Photo by Jake von Slatt
Steampunk/hacker extraordinaire Jake von Slatt decided to converge his Canon DSLR and an old Diana camera plastic lens to see what would happen, and then, since that was too “competent and boring,” he mounted a bellows rig he picked up from the town dump. If you’re curious how he did it, he traces the process step-by-step on his blog, The Steampunk Workshop.
(via Boing Boing)
The New York Times’ Lens blog reports today on photographers’ rights, noting the case of photographer George Hahn, who was recently harassed by an undercover officer while taking a nighttime photo of the Javits Center in New York City. Hahn says that he was on a public sidewalk, but that didn’t stop the officer from barking out a gruff, pointed, “Can I help you?” (No, Officer, I usually prefer to work alone….)
There are terrorists and there are architecture enthusiasts. You’d think the NYPD would be able to distinguish between the two, wouldn’t you?
Article from Lens
At a time when newspapers are shrinking, if not outright dying, a new blog dedicated to photojournalism projects is a heartening development for photographers and fans alike. This week, the New York Times debuted its large-format photojournalism blog called Lens. With content spanning their vast archives up to present day, what’s also interesting is that the mission is to not only highlight the best of Times photographers but also other media outlets. But lest you think it’s a glamorous big-dollar venture, it’s actually a fairly simple proposition.
From an article in Editor & Publisher:
In a sign of how online publishing is often run on a shoestring, the blog has no dedicated staff and no budget for photography. It will showcase work shot for the Times’ print edition, personal projects by Times photographers, wire service photographs, and work provided for publication at no cost.
E&P says the blog was in part inspired by Boston.com’s The Big Picture, but Lens is more sleek, sophisticated and comprehensive. The format is user-friendly too, allowing viewers to peruse the photographs vertically rather than horizontally, which is a nice feature. Definitely worth checking out.
boywithgrenade.org 