Metaphotography.

December 26, 2009 6:24 PM

Metaphotography. Dozens of photos of famous photographers with their cameras at the ready. Sometimes the most fascinating subjects are those behind the camera. And look at those cameras, too! (Text in Spanish, occasional nudity.)
posted by seanmpuckett (23 comments total)

Funny how the most interesting thing is not the people, who can't really be judged by their appearance. But an overview of the cameras they use - fascinating.

I'm also very curious about how each photographer would feel seeing a copyrighted digital image of a film negative uploaded to a photo-sharing site like Flickr. Crazy.
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 6:56 PM on December 26, 2009

heh
posted by delmoi at 7:10 PM on December 26, 2009

Heh 2: "Dandy Warhol".
posted by Mike D at 7:15 PM on December 26, 2009

The most interesting thing for me (as an amateur photographer groping around for knowledge) is the people not posing for portraits, but in action - the ways their bodies are positioned, the clothes they wear while they're shooting, where they are standing in relation to their subject. Cameras are tools, but the way the photographer behaves as a human being in the lead up to taking images is just infinitely fascinating. Especially the women and their shoes.
posted by saturnine at 7:21 PM on December 26, 2009

Text in English

The photo of Garry Winogrand surprised me the most. I'd never seen a pic of him before and had always imagined him to be speed-freak skinny with wild hair and beard. William Eggleston, though, looked exactly like I'd expected.
posted by ardgedee at 7:22 PM on December 26, 2009

My favorite image of Margaret Burke-White
posted by X4ster at 9:25 PM on December 26, 2009

Very cool. I was idly thinking about that Jeff Wall picture just this afternoon, and what it was all about.
posted by Flashman at 9:31 PM on December 26, 2009

Larry Burrows
posted by X4ster at 9:32 PM on December 26, 2009

As a photographer, I dislike having my photograph taken.

And I certainly wouldn't allow a photo to be taken of me naked while shooting a semi-nude model.
posted by bwg at 4:21 AM on December 27, 2009

that was most unexpected, thank you. loved seeing the picture of terry richardson in it. he's a douche but it aptly shows what his work is about - low-fi, close to reality, gritty, grimy work (in a way that makes him the opposite of avedon, whose work was so utterly polished).

As a photographer, I dislike having my photograph taken.
don't we all? I suspect it's knowing what it could or should look like that makes reality tough to bear. which reminds me I need to get to the gym.
posted by krautland at 5:48 AM on December 27, 2009

bwg, getting naked with the models is Terry Richardson's schtick:

'My rule is that I'd never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do myself,' he says, 'that's how it's got to go this far. At first, I'd just want to do a few nude shots, so I'd take off my clothes, too. I'd even give the camera to the model and get her to shoot me for a while. It's about creating a vibe, getting people relaxed and excited. When that happens,' he adds, grinning his goofy, adolescent grin, 'you can do anything.'

I thought this vibe was pretty obvious in the photo of Richardson in TFA. What isn't obvious is what makes him a professional photographer; that harsh lighting is awful and he's using a pretty mediocre camera.

Richardson first came to prominence in the mid-Nineties, shooting fashion editorials and ads that were starkly lit, brutally cropped and shot on snapshot cameras with little or no lighting.

Genius.
posted by localroger at 6:58 AM on December 27, 2009

Great post but I'd be happy to never see Terry Richardson naked again as long as I live.
posted by photoslob at 7:38 AM on December 27, 2009

Mine.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:42 AM on December 27, 2009

I suspect it's knowing what it could or should look like that makes reality tough to bear. which reminds me I need to get to the gym.

You and me both.

bwg, getting naked with the models is Terry Richardson's schtick:

Looks like he had his schtick tucked away in that shot.
posted by bwg at 2:58 PM on December 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

bwg: Looks like he had his schtick tucked away in that shot

But not in a lot of others.
posted by localroger at 3:37 PM on December 27, 2009

You mean like this?

NSFAnyone
posted by bwg at 3:41 PM on December 27, 2009

Crap, the link didn't work. Try again.
posted by bwg at 3:41 PM on December 27, 2009

You know bwg there is a weird dovetail between Richardson and the Wise/Tiger Woods thread of a day or so ago. There you have people who fuck anything that moves and see it all as victory, until they get caught *cough* with their pants down and then go all imsosorry. But with Richardson, you have someone who will fuck anything that moves only if it wants to be fucked and is totally unapologetic even when it seems that it should be totally humiliating.

I don't want to be Richardson, but I like what he's doing. He's a messed-up person, but he's used his messed-upness to create real value and challenge the rest of us. Wise and woods are just messed up.
posted by localroger at 7:07 PM on December 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

Mefi's own
posted by TedW at 5:22 AM on December 28, 2009

Great post but I'd be happy to never see Terry Richardson naked again as long as I live.
vice has a photo of richardson shot from the side somewhere. the amount of ear wax present in that shot is fit to put an elephant to shame.
posted by krautland at 3:53 PM on December 28, 2009

I caught Daido Moriyama ">shooting out of the second-story window of a bar in Shinjuku when I was there in November.
posted by Poagao at 8:43 PM on December 28, 2009

Sorry, that should be this link to my photo.
posted by Poagao at 8:45 PM on December 28, 2009

Wow, it's lucky you happened to be there to catch him!
posted by Flashman at 4:56 PM on December 29, 2009