f/8 and be there

As a photographer you must have heard the phrase “f/8 and be there”. I don’t really know what it exactly means but as a photographer we can guess that it must surely mean that roughly if you set your aperture at f/8 which is normally the “sweet spot” of a lens and you can just shoot anything at that aperture without bothering to make any adjustment to the aperture. It is generally a general purpose aperture that you should stick to and what you should do is just concentrate on shooting without bothering much about the aperture (and shutter speed).

David Alan Harvey, an illustrious Magnum photojournalist has something interesting to relate about “f/8 and be there” in his blog here. There are many of his awesome photos too in his blog.

Jonas Bendiksen

National Geographic Magazine has awarded its second annual US$50,000 photography grant to Jonas Bendiksen, to support his work on global urbanization. Bendiksen proposed to document the population explosion in Chongqing, a city in western China that is considered the fastest growing metropolis in the world.

Jonas Bendiksen, a very talented photojournalist, is a member of Magnum Photos and a recipient of multiple awards for his outstanding photographic and photojournalism works. Among others are Freedom of Expression Foundation fellowship, second place in the Daily Life Stories category for World Press Photo, the 2003 Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, and first prize in the Pictures of the Year International competition.

However I believe the ultimate award in recognition of his outstanding works must be this National Geographic grant. It is arguably the biggest grant ever given by any NGO for the photography project.

Congatulations to Jonas Bendiksen.

Take a look at Jonas Bendiksen’s impressive portfolio that won him the grant. Do also enjoy his portfolio at Magnum Photos the photo agency that he represents and read some information about Jonas Bendiksen here.

Last year National Geographic Magazine awarded the grant worth the same amount to Eugene Richards. Take a peek at his winning portfolio here.

The passing of a modern legend

I was saddened to hear the news about the passing of Alexandra Boulat, 45 in Paris on Friday the 5th of October, 2007. I consider her one of the modern photographer/photojournalist legends.

She was one of the founding members of the VII agency and has been primarily a conflict photographer in the Middle East, joining VII when it was established in 2001.

She was specialised in conflict photography and had her works published in numerous international publications among others Time, Newsweek and National Geographic.

I recommend that you view her great portfolio in VII websites by clicking Alexandra Boulat, her portfolio in National Geographic entitled “Diary of a War” and TIME multimedia presentation “Capturing Gaza’s Hell.”

While she will be missed by her loved ones, family, friends and her fans around the world her amazing works will live on to be admired and to remind us of the catastrophy that war has caused to humankind – the subject that she was most passionate about.