Around the Web on a Monday

Colin Jago's self-portrait from Auspicious Dragon

Thanks for everything, Colin: Shades of Alec Soth. To the great dismay of his fans, Colin Jago recently brought his uniquely thoughtful, always enjoyable photography blog, the Photostream on Auspicious Dragon, to a close. Though we will mourn, we wish Colin all the best with all his newfound free time.

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(OT) On the other side of no tomorrow: So I wake up this morning with an old song in my head. I go to the closet and find the disk—a Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab "Original Master Recording" of Steely Dan's "Katy Lied," which I probably haven't listened to in fifteen years—and cue it up on the turntable. And then, when I settle down with some freshly brewed coffee, what do you know, there's this in the virtual morning paper.

Through late November, more than 2.1 million vinyl records had been sold in 2009, an increase of more than 35 percent in a year, according to Nielsen Soundscan. That total, though it represents less than 1 percent of all album sales, including CDs and digital downloads, is the highest for vinyl records in any year since Nielsen began tracking them in 1991....

Which is true, except, um, about a third of those sales were to me. Well, not really. (Daddy don't live in that New York City no more....)

In case you're a 1-percenter too, Mosaic's new four-disc limited-edition "Thelonious Monk at the It Club" is a religious experience. I'm just sayin'.

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Onion gets the gestalt of digital photography: New device desirable, old device undesirable.

...The new device is so advanced when compared to the old device that it makes the old device appear much older than it actually is. However, the new device is reportedly not so radically different as to cause confusion or unwanted anxiety among those familiar with the feel of the old device.

'Its higher price indicates to me that it is superior, and that not everyone will be able to afford it, which only makes me want to possess it more,' said Tim Sturges, owner of the old device, which he obtained 18 months ago when it was still the new device. 'I feel a strong urge to purchase the new device. Owning the new device will please me and improve my daily life.'

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Camera Collector's Corner: Here's one for the glass case that few will be able to match. Wow.

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Comic by Steve Bell, The Guardian

Police admonished: At least the British appear to be getting this matter sorted. The Independent reports that the Government's independent reviewer of anti-terrorism laws, Lord Carlile of Berriew, has warned the police about hassling photographers to no purpose. Says Lord Carlile, "The police have to be very careful about stopping people who are taking what I would call leisure photographs, and indeed professional photographers. The fact that someone is taking photographs is not prima facie a good reason for stop and search and is very far from raising suspicion." Hear, hear.

UPDATE to the above: See here. (Thanks to David Nicol)

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Weird and wacky cameras:

Kirin Beer cam (a real beer can in the background). Photo by Dirk Rösler.

It's real Lego. And a real camera.

Erin Fong's more ergonomic DSLR concept

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Rare in the wild: One of the most wonderful of classical photographical typos, seldom actually encountered. Observed on Ebay.

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Micro 4/3 in action: Reader Roy Feldman used the Panasonic GF1 and 20mm ƒ/1.7 lens to do a short feature on the painter Stephen Magsig for Michigan Radio Picture Project. Interesting, too, because, as you can see from the presentation, Mr. Magsig is a photographer of sorts, too.

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Your Facebook pictures say so much about you: A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave for depression says she lost her benefits because her insurance agent found photos of her on her Facebook page in which she appeared to be having fun. She had been diagnosed with major depression and was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from insurance giant Manulife. But the payments dried up this fall when her insurance agent found pictures showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party, and on a sun holiday.

The woman said she was following her doctor's advice by trying to have fun as a way to forget her troubles.

(Associated Press)

And in an unrelated Facebook note, our friend Bob Burnett came across this on the social networking site:

Name: Petition to make bendy buses make accordion noises as they go round corners
Category: Common Interest—Beliefs & Causes
Description: A pressure group to increase the enjoyment of public transport.
Privacy Type: Open: All content is public.

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Adapters are getting popular, yes: But this is ridiculous / sublime.

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...The rosy glow of product placement. Billie Holiday, trains going through tunnels, that special fragrance, and...

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Photo: Nonja

So easy a caveman could do it? Photography's so easy an ape could do it.

Okay, so Nonja is...well, not that good. But since I mentioned Dr. Johnson the other day, recall what the good (albeit sexist*) lexicographer said about a dog walking on its hind legs: "...it is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

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Thom's 2010: One of the regular high points of my web reading year has arrived: Thom Hogan's "2010 Nikon Predictions" arrived a couple of weeks ago. (Pity that word "Nikon" is in the title—although it's accurate—as the article, as usual, is a must-read for shudderbugs of any allegiance.) A snapshot of the industry and a bellwether—and entertainment in prose, to boot. Might need a refill on the coffee, but do not miss.

Mike
(Thanks to Brian Dickie, Ken Tanaka, Steven House, Jaladhi Pujara, Rod Purcell, Dean Forbes, Sandy Rothberg, Paul Parker, and Rob Atkins)

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*The full quote is, "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

Featured Comment by Colin Jago: "Many thanks. And for the avoidance of doubt: that newly free time is going to be used for, you know, actually taking some photographs."

Featured Comment by robert e: "According to photographer Thorsten Overgaard, that is [Audrey] Tautou's own M8 in the Chanel ad. I've read that she photographs every journalist who interviews her."

Comments

[Dr Mickey]

Mike,
I am a 1-percenter as well and I enjoy your mentions of turntables and the "high end".

Woke up with the Doobie Brothers' "Little Darlin'" playing in my brain so as I busied myself with prepping the Pentax K-7 for today, I enjoyed "Livin' on the Fault Line" playing on my Music Hall mmf-7.1...

[Iñaki]

That canon render might be funny to look at, but there are quite some physical reasons why spyglasses never had that form.

Torsion momentum on the y axis.

[Kent Whiting]

hey --- i have a Coke a Cola camera just like the beer one, it shoots 35mm film

kman

[Kevin Schoenmakers]

Taken from the Onion article:

""True, it appeals to my most basic insecurities..."

Brilliant article. Thanks for sharing, Mike.

[matthew]

i only paid attention to that ad when the camera caught my eye — so it was the product placement selling the commercial…

[Nicolas]

> Torsion momentum on the y axis.

Not necessarily a problem if you take both handles in hands, symetrically at twenty-to-four, or just one set right under the body, I'd say?

What puzzles me a bit more is how to operate the controls on the lens itself (zoom at least), but anyway it's fun to see some newthink at work.

[charlie]

That's not very good product placement if at all. Show that to 100 people and the one photographer who sees it will be the only one who knows just what camera that might be.

I could be wrong.

I wish Colin luck and will miss his blog.

The beer can camera takes Schnapps not snaps.

Is it just me, or do the strap lugs seem perfectly wrong on that Canon? And what is the deal with that lens, it has two aperture rings?

Tra la la...Happy Monday y'all (assuming it's Monday where you is)

[Chuck Albertson]

The LP version of Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl" is worth the price of a new turntable. And I should know.

[James]

Well, if Thom's right, there'll be no desirable new devices for me in 2010. I guess I'll have to buy one of those desirable old 6x6 cameras you've been writing about instead.

[Tom Duffy]

Quite the telephoto she evidently had mounted on the Leica, based on the LCD screen review. Anyone who noticed the camera, instead of the girl, is a nerd. Myself included, I think... :)

[Michel]

I get very scared when the Onion is both true and funny.

[Eolake Stobblehouse]

Tom Duffy, I agree. It was a very, very beautiful... camera.
(M8, yes?)
(OK, the girl was (sigh) too. So I have two passions, shoot me.)

What's more amazing than the reach of the lens is that it clearly was a zoom! On a rangefinder. Well done that girl.

[Miserere]

I read Thom's predictions when they came out, but as a Pentaxian I felt cheated: He did not predict the end of Pentax for 2010. It just feels wrong to start the new camera year not thinking your brand will disappear within the next 365 days. What are we expected to discuss in the forums, Photography???

Why does that strange Canon have a Leica lens on it? (Or is it not a Leica...?)

That beer can gives and one for the road a whole new meaning, while the LEGO cam redefines the phrase this camera is a brick. Oh my, I woke up so punful this Monday morning... :-)

[Roger Bradbury]

@ onion "However, the new device is reportedly not so radically different as to cause confusion or unwanted anxiety among those familiar with the feel of the old device."

Hmm....

Now, Erin Fong's DSLR is a welcome break from the usual designs based on 35mm film SLRs, or in some cases the Pentax 6 X 7 SLR with a quarter inch lead covering, judging by their size and weight. It may not come to production, but might stimulate others to produce other designs. Perhaps the usual designs are like the "new device" as described by onion.

On closer inspection of Erin's design I was able to see that one thing hasn't changed. The lens is that classic length, the 135mm lens. f/3.5 and with a preset diaphragm. No worries about loss of functions when you adapt it to another camera, there are no functions.

I had a lens of that specification. It was a bit soft. Made a good portrait lens.

[Jay Cross]

Does anyone else find it ironic that there's a PICTURE project on RADIO?

[Carl Blesch]

re Photo typo ... reminds me of a client I had once who wasn't too smart but tried to make up for it by throwing his weight around. Apparently I didn't tend to his pet project the way he wanted, so he e-mailed me and said something like, "I shutter to think what will happen if you don't get this done." His spelling skills made me regard his project as even less important.

[Matthew Miller]

Thom Hogan's predictions are particularly interesting this time around, because it's the first time in years that Pentax won't be closing up shop.

[erlik]

I have usually found something to disagree with Thom Hogan's predictions. :-)

But I have to say I agree with his assessment of video in DSLR's completely. Almost everybody is going around, shouting about synergy and convergence. Stuff the synergy and stuff the convergence.

You cannot properly shoot video and photos _at the same time_. Something is going to suffer.

[David Bennett]

You can see it in her eyes...

Gives me a warm glow on a cold December.

And another reason to read TOP

[Rob Atkins]

I've had Steely Dan's "Katy Lied" in my head on continuous loop since that first mug of coffee, when I sat down to read TOP. Thanks Mike. I'm just sayin...'

[Ed G.]

Nonja's major problem is that they're showing every snap she takes. If all they posted was this one and maybe some of the shots of orangutan eyes, like this,
one might decide she had an interesting compositional sense.

Also, I have to wonder if she chimps.

[Roger Bradbury]

Re Nonja's photos: Must have been a lot of chimping going on that day.

[Michael Korak]

If you think that Nikon is pricey...check this out. AND IT SOLD!!!!

http://www.westlicht-auction.com/index.php?id=175121&acat=175121&offset=1&_ssl=off

Item #481 in the listings. And note who the former owner was.

[Neil]

Mike, I have that same Mobile Fidelity Steely Dan Album among others. I haven't plugged in my turntable in years, hell decades. But I'll listen tonight on iTunes. Excellent album. How about you play Royal Scam next. What's better than Larry Carlton's solos in "Don't Take Me Alive"? Now stick THAT one in your head for the night.

[Paulo Rodrigues]

The Lego Camera reminded me of a presentation given to my camera club by Gareth Davies. In addition to the enormously expensive panoramic cameras that he owned, he also had a linear camera that he built out of lego, with which he took these images http://www.tickpan.co.uk/strip/ecws/index.htm

[Jeff]

Music Matters Blue Note reissues...great music, great sound... and the album covers and photography are superb. Music and photography in one; how wonderful.

This is one area where the saying "they don't make them like they used to" doesn't apply...the quality of the vinyl, the recording and the presentation are better than before. While maybe not the same investment value, the stereo recording of some former mono issues is an added bonus. Rudy Van Gelder began recording in mono and stereo in 1957, and the stereo results from the original master tapes in these reissues are better sounding to me than the mono versions.

[Mike Johnston]

Jeff,
It's really true. The quality of vinyl records these days is vastly higher than in the so-called "glory years" when it was the default format. The market is small but fanatical and very quality-conscious, and the producers have responded. I actually buy very few records--I mostly listen to computer files--but I really enjoy the few I buy.

Mike

[robert e]

Cameras disguised as cans are funny, but check out what photographer Wes Pope has accomplished with some real soda cans and film:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2009/04/pinhole_americana.html?ft=1&f=97635953

[Jeff]

...and the analog equipment...turntables, tonearms, cartridges, etc...is vastly better too. But, unfortunately, very costly. I wonder if digital would have taken over so quickly had the quality been this high the first time around.

[Mikal W. Grass]

Just ordered three multi-colored and one pink Lego camera for my kids, and two books by Eugene Richards from your link.

Anything you need for Chanukah?

[Derek]

Warning! If you like jazz, beware of the Mosaic web site. It has a nasty tendency of draining your wallet very quickly, and it matters not whether you prefer vinyl or CDs....

[Avi]

You seem sanguine about the matter of photographers' rights in the UK; while I can understand some optimism, (later developments reported in The Independent seemed even better as the head of the Association of Chief Police Officers sent a letter to all Chief Constables that read even stronger than the report the article in the link indicated,) in fact the police have been warned before to use more discretion and that they should not treat innocent picture taking as grounds for investigations, and there's evidence that British cops in the field have ignored such warnings, and even that the warnings may be accompanied by a "wink-wink"; one British photographer observed he'd believe things were turning for the better the first time an officer is disciplined for absurdly interfering with an innocent photographer. Make no mistake, police interference with British photographers has become epidemic, and many British photographers have serious doubts that recent developments will help.

[Iñaki]

By the way, quite ashamed that the ape is better than me taking ape snapshots.
: (
Blimey!!!!!

[Ludovic]

Is it just me or Audrey Tautou has no nose? How else could she shoot with that Leica sitting over her face like an SLR would?

(Apparently, none of my lady friends are in the target demographics for Chanel 5, as all of them would doubtlessly find a guy coming up behind then and *smelling* them far creepier than romantic.)

[JonA]

"I get very scared when the Onion is both true and funny." -Michel

Michel, the Onion is always true and funny and it SHOULD scare you at times into questioning societal beliefs and tendencies. That's just good satire.

As a good American taxpayer I believe that once that NASA Nikon camera sells I deserve a cut of the sale price since I helped pay for it in the first place. It will make up for the fact that I'll never again see the money that went to bail out AIG, GM, the banks, etc. ad nauseum.

[Mike Plews]

Anybody still doing direct to disc vinyl?
They were swell.

[David Nicol]

Re: Police admonished

Just because they've been told not to do it doesn't mean they won't carry on:

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=871742

[Andreas Weber]

Tom and Eolake:
Look closer; she is zooming into the recorded image ("arrow right" zooms in, "arrow up" out). And yes, M8 is correct.

[Eolake Stobblehouse]

"Photography's so easy an ape could do it."

About thirty years ago, after the arrival of the first autofocus camera in the world by Konica (a compact, I forget the name), they had an ad campaign in Denmark where a chimpanzee in the Copenhagen zoo used one. It actually took pretty decent pictures. I forget if it was the same one which was famous for painting abstract art.

[robert e]

Mike,

This post has taken me multiple visits over multiple days--and multiple cups of coffee--to get through. And I'm still not done!

Did it occur to anyone else that the Lego camera and the Ricoh GXR should be combined? At the very least, I think the Lego camera could be more modular than it is, and the GXR more Lego-like.

Whatever the reason for today's popularity of vinyl records, I have the sense that hip-hop, house, and other turntable-centric arts and practices helped sustain the medium through its darkest days.

[Avi]

Thanks to David Nicol for supplying the link to the British Journal of Photography. Unfortunately just posting that link noting an "update" was a pretty chicken-s--t approach.

It's clear from the BJP articles and editorials that the original post, "Police admonished: At least the British appear to be getting this matter sorted," was completely misguided, and that the real story is that press and photographers' rights, and therefore the British public's right to know have been trampled for the last eight years. This is not to say that we're doing all that well here in the US, of course, but it seems to me that most serious photographers here would be surprised to learn how startlingly controls on photography have slammed down on our colleagues in the UK. I urge TOP to look into the situation with greater depth, to give the matter some prominence, and to remain alert, lest the same happen here!

[Mike Johnston]

Avi,
The same thing *is* happening here--the difference is that our leaders are not admonishing our police about it and our press is not reporting it, hence we are *not* "getting it sorted."

The underlying problem is political, and unfortunately a frank appraisal of our politics (even just the pertinent bits) would be controversial and ultimately counterproductive to the mission of this site.

Mike

[Avi]

First, I should clarify that what originally bothered me was that this blog addressed the problem of the surpression of street photography in the UK and gave readers the incorrect impression that the issue has been solved in Britain; it certainly hasn't!
And, while I never claimed that there was no problem here in the US, I don't believe that it is, at this point, comparable. Read the British Journal of Photography on the subject carefully; there have been 108,012 searches by the Metropolitan Police (not including the City of London Police) in a year. And while there's been lip service by officialdom to moderating the assault on photographers' rights, note that the problem there mostly stems from official police and community officers' actions. IMO that's a lot worse than the situation here where a large part of the problem stems from private "rent-a-cops".
Lastly, I want to say that I can well understand that discussion of this sort of problem can be problematic for a publication or blog that needs to get and maintain the financial support of advertisers, so it's reasonable for TOP to stay out of such controversies completely. But it's less reasonable to give readers an erroneous impression of what's happening.
-Avi

[robert e]

According to photographer Thorsten Overgaard, that is Tautou's own M8 in the Chanel ad.

http://www.overgaard.dk/leica_history.html

I've read that she photographs every journalist who interviews her.