lifeOlowy

Back in the saddle... Again

2009-08-19T00:24:00.000-04:00

I've always said it would happen. Long period of time and no blogging. Really no excuse other than getting overwhelmed with everything else going on in my life. I'll be a dad in 10 weeks. Which is crazy overwhelming. Preparation for parenthood is overwhelming. Afghanistan, Vegas, Haiti, and China assignments were overwhelming.
But Im so crazy excited to welcome my baby boy into the world. I welcome the change it will bring to my life, to my family, to my career. I'm scared, anxious, but excited.

I have of course been keeping up a regular iPhone photo blog over at www.benlowy.tumblr.com. I update that pretty much everyday. Hopefully I can keep this up again as I insert myself back into the NY community and gain some time to reflect on this crazy life of ours.

-- Post From My iPhone

Gestating

2009-04-21T14:08:00.001-04:00

It looks like I'm going to be a father in 6 months time. A whole new world is waiting for me. For Marvi. For our family. I'm scared shitless and can't wait. How will it change my life? Drastically I'm sure. How will it change me as a man, as a husband? I'm sitting in my run-down hotel room in Afghanistan thinking about how much I can't wait to go home, hold Marvi, and build a crib or something.

-- Post From My iPhone

Ephiphany

2009-04-19T20:43:00.001-04:00

I spent most of my days these last few weeks in the air flying between various shoots. While most people hate the travel and sitting in the middle seat, it does give you some down time. No phone, no email, just you and a book or a journal - which is what I regularly bring onto all my flights. I spent most of my last flight reading US News and Works Report photographer Jim Lo Scalzo's memoir - Evidence of my Existence. Great read, and the catalyst for an epiphany. I love photography, I love traveling. I love exploring. But I love Marvi so much more. An with all the changes coming to our family in the next few months, I want to be home. Working. But home and close by.

-- Post From My iPhone

Another Blog site

2009-04-10T10:10:00.001-04:00

www.benlowy.tumblr.com

I'm not sure how to delegate my two blogs. What I write on this one versus what I write on the Tumblr blog, but I really like both. And since I do facebook and twitter, I figure I'm just making myself more Web 2.0.

I figure I'll end up doing more rambling long diatribes against the establishment here, post images and outtakes from assignments, and inspirational links from friends. Tumblr will be more in the "now." iPhone pics, quotes I hear on the street, and small snippets of my two cents.

Good?

-- Post From My iPhone

Chicago O'hare Airport

2009-04-10T10:02:00.001-04:00

Currently on another assignment, this time to Minneapolis for Time Magazine, I realized during a layover in the Chicago airport that I've been here so much lately. Tons actually. But the fact is that I've only been "in" Chicago twice. Weird. I know where all re starbucks are in O'hare, but I don't know the first thing about downtown Chicago. Except that it's cold. And windy. It gives me pause, my career takes me so many places so often, but sometimes I just pass through, and never experience where I am. Do the job quickly, go to the venue, and that's it. No time to stop and smell the proverbial roses.

Sometimes I just want to see a place. To wander through it. Screw the camera on those days.

-- Post From My iPhone

Inspirational

2009-03-30T09:15:00.000-04:00

TRANSFORMATION by Zack Arias

Guilty Pleasure

2009-03-28T22:59:00.001-04:00

When you are really feeling down on your luck, check out this site here. Its sure to make you feel better and realize that some things could be much much worse.

Move from Vail....

2009-03-27T23:11:00.005-04:00

Some more early edits of time lapse movies from the Vail ad shoot. The lead off features the whole shoot crew prancing around an open slope overlooking a massive "bowl."

Next up - skiers!

The Abuse Debate

2009-03-27T19:24:00.002-04:00

Benjamin Chesterton makes an interesting argument. One that questions much of the ethical tightrope that social documentary photographers straddle.
Its a slippery slope, both the practice of photographing and publishing something so horrible and the notion that we should stop. Would then the image of a dying man on a road in Georgia, Gaza, Iraq, be considered wrong?
What about Eugene Smith's image from Japan of a deformed "Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath?" Is this wrong?
At what point do we as journalists, as human beings, stop photographing? Where is the line?

Back in Business

2009-03-25T00:43:00.001-04:00

Just got back to NYC after an exhausting 2 1/2 week trip to Vail, CO for a tech scout, down to Bogota, Colombia for an editorial shoot, then back to Vail for my first advertising campaign. There is lots to be said, and impressions made following my experiences in the last few weeks.
First off, The editorial gig in Colombia was for Purpose Driven, Rick Warren's new Christian themed publication from Reader's Digest. As most people know, I am not a particularly religious person, but the story was interesting (Former FARC members now Christian missionaries), the print quality of the rather thick magazine is amazing, and they have a budget for international travel. In this day and age, with magazines printing on thin paper, with hardly any ads and very few pages, this is a magazine that stands out. And while the subject matter has a particular theme, a photographer gets to experience new ideas, situations, stories, and receive a paycheck.
I was able to travel through out Bogota and a smaller northern city near FARC territory called Villavicencio. And while the photographic possibilities that accompanied the story were slim (I wasn't inclined to spend a few months as a "guest" of the rebels), I met some really interesting people - former fighters, commanders, soldiers - who "found" God and put down their weapons in favor of the Bible.
In order to make more compelling shots - beyond the stale portait of a pastor, missionary, or "hands-in-the-air-praying" image, I resorted to using, almost as a crutch - the Canon 45 Tilt Shift Lens. Amazing. I think I found my new Holga/Lensbaby/Kitch cliche tool of the moment. Had a ton of fun with it.
Though by far the most amazing thing to come out of my trip to South America was a chance to see the clouds. Flying back to Bogota from the north of the country, I must have shot 16 gigs of Cloud imagery.
They have truly amazing cloud formations. I almost felt like Stieglitz from the plane. Except with a digital camera.

After that I was back to the USofA for my first ad campaign. Stuart Hart of New Cruelty was my producer, David Holloway and Ken Cedeno for the DC crew were my stalwart assistants. I haven't had as much fun doing my job as I did last week. Climbing snow covered slopes in the freezing cold dawn, crawling through waist-deep snow, setting up four sets of cameras to shoot time lapse, stills, and video - was great fun. It was actually the opposite of stressful.
I swear I felt my hair growing back.
Almost.
I know having a stress free ad shoot in rare, having a creative director like Graham Button - a funny extroverted brit stuck in Colorado who can do imitations of Bear Grills while singing "Im Too Sexy," is even more rare.
I found myself climbing a snow swept rock face at about 11000 feet with David, Ken, and Graham - we staggered our climb, ten feet away from each other and passed up cameras, tripods, lenses, and pouches. Finally we arrived at the summit to witness one of the most spectacular Dawns I have ever seen. The fiery red tendrils of the morning sun cresting through a gap in the mountains. A layer of clouds separating the pink sky of dawn from the deep blue of the night.
Meanwhile, as I shot this, I lost most of the feeling in my gloveless had as the temperature dipped low and the wind howled and whipped against us.
All this and no bullets. No armed guards yelling at me about security risks. No managers demanding I get written approval. No bombs, no danger. No danger except from and errant snowball or stumbling skier. People were having fun, laughing, doing ski tricks, and were glad I was around. I wasn't the liability, I was the party.
I was in Vail to shoot the Vail Resort's marketing campaign and image library for next year. I could seriously get used to this sort of thing in these lean editorial times.
Below are a few outtakes - Skiers jumping off ramps in the "Terrain Park," and a time lapse of my second dawn on the roof of the Rockies. Or at least close to the roof.

Dawn on the Mountain. Sunrise that is...

2009-03-25T00:35:00.001-04:00

Ski Jumpers at the Vail "Terrain Park"

2009-03-25T00:25:00.000-04:00

POYi Judging

2009-02-19T13:46:00.002-05:00

Looking for another way to be less productive besides from DVR, Tivo, or iChat?
Try watching the live judging of Pictures of the Year....

Another Time Lapse Test

2009-02-16T17:44:00.003-05:00

This one was done at one picture a minute for hours until my camera battery quit.

Time Lapse Test

2009-02-14T00:53:00.005-05:00

Recently Ive been turned onto some amazing Tilt-shift time lapse photography by Keith Loutit. Seriously inspiring stuff. You can see it here.
So today I went out to Adorama and picked up a timer release for my camera. These are my first experiments from my apartment window.

Portrait Sequences

2009-02-10T20:32:00.002-05:00

Marvi, David H, and Ken Cedeno... My first subjects.

Photo of the Day

2009-02-10T18:18:00.002-05:00

she is watching...

Blog Roll

2009-02-10T18:08:00.001-05:00

A post and subsequent conversation on Brian Ulrich's blog has me thinking....

Interview

2009-02-10T18:05:00.002-05:00

Melissa Lyttle posted an interview of me on the APAD site.

In DC

2009-02-10T15:30:00.005-05:00

Spent the last week in DC at the White House. In fact I am still here, waiting for two last shoot appointments to get scheduled. I miss home, but I am having a blast hanging out with David, Ken and assorted friends. I totally nerded out yesterday waiting for a shoot by spending the whole day in the Apple Store. I managed to convince those Apple Genius Bar peeps to give me a new iPhone.
Ive been spending my time in DC - between my short shoots at the White House - thinking about what's next for me. What is it need to finish, to do, to accomplish.
Ive thought a lot about the current social economic crisis in the US and how I can document it. How I can, at the same time, escape the editorial grind that wears down my creativity.
I have all these ideas, in my head - books, projects, things I want to do - I just dont know when I'll actually be able to get to them all.
One step at a time I guess...

Obamaiconme

2009-01-25T21:21:00.002-05:00

In honor of Shepherd Ferry and the Obama poster

Philippines Update

2008-12-31T08:37:00.002-05:00

Just got back to Manila after a few days in Davao City. Marvi and I went to her Father's grave and cleaned his house. We also spent some time with Mama Lacar, eating lots of Filipino food, and walking around while I got stared at by everyone in the city. Its kinda of crazy how I just become the object of everyone's attention. Scary actually. Marvi got seriously self conscious considering everyone staring at me, and then her - judging her - whether she was a prositiute or something else.

Wanderings

2008-12-27T07:44:00.003-05:00

Back in SE Asia and Philippines in particular for the first time in 2 1/2 years. I really missed this part of the world. Marvi, Nana, Kat, and I didnt really go out to photograph - just wander around to a few stores and get some chow - but I shot a bunch on the iPhone for shits and giggles. I also brought my Mamiya 6 - those images wont even be developed, much less scanned - for weeks. I realize that no matter what I do, I just dont have it in me to switch to film. The discipline isnt there. Hopefully, I can find away around that. But I wasnt trying to push myself on the first day here.

Snow in NY and my 5D II

2008-12-20T02:49:00.003-05:00

Decided to go out in the snow storm today and make a little art. Get the juices flowing, and make some images for me, not for anyone else. No assignment, no personal project, no content, nothing but some pretty pictures. Plus the 5D II got a little wet weather workout.
Incidentally I ran into a woman releasing a bouquet of balloons into the East River between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Never seen that before in a snow storm.

Getting Back into IT!

2008-12-19T12:07:00.002-05:00

It - the act of blog writing. One need discipline to write a blog on a consistent basis. I unfortunately do not. I've tried to write blogs. And I fail miserably after the initial "oh, this is fun" two week interest flames out.
But here I go again.
Besides, with the depression and recession starting, I'm sure I won't have much work coming up.
Above is a pic I snagged yesterday on the 54th floor of the Chase building in Chicago.

First day shooting, and my iPhone update

2008-07-12T00:51:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my first day shooting in Sadr City, and I got totally overwhelmed by the sun, right when Friday prayers really got rolling. At least I will have another chance next week. I cant say that I was super inspired to make any pictures - especially in this heat, with an entourage of security and guides, and with every Iraqi and their mother stymied in the street to stare at me.
Though, I was thinking that to do this job, to be a photographer, you have to really like your job. I have never met a photojournalist who didn't like working, who didn't keep pushing. It really is not like being an accountant.
I also took the time - and indeed it was quite a lot of time - to download and update my iPhone. Kind of a pain in the ass to do that from Iraq. Its not like I can go to the Baghdad Apple Store if anything goes wrong.

Back in Baghdad

2008-07-10T12:15:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the delay. The last month has been a crazy whirlwind of travel, photo shoots, and less family drama. But the big news is that I'm back in Baghdad to finally finish up the New York Times Magazine piece that I put on hold when Marvi's father passed away back in March. I have a poolside little non-room and a pullout couch for a bed in the bureau. Not too bad. At least the air conditioner is powerful, the internet is slow, and there is an unlimited supply of hardboiled eggs and diet coke. The summer in Iraq feels like the inside of a huge ashtray - so I of course need to start smoking again. I arrived in the late afternoon - so I havent had a chance to experience the midday sun. That will come tomorrow when the heat will be melting me at full force during Friday prayers in Sadr City. Hopefully Ill be sprayed down with rose scented water by the little boys who walk around with those huge water tanks on their backs. At least Ill be starting this gig, which has been a long time coming - though I don't have a firm idea of what Im trying to come away with. My knee is killing me, so my excitement to get working again is somewhat dampened. The last few weeks Ive been grimacing through my shoots, not really doing the strongest work in my opinion. Ill post some of them if my internet ever manages to to get past the Google homepage.
After Memorial Day in DC, I had a productive week in NY where I almost sold my fighting story, but managed to drum up some assignments based on the project. I went to Mexico City to teach at the Foundry Workshop with Shaul Schwarz - on how to be a freelancer and make a substantial living. Lots of Tacos and Beer were consumed. A LOT. After that I was off to North Western Florida to shoot a running story for PLAY magazine, and then to Miami to shoot a project of Cuban-Americans for the NYTmag. Then it was back to NY to shoot the Union Square semi-homeless-man fight club. Interesting stuff, doesn't necessarily jive with my MMA project yet, but tt could work down the road. And last week I headed to amazingly stunning Sundance Utah to shoot a ritzy rehab clinic where celebrities and rich folk go to shed their addictions. $80,000 for a single room for a month. They should just use that price tag to scare people out of addiction. But interestingly enough they use a variety of therapies - like Horses - to treat people. Interesting. The landscape really inspired - I would love to get out of NY and in the burbs, or at the very least go camping, get into adventure photography - something more active and relaxed. At least in my book.
And then - it was back to Iraq, where I am now. I'm looking forward to making some kickass daily life images for the piece and having a chance to make a few more window pics for the book and of course - more Storyline panoramics.

Memorial Day

2008-05-27T02:41:00.003-04:00

I decided to take a break from NY - too many photo festivals and drama - and head to Washington DC for Memorial Day. Mostly I wanted to go to Arlington Cemetery. I wanted to bring my Iraq experience back to the US. Something I haven't done since the anti-war protests in 2003. I never felt comfortable working in American concerning Iraq - working with wounded or traumatized vets, or the families of the KIA. I just never knew if I could do that. The first grave I came to - that I was taken by, a grave that stymied me - was the grave of MAJ Gregory Stone. The only soldier killed in the grenade attack in Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in the opening days of the war in '03. I photographed him being carried out on a stretcher. I basically made my career, or at least started my career with his death. Today was the first time I thought about that. That my whole career is based on death. Kind of a selfish thing to think about during a day of remembrance.

When David H. and I got to Arlington we didn't shoot for a few hours - but wandered through the tombstones looking at the ages of the Soldiers killed., the days they died. One died on the ides of March, another died 4 days before his 20th birthday. We sat in the shade under a tree until we decided it was time to shoot, until we got over the vulturesqe nature of making images in a place like Arlington.

I ended up shooting a few pics - not too many - and was definitely removed from the grieving subjects. Though I did end up speaking to one woman - Amanda - the best friend of LCPL Jason Redifer. About how she still couldn't believe her friend was dead.

It was a weird day for me.

Artsy

2008-05-14T16:32:00.001-04:00

After last night's big wins at the PDN party I figured it would be a good idea to update my site with a little bit of new work. I worked today on editing and transmitting all the dog pics from the Westminster Kennel Club show onto my site, along with pics from my Afghanistan Squared project. I still need to put the Fight Club stuff - at least a taste - up there as well. Maybe even the PNG and Salton Sea projects. That might be later in the week, after I organize my VII presentation for Sunday. Too much to do. Yesterday I spent the morning sticking stamps onto my two hundred promo cards - which I will never do again. Believe me. Well, not often.

Today Im posting my other "art" project - the double triptics Im making using my SX780 Polaroid camera. They are sort of dreamy representations of a space or emotion - mostly though I think they just look cool...

Back in Style

2008-05-13T01:45:00.000-04:00

Its been a long weekend since coming back from Phoenix. I had to finish editing the useless shoot, and then went off to make some images on Friday and Saturday night of MMA cage fights in NJ. I haven't been exactly on the ball with this fighting project - its been viceral shooting without thinking through what I'm doing. But I think its more that I havent really been focused on much of anything these days except all my family issues and Marvi's health. Plus - Im either naive or elitist, or both - but I find it hard to identify with a lot of these fighters outside of the ring. Or at least I imagine it so. Ill post some of those images later on.
For now - since my creativity has been stymied of late sitting in an office and editing or working on bills - I struck back with my new all-in-one copy scanner. Im now doing xerox portraits. Its art, what can I say. But I like it. Now I need to find someone to give me an assignment where I can just shlep my copy machine with me.

2008-05-07T13:40:00.000-04:00

Im sitting in the Phoenix airport, my flight delayed a bit. My eyes are slowly drooping from fatigue. Im sitting on the floor next to an electrical outlet and fire extinguisher - the rest of the seats in the this annoyingly tiny airport with no restaurant - are filled. Apparently all todays flights are delayed for some reason or another. My ass has fallen asleep, ahead of the rest of me (irony that it fallen "ahead"), and i cant get my right leg comfortable. In fact even though Im tired I really cant be bothered to sit here.
Sometimes I really do like traveling. Other days I do not.
Today is an orange alert out there - a terrorist attack might be coming. Look out! The only effect that this warning has had, made the toothpaste and shaving cream gauntlet line at security almost unbearable.

2008-05-07T01:59:00.000-04:00

And other side project that I might end up posting is a collection of images from - pics of my hotel rooms. Mostly beds - empty and ruffled. Bare and lonely. My time on the road. One of the se days when Im less distracted by making a blog or watching CNN or thinking about what time I need to wake up to get to the airport in the morning - Ill get all self-analytical and figure out what lonely hotel room pictures mean to my inner me.

2008-05-07T01:55:00.000-04:00

Of course there are also tons of pics of my loving wife/partner/best friend - Marvi!!

2008-05-07T01:41:00.000-04:00

Another fall back - or rather - a collection of images which I always find myself taking - will be the usual pics of my shadow on the well trodden road. Sort of vain I guess...

Pics of the hounds

2008-05-07T01:36:00.000-04:00

In light of not always having a daily shooting assignment, or the time or inclination to shoot something amazingly unique - my constant fall back will no doubt be pics of Spud and Wheat - my photogenic hot dogs who love to pose.

lifeOlowy begins anew

2008-05-07T00:53:00.000-04:00

I always try to write a blog. I usually keep it going for about three days before life gets the better of me. For the most part that is what happens to everything I try and take up. Biking, working out, cooking. I do it for a few days, and then drop it.
Well, to make life a little easier. Im just going to post photos. And pretty much not tell anyone about this blog. That way I dont need to impress anyone but me, and I can still use it to motive some picture taking on a daily basis - something I really need.