#30-31 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2014

Challenge Creativity

ISSN: 2285-5734

Cristian Bassa Gina Buliga

Alain Laboile Petros Koublis

Summary
7 | Editorial 8 | Events
Iosif Berman Photography Exhibition The Lucie Foundation Emerging Scholarship 2014 Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr Only in England: Photographs by Capa in Color

100 | Journey = Photography

Trip to Florence

30-31 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2014

114 | PhoneCam Project 118 | Guy Tal on photography

68 | Advice 4all
LOOKING without SEEING

74 | Photo populis 84 | Photo Challenge 90 | Project4all

In Landscapes

12 | Photo Books
Photography: The 50 Most Influential Photographers of All Time (Icons of Culture) the World in 125 Years
Senior Editor: Cristina int (cristina.tinta@foto4all.ro) Editors: Dorin Bofan, Andrei Baciu, Emilian Chiril, Ana Neaca Contributors: Bence Makkai, Cristian Munteanu Translators: Irina Dinescu Graphic concept: studio seven (www.studioseven.ro) DTP: Ilie Popa (ilie.popa@gmail.com) Cover photo: Cristian Bassa Marketing: Cristina int, Ana-Maria Assfoura Online editor: Ionu Dorneanu Legal owner: S.C. SALES EXPRESS NETWORK S.R.L., VAT no. 28241939 Suporters: ANZI SOFT SRL, Andrei Zincenco The authors of each article shall be liable for the content they provide. Any copyright infringement, whether it is total or partial, shall be punished according to the applicable law. The property of each image and article published by our magazine belongs to the authors and to FOTO4all.ro. e-mail: publish@foto4all.ro FOTO4ALL.ro 20122014

National Geographic: Around Before They Pass Away Earth from Above

18 | Portfolio
Alain Laboile Cristian Bassa Gina Buliga

Go for it! Look out the window...

I truly hope what is about to come will not sound like some cheep New Years Eve resolutions, as I really believe in this words and the FOTO4all concept is partially based on such principles. Be free, dare to let things flow into your life, dare to be creative and to look for beauty everywhere, as you may not know that, but you need it. We all do. Observe your emotions, observe your thoughts. Observe yourself. Stop running for labels and justifications for everything. And dont be superficial. Surround yourself with people with initiative, with people and friends that inspire you. Help others, but if they dont appreciate it, move on. Time is short and other people will need you too. You also need yourself, so dont neglect that. Have patience. Dont expect too much, but be ready for the things that are heading towards you. Love what you do! Be grateful for what you achieved so far.

Be like the cover of our magazine. It struck me right away... The little girl looking so freely out the window, opened to everything that surrounds her, letting her dreams fly to the sky, hoping that they will come back to her. If you love photography, if you love what you do, be like the little girl, not like her mother, hiding behind the curtain. Try to stay in touch at least once in a while with that purity and peacefulness that children have. As Dorin Bofan said in one of his newsletters, we dont know if any of these will make you a better photographer, but they will surely make you a happier person. And keep challenging creativity with us!

Cristina int Editor-in-Chief

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National Library of Romania, Bucharest

Until January 31st, 2014

Iosif Berman Photography Exhibition

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ROMANIAN

Events

The Lucie Foundation Emerging Scholarship 2014

Photographers make images. Visionaries teach you how to see. The Lucie Foundation is proud to support emerging talent and professionals with vision, with dynamic ideas that challenge and progress the art form of still photography into work that compels. Through the Lucie Scholarship, a grant of $5,000 will be awarded to a professional photographer at work on a specific, dynamic project, as well as a grant of $2,500 to an emerging professional (student, graduate, or beginning professional) working on a portfolio or a proposed project. Their support of photography is broad, from photojournalism to fashion photography, digital to medium format, including every other category and subcategory. Their concern isnt with genre, but rather to support emerging visionaries producing work that is at once gripping, and original. Open Date: December 1, 2013 Deadline: February 28, 2014 Winner announced: March 30, 2014 Who Can Apply: T h e Lu c i e F o u n d a t i o n Emerging Scholarship is limited to emerging and s t u d e n t p h o to g r a p h e r s who are Lucie Foundation members. For more information on membership, visit their website. ( http://luciefoundation.org/ joinsupport/index.php ) How to Apply: Electronic submissions are preferred but if you are unable to apply online, please send an email request for application here scholarship@ luciefoundation.org. What is Required to Apply: Please read the following information carefully to make sure your application material is complete. Incomplete applications will not be considered: 1. Project Proposal. This proposal should include the following: -Project Start and End Dates -Desired Disbursement Dates (at least two) -250 Word Description of your project -Your Plan for completing the project (i.e. how you intend to approach the project and how you intend to use the scholarship money) -Five Goals that you plan to accomplish while working on the project (e.g. producing 20 new images, making 5 prints, etc.). 2. A one-page biography and/ or CV 3. Twenty digital images. Please be sure to review the guidelines before applying. For questions or comments, please contact them at scholarship@ luciefoundation.org
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Berman became interested in photography from an early age and as a child he spent time in the company of the itinerant photographers of Suceava and Cernui. Before the age of 18, he moved to Bucharest, where he earned money to buy a camera.His first photos were published in 1913 in the Dimineaa publication. During World War I, he was a regiment photographer and he was able to take photos of the October Revolution in Odessa, but his photographic plates were confiscated, on turns, by the Whites and by the Bolsheviks. In 1918, he contributed to Realitatea Ilustrat with a set of photographs of the fleeing German Army. Between 1920 and 1923, he was a correspondent from Istanbul for the Romanian newspaper. After returning to Romania, he was a photographer for the major Romanian newspaper, taking photographs of the Royal Family. During the mid-1920s, Berman collaborated with sociologist Dimitrie Gusti, who studied the Romanian village and traditions, and with Filip BruneaFoxfor his reportage articles. His photographs were published in all the major Romanian newspapers of the time: Adevrul, Dimineaa, Curentul, Realitatea ilustrat, Romnia ilustrat, Ilustraiunea romn, Cuvntul liber, L'Indpendance roumaine
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and also in The New York Times and National Geographic, being a correspondent of the Associated Press and Scandinavian Newspaper Press. In 1937, the Octavian Goga government closed down the left-wing newspapers for which he worked and his life's work, the boxes with the photographic plates from the archive of the Adevrul and Dimineaa newspapers were confiscated. Never theless, he continued to work and to send photographs to The New York Times. Following the advice of Romanian historian and later Prime Minister Nicolae Iorga, Berman began using a pseudonym, I. B. Urseanu, (which is a translation of his Jewish name) in order not to attract attention. Nevertheless, in 1940, he was banned from continuing his work due to the Anti-Jewish laws which were enacted by the National Legionary State. Depressed, he soon died, on September 17, 1941, according to his daughter, he died of a renal disease for which he refused to get any treatment. The Special Collections of the National Library The Photography Cabinet , store more than a thousand photographs taken by Iosif Berman, published in the daily illustrated press from the interwar period. Some of these are the ones exhibited until the end of January. A must see exhibition, you will surely not regret visiting it.

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Events

Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr

The Science Museum Exhibition Road, South Kensington , London, SW7 2DD, England
Until the 16th of March 2014

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NAL O I T A N R E T IN

Events
International Center of Photography (ICP) 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, New York
JANUARY 31MAY 4, 2014

Capa in Color

Fascinated by the eccentricities of English social customs, Tony Ray-Jones spent the latter half of the 1960s travelling across England, photographing what he saw as a disappearing way of life. Humorous yet melancholy, these works had a profound influence on photographer Martin Parr, who has now made a new selection including

over 50 previously unseen works from the National Media Museum's Ray-Jones archive. Shown alongside The Non-Conformists, Parr's rarely seen work from the 1970s, this selection forms a major new exhibition which demonstrates the close relationships between the work of these two important photographers.

Beginning in 1941, Robert Capa regularly used color film until his death in 1954. Some of the photographs were published in the magazines of the day, but over the years the color work was virtually forgotten. Until now. Capa in Color, on view at the International Center of Photography (ICP) from January 31 to May 4, 2014, is the first full assessment of color photographs by the famed photojournalist. Comprising over 100 contemporary prints, as well as related publications and personal papers, the exhibition is a fascinating new look into the color work of this master of photography. Capas talent with black-and-white film was extraordinary, and starting color film halfway through his career required a new discipline, but it also opened up new opportunities, said ICP Curator Cynthia Young, who organized the exhibition. The exhibition is also about how Capa reinvents himself as a photographer during the years when he is not covering war and political conflicts. The color work was very much a part of trying to keep the Magnum agency afloat, because the magazines wanted more and more color in the postwar period. In 1938, while in China covering the Sino-Japanese War, Capa wrote to a friend at his New York agency requesting 12 rolls of Kodachrome and instructions on how to use it. Only four prints published in the October 17, 1938, issue of Life survive from these first experiments with color film, but Capa was clearly curious about color photography even before it was widely used in news magazines or by other photojournalists. During his first two years covering World War II, he used color film more regularly and often carried two cameras with him. In 1941, while crossing the Atlantic with an Allied convoy, he shot color images for the Saturday Evening Post and later traveled to North Africa, where he made spectacular images of the military buildup. While some of his color work was published in Illustrated and Colliers, in 1944 and 1945 he returned to using black-andwhite film exclusively, in part because of the time required to process, censor, edit, and publish color.

Capa in Color is drawn entirely from the Robert Capa Archive in ICPs permanent collection. The Archive contains roughly 4,200 color transparencies 35mm Kodachrome, 2 Ektachrome, and some larger Kodachrome sheet film. It also includes thousands of vintage black-and-white prints, negatives, tearsheets, and papers. The exhibition is part of ICPs yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Robert Capa. On October 22, 2013, ICP released the only existing recording of the famed photojournalists voice, from an interview on WNBCs radio program Hi! Jinx. Now preserved in the ICP Archive, the recently discovered recording can be heard in its entirety at http://www. icp.org/robert-capa-100. In addition, from October 22, 2013, until the opening of Capa in Color on January 31, 2014, ICP is partnering with Magnum Photos to present the digital project Get Closer, a daily posting of one Capa image coupled with a work by a contemporary photographer, with observations and reflections on Capas influence and legacy. The photographers include Magnum members and other renowned photojournalists, many of the Robert Capa Gold Medal winners from the Overseas Press Club, and contemporary artists working in photography. For more information, visit http://getcloser. magnumphotos.com/.
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Photo book
Photography: The 50 Most Influential Photographers of All Time (Icons of Culture)
BY CHRIS DICKIE
In addition to profiling the most important photographers of past and present, this book presents a capsule history of photography and explores significant trends and developments in the field. Brief biographies with identifying photos include Matthew Brady, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Liebovitz, Richard Avedon, Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, and 40 other major figures in portraiture, fashion, photojournalism, documentary, landscape, and photographic art. And from photojournalists to fashion photographers, each area of photography is treated with equal importance and attention Small in size but filled with information and insights, each Icons of Culture title is a collection of brief, pithy, and enlightening biographies of men and women who have made their mark and left lasting influences in the lively arts. Scattered among these capsule biographies are two-page overviews that examine various aspects of the art. Handsomely designed and accessible to laypersons, these books make fine quick-reference sources while also providing enjoyable reading for inquisitive minds. Illustrations in color and black and white on most two-page spreads.

Photo book

National Geographic: Around the World in 125 Years

BYREUEL GOLDEN(EDITOR)
For five generations,National Geographicmagazine has dazzled and educated people with its incredible photographs, illustrations, and gripping stories from the four corners of the earth. Combining travel, wildlife, science, history, culture, and conservation, the National Geographic Societys trailblazing magazine has inspired millions of readers to explore and take an interest in the planet we inhabit.Now, in celebration of its 125th anniversary, National Geographichas given TASCHEN complete access to its archives to distill the journey of a lifetime into three prodigious volumes featuring photographs many unpublishedalmost as rich, deep, and colorful as the world itself. The book features approximately 1,500 pages of photos and illustrationsIncludes photos by Steve McCurry, Frans Lanting, George Rodger, James Nachtwey, and dozens ofNational Geographicstaffers who covered the worldfrom Timbuktu to Tuvalu. This world class set is a cultural investment to be cherished, shared, and passed down to future generations.

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Photo book

Before They Pass Away

JIMMY NELSON (PHOTOGRAPHER)
This historic volume showcases tribal cultures around the world. With globalization, these societies are to be prized for their distinctive lifestyles, art and traditions. They live in close harmony with nature, now a rarity in our modern era. Jimmy Nelson not only presents us with stunning images of customs and artifacts, but also offers insightful portraits of people who are the guardians of a culture that they--and we--hope will be passed on to future generations in all its glory. Nelson's large-plate field camera captures every intricate detail and fine nuance for posterity. What's more, this splendid pageantry is set against a vivid backdrop of some of the world's most pristine landscapes. English/German/ French edition.

Earth from Above

BY YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND

The result of a five-year airborne odyssey across five continents and 60 countries,Earth from Aboveis the most revealing and spectacular portrait of our world ever created. From a heartshaped mangrove forest in New Caledonia to a flock of red ibises in Venezuela, from a caravan of camels in Mauritania to Mt. Everest and Mammoth Hot Springs, renowned aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand presents striking color images that put our home planet in a whole new perspective. Produced under the sponsorship of UNESCO, the book is also a documentary record of the state of the world's fragile environment. This vibrant new edition of the internationally acclaimed original features an updated design and nearly 60 stunning new photographs. All new captions and the addition of authoritative new texts by experts in various environmental fields illuminate Arthus-Bertand's monumental achievement.
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Alain Laboile
-an interview by Cristina int
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Images that will immerse you into moments you might have lived during childhood, recalling long forgotten vacations, feelings, smells and memories. Emotion is ever present in Alain Laboiles photographs as well, mixed with what may look like strange stories at a first glance, quite a show actually, put into play by his children.

C..: Why photography? What led you to choose the camera lens as a means of expression? And what is photography to you? A.L.: I first came in contact with photography through my passion for entomology. I learned the bases on my own, by practicing macrophotography. The first prominent events were the winning in 2007 and 2008 of two big Canon contests. In 2007, I pointed my lens towards my growing family and this was, though I did not realize it at first, the starting point of my family album. The birth of my last two daughters is no stranger to my intensive exercise of photography . Now I shoot the everyday life. C..: How would you define a good image? A.L.: If there is emotion involved , the picture is good, even if it is a little bit fuzzy or poorly framed.

In my opinion that's not a problem. Emotion may arise from ordinary situations, from little things refering to ourselves. That's why family photo is a subject that is constantly renewing itself. C..: Your inspiration? A.L. : We have 6 children : Eliott (19), Olyana (17), Luna (15), Merlin(13), Dune (6) and Nil (5).They are my main inspiration. We chose to live in the countryside, in a really old house, without unnecessary comfort nor television. Our vast yard, bordered by a stream, with its bamboo forest and a familydug natural pool, is our universe. I learned to know this natural environment intimately, I know where to stand to catch the lights. Despite the relatively limited space,there is always plenty to discover, and the childrens ingenuity plays a predominant role.
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C..: Has your work ever been compared to that of Sally Mann. A parallel between La famillie and Immediate family? A.L.: I started in 2004 with a photographic culture close to the nothingness. Comments on my photos, sometimes while quoting photographers in reference, widened my knowledge. Sally Mann and Jock Sturges are frequently mentioned. C..: Some of your pictures are quite poetic. There is a lot of information in your images , but not neccessarily the kind of information that you see in documentary
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photography. There is EMOTIONAL information. Is that due to the fact your own family is involved in the process? A.L.: I shoot exactly what we live. I work at home and my wife does not work, therefore we never needed someone else to take care of our children. Today, they all attend school. We do not comply with the trend of having an overload of out-of-school activities and our children know how to enjoy this free time. This type of education creates situations of games, scenes of the daily life, that can somehow become shots, in which love and emotion show through.
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C..: We all know that in Manns works, children sometime posture, but through a combination of suggestive titles and lack of clothing the images take on a more overtly sexualized experience that many have hastily labeled as indecent. There was quite a scandal back then. What about you? Did anybody ever questioned or underlined the nudity in your images? A.L.: We live in the countryside, in an isolated place. Our children evolve in accordance with the nature and the youngest get undressed spontaneously when the weather is fine. They get dressed again by growing when the notion of modesty comes into play. It is this infantile nudity which sometimes raises problem. It is sexualized and demonized and this is when the censorship appears. I accept it, and remove the aimed
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photos from the social networks when asked to. C..: What about staging images? Do you often ask your children to do certain things in order for the final picture to be as you desire? I suppose that the Reflexions autour du bassin series implied some staging and acting. And probably lots of fun as well. It almost looks like a theatre show. A.L.: The series Reflection around the pool offered my children the opportunity to assume a role improvised within a few minutes. This time, the exercise differs from my daily practice photography that seeks to capture the spontaneity of the moment. These little scenes make them take part in some sort of a theater and this is what they like.
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C..: Do you think there is a conflict between staging and telling the truth (in photography)? A.L. :Its certainly possible to tell the truth with a staged photo, but it is not what Im looking for. My youngest children do not pay attention to the camera and are willing participants simply by indifference.
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Those in the middle heartily play along and, although they are aware of the photographic work in progress, it does not affect their behaviour. As for the elders, the over-consciousness of their image makes them harder to shoot naturally. Once again, the immersion in the game with the youngest makes things easier.
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C..: What motivated you to take pictures of your family for so long? A.L.: Everyday I share these photos on the Internet. I realise the universal and timeless dimension of my photographic work by reading testimonies from other people living all over the world. It is fantastic to be able to share daily pieces of our family life, and find a positive response to this simple life close to nature. Immersing someone in their own childhood through photography is very rewarding.The use of black and white probably reinforces this feeling. I cannot count the stories of people remembering themselves in the countryside with their grandparents, or recalling the smell of the summer vacation... I like the idea that someone could delve back into his own life by
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looking at pictures of random stranger on the web. What is sure is that this photographic vein based on family is not a calculation nor a conscious decision on my part. However, these universal comments necessarily influence my photographic production C..: Tell us the story of one of your favorite shots or series. A.L.: Last June, we found an orphan fawn newborn on the way to school. We took her and bottle-fed her . The vet gave us advice. We called her Lili. It is a very sweet memory for the children and thanks to the photos, these pure moments of happiness will never die. It is a part of secrets of the life in the countryside. Small magic moments....
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C..: What makes you press the shutter? What are you looking for in a photograph? A.L.: I am extremely present with my children. I'm there when they play and this is often the game that introduces the photographic idea. Sometimes of course they need a boost. A gesture may suffice, or a verbal indication such as "Do that again ! ", "Back up a little !", or "Wait... Go there! ' These are most of the time indications of placing, without explanation of what I want to photograph. I think they have become accustomed to these few words being thrown. The important thing is to do it in
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motion and not stopping the game for a briefing. Everything is done in real time. C..: Tell us about your dreams, hopes and plans for 2014 and the years beyond. A.L.: Ill publish a major book with Steidl Verlag at the end of 2014 or beginning of 2015. I hope Ill be able to exhibit in New York oneday and many other places ...Id like to travel with my wife and my children. My eldest son Eliott was with me in Tokyo last august, and my eldest daughter Olyana came with me to Los Angeles in november.
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Cristian Bassa
-an interview by Cristina int
There is a hidden sensitivity in Cristian Bassas images and there are certain small details that you may not notice right away but youll feel something drawing you towards them. Good stories too and most of all a depth of emotion-positive or at times negative-, that is not so often encountered in the visual world of our days. http://bassa.ro/

C..: Why photography? What led you to choose the camera lens as a means of expression? C.B.: A long time ago while in high school, I started drawing. Later on I started painting. Both drawings and paintings were very, very hard to do and took a considerable amount of time, effort and passion. So when I encountered my first digital camera I thought I struck gold: photos were flowing in rivers of megabytes, everything was happy-happy, joy-joy. Could it be that easy to produce something good? Then I started looking at some great photographers and felt kind of sick when coming back to my photos. After looking at a photo book from Bresson I deleted almost all of my existing images and surprisingly it felt really good. I started looking more at my photos,
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asking for feedback from various people, reading more about this phenomenon called photography, shooting more and deleting even more. After a considerable amount of time I was able to look at my photos with some degree of interest and fascination. It's not easy to express something deeply meaningful that you feel inside only by using the strangers on the street, the mountain and forest scenes, tiny bugs and wild animals, buildings and cars, naked girls or fashionable men. But when you do , your photography becomes art. C..: Henri Cartier-Bresson said for him photography is to place head, heart and eye along the same line of sight. It is a way of life. What is photography to Cristian Bassa?

C.B.: It would be a blasphemy to contradict mr. Bresson, wouldn't it? Honestly I don't want to give a dictionary definition on photography: I don't know it and I don't think it exists. Indeed photography is a way of life: a happy life, a troubled life or maybe a life on a darker path. If any of us would know the next step, there won't be any fun left in waking up each new morning. As I also stated in your book photography means discovering beauty in all that surrounds us, trying to show it to everyone else through myself. It's been said that everything was already done in photography. How can it be so when each of us is unique? C..: Where would you situate photography in the field of visual arts?

C.B.: Photography in all of its forms - is today's favorite way for communication. It's shape shifting and transforming into new things, it's going back to basics. Both ways are interesting but both have a very perverse effect. Not every new thing is necessarily good I saw a while ago a new camera who chooses the best shot from several or cameras trying to add silly filters to imitate various types of films. This is ok for having fun but unfortunately it doesn't make you an artist. Neither does shooting large format films of your kids. Everything can become art as long as you can find a piece of the artist in his work, as long as that specific work of art makes you feel something beautiful, uplifting.
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C..: In a digitalized world, you like to shoot on film. Why? C.B.: My first photos were shot on film, with my mother's camera. Family shots. Since then I shot lots of types of film, lots of rolls. I don't know if I can explain the feeling when shooting a scene on film. It's something like a journey back in time, it's similar to shooting a instant-film camera, similar to holding a printed photo, something primordial. Any photographer should experience this pleasure - a very inexpensive one if done as a beginner's test with a disposable camera and 1h developing shops. C..: Is there more magic into film photography? C.B.: No. I've never felt a photo is special or better because it's shot on film. A good photo is a good photo no matter if it has been shot on film or digital. One should avoid arguments such as film versus digital. Actually all arguments containing the vs particle should be avoided, as these discussions are
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just a big waste of time. Good photographers shoot more and debate less. There are indeed things about film that can be considered film magic- specific colors, different ways of developing, crazy physical effects and scratches, noise patterns, limited number of shots and so on. These are specific to film photography as the digital photography has its own digital magic. But the magic of the photo is another different thing. C..: Does the image reveal the photographer or the photographer reveals the image? C.B.: For me there has always been a combination of two: the stage is set, the actors are performing their given role and somewhere in the audience a man with a camera waits for a sign from the director. Agood photo cannot exist without a sensible man,great actors, perfect stage and an ACTION!! from above.
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That's why it's so hard seeing a good play these days. Either the actors are yawning, the stage is made out of cheap cardboard, the man with the camera is shooting selfies or the director has left the building. C..: Tell us the story of one of your favorite shots or series. C.B.: One of my most personal photo stories is the one where I took photos of my grandma. Early in the morning I told her I will be snooping around all day taking photos of her. She was ok with this but was unaware of the result. I think every photographer should take photos of his loved ones, of his family for himself and for them. You can look at this as a return to the early purposes of photography to create memories. And what is more precious than memories of a dear one? Each time I start shooting a project I wait and hope for that spark, that magic moment, that thumbs-up
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to tell you're doing the right thing. After lunch, my grandma sat down on the bed and turned on the TV . The music channel was playing Time after time by Cyndi Lauper. If you're lost, you can look and you will find me Time after time If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting Time after time. My magic moment. C..: The valuable books, the movies that are truly artistic, some good music many say that these help us be better photographers. But, if someone were to ask, how does Bach makes us better photographers? Or it is all just a supposition? C.B.: Bach is one of the best classic music composers one could ever hear. If you really listen to Bach you will find such an unimaginable array of feelings and emotions. It's classic, timeless, pure like any good photograph should be.
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However don't think I listen exclusively to Bach. I encourage everyone to listen to as much music as they can, as various as possible, as do I. No matter if you like the poems of Leonard Cohen or the unforgettable voice of Maria Tanase, the otherworldliness of Marilyn Manson or the strange notes sang by Nick Cave you must realize it's all part of your world and your individuality. Listening to good music, looking at good paintings, watching good movies refines your taste and makes you strive for evolution, improving and transforming who you are as a person. C..: Give us, please, some names of such materials (books, films etc.) that you would recommend to any photographer. C.B.: In all my discussions or speeches regarding photography I always tell people to buy photography portfolios and books. To start with the famous and
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the classic ones and move on to wherever they fell drawn to. The feeling of browsing through a printed portfolio photo book can never be matched. Start with the classics and work your way to the more contemporary ones. C..: What inspires you most? What about role models? I know HCB is one of them. What about photographers in Romania? Do you like the work of somebody in particular? C.B.: I try to get the best out of every photographer I come across. Bresson's perfection, Economopoulos' emotions, Koudelka's timelessness, Doisneau's humor, Moriyama's strangeness, Gruyaert's colors, Nachtwey's courage. I was very happy to see some great Romanian photographers finalize their photo books this year. I especially enjoy the works of Cosmin Bumbu and Petru Clinescu, whom I find very inspiring.
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I am watching with great interest the photojournalism works of Andrei Pungovschi. I am also keeping an eye on projects and photos by Sorin Vidis, Cristian Munteanu, Remus iplea, Adrian Cpuan, Crina Prida, Vlad Floru, Drago Radu Dumitrescu. And so should you. C..: How much is an image about feeling and how much is it about really thinking the elements that compose it? Are you rather intuitive or cerebral? C.B.: I prefer my photos to be more intuitive and I rely a lot on instinct. I am obviously influenced by the knowledge and imagery I've encountered. But I don't think someone could ever combine all these elements and rules in a real life situation and come up with a great photo. Only a machine could but then the photograph will lose its most important component: the human influence. It would then become something fake, pointless, dead.
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C..: Do you see a social function in photography? And what about your charity projects? Do you think they might have made others think about their actions and become more conscious and responsible? C.B.: I started The Poetic Cats project in 2011, trying to raise awareness about the situation regarding stray dogs and cats, animal shelters and volunteering. It was the first and only exhibition in Romania with photos of cats from Bucharest. Most of the photos were sold and all the money went to support the animal shelters. Two more volumes from the project followed one every year. So for me photography can be an instrument in achieving a certain goal. Sometimes this goal is something altruistic or meant to raise awareness about a cause, to take a stand, to send a message. It's up to each and every one of us to use this as we consider.

C..: What makes you press the shutter? What are you looking for in a photograph? C.B.: Lately I don't think so much about pressing the shutter button, I let instinct decide. Thinking too much hurts the photo. Not to mention the photographers brain. But don't think I am taking tons of photos. Far from that! Yet almost all of them go to the recycle bin, my process of selection is very harsh. If I get a few photos that I really like in one year I consider it a good year. If one of my photographs makes me feel something uplifting then I've succeeded. If I look at it more than one time without getting bored, then I've succeeded. C..: Tell us about your dreams, hopes and plans for 2014 and the years beyond. C.B.: In 2014 I wish to finish most of my pending projects and maybe start one or two new ones. I

want to focus more on each project and maybe tell the story a little bit better and with more depth and feeling than I did so far. C..: Maybe there is something more that you want to share with us through this interview, something that appears essential to you, but was not included in the questions above. If you do, please feel free to tell us now, at the end. C.B.: I just want to thank everyone reading this short interview and looking at my photos. I hope everyone will be more positive regarding each other and communicate more, interact more with other photographers and take more great photos. Thank you.

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Portfolio

Gina Buliga
-an interview by Cristina int
A lesson about seeing the positive aspects and letting things flow in our lives, of being grateful for what we have. No matter if spontaneous or staged, Ginas images will always give you some sort of positive energy. Did she achieve her goal of passing on true emotions? We believe so. www.ginabuliga.com

C..: When did you discover your interest for photography? And was it a job right from the beginning or it all started as a hobby that afterwards turned into a job? G.B.: In my heart I always knew I had a passion for photography but I hadnt had time to let it out. I worked as a professional photographer starting with 2007. Back then I had a lot of on set photo shootings with Romanian artists, being part of the production department in the same time. I discovered my true passion in 2009, so I gave up my job-a wise decision, and I started to follow my hobby, my passion: photography. But there were a lot of things, opportunities I took, challenges that got me where I am now. In the beginning I wandered a lot, without a purpose in my mind but looking for that something and thus I discovered the light. I had such luck in my life, being blessed with two beautiful daughters, my models, my assistants, my everything. Im so happy to be able to pass on through photography what I live every day, what happens around me. My way in life doesnt have a final destination anymore, but a mere direction that guides me. It is such a nice chaos, though harmonious.
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Life is a game made for everyone /And love is the prize a song says. I never make plans. I go with the flow and let things happening in my life. I finally realized that this is what I want to do. It is marvelous to have it as a job, to love what you do, to be passionate about it. As I always say: let the beauty of what you love be what you do. C..: Can you live on money from photography in Romania? In your case the answer is obviously yes, but whats the secret? Or is it only hard work and no secrets? G.B.: Even though it is very hard to live out of money from photography in Romania, I keep on going. As long as we do what we love, things will come our way. In my opinion being a photegrapher is the best thing in the whole world. There are no secrets or maybe there are and we uncovered them as we come across. Every photo shooting is like a moment of joy for me because I photograph a lot of children, our guardian angels. Even though I work hard, I never get tired, as my passion for photography gives me energy and keeps me going.
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I like to use natural light during photo shootings whenever that is possible. I have been working a lot in the studio lately. I tried to do something different all the time, and it is OK so far, as I always got good feedback. C..: What inspires you, Gina? And who are your favorite foreign and also Romanian photographers? G.B.: Thats a hard question. I like to read a lot, to be in touch with whats new concerning photography. Alex Galmeanu was and still is some sort of a role model for me. I learnt from him that one can live out of photography. It is a job for which passion never
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fades in time and that it is so good to have time for yourself, to take a break, to go away, to relax, to wander. I took his advice and it worked for me. Nature is a best friend of mine, a source of inspiration and energy. There are a lot of Romanian photographers that I admire and I follow their work as much as I can. In what concerns photographing children, there is a foreign photographer that inspires me alot : Kerianne Brown. C..: Lets talk a little about your professional shootings. Does this commissioned work ever makes you feel youve had enough of the camera and all and youre not in the
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mood for shooting a landscape or anything else in a certain day? Or its not the case as no matter what you shoot, you love what you do. G.B.: I do love what I do, I am thankful and grateful to God and to the Universe for having discovered my meaning in life. Before the deadline of a comissioned shooting, when there is a lot of work to be done, I like to take a break, go for a walk on the nearby dam with my daughters to enjoy ourselves. I do get tired, too. Sometimes. Then the best thing to do is to stop what youre doing, there is no point in pushing yourself. I admit I would like to have more time, to do more with my projects. I get excited with every photo
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shooting I have, no matter how long it takes to get me the right image. Everything is like a game to me, I play with the light, time has no importance. C..: Do you believe there is a certain state of mind and a certain mood for taking good photographs? G.B.: Any good photo takes a lot of work, I think, no matter if the subjects mood is great or not. In what concerns the photo sessions, I keep on shooting till I get what I want. I never check the forecast when I go to a photo tour. The most I important thing is to be on the road and to get there. No matter if the sun shines or it rains, we can always find interesting things to photograph.
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Portfolio

C..: How would you describe a good image? G.B.: A good image cathes your eye from the very first moment , you want to see it over and over again. It tells a story, you dicover new things, new details eveytime you look at it. I feel in advance if an image is going to be good or not. After a photo tour or session, the satisfaction is so great knowing that you have two or three good images out of three hundred. You fall in love with a good image right from the start, it intrigues you, it makes you wonder. C..: You have a preference for black and white and strong contrasts. Why? G.B.: I was drawn by blank and white photography ever since I started as a photographer, many years ago. It gave a lot of answers to my questions. Alex Popa, a good friend of mine, after looking at my black and white photographs and at my black and white
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images of children said that I saw and dreamt in black and white. He also said my world needed the rainbows colors too. I did so in time, but I always come back to black and white. I have two projects in progress: Away from the Sun and Frame of Mind where most of my images are in black and white. I like shooting in black and white, there are so many stories in these images. If you want to send out a powerful message, you give up the colors. This is my vision. C..: Your daughters are definitely one of your favorite subjects. What motivates you? Is it only the desire to document their life right from the beginning or is there more to it than that? G.B.: My daughters are my favorite subject matter, they always helped me move forward and together

we discovered the light. I worked a lot with them whenever I had spare time. I wish I had more of that. I try out a lot of things with them. Those photos of them are so magical and full of innocence. The three of us know it very well you only need the light. I am so pleased when they come and share with me their ideas so I can get a good image. We play a lot and by doing so we bring magic things to surface. Sometimes they are my assistants during the photo shootings and they help a lot, making my life wonderful. I have two projects very dear to me in which they are involved: Daughters and Underwater Love. My daughters and I do all the research we need, we learn from each other quite a lot. They believe that the Sun is always on our side and it follows us everywhere we go together.

C..: Some of your pictures are quite poetic. There is a lot of information in your images , but not neccessarily the kind of information that you see in documentary photography. There is EMOTIONAL information. Is that due to the fact your own family is involved in the process? G.B.: I am so glad to hear this from you. I am happy that I succeded in passing on true emotions. I love what I do, I do it with all my heart, every image has its own story. C..: Tell us a few words about the Daughters project and what it means to you. What about the underwater series with Alexa? G.B.: I love photographing my daughters using natural light and all that it turned in time into a project that is very, very close to my heart. We discovered a lot of things just by looking at the
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Portfolio

Portfolio

photos I took. Alexa is getting better and better and she even tells me how a good image should be like. I would love to have these photos and the stories behind them published in a book. Its a dream that I hope will come true pretty soon. I have a lot of ideas to materialize. But one step at the time LET THE BEAUTY OF WHAT YOU LOVE BE WHAT YOU DO. I begun working the Underwater Love serie two summers ago, when I got an underwater camera as a present for my birthday. What started as a game (taking photos for fun) turned into several underwater photo shootings, twice a day, when the natural light was perfect.
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Alexa is such a wonderful girl, very ambitious. Even though she was cold, she wanted to try over and over again to keep her eyes opened underwater. We tried to tell a story with every image I shot and she played a lot of characters. We tried to resume it last summer, we even had a storyboard ready but we decided not to rush things and just let them happen. Every image is magical when you capture true emotions and pass them on. Underwater Love is an ongoing project and well talk about it again, youll see. C..: What about staging images? How often do you ask your children to do certain things in order for the final picture to be as you desire?

G.B.: There are indeed some staged images, it happens during every photo shooting I do, but I consider myself to be very lucky because something wonderful happens. I capture the best images no matter how staged a photo shooting is. On the other hand most of my daughters images are caputured spontaneously. There were cases when I talked to them gently and asked them to do what I want, but not that often. C..: Do you think there is a conflict between staging and telling the truth (in photography)? G.B.: There is no conflict in my opinion. First of all I think that only the truth can get you a good image, you cant pass on a lie. C..: You also seem to use your camera phone a lot.

What is your opinion on camera phone photography? Because it is quite a controversial subject. G.B.: Yes, I like to take photos with my camera phone a lot. When I went to Africa, I took pictures with both DSLR cameras ( a Nikon D 800 and a D7 100 for timelapse ) and my phone camera. I think it is good to try out a lot of things, that keeps you connected and creative, you learn to adapt. Besides, I dont carry my camera with me all the time so I use my phone camera as much as I can. I take pictures, upload them on Facebook or Instagram. I love it that it makes things so easy. I can even say that Im in some way addicted to my Iphone camera. I process photos, I download a lot of editing apps, I ended up having some sort of PS on my Iphone.I think it is extremely useful to have a good camera phone. A good image is a good image, no matter of the device it was captured on.
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Portfolio

C..: Any secret wish related to photography that didnt come true (yet ) and you can share with us? G.B.: I have a lot of secret wishes, some of them well hidden but who knows, maybe they will come out one day. To have my Daughters project published as a photo album is one of my recent wishes, as I previously said. C..: How would you describe the Romanian photographic scene? Are there things that should be changed? Are there certain things missing? What is there to be done? LET THE BEAUTY OF WHAT YOU LOVE BE WHAT YOU DO. Thats all that should matter to a photographer.
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C..: Future plans and projects that you would like to work on? G.B.: For the time being I am involved in many projects, I love what I do,I have a wonderful job without feeling tired of working so hard. I would like to go more often to photo tours, take more photos and share my work with other people. There is nothing more beautiful than going outside into the nature to take photos. And of course, I want to continue the series with my daughters in the future as well, but well see how that goes. I dont want to push them. They have to enjoy this experience just as much as I do.
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Advice 4all

LOOKING without SEEING

A short talk about the barriers that stand in front of our vision
I bet it happened to all of us... To go out with the desire to photograph and then come back home with no images and complaining that there was just nothing to photograph. Think again. Was there really nothing to photograph? No light? No color? No people? No nothing? Really? Did nothing actually speak to you or caught your attention? Ok, ok... It might be so. But then the next question comes into play. Have you ever wondered WHY? Seeing implies much more then the visual dimension we all think about at first. Seeing implies using your emotions as well, your senses and you intellect. It means observing beyond labels and discovering beauty all around us. And, perhaps ahead of all things, it means letting go of ourselves, abandoning certain misconceptions and all those other elements that would stop us from enjoying photography to the fullest. Actually, that is also the greater barrier to seeing and the hardest to break as well. Our daily worries (job, responsibilities, family duties etc.) generally stand in the way of freedom of seeing as well. And regarding this matter, Freeman
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Photo by Dorin Bofan

Photo by Mirela Bichigeanu Patterson in his Photography and the Art of Seeing, brings to our attention Frederick Franks Me cramp term which refers to the idea that too much self concern will usually block the direct experience of things outside ourselves. He even makes a nice analogy with wind and water and yes, it is true that waves will not subside as long as the wind is blowing. And relaxing is then the act of stopping or at least slowing down the mental winds. Familiarity is another great barrier for seeing. By labels we recognize everything and no longer see anything. We know the labels on the bottles, but never taste the wine. (F. Frank) If you look at the tree in front of your house and merely say thats a

tree you may not be seeing at all. But if you really see a tree, you will notice the sense of dynamic the roots give and the slow movement of growth, the space around the

tree, which gives to it a sense of place, the proportions and the relativity of size, the geometric forms the branches give etc. But it is us who must allow the familiar

things to take on an unfamiliar appearance and make us feel as seeing with new eyes. And it is quite unfortunate that we rarely respond with wonder to the
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Photo by Dorin Bofan

everyday little magic moments that happen right in front of us. A photographer who wants to see must recognize the value of the familiar. If you dont see what is all around you every day, what will you see when you go to Iceland for example? The subject matter will be different, but you might not get to the essence of

things and to emotion, no matter how exotic the place is. Another barrier to seeing is the everyday growing mass of stimuli that surrounds us. Being bombed with visual and other sort of stimuli it is not easy, as that forces us to develop a tunnel vision, that gives us a clue of what is ahead, but prevents us

from seeing the world around. Our cameras will also play the barrier role. First of all, because it cant see as the human eye does and it doesnt abstract as we do, thus recording everything. That further implies a very good control of the camera, in order not to waste time and capture what we perceive. It only captures the moment. To

Photo by Andrei Baciu

Photo by Cristina int

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Photo by Emilian Chiril

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Advice 4all
quote David duChemin, Gear is good, vision is better. We do need good equipment to make quality images, but knowing how to use the camera is the real key to images that will say something. Moreover, the camera has no senses or feelings involved into the process of seeing. We must let vision guide us. Vision means both your ability to see and to conceptualize a photograph; to visualize it before you press the shutter. However, as Freeman Patterson also concluded somewhere inside his book, we also believe that good seeing will not ensure good images as well, but it is a sine qua non condition for good photographic expression.

Photo by Emilian Chiril

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Photo populis

shoot publish
in your world in ours
We are publishing your photos. We are eager to publish what you photograph. If you want to see your own photos inside our magazine, you can either send them to this section or to Under the magnifying glass column. One other way of having your images published is to participate in the thematic photo contest or challenge we put up every month.The idea is simple: keep sending your photographs to us at publish@foto4all.ro. Every month we will select and publish 5 images in color and 5 in black and white.

Goodtoknow
My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph. (Richard Avedon)
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1
The photographs you send should meet the following specifications: JPEG file, 1600px on their long side, 150 dpi, no frame attached. They can be in color, black and white, edited or not, its up to you. Please send them without watermark.

2
Together with your images (not more than 3) please add to the email: your name, your age, some details about the camera you are using and a few words or a title for your photographs.

3
There is no special theme. We are looking for photographs that tell stories.

Only your talent counts.

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Photo populis

Cornel Petrescu

The practice of art isnt to make a living. Its to make your soul grow. Kurt Vonnegut
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Magdalena Roesler

Black & White

Magdalena Roesler

Photo populis

Photo populis

Nothing is ever the same twice because everything is always gone forever, and yet each moment has infinite photographic possibilities. Michael Kenna)

Laura Cosor

Tiberiu Dinescu

When we tackle a subject as visual artists, is our approach determined by our individual emotional predisposition, or does the subject itself determine our emotions? I suspect the truth is, a little of both. Paul Gallagher

Black & White

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Photo populis

Color

Dominic Cristofor

Cornel Petrescu

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. Ansel Adams

Dominic Cristofor
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Photo populis

Photo populis
Successful art rediscovers Beauty for us.

Robert Adams

Color

h s i l b u p e W
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YOU ca pture
Send yor work at:

Oliver Merce

Eli Driu

publish@foto4all.ro
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Photo Challenge

Photo Challenge

Current issue theme: WINTER LANDSCAPES Winner: David Szinger Congratulations!

CHALLENGE NEWS

We wish to inform you that for a short period of time the FOTO4all photo challenge will take a break. However, we hope we will soon bring you a more interesting and motivating photography contest. Meanwhile, if you are from Romania you should keep your eyes on the Simeze pe roi (www.simezeperoti.ro) project and contest. Enjoy! For more details: www.foto4all.ro/contest/
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David Szinger

Runners-up

Photo Challenge

! e g n e l l a h c

R E B M E C E D

Dan Miric Dan Miric

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Project4all

IN LANDSCAPES
by Petros Koublis www.petroskoublis.com

an alternate state in parallel time

The area that surrounds Athens is composed by a certain antithesis, as the vast urban surface meets with the countryside. Surrounded by the silence of centenarian olive groves, meadows, mountains and seas, the city today struggles to carry the weight of its own existence, facing a rather tough and tense present. This is a prolonged silence that seems to surround the loud and desperate cry that comes out of the capital city. With more than 4 million people living today in Athens metropolitan area, the city itself is a controversial image on its own, sketched by the difficult palpable reality that everyday an increasing number of people have to face. It is a depression that gradually influences every aspect of life, economically and psychologically, in quite a dramatic and absolute way, as the consequences of this crisis are extending and the agony for tomorrow is constantly growing. Around the world, images of graphic violence, extensive riots and distressing poverty have been transmitted by the media, enhancing the depressed portrait of the city. The center of Athens has been the main scenery of the crisis that this country is
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going through and the drama in the streets of the city provided a visual narrative for the Greek Crisis chronicles. The images of this project were made around the outskirts of Athens, less than 30 miles away from the heart of the capital. It is the area that surrounds the depressed city and all the millions of its citizens individual stories. Outside the invisible borders of the extended metropolitan area, in the land that lies behind the edge of the city, time seems to move parallel but in a different density. There is an inevitable contrast between the two states, a parable manifested by the discreet mystery that trees seem to hide among their branches and seas among their waves. This is an alternate state in parallel time, where silence seems to carry inside it a waiting, patiently whispering a long forgotten language. There is no beauty that is timeless but the timelessness of nature can reflect a new direction, maybe even a hope. Its not a blissful silence but its an inspiring one.

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Journey = Photography

Journey = Photography

Trip to Florence
Text & photos by Dan Miric

Ponte Vecchio Florence... To completely understand Florence it is not enough to enter the city and live its beautiful atmosphere. From the first days I realized that my pictures are just as those of a visitor, and I needed something more, a different approach, in order to take other kind of photographs. Then I woke up very early in the morning, and I
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started to visit the outskirts of the city, the borders of Florence. Things started to get more interesting, I saw the beautiful gardens of the houses, I saw the activity on the river, the small and empty streets, I heard the birds singing... Small things got my attention and showed me the true town. After that, I saw the entire town with deferent eyes: the shadows, the love, the old cars, happiness, joy.

Also my images start to look different, and I enjoyed it more to work on them. After that I chose to visit also the surroundings of Florence, the beautiful small town Lucca where I had dinner with a Romanian guy who lived near this city for more than 10 years, also passionate about photography. Then I enjoyed the sunrise in Viareggio,

a beautiful beach with a small port by the sea. After that, on my road back to Florence, I enjoyed the lovely landscapes of Tuscany, with their houses build in complete harmony with nature. I realized then that I have to come back here, to discover it also in other seasons as well, as not just Florence but the entire Tuscany is magic.
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Ponte Vecchio
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View from Piazzale Michelangelo

River Arno

View from Piazzale Michelangelo

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Streets of Florence
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Streets of Florence
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Streets of Florence

Streets of Florence
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Streets of Florence
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San Michele in Foro, Lucca

San Michele in Foro, Lucca

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Sunrise in Viareggio
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Landscape in Tuscany
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PhoneCam Project
The PhoneCam Project Group is a community that believes that art is not expensive technology and expensive technology is not art.

PhoneCam project

Visual arts, and most of all Photography is not about the gear you buy, its about the image you see and the message you send. Although the intrinsic message needs no tools to be understood, if you want to draw, you need at least a pencil and a sheet of paper. Its the same with Photography. You need at least a camera. Any kind of camera. Techniques and technology, especially in photography is often mixed up with arts, and this is why art photography lost in value in digital era. The most common confusion is: expensive gear = great art. The PhoneCam Project aims to eliminate this distorted perception about photograpyh, with a very challenging and very large scaled project: we can create art even with a 2mpx phone camera. If you are into arts, if you have a message to share and if you think that the tool is not an impediment in creating images and messages, feel free to post here (http://www.facebook.com/groups/ThePhoneCamProject/) your works. We have only two limitations: phone cameras only and no Instagram, please. Diana Nstase Gina Buliga Gina Buliga

Gina Buliga

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Cristina int

Cristina int
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Cristina int

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Guy Tal on photography

Hear No Evil

and lack of time and changing business models and I learned some time ago the benefit of accepting too much travel enough already. disagreement and not engaging in futile debates. When the dark clouds of rancor and animosity Dont look to me for any great business insights. threaten on the horizon, all I need to do is to remind Success in such matters, however you define it, is myself of the words of George Herbert: Living well as much about skill and temperament as it is about is the best revenge. I go outside; I go to places that dumb luck. But, if you are willing to take the risks inspire me and feed my soul, where I can be whole and acknowledge that failure is a real possibility, and content, independent of the mass of humanity; consider what is truly at stake: I engage in creative work; I gaze the value of a life your life; the into the astounding depths of greatest gift you will ever be given. the universe on a dark night; I But one day the why arises Are you really prepared to wake up listen to coyotes and ravens and and everything begins in that the crackling of coals; I breathe weariness tinged with amazement. one day, when it is too late, and admit that you gave up your dream, the perfume of sagebrush Albert Camus that you lived an unsatisfying life, and pine and juniper smoke; I that you could have been, if only watch as feats of light and land because of something you read online, written by transform and dazzle before my eyes. Meaningless someone you know little about? banter on a random web site, if it even enters my thoughts, becomes insignificant and inconsequential, I struggled with the decision to go pro for many as do those that propagate it. But this time Ill make years. I spent years in offices and cubicles, yearning to an exception because the topic at hand is exactly be elsewhere. For decades I made a good living, lived the reason Im able to have these experiences. I do a comfortable life, and patted myself on the shoulder this for a living. for having accomplished the fabled American Dream. But, I was not happy. I was not fulfilled. I did not It is by no means a glamorous living, nor a lucrative feel like I was living my life to its fullest. It made one. At times it is a source of much anxiety and me bitter and angry. It took a toll on my health and doubt. It required sacrifices and adaptation. But my relationships. Like many others, Im sure, I found most importantly it is possible. And the reason I myself struggling with the question of whether the write about it is exactly because so many pundits celebrated career-driven urban lifestyle was really proclaiming (or pretending) to be pros are in the all that there was to aspire to. And, having realized habit of going out of their way to dissuade others the answer, I could no longer pretend to not know from attempting it. Whether its outright saying you what it was, or that it did not matter. shouldnt, or the constant whining about office work

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There came a point when I could no longer reconcile my most fundamental notions about what makes a life worth living with the actual life I was living. I could no longer be one person in theory and another in practice. I could no longer be one person in my off time and another person in my professional endeavors. I could no longer be the person secretly admiring others for doing the things I wanted to do and being the things I wanted to be, rather than doing and being them myself. I had to at least try. Either that or give up hope. The scale tipped when I realized that the latter was a far more terrifying prospect than the former. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I ever made, though I went into it knowing it could just as easily have been the wrong one. But thats the thing about meaningful accomplishment: you roll the dice and you accept the risk and you go into it prepared to pick up the pieces and move on if you fail. Its not for everyone and its not easy, but if you believe you have what it takes and you acknowledge the risk, and you see yourself spiraling deeper into despair at the thought of not accomplishing it, its likely that the regret of not trying will ultimately be worse than failure. This is not to say that photography is the one thing that can inspire such contentment, far from it. Many do find their calling in careers, in raising families, in political activism or any number of other avenues. The point is that if you want something anything badly enough that it hurts, and you know that accomplishing it will enrich your life beyond anything else you may do, and give your life meaning and pride and contentment, dont delegate the decision to anyone else. Photography as a business has changed considerably in recent years. Old models may no longer be possible. If you want to make a living in it, you have to be creative not only in your photographic work but in coming up with novel ideas. I say this with the humility of someone who still wonders about the long-term prospects of being in this business, and the knowledge that I could not have done it without the unwavering support of my wonderful wife. But, even if it all ends today, it would still have been the right call and one
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of the most transformational experiences of my life. It has altered me in ways I could not have predicted and has made me a better person. So, dont listen to the naysayers. Consider your own situation, factor your own risks, prioritize what is truly valuable to you and your own aspirations, and whatever you do, be at peace with yourself and your choices. I started with a quote from Camus, whose philosophy I admire, and I will end with another, in honor of the recent 100th anniversary of his birthday: But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? Im the happiest person I know. Dont look to me for any great business insights. Success in such matters, however you define it, is as much about skill and temperament as it is about dumb luck. But, if you are willing to take the risks and acknowledge that failure is a real possibility, consider what is truly at stake: the value of a life your life; the greatest gift you will ever be given. Are you really prepared to wake up one day, when it is too late, and admit that you gave up your dream, that you lived an unsatisfying life, that you could have been, if only because of something you read online, written by someone you know little about?

About the Author Guy Tal is a published author and photographic artist. He resides in a remote part of Utah, in a high desert region known as the Colorado Plateau a place that inspired him deeply for much of his life and that continues to feature in his images and writing. In his photographic work, Guy seeks to articulate a reverence for the wild. He writes about, and teaches, the values of living a creative life and finding fulfillment through ones art. www.guytal.com