Alex Webb: Streets of Chicago

"I did not have a goal in mind. In fact, I do not have goals in mind when I photograph. I respond to what I see before me." Reading Alex Webb's interview on The Leica Camera Blog, I gasped (figuratively) when I got to these phrases. How refreshing to read something said by a photographer that is so devoid of pretension! No bullshit here. He responds to what he sees. He doesn't pretend to see a La Pieta (as some did in Samuel Aranda's World Press winning photograph) in any of his frames...an honest guy and comfortable in his own skin, this Alex Webb.Perhaps uncharacteristically for many street photographers, he chose to photograph Chicago's character in color. Having mostly worked in color since 1979, Alex tells us he respond to color, and that black and white for him...

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Amy Helene Johansson: 88 1/2

I'm extremely pleased to feature Amy Helene Johansson's evocative new work titled 88 1/2; a 5 minutes film which revolves around Jack O'Connell, an eccentric film director who lives in Manhattan and who recalls his days with the greats...Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. Reminiscent of the fabulous New York Times' One In 8 Million series (which sadly have been discontinued), Amy's terrific short film has captured the very essence of this film director...she directed, filmed and produced it after spending 3 weeks with Jack in New York this past fall, and tells me she has much more material to work on. Amy Helene Johansson studied film and theatre theory before earning a BA in fashion design. Witnessing the power of photography to tell the stories of people without voices,...

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Occupy Wall Street

Photo  Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved More of my OWS photographs can be seen on The Leica File. Yesterday morning was sunny in New York City, but it was cold in the canyons of Wall Street and its neighboring streets.  And yet, Zuccotti Park was full to the brim with the currently residing protestors, sympathizers from all walks of life, gawkers and tourists...and naturally the members of the NYPD, whose main function it seemed (at least when I was there) was to tell the onlookers not to block the sidewalk. The atmosphere in the Park was jovial and collegiate. Reasonably clean, with the protestors...

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