February 2016

DSC_9875D80 Salem, MA © 2015 Paul Light
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/23584318575

January 2016

DSC_9833D80a  Bus Stop © 2015 Paul Light

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/21640693832/

December 2015

DSC06657NX5N  Amsterdam  © 2015 Paul Light

November 2015

This Month's Photograph   New York's skyscrapers have been magical to me since I was a child. For the past three years I have been photographing the space around the High Line. There is lots of construction going on in that area. Using the panoramic format I am able to create a majestic horizontal view of this section of the New York skyline that is very different than what I would get with a traditional wide angle lens. As I shoot the panoramic, I can only see it as several vertical sections, which are stitched together once I put the files on the computer. With practice, I am able to imagine roughly what it will look like, but never know with certainty until it is assembled on the computer. I like the surprise of not knowing exactly what I have at the time of exposure.

October 2015

This Month's Photograph   I took this photograph in Brussels. The paint and vines make this something beyond just a door. The combination of bright soft-edged painted colors and the vines give it the quality of a landscape that has magically appeared in an urban space. As a photographer, I am always seeking ways to bring out the extraordinary in everyday environments. In this photograph, I had some help from the homeowner, who had created this fantastic door. I like photographing the many ways people modify urban spaces to reflect their dreams and values.

September 2015

This Month's Photograph   This month's photograph was taken in the Boston Public Garden. This is the Boston Acro Play group. When I began photography I was most interested in photographing people I did not know, but I had no idea how to do so. And then I saw the photographs of Robert Frank showing everyday life rather than news events or celebrities. The next day I photographed a parade of children and their pets in Palo Alto, CA. I was disappointed with the results and threw away the negatives. My timing was off - way off. I realized that for the type of candid I was interested in, it was often critical to take the picture before the person could choose how to react to the event. I continue to photograph parades and festivals, but have become much happier with my timing and the subsequent results. Working close creates a dramatic perspective that is unobtainable by any other method, especially when using a wide angle lens. I am most comfortable using ones that have an angle of view of 84 -104°, working 3 feet or closer to my main subject. I don't pose them or talk with them while taking their picture, but they know I am there. The closer I shoot the faster I need to decide when to shoot and continue to only shoot before the person can make a choice how to react to my presence. "Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed." - Garry Winogrand

August 2015

This Month's Photograph I took this panoramic photograph in New York City on the Upper West Side. I have experimented with panoramic photography for a number of years, trying a variety of approaches. I created this photograph using a digital mirrorless camera mounted on a tripod with a Really Right Stuff Panoramic head and editing it with Photomerge in Photoshop. I also use the Autostitch application to create images that might be considered freeform panoramics. My iBook "Autostitched 1.0" is now available for 99 cents from the iTunes stores. It is compatible with iTouch, iPhone, iPad and MacBooks. You need to have an iPad with iBooks 2 or later and iOS 5 or later, or an iPhone with iOS 8.4 or later, or a Mac with OS X 10.9 or later. You can see more of my panoramics at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157633709957926/ You can see some of my autostitched photographs at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157633378139401 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157633259245123

July 2015

This Month's Photograph This photograph was made in Barcelona. Making photographs in Barcelona gave me my first opportunity to explore using Autostitch outside of the United States. I like to photograph things I have never noticed before. Never having been to Spain before, there was lots to notice. The Autostitch series is an extension of my work with panoramic photography, which I began in the early 1970s by pasting darkroom prints together. I continued the work in the 1980s using a 35mm camera with a built in panoramic mask and then in the 1990s using a view camera with a custom-designed panoramic film slide. In the early 2000s, I began to cut and repiece photographs using Adobe Photoshop. For the photographs in this series, I use a variety of cameras, as well an iPhone and an iPad. Each photograph is composed of several smaller photographs electronically pieced together using an algorithm created by Cloudburst Research and offered in the apps Autostitch and Calico.  Perspective and texture play a central role in all of my photography. In this series, I have perspective options that I never knew were possible. I have always liked wide angle lenses, as well as photo compositing techniques that give a similar perspective effect to wide angle lenses. The algorithms in AutoStitch and Calico enhance the possibilities that I previously only began to explore with lenses and photo compositing.

June 2015

This Month's Photograph

This photograph is from Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA. I have gone to this beach every year since I have been a child. I have photographed this particular area many times over many years with a variety of cameras and lenses. In the summer this area is filled with picnic benches where people can purchase lunch. The shadows from the enclosure make interesting patterns on the people. The patterns of the shadows in this empty space are also equally as interesting without the summer benches and people. Lately I have been making triptychs in a wide variety of settings and am experimenting further into polyptych composition or compositions that are made in sections - primarily quadriptychs (4 sections), pentaptychs (5 sections) and hexaptychs (6 sections).  I am drawn to making these photographs for their ability to expand wide angle perspective in a way that is uniquely different from what is captured with a wide angle lens.

May 2015

This Month's Photograph As a child, I never understood why people made photographs, since they just looked like a record of what you could see with your eyes. I was more interested in creating images that looked different. During a visit to Times Square, my parents bought me a small novelty camera that produced circular photographs, which I thought would allow me to create unique images. However, I never actually got to see any of the circular photographs I shot, since the camera had an unfortunate voyage through a washing machine with my first roll of film. Unfortunately, my parents were unable to replace the camera. As a result, making circular photographs become one of my first objectives when I began to pursue photography as an adult. I like circular photographs, because they offer a deep, dreamlike perspective.  This photograph was shot in Acadia National Park in Maine, a place where I take photographs for at least a few days every summer. More of my circular photographs can be seen at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157600244893559/

April 2015

This Month's Photograph I began making panoramic photographs in 1974 after seeing the work of Art Sinsabaugh. I liked how he used a long horizontal frame to create a unique type of wide angle photograph. Sinsabaugh used a huge "banquet" view camera that shot 12" x 20" film. Long ago I tried to buy a camera like this and found it was not possible. Since then, I have tried a variety of approaches to achieve the same effect-including pasting darkroom photographs together, using cameras with manufactured and custom-made masks, working with a variety of panoramic stitching programs, and employing sweep panoramic. I currently work with the panoramic stitching applications Autostitch, Calico and Photomerge, as well as manual stitching in Photoshop and cameras utilizing Sweep Panorama firmware. I created this photograph using a digital mirrorless camera mounted on a tripod with a Really Right Stuff Panoramic head and editing it with Photomerge. More of my panoramics can be seen at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157633709957926/

March 2015

This Month's Photograph I first became interested in the idea of using two or more photographs together after seeing Duane Michaels 1970 book "Sequences" and the 1940 photograph by Ansel Adams "Surf Sequence, San Mateo County Coast, California." While Michaels used multiple panel photographs to tell a story and Adams used them to show a sequence in time, I wanted to use them as a way to explore space in an unconventional way. I am drawn to making these photographs, especially triptychs, for their ability to expand wide angle perspective in a way that is uniquely different from what is captured with a wide angle lens.  More of my triptychs can be seen at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157634890963838/

February 2015

This Month's Photograph This is a photograph from my upcoming exhibit of candid photographs at Middlesex Community College, where I teach. Paul Light - Candids Middlesex Community College Henderson Hall Bedford, Massachusetts March 2 to April 3, 2015   If you are in the Boston area, please come see my exhibit https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/…/72157650451361958/

January 2015

This Month's Photograph My earliest photographs of people were street candids. Occasionally, I made portraits of friends. This all changed after seeing the portraits of Paul Strand and Diane Arbus. I liked how Strand and Arbus photographed people in a simple and direct way.  My first 20 years of portraits were mostly of total strangers in Boston and Cambridge, taken as I roamed the streets creating photographs for newspaper and textbook publishers. I used as a neutral a background as I could find spontaneously. Most of these photographs were black and white. What I liked about creating these portraits was that the people interacted with me, influencing the way the photographs looked. In recent years, I have mostly photographed my students at Middlesex Community College. I initially began these portraits as a way to demonstrate to students how to photograph people. As time went on, I realized that these demonstrations offered another opportunity for me to the work that I so valued. In doing so, I found myself going back to where I started - with square, black and white photographs, taken outdoors, with direct and neutral backgrounds. You can see more of my portraits at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157650122445296/

December 2014

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/11853598555/ This Month's Photograph I like how photography operates outside of real space and time, making it an ideal medium to reconstruct them, yet at the same time presenting an illusion of something that is real. I took this photograph on Newbury Street in Boston. It shows two adjacent spaces that I found mutually attractive. Rather than creating two individual photographs, I choose to superimpose the images, hoping to combine the best qualities of each.  I have used this layering technique since I began photography, initially working with a camera shutter that didn't lock after a single exposure was made. The number of ways to make this type of image has been greatly expanded with the advent of digital photography. I created this photo using an iPhone and an in-camera app called DXP. You can see more of my layered photographs at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157603828248742/  I like the idea of building a photograph, as opposed to finding a photograph. Finding a photograph is often dependent on finding new places to photograph. Building a photograph is independent of finding new places. Throughout my career, I have created both "built" photographs and "found" photographs. Two of my favorite photographs are complete opposites: Apocalypse II  1967 - Jerry Uelsmann  (a built photograph)   http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/18629/apocalypse-ii   The Lusetti Family, Luzzara, Italy 1953 - Paul Strand (a found photograph)   http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=51750

November 2014

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/7985134631 This Month's Photograph In the 1980s I did a series of still lifes for textbook publishers, magazines and advertising clients. This led to me thinking about lighting still lifes. I started to explore the possibilities, creating a series of still lifes shot in a totally dark room. I lit the objects by moving around small handheld flash units and flashlights. I continue to pursue this technique, because it allows me to redefine the space in ways that would be physically impossible in daylight or with traditional studio lighting. I love the way I can create multidirectional light, change where the shadows and highlights fall, and mix various colors of light. You can see more of my nightwork at  http://www.lightwavephoto.com/Portfolio.cfm?nK=16423

October 2014

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/14496691360/ This Month's Photograph I took this photograph in Acadia National Park in Maine. It is a composite of six vertical photographs. Each of the photographs was carefully aligned using a tripod and a Really Right Stuff (RRS) panoramic head. In post production, I assembled the photograph using Photomerge, a panoramic editing option contained in Photoshop.   I have been interested in photo compositing since I first saw the photographs of Jerry Uelsmann inn the 1970s. I first used the technique to alter images and make them look very different from traditional photographs. I now use it to create both non-traditional-looking photographs and very realistic stitched photographs, as in this example. I employ compositing techniques in a wide range of projects, including my Repieced Multiples, Autostiched Photographs, and RRS Panoramics.   To see more of this series go to  https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/sets/72157633709957926/   Notable Photographer   Sakaguchi Tomoyuki http://tsaka.jp/?sliders=home-2007 Historically night photography begins with Alfred Steiglitz, as so much of art photography does. By 1970 Jerry Burchard and Gary Ruble had introduced night photography as a principal way of making photographs. In recent times, this process has been greatly accelerated by Matthew Pillsbury and Gregory Crewdson. It is safe to say that night photography has now become a mainstream style of photography. What makes Tomoyuki's work striking is that his photographs are taken in suburban Tokyo, a place few foreign tourists have ever seen, in neighborhoods that look quite different from American suburbs-shown in the surreal ambient light of night.

September 2014

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/8900756218 This Month's Photograph My first street photographs had no people in them. I wanted to photograph people, but I had no idea how. Once I learned how, I continued to photograph spaces without people, because I think these photographs reflect people's aspirations and dreams. This photograph was taken in Liberty Square in the Financial District of Boston on a Sunday. On weekends, this area tends to be very quiet. I have walked thru here on Saturdays and Sundays for years thinking about making photographs. Last year I started and continue to photograph here - always very slowly and deliberately. I plan to continue to photograph here.   So many photographs, so little time I have tens of thousands of photographs that remain in storage waiting for editing. I like them and would like to edit and print all of them, but that would require too much money, too much time, and too much storage space. After I had done photography for about eight years, I was determined to figure out what to do with all of the photographs I had shot. I asked for advice from two photographers who I knew produced large quantities of photographs. At the time, I was using film, since digital photography had not yet been invented.The first was Garry Winogrand. He just laughed and advised me to get a big file cabinet , where I could throw the undeveloped film. He went on to explain that if the photographs were good, someone would develop and print them after you died. Sure enough, when Winogrand died, he left behind approximately 6,600 rolls of film in a big filing cabinet. All of this film has now been developed, and 56 of these photographs have appeared in exhibits at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and currently the Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/garry-winogrand The second photographer I approached was William Eggleston. He said he printed everything he shot. At the time, he was working with three printers. One printer worked on the images that were too dark. A second would print the images that were correctly exposed. A third printer handled the lighter images.  Although I appreciated their advice, neither Winogrand or Eggleston's advice worked for me, so I had to come up with my own solution. In this age of digital photography, I use the delete button frequently to eliminate any photographs that I don't intend to print. This is my initial editing process. I try to post the remaining photographs on Flickr rather than creating prints. I use the audience response, as well as my own response over time, to determine which photographs to print.

August 2014

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/8147381264 This Month's Photograph When making candid photographs, it is important to me to get close and become invisible. This feeling was strongly reinforced by a chance encounter that allowed me to observe Garry Winogrand shooting candids at Fanueuil Hall Marketplace in Boston. Working close creates a dramatic perspective that is unobtainable by any other method, especially when using a wide angle lens. I am most comfortable using ones that have an angle of view of 84 -104°, working 3 feet or closer to my main subject. I took this photograph at Honkfest, an annual Columbus Day Weekend event in Somerville, Massachusetts. Initially, working close and being invisible seem contradictory. However, in this situation, it was easy to be invisible. The people in the photograph were getting ready for a parade and were more interested in looking good than than they were in me. I never talked to them or planned to talk to them. I was looking for one moment that expressed what I was seeing. This is a record of that moment. Favorite iPhone Apps ProCamera is an app that allows the user to get the maximum technical quality from an iPhone. I was originally attracted to it for its anti-shake shutter button and its ability to change the photo's aspect ratio. It has a range of other features that I don't currently use but may at some point. These include Rapid Fire, Tiltmeter, and Grids. Rapid Fire is what it sounds like. Tiltmeter allows the user to get the camera completely straight, and the Grids offers a grid view on the screen, much like a classic ground glass grid viewfinder. Notable Website I have been using Flickr since 2006. It is a site for social networking with images, where words aren't exchanged very much. Most of the postings are photographs-by at least one count, 8.6 million photographs per day. I don't see all of them on any given day and of those do I see, I don't like all of them. I enjoy being exposed to the many photographers whose work is not in books, galleries, or museums. I keep a running tab of these photographers at https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/favorites/.  I often wonder who they are, and I appreciate that they continue to share their work with the world. One of photographers I like watching is Alan Barr. He has posted over 4,000 photographs since 2005. He can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/abarr. Unlike much of his current photography, his older photographs are in color. They appear to be candids or minimally posed photographs of people who work in a Philadelphia butcher shop. He works in a traditional street photography style pioneered by Henri Cartier Bresson in the 1930s. As he moves toward the present, his cameras and lenses change, but his vision remains consistent. Sometimes I feel that, if Alan hasn't already photographed every person in Philadelphia, he eventually will. He is one of many examples of photographers whose work I would never have seen without Flickr.

July 2014

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullight/11732772253 This Month's Photograph Being able to visually manipulate time and space is what brought me into photography. I initially became involved in night photography because it didn't make sense to me to stop taking photographs once the sun had set for the day. I loved seeing how light was interpreted by a camera lens, since it is so different than the way our eyes see night light. What I like best about night photography, however, is that I am able to manipulate time by making very long exposures. In this photograph you see an example: a hand with an orange appears several times. This effect is made possible by using a tripod and keeping the shutter open for minutes, rather than for a fraction of a second. To manipulate space, I use wide angle lenses, auto stitching apps, and photo compositing. Favorite iPhone Apps Hueless has become my favorite way to do black and white photography on my iPhone. It has a wide range of controls for dealing with various lighting conditions, brightness and contrast, various grid patterns for composing, and even a set of options similar to black and white filters. This is an exciting app for anyone who enjoys black and white. You can view one of my recent black and white iPhone photos on Flickr. Notable Website After purchasing the book The Americans by Robert Frank in 1973, I became actively involved in street photography, as well as watching those around me who were following a similar path. There are many active street photographers who display their work on Flickr. One of the photographers I have watched most closely is  Maria Plotnikova, a member of the international collective Street Photographers. I like the way she works with very bright colors and often shows us crowd interactions that appear and disappear so quickly that they would be invisible if not captured by her elegant timing.