Elle

Elle Lee.

She came from Korea more than two years ago. She is an event organizer working in London for a Korean company.

Elle enjoys dressing up, are more even if anyone is around taking photos of her.

I took this photo at my place last week.

If you want to see more pics, click here.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition

What can you do on rainy Sunday evening? I could choose something else to do but… I decided to go the Natural History Museum, which I have not visited yet after living in London for more than two years.

I found there the Wildlife Photographer Competition, this year it finds the very best wildlife images taken by the world’s top professional and amateur photographers.

Visit here the online gallery.

You can visit the exhibition until 26 April 2009.

Natural History Museum, by Arantxa Alcubierre

The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008

I visited on Tuesday the National Portrait Gallery. If you go before February 15, you will have the opportunity to see the The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008.This exhibition showcases the work of international emerging young photographers, photography students and gifted amateurs alongside that of established professionals.

Quints, 2008 by Lottie Davies

More than 6,700 images were submitted this year. Through editorial, fine art images and advertising, the mix of entrants have explored a range of themes, styles and approaches to the contemporary photographic portrait, from formal commissioned portraits to intimate moments capturing friends and family and more spontaneous.

Here you will see many images previously unpublished, a unique opportunity to see some of the most exciting contemporary portrait photographers working today.

World Press Photo Exhibition

I was at The Royal Festival Hall (London) last Monday. One more year you can see there the World Press Photo Exhibition.

Since 1955, World Press Photo has invited press photographers of the world to participate in the premier annual international competition in press photography. This exhibition showcases the best photojournalism of the past year; it covers a wide range of topics from hard news to sports and portraits.

“Restrepo” by Tim Hetherington.

This year’s competition attracted 80,536 entries. For the first time since 1980, the main prize has been won by a British photographer – Vanity Fair photojournalist Tim Hetherington.

We can also find Spanish photographers among the winners, like Cristina Garcia Rodero, Miguel Riopa, Lorena Ross and Emilio Morenatti.

“Collective Rite” by Cristina García Rodero.

Flamenco

Carmen is a Flamenco Dancer.

She was born in Murcia (Spain), now she is living in London for more than 10 years, and dancing around the world with different companies.

She came back from Dubai and asked me for a photo-shoot. We did it last week.

The grip, the feelings, the passion of this music and dance, were what I want to transmit by the photographs.

The flamenco is a dance and a music genre, an interplay of native Arabic, Andalusian, Sephardic, and Gypsy an Cuban cultures

Check more photos here.

Robert Capa and Gerda Taro

This Is War! Robert Capa at Work , Gerda Taro On the Subject of War at Barbican Art Gallery.
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”.
Robert Capa (1913-1954), the legendary Hungarian-born war photojournalist, and of the founders of Magnum, chose the Leica as a tool. He became famous for capturing the ultimate in decisive moments - the death of a Spanish Civil War soldier cut down by a bullet in 1936. When Civil War became World War, in 1939, Capa bought fame, heroism, and charisma to the war photographer. Working for Life Magazine he recorded that the first rule of photojournalism was ‘to get close’ and the second, ‘to get closer.’ It earned him a reputation as the world’s greatest war photographer and its first real celebrity.

Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936.

I was last week to Barbican Art Gallery to see Robert Capa’s Exhibition. I found there some of his famous photographs, and some prints made from the films founded at the beginning of this year. I really enjoyed by looking at some manuscripts he wrote, documentation from his pictures, and some of the letter to his family, and by looking Gerda Taro’s photographs.

Republican militiawoman training on the beach, outside Barcelona August 1936

The same exhibition is featuring more war photographers work, among them Gerda Taro (1910–1937), a German photographer who spent her brief but dramatic career photographing the Spanish Civil War alongside Robert Capa, her lover and collaborator. She was one of the first female photographers to work on the frontline and the first to be killed in action in 1937, aged just 26, whilst covering the battle for the city of Brunete.

After holiday…

I am back in London again after almost one month holiday.

I have been doing the “Camino de Santiago”, an old pilgrimage route; cycling during two weeks, meeting people, feeling how far you body and your mind can go. So far one of the best experiences in my life, I really recommend it.

It is time now to start working and have fun with friends. And enjoying this weather, of course!

“España Diez Miradas”

I’m on holiday in Spain, in Zaragoza.

Yesterday I went to see an exhibition called “España Diez Miradas” (something like ‘Ten Looks at Spain’).

This exhibition displays the work of ten Spanish photographers. In these photographs we can see the image of Spain from 25 years ago until today.

The photographers are Juan Manuel Castro Prieto, Ricky Dávila, Alberto García-Alix, Cristina García Rodero, Xurxo Lobato, Jose Ignacio Lobo Altuna, Ramón Masats, Isabel Muñoz, Jose Manuel Navia, and Miguel Trillo.

PhotoEspaña08

PhotoEspaña08 starts today until 27 July in Spain. The International Festival of Photography and Visual arts is now one of the most important art events in the world.

PhotoEspaña is a great opportunity to see photography projects, videos and installations by the most famous national and international photographers and visual artists. There will be more than 600 exhibitions in the citys principal museums, exhibition espaces, art centers and galleries. The Festival also offers a wide range of educational and professional programs.

Click here for more information.

PhotoBooth

Have you ever been in a photo booth? If you do not have anything better to do every single day before going work, you can go to your nearest photo booth and have a picture taken. But have to do it for at least seven years. But you will not be the first one to do it…

Juan Pablo Echeverri is having an exhibition at The Photographers Gallery with his passport photos, result of his daily visits to a photography studio. Accumulating over seven years this ongoing – perhaps lifelong – work uses both repetition and performance.

Those photos are included in the exhibition called Once more, with feeling. Recent photography from Colombia. Until 15 June at The Photographers Gallery London.