BLUR21EN

BLUR MAGAZINE 21
BLUR 21 PRESENTS
http://www.youtube.com/user/MagazineBlur
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
photo: Riccardo Giordano
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photo: Ione Rucquoi
lur magazine is project

founded
and
run
by
photography enthusiasts, and
volunteers from all parts of
Croatia. Aiming at achieving high quality
content, the magazine is published
quarterly in PDF format so it can easily
be downloaded, saved and browsed
through every now and then. It is only
available on the Internet, in order to
avoid high cost distribution fees, break
territorial borders and reach every
single part of the Earth, free of charge.
It is because of its cosmopolitan nature
that Blur is edited simultaneously in
Croatian and English. Though initially
established under the name of Bulb at
the close of 2007, in September 2009,
it changed its editorial board, refreshed
its team of collaborators and, using a
bit more blurry name, Blur now heads
for new challenges.
impressum
Robert Gojevi
founder | chief editor | design | dtp
e-mail: robert.gojevic@blur-magazine.com
Ivana Krnji
executive editor | marketing and PR
e-mail: ivana.krnjic@blur-magazine.com
Tomislav Mari
editor | columnist
e-mail: tomislav.maric@blur-magazine.com
Denis Plei
columnist | translator | proofreading
e-mail: denis.pleic@blur-magazine.com
Jennifer Henriksen (Holga Jen)
editor of Playstick
e-mail: jennifer.heriksen@blur-magazine.com
Jennifer Rumbach
editor of Instantion
e-mail: jennifer.rumbach@blur-magazine.com
Mark Sink
editor of Wet plate
e-mail: mark.sink@blur-magazine.com
Michael McAllister
proofreading
Igor Kalendari
video producer
Photography association CREATUS

(F.U.C.*) is a non-profit and non-governmental association founded in August
2009 with the aim to contribute to the
development of artistic photography
scene in Croatia, while promoting and
connecting Croatian photographers
with their international colleagues.
elimir Koevi
expert associate
Associates for BLUR 21:
Ivan Pekarik
Petra Nenadi
ISSN: 1847-7410
Publisher: F.U.C.*
Address: street Ljubiica 19, 10 360 Sesvete
Contact: info@blur-magazine.com
Bank account: Zagrebaka banka 2360000 1102112539
MB: 2580837
OIB: 39145219372
E D I T O R I A L
Maybe to someone it will look a bit ridiculous when
I say that we in BLUR magazine strive to be like the
Enterprise crew from Star Trek. As silly as it sounds,
thats the truth. On one hand, we like the idea of
presence in an infinite space, in our case the cyber
world, which allows us to collaborate with authors
from all parts of world and to address to readers
from around 180 countries. On the other hand, the
crew of this spaceship was successful because the
team consisted of people of different cultures and
backgrounds. Therefore, BLUR magazine entered the
2011 with a bigger, multicultural team. In addition
C O L U M N
to the already well-known colleagues from Croatia,

BLUR is now collaborating with Mark Sink from the
U.S., future editor of Wet Plate, Jennifer Rumbach
from Germany, future editor of the Instantion,
Michael McAllister from the U.S., proofreader,
and Jennifer Henriksen from Canada who has
been editing the Playstick section from recently.
Given the aim of focusing more on the infinite

space that the Internet technology enables, from
next issue BLUR magazine will be issued in English
version only. At this moment Croatian independent
cultural scene is in a difficult stage and our statistics

show that most of the Croatian readers prefer to
download the English version, which is why we,
until further notice, decided to suspend the Croatian
edition of BLUR. We believe how most of our loyal
readers from Croatia will not feel this necessary
change, while our international editorial board will
get more capacity to conquer the cyber world.
In the end, it is my pleasure to announce a great
treat for all Polaroid fans; the exhibition The Best of
Polaroid photos in photo gallery Lang in Samobor.
Beside the thirty authors who won our last years

competition, we will present the works of our
Instantion editor, Jennifer Rumbach and a series of
photographs Famous Faces by Mark Sink, recorded
in the 80-is, in which he captures many celebrities
from the showbiz and the art world of New York.
Robert Gojevi, editor in chief

robert.gojevic@blur-magazine.com
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
march
june
september
december
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CONTENTS
COVER PAGE
02
IMPRESSUM
05
EDITORIAL COLUMN
06
CONTENTS
07
GALLERY 24
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PORTFOLIO | Franjo Bahovec
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MEET THE... FEP
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INTERVIEW | Frank Sirona
66
PROJECT | Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable
87
INTERVIEW | Ione Rucquoi
97
WET PLATE INTERVIEW | Mark Sink
114
COLUMN | Denis Plei
141
TETRA | Arnaud Bertrande
167
INSTANTION | Jennifer Rumbach | Ildiko Voros
193
PLAYSTICK INTERVIEW | Gordon Stettinius
218
PROJECT | Mario Romuli
239
I BROWSED THROUGH I Mario Testino MaRIO de JANEIRO

I Sebastiao Salgado AFRICA
252
WINNING GAMEI Photo book by eljko Koprolec
259
CONTEST I BLURS AMBASSADOR
274
FULL CIRCLE I Exhibition Mario Leko
275
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CONTENTS
MARK SINK
WET PLATE
Ione Rucquoi
INTERVIEW
Nacho Rojo
Reclarckgable
PROJECT
Frank Sirona
INTERVIEW
FRANJO BAHOVEC
PORTFOLIO
CONTENTS
Mario Romuli
PROJECT
Gordon Stettinius
PLAYSTICK
IldikO VOrOs &

Jennifer Rumbach
INSTANTION
Arnaud Bertrande
TETRA
DENIS PLEI
COLUMN
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Send us 2 photos per issue maximum.
http://www.blur-magazine.com/submission/photo-submission/
The main mission of Blur magazine is to promote and celebrate artistic photography
and to ensure coverage of all photographers, professional and amateur alike, who capture
motifs that intrigue them in fascinating, innovative and fresh ways.
Gallery 24 is a collection, or even better, an exhibition of all of those individual, unique
and successful photographs which are not grouped by a given theme, but are based on
their quality, specific characteristics and the wow effect. Your work can be part of this collection too and thus be seen by several thousand people from all over the world.
If your work matches the description, dont hesitate a moment but submit immediately
using the (link!).
Send each photograph in a separate e-mail
Every photograph has to be 1,500 pixels in its wider side
Name the photograph: name-surname-photograph name.jpg
Send photographs as a .jpg file
Resolution: 72 dpi
Maximum photograph size is 1MB.
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Croatia
www.gralpix.com
Sran Graovac
Old Man
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Bulgaria
http://tanyagramatikova.photography.com/
Tanya Gramatikova
Tribute to Frida Kahlo

I.Duende
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Croatia
http://sanjaprodan.weebly.com/
Sanja Prodan
Hipster Girl
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Croatia
http://buffalosoldier.fotozine.org
Matija ulac
Energy
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Croatia
http://www.dalibortalajic.com
Dalibor Talaji
Damned poets eyes
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Bulgaria
http://deyanstefanov.blogspot.com/
Deyan Stefanov
Coral
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Greece
http://www.kalampoukas.com
Gregory Kalampoukas
Waiting to go
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France
http://www.benoitcourti.net
Benoit Courti
Bulles de savon
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Croatia
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dea_botica/
Dea Botica
Hidden beneath the silence
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Czech Republic
http://www.jiriruzek.net
Jiri Ruzek
Package from Chelyabinsk
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Slovenia
http://www.sasahuzjak.com
Saa Huzjak
Lonely camel guide
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Italy
http://www.eoloperfido.com
Eolo Perfido
Clown
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Russia
http://blue-velvet.ru
Dmitriy Orlov
Divinatio
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Bali
http://anggaramahendra.blogspot.com/
Anggara Mahendra
Blond:ish
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Georgia
Tamuna Lortkipanidze
Tuso
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Serbia
http://www.sonjalekovic.com
Sonja Lekovic
Serial number
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Croatia
Filip Grzincic
Strike
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USA
Nicole Moncayo McGuiness
Happy feet
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Japan
http://tristan-photo.wordpress.com/
Tristan Hooper
Parody 1
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India
http://www.magicshutters.net
Dibyendu Dutta
The Omphalus
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USA
http://www.flickr.com/likedaffodils
Sarah Ann Loreth
Untitled
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Croatia
http://www.kovacicek.com
Tomislav Kovaiek
Misfortune
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Portugal
http://www.ddiarte.com
DDiArte
Cupidos playground
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Croatia
ANA SOE
Untitled
Three years ago, Croatian photography became

richer for the unique work of Franjo Bahovec
which was discovered by Mr. Josip Horvat, a lo
cal collector of antiquities, and first presented
to the public by an adviser of the Museum of
Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, Mrs. Marija Tonkovi.
Stories from the past
Franjo Bahovec (Samobor, 1851.-1924.)
Franjo Bahovec was a successful businessman

from Samobor, a small town in Croatia, and a
passionate amateur photographer. Due to his
wealthy position, enabled by his job, Bahovec
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WORLD
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HOME
had the opportunity to capture different mo

ments through stereography, at that point, in the
late 19th and early 20th century, a new medium of
photography. This photography technique was
capturing images on glass which, when viewed
through a stereoscope, resulted in an optical illu
sion and turned into a 3D experience.
Collection of Franjo Bahovec is truly versatile.
In it, you can find cities like New York, Vienna,
London, Prague, Trieste, Samobor and Zagreb,
as well as stories from his intimate life such as
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PEOPLE
family, sports and romantic moments. Because

of its documentary and artistic value, it is indi
sputable the importance of this photography
collection to the Croatian heritage.
This is why we decided to present you the work
of Bahovec and, through them, tell you some
interesting stories from the past, which consist
of four parts:
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INTIMACY
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Franjo Bahovec (Samobor 1851.- 1924.)

The second round of photos by Franjo Bahovec, the amateur
from Samobor, presented in BLUR magazine includes the
photos taken mainly in Samobor, and to a lesser degree in
Zagreb, at the beginning of the 20th century. All of them were
originally taken as stereo-photographs. The original stereo
slides on glass have been preserved in the collection of Mr.
Josip Horvat in Samobor.
Photos selected by: Robert Gojevi and elimir Koevi.
Introductory text: elimir Koevi
Bahovec, however, wasnt a meticulous scientist, historian, or an ethnologist, who used his
camera to carefully record the artifacts or events of historical importance; he was merely
an enthusiastic amateur photographer. His attention was directed more toward urban
daily life, and if such photos of daily life included any details that are today considered
valuable documents, it was more of a happy accident and valuable only from our modern
perspective. He didnt have any documentary purposes in mind. His photos have a
certain nostalgic air, and such feelings are not uncommon. However, the nostalgia for the
Austro-Hungarian Empire is not necessary for the evaluation of this photography. More
than any sentimental memory, the photos by Franjo Bahovec speak of the medium that
at the beginning of the 20th century had already won over a wide circle of middle and
upper class bourgeoisie. Free from the rules of the so-called professionals, i.e., studio
photography craftsmen, the amateurs like Franjo Bahovec have let the camera record their
perception of the personal and social everyday life. Today its well known that it is precisely
this amateurish freedom from the then-prevailing rules of the medium that improved not
only the photographic medium, but also the visual culture in general. From all the photos
presented here, we can easily see the informal enthusiasm that Franjo Bahovec expresses
in capturing personal moments of elation while turning them into a pure sensation of
portfolio
Any historian would undoubtedly proclaim these photos to be valuable and would
carefully store them in an archive. The curious scientist researching the local cultural
history to find historical documents and, naturally, preserved photos would surely open
without hesitation the imaginary locker labeled, for example, doc-1/zagreb _samobor,
where he would also find the photos by Franjo Bahovec.
FRANJO BAHOVEC
SAMOBOR | Croatia
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photographic image. All that in 3-D, no less!

Until recently, the history of Croatian photography had known gaps, or rather
uncertainties. Franjo Bahovec, with his amateurish photographs (e.g., painter Bela Csikos
Sessia or young Vladimir Gutea) fills the gaps of the transition from the 19th to the 20th
century, the transition from the exclusive domain of studio photography stereotypes into
the creative freedom of the so-called amateurs.
Today it is quite clear that its precisely the amateurs, including Franjo Bahovec, who
are the missing link in the continuity of the development of the new medium. Each
photograph by Franjo Bahovec shows how the medium begins to include the new
aesthetics and the new visual culture. It should not be forgotten that the photography is
only a medium of personal perception. This new visual culture will later result in photojournalism, documentary, and life photography.
BLUR presents about twenty photos by Franjo Bahovec with the motives of Samobor
and Zagreb. This selection is only a small part of his legacy, which has been saved and
preserved in the collection of Josip Horvat in Samobor. The chosen motives clearly
speak of Franjo Bahovecs almost journalistic skill and sensibility for the social motives.
However, its not necessary to speak of his social engagement; Bahovec, as a trader and
banker, belonged to the upper middle class, but his social status does not define him as a
photographer. His place in the history of Croatian photography, which is only now being
evaluated, is determined by his understanding of the medium, which he used as a man
of the 20th century. Although that century had just begun, Franjo Bahovec had correctly
sensed the huge potential of the medium, which will later, as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy said,
change the image of the world.
portfolio
elimir Koevi
FRANJO BAHOVEC
SAMOBOR | Croatia
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portfolio
FRANJO BAHOVEC
SAMOBOR | Croatia
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portfolio
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portfolio
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the...
Federation of European
Photographers
FEP
http://www.europeanphotographers.eu/
Tomislav Mari
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
The 2nd European Congress of Professional Photographers - 17th GNPP National Congress
which was on February 6th-8th 2011 in Lyon-France is a celebration of inspiration in meeting
photographers, making contacts, seeing superb images and listening to world class speakers and
looking at the newest tool of the trade.
Over 500 inspired delegates from France, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia,
Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, USA and Canada, celebrated the immense success of the FEP 2nd European Congress of Professional Photographers (and 17th GNPP congress)
recently held in Lyon.By their presence, they all demonstrated huge enthusiasm for the high quality of the organization and an enormous appreciation of the panel of speakers,
(in order of appearance on the stage): Pierre Delaunay, MASTER QEP from France; Peter Mathis, MASTER QEP from Austria; Belen Caballero Sanchis, MASTER QEP from Spain, Eddie
Tapp, USA, Photoshop Hall of Fame; Umberto Stefanelli, famous Fine Art Photographer, Bert Stephani; professional photographer and blogger from Belgium; Martin Parr, UK,
Magnum reporter and chronicler of our age; Paolo Roversi, Italian born photographer famous the world over for his portrait and fashion photographs; Uwe Ommer, from Germany,
who embodies the purest spirit of the reporter of our era.An indeed complete and inspiring program, without any weaknesses, which has correlated the importance and the
highest standard of the FEP European professional qualifications, demonstrated not only by the Master QEP speakers, but also through the amazing BEST OF QEP 1999-2010
presentation, achieved with the help of students from the University of Falmouth. The congress also provided an opportunity to highlight skilled photographers and international
award winners, and to publicise the results of FEP contests. The FEP European Fine Art Photograph of the Year Award (Sponsored by Towergate, won by the Portuguese
photographer, Diamantino Jesus) has become an established competition. Whilst the first edition of the new FEP European Photo Book of the Year Award (won by FASHION
FOOD, by the Austrian, Helge Kirchberger) has shown its exceptional potential for interest of the market related to photography.
The Congress also demonstrated the importance of the new postproduction tools for photographers and the possibilities offered by new media and related social networks for the
development of business. A creative use of these new communication media tools can open up new markets for visual communication professionals and artists. The Congress
showed the impact still made on the media and all the communication market, by the big names! Photographers, reporters and artists who set the trends and keep giving a huge
contribution to the history of photography in Europe and worldwide, demonstrating mutual understanding of different cultures and styles.
The mission of the FEP, said Neil Warner, President of the FEP, is to stimulate meeting and inspiring opportunities, and to elevate the professional standard, beyond, and
despite the negative trend of the economy which obviously forces everybody to some sacrifices. European photographers dont know the decline of the passion and the love for
our profession.We saw just the same example of this passion added Giuseppe Scozzi, FEP Chief Executive Officer, from the European Masters Photographers to the emerging
artists and bloggers, from the photographic students to the most renowned big names we met during the Congress. This passion is the most important assurance of a bright
future.
meet the...
EPSON, our sponsor of the FEP Photographer of the Year competition, and Hahnemhle, our new sponsor of the Golden Portrait Camera attended the Congress alongside
Towergate, sponsor of the Fine Art Photograph of the Year competition.
FEP
EU |http://www.europeanphotographers.eu/
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An event like this has been successful only thanks to a huge team job. We will never
forget the great and enthusiastic collaboration of the GNPP, and all accolades should be
reserved especially to the GNPP President, Dominique Launay, the past President Jean
Luc Renault, the GNPP General Secretary Laurence Veisenbacher, to Bernadette Guven
and Michele Wolff, President and past President of the GNPP Rhone-Alpes, to all the GNPP
Rhone-Alpes staff and to Jean Felix Bernetel, GNPP and FEP Board Member.
Gala of Galas
One of the many highlights of the Congress was the fantastic and
unrepeatable gala dinner event held chez Paul Bocuse, which certainly contributed to the
overall success of the event and to raise the enthusiasm of the participants.
meet the...
Jrgen Brandt
FEP Press Officer
FEP Board Member
FEP
EU |http://www.europeanphotographers.eu/
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
interview | Tomislav Mari
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
Germany|http://www.franksirona.de/intro_e.html
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Hi Frank, we are here at your exhibition at the Photokina, walking between your
giant photographs. You obviously like monumental things, and you are very good
in translating monumentalizm of mountains into photographic paper, which is very
difficult. I know few photographers that are able to do that. Its a pity that our readers
will not be able to see your photographs in real life.
What is your secret, your way of transforming greatness of natural beauty to photo
paper?
What Im trying to do is to find what is specific about a particular landscape - is it a certain
shape, pattern or color - and then I try to find a spot, a perspective which emphasizes this key
element. I try to show the essence of the landscape, and crop away anything which detracts
from this essence.
[We are now standing in front of Frank photograph Forgotten Snow, which, as he had told me, has
been taken in Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah, approximately five minutes before sunset.]
I have called the idea behind my work the approach of the painter and the scientist. The
painter works with a palette full of colours from which he makes his selection, and he is
concerned with shapes and composition what he aims at is harmony between the pictures
elements. And photography, as painting with light, of course does something quite similar.
But for me, there also exists the scientific aspect: Im very interested in how a particular
landscape came into existence. It is all about geology, natural forces and erosion and
nowhere more so than in the Southwest of the United States, with all its unique erosion
forms. As you can see here, when you get very close to the photograph, the rocks shown
in Forgotten Snow are made of sandstone which is quite porous. It has a lot of cracks and
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crevices, and rainwater collects in these cavities. Once the water freezes, it widens the cavities
and creates deeper and deeper cracks in the rock. Due to this freeze-thaw type of erosion,
whole cliffs can fall down. When you stand there very silently and listen carefully, every now
and then you hear a rock crashing down somewhere most of the times a small one, but
sometimes something which, as judged from the sound you hear, must be really big. Cedar
Breaks is located at an altitude of more than 3000 m, which means that temperatures drop
below zero during 200 or so nights each year. What you see here in my image is the immediate
result of the frequent freeze-thaw cycles and the porosity of the rocks: an absolutely unique
erosion pattern. I find it absolutely fascinating to combine in one image, at the same time,
pointers to those elements which are the key to the past and have been at work for tens of
thousands of years, and the result of their action, namely the landscape as we see it today.
In case of Forgotten Snow, you are pointed to three such key elements which shaped
(and continue to shape) this landscape. First, you see the porosity of the rock, and you can
immediately imagine what happens when water comes into play, second, you see the snow
which, upon melting, provides water which can freeze again and which, at the same time,
tells us of the low temperatures up there, and third we have the sun as the remaining crucial
element which provides the heat to melt the snow during the day.
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How much time do you spend in the Desert Southwest?

Usually a couple of weeks at a time. But the portfolio you see here has been shot within a
period of 10 years. I return again and again to the same landscapes, getting to know it better,
getting an idea of how they look at different seasons and how I would like to capture it. It
is paramount in landscape photography to really understand the light and the interaction
between the light and the scenery you want to capture, and obviously this takes some time.
For example, some pictures look best when taken in the light of the setting sun, other need
to be taken before sunrise or after sunset, and some other look best on a dull day under soft
and filtered light. When you walk through my exhibition, the photographs you see have
been shot in a wide variety of light situations, each situation being the one I considered the
best to adequately capture the essence of the very place.
So you spend a lot of time waiting for the right moment to take the right picture?
Yes, or I return when I realize that the perfect light would be found at another day or another
season or even in a different year.
interview
How much time do you spend on location?

As much as needed to capture the light Im looking for. This can very well translate to staying
in an area for a full week or more, since first I need to figure out which light Id need to
have for a shot Im planning, and then the perfect light needs to arrive, which usually will
be present for only a few minutes or less per day. Sometimes the light I want to capture
lasts for a few seconds only, and if within this small time window something goes wrong,
for example because the only tiny cloud in the sky passes the sun exactly within that time
window, a day is lost and I have to try again 24 hours later. One of the main challenges in
landscape photography is that the quality of light can change very quickly, and it always
does so when the light is really interesting, namely around sunrise, around sunset, and when
a storm is clearing. When working with slow equipment like a large format camera, your only
chance to capture really good light under such conditions is to be prepared, to anticipate
whats going to happen, and to be ready to shoot once the light begins to get interesting.
Otherwise you wont stand a chance to react quickly enough.
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
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Are you traveling alone or with your wife or friends?

I usually travel alone because this sort of photography is something that you have to do
alone; it is almost some kind of meditation.
You are a part time photographer, you have another job to support yourself, and you
are selling your work.
Yes, Im selling prints, but the market is small and it is not easy to make landscape photographs
profitable. That said, each year is a little better the more people know your work, the
more people are interested in buying a piece for their wall. But, in a way, I greatly enjoy my
independence provided by my primary job in the pharmaceutical industry, so if I dont sell a
piece of work I dont have to starve. The great advantage of being independent is that I can
do whatever I want, without having to ask myself will I be able to sell that?. Ask a full time
photographer whether he or she would be able to work on one single photograph for weeks
- most people would say they cant afford that.
interview
Are you married, because I suppose your spouse has to be full of understanding
because you are far away for weeks at a time?
I know what you mean no, Im not married, and I think at least photography wise it is a
big advantage to be fully independent. And no one will call me crazy when I come back
from a trip with one single photograph. I repeatedly have been to the U.S. with only one
particular shot in my mind which could be taken only within a small window of time, usually
a couple of days, since only then the light conditions are right. There are some cases where
a photograph can be taken only on a single day of the year, since only then the alignment
of the sun and of the rocks used as picture elements is perfect. Explain to your spouse, that
for this particular photograph you need to travel thousands of miles and be away for a week
or two...
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
interview
What about your inspiration, other photographers, do you have anybody that inspires
you or, maybe, you are only inspired by the scenery?
Actually I try to avoid being inspired by other photographers because that means you
already know how one can interpret a particular scenery, and since you dont want to merely
reproduce the work of another person you have to start again and get rid of everything you
are thinking and feeling and try to find your own way of interpretation, independent of other
work you have seen before. I find it a lot easier to visit a place without knowing it from other
photographers work already, and to then try to find my own interpretation of it. Of course
thats not always possible and I have been to many places which had been photographed
over and over by the others. Working under such conditions can give you a hard time. But
its possible, and sometimes the result of trying to avoid reproducing the work of others
can be stunning. To give you an example: one of my favorite images is Cinderellas Palace,
taken in Bryce Canyon National Park. The scenery at Bryce possibly is the most frequently
photographed landscape worldwide, and yet I dont know another picture which even
slightly resembles my Cinderella shot, neither regarding the composition nor with respect
to the light. But if were talking about inspiration in a more general meaning, Im very
impressed with the work of three photographers who also are working on landscapes of
the American Southwest: Charles Cramer, Bruce Barnbaum, and David Muench (in the latter
case Im referring to the best 10% or so of his work, since the quality across his portfolio is
not very homogeneous). I also should mention Christopher Burkett here, who is shooting
trees all over the U.S.A. Another landscape photographer who does excellent work is Hans
Strand from Sweden. He predominantly focuses on Sweden and Iceland and recently started
to work on a wonderful series of aerials. Joe Cornish should be mentioned as well, who is
working on the British Islands and has a great understanding of light. Interestingly, all these
photographers work with large format cameras, and Im not aware of anyone working with
35 mm cameras or DSLRs whose landscape work I would find really impressive. I suspect
that the heavy and slow LF equipment forces a photographer to significantly slow down
and think more than twice about each photograph he considers to take, which means that
much more care is spent on pre-visualization, on composition and on deciding which sort
of light to aim at.
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
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Do you have any particular interest in the National Parks?

No, on the contrary - I try to avoid National Parks whenever I can. The first photos I took in the
U.S. were in National Parks, but today the American parks are extremely crowded, and I would
stand in the third row just to watch the sunrise at Grand Canyon. On a lucky day, otherwise
it would be row number five. So I try to find places where I am, if possible, the only visitor
on that day, enjoying the solitude. When you are living in the middle of Europe, everything
around you is urban, overpopulated and manmade. Once you get away from that, you have
a chance to completely change the way you are perceiving things, including yourself. Out
in the desert, and away from the crowds, things obtain another, more honest meaning. Life
itself has another meaning there. This switch to a completely different perspective to life is
why I enjoy so much to be in the desert.
interview
Are you sleeping on location, do you have your tent and camping equipment with
you?
It differs from case to case. In a few cases I hike to the location Im interested in, find the
perfect light immediately, take a shot and return, but thats rare. In recent years, Im spending
more and more time and care to take just one single photograph. This means you have to
spend a period of time at that location, or alternatively you have to return there a couple of
times. For example, this photograph here, Outbreak, is the result of several repeated trips
to the same location. Taking these trips together, I had to carry my equipment, which weighs
around 18 kg, for more than 100 kilometers. The least pleasant of these trips was in January,
at 15 C. It took quite a number of attempts to capture the light I was aiming for, and while
I knew which sort of light I would need, it was unclear under which conditions this light
would show up. As you see, the light is very soft the shot has been made before sunrise and it has a blue cast due to the reflection of the blue early morning sky. The sun is still below
the horizon, so theres no direct sun light, but only the sunlights diffuse reflection by the
morning sky. This very light was exactly what I needed to adequately transform the spooky
atmosphere of that strange place into a picture. I visualized this photograph a couple of
years ago, but it took me years until I was able to take the perfect shot I was aiming for. I tried
in different seasons, in the spring, fall or winter, and finally this one appeared on my film.
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
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What is your way of measuring the light?

It is a stone age handheld exposure meter, which I use because of its endurance and reliability.
In most cases I measure the light intensity, and not the light reflected from my subject. Only
in rare cases, when the light situation is very complex, Im switching to my spot meter.
Are you bracketing?
No. I tend to say that bracketing means not to understand the light one is facing. This might
be slightly exaggerated, but the point I want to make is that, first, you need an understanding
of a light situation you want to shoot, and second, you need to know how to translate this into
exposure parameters. In my view, bracketing prevents you from learning how your film, or
chip, reacts to light. And this knowledge is absolutely important in landscape photography,
since different light intensities, when recorded by a camera, do influence not only the
brightness, but also the colours in the picture. To give you an example, we are standing now
in front of a series taken in a slot canyon in northern Arizona, and what you see is a whole
palette of colours ranging from bright yellow, almost white, over orange, bright red, dark
red all the way to violet. When youre there on location and look at the rocks, you dont see
the colors the way the films does. What you see is red which is sometimes a bit brighter and
sometimes a bit darker thats all. What film does, and digital cameras do the same, is to
translate light intensity into colour - the brightly illuminated parts to yellow, and the darker
ones to red. And then there are those spots where some blue from the reflected sky is added,
resulting in violet. You dont see these colours like your camera does, which means that if
you dont understand the light, you wont see the picture behind the scenery.
interview
And what materials and media are you using to present your images here in your
exhibition?
Im using transparency film, have it scanned, and have my lab make prints with a LightJet
laser printer on RA-4 paper or Ilfochrome. Finally the prints are face mounted on glass in a
process called UltraSec. The freshness and saturation of the colours are possible thanks to
the film I use, which is Fujichrome Velvia 100. But the brilliance and plasticity of the prints
are due to the face mounting.
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
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All the prints you see here are mounted to anti-reflective museum glass. It is fantastic; I have
never before seen prints as impressive as they appear behind this anti-reflective glass. I made
some attempts with acrylic glass and it turned out to be OK, but it was not yet perfect. So
the next step was to exchange the Plexiglas for real glass, which in that case was a special
white glass, and the results were quite satisfying glass-mounted prints are more brilliant
than Plexiglass-mounted prints due to the better optical quality of glass. But I still found the
reflections on glass (and Plexiglass as well) to be disadvantageous, so I convinced my lab,
Fachcolor Bhler in Freiburg/Germany, to try anti-reflective museum glass. That turned out
to be a major step towards perfect print quality the anti-reflective coating does not just
block the vast majority of the visible reflections (that was the expected and desired effect),
but in addition it does something magical which is very difficult to describe. It lends to the
prints an incredible directness and presence, and I never saw anything coming close.
that a digital camera could be the solution here, but Im sceptical in this respect: although
the latest digital backs have a resolution coming close to the resolution achievable with large
format film, they cost as much as a car, and will continue to do so for years. And imagine you
drop such a small cube, which measures just ten by ten by ten centimeters then you are
really in trouble.
interview
What is the format of the film you use?

Its five by seven inches, approximately thirteen by eighteen centimeters. Unfortunately Fuji
does no more ship 5x7 Velvia to neither Europe nor the US, so I have to directly buy it in
Japan - by chance I became aware of a web shop in Tokio (www.japanexposures.com) where
you can order everything Fuji is selling in Japan. I use a Sinar camera, but it is not one of
this recent models, because they are optimized for studio work and are simply too heavy. I
started with the f1, which is a beautiful camera, but it is not sturdy enough for being taken
You are taking very heavy equipment with you on the road, please explain the way you outdoors. It had too many plastic parts that easily brake. So I quickly exchanged it for an
older model, which is the legendary Sinar Norma. My Norma is about 50 years old, which
handle it.
Bringing the equipment to the locations I want to shoot always is an endeavour starting sounds completely outdated but all the refinements introduced to large format cameras
with the question of how to stuff all the lenses and the other expensive parts into my carry- since the Norma was built are practically irrelevant for landscape photography, so this old
on when boarding the plane. My only chance is to fly with airlines which either doesnt limit Norma has everything I need.
the weight of the carry-on, or allow a weight of 15 kilos or more. Fortunately US airlines tend
to be more liberal in this respect than European airlines, so until now I never ran into trouble. But lenses are getting better
My complete equipment, including camping gear, clothing and so forth, is distributed over Thats absolutely true, and my lenses are much younger than the Norma. For colour work
4 bags and weighs a bit more than 70 kg my personal limit, I dont think I could haul a you definitely need multi-coated lenses, and also on average lenses have become more
single more gram to the airport and still have fun. Once in the country, I put what I need into lightweight in recent years.
a hiking backpack which I converted into a sort of photo backpack having the advantage
that I made the interior by myself, so everything fits perfectly, without wasting any unused Which lenses are you using?
space. Unfortunately its still quite some weight I need to carry cross country, even for a mere Im using lenses in the range from 90mm to 720mm, which corresponds to 22 to 180 mm
day trip. Remember the approach of the painter and the scientist I was talking about, the lenses for 35 mm film. However, my longest lens is not used very frequently, because it is
scientist part here requiring that you can get with your nose to the picture without seeing difficult to stabilize it in the field, in particular under windy conditions. You need to extend
any film grain, any blur or any lack of sharpness, even at large print sizes as in case of the the bellows to about half a meter, so even when using two tripods you have to be very
exhibition here, where the prints measure 100 x 140 cm. The only way to technically achieve careful to avoid any camera shake. And carrying two tripods cross country, in addition to the
the resolution needed for such prints is to use a large format camera, with all the weight of rest of the equipment, plus water and food and clothing, is no real fun.
the camera, the lenses, the film holders and the heavy tripod this means. One might think
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
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Which one is your favorite picture of this show?

I guess its Outbreak, which we already have been talking about. One reason might be that
it took such an effort to realize this shot, but besides I simply love the feeling it conveys. It has
a mystic, very unusual atmosphere, and to me it is a perfect transformation of the feelings I
had when I saw this place for the first time. It probably is the strangest and weirdest place Ive
ever been to. Getting there for the first time was absolutely amazing I was hiking through
a monotonous and barren desert area for miles and miles, and suddenly, coming over a
small hill, I saw this weird rock formation right below me that was a fascinating experience.
Unfortunately there are not that many places left which are as unexplored and unspoilt like
the scenery of Outbreak the tourism in the Southwest has been steadily increasing for
decades, and the chances to discover something which has not yet been loved to death are
getting smaller and smaller.
Do you wish that you lived in the time of Ansel Adams, so that youd be the only one
who was there and nobody else, is it your dream?
Well of course, back then there was much more left to discover. But it also would require
carrying much heavier equipment, including large glass plates. Ansel Adams had a donkey
which carried all this stuff for him, but nevertheless there are places which would have been
very difficult for him to reach. Im full of admiration for all those photo pioneers who took
incredibly heavy stuff to extreme places. Recently I saw old photographs that had been taken
in the twenties, somewhere in the Swiss Alps, showing an expedition having the goal to
photographically document the glaciers. A dozen of people with mules, donkeys and horses
to haul all this heavy stuff up there, including hundreds of glass plates and the chemicals
needed to develop them immediately after exposure. That would not be my dream...
but if I had the choice, the time of Elliot Porter would be fantastic. Living as a landscape
photographer in the late fifties and early sixties would be a great, since it would allow to
visit what probably has been the worlds most beautiful canyon system, Glen Canyon, which
since then has been submerged for ever under the waters of artificial Lake Powell. Possibly
the worst environmental desaster mankind has ever caused, and deliberately. Whenever Im
crossing the Colorado near Page, Arizona, where this unfortunate dam has been built, I get
so sad. When looking at Elliot Porters photographs taken before the dam was finished you
realize that a paradise, and photographers heaven, has been flooded there.
Future plans, new land you would like to conquer?
The rest of the world... but seriously: theres a lot of countries which would be photographically
very attractive, and also would be a completely new challenge to me because of the different
light and the different colours. For example, Norway and Scotland rank high on my list. Spain
appears to have some wonderful spots, too... But before moving to new land, the American
Southwest has left many photographic opportunities I will tackle first. :)
interview
Please would you be so kind to guide me through the rest of exhibition?

Here we have an example of a photograph which owes everything to the soft, reflected light
so typical for the canyons of the Southwest. Its called Gateway to Hades and has been
taken in the Paria Canyon in Utah. The image would be destroyed if any direct light would
hit the rocks. So the light to wait for was indirect light, reflected by those parts of the canyon
outside the frame. From my vantage point I realized that the light would become better and
better in the early afternoon, up to the point immediately before the area behind the arch
would be hit by the direct sunlight. So the photograph was taken in the last moment before
the sun would come around the corner. You can see a very nice modulation of different
brightnes, different colors, and the colours go from bright orange to the dark, almost black
center of the image. So the eye of the viewer is directed from the periphery to the center,
which is further supported by the S-like run of the streambed.
Conquered world
Frank Sirona
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digitalfoto.mbi.hr
Fresh ideas for winter
LANDSCAPES
NEW
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Oniq
More tech K!
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more gea
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inspiratio ore
n
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Nacho Rojo, artistically known under Reclarckgable is a designer focused on advertising, currently living in Madrid.
Although not a professional photographer, photography has been one of his main interests since student days at the
University of Fine Arts.
project | Ivana Krnji
Couples began as a simple portrait of me and my girlfriend turning into different kinds of people or social groups. At the
beginning, we made 2 images and step by step, we began investigating a little bit more. First we were thinking about how
to dress us up trying with different clothes and at the end I started retouching the photos trying to keep the genuine spirit
of the performance that we made.
COUPLES
Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Spain | http://www.reclarkgable.com/
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project
COUPLES
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COUPLES
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COUPLES
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COUPLES
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COUPLES
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COUPLES
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COUPLES
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COUPLES
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COUPLES
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Metaphorical aspect
Ione RUCQUOI
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interview | Ivana Krnji
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
UK | http://www.ionerucquoi.com
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Your work is artistically very strong,

recognizable and has a specific character.
Every piece simply screams Ione Rucquoi.
Do you sometimes feel that you yourself
imposed the constraints that limit you in
your further creative expression? Or do
you see it more as the clear and useful
guidelines in the upcoming projects?
interview
I dont feel limited in my further creative

expression; each work has its own energy and
direction. I wouldnt say I impose constraints
on my creative process, I have a clear vision
and understanding of what it is Im trying to
say with each piece even if at the beginning it
only exists in my subconscious.
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
United Kingdom | www.ionerucquoi.com
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Motives that intrigue you are always

related to women and their roles in the
society. Thus, we can often see women in
their phases of motherhood, pregnancy
and aging. Also, you are questioning and
investigating their sexuality, intuition
and sensibility. Because of this you were
often proclaimed to be a feminist, which
you constantly deny. How did you decide
to focus on this very topic and how many
autobiographical elements are connected
to it?
interview
I find the term feminist difficult, as it is so

loaded. Im interested in the issues that cause
women to be feminists. I mostly use women
because I am female therefore my experiences
are that of a woman. I wish to empathise,
understand and relate to womens plight,
historically, culturally and the everyday.
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
interview
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
All your photographs are done in a studio.

Why? Does it give you a sense of full control
over your work since you do not depend on
weather or light conditions, and your work
doesnt need to fit in to a certain location?
interview
I feel that to position my models on location

would over complicate my images. As my
work matures I find myself drawn more and
more to clear simplistic and imagery. Having
said that, I would never rule out working on
location, depending on the location!
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Your work is very conceptual and

thoroughly elaborated in advance. How
do you approach your work? Do you first
make sketches and plan scenarios and
then shoot or do you leave a lot of room
to improvisation in a studio. Do you allow
your models to provide their suggestions?
interview
Yes, the work has a strong conceptual

element, but each image is put together
differently. Sometimes a prop will suggest the
beginnings of an idea or image or a particular
model will inspire the image. In some cases
the concept and emotion come first and the
visual follows. Sometimes the image is very
clear and straight forward and other times
there is more of collaboration with the model.
I am usually very clear about the symbolic and
metaphorical aspects of a piece.
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
If we look closely at you photos, we

will notice carefully designed make-up,
unusual costumes and provocative props
such as dead or alive animal, guts, bones,
feathers, dolls, wigs, masks. Besides that,
the background and often the models are
covered with paint which, at first glance,
leaves the impression of a painting, not a
photograph. How many people participate
in the realization of your ideas? Do you
collaborate with other artists such as
painters, clothes designers or do you do
everything yourself?
interview
I tend to do everything myself. I have built up

good sources and contacts for things that can
be difficult to get hold of. I choose my models,
put together costumes, make props and
prosthetics, do make-up and paint the back
drops of each image. Up until recently I took
the photographs myself, but for my current
project I have a lighting technician and camera
operator working with me.
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
You use photography as a media to

capture your ideas. You are publicly well
known photographer and as such you have
been awarded several times. Still, you once
declared that you dont consider yourself a
photographer...
interview
Thats correct, I really dont view myself as a

photographer it is a useful tool to capture
a moment in time, and present an idea. Until
recently I was using a film camera, but over
time have found it necessary to move to
digital. I would rather not be responsible for
the technical part of the process at all. Once
I have completed my current project (which
will be an installation) I would like to introduce
a more 3D sculptural element to the work, so
hopefully will move away from the label of
photographer naturally.
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
At one point you opened your studio to

community and invited people to come and
take photos of their personalized portraits.
What were the reactions of people and
were they completely willing to cooperate
and use your props?
I found that children were my main
collaborators for the open studio dressing up;
they had fewer inhibitions and enjoyed the
play aspect of the project. It didnt go beyond
the open studio event.
Which work of yours is your favourite one
and why? How was this idea born?
interview
Thats a really difficult question as I dont have

one favourite. I love My Bete noire because
the Rook on the models head was my pet;
he lived in my house for a couple of years
and became a much loved member of the
family! Stallion is one of my recent favourites
because of the personal nature of it and the
sculptures in it, I had the idea while I was
trying to conceive my first child, (I can totally
relate to it). Lets just say, I have different
favourites for different reasons.
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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interview
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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interview
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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interview
Metaphorical aspect
Ione Rucquoi
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Wet Plate is an antique photographic technique discovered in the mid 19th century. Also, it
was the primary method of photographing until the 1880s.
Wet Plate is a process of pouring Collodion onto a plate of thin iron or glass, then placing
the plate into a camera and exposing it to the light and, at the end, developing that plate
while it is still wet. Although quite demanding and lengthy process, Wet Plate technique
creates images of mystical atmosphere and of high aesthetic level.
Today, this technique is used by many photographers, and some of the best artists will be
presented to you within the following issues of BLUR magazine under section Wet Plate.
More about Wet Plate technology
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
interview | Robert Gojevi
Balancing a marble ball

Mark Sink
USA | http://www.gallerysink.com/
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Mr. Sink, while reading your biography I

noticed that photography has played an
important role in your family or, perhaps
it is better said that your family has left
an important mark in American photographic history. Tell us something more
about your grandfather James L. Breese
and your uncle Samuel Finley Morse
Breese?
The family photo history is very hairy, yes.
FB Morse was a painter a inventor of the
telegraph and the father of American photography: he sailed back to America after
the French decided not to copyright Daguerres process.
It is said he made the first image in America..
and he thus became the Father of American photography. It was easy for him, because he employed the camera obscura/ lucida in his paintings, so he was ahead of the
curve with equipment and lenses. He taught
Mathew Brady the process. His nephew, my
great grandfather James L. Breese, was a
wild notorious and lascivious photographer
in NYC in the 1880 and 90s .. He co-founded
the Camera Club of NY that was one of the
first fine art photography groups in America. Amazing stories there.. its a book some
day.. I struggle with wanting to work on
his rediscovery, because I want to work on
my own career, too. Resurrecting a relative
or me? I go back and forth. Recently I have
been finding amazing new material with the
Google books being scanned. New material
shows up daily, and the focus has been on
him recently.
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
You are a curator, teacher, arts consu

ltant and a very successful photographer. Moreover, your works can be found
in many galleries. Can you describe your
first serious encounter with photography?
interview
My father developed and printed in our

basement while my mother painted. So I
very early on understood it and loved ma
king pictures. It wasnt until college, when
I took a class from Ruth Throne Thomson
(the celebrated pinhole photographer),
that I realized you could make experimental
art with a camera. That concept really had
not dawned on me, since it was not yet co
mmon in schools to teach photography as
an art form in the 1970s. Photography was
still in the shadows of fine art in general at
that time. Ruth sent me to find any camera,
regardless of the kind or quality. So I found
an old toy plastic Diana camera in my old
toy box from the 1960s. It had a roll of film
in it. I developed it and found images of my
mother looking up from about knee height
that I had taken when I was 6 or 7 years old.
It blew my mind. That set my career going
onto the path of toy cameras for most of my
life. Reverse technology was my thing from
the start. When everyone is going one dire
ction I found going the other is the way to
go.

Mark Sink
USA |http://www.gallerysink.com/
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
In your gallery we found some beautiful

Polaroid portraits. Out of many people
that you photographed with Polaroid,
who would you say stood out the most
and why?
Well the rare and most famous stand out of
course. Some I like the most were not done
in the studio, but done with a single handheld flash. The process is really fun: light
painting. In NYC you could go up to famous
person at an art opening and ask to take a
Polaroid. If it was a big press camera they
would have brushed me away. I stumbled
upon the SX-70, and the methods of making
unusual images using that camera. I think I
got the idea from people like Lucas Samaris,
who showed me that you could put a piece
of tape over the light sensor and it would
fool it to stay open for 8 seconds. Then with
the camera on a small tripod you could paint
in anything. Making your own light..this
made an amazing studio like pictures with
a simple technique of one small flash unit
with its power turned down. In NYC I would
spontaneously approach a celebrity or artist
and ask if I could take a Polaroid. Ninety nine
percent of the time they said yes because of
the Polaroids innocent appeal. I would ask
the person to hold very still for eight se
conds while I bathed them in small bursts
of light. The key light, hair light, backround
light: what I call light painting. It was a kind
of performance, with me moving around the
subject while painting. Then they wanted to
see the image, and gathered their friends to
see. And because it generally came out like
nothing they had ever seen, they wanted
more and got my phone number: it opened
many doors for me.
Wet plates are revisiting that same wonde
rful surprise rush and fun when seeing it.
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
You were also close friends with Andy

Warhol who loved Polaroid. Has he, in
some way, influenced your work or inspi
red you at certain moments?
interview
Polaroids and Minox mini cameras we had

in common, shooting constantly.
Lots of influences: the things closest to you
are the most important. Art is life, 24 hrs a
day.
He inspired me to document everything:
take pictures all the time of everything and
anything that moves, all your friends, and
record them on film and tape. It may seem
silly now, but will have much more meaning
and interest in the future. He was right.

Mark Sink
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
I can imagine how you must have felt

when you found out that Polaroid photography might be gone forever. And
then came The Impossible Project; how
did you feel after hearing about the resu
rrection of Polaroid?
Oh, of course I was thrilled. I had been
watching the news on it very closely. I had a
RSS news feed following any news about it.
interview
I sort of presumed Fuji would pick up the

untapped market ...but Polaroid would not
let it formula out. That was weird. Even with
impossible project they have to use their
own new chemistry.

Mark Sink
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How would you describe your love for

photographs created with Diana toy
camera? Your photos of NY are beautiful,
also a portrait of your deceased friend,
the famous American artist Jean Michel
Basquiat are a very important document
of his, unfortunately, too short life.
I have had a long, almost 30-year relatio
nship with Diana. She was with me through
my period at Warhols Factory, even though
Andy hated the camera. (He liked new, sharp,
not romantic, old, fuzzy wuzzy).. Diana got
me into Vogue and Details and my first solo
show in NYC in 1986 and many galleries
and museums since. Jean Michel loved the
camera. Jean Michel and Andy used to snap
pictures with my camera all the time. I have
several: I cant really prove they are with
their hand ..only I know.. I dont care.
interview
I use the Diana to make art that is a reaction

against the refined glass optics that alter
the way we see the world. Standard photographs are too sharp, too real. The world
isnt that way, and I dont see it that way. I
believe the most beautiful things in the
world are the most simple.

Mark Sink
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I personally remember the 80-s as the

best years, New Gold Dream in the true
sense of the word. Having in mind your
new gallery on web entitled 1980s famous faces * new, how do you remember
the 80-s, especially compared to today
considering the way we live and the valu
es we adhere to?
interview
The 1980s were a wild explosive period for

me and in general for fine art in New York
City. I first was in commercial photography
land to make money. When I finished work,
I would run straight down and hang out
with my artist friends at the galleries. Pretty
soon I found I could photograph art work
for artists and thats what I started to do full
time: rather than photographing catalogs
of clothing, I photographed catalogs of art
work. I became friends with few art stars like
Jean Michel because I was their photographer.

Mark Sink
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What are your impressions of wet plate

photography since lately you have devo
ted so much time to this technique. What
was it that impressed you the most about
it and do you still feel the initial thrill?
Its an excellent extension to my romantic
Diana camera work.
I do believe it will have a bell curve of inte
rest with art directors and galleries and
many shooters will lose interest.
Like Polaroid transfers, cross processing, lens
baby, different Lomo products, it can become just become the flavor of the month.
The Diana is too easy: I call it easy art, like
scanner art.anything you take of picture
of looks interesting. That is very dangerous,
and produces oceans of mediocre work.
If you have a good concept and form and
light the camera doesnt matter. That said, I
love the wet plate for many reasons. Its very
pure and true to the medium.
interview
Its the Polaroid of the 1860s. Its instamatic:

it doesnt use electricity. I like the idea of
making a one of a kind jewel.

Mark Sink
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Do you remember your first wet plate

photograph? How much time did it take
you to become fully proficient with this
technique? What were the most common
mistakes that you made?
Oh sure a friend photographer came
through town and showed me the process:
he was celebrating landing a Jack Daniels
ad account using the process. I made my
first one on glass. Fumbling around spilling
chemicals everywhere - but it set everything
in motion, I was hooked.
interview
The most exciting was several months later

with my girl friend Kristen, trying our equi
pment and chemistry for the first time. It
was with Lauren LW a celebrated Model
Mayhem traveling model that was with us.
It took me some time to pour a plate well.
Its like balancing a marble ball on the glass..
and moving it around. I am still not very
good. But I like the goofs to a degree.

Mark Sink
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You have done so many photographs in

wet plate. Is there any photo or a project
that you would particularly like to point
out?
interview
Work on the road is fun: working with a

Ballet Company was really great. I still am
thankful that I can make work after all these
years: that makes me so excited weak in the
knees when it appears in my hand.its
magic. I am a very lucky person. Every day is
a new favorite.

Mark Sink
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Wet Plate shooting process is rather slow.

However, in your gallery we see a lot of
photos of dance and dancers. How difficult and demanding is it to record movement, particularly dance moves, in this
technique?
interview
You really feel like you are there - stopped.

The presences are stronger. Thus that reads
in the photo. Everything is staged and
stopped. Its important to set everything
up and hold it - almost ceremonial. Its fun
working with professional dancers: they
could do an amazing pose and hold it for a
few seconds.

Mark Sink
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You are very much fond of flowers; they

have often been a motive of your work.
However, the combination of the female
body with plants, in your case, proved to
be an exceptional formula. I dare to call
you a photographic Gustav Klimt :). These
works could easily be placed within the
Art Nouveau era
interview
I am a gushy romantic .. again more for the

heart then the head. Pure beauty and form
is so universal and lovely. I enjoy that you
can touch the heart of someone from any
culture any part of the world. Its so beautifully universal. That is very one-dimensional
but still I find it very powerful and rewarding.
I get all flushed and excited with photogra
phing flowers as I do a beautiful body. There
is probably some term for being attracted to
flowers so intensely.

Mark Sink
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Last year you had a very successful project

of the Chelsea Hotel 2009. Just recently
the news spread how the hotel is having serious financial problems. Tamasar
Arnold, manager of this cult hotel said:
It has been here for a very long time and
it has become a heaven for artists and
musicians who experienced the best moments of their creativity in this hotel.
How did you experience this news? Do
you feel that this situation is a symbolic
message sent to the art world?
I lived in the Chelsea when I first was visi

ting in the early 80s and thinking of moving
to NY. Stanley, the long time manager, used
to call me Stieglitz whenever I walked in. I
loved that.
Little did he know or care that my great
grandfather was friends with Alfred Stieglitz
and had a studio in the 1880s just a few
blocks away. That hotel is NYC to me. Like
many others, I could write a book on all the
amazing, amazing stories I have from there.
CRAZY stories, ha, ha. They know me pretty
well there still today. I reserve the balcony
room 406, I think? Last winter Hotel Chelsea
was still there, still the cheapest hotel in NY:
120 a night shared hall bathroom. But that
is all over, I think. I am surprised it didnt sell
earlier. The famous stars are moving in. Buying up floors: money talks. The owners just
gave up fighting the residents and bailed
out. The new current company will probably
get them out faster nowwho knows. I do
know a cheap room on the balcony next to
the famous Chelsea sign is no more.
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What was your idea/message of Che

lsea Hotel 2009 project? In it, you have
captured so many beautiful portraits
and nudes. Did you have any special moments with/in this hotel before the pro
ject started?
Oh no message - just for the heart not really
the head.
interview
They were my friends. Gerard DeCock lives

on the top floor on the gardens. If you ever
want a hair cut in NY go there!! He is a
friend from Denver. He brought some actor
friends that came out great - then we had
Model Mayhem visitors: that is my favorite
thing to do. Oh my God - it is so fun to have
great talent show up at your door and make
wet plates there. The floors in the rooms
are black stained wood, so dripping silver
nitrate around never was a problem (silver
nitrate stains anything black it touches forever). I will miss the Chelsea terribly when
everything goes che che and fake.

Mark Sink
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Finally, tell us something more about the

monthly gatherings Salon of artists on
the Internet and in your home.
interview
I love Salons - like my great grandfather:

dressing up a little, dinners, sitting with artists and writers: all together and solving all
the worlds problems. We always do show
and tell. That can be anything: your new
work, a book, an invention. Groups in nu
mbers can be very helpful both in self critique, and theres also power in numbers
with marketing and showing together. Ga
lleries really like a pre-curated group presented. Your have far better chance than
approaching them by yourself.

Mark Sink
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Mark Sink
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g
The Analo WabiSabi
by Denis Plei
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In this installment well continue our exploration of the

Oriental (or, more precise, Japanese) aesthetics.
authors for illustration? What happened along the way is

that I found so many interesting Japanese photographers
on Flickr and elsewhere, that I got totally sidetracked and
As a sidenote, its actually interesting how I got cornered quite intensely, if I may add. It rekindled my halfforgotten
into being the resident Japanese aesthetics guru... My ini- interest in everything Japanese, and one thing led to antial intentions for this column were to provide my personal other... with one of the uninteded consequences being that
reflections on analog (filmbased) photography and tradiI actually started learning Japanese at the local language
tional black & white photography aesthetics (sounds rather school a couple of months ago...
boring, now that I think of it, right?).
Incidentally, the editors of BLUR magazine liked my
I thought that Analog wabisabi would be a nice deramblings and the authors Ive chosen to present, and seem
scriptive and catchy title for my column in BLUR, since it
to be expecting more of the same. So, bear with me, since
encompasses my general aesthetic and philosophical oriwere on this journey together if you liked my writing and
entation, photographywise: Im a sucker for Leica lenses,
the authors Ive presented so far, be patient: theres more
Rolleiflexes, everything analog and mechanical, and an
to come. Although, I must confess that even I dont know in
ardent admirer of good bokeh.
which direction this column might go. I can only say that Im
In any case, to me Analog WabiSabi sounds a lot better positive that it will always be about analog photography.
than Photography Unplugged.
So, I started by explaining the Japanese concept of wabi
Back to our main theme: in the last installment I mensabi, and whats more natural than using the Japanese
tioned the ability I admire so much in photography: the
Fuzuki
Yuichiro
ability to reduce the visual clutter in the photo to the most

important visual element. And, speaking of visual elements,
Id venture to say that in most of these photos the subject is
only a visual stand-in for the actual emotion being rende
red. As is often the case, the Japanese aesthetics avoids
being direct, denotative and loquaciously descriptive (quite
unlike these ramblings of mine): rather, it is often connotative, understated and never assertively obvious: it works on
a gut level, and reverence of authenticity is one of its main
characteristics. Its totally Zen, if you wish: and I mean it
quite literally. Namely, Zen Buddhism is the origin of wabisabi aesthetics. Usually there are seven aesthetic principles
involved, namely: kanso (simplicity), fukinsei (asymmetry or
irregularity), yugen (profundity or suggestion instead of revelation), shibui (simple beauty), shizen (naturalness, unpretentiousness), datsuzoku (freedom from habit and formula)
and seijaku (tranquility). Youll hopefully recognize most of
those in the works of the authors presented here.
Miki*
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On the other hand, something has been nagging me

about this: its not fair to present all of these authors as a
group, or to characterise them only as being Japanese,
or belonging to wabi-sabi aesthetics, or as using analog
cameras. Each of these authors is special in his/her own
way, and each of them has his/her own themes and sensibilities. They just happen to be Japanese, and they seem
to enjoy using film-based cameras. Any categorisation
which insists only on these characteristics misses the mark
completely: it would be silly to describe someones photos
as belonging to a typical Croatian/Russian/you-name-it
photographer. So, theres no typical Japanese photography and there are no typical Japanese photographers or
typical analog photographers. Each of the authors seen
here should be taken as an individual: perhaps I am doing
them all a disservice when presenting them as examples of
Japanese aesthetics... However, I like their work - in most of
their photographs I seem to find a certain emotional impact

that echoes my own sentiments... I hope youll agree with
me that there is a certain zen-like quality which emanates
from these photos. One could stare at them for hours. So:
slow down... take a deep breath... pour yourself a cup of
tea... and enjoy...
When one of the authors from this installment asked me
why I chose her Rolleiflex photos, this is what I replied:

If you are asking why the Rollei photos in particular,
then its also an easy answer: they fit my theme (
) perfe
ctly. Your Rollei photos are exactly what I write about: there is
something inherently Japanese in some of them (at least those
on the list I sent you) - they are melancholic, romantic, gentle
and perceptive. In short, equivalent to "visual haiku" that I
wrote about in the last installment of my "Analog wabi-sabi
column in BLUR.
... your Rollei photos are very beautiful and gentle in a special
way - a special way of seeing and a special way of feeling which is something I call
": just the fact that you are
using film, and also in such an "old" camera, makes it worthwile. It takes an effort, it needs love, and a person capable of
seeing beauty in everyday things.
The same explanation is valid for most of the images presented so far.
So, there you are: please, accept my humble offering as a
lowly intermediary and let me present you the work of three
more gifted Japanese artists: Fuzuki, Yuichiro and Miki*.
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Are you a professional photogra

pher? Do you earn money with your
photography?
Im not a professional photographer. I
dont earn money with my photography.
have you been photographing?
How did you start?
Ive been photographing for about 10
years. But, Ive taken photographs seriously for last 3 years.
FUZUKI
Japan |http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzuki
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You use both digital and film cameras. Which do you like more - digital or
film - and which do you use more for
personal projects?
I prefer film definitely. And I use film
more than digital for personal projects.
What is the role of photography in
your life: is it there just to record personal moments, the family, etc., or are
you trying to make art?
The role of photography in my life is
to achieve my aim. My aim is to make
peoples hearts happy in this world through photography.It sounds impossible,
doesnt it? But, it doesnt have to be my
photos that bring beauty and hapiness
to peoples hearts. So, I would like every
photographer to take wonderful photographs.
It seems there is a certain trend in
Japan for people to use twin lens reflex or other medium format cameras
(e.g. Rolleiflex, Mamiya C330, Hasse
lblad, etc.) and color film (mostly). Do
you think the number of such photographers in Japan is increasing? Any
explanation you can offer for us outsiders? Is it a trend?
I think the number of photographers
with medium format cameras and color
film is increasing in Japan.
My explanation of the trend is that
advancement of digital camera has increased the number of photographers, but
some of them are not satisfied with the
images of digital cameras, so theyve become interested in film for the first time
or theyve returned to film again. Besides,
few digital camera have square format.
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Now, having black and white film developed by a lab in Japan is not easy.
I think its common in the world.
Are you familiar with Japanese
photography and its history, and do
you have any photographic influences
- Japanese or otherwise (i.e. the photographers whose work you admire)?
Im not familiar with Japanese photography and its history. I have some photographic influences. But they are not
professional photographers, but some
photographers I found on Flickr. :)
FUZUKI
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FUZUKI
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FUZUKI
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FUZUKI
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When and how did you start photographing?

At the beginning those were mostly
everyday photos by ordinary office
worker, taken several times a month. In
2007, under the influence of the photographers whose works I saw on the Internet, I begin doing my own photography,
for myself. In 2008 I got a Holga and 10
rolls of medium format film as a present and thus I became interested in medium
format cameras.
YU-ICHIRO
Japan |http://www.flickr.com/photos/miyano
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What does photography mean to

you?
The form/shape which we call photography and which I can see, I can
relate to others, I can express my excitement. At the same time, it is a confirmation that I live in the time in which I live.
Like some kind of a certificate for survival.
What are your plans photographywise? Exhibitions? Books?
There was an exhibition in January in
Daikanyama (a Tokyo district) named
phase 3. Currently I have no other exhibitions planned.
YU-ICHIRO
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YU-ICHIRO
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Miki* about herself:

Address: Yokohama, JAPAN
Occupation: Model and Product Designer
First camera: Canon Kiss, 35mm film
My Cameras: Rolleiflex3.5F, Pentacon
Six TL
I like to travel, and Im a backpacker.
I like to tour the countryside by train in
Europe: you can get a sense of everyday
life of the people living there in this way.
I started photographing during my
travels. I learned about Rolleiflex in a
book, and I immediately liked it very
much, and wanted one for myself. Two
lenses on the front, the lines, the classic
MIKI*
Japan |http://rollei-life.com
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face: its just beautiful. Everything about

all of them is perfect.
Alas, they are very expensive.
However, I was given one for my birthday three years ago, and it really made
me very happy. Since then its always
with me. Although its 50 years old, Im
still fascinated with it. I feel its important
that I continue to use it. With my Rolle
iflex I catch the light, the silhouette of a
person drawn by the light: I like taking
photos with the Rolleiflex.
And I like the silhouette of a smile
rather than taking the classic full-blown
portrait, which tries to reveal everything.
Because the female silhouette and
only the outline of the body is better
sometimes: it leaves a lot to the imagination. Rollei is my treasure, and Im enjo
ying the Rollei life now.
My photo-blog: http://rollei-life.com
MIKI*
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Perhaps you could also say which

photographers have influenced you
- or who are the photographers that
you like?
The first photography book that I
bought was by Elliott Erwitt.
I like his black and white world.
I like Walker Evans. I like his Many Are
Called series.
His subway portraits are great!
Maybe you could also say a few
words about your exhibition in June?
I participated in the group exhibition
in 2007, with my South Italy travel photos, for which I used another camera:
Canon Kiss. This exhibition in June will be
my first Rollei photos.
The main theme is My rollei life.
I want to express the feeling about my
lovely family, friends, and beauty of moment through my Rolleiflex photos.
MIKI*
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MIKI*
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MIKI*
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MIKI*
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MIKI*
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ARTET
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portfolio | Robert Gojevi
Timeless landscapes
Arnaud Bertrande
France | http://www.abertrande.com/
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portfolio
Arnaud Bertrande was born

in Senlis and is currently
living in Bordeaux, France.
He discovered the digital
photography late, with the
idea that he could use it as
a means of expression. Selfmade man, the directions
which he investigates are so
numerous that it would be
pointless trying to list them all.
Everything interests, attracts
and questions him. He shows
us the world which we can see
ourselves, but in a different
way, softly, full of magic and
mystery.
With his work where he uses
long exposures, he opens
doors to other worlds, where
he wanders freely and offers
us to join him in his travels.
He has the talent to wipe out
water to create new timeless
landscapes. Arnauds words are
in his photos. In them, every
spectator can find his or her
own universe.
Timeless landscapes
Arnaud Bertrande
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portfolio
Timeless landscapes
Arnaud Bertrande
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Timeless landscapes
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Timeless landscapes
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Timeless landscapes
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Timeless landscapes
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Timeless landscapes
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Timeless landscapes
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The International
Exhibition of Polaroid
photography
Photo gallery Lang,
Samobor
March 20-April 3, 2011.
the
EXHIBITION
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In early 2010. BLUR magazine launched a big international competition of analog images shoot on Polaroid film to celebrate the
success of the Dutch The Impossible Project company and to give its recognition to the spectacular comeback of Polaroid photography to the artistic scene.
At that time, we asked you to send us your favorite Polaroid photograph after which the official panel chose the top 30 works.
Through an online voting on BLUR magazine web page you have decided which 5 photos will be rewarded with rich Polaroid
prizes. Moreover, during the year, we have been presenting these 5 authors in more detail through our section Instantiation.
The International
photography
We are pleased to announce an exhibition of The Best Polaroid Photo where we will present 30 selected Polaroid photographs. The exhibition will be held between March 20-April 3, 2011., precisely on the first anniversary of the great return
of Polaroid photography. It will held in photo gallery Lang, the only gallery in Croatia specialized in photography.
We look forward to seeing you!
the
Photo gallery Lang,

Samobor
EXHIBITION
Special guest exhibitors:

MARK SINK, Denver, USA
Polaroids from the series
Famous Faces shoot in
the 80-s
JENNIFER RUMBACH,
Njemaka
INstantion
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The International
photography
Photo gallery Lang,
Samobor
the
EXHIBITION
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INstantion
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Passion for Polaroid photography
Jennifer Rumbach
I have been working with Polaroid material since 2004. Instant picture
photography has a very special and unique intimacy which I admire a lot. The
view through the viewfinder of the camera equals the view through a keyhole
to a secret forbidden area. It is kind of a game in which neither a certain
technique nor strategy play an important role. You are alone with yourself
and the motive and together you experience an intimate private adventure.
This impression is emphasized through the uniqueness of the films and the
special washed-out colorization.
My Polaroids very often deal with topics that are standing outside of
everyday life. They deal with the very rare and sacred personal moments
of the protagonists. This is why the viewer becomes the observer. This is
why the observer becomes the voyeur. Those snapshots which capture the
essence of a moment are indescribable when they are shot with an instant
picture camera at exactly the right second.
To my mind one of the greatest advantages of Polaroid photography is the
fact that the technique is reduced to the absolute minimum which brings the
motive and the topic right in the centre of attention.
This is why Polaroid is my personal passion and my chosen expression of art.
Jennifer Rumbach
GERMANY
http://blog.retina-reflections.de/
INstantion
sta tion
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the
----------------------------------------------Biography
Jennifer Rumbach lives and works as
a freelance photographer and artist in
NRW/Germany. For many years now
her passionate work is dedicated to
instant picture material. The Polaroids
of her photo reportage Ausrangiert,
ausgestorben, auferstanden (part of
famous the Impossible project) were
published in art-Magazin.
As a result of that, in early 2010 she
was shortlisted for the prestigious
Henri Nannen prize. Jennifer Rumbach
is also a test photographer at the
Impossible Project responsible for the
field tests of the new film material. She
is also a member of the Impossible
Collection, which was created referring
to the Polaroid Collection. In early
2011 she is going to publish a Polaroid
coffee table book in association with a
group (www.polacommune.net) of 5
other photographers.
Jennifer Rumbach
GERMANY
INstantion
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the
About the awarded photo

The picture was made in a field
between Aachen and Cologne in
Germany and I used an expired
SX70 Film which I found in a vintage
photo store. This is actually one of
the very last pictures which I (and
maybe anyone else) have made with
the SX70. For me the combination of
expired film and sunlight creates the
greatest mixture of colours.
The Lady on the picture is my very
good friend Celia, who wears her
mothers pregnancy dress. Due to my
experience with the material, I was
able to estimate the effects of the
expired film very well. But I was very
lucky that it worked out that well. You
never know exactly what will happen,
and for me this a one of the major
advantages of Polaroid. The surprise!
Jennifer Rumbach
GERMANY
INstantion
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the
Jennifer Rumbach
GERMANY
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Jennifer Rumbach
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Passion for Polaroid photography
I ldik O V O r O s
Art, photography, for me is one way to express the pain of the human
condition. It is this constant, the struggle, the joy of each moment and
overcoming its fleetingness, that I try to explore in my work. I use only
simple techniques; I cherish their traditions, and perpetuate them whenever
possible. Polaroid films, especially the SX-70, are an integral part of this love;
I first came across the SX-70 through a school friend, and immediately had
to borrow his field camera. Pretty soon it became obvious that from the
borrower, I became the owner, never wanting to part with it. It is often my
camera of choice for travel, and I am thus very happy that the film is now
being manufactured again.
First and foremost, I am in awe of the pictorial quality of the SX-70 film. Its
color scheme: the faded hues, the soft color palette and most importantly,
all those blue and cold tones; the film is inimitable. Polaroid images always
have a nostalgic feel for me, in a way reminding me of the childrens book
illustrations I grew up with in the early 70s, often magical, almost eerie. The
fine grain and color give an impressionistic feel, one that is perfectly in tune
with my own wistful self. Slowly, in a patient daze as the film develops, the
subject matter transcends the fragility of the film itself, and evolves into a
graceful permanence.
I also am attracted to the small, human size of the images, a stubborn
product in todays world, where everyone wants it bigger and louder. With
these Polaroids, I feel like I create a world of intimacy, imploring one to step
closer and contemplate the delicate details often missed when viewing from
afar. And that is my ultimate goal: to arrest the eye of the viewer by sharing
myself and the often-missed details in what already surrounds us.
IldikO VOrOs
Hungary/USA
http://www.ildikovoros.com
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the
----------------------------------------------Biography
Born and raised in Budapest during
the final decades of communism,
Ildikos love of hidden beauty and
ambiguous connections is instinctual,
as evidenced in her art. Having
asked a camera for her high school
graduation, she furthered her passion
in Oxford, UK, where she was first
exhibited, then during university in
Montpellier, France.
Her hunger for the larger world led
to photography school in Boston,
where she developed a technical
appreciation for the craft, without
altering her initial vision. Still, she
prefers the most basic of tools, such
as 4 x 5, 35 mm, and Polaroid SX-70
cameras.
Having survived numerous
transatlantic relocations for career
and family, she now resides in New
York City. Though she creates art
in many mediums, she favors small
compositions, preferring to focus the
attention inward.
IldikO VOrOs
Hungary/USA
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the
About the awarded photo

Titled: Liberty Bridge, Budapest, Hungary
This image was taken in an already democratic Hungary in
2002, when individual freedom and the political situation still
left something to be desired. One early summer morning
going to work, I remember the radio announcing the heavy fog
over the city, so I purposefully took the SX-70 with me. Liberty
Bridge spans the river Danube, connecting Buda with Pest, and
I used to cross it via tram every day. Its a monumental cast iron
bridge (Szabadsg hd), opened by the emperor in 1896, and
restored after the war. This is one of my favorite photos: not
only does the subject express my love for history and tradition,
depicting the stark, yet graceful lines of the bridge, but the
image is also indicative of the countrys political turmoil,
endemic corruption, and the constant struggle with avoiding
the path that has held it back for so long. With its dreary
view, the image also creates a no sense of place feeling: the
end out of sight, solitarily standing, emblematic of both the
countrys and my own wonderings: where did our hard-earned
freedom lead us, where do we belong, what is our future other
than that void?
The SX-70 film seemed like the perfect vehicle for expressing
such sentiments: its pictorial, old-fashioned feel conveys both
the grandeur and permanence of the structure, while the cool
blue colors translate the coldness and the rigidity of the iron.
Its a timeless period, a transition, the blueness of the country
and my own, strongly cast in iron, yet so fragile, continually in
passage.
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Hungary/USA
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playstick | Jennifer Henriksen
Enjoying the
romantic vignette
Gordon Stettinius
USA | http://www.eyecaramba.com
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playstick
How long have you been doing

photography, and how long with toy
cameras?
In college, at University of Virginia, I was
primarily involved with drawing and
printmaking but I took my first couple of
photography classes then as well. After
graduating, I lost my access to printmaking
facilities but soon found a darkroom that a
friend was willing to share with me. I started
experimenting with thrift store cameras
and anything I could find in yard sales, etc
sometime in 1989 or 1990. My first Diana
was loaned to me in 1990 and I discovered
the Holga shortly after that.
Enjoying the
romantic vignette
Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
What is your current favorite toy camera

and why?
I have tried a number of other plastic
cameras and a couple of homemade
cameras and I have even taught a couple
of pinhole workshops but the Diana and
Holga cameras have stuck with me for some
reason. Probably because these cameras
have been good to me and I enjoy making
the personal work with them that might be
reasonably aligned with the images I made
twenty years ago. Every once in a while, I
get a wild hair and do a small project with
a certain other camera but for the diaristic
this is my life type work, I will probably
always use these cameras.
Enjoying the
romantic vignette
Gordon Stettinius
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What are the biggest challenges you have

encountered while shooting with toy
cameras?
Mistakes. I have lost many an image to a
light leak or by cropping someones head
off or just plain underexposure but I figure
that the quirky nature of these cameras
has probably given me as many accidental
good photographs as it has taken away
from me... In the final tally, it is likely to be a
decent trade-off.
Please tell me a bit about your portfolios

where you have used toy cameras, and
why you chose to use them for certain
aspects of each project.
As I mentioned, I have used these cameras
a lot to document my life and loved ones. I
dont know that anyone will ever much care
about my diaristic work taken with the toy
cameras but I am not sure that I am making
those pictures for anyone else anyway, so
it seems to work out. I enjoy the quick and
casual nature of these cameras as it relates
to the quick and casual style of life that
we all lead. I have actually used both the
Diana and Holga commercially for editorial
portraits and CD covers and the like, but
for some reason, I just enjoy the romantic
vignette of the plastic lenses when I am
already predisposed emotionally towards
the subject.
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playstick
What inspires you to pick up your

camera?
Besides my family, I enjoy gatherings. And
in a sense, gatherings are also about
family. Collectives are often an opportunity
for like-minded individuals to relax, share,
celebrate. I like ravesand festivals and alt
culture and political rallies and nudist camps
and concerts and Halloween. Anywhere
that I suspect people are having a good
time or, in some cases, a meaningful time,
I believe there are pictures to be made. I
dont have to necessarily be inside of or
even agree with the nature of the groups
in question. It is enough that they are in it
together, and I find that interesting. Often,
it is visually interesting.
Enjoying the
romantic vignette
Gordon Stettinius
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What is the biggest creative obstacle you

have faced?
Time is a big hurdle. It is difficult to make
work and keep that going by printing
it, moving on to new things, keeping it
interesting and at the same time continuing
to promote the work, trying to locate
new gallery opportunities or exhibition
venues which might have an interest in
various projects. Like most photographers,
it seems a pretty easy undertaking for
me to be interested in the making of
photographs, having a dedication to the
medium and personal discovery. The
trick is simultaneously identifying
opportunities for the work. If you are a
capable artist, opportunities do exist but
the effort to find those opportunities can
be exhausting. Some photographers get
trapped by this and spend more time
marketing and promoting that one series
than they do in considering what else they
could be doing. But if it is a business, it has
to be treated as one. Either that or an artist
needs a champion, someone to promote
the work for them. Coincidentally, I am
accepting proposals for a champion if any
energetic and amazingly connected photo
champion should happen to be reading
this...
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playstick
One creative person you admire:

For this particular moment,I am going to
go with Roger Ballen. I always feel like the
perpetual barroom conversation between
irascible half-basted photographers
everywhere about which contemporary
artist would definitely kick Batmans ass
forgets to mention this incredibly creative
and vaguely twisted artist.
What subjects really speak to you?

I enjoy people. I often am engaged in
some kind of formal portraiture but more
often the thing that gets me going is
environmental portraiture where reality can
be tweaked just a little bit. I like to think
that I am basically an honest photographer
but every now and then it does seem a good
idea to art direct a shot a little bit. Street
photography can be a lot of fun too but you
really have to apply yourself when roaming
the streets as the decisive moment, it turns
out,is also pretty elusive.
Enjoying the
romantic vignette
Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Do you have any words of advice to

those interested in shooting with plastic
cameras?
Patience is a virtue. That and industry. It
takes several rolls of film through any given
camera to get what its merits are, as well
as its handicaps. I dont use the Holga or
Diana camera in every situation. Between
them though, I think I could use one or the
other of them in most situations. I prefer
the Diana for some subjects, usually people,
in broad daylight. The Holga is often better
for information oriented images or images
which require a flash or external light
sources. Pinhole cameras have dynamic
potential but they can be frustrating
also. So, in the end, the best piece of advice
is also utterly common... forgive yourself,
get over it, and put another roll of film in the
camera, then go and find whatever it is that
gets you going.
Enjoying the
romantic vignette
Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
romantic vignette
Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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playstick
Enjoying the
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Gordon Stettinius
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project | Tomislav Mari
ICELAND
Mario Romuli
Croatia | http://www.romulic.com/
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Note: All shown photos are taken from the air, although sometimes you might get the
feeling youre looking at a macro image.
project
Weve all heard of Iceland, but few of us have ventured there. Iceland is a land of volcanoes,
geysers, glaciers, rivers, waterfalls, caves, unique landscapes, small cities, old farms, and a
distinctively rich array of wildlife as well as peculiar and distinctive people.
Its far away, its expensive However, we have far too little first-hand information on this
place.
Saa Poldan and Mario Romuli visited Iceland with a last-minute cancellation from Draen
Stoji. Mario, an experienced photographer and cameraman for Croatian Television and
RTL, spent more than six months photographing tourist sites and natural beauty along
the Croatian islands and coastline with his partner Draen Stoji. Nice jobs such as these
can bore the hell out of a man, so they decided to take a break from the everyday and
take a relaxing holiday. So where do photographers go to vacation? Well, they load up
their gear and go wherever they can photograph in peace. Prime candidates would be
safjrur or xnadalur. One might definitely consider both Mvatn & Dettifoss or Akureyri
& Eyjafjrur, although my personal favorite has got to be Kirkjubjarklaustur. Imagine a
client calling you up and asking when youll be available for the next photo shoot: Im in
Kirkjubjarklaustur; contact me next month.
Lets move on to some facts. Yes, everything is expensive. Very expensive. Pack a lot of cash.
The hotels are extremely pricey, with less than luxurious rooms costing hundreds of euro
per night. The most interesting locations are without hotel accommodations altogether,
but they offer plenty of fun for the camping enthusiast. This will set you back 10 to 20
per night, depending on location, but no one will bother you too much if you put up a tent
outside a camp site.
Renting an all-terrain vehicle is a good bet, considering only the main roads are suitable for
regular automobiles anything worth your attention requires exploration of side roads or
even some off-road action. The bad news a 4x4 will set you back at least a thousand euro
for a week. If you have your own vehicle, you can save some cash getting to Iceland via
ferry, but ask around for seasonal ferry discounts beforehand. Hiring a professional driver
with a specialized all-terrain vehicle can get you closer to hard-to-reach locations for 1000
to 1200 , whereas a panoramic airplane flight will cost as little as 110 . But watch out, it
could be a trap! After seeing all those spectacular locations from far above, youre likely to
spend a fortune trying to get there by land to actually take the photo. ;-)
The trip is best planned for the summer solstice around June 21st. During this time of the
year, tourist numbers are tolerable and the arctic Sun is relatively low. Even at its zenith,
its suitable for photographing landscapes, with 24 hours of daylight and the Golden Hour
stretched across a six-hour period (from 9 pm to midnight and from 3 am to 6 am). To put it
simply, thats a hell of a lot of time to take a good photo.
Summing it all up, all you need is a lot of cash and a good attitude: everything else
is there waiting for you. Beautiful landscapes are popping into your view every few
minutes breathtaking landscapes, filled with color and texture, as is clearly visible on the
accompanying photos. Although a photographer is best rewarded during the summer
solstice, dont dismiss the other seasons Iceland is always beautiful and holds new
surprises all year round.
ICELAND
Mario Romuli
Croatia | http://www.romulic.com/
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I browsed through...
A personal review by Tomislav Mari

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Mario Testino
MaRIO DE JANEIRO Testino
Its interesting how things complete and entangle each other, be it in real
life or in the world of book reviews. :-)
Both Mario Testino and Sebastio Salgado were born in South America
(Mario in Peru, Sebastio in Brazil). Both studied economics, lived in London
and did charity work (Mario concerned himself with children suffering from
cancer and AIDS, whereas Sebastio dedicated himself to the starved and
deprived of their rights). After the initial similarities, however, everything else
turns into complete opposites. Mario became interested in the world of fa
shion, whereas Sebastio dove into photo reporting infused by strong social
themes. Mario dyed his hair pink in high school, attracting attention from an
early age. Sebastio hid from the military regime due to his left-wing political
views. Both are great, famous and acknowledged artists, although Sebastio
impresses with his timeless principles and devotion hes an inspiration. But
enough about Sebastio - were entering the realm of Mario.
Rio de Janeiro is a book -slash- tourist postcard from an artist truly in awe
of the carioca way of life. The culture of naked bodies, beaches, tiny bathing suites (thongs, if we must name them), sexual freedoms, open lust all
recorded in the manner of candid camera, voyeuristically, combined with
breathtaking panoramas of the city bathed in sunset or even helicopter aerials. The main star of the story is played by the supermodel Gisele Bndchen
(whos even done her homework an essay on the theme), shot in some
pretty explicit scenes. After Sebastio, this is an easy, care-free read that
doesnt demand of you existentialistic contemplation, but rather directs your
thoughts to summer, vacation and blissful emptiness.
Perhaps these two books, seemingly completely incompatible, are meant to be read together. One can bring you down, the other back up, taking
you frolicking at the beach, catching up with Mario (a far more effortless of
a task). Therefore get both of them. But if youre short on cash, Africa is a
favorite.
http://www.mariotestino.com/
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Sebastio Salgado Africa

A big book by a big author, art in the true sense of the word. I think it would be difficult to find anyone
who could say otherwise; rare are the things that provoke unanimity, and this is surely one of them. The
Brazilian photographer Sebastio Salgado is one of the greatest living photo reporters of our time. He
dedicated his life to the fates of little men; subordinated, starved, afraid; at the very brink of survival.
I dont want anyone to appreciate the light or the palette of tones. I want my pictures* to inform, to
provoke discussion and to raise money. Sebastiao Salgado
(*note from author: yes, his photographs do contain that quality that erases the border between a photo
and a painting)
In this case, the fundraising is intended for the people from his pictures. Allow me to share another of
his quotes, as I believe it best describes his life motto: I believe that the average person can help a lot, not
by giving material goods but by participating, by being part of the discussion, by being truly concerned
about what is going on in the world.
Or more precisely, this sentence describes his life.
Whenever possible, Sebastio Salgado spends his time living with the people he photographs. He
spends time talking to them about their lives with genuine interest in their stories. The photograph produced at that moment is just the tip of the ice berg visible to the observer. The rest is forever inscribed
in the soul of the author, making it so noble and selfless. Confronting Salgados photos is a life changing
experience.
The book is comprised from three sections. The first deals with the south of the African continent:
Mozambique, Malawi, Angola, Zimbabwe, The South African Republic and Namibia. The second section
is dedicated to the region of the Great Lakes: Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
The third finishes off with the sub-Saharan region: Burkina Faso, Mali, Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Mauritania,
Senegal and Ethiopia. The text was written by a fabous Mozambique novelist Mia Couto, who touched
upon the effects of colonization and the economic and social crises. The book was co-edited by Salgados
wife, Llia Deluiz Wanick.
http://www.sebastiaosalgado.com/
Salgado was born in 1944 in Aimores, a small eastern town in Brazil, as the sixth child of a rancher. He
earned his masters degree in economics at the University of So Paulo. Being a left-wing activist, he fled
to France from the military authorities in 1969. He earned his doctorate in Paris, after which he moved
to London in 1971, where he began work for the International Coffee Organization. This job brought
him to Africa, where he first started seriously taking photographs. After returning to London in 1973 he
decided to fully devote himself to photography. In 1974 he began work for the Sygma photo agency,
then the Paris-based Gamma and finally for Magnum Photos, where he spent the following 15 years. We
remember him by his photos of gold diggers from the muddy mines of Brazil, oil workers operating the
wells in Kuwait and the heart wrenching depictions of the Rwanda refugees after the first Gulf War. Llia
and Sebastio formed their company Amazonas Images in 1994, driven by the desire to work on topics
they considered to be interesting and of public interest. Sebastio Salgado is the Goodwill Ambassador
with the UNICEF, an honorary member of the US Academy of Arts & Sciences and has received several
honorary doctorates by various universities.
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Browse throgh this photo book at your home!
BLUR gives away a book of photograps by a prominent Croatian advertising photographer, eljko Koprolec. The book
could be yours if you are the first one to answer this question:
In which year was BLUR magazine founded?
Send your answer to info@blur-magazine.com with the subject Advertising photography. With your answer, please
indicate your full name and family name and the country where you come from. You can submit your answers by May 30,
2011, at the latest. We will announce the lucky winner in the next issue of BLUR magazine and contact him/her
personally by e-mail.
This book is provided courtesy of eljko Koprolec who is also enabling free shipment to any country of the world.
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
In the contemporary world without words, the world of

pictures starts to dominate by creating a different reality
from the one we are used to. Is that reality better or more
beautiful from the real one lets forget about that for a
moment. What we can be sure about is the fact that this
new reality almost fully penetrates into all aspects of human activity. Scenes, costumes and transformations of all
kinds are the main ace cards of our new surroundings.
Photography, besides film and video, plays an important
role in that transformation. Although many photographs
began their lives as very truthful representations of real life
(some theories, though, question even that characteristic
of photography), today, with all the computer technology
at our disposal, we can say that photography is shaping the
world much more than representing it. The question that
arises from this notion is the following: what is the main
role of a contemporary photographer? Have computer
programs and all the possibilities of processing the photographs, or almost totally changing the pictures even in
the phase of taking the photo annulled the photographers
skill? Its very difficult to give an unambiguous answer to
that question. We must, before anything else, be aware of
the fact that there are many very strict photography spe-
cialties, out of which every one has its own very strict limits
and as such places a lot of demands upon a photographer.
Digital technique of snap shooting has put the technical
skill of taking photos on the back burner, but it intensified
some other, almost scenic skills. The contemporary photography demands certain skills such as the skill of artificial
lighting, the skill of preparing the scene, aesthetic and
style sensibility, and many other skills in order to perform a
successful job. The work of eljko Koprolec from Zagreb,
Croatia is an ideal example for the analyses of the above
mentioned skills. He began, hypothetically speaking, as a
fashion photographer; in the eighties he became famous
for his photographs of the well known entertainers of that
time, thus creating the first local celebrity and entertainment scene on the pages of domestic magazines and reviews, together with his fellow photographers. That romantic period demanded from a photographer to build his own
style, which meant that he had to deal with the vanities
of certain celebrities of that time. He often had to be a set
designer and fashion stylist at the same time, what automatically gave him the role of a certain trendsetter. Thats
where his photographic skills came out, showing that his
talent was far beyond technical photographic procedures.
The development of the local market and the appearance

of foreign companies and products inspired the development of advertising and marketing industry as recognizable
and highly profiled branches of business.
Thats why non-alcoholic drinks, furniture and other
popular products became very common motives in the
photographic studios. Every photographer had to make a
product look attractive, although it maybe wasnt attractive at all in reality. The world of advertising was a new big
challenge for all the photographers. One group of products was extremely sensitive and demanding to work with,
and it still is, to this very day, and that is the group of food
industry products. It was very demanding to take the good
photos of the food; it was a real challenge and demanded
an exquisite skill of a photographer, from the preparation
of the products to the very procedure of taking photos. Its
therefore totally understandable that very small number of
local photographers specialized in that field of commercial
photography. Koprolec seems to show his greatest photographic and stylistic excellence precisely in that field of
photography. With refined sensibility for the visual, in composition as well as in the colorism or recognition of light
values of a certain object and composition, he takes the
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photos of glass and liquid with the same skill, and his virtuosity can equally be found
on his photos of fresh seashell or the ones on which we can clearly see a drop of olive
oil on a juicy leaf of a fresh green salad. As a refined stylist eljko Koprolec chooses his
objects very carefully, he studies their visual values and if necessary adds certain props
and adjusts light in order to accentuate the best characteristics of the object. I had the
privilege of working with Koprolec on several projects. The patience and carefulness
with which he creates the photographic scene, taking care of every detail are really
incredible. After all, his excellence can be seen in only a quick view of his photographs.
The banality of a glass of beer or milk, the prosaicness of a slice of smoked ham or a tomato in eljkos interpretation turn into real aesthetic experience. The ability to reveal
and accentuate the tactile and light values of the object surface can be found on his
every photo which proves his excellent photographic sensibility that elevates his work
high above the usual technically perfect photograph. His still life photos are perfectly
composed as far as style and aesthetics are concerned. eljko Koprolec managed to
add aesthetics to the applied photography which places his work in the field where the
applied and the artistic intertwine.
Ivan Doroghy | Translated by Elia Pekica Pagon
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NEWSLETTER
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
project submission
As we already explained in Gallery 24, the aim of this magazine is to provide space for all those amazing
and special photographs, without insisting on certain techniques, tools, instruments or topics. In case
you produced a thematically connected series of photographs, submit your whole photo project!
How? This is very simple:
1. Write some info about your project: where it was taken, what inspired you, what the idea behind was,
which message you are trying to get across and how many photographs there are in your project.
2. Send us your URL where the whole project can be seen.
3. If your project is selected, you will be contacted and asked to provide further detailed information
about the project and yourself (brief biography).
http://www.blur-magazine.com/submission/project-submission/
Which projects do we prefer?

A photo project can be submitted by an author who
plans and evolves; such approach is characteristicof
professionals. We are talking about a photographer
who is no longer an amateur, who no longer explores
without control and who manages to crystallize his/her
ambitions.
This probably happens in the moment when we critically observe all of our photographs and find out that
our gallery isnt very homogeneous. We usually face this
when creating our own web photo gallery and when we
get stuck with how to divide links and themes. Dozens
of our successful photographs suddenly seem as a work

of a bunch of different authors. In other words, this is
when we notice lack of our individual signature.
After this revealing moment of truth, we start to think
and photograph differently. Endless clicking stops and
there are no more numerous photographs of every si
ngle motive that seems nice and interesting. Hunting
time starts. Goal - predefined theme.
Therefore, a project you submit needs to have same
artistic values as those described in Gallery 24. More-
over, they have to be somehow connected, parts of a

meaningful whole. Although we always publish each
photo on a separate page in order to observe and admi
re it easily, it is expected that all these photographs are
compatible either according to style, theme or a certain
story. Furthermore, we expect to find out something
additional about the author himself/herself through
his/her work, something we cannot read in the biography. When it comes to choosing a theme, we dont wish
to set any limits. What we value most is a project somehow visualizing and communicating authors opinion
on the chosen theme.
Robert, selector of Gallery 24
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
The Kung-fu
Photography Course
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Are you looking for a great

digital photography course?
Are you interested in what makes a camera tick? Would you like to try out different styles of
photography? Are you interested in mastering some tricks for achieving better-looking photos?
And would you like to have your work critiqued by professionals with helpful advice?
You dont have to look very far; Foto-teaj offers a solution with
its Basic Digital Photography Course. Its a dynamic and practical
course held in downtown Zagreb. Over a period of two months
youll master the theoretical basics of digital photography and
enjoy numerous studio workshops that will provide different
aspects of photography for you to explore. Needless to say, youll
be under constant professional guidance from photographers
with years of experience in many different photography styles.
Foto-teaj courses are run by the Omnibus association (www.
omnibusww.com), founded by three professional photographers
from the Blue studio agency, which has years of experience
collaborating with Croatian ad agencies. Most lectures talking
to will be with Jadranko Begi (known as Stripy), who is also the
head of the Omnibus associations Educational Centre.
Stripy has been dedicated to photography since elementary
school when he converted his bedroom into a darkroom. During
a time when digital photography was the stuff of science fiction,
Stripy honed his skills in analogue techniques, working in
numerous photo studios in Zagreb as a photographer and lab
technician. With the advent of digital photography, he replaced
his chemicals with a computer and studied graphic design. Two
years ago, together with a group of enthusiasts, he launched
the famous Cahayabox portal aimed at selfless spreading of
photography knowledge and experience.
Youll love Stripy as a lecturer because of his simple and
accessible way of teaching, no matter how complicated
the material at hand, and his patience with your questions,
urging you to repeat them over and over until you completely
Photo composition workshop

Photo by: Josip Vuak
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
understand. Whenever you have that a-ha! moment, Stripy

will yell out Kung-fu! a trademark of the entire course that is
contagious once the students finally realize how much control
they have over their cameras.
Along with Stripy, two more lecturers will constantly be at your
service Sinia Utulica and Igor eler. Sinias photography story
starts with the deal of his life in high school, he traded a case
of beer for his first camera, and he hasnt taken his finger from
the shutter release since. Over the years hes done pretty much
every job related to photography, from being a photography
equipment salesman, to working and assisting in numerous
traditional photography labs, to finally taking up professional
advertising photography. Lately, he has turned to art
photography as well, mostly intrigued by faraway lands like India
or Nepal. Hes currently the vice president of the photography
section of ULUPUH (the Croatian Association of Artists of the
Applied Visual Arts).
Igor, also a photographer by trade and the secretary of the
Omnibus association, honed his skills on Olivier Toscanis
seminars. Hes also a member of the ULUPUH association.
Without a doubt, the amount of knowledge and experience
among these three lecturers is vast as is their accessibility to all
students. Once you start the course, youll be especially amazed
by the selflessness of this trio in conveying as much knowledge
as possible, much more than you would usually find in a single
book, including tricks of the trade that many photographers
would be reluctant to reveal. Theyre proving this over and
over by constantly updating their courses. Beginning in 2011,
theyre introducing guest lecturers, renowned professional
photographers specialized in particular avenues of photography
who will give you first-hand input on some of the intricacies
involved in their line of work. For example, Tomislav Dolenec will
hold lectures on fashion photography backed by his experience
in working with magazines such as Playboy, Klik, FHM, Story,
Globus, and Gala Style. If you need advice on taking good
advertising photos, youll be under the guidance of Tomislav
Mari, the president of the Artist Advisory Board of ULUPUH and
a photographer specializing in studio product photography. (His
list of clients is truly never-ending: T-Com, T-Mobile, Heineken,
Zagrebaka Banka, Tetra-pack, Juicy, Stella Artois, Coca Cola,
LOreal, Tuborg, Carlsberg, Raiffeisen Bank, Hypo Bank, Ledo,
Pepsi, Hyundai, Ferrero, Jacobs, KitKat just to name a few).
Studying directly from these kung-fu masters is the best possible
way for any amateur photographer to learn, and it is one of the
biggest strengths of this course.
Studying directly from these kung-fu masters is the best possible way for any amateur
photographer to learn, and it is one of the biggest strengths of this course.
If you currently dont own your own DSLR camera, dont worry. Foto-teaj has enough
top-shelf brand equipment to go around, along with different kinds of lenses - from
macro to telephoto - as well as a wide range of accessories flashes, studio lighting,
filters, and other gadgets. The entire course is held in a spacious and newly renovated
photography studio that quickly transforms from a classroom to a workshop, depending
on the needs of the course.
Photo composition workshop

Photo by: Iva Vlastelica
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
If you currently dont own your own DSLR camera, dont worry.
Foto-teaj has enough top-shelf brand equipment to go
around, along with different kinds of lenses - from macro to
telephoto - as well as a wide range of accessories flashes, studio
lighting, filters, and other gadgets. The entire course is held in a
spacious and newly renovated photography studio that quickly
transforms from a classroom to a workshop, depending on the
needs of the course.
The Basic Digital Photography course lasts for two months (four
hours per week) and consists of two major parts. The first is mostly
theoretical, where Stripy, Sinia, and Igor get the students more
comfortable with the history and development of photography,
the mechanical principles of cameras and lenses, technical
aspects of the trade, compositional and aesthetic principles,
and working with flashes and studio lighting. The theoretical
knowledge is applied during studio workshops in which students
are challenged to take technically sound photographs as well as
create an aesthetically and compositionally pleasing photo with
only a handful of studio tools. Sounds tough? Dont worry, the
lecturers say theyre constantly amazed by the creative solutions
students come up with.
The Basic Digital Photography course lasts for two months (four hours per week) and
consists of two major parts. The first is mostly theoretical, where Stripy, Sinia, and Igor
get the students more comfortable with the history and development of photography,
the mechanical principles of cameras and lenses, technical aspects of the trade,
compositional and aesthetic principles, and working with flashes and studio lighting.
The theoretical knowledge is applied during studio workshops in which students are
challenged to take technically sound photographs as well as create an aesthetically and
compositionally pleasing photo with only a handful of studio tools.
The second part of the course is practical, with each class dedicated
to a particular kind of photography. These workshops give
students concrete tasks, and the resulting photos are projected
onto a big screen for all lecturers and students to comment on.
The classes start with portrait photography, concentrating on
the use of different lenses and types of studio lighting. Then you
go on to macro photography, where students aim special macro
lenses at 2 cm tall toy soldiers with the task of creating the effect
of a real-life battlefield. The third workshop demonstrates various
tricks and techniques to produce fantastic special effects such
as capturing a high-speed still of an ice cube falling into a glass
of water. Further, the students will master product photography
with the challenge of shooting silvered bottles without getting
any reflections of their cameras in the glass. When it comes to
fashion photography, the students will work on putting a model
on the cover of Vogue. Last, but not least, the final workshop will
teach you how to take sophisticated, artistic nude photos. The
closing lecture then tops everything off by teaching the students
some basic photo manipulation and post-processing techniques
to bring the best out of their digital artwork.
After youve passed all the stages of the Basic Digital Photography
course, youll have great general insight into different aspects
Macro photography workshop

Photo by: Dario Novosel
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
of photography. Should you find any of the explored avenues

particularly appealing, Foto-teaj can offer you further instruction
in the chosen field through individual courses and practical
experience. For example, if youd like to go into advertising/
product photography, the Foto-teaj trio will take you under their
wing and work intensively with you in the studio to help you
create a representative first portfolio, get business contacts, and
complete several real-life jobs for paying clients. The same is true
for fashion or wedding photography, but the guys from Foto-teaj
will be able to accommodate even special requests you may have
and find a suitable solution. Also, you can take additional courses
such as Advanced Digital Photography, Photoshop, or a Make-up
course, all held in the same studio.
All in all, the Basic Digital Photography course enables you to
spend two months exploring different aspects of photography
by using equipment you probably dont (yet!) own in a spacious
and well-equipped studio, with feedback from top professionals
youd probably never find at the same place at once and all
without the burden of to carrying your schoolwork home.
Its a truly great and all-encompassing course, and we hope
enough has been said to motivate you to get into high gear with
your DSLR camera.
After youve passed all the stages of the Basic Digital Photography course, youll have great
general insight into different aspects of photography. Should you find any of the explored
avenues particularly appealing, Foto-teaj can offer you further instruction in the chosen
field through individual courses and practical experience. For example, if youd like to go into
advertising/product photography, the Foto-teaj trio will take you under their wing and work
intensively with you in the studio to help you create a representative first portfolio, get business
contacts, and complete several real-life jobs for paying clients. The same is true for fashion or
wedding photography, but the guys from Foto-teaj will be able to accommodate even special
requests you may have and find a suitable solution.
More info (do you really need more?!) on

http://www.foto-tecaj.com
Nude photography workshop

Photo by: Sinia Predavac
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Macro photography workshop

Photo by: Dario Novosel
Special effects workshop

Photo by: Saa Majstorovi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Stripy and Sinisa, course lecturers

Photo by: Saa Majstorovi
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Become BLURs Ambassador and win a free photography course

For some time now you have been thinking of doing a photography course but you have kept delaying it due to financial
reasons or lack of time? Or you were not sure which course would suit your needs the best?
BLUR offers you the opportunity to attend an excellent Basic Digital Photography course at
Foto-teaj conducted by photo association Omnibus from Zagreb, completely free of charge.
To win this amazing prize, you would need to assure us how you are the best Ambassador
of BLUR magazine. All you need to do is to follow these three simple steps:
1. Invite your friends to check out the new issue of BLUR at www.blur-magazine.com
2. Ask them to fill out this short questionnaire
3. Instruct them to put your name in the blank field BLURs Ambassador
The person who gathers the most votes will become BLURs Ambassador and win the Basic Digital Photography course in the value of 2.400,00 HRK, courtesy of Omnibus association.
Remember, the more friends you invite to check out BLUR magazine, the greater the opportunity to win this amazing award. You can invite as many friends you want, but each of them
can vote only once.
The contest is open until midnight on May 20th, 2011. The results will be announced in the next issue of BLUR in June 2011.
Please note: Basic Digital Photography course is possible to attend only in Zagreb, Croatia. Winner of the contest has to arrange the starting date of course directly with Foto-teaj
depending on place availability. BLUR magazine will provide Foto-teaj with information about the course winner and inform the winner whom to contact to peruse the prize.
OPEN THE QUESTIONNAIRE!
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
PUNI KRUG (FULL CIRCLE) is a program of rounded support of Croatian photographers, initiated by BLUR magazine in cooperation with cinema Europa. The goal of the
project was to present the Croatian photographers of outstanding quality, but who are
not, in our opinion, visible enough in public, and to provide them with paid-for exhibition at the Zagreb city center, in order to support the development of the local photography and cultural scene.
The rounded support which FULL CIRCLE provided included the exhibition space on
attractive location, printing, foamcore matting, transport and hanging the photos, but
also the media exposure.
In February this year we exhibited the works of Mario Leko (you can read more about
him on the following page), which will complete the FULL CIRCLE, since Mario is the last
author to be presented within this program. FULL CIRCLE was initiated exactly a year
ago with the exhibition of Jelena Bali, thus enabling a free exhibition at the center of
Zagreb to eight authors, including David Mihoci, Biserko Ferek, Maja Joki, Tomislav
Moe, Aleksandar Nedi Uzengia and Dalibor Talaji, with those already mentioned.
The project has been accomplished with the generous support of cinema Europa,
which provided the exhibition space, and Prizma d.o.o., distributor of photo equipment,
who covered the full costs of printing of photos at special prices, as provided by the
print studio Borovac&Bence. The media partners PlanB and web portals Fotografija.hr
presented each of the chosen authors in detail, and other specialized photo magazines,
like Fotomag, supported the project. We would like to thank everyone who supported
the FULL CIRCLE project.
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
PUNI KRUG
Mario Leko
http://www.flickr.com/people/mariol/
Mario Leko was born in 1982 in Split. After graduating from the School of Visual
Arts, he continued his education at the Textile Technology Faculty in Zagreb, majoring
in Fashion Design. Costume designer by profession, Leko had his first encounters with
stage productions at the Youth Drama studio at the City Theatre in Split. He assisted
the well-known costume designers, and in parallel did his own costume designs since
2006. He has been doing photography (only analog, film-based) for several years, and
his works were published in several Internet-based publications and in printed media.
Lekos photos are immediately recognizable due to their strong emotional charge and
the feeling of nostalgia they invoke in the viewer. This atmosphere is largely influenced
by the analog photography technique, but also by the motives themselves, i.e. the ca
ptured moments, inspired by the stage and the movies, enabling Leko to merge his
two worlds stage and photography. This exhibition will thus be a premiere showing of
the photos from the movie set of Lea i Darija, directed by Branko Ivanda, a movie which
will premiere in cinemas in the summer of 2011. Mario Leko has already exhibited on
group and individual shows in Croatia, France and Bulgaria. He is one of the artists of the
traveling exhibition Culture Matters: UNESCO localities in Southeastern Europe, where
in his photos he presented the cultural heritage of Split, Trogir and ibenik. He has been
a member of ULUPUH for costume design since 2010.
BLUR MAGAZINE
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
BLUR MAGAZINE 21
Lets keep
in touch
www.blur.magazine
BLUR MAGAZINE 21

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BLUR MAGAZINE 21

photo: Riccardo Giordano

photo: Ione Rucquoi

lur magazine is project

Photography association CREATUS

to the already well-known colleagues from Croatia,

Given the aim of focusing more on the infinite

cultural scene is in a difficult stage and our statistics

Beside the thirty authors who won our last years

Robert Gojevi, editor in chief

PORTFOLIO | Franjo Bahovec

MEET THE... FEP

INTERVIEW | Frank Sirona

PROJECT | Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

INTERVIEW | Ione Rucquoi

WET PLATE INTERVIEW | Mark Sink

COLUMN | Denis Plei

TETRA | Arnaud Bertrande

INSTANTION | Jennifer Rumbach | Ildiko Voros

PLAYSTICK INTERVIEW | Gordon Stettinius

PROJECT | Mario Romuli

I BROWSED THROUGH I Mario Testino MaRIO de JANEIRO

WINNING GAMEI Photo book by eljko Koprolec

CONTEST I BLURS AMBASSADOR

FULL CIRCLE I Exhibition Mario Leko

IldikO VOrOs &

Send us 2 photos per issue maximum.

Send each photograph in a separate e-mail

Every photograph has to be 1,500 pixels in its wider side

Name the photograph: name-surname-photograph name.jpg

Send photographs as a .jpg file

Tribute to Frida Kahlo

Damned poets eyes

Hidden beneath the silence

Package from Chelyabinsk

Lonely camel guide

Nicole Moncayo McGuiness

Three years ago, Croatian photography became

Stories from the past

Franjo Bahovec (Samobor, 1851.-1924.)

Franjo Bahovec was a successful businessman

had the opportunity to capture different mo

family, sports and romantic moments. Because

Franjo Bahovec (Samobor 1851.- 1924.)

photographic image. All that in 3-D, no less!

interview | Tomislav Mari

How much time do you spend in the Desert Southwest?

How much time do you spend on location?

Are you traveling alone or with your wife or friends?

Do you have any particular interest in the National Parks?

What is your way of measuring the light?

What is the format of the film you use?

Which one is your favorite picture of this show?

Please would you be so kind to guide me through the rest of exhibition?

Fresh ideas for winter

project | Ivana Krnji

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable

Nacho Rojo Reclarckgable