Panoramas with a Crackberry

Subway Panorama

I was bored and starting fooling around with my Crackberry, when I realized I could just combine a few different shots to make one.
Nothing sophisticated or complex, just a little fun and creative while waiting for the subway, or "Muse" to get off the phone.


Ana at ABC Carpets, Panorama from 3 files

Elliot Erwitt and other Magnum Photoraphy geniuses.

Elliot Erwitt 12.5.08

I was looking through my archive when I came upon a folder marked "Magnum", and I suddenly remembered attending a book singing event that took place last December at the Aperture gallery.
I had ordered Thames & Hudson’s “Magnum Magnum” book a few days earlier from Amazon anticipating the event, but I had the book sent to my house and it arrived the day of; I didn’t have time to get it.
I purchase a second copy on site, and quickly bookmarked with scrap of papers the pages of the photographers that I saw had come to sign books. Thomas Hopker sign his page, as did Paul Fusco, both remarking that I had pre-selected their respective pages and were impressed at my readiness. I saw Bruce Davidson, and as soon as he finished signing I saw Susan Meiselas walking towards the elevators; what I actually heard was someone yell out "Susan, we'll meet you at such and such address". In the best Spanish I could recall I begged her to sign the book, which she graciously did.
My plan was not to have them sign the inside cover, but their dedicated pages, I told them that it might not be as elegant as having them all sign together on the same page, but in my mind made the book more unique.
I saw Elliot Erwitt sitting at the table alone, with a line flowing to him like a rivulet of people. I took a quick snap and got in the line myself.
What I didn't realize was that I had set my camera to Monochrome, so what I didn't see was how his white puffy hair set up so nicely against the multitude of squares of clouds behind him.

It's not a great picture to say the least, but it speaks to me in the same manner of irony and humor that his pictures seem to reflect so perfectly. That odd mismatched moment in time. If you don’t know who Elliot Erwitt is, take a photography course for crying out loud.

I think the genius of Magnum (the photo agency) is how each member plays off the strength and weaknesses of others, and how you could never be at loss for words when looking at the immense photo history they represent, there's something for everyone here.

I’ve always said that it’s really not a great idea to meet your heroes, but when you look into the eyes of men and women who’ve seen a world as no other, it grounds you into believing that one day maybe you can do the same, take pictures that can bring meaning to a sometime bleak world.

Spiderman takes the "L" train.

Spiderman rides the "L"

It's just one of those surreal moments that we New Yorkers seem to just ignore, but deep in our hearts makes living in this crazy city a little more unique and a little more special.

I was on my way to meet up with friends in Alphabet City and decided to take the "L" train, one that I rarely use if I can even spell it. I got out at the 1st Ave. stop when ahead of me a guy in a Spiderman outfit came of his car and started walking in front of me.
What really caught my eye was how no one was really paying any attention to the guy, and I followed him with my camera out hoping to get a few odd stares or a pointed finger.
As we walked towards the exit I notices the suit looked really good, I couldn't see any seems or zippers and it found it to be really authentic looking.

Spiderman walks by riders


I finally quickened my step and as I came around him I identified myself as a professional photographer, and he stopped.

Spiderman rides the "L"

I started shooting with the idea of getting the movement of people around him, I tried to drop my shutter speed by closing my aperture but by the time I got to the speed I wanted people were stopping next to me and taking pictures with their cameras and iPhones. This is the only shot where people seem to be aloof and nonchalant to some guy walking around in a Spiderman outfit.

Scenes like this really make you think you live in a city full of nuts, and most people, yours truly included, have to be a little nuts to live here, but at the same time you realize that this is just one special place to be.

Spiderman has left the building

Mushroom Shadow

Mushroom head shadow

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've written a new story or spoken about an new project, but with the state of the economy lately, it has been difficult to write about things in the most positive light. I made it a mission to stay focussed on commenting in a positive tone on this blog, which can be difficult at times. Though I won't limit myself to being sarcastic, I won't go over to the dark side and say negative things because you cannot build on that.
It's too easy to criticize.

I have a really nice story that I will share with you in a week or so if everything goes right, and will keep looking for positive impact stories on our industry and photography over all.

Be Kind...rewind...time.

Penn Station Stop on the 1
By now we've heard everybody's opinion and advice regarding the economy, and it makes perfect sens to turn to those who have the most to tell those of us who have the least, what to do with the share of the stimulus package we won't be getting.

I'm going to get straight to my point before I pontificate:

My best advice right now is for everyone to take advantage of all those networking sites and say to each other "what can I do for you my friend".
If you know of an opportunity, give it to someone who could use it, get someone a freelance job, put someone in touch with someone else, lend someone a hand. Be frugal with your money and generous with your time.
And if someone asks you for a favor? Do it, and without expecting anything in return, be a friend to a colleague, or assist a friend, you might make him look good and that always comes around, in a good way.
If you're working on a project, send a thank you note instead of a bill. If a friend needs a lens, lend it to him. Got a friend who needs some photos taken at his gallery opening?
I do photoshop, so I help and teach those that need it most.
Plant that seed of kindness, its roots will touch people that you don't even know. Will people take advantage of you? Yes! But others will turn to you, and in the process learn that you are reliable and kind. Most people would rather work with someone they like with lesser skills, than work with an expert who's an asshole.

Sick at home

If you're sick at home like myself, and if the medication hasn't stalled your mind, I guess a good thing to do is sit down for a minute and update your blog.

SkyNews Miami election coverage

This month's feature on my website www.anthonybehar.com is an editorial that I shot for SkyNews in England that was passed around to some of the papers in Europe.
I've repositioned the story in headline because when I shot this I was really afraid of the outcome of the election, a sentiment shared by many many people who clearly wanted to see Obama win. But unlike many who could only vote, I had an opportunity to make a difference. In re-examining my story, I found it to be concise in that the theme was really about how SkyNews was covering the election. It wasn't about Obama or McCain, but about how people felt covering this election.
I saw young dynamic people taking a serious look at what was in front of them, but clearly favoring one candidate as the mood was more about hope for change, than a revert to the old system. I don't want to accuse SkyNews of favoritism, which certainly wasn't the case the day I was there, in fact they had many Republican pundits on set throughout the day.
But in the way that Europeans often laugh at us because our two party system is really not as well developed as it is in certain European countries (we don't have a true Socialist or Communist Party), I felt something different in the atmosphere. There was this enthusiasm for America and Americans, a sense that people were looking at us to make the right choice.
I think there was a little bit of humor on the part of Skynews, draping their monitors with the American flag, and asking those that were there to put little post-its on the candidates commenting on the candidates.
One person who commented on the story said that there was no image of anything intense, no "journalistic huddle" or "crisis moment"; it's rational to think that people will act in a way that predicts a desired outcome when given the opportunity to change their destiny. On top of meeting brilliant young, dedicated hard working people, and having a chance to cover them at work, you find out how amazingly nice people can be in some rather stressful situations, live coverage is never easy. I really don't think I met a nicer group of people.

Frozen Toes

Winter foot wear
I while back I posted a story on how one should use any device possible to capture the image, since the image is the most important thing, but I rarely follow my own advice, until now.
I've been working with my Leica lately, on a project about portraits (more on this at a later date), but I found myself in a situation where I wanted to get my photo but couldn't use the Leica because I had very low ISO (ASA) speed film in the camera, and the angle would permit me to focus.
I whipped out my Crackberry, pointed it over my right shoulder and snapped this shot.
If you're living anywhere near New York than you know how cold it's been lately, and I found it odd that this woman would wear her sandals on the subway in the middle of this very very cold spell.

From the Window

Photo of snow falling in NYC by my bunny.
I left the Canon 5D with a 70-200 f/2.8 on the couch, and on her day off, my angel wife picked it up and took this photo.

I love it, yes I'm biased, but when you think about it, the barriers are falling, and she's curious.

Experimenting

I was having dinner in a big buffet diner with friends and family, and what I really liked was the little Christmas lights hanging on the awning over the food.
I'm sure I could have come up with something more creative, but as I walked by i thought to myself what if instead of dragging the shutter, i dragged the camera, parallel to the lights.

ISO was 640, 1/2 second exposure at f/11.

I added a little contrast in Photoshop.

Shooting Oasis in Concert

Oasis in Concert at MSG on December 17, 2008


I think one of the coolest things about being a photographer is getting the opportunity to take pictures at some pretty cool venues, and though I'm not really a big Oasis fan, I thought the assignment might be a good way to keep myself practiced on shooting music, which is something I actually like to do, though I don't do it often enough.

For those of you who don't know, media covering concerts is actually quite a trippy experience, because it's very very controlled. The rule of thumb is usually 3 songs, where we have access to the foot of the stage for (usually) the first three songs ONLY, and then we are asked to leave. In the case of shooting Oasis at MSG, we were asked to sign a release promising not to use the photos outside of the context of the media exposure were assigned to, and not allowed to market them without consent.

Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher shouting at the microphone.
We were also only allowed to shoot song #2, 3 & 4, so with hands on my head or cradling my camera, and with the eyes of security guards bigger than the average school bus, we waited for song #1 to finish before we all put our cameras to our eyes and started firing away.

The 10 of us waited at the Media entrance, given special passes that we had to stick on our clothes that, and hung out for about 30min. We were met by a very nice PR person, and then escorted through the bowels of Madison Square Garden (MSG), taken up in a huge freight elevator, and then escorted to the front of the stage.

Photogs inside MSG elevator waiting to be escorted to front of stage

The thrilling part is hearing thousands of people scream and roar as Oasis took the stage. All the photogs got ready, we put our bags down, took a few shots to verify exposure, and when the band took the stage we all turned around and started shooting the crowd.

Song #2 started, we all looked at the publicist and like a pack of mice chasing some invisible cheese, we scurried around for the best angle to get our shots. A few of us bumped into each other occasionally, and 99.9% of the photogs I work with are always really cool, and let you take their spot when their done shooting that particular angle.

At the end of the 4th song, we put our cameras around our necks and shoulders, picked up our bags and were promptly escorted out. If you're really cool, and I mean really cool and ask super nice and promise to put your equipment away, you can ask to stay and hang out for the concert, but, you have to be really really really nice.

I really had a good time, and I'm really glad that I had bought a pack of earplugs, because when you're that close to the speakers, your ears are going to bleed.

On the technical side of things, I used two Canon 5D's, one with a 24-105 f/4 and the other with a 70-200 f/2.8. You set your camera to widest aperture, play around with your meter setting and fire away. None of the images you see were corrected more than basic levels. Flash is always forbidden so don't even bringing it. And never take pictures without permission, you will be taken out back and beaten with your own camera :)

It's OK to F*ck-up, as long as you're a car maker

We saw it coming, we told them to tool up for fuel efficiency, everyone around them was, including the foreign builders, and add insult to injury to the American public, the "big three" are building smaller fuel efficient cars...for the European market.
But they kept building the SUVs and Hummers, while we are at war and struggling to survive. So when they finally ran out of money the Government steps in to bail them out, essentially saying that no matter how badly you manage your business, the American Tax Payer will bail you out.

What does that have to do with Photography? Everything.

The backbone of the American economy, as it relates to it's principles of a free market economy, relies on advertising and marketing, which of course depends on photography, and the business of creative imagery.

Where's the bailout for us, where are the bridge loans for this industry?

And if there's no money for ads, then papers and magazines start shutting down, and the ripple effect continues down the line. Ultimately I think that you can feel it in the 4th estate, and that cuts in journalism and the free press is a strangle on the most important element of Democracy itself: Free Speech.

I'm in the trenches, i see what's happening and I know what's coming, and I think it's absolutely disgusting what is going on.

Photo of the Day: December 17th, 2008

Miami Camera Boom

My personal favorite photo from an assignment I shot in October down in Miami. It's an unusual photo for me but I really like it very much.

2nd "Shoe" ter

If you look really close, really really close, as close as you can get, I think you can see a, very close to the flag, second "shoe"ter behind the "Flaggy" knoll.

Busted!!!!!!


On serious note though, they are reporting that media access to the President will be more rigorous, which sounds good until you realize they they're just covering their own mistakes and taking it out on us, and of course this will result in some sort of new required presidential foot ware inspection, or a new dress code to interview any politician.

Photo of the Day: December 13, 2008

Young Woman Checking into a Hotel, October 2008


Just outside Jogyakarta, Central Java, a young woman ahead of me was checking into the same hotel as me.

The plus side of Photoshop

www.adsoftheworld.com

I was recently interviewed by a high-school student who was writing a piece about the use of Adobe Photoshop as a tool to change and manipulate images of women in such a way that it affects their sense of worth and self-esteem, and how it has changed the way men perceive them.

As a digital retoucher, we often struggle with such ethical issues, but the fact is that as long as the marketers and values don't change, then we must continue to do what clients request.

So what good is photoshop if it's main purpose is set young girls into anorexic frenzies and depress people about how they feel?

I'm a total www.adsoftheworld.com addict, visiting daily, and I found this image which really exemplifies the kind of creative work that this program can allow you to do. I think that if more people knew about this aspect of our job, then people would be less critical of it, and realize that there are many dimension to the art of retouching.

Blackberry Curse

Chabad Lubavitcher Jews praying inside Brooklyn's main Synagogue, Brooklyn, New York, November 23, 2008

A few of us photographers were talking about the need to continue marketing and promoting ourselves in this very difficult economy, though we know that word of mouth, networking and socializing will continue to be the best way to find and get work.

One disturbing factoid we've discovered from our post-marketing research is that fewer and fewer people are clicking into our websites. We know that printed card promotions doesn't drive people to your website as much as follow up emails, but we're noticing that traffic patterns are on the decline after the follow up email.

One reason we've concluded is that more and more people are viewing their emails from smart-phones such as BlackBerries and iPhones, which don't actually get you to the web like a regular browser nor do they support FLASH, which is what most photography web sites are built on.

Calling it the 'Blackberry Curse", one friend has started sending out his email blasts after 9:30 AM, in the hopes of catching more people at the office or in front of an actual computer instead of their smart-phones.

Ramblings of a Photographer in these tough economic times!

I'm scared. Really scared.

So here are some of my thoughts on some of the latest headlines:

Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State: I live in New York and she's been on the campaign trail for 2 years, what did she ever do for us? What does a Senator do anyway? Bill Clinton is now the new Billy Carter, hopefully they'll name a beer after him and his wife will drink it.

Caroline Kennedy as New York Senator: She's never held public office, what qualifies her?

Big 3 Auto maker Bail-out: Where the fuck is all the money they made when they were selling all those SUV's and pick-up trucks? Their problems are a result of bad-management, and in no way should tax payers be responsible for people who don't know how to run a business.

Bail-out: Do we still have to pay ATM fees if we're the one's saving the bank?

OBAMA for President: 4 words - "I had a dream" Bravo man...bravo America.

Dodge & Burn for effect.

As I mentioned in my last entry, I had been inspired by W. Eugene Smith to treat some of my images in the same manner he did and adapt his darkroom technique to the digital world of Photoshop. Of course Smith's darkroom techniques were very complex, and the brightening effect I speak of was sometimes a result of bleaching his prints.

The technique that I use most resembles the “dodge & burn” technique used in the darkroom, such as obscuring a part of the print with your fist or an object while the paper is being exposed (dodging), or adding extra exposure time to a particular area by using a piece of cardboard with a hole in the middle so as to concentrate the light in a particular place while covering the rest of the image (burning).

Photoshop has a “Dodge” & “Burn” tool, but I tend to avoid it for a more delicate technique.

The first trick is to open the file that you want to work on, and create an additional empty layer over the background layer.
You're going to want to go to you to the Edit menu, and go down to “fill” and select 50% grey (blending normal, 100% opacity).
Once your new layer is filled with grey, set that layer to “soft light”. What was once a solid grey layer now becomes transparent.

You have now created a layer that you will dodge & burn on, you will not do so on the background layer or anywhere else.

The next step is to select the “Brush” tool, which you will set into “Overlay” mode. Now the most important step. You should set the brush to no more than 5% opacity, and 100% flow.

The last step is the make sure that your foreground/background (little white box overlapped by black box at the bottom of the palette menu) is set to “Black & White” only, (Press D). By using the “X” key, you can switch foreground/background from black to white and white back to black.

Before Left-After Right


Now move you brush onto the 50% grey layers and begin to slowly brush away, if you're in white-foreground, then the pixels will lighten, and inversely darken when set black-foreground. Please keep in mind that this a subtle process, that small increments are required. If you're working on a color file there might be some pixel discoloration, which simply means you went to far and that the pixel density is not great enough for the technique. Also keep in mind that this is really great for Blank & White images, but I do use it often on color shots.

So why not use curves or levels to brighten or darken? I don't know, I just feel that with a brush I have a little more control, i feel more like an artist rather than a technician.

Good luck.

Church of New York story background

Church of New York Story: Homage to W. Eugene Smith

I have been working on a larger project, to document over the past two years one asian immigrant family as it struggles to adapt to living in New York.

Young boy awaits the ceremony

"Church Story"" is a fragment of this documentary, images taken thanks to the access given to me by both the Mr. Hardy and his wonderful wife Mrs. Joanne; they have allowed me enter into their home and document theirs and the life of their children.

In a very kind gesture of trust, I was invited to attend their church, and in this series I thought I would focus on the action before me, and document the steps of a ritual that the Church of New York deems essential to their organization. One amazing aspect of this church is that its members are from different religious backgrounds, including Jews, Catholics and Christians, but are unified in one single belief, that they all believe in one god.

Ritual clensing symbolizing renewned spiritual acceptance

What I witnessed were very warm, tender and genuine moments between people, taken in by the rapture of the moment, and deeply in love with their beliefs I had never seen a woman cry out of passion for the moment, and the love and support of all its members focused on her happiness.

I often speak of the privilege of travel and visiting far and away places, but to experience such deep human emotion is something that humbled me as a photographer and a human being.

To be quite honest, the impact of this story did not hit me until a few months later when I went back to edit the images. I looked through the photos and suddenly felt something very special about them, something I had felt once before in the past.

I suppose we all go through different phases, and we all try to adapt to the masters we love and admire, but always conscience of the fact that our own voice must prevail before a comparison can be made. It should come as no shock to anyone who knows me that I still regard W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978) as one of the great photojournalist of our time, not only for his imagery, but also for the struggles he encountered as he practiced his art. So when I looked at the shot of the young woman being brought down into the water, with the focus on the crowd, I instantly thought back to Smith’s photo “Tokomo in her bath, 1967” of the crippled girl being held in her mothers’ arm while being bathed, taken in Minimata, Japan. The story covered the effects of mercury poisoning of the ocean by a factory in the area.

Tokomo in Her Bath, 1967

So I picked up a copy of a book on Smith and reread some of the passages, and found a before-and-after photo of a child being born, part of his 1948 “Country doctor” series. Other than the amazing fact that a man was present taking photos of a woman birthing in the 40’s, I was reminded at Smith’s mastery of light, and how his vision of an image was conceived with the process that would take place in the darkroom.

W. Eugen Smith Printing Sample

Thinking back to the days when I was a printer, the all-nighters spent in the darkroom, the smell of chemicals and the fumes that burned my eyes, I knew that this story needed the same touch as if I were making chemical prints.

My digital camera is loud, heavy, and annoying to photograph with in cramped tight spaces, I would have preferred to shoot with a Leica, but that was not possible at the time due to the lighting, but I’m very happy at the challenge it gave me, and for the results it yielded.

I will talk about the technique in my next blog entry.

21 hour day shoot, so glamorous!

Andrew Wilson moments before live taping

A few weeks ago I got a call to go on assignment, to cover the behind the scenes action of UK’s SkyNews TV U.S. election coverage from Miami. A glamorous assignment indeed, but one that took a lot of work and nearly 21 straight hours to complete, start to finish; what I want to describe here is what took place and how I got the job done.

The original plan was for me to leave on the eve of the shoot, spend the evening at friends’ house and leisurely show up on location the next day for a few hours of work. I would bring my laptop and edit on sight, burn a disc and give the images for the tech-team to upload and then make my way back to the airport and back home in time for supper.

That’s not what happened. Murphy and his law took over and it all became a race against the clock. Mind you that I had an extraordinary producer behind me, Reisha, who masterfully coordinated all the time tables, flight schedules and arrangements, and was able to get me in and out without compromising the story’s deadline.

Instead of flying out the night before (I had packed to leave from my office and had all my gear), because no last minute flights were available, I had to take a 6:20 AM flight, which meant I had to get up at 3:30 AM and take a 4:00AM taxi to LaGuardia Airport.

I arrived at the airport a bit early, and ended up waiting an hour in line for security to open up, but once I was through without my shoes, belt, watch and wallet, I easily made my flight and though their was a torrential downpour, the plane took off on time and I made it to Miami by 9:30 am.

So far so good, I got to the location on time, met everyone, found a corner to put my camera bag down and got ready, I was early but wanted to get going to show the wonderful PR person Stella, that I was eager to start working; this would set the tone for the day

With a shoot list in hand, I began taking pictures, the idea being that I was to shoot everything up to the actually live taping of SkyNews broadcast, so it was pretty frantic almost all the time until we went live. I scurried around every corner, tried to get every angle, to get the most coverage possible. At around 1PM we took a break a quick break to have lunch, and got back to work.

At 2:30 all hell broke loose, when I got a call from New York telling me that weather had cancelled my return flight and they were trying to get me on the next and last flight out; I had 2 hrs get on that plane.

I don’t think I ever worked so fast, I shot everything on the ToDo list, prepped my gear to get back to NY, kept an eye on my watch, kept shooting, all the while taking calls from Reisha and coordinating my departure. We had set an hour for a quick edit and download for deadline, but that would have to be scrapped, so we all agreed that the upload would take place when I got back to NYC.

Stella called me a cab, and I kept going down the shoot list. We had a live taping with two guests, I had to cover the control room in full swing, get the guy with steady cam, and somehow get the set up Andrew Wilson in the kitchen doing his thing against the “Fridge-O-Meter” (see photo).

Steady-cam operator
I don’t actually remember the time passing, but I heard the cab was waiting for me and I had to leave. As I walked out the front door I saw SkyNews’s executive producer call a meeting, and the entire crew was all together for the first time. I unpacked a camera and started shooting again, it was the most important shot to me, and it was the cohesiveness that needed to be seen.

Executive Producer Meeting
Kisses, hugs, camera bags, an extra bottle of water and I was off to the airport in a cab with less than an hour so spare. I got a great cab driver that zipped through town but came to a train crossing that held us up for 10 minutes. I began to panic, but at least I got to practice my Spanish, or at least all the swear words I had learned in school.

I had paid the cab driver when I got into the cab, so I lunged out of the cab when we got to the airport, ran to the counter and thanked the heavens for Reisha who had managed to get me on the last flight, but I still had to get through security and to the gate.

I ran through the airport and when I got to security I found a very nice TSA agent who got me to the front of the line, and to my surprise not many people grumbled. I nearly stripped naked, got through the security and dashed to the gate, which turned out to be at the other end of the airport.

I looked to plug my computer in at the gate, but couldn’t find an outlet, so I started to download my cards to my computer to begin editing. With almost all the passengers on board, got another lucky break when the middle seat next to me remained empty and the lady next seat over wasn’t into small talk.

We took off and began editing, but as we cruised back to New York, the weather was getting worse and worse, and turbulence was making things a bit difficult. The computer bounced around, but I got my edit done and began prepping the files, cropping and doing the minor adjustments when all of a sudden the computer ran out of batteries. The captain came over the P.A. to say that the weather wasn’t so good but we would make into LaGuardia but he didn’t know how long we would have to hold before getting the ok to land. Time was running out, I still needed time to upload.

Miraculously, and I recognized that that was the pattern of the day, we landed and I ran to a cab to find that the line was the longest I had ever seen before in all my travels, and they were suggesting that we call out our final destination to pair up to make things go faster. Out loud I proudly proclaimed my Upper East Side origins but found no one was going my way.

Thankfully I was prepared for the cold 18 hrs earlier, my wife had put a scarf around my neck before taking the empty cup of tea she had given me that morning, and I was ready for the 30 minute wait for a cab. When I finally made it home it was 10 P.M., and I needed to finish up prepping about 100 images, and upload to an FTP over my Road Runner line that had none of the speed we’ve come to associate with the WB cartoon character. I put the images in the FTP and at a minute per image, I had 2 ½ hours before deadline. Sky News had to have the photos by 2:00 A.M. our time.

When I awoke the next morning, there was a very nice email saying they had the photos and were very happy.

If anyone has some kind of fantasy that being a Photojournalist is glamorous and easy, I think not. Running around with a camera like a chicken with your head cut-off, lugging 25lbs of camera equipment around in airports without carts, or trying to get through security quickly, dealing with cancelled flights, waking up at impossible hours, and taking planes with cranky passengers because the peanuts are not fresh, is no fantasy life. I was lucky to have Reisha on my side, a SkyNews PR person who couldn’t have been more understanding, and I think that can make all the difference.

Kudos and Thank You

Some of my faithful readers might know that I just got back from 3 weeks in Asia, specifically Hong Kong and Indonesia, and I have a lot of great stories to share with you, from taking pictures at a fish-packing plant to climbing to the top of a volcano only to realize that at the summit we would be catching the sunset but walking down in complete darkness.

But I want to start off by giving two "shout outs" to people who made this trip a little extra special.

The first is to a wonderful anonymous Cathay Pacific (CP) ticket agent at the Surabaya Airport in East Java, who gave my wife and I a free upgrade from Coach class to Business Class from Surabaya to Hong Kong. While that might not sound so special, here are the circumstances.

Cathay Pacific Business Class Flight attendant Chris

Arriving 3 hours early for our flight expecting the worst, we in fact encountered the worst. It was a long line to pay your exit tax at the airport, and after politely asking a CP representative for a little help in the best Indonesian I could muster, he turned out to be less than helpful and we were running pretty close to missing our flight, and we still had to go through customs, pay our airport tax, and go through immigration.

With 20 minutes left on the clock the CP rep brought a group of passengers from our flight through the line we had been waiting for in an hour, and when I asked him why he hadn't done the same for us, he said I had not been aggressive enough. Someone overheard our conversation and just as we were about to go through to get our passports stamped, a lovely 8 month pregnant Cathay Pacific Ticket agent pulled me aside and gave me two upgrade tickets to Business class without a single word of explanation.

Taking a chance that I had identified her chinese characteristics correctly, I took her hand and whispered "God Bless You". If she had been Muslim she might have gotten offended at what I said, and for the personal contact, which is a big No-No in Indonesia unless you know some one well enough.

Curiously we asked for an upgrade in Hong Kong for the HK to NYC leg of the trip, and we were told that the ticket was not upgradable. Our angel broke all the rules.


LensProToGo
My second shout-out is to Paul at "Lens Pro to go". If you kept up with this blog I'm not really into endorsing anyone since I run this blog without any advertising.

When I called Paul to ask him if he had a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 Second Generation, it sounded like I was talking to an old friend, and when I needed to have the lens shipped a few days earlier than expected, it arrived on time without the slightest hassle.

The lens worked perfectly, the service was genuine and friendly, and nothing could have been easier in dealing with Paul and LensProToGo, so if you need a special lens for a week, or longer, I strongly recommend calling Paul.

Speaking of retouchers...Shin One

I got a wonderful email yesterday from one of New York City's most talented digital retouchers, Shin Ono. I had the tremendous honor of serving under him as a junior retoucher when I worked for Pier 59 Studios (no link).

The email was about his prize winning photography from the Prix de la Photographie Paris 2008.

As I mentioned in my last entry, Digital Photo retouchers are hardly limited by the work that they do, they often come from very creative and diverse backgrounds, and are often very talented photographers or artist.

As is the case in point with Shin, you can see that his talent in his photography, something that he admits not doing more of, but thankfully he doesn't because so many of photographers would be out of work (compliment wrapped in a joke).

I have the privilege of calling Shin not only my friend but also an early mentor in the field of retouching. I learned discipline, and patience and the need to know that there is more than one way to tackle a problem, which is the technical way to describe "creativity". To know some one's work is one thing, but to be able to know the person is another, and Shin to me is a perfect example of the kind of "Zen" personality that makes you understand the depth of his talents.

Serene, calm, soft spoken, Shin will tell you exactly what you need to know without saying more than needs to be said, and in a way that is reflected in both his photography and his work as a digital retoucher.

I have not show-cased any photographers recently, but Shin reminds us that the path of creativity can sometimes be hidden under many layers, and that keeping true to our skills as retoucher it is important that we stay in touch with our roots as creative image makers. One thing that I always remember about working with Shin is that no matter how deeply involved he was in a project or retouching an image, he always spoke about he process of photography which was important to being a good retoucher.

I purchased my 1st Leica M when I was working with him (not to be seen as a reflection of how well I was getting paid at the time), and Shin was always took the time to ask me how I like using the camera, how different it was from regular DSLRs or SLRs, and always encouraged me to show him my work, and was always kind enough to drum scan my negs, which at the time was a very expensive process. His words of encouragements still echo in my mind.

Tasteless but true.

Photoshop class advertising

I was browsing "Adsoftheworld.com" (no link because i'm not advertising for them) when I came upon this image. This is so offensive in so many ways, to women, to retouchers and obviously to the image of the industry that I work in, that I had to write a little something about it.

One interesting thing about this add is how it seems to be geared towards men, but sends out the wrong idea in my opinion to women who want to be retouchers, and to how the business of retouching focuses on women from a male point of view); some of the best retouchers in the business are women, and while I don't speak for them, I feel a little embarrassed that this add makes me laugh. I understand it's message, but don't like what it says about us as a society, which it does at the expense of women's self image.

My very good friend, and up until recently my lab manager of 5 years, was a master at putting teams together, and choosing people based on talent and personality who could work well together beyond their talents (retouchers are often more than pixel jockeys, often great artist and photographers on their own). I'll admit that when I started in the business I didn't know a lot of female digital retouchers, but thanks to my friend, I was teamed up with some absolutely amazing retouchers, both men and women. Though it does not make a bottom line difference who retouches an image, it's wrong to say that the business of Photoshop is to make women look a certain way, there are so many more creative ways to express the power of photoshop without implying women should look a certain way.

One more thing, there's nothing wrong with the woman on the left, she's as real as the one on the right.

Dichotomy of South-East Asia

For massage only
I've been fortunate to find a 5 Star Hotel that will allow me to use it's Wifi connection to access the internet. I'm not finding any good news about the world economy, and especially bad news about the way things are being handled; don't make me come back to the States and fix this mess!

But things in South-East Asia are equally complex, but on a different level.

I was walking through a mall and found the following on display, and as westerners we all know what that is used for. While that may not all be that shocking to some, lets keep in mind that Indonesia is a beautiful majority muslim nation. So even with our own understanding, we can still be moved into questioning how even similar things are interpreted so differently.

At first I thought it was funny, and pointed it out to a few people I was with but was quickly reminded that even the mention of sexuality in public is forbidden.
There's a joke about Indonesia that a law on the books would make kissing in public a 5 year jail term offense, but showing your bottom/buttocks is only a 4 year jail term offense. As it goes, they will try to pass a law that makes ass-kissing a 9 year jail term offense; a joke that bleeds into directly from the corruption wound that this country has always been trying to heal.

But in many ways things are improving, one of them is this now very rare site, a child street beggar. The government has taken a great deal of pain to remove these children and put them into schools, trying to provide money for the families forced to put their children to work begging for money at street intersections.



Street Girl


I can tell you quickly that many things have improved in this country since my last visit 4 years ago, and that it is amazing to be back and see all that has improved. My mission is not to niche out all the little problems, but try to continue to better understand the problems to hopefully bring awareness, even as markets collapse; ultimately it is the poor of the world that suffer the consequences more deeply when economies go sour, let us hope that not too many children are put back into the streets to survive.

South_East Asia

I'm currently on location in Hong Kong today, and I am off to Indonesia in the afternoon, suspecting that this will be my last internet connection for a while.

I have lots of pics and experience to tell you about already even though I've been here for only 3 days, among which I got into a fight with my tour guide who tried to extort money from me.

Will try to write more, but for now things are going well and I am looking forward to being back in Indonesia where the people and culture are amazing.

Bye for now...Tony

Canon 5D Mark II - It's Official

Wow, well nothing I could write about this camera could bring you more information than dedicated camera sites, but if my opinion counts for something, this sets a new benchmark, and is the beginning of the end of "still image" photography as we know it.

As a photographer living in New York, I'm fortunate to know the ins and outs of what I can do, I know generally how people will react when i shove my camera in their face, and can handle most situations (I say that now, but have almost come to blows on several occasions).

With the 5D Mark II offering video, I'm curious to see how laws will change in regards to taking photographs. It's always been established that still and video are somewhat seperate enteties, mostly because they are used in different wasy. What new laws will be passed that will prevent people from taking pictures, now that cameras offer HD video capabality. How will concerts be protected, what restrictions will come to shooting on the streets?

I think a new ethical line is being drawn in the sand as we speak, one driven by technology, that has given us problems where new solutions need to be thought of. The problem here is that the in a way, one has to see the abuse before constructing the preventive barrier, if not laws or rules drafted could feel constrictive, and possibly violate civil rights.

Coffee Mug zoom

Anybody got a joke to insert here?

"I need image stabalization, to much caffeine gives me the shakes"

"My mug is prettier than your mug"

Tribute to 9.11

9.11 web page tribute

So much is going to be said, so much of it not about the victims or the the turn in our lives in the way things have changed for the worst since 9.11

I've placed only 1 image on the front side of my web site in honor of those that lost their lives, and to all of those people who have suffered as a consequence.

The sad part of all this in my opinion is all the stupid politics and this futile war to defend some outdated ideology, meanwhile no one has taken the lead to replace an rebuilt the very symbol we are supposedely fighting for. Worst of all is how the victims who survived and the families who suffered are not getting the medical attention they need; billions for war, and nothing for them.

More Megapixels than you can shake a camera at.

I don't know if you are aware but as Photokinas start popping up around the world, we're seeing more teaser-leaks about upcoming cameras.

Sony's 24.6MP Alpha A900
If the "Canon that jumped over the moon" doesn't wet your appetite, then Sony's release of it's upcoming 24MP pro-sumer, should certainly get you dreaming.

Adding gasoline to this media fire that is starting to burn, is the announcement that RED ONE will be making a digital SLR, which is due or die for Canon and Nikon, so what ever flagship they're about to release is going to be spectacular.

Note also Nikon's D90 and it's HD video recording mode, I think that's going to be a standard feature on any new DSLR, but please don't hold your breaths; these releases are due for 2009, and the way that the economy is going, it might not be that easy to get one.

As a celebrity digital retoucher, I'm fortunate to get some amazing files from some of the top photographers in the world, and I can tell you it's no picnic retouching anything that comes out of a 21, 24, 30 MP camera. So if you're foaming at the mouth like I am, take the time to update your Photoshop skills and buy more storage.

Oh and one more thing....this is for Canon...if there is a 5D Mark II on it's way, please make it sooner than later.

Marketing: Conclusion

Putting a marketing plan together did one critical thing for me, and that was to help me focus on what I wanted to say with my photography, and it allowed me to develop a voice for my vision and style, and establish a clear relationship between the message and the work. It has also allowed me see my shortcomings as a photographer, which has helped me adapt to a more complicated marketplace

What inspired me to write this was something that happened to me a few years back.

Boys looking at Playboy Book

A photo editor from a famous advertising agency happen to glance an image I took in a book shop of three adolescent boys giggling through the pages of Playboy book, which I posted on a website a few years back.
From that single image I got a three-day advertising shoot; it turned out to be a once in a lifetime shoot only because I wasn't prepared to follow through.
Being a professional photographer is as much about how you handle yourself than what you shoot.

I hope you will organize yourself well enough to understand your own vision and style; put a little thought in creating your web site, carry that through all of your marketing material in a visually appealing and consistent form, reach out to people you deem influential, and continue to be your creative. Never forget who you are, the similarity of your struggle with others, and always be considerate and kind so that people will remember you for the quality of your work, as well as the quality of your character; that integrity is what should carry you through life as a photographer.

Marketing: Who to Target

Who To Target:

I suppose that’s really the big question, after all you want the most amount of people to see your site, so that you generate a base of viewers and a large web presence.

But I also believe in “Propinquity”, and networking. Most of the jobs that have been handed to me where by either professional contacts made at social events, or through friends who knew someone who needed a photographer. So why you ask should one do any marketing at all? Because it shows that you are legitimate, that you can put your money where your mouth is a back up a “Yes, I can do that for you” with evidence that speaks for itself. Photography is an ephemeral art, the product is never made before delivery, so the very process of getting someone to give you a job is about establishing their trust with your history of work. Marketing puts that in value in a very specific manner.

Everyone says the same thing, and that is you must do your research on clients, magazines or anyone you are targeting before mailing out a promotion card or sending an email, even if it’s a friend.

I like to comb magazines and see which photo editor is selecting work that most resembles both what I do, and where my work is going. I’m not afraid to select a magazine that would force me to make me work harder or give me a challenge, and in the meantime I’m looking to emulate that work in order to get up to speed on technique and style.

Use your networking skills, talk to people, find out what’s going on and don’t be afraid to contact people who you admire or respect.

One of the most valuable people in my photography life is a New York Times photographer who I simply sent a polite email to. For the story I did on the Indonesian Mosque, he lent me his 24mm tilt-shift lens. What an honor, what a fantastic feeling of support.

And when you do contact people, always, always be polite, be nice, be considerate, be humble and be yourself. If that doesn’t work, than put yourself in their shoes, and remember that some people get thousands upon thousands of emails and cards a year. Keep in mind that everyone talks to everyone else in this business, so never say anyting negative to anyone about anyone.

If and when you do get a response, always remember, and this is probably the most critical thing you can do, always acknowledge that person, and say THANK YOU, with a card or an email, but do it, even if you’ve been declined or no result has come of it.

Lesson learned:

A few years back I was working for a company who hired a secretary to run the phones at the front desk. Lovely charming person, who was clearly overqualified for the job, but who won my respect because she was doing what she had to do to make a living. Some people in the office talked down to her, some where rude. She moved on recently and began running a photo agency, and not just any old agency. Never assume that anyone below you (in terms of corporate hierarchy – obviously everyone is equal) could possibly stay below you, and that the part-time fellow who’s making copies for you now won’t be an art buyer later. It’s a very small world.

Marketing: Tracking and Data Collection

Blue Man


One remarkable free service offered by Google is "Analytics". It's a code that that is added to the back-end of your web site that measures response.

I like to look at how many people have visited my site on any particular day. Though it doesn't allow me to confirm a specific ISP, it allows me to compare my email schedule to my hit schedule as detailed in Google/Analytices.


Data Collection:

One Important tool that I use in my marketing is a simple spreadsheet that has 6 fields:

1. Name of Recipiant
2. Job Title
3. Promo sent
4. Date Sent
5. Follow up email date sent
6. Response (as measured by a reply) or a hit).

I always keep track of what I send out, and to whom on a particular date. I usually allow 3 to 5 days for continental mail, and 10days for international mail.
I usually follow up a mailing with an email, one that is specifically tailored to the individual I’m emailing. By customizing your email, you create a rapport with the person, and it’s important to add a hyperlink to your web site in the email, with a brief summary of why you’re email them. I find it ironic but more times than not, it’s the email follow up that will get more people to click into my site.
One tragic reality to all these advancements in technology is that it evens out the playing field for everyone. There also a statistical truth that only !out 2% of emailed links are ever viewed, so it’s important to focus on the people you know.

Marketing: The Money thing part II

[As a work in progress, I'm going to ask for your indulgence as I read and re-read my marketing notes].

Once you've established your basic costs, make a point to add them all up for a monthly budget, below is a very rough example, but be aware that this doesn’t constitute your entire budget. For this demonstration, I’m taking the point of view of someone just starting out.

Your Monthly Costs might look something like this:

Web: $80.00
Promo: $100.00 (per 100 cards)
Postal: $42.00 (per 100 cards)
Envelopes: $20.00 (per 100 cards)

So you now have a basic budget outline of $242.00 for every one hundred cards you send out. This is critical information; it's the baseline from which you can operate.

It's also important to note that your web presence is now playing a supporting role, it doubles in value as both your frontline marketing tool for people key wording or references, and supporting role as promotion cards and emails send potential customers to your site.

The number one rule is this: No one will go to your web site unless you tell them to go.

At $242.00 you also have a basic idea that you are spending $2.42 per person you want to reach, and it’s also a yardstick to measure growth. To get back to the earlier example I used to when shooting a job for a friend as mentioned in “Marketing: Money”.

At. $7.00 per hour, I need to work 34hrs just to pay for my marketing. So it's not all cost effective for me to work at the settled rate of $100.00 even though that sounds great.

Which leads me to the next important step...to be continued

Marketing: Tools

You can start with a budget, but in figuring out how much you’re going to spend, you’ll need to figure out what you want to spend it on.

Web Site: Name, hosting, design, yearly cost
Emails: Contact list management, business meetings, networking, follow up emails
Blog: Time to write, subject research
Mailers: design, printing, stamps.
Business Card.
Letter Head design

As I mentioned before, even the time you spend not making money is costing you money, so it's really important to focus closely on your marketing strategy, if you're not working, then something out there has to be doing it for you and bringing you new to clients. Clients don't come to you, you go to them.

We all agree that every good photographer needs to have a web presence, a good web site that reflects his talents and communicates as clearly and directly as possible his or her style and abilities.
Do not to focus on any one element of marketing without taking everything else you'll be designing into consideration. You should always keep in mind that the design elements of one tool (i.e. web) should carry over the next element (i.e business card). Having different elements with consistent design elements helps client remember you; if you a client a promotion card that looks and feels different from your web site, you risk creating confusion. Don't try to shoe-horn your ideas into one element just because it works well in another. If you like your web design but doesn't work for your mailer, redo them.

KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid!

As for the four elements that I use, Web, promotional mailer, business cards, and email, I try to keep things visually similar to establish a visual link to my work no matter what piece of mine they are looking at; it's even important to consider the design on your invoice and letter head.

Web Site Home Page:
AnthonyBehar.com Website Home Page

"About Me" Web Page:
Anthony Behar About Web Page

Promotiong Card:

Promotion Card

Marketing: Money

Even if you have all the money in the world, and all the time in the world, you still need some discipline, because leaning to market yourself is about controlling your spending and making ever dollar count.

It was drilled into me in my early years of College, that you had to continuously look at your CPM, or Cost Per Thousand (M = roman numeral for 1000), and you’re going to do the same thing here.

It’s really all about efficiency, even the time you spend working on marketing is a measurable cost, you might find yourself one day turning down a job and prefer spending that time working at home because an hour at your computer might be more profitable and valuable. I realize that this is a hard concept to grasp, but you need to measure the value of your time

Case in point was a job that I accepted to do as a favor for a friend for the lump sum of $100.00
But this is how I broke it down:

Travel day 1 – 2hrs
Dress rehearsal – 3 hrs
Travel day 2 – 2 hrs
Pre-party shoot – 1hr
Play – 2hrs
After Party – 1 hr
Post Production – 2hrs
Delivery (client was late) – 2hrs

Total time spent: 14hrs. I earned a little more that $7.00 per hours, which doesn’t included my investment in camera equipment and computer which has to be amortized in your total cost of production (it’s a tax thing).

Proper marketing will allow you to establish your rate more easily since you will be looking at your expenses more closely and be able to evaluate how much money you’ll need to generate to stay afloat. Marketing is part of the tools that will help you measure your true value, and help you establish a market rate that will make you more competitive.

Marketing: Patience

To begin a successful personal marketing campaign, you’re going to need to get your ducks all in a row, it will require some discipline and the ability to manage your money very carefully.
You’ll also need a good body of work, but do not make the mistake of letting your personal desires dictate how you’re going to present things, nor let any lack of discipline lead you to spending more than necessary.
Like the pros do, you will have to learn how to measure what you spend against certain measured results called demographics, tools I will explain further on; and the most important thing you will need is patience. Remember that the first goal of marketing your work is to establish a presence in the marketplace, and establish in the minds of potential clients a link between your work and the style of images that people want to create or buy.

Once you launch into a personal marketing campaign you should expect to wait about 2 years before seeing measurable results.

Marketing is not about just sending out a postcard, or an email, or writing a blog, few photographers ever get a call the day after posting a great photograph on the web, it’s about organizing yourself and making a consistent visual mark that can be sustained over time and show growth and innovation time and time again.

Marketing Week

I recently met up with an old friend from high school, in town from Los Angeles, and got to talking about a myriad of subjects, including old girlfriends, new girlfriends, how we got away with so much because we lived off campus, and of all things about business.

One thing became clear, we were both talking about marketing.

As we talked over a Moroccan Mint Tea at a little coffee shop not far from my house, I told my friend that there really wasn’t enough time to tell him all that I knew before he got back on his plane to Los Angeles; so decided that over the next few entries to write about what my marketing steps are to him, and maybe help him and a few others out there who are deeply entrenched in their art but don’t know how exactly to get the word out.

I won't reveal all the secrets to my success, but try to explain what and how I communicate my art to the outside world, a blueprint if you will for you to use and create your own marketing plan.

Sucker for a pretty face

Sorry I haven't updated the blog, been busy with work.

My co-worker brought in her beautiful daughter.

Katherine stealing hearts at Getty Images.

Photojournalism+Video = Kool

Ignore the F*%&ING embeded advertising at the beginning, I don't endorse any product.

Feather in one's cap.

Getty Images Blog

I was recently in Seattle visiting an old friend from college, and made plans to stop by Getty Images Headquarter to put faces to the names I had been emailing from New York.
Upon my visit, I got the grand tour and met with the Internal Communication Specialist who asked me if I wanted to contribute to the Getty Images Blog.
I happily obliged with a retelling of my experience covering the tragedy of the Crane Collapse on May 30th, 2008 in New York City.

Please click here to read the entry.

Top 5 "Photography" themed movies

Frogs in Chinatown

I alluded almost a month ago that I had been asked by my good friends Adam Kempenar and Matty Robinson at Filmspotting.net to give them my top 5 movies that had Photography as part of the theme, or dealt with photography in some way. Now you've heard me mention Filmspotting before, but as I said in the past, it's an exceptional podcast that can now be heard on Chicago's Public Radio.

I could not bear to listen to my voice (episode #209, May 9th, 2008), so I actually didn't listen to the part of the show that I was on, but the best part of doing this was the after effect, when a listener made the most wonderful comment (episode #211, May 22nd, 2008) about my top choice: A movie had moved him so much that he and his wife adopted a child. I won't get into the details, and of course this has nothing to do with my choice but the reader did say that my comments "saved the show". Take that movie critics across the world.

Here are my top 5 movies that have a Photography theme to them:

#5. "No Small Affair": Staring John Crier (Two and Half Men) and Demi Moore, who falls in love with a girl he has photographed.
If you became a photographer like me just to get the girls, then this movie is for you, though it is a bit dated and has a John Hughes (Pretty in Pink) look to it.

#4. "Under Fire": Starring Nick Nolte & Joanna Cassidey. This is about an altruistic american photojournalist, in Nicaragua, that covers the corrupt Somoza regime...he doesn't take sides, he takes pictures.
This movie is also a little dated, but only because they don't make movies like this anymore, but it's a good interpretation of a photojournalist back in the time.

Honorable mention: I had "Salvador" by Oliver Stone, starring James Woods as a down on his luck photojournalist and James Belushi, also based on a central american dictatorship gone bad. Check either of them out.

#3. "Blow up": This 1966 movie by Michelangelo Antonioni (who recently died) stars Vanessa Redgrave, this is the movie that gave us the crazy fashion photographer lifestyle "make love to the camera baby" that everyone associates with the being a fashion photographer (somewhat true actually). Sort of an homage to Hitchcock’s Rear where the photographer develops film and blows up an image and sees what he thinks is a murder.

Honorable mention: I struggled with putting "La Dolce Vita" by Federico Fellini, made in 1960, this movie gave us the term "Papparizzi".

#2. "War Photographer", made by Christian Frei in 2001.
The modern definition of what it's like to be a photojournalist today, this chronicles VII memeber James Nachtway as he documents the horrors of the late 20th centruy. Conflice, war, world misery seen through the lens of probably the greatest photojournalist of our time.
I had the pleasure of meeting him once in Boston a few years ago, and the aura this man carries is amazing. An absolute must see if you don't think taking pictures is important.

#1. "Born into Brothels", 2005 documentary.
HOW PHOTOGRAPHY CAN CHANGE LIVES IN A POSITIVE WAY-absolutely amazing. It’s about the relationship that develops between the Ana Briski and children of prostitutes, who under the cast system are destined to stay in that lifestyle, and how photography liberates them.
Oscar for best Documentary of 2005
This is the movie that inspired one listener to go out and adopt a child, imagine what it will do to you.

Photography is so powerful yet we forget that in this over saturated media infested society we live in. We've been bamboozled into feeling suspicious of every image that comes before us becasue it might be tied to some marketing scheme or to promote something "they" want us to buy.

Take the time and see these great movies, if just to feel that as a photographer we have the ability to do good.

Iconic Photos in Lego

Henri-Cartier Bresson-lakov?

Is imitation still the sincerest form of flattery? If yes then this is simply too funny and brilliant for words; you classic and iconic photographs of the 20th Century, from HCB to Capa, a must view, click here.

There are 20 shots, 1st person to send me the names of 10 of the photographers flattered will get an autographed 8x12 image from any image in "Personal work" on my site (if you like my images of course).

How NOT to get your ass kicked_Part Deux

A quick thank you to PDN and Daryl Lang for running a little post about me in Photo Feed, I’m very happy to share my work and my stories with everyone.


As I had mentioned in “How NOT to get your ass kicked, not every shot makes it into a story, even the sensational ones.

As it happens, what got me started on the Garment Ghetto story was a violent event on the corner of 27th & Broadway a few years back.

I didn’t have my digital camera at the time, and was working with a Leica that had Trix-400 in it as it usually does. I had been walking back to my office when I saw a group of Policemen racing past me, up Broadway from 27th street and dive into the 28th St. N/R subway entrance. I ran behind them and swiped my unlimited metro card to get onto the platform even though I was warned not to follow, "stay back" the cops yelled as they went below ground.

There was a train in the station, the doors were open and at the front end of the station there were people shouting, “he’s in here, in here”. I stayed back a few yards watching the Policemen go into the car and then bring out a man that they proceeded to cuff.

Subway Arrest
What I should say at this point is that all I wanted was a shot of them taking someone into custody; what I didn’t know was that the person that they were after had allegedly stabbed someone, so the warning was for my own safety considering the suspect was armed and dangerous (always wanted to say that).

Subway Arrest_2


In the excitement the cops did not notice me, and after they took the man into custody I realized that I had run out of film. So I quickly left the subway and went back to 27th street, to continue shooting with my back up camera, I wanted to get a shot of the crime scene.

Subway Arrest_3

What I found was a mob of angry people, surrounding an ambulance and shooting angrily at each other. As I raised my camera above the crowd, a someone’s had reached up and grabbed my camera, and a yelling match between me and what turned out to be a cop had started. Who was I, why was I taking pictures, if I was press where were my credentials? I stopped shooting, left and went back to the office. I never submitted the image because it was not digital.

Stab Victim


Garment Ghetto is about how multi-racial, multi-ethnic groups of people work in harmony despite their differences; in essence the images that I shot were not part of the of the story I was trying to convey about the neighborhood. The images that I chose for the story were about the balance between the cops and the street vendors, and how everyone plays a part in doing business, it’s about the people and how they get along, not how they don’t. I had worked on 27th street off of Broadway for more that 20years off and on, and that was the 1st time I had seen that kind of violence.

As photographers we have a great deal of control over the way we present stories, and sometimes we do tend to editorialize the situation by selectively choosing the images we want to show and not show, it’s a side many people don’t think of. I omitted a part of the truth about this neighborhood, leaving out a side that does exist, and is part of the tension that is somewhat palpable when you walk through crowds. I wanted to avoid the sensationalizing an uncommon problem, avoid stigmatizing a group of people already presumed guilty of wrongdoing, and hopefully create better understanding of the humanity that is this neighborhood, where all walks of life intermingle well enough to do business in order to feed their families.

New York City Crane Accident

NYTimes.com cover shot

You might have heard that on Friday May 30th there was a terrible construction accident on the Upper East Side of Manhattan yesterday when a crane toppled over. Sad to report that two people lost their lives.

I awoke to the news that a crane collapsed only a few blocks from my house, and I instinctively grabbed my camera and ran to the scene.

(I should mention that I can only show you screen shots since the rights to the photos were bought out by Getty Images, and I would be in violation of contract if I posted them even on my own blog)

Finding chaos in the street, I knew from past experience that I had to get up high for the first shot, so I looked around for people on their fire escapes. Fortunately for me a person was on looking out his window and I politely requested access to his roof to shoot for “Press”.

Given access I bolted up 3 flights of stairs, went out onto his fire escape and shot off a few frames. I then quickly left his apartment and ran up to the roof where several other tenants had gathered, and I continued shooting.

After a few minutes of taking pictures I rang up a few agencies to see if anyone was interested in the photos I had just shot, and after spending maybe 10 minutes I left the building and headed back home. By then the Police had set up barriers and I actually found myself on a deserted sidewalk with people corralled to the left and the right of me, but alone except for the police officers running back and forth.

I had to make a quick decision to either stick around to get more shots, or outrun arriving photographers and beat them to upload. I saw one guy with the ubiquitous white canon 70-200 zoom lens and I knew he was a pro and was just starting to get shooting. After arguing with a cop about getting in close with the other photogs, I was denied closer access since I don’t have an official Press Pass, so I hightailed it out of their and went back home. I knew I had at least a few good shots of the first moments of the disaster.

I edited the images on my computer, sent a few low resolution samples to news editors and got an offer within minutes, accepted and uploaded the high resolution files via FTP.

I was very happy to see my photo on the front page of the New York Times.com website, and elated as more and more news agencies intermixed my photos with others that were on the ground. In a way there a great sense of satisfaction in taking risks, thinking on your feet, getting the job done and seeing the results quickly appear online. On the flip side I feel bad that I profited from a situation where two people lost their lives.

Back Stories_World Press Photo

Last week I posted a story, or should I say a back-story, to how I got a particular shot. I found through the help of a friend a link to World Press Photos interview with some of the photographers who took some of the most memorable photos of 2008, and it's very interesting to hear in their voice their experience and how they managed to get these award winning pictures.
We all owe ourself to take a moment to hear these stories, if anything to honor both the subjects and sometimes the victims in the images, as well as the men and women who put their life on the line. If you've heard John Moore's account of the moment he photographed Benezir Bhutto's assasination, you'll feel both sense of dread for his near miss and wonder at how he kept to his instincts and kept shooting.
I've said this before, taking pictures of people suffering is the most difficult thing to do sometimes, these are the stories of those moments for some.

On the Radio..5 Top Photography Movies

The guys at Filmspotting.net asked me for my top 5 movies that had Photography as an embeded story line, and instead of just writing the list to their Blog, I got a call from their producer in Chicago, where the show is syndicated on Chicago's public radio.

Please visit their site and subscribe to their podcast, it's really a lot of fun.

P.S.: I haven't listened to it yet, I hate the sound of my voice.

P.P.S: will give you my review next week.

How NOT to get your ass kicked!

Amongst photographers when we look at each other’s work, we often ask each other “how did you get that shot”. We don’t always refer to the aesthetic part, or the technical part, but how we gained access, who’s palm did we have to grease and is there a magical word you have to use to get passed security.

Many people don’t realize that photojournalist spend a lot of time on the ground making contacts and friends. I’ve heard of Paparrazi’s tipping doorman to alert them when celebs are going to leave their homes, and the bribing the occasional bouncer to let you in, but to close to a real story there’s a lot of talking that goes into securing access.

One thing I set out on the “Garment Ghetto” project was to see how well I could gain the trust of the locals and still show my face everyday without getting my ass kicked all over braodway. I had already witnessed a stabbing, and a violent arrest, and I didn’t want to go through that.

I spotted Atchol, the biggest, meanest, strongest most impressive person on the block, and I did so by seeing how people interacted with him, even though he was a security, people who’s store he protected still seem to be walking on eggshells around him.

"Garment Ghetto" Image is Copyrighed © Anthony Behar Photographer

I walked by everyday, watched and listen for clues and about 6 months into the process I got my breatk: I heard him speak in French because as it turns out he was from a French Carribean country. I speak French.

Second break was we took the same train to work, and I would often find myself in the same car as him, and one day I walked up to him and said hello to him in French, introduced myself.

When I told him I was a photographer he asked me for a favor, to blow up a photo of him in his Karate uniform, he’s a 7th degree black-belt on top of being built like a Mac Truck. I gladly did him the favor and then asked I could take his portrait one day.

With Atchol on my side, no one dared mess with me, and the only day I photographed on the block when he had taken a day off was the day I was threatened.



The less on is simple, earn people’s trust first no matter how long it takes. The photo will always be there, and remember to stay honest with yourself and to others, if you lie it will come back to you. Don’t try to deceive people to try and get a photo, people quickly understand when they are being used, and if you have a the opportunity make some quick prints and give them back to people you’ve taken pictures of, you’ll always be welcomed back.

Why I've been away: New Web Site

Garment Ghetto Image is Copyrighted © Anthony Behar Photograpahy

What has kept me away, or should I say busy, all this time is the redesign of my web site.

If you happen to go to my site and want to leave me a comment I would appreciate if you sent me a link to your work so I have something to judge your opinion from.

I spent the last year shooting a lot of stories, and working hard on my technique. I met up with a friend who shoots for the New York Times, and he gave me some valuable tips that I will share with you as I go on. Most notable is the need to work on continuity and try and say something with each image. In editing my work I found that I had to leave out so many images that I really liked. If the image did not fit the thread of the story, then the image wasn't going in, no matter how nice it was.

Sometimes I would work an angle for days, "Garment Ghetto" took me nearly six month to earn the trust of those that were working the street, and I had been threatened several times, but I worked it out and got my shots.

The most important thing is for me was to stick to my mission, to bring to light diversity in culture, no matter if its on the corner of your street or half way around the world.

Keep shooting I always say, but think both in terms of micro and macro, that's the hard part.

People Are Important, but Celebrities Are More Important!

As the death toll from the Typhoon that hit Myanmar increases, two days ago I saw that the New York Post ran Lindsey Lohan stealing someone's fur coat as a cover story. And why is CNN quoting Star Jones on anything she says?
Focus people, focus!

A New Day

I realize it has been a few months since my last posting and I owe many of you a little apology for not being as diligent as I was in the past.

It took a lot longer to get my web site together and behind that the marketing necessary to promote and use this tool as effectively as possible.

More to come in the following weeks.