David Lynch has been responsible for haunting and intriguing images on screen (including one of the scariest moments in movie history). He was invited by Paris Photo to create a book selected from the 1000 photos shown at Paris Photo 2012. He described the process as intuitive rather than intellectual, and in the video above (which is a little slow at first) talks about how he looks at images and what they mean to him. If you’ve got a few moments, give it a listen.

The book, Paris Photo by David Lynch, is available on Amazon and published by Steidl.

Matt and I are both big fans of Stanley Kubrick, so I was especially excited to see this video montage (above) exploring centered single point perspective composition throughout the director’s oeuvre. Turn the sound up and hit that fullscreen button.

While you’re on the subject of Kubrick, here are some hi-res 2001: A Space Odyssey promotional and behind-the-scenes images from the film that I ran across recently. Here is some of Kubrick’s photojournalism from Chicago in the 40s, and here’s a post from way back that I did on attempts in film to capture a historical quality of light, including Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon.

There are similar video montages exploring other directors’ hallmarks, as well: Tarantino from below, Wes Anderson from above, Breaking Bad POV, Sounds of Aranofsky.

(via metafilter)

The video above has been making the rounds, and it’s a great insight into what it can be like as a freelancer. While you might not encounter some of the attitudes in the video as a photojournalist, if you venture into other realms of freelance photography (PR, corporate, advertising, weddings, portraiture, etc.) you’re sure to run in to this. The video is part of a campaign called Don’t Get Screwed Over, which offers tips on how not to get screwed over in your freelance business dealings. The campaign also points to Docracy, an open source legal document repository with plenty of useful forms and contracts for freelancers. As with any legal dealings, it’s best to consult a lawyer familiar with your situation and jurisdiction, but Docracy looks to be a good starting point.

And here’s a bonus video, similar to the one above, imagining what it would be like if people treated all business transactions (a drink at the bar, buying a dvd from a store, the barber) the way that vendor/client relationships often happen.

And remember: Fuck you, Pay me!

Arrivals and Departures with Jacob Aue Sobol: Episode 2 – Moscow from Leica Camera on Vimeo.

Arrivals and Departures with Jacob Aue Sobol: Episode 6 – The Final Episode from Leica Camera on Vimeo.

“In the streets I try not to make any rational decisions about what to photograph and what not. I do not have any rules. I take pictures of everything on my way: a tree, a building, a shadow, a person. Sometimes it takes me two hours to get down a street, because there are so many things to photograph and people to meet.” -Jacob Aue Sobol, Arrivals and Departures with Jacob Aue Sobol: Episode 5 – Beijing

Photography can be a solitary act; there’s the photographer and subjects and not much else. That’s why I relish it when I get the chance to see good photographers at work. I love seeing how they get into the situations that result in pictures, how they walk the streets, how they handle subjects. Videos like the ones above make me want to go out and make pictures in the same way that seeing a great band makes me want to learn to play the guitar.

Now, via the Leica blog, we have a couple videos of Jacob Aue Sobol (Magnum portfolio) at work in Russia, Mongolia, and China. He’s long been a favorite, so I’m especially excited about this. The videos are a quick glimpse, but interesting nonetheless to see what precipitates his raw and intimate imagery. The two videos are embedded above, named Part 2 and Part 6. The other parts are text and picture blog posts on the Leica blog: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

(based on a true story) – book demo from Bryan Harvey Films on Vimeo.

• There is more than one way to read this Novella
• It is analog, 3D, interactive (please handle with care)
• See map
• Behind the scenes? Theriobook.com

-from a postcard included with (based on a true story)

David Alan Harvey, of Magnum and Burn, has a new book coming out, and it looks wonderful. Called (based on a true story) There’s very little text, and the unbound pages of full-bleed pictures blend together across their folds making for visually and conceptually interesting juxtapositions and collages. Can’t wait to see this in person, but the video above gives a good preview. For a couple of bucks, you can also get a look into the making of the book here.

His three previous books, Living Proof, Cuba: Island at a Crossroad, and Divided Soul, are available on Amazon, but the few copies available of (based on a true story) at Sydney’s Head On Festival have already sold out. Hopefully more will be available soon.

(via DEVELOP Tube)

Dan Perez de la Garza has released Chimping: A Short Documentary Film About Photojournalists. It’s a brief look into the processes and philosophies of 8 photographers: Preston Gannaway, Rick Loomis, Paula Lerner (previously), Todd Maisel, Chris Usher, Angela Rowlings, Edward Greenberg, Stan Wolfson, and Rita Reed. It’s a fascinating look at how photographers from a variety of backgrounds and influences approach the job and bring back their pictures.

“We had really clear concepts of what we wanted to do in our heads. We started with my photographs for ideas and then mimicked them in the sets. Most of the sets started with almost like a ‘Roger Ballen still life’ and then we might have added in a mouth or foot or hand and then we went into them cinematically.” -Roger Ballen, speaking with Phaidon about collaborating with Die Antwoord

Longtime dvafoto favorite Roger Ballen (previously, previouslier) has collaborated with Die Antwoord again for their video “I Fink You Freeky.” It’s not the first video of theirs to feature Ballen-like imagery; their earlier “Wat Pomp” video looks straight out of Ballen’s universe, though with less polish than “I Fink You Freeky.” I still don’t know what to make of the music, but I am disappointed that their show in Boston this weekend was sold out last week when I tried to buy tickets. Maybe you can catch them soon as they tour through the US and Australia in February and March.

Make sure to read this short interview at Phaidon with Ballen about the collaboration with the band. He says they’re working on another video for Die Antwoord’s next release. I can’t wait to see more….

And if you’re curious to see another music-inspired nightmare, Aphex Twin’s Come to Daddy is an excellent example from the golden age of music videos.

[ed: from Matt: you should also check out this article from The New York Times Magazine from January, which features a Ballen photograph and a story about the band on New Year's Eve: The Brilliant Weirdness of Die Antwoord: Johannesburg’s Most Wanted. I assume the photographer in the story is Ballen himself]

Another video in the vein of Shit ___ Say…, Shtuff People Say to Photographers is the natural companion to Shit Photographers Say. This video was produced by the Outward Bound Collective. It’s geared a bit more toward wedding and portrait photographers, but if you’ve ever taken pictures in a public place, I’m sure you’ve heard half of these.

I’m surprised it took so long for this meme to get to photographers, but here it is, by Paris Visone, Tim Kennedy, Chris Sanchez, and Dan Aguirre. It’s in the vein of the original of these sorts of videos, Shit Girls Say, and the many, many derivatives. Don’t forget Shit Liz Lemon Says.

(via Photographs On the Brain)

UPDATE: Looks like there is an earlier (less funny) Shit Photographers Say video here.

“The authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn’t participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn’t cry and didn’t seem genuine.” -unnamed source from North Korea, quoted by Daily NK

I knew there was something suspicious behind all of those images and video of North Koreans mourning the death of Kim Jong Il, and now come reports that harsh punishments awaited those who didn’t mourn authentically enough. Reports state that those who did not fully and genuinely participate in the widespread organized mourning have been sent to re-education camps and labor camps.

Bear in mind, the only source for this information is a North Korea-focused newspaper in South Korea (hardly unbiased), but MSNBC and Business Insider have published similar stories. CNN reports that North Korea has denied any such punishments relating to the mourning. The CNN report says that North Korean officials “attributed the allegations [of punishments] to ‘reptile media under the control’ of a group of ‘traitors’ that it said were connected to President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea.”

As with any report from North Korea, truth is hard to mete out, and reality is likely much different from what we see.

Related news: We previously mentioned that the Associated Press planned to open a full-time bureau in North Korea. In spite of what must be a very uncertain time in the country, this week the AP finally opened its North Korea bureau. From the AP’s own coverage, “AP writers and photojournalists will also be allowed to work in North Korea on a regular basis. [...] The AP bureau will be staffed by reporter Pak Won Il and photographer Kim Kwang Hyon, both natives of North Korea who have done some reporting for AP in recent weeks on Kim’s funeral and the mass public mourning on the streets of Pyongyang. The bureau will be supervised by Korea Bureau Chief Jean H. Lee and Chief Asia Photographer David Guttenfelder, who will make frequent trips to Pyongyang to manage the office, train the local journalists and conduct their own reporting. Lee and Guttenfelder, both Americans, are longtime AP journalists with broad international experience.” It will be very interesting to watch the AP’s North Korea coverage over the coming months.