When Miley Cyrus was being photographed by Annie Leibowitz for Vanity Fair recently, there were some photos made that presented the 15 year old pop star in a more revealing vein.
No extreme exposure except for her naked back, but the tone of the image appears to be sexual in nature.
Or is it?
Although her minders and/or parents were on the set and seeing the images as they were made digitally, no seemed to mind at the time.
However, in retrospect, on another viewing, the PR machine is grinding out apologies to everyone and anyone who thinks about Miley Cyrus. With a squeaky clean image in severe contrast to the rest of the current crop of certain young female celebrities, these images are opening the door to another persona.

They are not made by the paparazzi, but by a noted master.
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Around the corner from our apartment in Passaic, NJ, there was a store that was a called a “5 & 10”. So named for the cost of the items they carried. Everything from toys, housewares, and some hardware. A mini department store.

Now, I never found the 5 cent items, except candy, but there were a few 10 cent items. Lined up at kid level were rows and rows of cheap…er, inexpensive, toys that were separated by glass partitions on a table type of display.
You gazed upon the grid of goodies, figuring out where your allowance would get the most bang for the buck. Or quarter.
One of them was a cardboard camera, or what looked like a camera, with thin translucent negatives and special paper wrapped secretly in black paper, stored in the body.
Plus, I was not sure why this added to the attraction, a piece of real glass on a hinge to cover the cardboard camera.
Hmmm….seemed like good value right here. Throw in a Sugar Daddy to get the motor running and the deal was done. 15 cents and life was good. And change back from the quarter.

[photopress:P3019.jpg,full,alignright] The question became which to open first: the camera or the candy. The choice became easy.
Sit on the apartment steps and do both. Hey, the Sugar Daddy had a wax paper wrapper so it made its own plate, so you could lay it down while checking out the kit, and get a sugar hit when it came time to ponder.

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From the time of Matthew Brady, photographs of the horrors of war have beseiged those not in attendance to share and remind us of a view of that reality.

Whether it’s a battlefield strewn with the remains of the valiant of the Civil War, or the images from the Vietnam war of the child fleeing from the Naplam attack or the man shooting his handcuffed prisoner in the head, or perhaps the most famous image of war, the soldiers raising the American Flag on Iwo Jima. One thing that has been the hallmark of all of these photographs is that professional photographers have been responsible for them.

Tonight, we went to a screening of the movie Standard Operating Procedure at the Hammer Museum, a documentary on the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison.

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In the current war in Iraq, 2003 brought us a new kind of horror: that of the humiliation and torture of the detainees of prison at Abu Ghraib. These images of those men, either appearing to be leashed or forced into a naked pyramid, had the added element of soldiers giving a smiling thumbs up as they posed in these scenes. Trust us that the range of images in this movie are more than you have seen to date.

These photos were all made by the soldiers themselves, with their point and shoot digital cameras. Not pros. And the person-to-person sharing fallout sent many of them to jail for the transgression.
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On the old front (well, not too old) the limited edition Stephen Shore placemats are being shipped to Nancy C. from Nova Scotia. A very cool way to dress up you table. Or hang on your wall.
The signed Larry Fink book went pretty darn quick this week and Yvonne F. of Houston, Texas will be checking out his work in the comfort of her own home.
Congratulations to you both!

On the newer front we wanted to make sure you heard about this cool site called The Strobist. A blog run by David Hobby. Easy to understand lessons in using your portable strobe/flash. To check it out go here or here.

[photopress:Skaters_127.jpg,full,centered] © Damon Webster

Timing being everything, the other day the folks at Nikon took a bunch of us out to photograph skateboarders, while we used D300’s and a variety of lenses and strobes. And the exact kind of affordable strobes The Strobist discusses on his site.
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Photographer Brian Belefant, who has already had one excellent career as an advertising creative director, has revealed even more of his talents through his work posted on the site, Elixir Lens.
What he has done is taken some very primary advertising credos, stating that the DNA of a message should relate to the product that is being touted. And it should be done in a very authentic way.

In his photographs , Brian has taken this concept right to the roots of his images.
He shoots locations around the world through filters made with liquids that are associated with that region. Make sense?

OK, how about this photograph of Turkish architecture taken through a filter using, yes, Turkish coffee.

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Or perhaps Mt. Hood, shot through pinot noir

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And then the Southern US scene, using Luzianne Ice Tea.

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Mr. Belefant has created a technique that not only brings a unique, one of a kind look to his photographs , but there is a thought behind it which makes the images richer and have a deeper meaning to those that know.

And thats the kicker: by promoting that fact, he has been able to market his images to the local businesses, residents and tourists alike.

Seems some of the worlds largest soft drink manufacturers are after him to work with their products and his photographic techniques.

A very smart photographer from the world of Mad Men.
Plus he was named Photographer of the Year by The International Color Awards in 2006 for his body of work.
And a real mensch.

Oh right; how does he make and use those filters ?
Good luck on that one.

You can try by contacting him at his site, Elixir Lens. But before you ask, check out the work.

What a great idea.