Images That Work And Why
March 7, 2013 | Leave a Comment
Feedback on work produced during a workshop is an important part of each learning experience. Useful feedback usually starts with identifying core strengths before a discussion about how to improve (no matter how successful images are) and identifying possible next steps.
Here’s a collection of participant images from our Antarctica Crossing The Circle 2013 Voyage and a quick note about each image’s core strengths.
Ginette Vachon presents peak action in a way that elicits empathy
Cathrine Spikkerud enlivens an other-worldy stage with quiet understated action
Nancy Leigh animates an already dramatic stage with an energetic gesture
Marilynn Nance uses rhythm and perspective to make an historic building even more interesting
Robert Pettit use repetition to create a play between balance and imbalance
Fusako Hara explores the transitions between realism and abstraction
Benoit Feron uses line and texture to reveal natural processes
Jodie Willard uses opaque layers a strongly felt sense of space through design
Karin Pettit use transparent layers to portray depth
Norm Larson uses abstraction to portray not just an external reality but also to suggest an internal state
Celie Placzek uses number and proximity to suggest community
Jim Brewster uses negative space to highlight important figures amid chaos
Dennis Lenehan uses mass and volume to create dramatic contrasts
Geir Morten Skeie employs a delicate palette to create a transcendant mood for a monolithic structure
Joelle Rokovich expresses contrasts in scale to express size and distance with a minimalist efficiency
Find out about our 2014 Fly Antarctica Sail Across The Circle Voyage here.
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The Antarctica Project
October 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment
They say you go as a tourist and return as an ambassador. That’s certainly been my experience. I’ve been absolutely captivated by Antarctica. Antarctica is a remote region of overwhelming grandeur and stunning beauty. It has global significance geophysically and biologically. It is a climate indicator and regulator affecting weather and ocean currents. The highest, driest, windiest, coldest continent contains 90% of the world’s iceberg mass and 68% of the world’s fresh water. This crystal desert contains the lowest biotic diversity inland and some of the richest oceanic biotic diversity. Only recently discovered in the last century, Antarctica has never had an indigenous culture and will remain an international territory devoted to science until 2048 providing an example for all global cooperative efforts.
My work in Antarctica is multi-faceted.
Teaching digital photography workshops in the region.
Traveling exhibits.
Sharing images in book form.
Designing a website to inspire and to inform others about the region.
Initiating collaborative efforts with artists and scientists to raise awareness and promote conscientious action.
I’m actively seeking new exhibitions venues, publication channels, and collaborative efforts to promote awareness of Antarctica.
If you’d like to discuss new opportunities please contact me at jpc@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
Sign up for my free enews Insights to find out about new developments.
Ushuaia – Alvear Glacier
September 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Ushuaia – Alvear Glacier
Today we (my companions Seth Resnick, Craig Perrini, and Chris Hauser) took a hike. It was the hardest hike I’ve ever taken. It was described simply as a 3 hour 7 km hike one way. What was left out was that it was 75% vertical, ascending 3600 feet, including muddy paths through forests and crossing sheer loose scree (flat sheets of shale on hard packed dirt) – wet. It rained. Our guide had no med kit or training and spoke limited English which combined with my limited Spanish got us 75% of the way there – most of the time. She was in amazing shape. The goal was the Alvear Glacier ice cave, which was discovered ten years ago and has now melted up to 100 yards. Once inside it, it was beautiful. We should have had helmets. It constantly exfoliates. Amazingly, we had cell reception. So when we got three quarters of the way back Seth and I called our wives, “We’re idiots. We’re sorry. We love you.” We got back to the bus at dark. The hike lasted from 2 – 11 – 9 hours. It really was a questionable endeavor. Now that we’re back we have a great story. We all got some good shots. But I’m still questioning my sanity. If I knew then, what I know now I’d do it completely differently
Lessons learned.
There is such a thing as too much gear. I needed my tripod. I only used one lens 16-35mm. 40 pounds was simply too much. I would have enjoyed the trip more, made more images, and seen better with less gear. Too much gear compromised my safety.
In these situations clothing is essential. Water proofing. Layered warmth. Good shoes. I got a new pair of boots the day before and they were life savers. Waterproof bags and camera covers are musts too.
Get as detailed description as possible of what you’re in for. Check what safety precautions that are in place.
Keep your eye on the big prize. I’m getting on the boat to Antarctica for 14 days. This was just icing on the cake. If something had gone wrong, I might not be eating cake.
Only go with good people. We helped each other through all the rough spots. No one got left behind – ever. Seth and I laughed our way, sometimes hysterically, all the way up and back down. We always have a good time together.
I’m sure there will be other lessons learned as I share this story with others.
It would be easier to make light of the situation or stoically project masculine confidence, and say “It was fine.”. But I think it’s better to call it straight, A better response is, “What was I thinking?”
Enjoy my Antarctica galleries, book, and statements.
Learn more about my workshops here.
Early registrants get discounts at home.
Members get discounts abroad.
Antarctica – Blurb Book / Second Edition
August 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment
My book Antarctica is printed one copy at a time by Blurb. It’s the second edition with twice as many images. 100 images. 8×10″. Simple text. Heavily supported by my website.
Sometimes books include important facts about a region; my website has an extended essay collecting essential information about Antarctica; there’s no space limit on the web and everything connects to something more. Sometimes books include maps; my website has an Antarctica Google Map that you can pan and zoom, enhanced with commentary and images. Sometimes books include journals of a voyage; my website has several types of journals including highlights from three voyages and a set of live blog posts. Sometimes books include personal statements by the author; my website let’s you hear me speak. Sometimes books include recommended resources; my website has a list of recommended reading list and a set of links to the best climate change resources on the web and things you can do to help.
Did I create a website to support a book or a book to support a website? I keep thinking. Print is high resolution and low density. The web is low resolution and high density.
Websites don’t make books obsolete, but they’re certainly changing the function, sometimes the form, and more and more the production of them.
What’s left in this book is an exceptionally clean presentation of images with compelling juxtapositions and sequences in an unpowered form that you can comfortably touch, hold, share, and keep in your field of vision for extended periods of time. You live with books very differently than you live with websites. This book is worth living with.
Preview or purchase my book Antarctica here.
Disclosure – Images Based on Elements from Antarctica
August 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment
These images use elements drawn from Antarctica but are intended to be seen as universal rather than location specific.
I’ve produced many highly altered images from material shot in Antarctica, but I don’t present them with images from my body of work entitled Antarctica. I also don’t title them Antarctica. Antarctica is the first body of work I’ve produced that uses classic place and date titles. That type of title doesn’t adequately describe a majority of images I make. So, most of my images are titled with a series name, usually describing a process not a thing, and an order of creation number.
Get priority status in my Antarctica 2011 workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
Antarctica 2009
August 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment
“There is a profound sense of privilege that comes from being in the presence of such rare beauty. It touches you deeply. Witness to the extraordinary, you leave changed – for the better. It’s a blessing born of grace and giving birth to more grace. It’s as if you’ve been given a gift and you feel compelled to keep giving it.”
Read about the highlights from three voyages to Antarctica.
Each voyage was very different from the other, even though we returned to some of the same locations.
Get priority status in my Antarctica 2011 workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
I’m uneasy about this one. I underexposed the image by several stops. A bright sunlit scene became nocturnal in appearance. When discussing this image, many journalists have said the practice of underexposure is accepted. In this case, it distorts the sensation of time. It doesn’t represent the way I saw it, but instead the way I want to see it. I feel like I should censor myself and not include the image. But I included it to stimulate more discussion. Including it required disclosures like this. And more discussion. Do you think this kind of practice is acceptable in editorial contexts?
Find out about my exhibit here.
Stay tuned daily for more resources.
Get priority status in my Antarctica 2011 workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
Disclosure – Images That Changed
July 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Several images changed for inclusion in my book Antarctica. Why? The original versions contained small, but significant, elements that were composited from other sources. So I removed them for this project. Even though it’s often highly interpretive, editorial work is about representing the scene as it was witnessed. It wasn’t clear to me until after the initial voyage what kind of project I was developing. As it became clearer and clearer I realized I needed to put certain restrictions on my standard practices – otherwise it would become a different kind of project. There’s nothing wrong with those practices. They’re just not appropriate for this kind of project.
It’s usually only astronomers who realize that the moon in the first version is impossibly lit; it should have light on the same side as the iceberg and mountains. I like to leave clues like this for the viewer that alerts them to the fact that images have been altered. With my other type of work, I usually don’t tell them. Instead, I let them figure it out. This keeps viewers asking a lot of questions, which is really beneficial for everyone. In the case of my Antarctica work, I’m now doing the reverse. It’s appropriate and relevant to do so. In this case, full disclosure raises more questions. Questions and dialog are useful.
Find out about my exhibit here.
Stay tuned daily for more resources.
Get priority status in my Antarctica 2011 workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
Disclosure – Images That Did Make It
July 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment
While I’ve limited my practices in my work from Antarctica to those adopted by editorial photographers, I’m interested in pushing the envelope to stimulate useful dialog on contemporary practices. Here’s one. These panoramas were stitched together from multiple shots. I think that practice is fine in the context of journalism, as long as it represents what was before the lens. Yet the second panorama here is different. The exposures for this particular panorama were made over the course of several minutes. There was a lot of parallax so the icebergs had different relative positions in the exposures that were merged. Because of this, you can actually see more icebergs that otherwise would have been hidden. This type of composite actually presents the viewer with more information than a single exposure could. Is this appropriate practice? I think it is, if the author and media outlet disclose their practices. I think the news media ought to disclose much more information than they do: who the author is; how the documents were produced; how they were edited and delivered; who delivered them; what context they were placed in and how that shifts our perception of them; what time and financial constraints influenced the production; who the media derives income from; who the media outlet is owned by. We know the media’s not perfect or unbiased. We need to know who the media is. Way too many assumptions are made. We’ve lost our faith. Reclaim our trust. Give us more disclosure. That’s what I’m doing here.
Find out about my exhibit here.
Stay tuned daily for more resources.
Get priority status in my Antarctica 2011 workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
3 Voyages – 3 Kinds of Writing
July 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment
You can read my writings from three separate voyages to Antarctica.
The first statement was written midway through the trip to help me focus.
The second statement was written at the end of the trip to clarify my practice.
The third statement was written as a daily journal for live blog posts.
Three different trips. Three different kinds of writing. One evolving process.
Writing has helped my creative process. How can writing help yours?
Find out about my exhibit here.
Stay tuned daily for more resources.
Get priority status in my Antarctica 2011 workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
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