You don‘t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.
– Ansel Adams

The more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.
– Robert Mapplethorpe

Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask ,how‘, while others of a more curious nature will ask ,why“. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.
– Man Ray

Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.
– Henri Cartier-Bresson

For me, the subjet of the picture is always more important than the picture.
– Diane Arbus

The camera makes you forget you‘re there. It‘s not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much.
– Annie Leibovitz

What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that‘s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.
– Karl Lagerfeld

A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.
– Peter Gasser

The eye should learn to listen before it looks.
– Robert Frank

Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.
– W. Eugene Smith

My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain.
– Helmut Newton

It can be a trap of the photographer to think that his or her best pictures were the ones that were hardest to get.
– Timothy Allen

What is your favorite quote about photography?

Another input from Glenn Capers:

“the story behind” is not only the story of the photographer and the creation of images, but also the story of the viewers and their imagination. Think about it…..

team fotocommunity

The following are excerpts from “A Wide and Fleshly Love: Images, Imagination, and the Study of Christian Spirituality” by Wendy M. Wright, found in Minding the Spirit, Dreyer & Burrows, eds., Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore 2005) p 322-323

“…images shape the imagination and thus transform lives.”

“…the imagination [is] an essential capability inherent in all human perception.  We need our imaginations to see what is familiar as well as what is unfamiliar.  We do not directly perceive something called ‘reality,’ but perception and interpretation occur simultaneously.  We image, sort, organize and see patterns and meanings in every moment of our lives.”

“Images engage the whole person.  They excite emotions and encourage empathy… They inform the intellect by giving access to realms of being not immediately visible.”

As I was reading this article, some photographs came immediately to my mind.  I have images from the gypsy camps in Italy, most notably the images of “Little Number 9.” 

Here we see a little girl who lives in acute poverty, who is uneducated and disenfranchised and a member of a despised community living on the very margins of society. 

Yet I captured her as she poses in her finest clothes, and we are brought to see realms of being not immediately visible in this young girl’s life—her dreams for herself, her soul beauty. 

Wright tells us  “…as a culture…we seem to have lost track of the arts of transformative seeing.” 

That may be true in the aggregate, but I consider myself as a transformative seer whose work opens our perception and interpretation simultaneously.

Every image in the series is multi-layered and evocative, exciting our emotions and encouraging empathy.

Glenn Capers

Its a difference in seeing people in another environment. Its another point of view feeling poverty, feeling depreviation, feeling hopelessness, if you are living on the bright side of life. However, do all people see it the same way? In my experience satisfaction is not a question of abundance. The challenge is to make a life out of the situation we are in. Isn´t it?

Photography as part of our life can be a bit of voyeurism, it can represent the truth, it can be graceless, but it can also tell a story gently.

The perception, a photographer would like to point out, may not be identical with the viewer´s feelings. But photography always is connected to imagination.

Matthias Moritz

team fotocommunity

Hello everybody, dear members of fotocommunity!

Today I would like to ask a favor.

For the master´s degree a student and member of fotocommunity, Iveth Claros, conducts an international survey focussed on “photo online communities” such as fotocommunity.

The results of this study are not just scientific, but should also give fotocommunity the opportunity to know your needs better.

The survey takes about 15 minutes and is completely anonymous, of course!

All participants will have the chance to win one of five vouchers for a one-year fotocommunity world membership.

Drawing and collection of data are totally independent from each other, no e-mail address, user ID, etc. will be queried. Each participant has the option to participate separately .

The poll will be open until June 6, 2013.

Here is the link to the survey:

https://www.unipark.de/uc/fotocommunity/

We are looking forward to your participitation, thank you all ever so much in advance!

Kind Regards

Matthias Moritz
team fotocommunity.com

Photography for many encompasses different ideals, different purposes for shooting on the weekend or on holiday.  I’ve heard people say they shoot for the fun of it, and shoot for the love of it and they say it’s relaxing. Meeting up with a group of friends. The hearty laughs and ales chasing down a hearty meal.

To really master street you have to become like the coyote. Follow the scent,  pick up the tracks and imagine they are the pray.

Many people go to India to specifically shoot street photography. In India there is a lot of colorful that is meaningless for my taste, because color often distracts from the truer story within the picture.   Unless color clarifies the story content I refrain from allowing color to derail the the truer purpose of the image.

I’m not a big fan of photography without direction.  Many photographers repeat the same mistakes without realizing that the picture before looks like the image currently fresh in there camera.  Photography should be something where you strive to grow by pushing yourself. You should be able to see and improvement in time from the weight of your image content.

When you shoot street there are a million stories around you. You are like a worm on a hook in the water.  It’s up to you to decide which stories you want to hook onto with your camera, and see where it takes you.  It is important you feel comfortable and believe in your heart that you can relate to the people you photograph as well as the viewer you will post to .

I’ve selected this picture to give additional background into the story that I saw and  felt emotionally connected to.  When you shooting documentary, which for me is a progression of shooting street, you really have to process even faster than setting up a project with a reproduced, and approved storyboard which allows all shots to be premeditative and agreed on in advance. There is on wing and a  prayer or run and gun philosophy.  Shooting street-documentary on the spot is not an easy task. Should you fail you crash and burn big time.

When Street phases into documentary photography, you lose the single narrator and you’re no longer in control of the image but rather you watch everything play out.
The subject matter,  you can call characters, develop from flat to real people within your camera frame. Seeing  the development is very exciting in comparison to shooting street portraits, because you never know who the real person is until they make that sentence clear to you.

I selected the school of the blind in India for a documentary project.  I wanted to see and understand something about the division of man an his struggle and his belief in  his journey to reach his goals in life. These struggles comes from encounters that highlight the many humanistic moments which lack empathy.  In this school of the blind, I believe these are the strong and the privileged  in relation to the thousands that never
have the opportunity to attempt a dream.

The school entry requirements are steep. Someone must be your sponsor in minor necessities . Your health record must be perfect, and you must already be able to comprehend on some educational level.  Government aid is limited. If they could open their doors freely to everyone, the school itself would be as packed as a train in Mumbai during rush hour.

The phrase “abandon all hope”, is the reality you see and feel as you walk amongst the population  with your camera, cautiously shooting.  The next shot could be your last with your new theo-mracel  camera, in a population, that in order to stay above the poverty line they half a euro a day.  When you do the math you get an astounding idea of how well someone can live from becoming the new fortunate owner of your camera.

When you’re in the street you are a single camera narrative interpreting what you see and how you want to present it to a viewer.  When you’re in the street abroad and you make yourself bait you’re no longer the single camera. The one person narrative becomes the living property of the subject and ongoing introduction of subjects who interact and develop from your flat character perspective to a full, round real person, or people with real questions that are important to them.

Together, as you follow your storyline, one dimension becomes two and finally, near the end, you get your three dimensions.  That’s about when you are emotionally touched and not just emotionally in awe of what has transpired in front of your camera for the day.

This is the story behind the school of the blind as I moved around freely and for the early part unobserved.  The privilege of being a fly on the wall and capable of silently moving about slowly so that my motion would go unnoticeable, as I moved in as if intimate without breathing to witness, people tuned into their environment.

This time in India was to be an adventure into low light photography with my new OMD, E-M5 a camera that is fearless in low light with its new M. Zuiko Digital lenses.  In this case only my nikon 1 V 1 has  an electronic  mode where the shutter is completely silent. You can put the camera to your ear, and know you pressed the shutter and wonder if you had made an image because there is absolutely no sound.  This feature was perfect for the task in sight. beside the Nikon1 fits so well in my hand It was both an extension of my soul, and eye and thoughts which amazed me every second while I shot. A big full frame camera would have been a disaster.

I slowly moved out of the way of people as if I was invisible.  I performed ninja like moves between people in class rooms and in dormitories while I observed with my camera. After hours shooting, I wanted to become more of a curiosity as in the moving shadow.  I became the shadow of the ninja  passing a little more sudden in and out of their light which a few could detect. Switching the shooting mode to just above silent mode as I hovered around so their ears could pick up a faint mechanical sound as if it was like a passing fly  buzzing off into the abyss. The camera shot from less than a meter away. At times I set the nikon 1 V1 to operate at intervals. Just enough for them to think that what’s ever around them is not the wings of a fly but something mechanical. In time I broke my silence and continued to shoot and observe. I was just a shadow, but also a human being.

At this point I was as curious as they had become curious of  who I was.
“Who are you”, they asked. I replied, “I’m from America “. At that moment there expression was like seeing the first astronauts land, and walk on the moon. For me, and with all my experience I felt like I had just navigated my apollo space craft to the moon, and had begun communicating with moon men.

The conversation continued as people gathered around me touching my arms and face and realizing how tall I was to them.  It was a moment out of  Jonathan Swift’s travels  amongst the Lilliputians.

They continued asking me questions about the world. I had become there eyes from their outside.  At first you think news caster, but then you feel like the audio part of the national geographical library on the world outside of their tiny island, amongst the billion people of India.

“Are there other schools like ours in the world?”, they asked.  “Yes” I said, “And where are they they”? they questioned.  I paused,  I didn’t want to appear too knowledgable. “In different countries “I said. “France, America, Germany, Spain, Canada, and South America”.  I rattled off as I was beginning the see the number of blind students gather. “Which school for the blind is best?” they asked me. I quickly said their school is best.  “Why is our school better?”,they asked. Speaking with their professors  earlier I learned they study brail in English, Hindu and learn to read Sanskrit and learn music. I repeated what I learned from the professor and from exploring  in and out of classes and dorms. The  young men, and boys didn’t stop. They were thirsty for information.  It was clear that what we see is a lot  of how we intake information. They are still learning the skills needed for communication.

They continued to get to what I believed was the core question.
Are there women in the blind schools?”  I recall covering a story for a blind school in Arizona. There was men and women attending.  “Yes” ,I said, thinking that was the end. They all  got silent wanting to make sure they are all hearing this  breaking news from me. ” And are they pretty women?”, said the young man in the middle of my camera frame. “Yes”, I said.  “Would they like us?” They continued.

I paused for a moment , a long moment with their heads all focused down to see with their  ears. “Yes” I said with a heartfelt passion. What woman would not like you once they come to know as a real person?”

The clincher, and true purpose of their self esteem sprung out with the next question.  They said, “But are we gentlemen, Glenn?” And I said ‘”Of course you all are gentlemen of the highest  degree that can be found in man of the highest quality from any place on this earth”.

They all smiled and cheered, to know that their fears and realities of missing the gift of sight did not diminish their hopes to pair, have a family, be respected, and to continue with more than hope in a world where empathy is not found in the masses, the work force, and in the streets of India in the day to day fight to stay ahead.

Glenn Capers

Thank you very much, Glenn, for your excellent work and your outstanding commitment to fotocommunity.

Matthias Moritz

team fotocommunity.com

Dear members of fotocommunity,

a few weeks ago I wrote something about the future path of fotocommunity. Some of you complained about certain points which did not yet contain any definitive statements. This is true. But to be able to think about where the path should lead, you first need to know where you are.

It can be compared very well with a house renovation: Before giving thought, which walls you remove and where to place larger windows, you have to know which walls are supporting walls and where pipes and tubes run through. If you have the original construction plans, it is easy, but if you don´t have any, you have to create it new.

As we had no detailed construction plan, we had to develop within the last weeks. This took time, because we wanted to avoid any unnecessary mistakes and to make sure not to hit a water pipe in the end. We also don´t want to give any temporal promises we cannot keep later due to inadequate planning. We now have Evelyn with us, a new designer who actively helps to work out the details (we are still looking for more help). Meanwhile we are able to identify the major new additions and changes to our house, which we will address and implement this year.

First, there is a question: for whom should the house be suitable? The clear answer is: for the old and new residents and visitors alike. So we like to increase the comfort and benefits for existing users, but also make it easier for new residents to access the house. It should be fun to live in this house.

We improve the access to fotocommunity by a new, easier registration and better explanation for new users, which accounts to the charm of our community. We are already busy with this issue and we will very soon achieve first results.

For new and present users would be interesting the from scratch newly developed upload process. In the future, uploading new images will be significantly faster and more comfortable. To continue with our construction: the upload is comparable to the electrical system, as it runs through the whole house and an exchange affects all areas of the house. Accordingly, it will take some time until we’re done. But when it is done everything will be much easier, better and faster – and more fun for all.

We will also allow for services uploading your own pictures to fotocommunity – be it from Lightroom, Aperture, directly from the camera or from your smartphone. And that for we will also increase the comfort. We want you to feel comfortable in our house, no matter how you use it. We will adapt and improve our apps. However, at first the electrical system needs to be (read: the upload) be revised. Some things can only be done when other work is already finished. The painters can only begin when the plasterers are ready.

Another point we will take care of  in 2013, is the search engine. Currently, the search is good, but not perfect. We try to stabilize it and at the same time we will start with the planning to exchange the existing search in a medium term for a better technology, which will cover all areas of the fotocommunity simultaneously.

At this point I would like to mention that we are also working very hard on the technical infrastructure (which is the structural analysis of a house). We have invested a lot in new hardware and we are currently in the process of structuring and improving our entire server park. It will significantly reduce the risks of failure and increase the comfort for all – for the users and for the technicians

We currently giving thoughts to make your stay as present resients more enjoyable. We would like to provide more features to users, who own a paid membership, but give everyone else the opportunity to also use many exciting services in our fotocommunity. We will therefore simplify some features in a way, that it clearly shows which additional features are available to paying customers.

As part of our renovation we will also use the opportunity to repaint the facade.  This means that all optimized functions will also be transformed to our new style. Our house should be comfortable and appealing not only from within, it will also give an impression to visitors.

As well as during a house renovation there are many little things, which we need also to take care of in the course of renovation work. I will not talk about every little detail, just in order not to lengthen this article unnecessary. My point is, that working on our house takes always you, the users, into focus of our considerations.

We will set up focus groups to discuss proposed new features on a regular basis. We will determine repeatedly what is important to you through surveys – therefore we would be very grateful for active participation in the surveys. In this way we can ensure that we never lose sight of our common goal: to design our beloved house, the fotocommunity for all, more attractive, comfortable and congenial for both guests and residents.

Yours sincerely

Daniel

Dear members of fotocommunity,

my name is Daniel Schaffeld , and I have replaced Dr. Axel Flasbarth as CEO of fotocommunity. I am very excited about fotocommunity and about what we are going to do together according to your wishes and needs. Now I shortly would like to introduce myself: and

I am 33 years old, married and I have a young little daughter. Job-related I was previously engaged in the Internet sector. I initially controlled internet projects at KarstadtQuelle New Media AG and the Handelsblatt publishing group and following founded and built up the fashion community styleranking.de.

After a brief stopover at the Schlütersche publishing company I again passed through a young internet company, which specializes in advising and selling family vacation: www.clubfamily.de.

My biggest hobby is my family. Also I like photography (especially macro and nature images), eventhough I am still not that good. But I hope to improve due to advice of the fotocommunity members. I am also active in the Cologne area internet and startup scene in order to be always up to date – and because there are many friendly online founders in the Rhineland. If the opportunity arises, I also like to play poker at times, play badminton, go skiing,love to travel and read.

My main goal as CEO of fotocommunity is to increase the user value for you as a member. This means that we still work hard to improve the usability, the features and the added value of fotocommunity in close cooperation with you. In my view, this also includes additional features for Pay-users. What I do not stand for are hasty, unnecessary changes. Instead it is essential to maintain existing assets and develop new ones together with you.

I look forward to an exciting and inspiring time in and with fotocommunity. I am readyto receive your ideas, your criticisms and your suggestions for improvement!

Your Daniel Schaffeld

Dear members of fotocommunity,

We now fulfilled a long desired wish of many members to renew the forum of fotocommunity.

The new forum bases upon modern technology and is adjusted to the rest of the “new” fotocommunity (home, preview pages) in style and design.

The former forum has not changed since the founding of fotocommunity twelve years ago. The new forum is considered to be unknown especially at the beginning, but it offers advantages over the outdated version:

• Citing excerpts and individual phrases is now possible by simply selecting it and clicking on the appearing “quote” button.

• Discussions you are interested in or you participated may be tracked systematically in “my discussion”.

• The quality and usefulness of any message can be evaluated and the display can be limited to the positive-valued contributions.

We would like to say “thank you” to all users who helped us during the beta phase of the new forum with their criticism and their suggestions for improvement and we wish you much pleasure with the new forum.

Greetings
Your fotocommunity team

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The search box is not up to date. The search box is visible, however, provides no results. The search will be active within the next week.

Dear members of fotocommunity,

the revision of the preview pages caused many and various feedbacks of our members. I would like to say “Thank you” to all, who gave their inputs and feedbacks. Some points I would like to comment personally.

Thumbnail size
In 2002, when fotocommunity started, the preview images were the largest compared to other websites, but today they were among the smallest. Even though the previews were resized and are no longer the smallest, they are still far from being the largest.
In our point of view the trend toward larger thumbnails is understandable. It’s just more fun to browse through the sections and portfolios. And it´s also much easier to pick the interesting pictures you want to see big and accurate. Larger thumbnails will give you a better impression of how exciting the images may appear. The result is remarkable: the number of observed images in single view has risen since last week – both per visit and in total.

Endless scrolling
The new navigation is certainly the most serious change. A scroll-based design has two key advantages.
First, it is more convenient to move the thumbnails up and down with a leisurely turning mouse wheel, instead of turning pages by clicking on a “continue”-button. However, if you like to browse as you normally do, you may still get comfortable with using the buttons placed in the timeline.
Second, endless scrolling increases speed because only the new images needs to be reloaded. Refreshing a whole page often is time-consuming because of a higher data transfer (the new thumbnails are only about 20kb in size, in comparison, the size of the single view is about 450kb).
By the way, more and more websites are based on a scrolling navigation, which is better suited to the technical features of the internet.

Design
One can argue about good design. We had discussions about that during the beta-phase. We experienced a lot of encouragement, but also a lot of rejection of the new design. Some changes were considered based on these feedbacks, some details were already adjusted during the beta-phase.
Due to larger preview images and the reduced space between the images the page seemed to be more colorful and overloaded. Therefore it was necessary to reduce colors and shapes to increase the clarity of the page.

Corrections
We are still about to sift through and evaluate the many good and valid criticisms and suggestions of the last days. I would like to mention two improvements, which will be implemented soon:
We will automatically pixelate images with nude content for users not logged in to better protect the privacy of the models. Registered users voluntarily can set their preferences to pixelate the nudes. And in “My Community” the left column below your profile photos will be individually configurable.
We are well aware that such a complete change does not appeal to everyone and that you need time to get along with the design and navigation. Nevertheless we would be very happy if you give us a chance and we hope that fotocommunity will be even more fun than before.

Best Regards

Axel Flasbarth
CEO fotocommunity