Photo ABCs

See this show!

A friend of mine, Andrew Szikla, is now showing abstract photographs of koi at the gallery within the Calumet Photographic camera store in Escondido.

This show is the finest I have seen in a great while. From the arrangement of the artwork, to the exquisite floating prints so beautifully framed, even down to how he signed his prints, Andrew thought of, and nailed to perfection, every detail. And the photos, well, it was hard for me to choose a favorite (I did, though) since I admired and liked them all!

I was fortunate to see many of Andrew's working prints early in this project, and I am thrilled to see how he has brought them together into a gallery show as special as this one. 

These prints look great in the Calumet gallery, they would look even better on your living room wall!

Calumet Photographic is freeway close at 830 West Valley Parkway in Escondido, and is one of the few full service camera stores left in San Diego, staffed by knowledgable and helpful photographers.

H is for Harry Benson!

It was my pleasure to attend a slide show by Harry Benson recently at San Diego's  Museum of Photographic Arts. Harry Benson, born in Scotland, "arrived with the Beatles" to the United States in 1964. He photographed for LIFE Magazine from 1970 to 2000, and now shoots for Vanity Fair and others.

He photographed the Beatles, every president from Eisenhower to George W. Bush, photographed to scene at Robert Kennedy's assassination, photographed the construction of the Berlin Wall and its demolition.

Just a few highlights of slide show include:

His favorite image: the Beatles having a pillowfight.

His most difficult portrait subject: Bobby Fischer. He got Fisher to open up to him by taking a walk with him and discussing Fischer's admiration for Joe Namath. He gave Fischer a picture he had taken of Namath.

Most dangerous assignments: (among many): race riots in Watts and in the South.

Tips on photographing the famous: "these people don't want to pass this way unnoticed and unrecorded," so they will cooperate to a large extent. However, he says "never give the details of tomorrow's shoot" because it's likely that an uncooperative spouse will nix the idea! 

Photographing Ronald Reagan: he was very gracious and easy to photograph. And his "funny stories were actually really funny!" 

How he photographed Robert Kennedy's assassination scene: as much as he was stunned, he told himself to "keep shooting" because "that's what I'm there to do."

The state of photojournalism today: "It should be better but it's worse." He decried all of the "fake photographs" prevalent in magazines-- like a Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum!

What a good photograph should be: "A glimpse in time, then it's gone!"

If you ever get the chance to see Harry Benson speak, don't miss it! His incredible images can be seen at his simple and elegant website: Herry Benson.