Innholdsfortegnelse for 1/23/2024 i Amateur Photographer

‘Small but perfectly formed’ is a phrase that perfectly describes many of the subjects of this week’s cover feature. I’ve always believed that photographers are more alert than most people to the visual details of their surroundings but this applies even more so to close-up and macro shooters. The winners of this year’s Close-Up Photographer of the Year not only noticed those tiny details but captured them beautifully, and they told CUPOTY founder Tracy Calder the stories behind the photos. Also this week we look at ‘instant’ photography before Polaroid came along, and Ukraine before Russia invaded. Plus reviews of a new GoPro and a Lee Friedlander book. If you enjoy this issue why not save money by subscribing? See page 29 for details. The cover image was taken by…

Amateur Photographer once had a columnist who wrote humorously under a silly pseudonym. His account of taking an acquaintance to a drinking establishment where the walls were bedecked in Robert Mapplethorpe prints, only realising later it was a gay bar, was particularly funny (assuming it actually happened). Then there was the fabulous, acerbic columnist, Roger Hicks. He once wrote a spoof encyclopaedia account from the future about the digital ‘bubble’ in photography at the start of the millennium. Not afraid to offend, Roger recounted how he and his partner Frances, cycling in France, would cry out ‘lone tree, lone tree!’ in mockery of amateur photographers who snapped them, mistaking themselves for artists. Today the magazine’s pages are thin on humour and controversy. The editors may feel that their customers –…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Man of the moment I was sorry to read that John Heywood now finds photography boring (Inbox, 9 January). I am only slightly younger than he and can remember as a schoolboy developing and printing photographs at my local camera club on a cold Saturday afternoon. The thrill of seeing pictures being created will live with me forever. I look at some of the photos I took then and wonder how, technically, I was able to take them with pretty basic cameras. However, time moves on. Whilst it is true that technology means even toddlers can now take technically proficient photos, it’s the creative element that makes the difference and there is much to celebrate. Just look at Jo Bradford’s excellent photos which she takes on…

Bryan Evans has been a photographer for three years and lives in Aberdeen. To view more of his work, visit www.withbryan.co.uk He can be followed on Instagram @with.bryan where he currently has 80k followers AP: Tell us a little about your photography background BE: In a rather clichéd attempt to ‘find myself’ I started spending more time travelling around Scotland and Europe in 2015. I enjoyed taking photos whilst seeing new places, but for several years, it was simply with my phone. But the frustration of Covid lockdowns brought about the realisation that I had taken so much for granted right on my doorstep, and that I really enjoyed the creativity of taking photographs. But the phone itself was limiting. At the end of 2020 I bought a used Nikon…

Photo Critique This image is by one of my friends and colleagues here in Wales and is of a wild water swim in winter. The swim pictured, like many which now appear in our local rivers during the colder months, was started locally by a group in the pub talking one evening, and after 20 years has become a winter season tradition with a trip to the same pub to finish off. Wild water swimming during winter months has long been regarded as providing not only a health benefit but also a real chance for communities to join together in a moment of fun. This image is one of my favourites capturing such an event. ‘The warmth of the atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie comes through in Charity’s use of…

TRACY CALDER CUPOTY co-founder Tracy gets the entrants’ stories behind their incredible close-up images PETER DENCH The AP regular finds out more about a new book based around a small Ukrainian village HARRY BORDEN Acclaimed portrait photographer Harry looks back on a 2017 shoot with the controversial Russell Brand JESSICA MILLERDep. Online Editor The manager of our social media channels picks more great reader shots, see page 10 JOHN WADE In his regular Film Stars pages, our expert on vintage cameras looks at While-You-Wait cameras MICHAEL TOPHAM The AP regular finds out why photographer Bryan Evans loves the Sony A7R IVA…

The Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year, one of the biggest and most diverse competitions in the photography calendar, closes for entries on Sunday, 4 February. Now in its 13th year, the competition has two new categories: the Tiptree Cake Award for captures of, you’ve guessed it, cake; and the James Beard Foundation Award for images that celebrate the people behind America’s food culture. The overall competition winner gets £5,000. See pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com…

£45, Steidl, hardcover, 88 pages, ISBN: 9783958295018 To us Brits, the pickup truck is not a particularly usual sight on our roads (or at least, it isn’t where I live). But for Americans, they’re ordinary and ubiquitous. In this volume, Lee Friedlander takes a look at this mode of transport which has perhaps come to be a quintessential representation of the American people over the past century. Of course, while we might not see them so much on our own roads, our close connection with American culture means that we’re very familiar with pickups too and so a look at the cars somehow evokes a sense of familiar nostalgia. The beds, usually laid open to the elements, holding all manner of things from farm tools to spare tyres, animals or…

Apparently, Leonardo da Vinci used to get up every morning and write a list of all the things he wanted to learn that day. You’ve got to admire his drive, and the fact that he died at the ripe old age of 67 (life expectancy was around 35 back then) seems to suggest that his thirst for knowledge might have played a part in keeping him alive. While I share none of da Vinci’s polymath brilliance, I do share his desire to learn something new every day. Imagine my delight, then, when I had the joy of spending more than 20 hours chatting to a group of brilliant scientists, naturalists, journalists, writers and photographers while judging Close-up Photographer of the Year 5 (2023)! Thanks to these wonderful individuals I now…

● £299 ● gopro.com The GoPro range of action/dash cams is well established and widely emulated, and the Hero 11 Black Mini is the latest in the company’s range of more affordable ‘mini’ iterations. From the get go, it’s very easy to set up. Although my review unit didn’t have the fittings to fix to my motorbike, the base plate sticks well to a helmet via the Scotchlite pad. Operation couldn’t be simpler; once the Micro SD card is in place and the battery charged, you press a big button on top to start recording. The quality of footage is impressive. In use, HyperSmooth 5 stabilisation makes a big difference to the quality of the video recording, especially when barrelling along the UK’s bumpy road surfaces, and it’s automatically applied…

Mint Camera has revealed that its new 35mm film camera will be called the Rollei 35AF. It’s a new version of the Rollei 35, the smallest 35mm film camera on the market on release in 1966, but this time it will feature autofocus. The Rollei 35AF is expected to be released in the summer, with the price to be between $650-800. ‘Basically, Mint is risking the whole company to get this project off the ground,’ said founder Gary Ho on a blog post. See rollei35af.com…

AP picture of the week Double Vision by Maruša Uranjek Canon EOS R10, Canon RF 70-200 F4 L IS USM, 1/15sec at f/22, ISO 100 ‘Morocco has been a great source of creative inspiration for me and where I discovered my passion for ICM photography (intentional camera movement). This image was taken in a palm tree oasis in the Draa Valley. It merges ICM with double exposure to mimic palm leaves overlapping in the wind.’ Instagram: @marusauranjekphotography Outlier by Zaheer Khaled Sony Alpha 7C II, Sony FE 85mm F1.8, 1/320sec at f/1.8, ISO 6400 ‘Even on a cold winter’s rainy day, I love the warmth and atmosphere in Chinatown, London, which is so easy to get lost in. I couldn’t take my eyes off the person who stood out with…

In the summer of 2017, the Guardian Magazine’s picture editor commissioned me to shoot portraits of Russell Brand. He was then in the process of publicising a new book, Recovery, and my pictures would be used alongside an interview with him by journalist Miranda Sawyer. At the time, I was a big fan of Brand and was excited to get the chance to meet and photograph him. I hadn’t been particularly drawn to his earlier incarnation, as the host of Big Brother-related TV programmes. However, he had completely reconfigured the way he was perceived and I really liked his podcast, Under The Skin, in which he interviewed well-known guests. He came across as someone who was intelligent, engaging and loquacious, with an alternative viewpoint. Brand carefully guards his private life…