I stumbled across Dave Beckermans photography while looking for something completely different. In fact it was his definition of street photography that popped up out of google, and I think it is a pretty good read.

He has a very good eye for the seductive qualities of black and white images. As well as the blog he has a website showcasing his photography. The site could be presented a bit better, but the images are definitely worth the visit. Recently he has some nice examples experimenting with digital infrared.

©Dave Beckerman 2008

Dave Beckermans blog

I just read an interview given by Hilla Becher to the German Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin and translated by Joerg Colberg on his blog

I don't want to explain who Hilla Becher is here, but the interview is interesting, and worth reading. However I'd been reading several things this morning and the following exchange caught my attention. (Please bear in mind this is taken out of context of the whole article as it appears on Joergs site)

SZ: So then he took photos?

HB: Right. He borrowed a 35mm camera and took photos, to use them for his sketches. That's how it started, photography as the means to an end.

SZ: That sounds like the mentality of a historian or someone archiving things. Did you consider yourselves as artists at all?

HB: What is an artist? Calling yourself an artist does not make you one, that's for others to decide. It doesn't make any sense to say: I am an artist!"

The interviewer brings into question what makes an artist, and gets a bit of a rebuff. This chimed in with the other things I'd been reading, or remembering.

In E H Gombrichs "The Story of Art" he disarmingly tells us at the start that there is no such thing as art, only artists. Art is what artists do... This bears thinking about. It supposes that we do not have rules against which some artifact is judged, and then considered art, or not art. And after that, art, but not good art. Thank goodness! However it supposes that we have criteria that enable us to decide who is an "artist". And whatever they do, be it the Sistine Chapel or pissing in the street is then art. On the whole, I prefer the latter.

In either case, however, there must be some kind of panel somewhere which judges. That is what Becher is alluding to when she says "That is for others to decide". But what others? The photographer Josef Koudelka is well known for his reticence - "I just take photographs - what they mean is up to others" What they mean, and whether they are "art" is subtly different, although I would like to think that art involves meaning in some way, Does he have some kind of jury in mind? I don't think so. Who then are the arbitrators in todays world - the public, the wealthy patrons, the punters/commentators/critics? There is no objective value in "art". The loudest voices or the deepest pockets decide.

Sometimes an "artist" has a view. Picasso had been elevated to this ephemeral position at the time he commented on Bonnard's paintings, something mentioned in Michael Kimmelmans "Accidental Masterpieces". He didn't rate Bonnard, his art was outdated and couldn't stand with the progressive work characterised by his own. This was bullying, from a position of power, but also an indication of fashion - that other decider in what is "art" at any given time. Bonnard is on the up, but whether he will replace his critic is still down to "others".

Today, July 22nd, is Alexander Calder's anniversary. I've mentioned him a few times while blogging, and it was pure coincidence that I discovered this morning that today is his birth date. I've come across his sculptures several times recently in Venice, Stuttgart and here in Zürich.

Stuttgart, Königstrasse

You can see the shadow of it in Google Maps

I didn't realise that he was a third generation sculptor and that his great grandfather started it all from Aberdeen, a place that has strong connections for me.

Outside Kunsthaus, Zürich

As usual, Wikipedia provides a useful starting place for references. His antecedents names are full of Scottish resonances

Alexander Milne Calder (grandfather)

Alexander Stirling Calder (father)

This all sounds a bit like "Here's tae us, whae's like us" but when you live as an expatriate it's easy to grasp at these connections

©Jarek Orlowski

I recently discovered the photography of Jarek Orlowski, from Poland. Styles and treatment are diverse, but all the subjects address the human being in some way or another. Photographs I wish I had taken.

I like the humour in this one - or is it poignancy and absurdity? I'm attracted to photographs that shift under your gaze - like these optical illusions that turn inside out the harder you look at them.

No - I haven't succumbed to godly pretensions (yet).

I don't have a TV but I listen to quite a bit of radio. On the BBC, Melvyn Bragg's "In Our Time" featured the work of the Roman historian Tacitus. Among other things it talked about the BBC TV series "I, Claudius" from the 1970's which covers much the same ground. I remember this, and how at the time laurels were heaped upon it. I remember vaguely enjoying it mostly for the amount of poisoning and bonking that went on.

I decided to go back and revisit it, now available on DVD. The production is profoundly stage-like, with the emphasis on script and acting. So far I've only watched episodes 1 and 2 but I'm already snared.

The main point I've taken from this rediscovery is the difference that hearing the broadcast has made to my understanding. People who know Grave's books and the history will be aware that the main thrust of the stories is the struggle for Rome to survive as a monarchy as opposed to a Republic. This simple fact informs much of the action of the series, and the scales fell from my eyes. Although perhaps 35 years on the bonking and poisoning don't get in the way so much.

In my opinion, although some people will find the production dated, a worthwhile diversion from the world of reality TV and cable news.

I haven't given any links - there are many, just google I, Claudius

This blog has been going for a while now - 499 days - and it has strayed from the original intention of trying to give one persons impression of Zurich via a daily dose of photography

It's time for a change. I want to concentrate more on photography, and posting a daily photo, some of which are ok, a few of which are good, many of which are banal is diluting my efforts. This blog will continue, hopefully on a daily basis, but I'm going to amalgamate it with my other efforts (which are mainly prose rantings for anyone who hasn't looked). There will still be photographs, but mainly to illustrate topics.

I'm not sure how it's going to work out - we'll have to wait and see. Now is also a good time to thank all the people who have followed and contributed over the past 16 months or so. Keep an eye on this space, and hopefully you'll still find it worth a visit.

(Here are the stats btw)

This series is not intended as a blueprint - it's a chronicle of how I grappled with the situation. I say "grappled" but at the time of writing, I haven't started. So the series will be a diary of my efforts.

These articles assume that the reader knows about things like DNG format and XMP, and is also familiar with the current state of affairs with digital imaging software. However just ask if I'm assuming too much. In this first article I'm going to talk about my current situation and taking the first steps.

I have a lot of photographic images, digital and analogue. Some film and transparencies have yet to be scanned. Digital files exists in various formats scattered between various locations (PC's, laptops, removable media etc) Don't ask me how I got into this situation, but believe me it's easy. One of the reasons was that I postponed adopting a DAM solution until I was confident that I had nailed the various standards and criteria I needed for future use.

How do I organise the existing images, and how do I define a standard workflow for future images.

To start with I had to be clear in my mind what the goals were. Broadly they are quite simple.

1. I want a standard model for storing and naming images
2. I want to be able to find images by various criteria
3. I want to maintain original images, and to manage derived images (for web, for print etc)
4. I want the system to be largely software neutral. I do not want to be tied to any particular application such as Aperture or Lightroom or Portfolio

These 4 goals map onto the following technical areas

1. Filenames, disk and media locations
2. Metadata
3. DNG standard
4. Adoption of the first three, will hopefully result in the 4th

There will be various challenges associated with these assumptions. For example the DNG standard relates to digital RAW images – what about my scanned TIFFs? These will be discussed as I come across them and try to find solutions. Let's start by looking at my current situation. This can be split up into the following areas

• Files already stored in digital format (somewhere or other)
• Analogue material yet to be scanned
• A steady stream of new material being produced, digital and analogue

For the moment I'm going to ignore the analogue material. That can be handled as a separate, if ever increasing task later on. The first issue I need to think about is what do I do with new digital material while I am in the process of getting my archive situation organised. A chicken and egg situation, and the first decisions have to be made.

Here is my current (simplified) physical archive situation

On the desktop PC that I have used up until now for most digital photo operations I have 2 350gb disks, A and B. B is just a copy of A for some sort of disaster recovery backup as long as my PC doesn't catch fire. (I have other backups, don't worry). The files on these disks are a collection of camera RAW files and scanned TIFFs, organised into a kind of folder structure based on location/category. There is no metadata embedded in these other than EXIF capture info. I never intended this to be a cataloguing solution as such, just a simple way to locate images when I finally got round to doing it properly.

On my laptop, which is a Macbook just to complicate matters, the situation is slightly different. This collection is more recent. All the images here are camera RAW, imported and converted to DNG via Adobe Lightroom on the hard disk (C). They are stored in a folder structure organised by capture date, although this is arbitrary and is not part of my long term solution. No metadata other than EXIF capture data is stored. This disk is backed up to an external drive. I've been using Lightroom for some time, and I'm quite happy with it's image processing capabilities for importing files. It means I can use it as part of my longterm solution without committing to it for the future, as long as I embed any metadata in the files.

So I'm going to use this for importing any new RAW captures. However for new imports I want make a clean break and start organising them as I import them. For this reason I'm going to use a new location and Lightroom catalogue for all new captures as of TODAY! These new imports will have the organisational features that I need to get my archive started – metadata, naming standards etc. I don't strictly need to use a new Lightroom catalogue – it just makes it easier to keep these new fies logically separate from the old disorganised ones.

As a summary then, I am going to start organising new image captures according to some standards I have settled on. I will then gradually be bringing the rest of my archive into line. How, I don't know yet. In the next post I'm going to describe exactly how I'm importing and organising new images

Sounds like some tacky dance band compilation, but it is in fact an exhibition of photographs collected by Mark Rich and donated to the Kunsthaus in Zurich. Opinions may be divided about Mr Rich (rich, indeed) and I don't know enough about it to comment, but I liked the opportunity to see this interesting collection.

It spans the history of photography relatively evenly up until the mid 20th Century, but in a collection of 74 images, it has to be selective. There are quite a few early examples, gum bichromate prints for example which are very interesting to study physically. I liked a very early cyanotype by Anna Atkins. The "indexical sign" quality of this type of image is striking. Like a fossil, you feel that you are looking at the actual object, transported over the years, centuries in this case. Something that can be unique also to ordinary photography.

Like the Steichen exhibition of vintage prints from earlier in the year I was struck just how dull many of them are - tonally speaking. Maybe I don't have to fret so hard about my own inkjet printing endeavours. The exceptions were, naturally, a couple of Ansel Adams prints. Like my impressions of the Edinburgh exhibition, these still seduce by their pure beauty.

The most interesting examples for me were 8 or so prints from the 1930's by Herbert Bayer. These are carefully constructed photo montages, surreal and Dali-esque, that would put many latter day Photoshop-ist to shame. I searched the web for some examples, but although Bayer is well known as a typographer I couldn't find any examples of the prints in this exhibition. The one shown here is later.

All in all an interesting survey, both from the point of view of style and technical processes

A different kind of post today. This signpost is outside a primary school in Urdorf. My guess is that the signs point to the various countries represented by the pupils - a simple but probably effective way to get a sense of integration while retaining kids pride in their origins and identity.

For me this represents the positive, and successful side of Switzerlands attitude to the many foreigners who live here. Forget the vocal and visible rantings of the SVP.

I just picked up a copy of Robert Frank's "The Americans" - reissued on the 50th anniversary of the original French edition. I tried to get hold of a copy of one of the original imprints for several years, but either they were invisible or just too expensive. So I knew the book only by reputation - I don't think I had even seen more than a handful of the images, and out of context. I want to say something about this book, but not an ordinary critical review, there are plenty of those and perhaps not too much left to say about it. However for people who aren't aware of the book, here is a kind of potted history and summary of how the important points that are usually made about it.

The book is a collection of 84 images, culled from over 20,000, that Frank shot on a two year road trip across and around the US, funded by a Guggenheim scholarship. A Swiss emigre, he had previously worked in fashion and editorial photography after coming to the US. Apparently he came to US with optimism and enthusiasm, but this withered in the face of what he saw as the sell-out to money and consumerism. "The Americans" is a wide ranging, bleak statement of this disillusionment. It was not well received. In an age of perceived prosperity and well-being after WWII, the vision didn't chime in with peoples notions of what America represented. From a photographic point of view the wonky horizons, blurred images, unconventional viewpoints and compositions were just regarded as sloppy and unacceptable, Even Walker Evan's work looks like Ansel Adams in comparison. Gradually however the book came to be regarded as a pivotal moment in photography. Frank showed people what he saw, and what he thought about what he saw. It's a very partial view, it is not objective documentary stuff. When Jack Kerouac wrote the introduction to the second, US edition, he constantly invokes poetry, and that is very telling. This book conveys the authors ideas in the same way that poetry does, and in a way that prose probably cannot. Concise, powerful - in need of contemplation and reflection.

I wondered why the book is reappearing now. Maybe just a celebration, but Frank himself was involved in the artistic production, and the presentation and recropping of some of the photos, so perhaps it is the final definitive version. The directors cut. A nice conspiracy theory would be that maybe it is time for another reappraisal of America in this fashion. Although there are enough commentators doing this, they generally try and argue the points rationally. Frank shows how to present an admittedly biased view while still retaining the power of argument. It makes people think, and doesn't make them immediately reach for words like prejudiced and one-sided, as they would do with a work of prose.

This is the new one, from Steidl.

And this was the original. Frank himself decided on the jacket design. I'm not sure how significant that is. Personally I prefer this one. It has a stark look that echoes the content.

Leaving the question of the USA aside, another reason I'm interested in the reappearance is that I believe this type of photography is as valid today as it was then. All it needs is the subject, the vision, the passion. I say this in an age when every second article about the genre seems to be concerned with "photography is dead" or "photography must find a new way of doing things". I don't agree. No-one says that poetry is dead. You just need to have something to say, a way of saying it and some genius.

There are plenty of people producing this sort of personal work of course. It just doesn't seem to hit the headlines. Ever since photography was co-opted into "Art" things have changed, and commercialism started to influence what is shown and talked about. This is maybe the way of the world, but I hope that photographers today look at the example, take heart and continue to use the camera in this way, which in my view is what makes photography unique

As a footnote, it is ironic to note that there is a Flickr group called "Photos in the style of Robert Frank". Quite apart from the fact that the idea betrays a total misapprehension of what his photography is about, it certainly informs the Zeitgeist. Especially if you read the comments, although I won't force you to do this.

I'm "on holiday" at the moment, although it's a bit of a busman's holiday hence the paucity of postings and general activity

Excuse the pseudo German. This is not so much a post, more of a thought which has struck me more than once over the last few years.

At home I have a shoebox full of family memorabilia, documents, photos, letters, etc. My sisters have even more such archive material. I spoke to a blogger friend recently and we looked at his photo records of family from the last 100+ years.

My point is, what happens now? We all have a huge amount of irreplaceable family and social documents stored on our computers or on servers around the world.

Where is that shoebox now, one that future generations can leaf through? The big institutes and concerns have a plan of course, but what about us? Anyone thought about this? Made a Will recently?

* The quote comes from Bertold Brecht /Kurt Weill - "Nanna's Lied"

"Wo sind die Tränen von gestern abend?
Wo ist die Schnee vom vergangenen Jahr?"

"Where are the tears from yesterday evening?
Where are the snows of yesteryear?"

Over the next few weeks (months probably) I will be embarking on a potentially fretful and dangerous Odyssey. Organising my photo archive into some kind of manageable system. This is commonly called Digital Asset Management, and although I'm wary of industry buzzwords I guess this one will stay, so from now on it's DAM.

I'm not new to this - I realised many years ago that it was a necessary process for anyone serious about their photography in the digital age. I invested in Extensis Portfolio way back in 2000 and have investigated many other software options. So how come, 8 years (and umpty-thousand images) later, am I just getting started? One of the main reasons is that I was never satisfied with any of the software options, and as someone coming from an IT background I was aware that tying yourself into a proprietary system could be a real PITA. Since then the industry has moved on quite a bit, in particular the emergence of technologies and standards such as XMP and DNG. Although these have been the offspring of Adobe, I feel confident that they will become true open standards.

Why does this matter? I feel now that the core of the DAM process can be implemented free of any particular software or proprietary technology. This hopefully will give a permanence to any decisions I make today about cataloguing and organising my images. The bottom line? All the relevant data needed to keep track of your images is stored in the files themselves, and you only ever have one primary source for the image - the DNG file - not multiple versions hanging around all over the place.

This won't be news to a lot of people, and quite a few people will disagree with my optimism about the future of these standards. However, I need to get started on this stuff, and I'm happy with the current state of affairs. For anyone who doesn't have a clue what I'm on about, I'm going to blog about this particular journey, documenting my problems, decisions and hopefully successes over the next few weeks and months. Maybe some of that will be useful to others

For the first installment, my next blog will be about "The mess that I'm in now". Some folks might recognise the scenario.

Another guest photographer. Caroline, who featured in this entry has fallen big time for the Holga phenomenon. This is one of her shots that I particularly like. More here

This photo is from Frances, an old friend from North Yorkshire

A couple of years ago I spent a very pleasant few days in Riga. I just "rediscovered" the photos while trying to sort out my archive, so maybe I'll post a few. This is not maybe a characteristic view, but it shows the new developments that had started to make a mark on this old baltic port. No tripod, so it's bit fuzzy.

I posted a comment over on RuTDP about how photography is not just about pretty pictures in my opinion. However, just to prove that I don't practice what I preach, here is a photo that has nothing much to say, but is quite pleasing in a kind of longitudinal way

An early, cold, grey, damp morning in Düsseldorf, with nothing to do but take photos of myself with the Rhine in the background

Husband and wife team from one of my regular pubs share a private moment - well not very private with me and my camera around..

This is a bit of a trick photo, but not in the way you might think - any ideas?

I had spent Friday in Rotterdam and witnessed an orange migration heading out of town to Basel for the Netherlands-Russia Euro 08 quarter final. The Dutch have made a huge impact here - more than any other nation - both with their attractive football and festive enthusiasm. I should have gone to Basel to capture some of the excitement live, because now, unfortunately, they are going home. Actually the Russians are worthy successors for the "attractive football" mantle, and I now have them installed as my tournament favourites.

As noted elsewhere, I still have two of my favourite national anthems in the running. Russia will potentially meet Italy in the semi final, so one of them will have to go. Germany are favorites in the other semi final, so we are probably going to have a nice musical confrontation. The earnest, but still quite stirring music of Haydn up against either the panache of the Italian, or the soulful slavic emotion of Russian.

In another post I inaccurately attributed the Italian anthem to Verdi, whereas the music was composed by Marmelli, a little known student. Verdi did however use the theme in his contribution for the London International Exhibition of 1862

Like everything else in Italy, the history and status of the "official" national anthem is anything but clear cut.

Cafe Bohemia in Zurich is another of my morning haunts, but unlike Tibits and Globus I don't think I've posted a photo. It's much more of a brasserie than the other two although I like all three for different reasons. For that reason I gave the photo the "vintage" treatment like yesterdays Paris shot. It also has a free wi-fi connection so you can indulge your blogging activities till your heart's content. That said, I have to apologise for my lack of visibility in recent weeks on my favourite blogs.

I missed a few days due to other commitments, and I have to say lack of inspiration while Zurich remains a kind of alien tented village during Euro 08. It should mean good opportunities for photography as I've said before but there is not actually a huge amount of activity. So here is a familiar scene on the Seine, much photographed. There's something pleasing about the seemingly natural sweep of the barges. As if it couldn't be any other way

A bit short on new material, so here's another couple of views of the Adidas Huddle in Zurich Hauptbahnhof