The art of photography since 1994
Feb 16
by Luigi Barbano in BlogUpdates, ethic, meditations, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: contests, digital elborations, ethic, photography, retouch, Saad

Ethic and Photographers

Definition of ethic, from the Merriam-Webster 1 ethics plural in form but singular or plural in construction : the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation 2a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values b ethics plural in form but singular or plural in construction : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group professional ethics c : a guiding philosophy d : a consciousness of moral importance forge a conservation ethic 3 ethics plural : a set of moral issues or aspects (such as rightness) debated the ethics of human cloning One of the latest news in the photographic world is the Australian Photographer Saad losing her prizes because in her composition she used images produced by other photographers. Not only, but even without the permission of the original creators.In a previous post I already talked about the fact that personally I do not consider photography what in reality are digital illustration, and is not the point of this post. Lately we have seen a long list of photographers that in some way cheated or at least stretched the rules a little too much. Many contests […]
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Feb 13
by Luigi Barbano in BlogUpdates, CaptureOne, ethic, Fujifilm, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: house for sale, italy, photography, piedmont

Contests, editing, advertising and trust

Few days ago it was snowing in my little town in the Italian region of Piemonte. It was quite beautiful and I took some pictures from the balcony. My reason was not just to have some photographic fun but also to create some images to promote the sale of my house. I posted this image on FaceBook and a friend commented: “if he had a red umbrella that would be a competition print possibly loan collection!” I’m sure it was a compliment and a way to stimulate me in a moment I’m getting far away from photographic competitions and some associations. But this made me think. Why do we have to modify every image with a contest or likes in our mind? I like this picture because it’s real. It was not snowing anymore so no need for an umbrella, eventually why red when the most common umbrellas here are the cheap interchangeable black ones?This is not a contest image that will catch the attention of a judge in 3 seconds on a screen, but I do not care, it is an honest one. Part of my idea is to show how beautiful is the view from this house. I […]
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Sep 09
by Luigi Barbano in BlogUpdates, ethic, meditations, nudes, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: digital elaborations, Grand Imaging Award, International photo contest, IPC, photography, PPA, professional photographers of america

PPA – Professional Painters of America?

identity crisis noun Psychiatry noun: identity crisis; plural noun: identity crises a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person’s sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society.   I had been a member of the PPA, Professional Photographers of America,  since 2000. I think PPA is a great association with a lot of benefit and educational resources for the members. Every year the PPA organizes the International Photo Contest. Sending the images, seeing them judged live online and looking at the others is a great way to improve. I sent images in the years, as is normal, some got merits, some got in the prestigious Loan Collection and some was not even considered. I always found a nice challenge to have my vision, more European, compared with the typical American vision of the judges. It’s a nice way to get out of the comfort zone. I always suggest to European to confront with the USA vision and vice versa. In the last couple of years I noticed a trend in the IPC that I do not like and this year, with the Grand Imaging Award Finalists, I was […]
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Jul 27
by Luigi Barbano in BlogUpdates, ethic, meditations, nudes, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: Milo Moire, models, moralism, morality, nude, nude photography, photography

Milo Moire`, photography and nudes

Today on FaceBook a friend of mine posted an article criticizing an artistic performance of Milo Moire`, the performance in question is “The mirror box” and you can see it here and read a description.     My first impact was to not consider the performance as something positive, but then I started to read the comments, all similar, just to quote some of them “What happened to this world? Seriously.” “What? She needs psychological help” “A singularly perverted narcissist and exhibitionist. Gets her thrills this way. Proves no point!” “She likes it?” “A true media whore. People are morons…those people touching her are pigs.” “Mediawhore” and so on… you can imagine how it went on. So I used Google to fine Milo Moire` page and read the explication of her performances and watched the others. After the comments and after seeing the other performances I have to say I really like her and she made a perfect point. Particularly I liked the Protest over the Cologne attack. In a culture where the answer of Cologne Mayor was to suggest the women to cover themselves I though that this performance was perfect. I’m a photographer, mostly a commercial photographer, but […]
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May 14
by Luigi Barbano in BlogUpdates, ethic, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: Alex Cooke, ethic, Fstopper, image manipulation, McCurry, photography, retouching

An answer to “The Case of Steve McCurry” by Alex Cooke on Fstopper

The case of the evident modification in the prints by McCurry exposed at an exhibit in Italy had created a big debate online between photographers. I don’t know McCurry and I’m not evaluating his work or his “right” to do what he wants with his pictures. I want to be more general and answer to the questions posed by the recent debate about his modifications. The article that made me write is the recent article by Alex Cooke I read on Fstoppers. Alex Cooke arrives at the point to tell there is not the truth and using a physicist like Richard Feynman as “master at deconstructing the idea of the absolute” to confirm his relativism, an interpretation of Feynman absolutely absurd and wrong since in the posted video Feynman does exactly the opposite: he simply state that to explain a truth you must keep at the level the audience can understand, not that there are no absolutes. The electric force is an absolute! To get back to photography we must first of all understand that the relativism is a wrong concept, in communication and in life. The truth exists and the only problem, eventually, is the limited view of the […]
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