens …. He stays in the homes of locals, entering their lives as a stranger but leaving forever changed after immersing himself into the everyday reality of a people often ignored and forgotten.
Sistan & Baluchestan is a south eastern, underdeveloped region, with vast areas of rugged, mountainous terrain, bordering the neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan. Here, smugglers illicitly enter in and out of the lawless borders through risky routes, in order to survive the poverty inflicted by the high rising unemployment. A province isolated due to its relentless droughts and desolate lands – its people repleted with pride and poetry, but bonded to their ancestral soil where they endure the harsh climates throughout the dry seasons. Mirmalek’s dusty impressions will long leave their trace where few photographers have tread before…
Why did I choose this area?
In Iran this province has been given the least attention for certain political and social reasons… the image of this province has been crippled mainly because of the security and political issues from hostage crises to kidnapping and sectarian attacks to smuggling. It’s interesting to note that Lonely Planet, the most popular book on traveling, has only devoted a few pages on this the 2nd largest province of Iran. I have since realized that for foreigners it’s considered a red zone, meaning that their government takes no responsibility for their risk of traveling here and so it remains deprived from being seen…
I’ve seen the dark side of this place as well …
Because of a misunderstanding, my iPhone got smashed on the floor and I was close to getting beaten up… but nothing changes the fact of how lovely these people are. I think one should experience the extreme dark side of a place as well to better understand the mentality and extremities of these people, and avoid romanticizing, as often people do, when they travel to these places. I was lucky though, but bad things can happen.
I never separate my everyday reality from what I see through my lens.
It is all part of it, every picture I have taken is a reflection of my own personal feelings and it embodies a reality I choose to capture. Since I’m working alone and not on an assignment I’m free to connect to whatever hits me and that’s the joy of being a photographer and traveling for yourself… Other than photos taken for certain historical and cultural reasons, I take photos for the story I want to tell…
Even landscapes are like monologues to me, they ignite an emotion and feeling to the one who sees it.
There are plenty of sunrises and sunsets taken everyday all around the world, we all see it and they all look the same, but only the ones you take speak personally to you … working in the field of film and documentaries has made me more aware of how the mind and perception works when you are faced with a reality – that’s why I’m interested in fiction. They say to understand the truth one needs to know and understand the myths behind it… I feel it is the same in art and photography in general, there are plenty of documentaries of the same subject and not one of them are the same, as they are all bound to their own unique perspectives… that’s why I believe in journeys, diaries…
Ghaleh no in the Sistan province.
The village is slowly being abandoned due to the devastating drought hitting the region.
An old Sistani shepherd with his livestock grazing in the drylands of the Hamoon Sea, behind him is Khaje Mountain. This black volcanic rock used to be called Rustam Mountain which is derived from an old famous Persian myth character, and also sanctified by the followers of Islam, Zoroaster and Christianity.
An abandoned British railway custom house overlooking a skeletal tree located in the desolate town of Mirjave in the Baluchestan Province of Iran. The building has now turned into wreckage, walls covered and etched with scribbled words of regret, the rooms covered with drug addicts needles and ashes…
Young people drive for days making a risky journey into the borders of Pakistan, illicitly smuggling gasoline to support their family. They are forced to do this work for many reasons, but mainly because of the high-rate of unemployment in this province. They often get arrested, fined or shot by army police, the dust is made by the smugglers trucks taking off-road routes to avoid official check points.
A Baluchi man holding a klashnikov while climbing a hill in the Bamposht mountain area in Baluchestan. It has been one of the most insecure provinces of Iran due to the abductions and insurgencies by rebels.
A Baluchi girl helping her family washing the dishes in Sirkan, Baluchestan. In the Baluchi culture children play an important role helping the family’s household responsibilities from a very early age.
In the untouched mountainous region of Bamposht / Baluchestan during sunset.
A Baluchi man collecting hay for his farm in a village called Nahook.
A Baluchi peasant holding a bundle of harvested crops he gathered early in the morning in Nahook. Traditional farming is still widespread in the small villages of Baluchestan.
An ancient local tradition, weaving baskets, home accesories or bags for transporting goods out of a very common local tree called Daz.
I started filming when I was a teenager with our home video camera, it is then that I became interested in filmmaking and started working as an editor, making documentaries and short films, it was up until my 25th year when I moved to Dubai with my ex-wife that things changed after our separation. It was during the financial crisis, I bought my first digital camera and started shooting the streets or anything that would reflect my internal feelings of isolation and remoteness. Photography wasn’t anything I wanted or was interested to do but rather a necessity, to capture and share these reflections and imagery that I could hardly put into words or even film. The timelessness of photography is magical to me, and allows me to tell stories within a fraction of a second… images turned into a voice for me unlike any other medium I’ve experienced.
Photography has become my closest and only medium of expression.
I believe in the subjectivity of truth and the power of personal photography wishing the mainstream media breaking into small streams of personal truths told by genuine and passionate story-tellers all around the world, where the significance of a story is not based on the hype of our time but purely based on personal connections of the individual with it’s subject matter he/she is photographing…
Ebrahim Mirmalek is a remarkable documentary / travel photographer and documentary video editor who is currently based in Iran…. His background is in film and documentaries. These images are a sample from his Sistan & Baluchestan Travel-memoir, where he traveled overland for 2 months trying to capture his own personal experience as well as the feel and spirit of the people and the lands they dwell in… the rest of the series can be found on his website, he also shares his daily / weekly stories of this trip and many more on Instagram.
Welcome to the HTC One A9. These are the first images taken and posted anywhere. (see more images below)
We were lucky enough to be asked to supply one of our photographers and we put Dutch Doscher (Instagram and Twitter) up for the gig.
“I received the phone last week and took it to some of my favorite places. I wanted to get some nature, landscape and street shots. It was the first time I used an android phone and really considered switching out of an iPhone.”
All images are shot and edited on the HTC 13 megapixel phone with the native camera and gallery app. Some have also been edited with Google’s Snapseed app.
Enjoy and as always, All comments welcome. Dutch will try and answer any questions you may have.
Dawn of October 3, 2015 ushered in a weekend of meeting new people during Instagram’s World Wide Instameet 12. The theme to encourage these worldwide encounters was #todayimet. We at Grryo went one step more and asked our followers to tag portraits of people they met, along with a short story about their new friends. We present to you those great portraits and stories in a two part collection from Sydney, Australia to Seattle, USA in our collection of #todayimet. Be sure to visit our international portraits and stories from Today I Met here.
Tim the Enchanter. Anyone who’s ever been part of a team or activity such as drama or band, knows that feeling of finding like-minded individuals as yourself. Your “tribe” as it were. That’s what I love about Instameets. You meet some of the most interesting, fun, willing to pose in any awkward position, people. Tim was all that. The awesome beard made him a favorite to photograph for many, but his relaxed and fun demeanor really added to the camaraderie. Though it was raining and we were all fumbling with umbrellas while shooting, the overcast skies were amazing and really painted a dramatic mood to our photos. if you’ve never attended an Instameet you don’t know what you’re missing. I’m old enough to be father to 99% of them all, so if I can do it so can you (though I do try to bring one or more of my own kids so as to reduce the “old-creep” factor).
Since I’m on a binge of portraits, here’s another from the WWIM 12. Today I met Christie Rosckes of @discoverstillwater. When Christie isn’t doing the marketing things, she collects antiques around town, sometimes hauling them in her scooter much to the amazement of motorists around her! When asked to answer who I follow, she mentioned @exploreminnesota, without hesitation.
Today I met @matt_treiber on my very first @minnstameets!! Matt is leaving for Taipei tomorrow for four months! He has a pair of two Puma Suedes that he mix matches and call them “Ketchup and Mustard” and likes to wear stylish socks! We also found out that we are somewhat of neighbors. It was great meeting you and safe travels. I can’t wait to see pictures!! #wwim12_mn
Today I met Doug and Crystal. While I’ve followed this dynamic duo for some time now, the first time I met them was for #wwim12#wwim12AR. These two travel the back roads, lakes, and hills of Arkansas shooting tremendous scenery. A year ago Crystal joined @arkmophs as a moderator and week after week finds great #arkmophs photos to feature for our followers. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to hang out with them and can’t wait until next time when we meet again.
The theme for Instagram’s world wide instameet this weekend is #todayimet. Well, I actually met this guy a few weeks ago but today was the first time we really got to hang out as we drove two hours to Kansas City. Turns out he’s got a sharp sense of humor and great taste in music (i.e. The perfect travel companion). Thanks for going to the Kansas City instameet with me Larry!
Had a blast meeting this super fun guy today! He’s Jeff, founder of @igers_toledo. Jeff had to miss the meetup in Ohio but we were happy to welcome him to KC! So glad you joined us for the memorial meetup.
Today I met Rafael & Nicolette and I enjoyed watching this couple get in their creative flow at the Golden Rise Meet in Santa Clarita, California as part of Instagram’s World Wide Instameet. Rafael is a photography/video manager at CalArts. Nicolette runs her own fashion and lifestyle blog at nicomichelle.com. Yes, Rafael is the photographer for Nicolette’s blog.
Today I met @ladykty. I’ve been following Ketty on instagram for about a year now. She traveled from New York with her husband for a short vacation and the timing couldn’t have been better to finally meet up. Her gallery is filled with a bit of wanderlust, life imitating art Degas ballerinas, and hot mama selfies. A few of her favorite LA-based IGers are @smallmoves, @mywitsend, and @toddler777.
Down low, too slow. Instameet shenanigans are the best shenanigans. I had an absolute blast hanging out on Sunday and playing around taking photos against this wall with @_jfleming,@brittneyway,@zulfthewolf,@gordito65, & @mrvalography. John always has a smile on his face and brings the fun wherever he goes. Brittany was an amazing sport and an absolute joy to be around. We all may or may not have had way too much fun throwing leaves at each other to “get the shot”, which @zulfthewolf and @gordito65 absolutely did! Be sure to stop by each of their feeds to check out the results!
We hope you’ve enjoyed these encounters we’ve shared from instameets across the USA. Sharing is nice and we would love for you to share this collection with others through a variety of social media opportunities presented at the top of this page. Be sure to visit our international portraits and stories from “Today I Met” here.
Dawn of October 3, 2015 ushered in a weekend of meeting new people during Instagram’s World Wide Instameet 12. The theme to encourage these worldwide encounters was #todayimet. We at Grryo went one step more and asked our followers to tag portraits of people they met, along with a short story about their new friends. We present to you those great portraits and stories in a two part collection from Sydney, Australia to Seattle, USA in our collection of #todayimet. Today I Met: USA here.
It was a strikingly hot Sydney day, but what struck me most as I approached Cave Urban’s stunning 21 metre tall sculpture made of bamboo, was the huge mass of Sydneysiders that had turned up for Instagrams’ 12th Worldwide Instameet! I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Organised by the good people of @sydneyfolk, the day was mostly focused on practising portraiture, due to Instagrams’ weekend theme of #todayimet. It was an incredible afternoon filled with the perfect mix of meeting many wonderfully creative individuals, lots of messy coloured powder and most importantly people putting their hands up to pose for portraits! I was lucky enough to take a few portraits and experiment with different portraiture styles, but I really love this one in particular of my friend De @twistdee against a lemon backdrop.
Today I @sombra_y_luz met the lovely Hussein @hussw during a walk around Melbourne University with the @igersmelbourne Originally from Somalia, home is now Oz. Great to finally meet so many of you.Hussein follows @takubeats and @paristoribio What a great community this is!
Today I met a brilliant talent at #WWIM12JavaConnect. His name is Bamby, a great photographer from Bandung Coret. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him directly, but yesterday is the first time that I had a conversation with him. I learned so many lessons from him such as, how to take a great picture like he does . . . everyday. I think He’s a funny and kind person. I like how he keeps a low profile. I loved when people said, “Eh bamby, yang keren mulu fotonya!” He would reply, “Ah bisa aja, Yang kamu lebih keren!” (Eh Bamby, you take really cool pics all the time. “Ah, nah, yours is even cooler!”). His response made me remember of a girl who posted a selfie, with a six grid and the same type of faces, then somebody says, “ih, Cantik banget kak!”(oh, how gorgeous sis!) and she answers it with “Ahh, kamu lebih cantik kok!” (Ahh, you’re way prettier!). Uh liars!
Yesterday was a great day. I made so many friends just like the event said, ‘Java Connect’. I am really connected.
Today I met Evan Imran Palubri salah satu instagramer yang dateng jauh dari tegal buat gabung WWIM 12 Java Connect di Bandung ! Mas Evan ini karakternya unik, ramah pokoknya nyaman deh orangnya untuk diajak sharing. Mas Evan ini baru aktif instagram sekitar 1 tahun terakhir dimana banyak hal hal positif yang didapat karena instagram, salah satunya dapat pengalaman lebih dan relasi yang lebih luas. Tanpa disadari Instagram menfasilitasi penggunanya untuk kenal satu dengan yang lainnya, dimana rata rata yang memang mempunya hobi atau passion yang sama ya contohnya Mas Evan ini, Berawal dari ikut gabung explore semarang lalu Mas Evan dapat banyak relasi, ilmu dan inspirasi. Sampai akhirnya Mas Evan melihat potensi di daerahnya (Tegal) yang kaya akan tempat pariwisata yang cukup menarik dari situ langsung Mas Evan tergerak untuk membuat @exploretegal.
English Translation:
Today I met Evan Imran Palubri, one of the instagrammers who came all the way from Tegal to join WWIM12 Java Connect in Bandung! Mas Evan has a unique character. He is friendly and definitely made me feel comfortable to share with him. He has only been active on Instagram in the past year where he has gained more experience and made broader connections. Without realizing it, Instagram facilitated his ability to meet others, where he found like minded people who shared the same hobby or passion. For example, Mas Evan, began by joining Explore Semarang where he gained a lot of connections, knowledge, and inspiration. He finally saw potential in his local area of Tegal which is rich in tourism and is a very interesting place. From that experience Mas Evan was moved to start @exploretegal.
This is Riki. One of the friendliest guys I have ever met. He can instantly make a conversation with strangers: like me! Asking plenty of questions and making you feel important. Today he was part of our WWIM 12 Helsinki and today I met him. When I asked him who he followed his answer was @david_rivolier.
For WWIM12 Venice, I follow girls still smiling to life : they don’t need to be photographed from behind or as profile like any random fashion blogger, they can gently stand a camera with a smile, they are as we say in Italian “come i miei nonni” (like my grandparents) – “magnifiche” (magnificent). They come from a gilded era when Italians were putting labels on real and great products, not on stupid marketing tricks, and, yes, as we say in Venice le xè venexiane not Venetians.
Today I met Leonardo Stephán. This is what makes life so interesting to live, all the opportunities that lie ahead of us, meeting interesting people, the conversations awaiting and enriching us.
Spiral in the Palace and also Benedetto Demaio. He’s one of those people who can make you laugh despite your actual mood and that’s a quality I, Marzia, really appreciate in friends. His Instagram stream is full of turquoise which happens to be one of my favorite colors. All these people I have met thanks to Instagram: five years of photos, five years of new friends.
She is the lovely Antonietta Portioli. I, Valeria, met her today while attending with @igersmilano the Art Exibition La Grande Madre (The Great Mother) organized by Fondazione Trussardi at the Royal Palace in Milan, Italy. Antonietta is an Italian architect and although owner of a powerful camera she loves shooting with an iPhone 4S as easier and always handy. She doesn’t care about the noise sometimes present as she thinks is part of that image. Furthermore she loves grain. Two of her preferred accounts are @tutto_occupato and @morozzi. Here is posing with the awesome work AMAZING GRACE by Nari Ward. Thank you deeply Antonietta for this great afternoon together.
Today I met the volcanic and very talented Valeria at the exhibition ‘La Grande Madre’ during the WWIM 12 Milan. Thank you Valeria for the nice time we spent together and for suggesting to use this mirror to try an uncommon portrait. Also thanks to @igersmilano team for the perfect organization.
Me gusta encontrarme con personas que viven la experiencia de Instagram de una forma sana y saludable. Gente que disfruta con la fotografía y que aún no ha sucumbido al yugo de las modas, las tendencias, el marketing y la deshumanización como bandera. Gente cuyo único y noble propósito es el de divertirse con esto y relacionarse con personas afines, desvirtualizándose mutuamente con estos instameets que de vez en cuando se organizan en distintas partes del mundo. Hubo un tiempo muy lejano en el que todo era así; estas quedadas son pequeños y raros oasis que nos recuerdan que esto antes no era el desierto en el que finalmente se convirtió. En la foto, Pablo @pabloalekoh. Tuve la suerte de conocerle ayer. Y amablemente se prestó para esta foto, haciéndome sentir como que nos conocíamos de siempre, a pesar de que nos seguimos desde hace muy poco. También conocí a @josenphoto, un tío muy versátil y con tantas ganas de explorar como yo. A Piluca @piluca_sun, una mujer a quien su corazón no le cabe en el pecho. A @tonicoy, alguien a quien llevaba mucho tiempo queriendo conocer personalmente. A @yocomu, con quien intercambié impresiones sobre en qué se han convertido las RRSS. A la gente de @photon_festival, que nos acercó en su charla al género de la fotografía documental, y que he admirado desde siempre. A @evefox y a @nereanp, a @bejealginet, a @mjoseos, @ladymsc72… ¿A quién sigo? #whoifollow A todos ellos. Porque como digo muchas veces, la foto es lo de menos. Porque galerías y fotos “cool” hay muchas. Gente sana, sencilla y buena, cada vez menos. Y por ello tienen todos mi más profunda admiración. Se me queda mucha gente atrás, pero ha sido un placer conocerles a todos. Gracias @igersvalencia, @mercadocentralvalencia, @monorxata, @cervezaturia, y a todos los responsables de que la mañana de ayer fuera estupenda.
English Translation:
I like to meet people on Instagram and the experience for me is lively and healthy. I like connecting with people who enjoy photography and have not succumbed to the hype of trends in fashion and marketing that dehumanize us. These world-wide instameets are perfect for those whose purpose is to have fun with their photography and interact with like-minded people. In this photo is @pabloalekoh. I was lucky to meet him yesterday, and he was kind enough to share this photo. Even though I had just met him, I felt like we had been friends for a long time. I also met @josenphoto, a very versatile guy and so eager to explore like me. Glad to have met @piluca_sun as well, a woman whose heart is too large to fit in her body. @tonicoy was someone who I had long wanted to meet personally. @yocomu, with whom we exchanged views on what has become the RRSS. @photon_festival approached us, and we discussed the genre of documentary photography. I’ve always admired his work. @evefox@nereanp@bejealginet@mjoseos, @ladymsc72 are #whoifollow
As I have said many times before, the picture is not important. There are plenty of “cool” photo galleries. The ones with honest, simple and fine galleries are few, and those are the ones who have my deepest admiration. There are more who I haven’t mentioned, but it was a pleasure to meet everyone.
Today I metDane Pollardat the WWIM12 in Manchester, UK. I, Elaine, had a fantastic day and was fortunate to meet a great bunch of igers, including a very cute dog called Princess Roy. Thanks for organizing such a fab meet up Dane.
Photo Credit: Sheldon
