MA Students Exhibit in Beijing

Three MA Photography students based in China were invited by the government on a tour of Inner Mongolia recently. Their work has since been selected for an exhibition in Beijing, China.

The exhibition is at the National Art Museum and runs for a week from 21st September and is called 'Prettiness Inner Mongolia' and celebrates 60 years of Inner Mongolia as an autonomous region.

Sex in the Park Slideshow

Interesting documentary slideshow on the New York Times website of a Japanese photographer who documented couples having sex outdoors in public parks and the voyeurs that watched them.

Nikon FF Digital Rangefinder???

Following Nikon's D3 full frame launch rumours are swirling around about an entry level FF camera from Nikon and the surprise seems to be that it might be built into a Rangefinder rather than an SLR....

"The low end FX camera is supposed to come in at around $3000, using the present D3 sensor. Its cost means the cost of the body has had to be severely restricted - but Nikon has taken a radical solution to this to meet the price restraints without compromising quality - the camera is not an SLR, it’s a ‘digital rangefinder’. AF uses contrast detection off the sensor, so there’s no mirror or AF assembly. Metering is also off the sensor. The direct view finder has an overlaid internal QXGA LCD which displays variable frame lines (thus allowing zoom lenses) and, if MF is selected, a ‘digital rangefinder spot’ in which the rangefinder image is taken off the image sensor, and thus operates with a diagonal split. It shares the XGA rear LCD of the D3/300, which is the preferred mode of operation for macro work and non AF lenses. This is not an F-mount camera. Originally it was to use an updated Nikon S-mount, but will actually use an electronic M-mount. This has no mechanical couplings, so although standard M-mount lenses will operate, focus and diaphragm are uncoupled. It will be released with a remounted version of the 45/2.8 pancake, and other ‘NM’ mount lenses will become available, perhaps modernised version of classic S-mount lenses. An adapter allows mounting of F-mount lenses, with full function only for AF-S lenses. The lens mount decision has been made to allow the camera to be very slim, and it is somewhat smaller in size than a Leica M8, but styled after an SP. The whole thing has been contracted out, probably to Cosina. It has an ‘S’ series name, maybe SD or SP-D. There’s also a rumour that the same camera will be released by Sony/Zeiss, badged as a Contax (having sorted out the wrangle with Kyocera)."

Read more about it here...

Campaign to stop Getty's $49 image pricing

There is an email campaign under way to put a stop to Getty's plan to start selling images for $49 for web use.

If you feel strongly about this and how it may effect the industry go and add your name!

Media Boycott Rugby World Cup

AP, Reuters and AFP have boycotted the Rugby World Cup in response to the IRB's request
that, amongst other things, no more than 40 images be posted online from matches in progress, and a limit of three minutes on news conference or locker-room video posted online.

Read more here...

Exciting New Acency Announced

NOOR Images, a new collective photo agency was announced at Perpignan this week.

Their nine highly regarded photographers are:

Samantha Appleton (U.S.)
Jodi Bieber (South Africa)
Philip Blenkinsop (Australia)
Pep Bonet (Spain)
Jan Grarup (Denmark)
Stanley Greene (U.S.)
Yuri Kozyrev (Russia)
Kadir van Lohuizen (The Netherlands)
Francesco Zizola (Italy)

Certainly one to watch...

World Press Photo Exhibits at Pingyao

The World Press Photo Exhibition 2007 will be on display in Pingyao next week!

The exhibition will be part of the Pingyao International Photo Festival and will be on display from 19 to 25 September.

The Pingyao International Photo Festival is China's largest photo festival and watch this space for details of the MA Photography's presence there next week...

Sebastian Salgado Interview/Slideshow

There is an interesting Sebastian Selgado interview in The Times with an accompanying slideshow.

New Image Resizing Technology

Check out this video of new digital image resizing technology coming out of Isreal...

Paulo Pellegrin: Double Blind Lebanon 2006

Have a look at the slideshow on YouTube of Paulo Pellegrin's images from the Lebanon conflict from last summer.

The slideshow promotes his new book "Double Blind".

Magnum: New Blood Exhibition

Magnum are running a print sales exhibition entitled 'New Blood':

"This exhibition brings together the work of Magnum's new blood; five Associate Members: Antoine D'Agata, Jonas Bendiksen, Trent Parke, Mark Power and Alec Soth. As a group, they embody the evolution of documentary photography, from traditional photojournalism to a more art-based practise, and reflect the diversity that continues to distinguish the agency."

Stills Gallery, NSW Australia
22 August - 22 September 2007

For those of us not in Australia, you can view over 50 images in a slideshow on the Magnum website.