Nancy Brown's Love Affair With China

When South Florida Chapter member Nancy Brown, who has been a professional photographer for three decades, took her first trip to China, she was immediately enthralled.

“When I stepped off the plane on my first visit,” she explains, “I began my photographic love affair with China and its people.”

Five years and six additional trips later, Nancy has released a 289-page large-sized coffee table photography book, "Simply China". In the book’s introduction, which contains text in both Chinese and English, Nancy explains how the deep kindness of the Chinese people, their pervasive warmth to a stranger in their midst, and the glorious beauty of China’s landscape, architecture, and art continues to move her.

Sunrise over 17th Century water town, Zhouzhuang, Jiangsu Province. © Nancy Brown

She also explains why, with the exception of the Forbidden City, she tends to head for the rural areas – what she calls “the real China” – where not many  non-Chinese go.

Nancy comments, “It is heaven for me to wander around villages and remote areas of China with my cameras around my neck. Making the images in this book was pure joy, and I hope that those who see them feel the beauty and spirit of China as I do.”

The book is divided into seven sections: The Forbidden City, Inner Mongolia (the grasslands of China), Guangxi, West Sichuan, Zhouzhuang, Tibet, and Qinghai Province. Its numerous captivating images, ranging from a snowfall at The Great Wall, to yurts in the grasslands, to monks at a remote monastery, to wild Mongolian horses, powerfully reveal the beauty the photographer sees.

Buddhist Monk strolls with prayer beads in Lhasa, Tibet. © Nancy Brown

Nancy's first trip to China was in 2004 when the South Florida chapter, along with student's from the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, were invited to attend the Duyun International Photography Exhibition  in Guizhou Province, China. The chapter sent a selection of photographic prints that were among the thousands displayed at dozens of venues around the city. Between opening ceremonies and banquets, Nancy says she was first introduced to the Chinese people during photographic outings sponsored by the Chinese Photographers Association (CPA).

She quickly made friends within the CPA, which led to invitations to judge at other photography festivals, lecture at a photography trade school, and to specially designed trips to locations in China  off the tourist track. Nancy reports that in remote Inner Mongolia, and again in the western Tibetan homelands of Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces, she would go nearly two weeks without seeing another Western face.

The Great Wall near Beijing after rare October snow fall. © Nancy Brown

Her relationships within China culminated in 2010 when she met in Beijing with the China Nationality Art Photographic Publishing House, which was interested in publishing a high quality coffee table book of photographs with a Western point of view. The book is also being distributed in China.

Nancy insisted the book be priced reasonably, and it is listed at $50 with the ISBN number of 978-0-615-42824-6. Available at Amazon, or an autobraphed copy can be purchased directly from her studio.

Nancy Brown shares photographs and makes friends with early morning exercise group, Yueqing, Zhejiang Province. © Tom Salyer

Nancy Brown has been a commercial photographer for over thirty years, specializing in lifestyle and beauty images for advertising agencies, magazines, design firms, book publishers, and pharmaceutical agencies. After working out of her New York studio for thirty years, she now works from Boca Raton, Florida. Nancy has had five photography books published and was made a Nikon Legend in 2001. Getty Images is her stock agency.  China has become her favorite beauty subject.

Chapter Members Mentor Young Photographers

ASMP South Florida Chapter members Dennie Cody and DK Khattiya are the first team to bring the Young Photographers Alliance Mentoring Program to Thailand, where they live and work part of the year.

E-mailing today from Bangkok, Cody says “We see this as a great opportunity to open doors to different cultures and bring unique new perspectives from the other side of the world to the YPA mission.”

Photograph by YPA Thailand mentee Suntuk Talek. Mentor Dennie Cody says Talek "photographed this image of smoke as part of this years theme which is "Energy is Everything". He sees the smoke as an indicator of the energy expelled from fire, from the universal saying "Where there is smoke there is fire."

Editorial Note: the following has been edited from news release provided by Deborah Free of the YPA.

The Young Photographer’s Alliance (YPA), an educational foundation dedicated to developing the talent of young photographers, announced today in New York City its second international mentoring opportunity for students and recent graduates of college-level photography programs. This year’s theme, “Everything is Energy,” focuses on the powerful forces that shape our world, our politics, our environment, our lives and ourselves.

“YPA’s inaugural mentoring program in 2010 was a resounding success and we’re thrilled to offer this tremendous opportunity to a new group of aspiring image makers,” commented Jerry Tavin, YPA Co-founder and president. “Energy is anything and everything,” he continued. “It can be human, physical, mental, spiritual, a force of nature, mechanical, technical, invented or created. The goal of this project is for young photographers to look beyond the obvious and explore the theme metaphorically in a way that sheds new light on the human condition.”

Thai photographers being mentored by South Florida Chapter members Dennie Cody and DK Khattiya , photographed by Cody in Bangkok. 

Developed with the support of a grant from the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the YPA mentor program pairs emerging photographers with a leading photographer. Each student is encouraged to push boundaries and shed light on the subject in new and innovative ways within the context of their photographic specialty, including portraiture, photojournalism, landscape, architectural photography and more. The deliverables will be not only a collection of thought-provoking images, but also a written essay from each mentee that offers insight and inspiration to viewers. In addition to helping these protégées fine-tune their artistic talent and build their portfolios, the program offers them an unparalleled opportunity to develop business skills and explore markets for their work.

More than 50 students will be participating this year. The North American teams include students from colleges across the country mentored by 17 renowned photographers, including Barbara Bordnick, Lynne Damianos, Dirk Fletcher, Rafael Soldi and others. In addition, students in China, Thailand and the UK will partner with celebrated artists such as Sophie Batterbury, Dennie Cody, Shannon Fagan, Duangkamon Khattiya, Justin Sutcliffe and John Wright

Young Photographers Alliance is a global community where young photographers connect with the inspiration, resources and contacts they need to build successful and sustainable careers as the artists and communicators of the future. The foundation brings together a wealth of industry experience through its board and membership and offers real-world knowledge, insight, experience and contacts to help students and other emerging photographers develop their artistic skills and business acumen as photography professionals.  Likewise, through its programs, YPA helps established photography professionals connect with the next generation of innovative image-makers.  For more information, visit YPA online at www.YoungPhotographersAlliance.org.

In the weeks ahead, YPA will be seeking volunteers to assist with the 2011 YPA Awards Ceremony and Benefit, which will take place on Wednesday October 19. To volunteer or for more information, please contact Deborah Free at 585-768-7880 or deborah@youngphotographersalliance.org.

Backyard Creatures Crawl Into Personal Project

Before chapter member Aaron Ansarov moved to South Florida four years ago, he spent 15 years in the U.S. Navy as a combat photojournalist and magazine photographer. He lives in Broward County with his wife Anna, 10-year-old son Corbin and 11-month-old daughter Anabella. As a guest blogger he wrote this post.

One of the most fascinating things a photographer can do to revitalize the passion in their lives is to just shut up, stop complaining and shoot photographs they love by way of a personal project.

Finding something that interests them and making images about it always turns out to be successful in one way or another. Whether its a marketable series of images for the next best selling book or simply a personal print in the bathroom, it's guaranteed something positive will happen... personal growth.

One such project for me has been my Backyard Treasures photographs.

Since I was a kid I’ve been fascinated by the multitudes of living creatures that surround us. No matter how big or small, these creatures’ lives have purpose. They’re right there under our noses in our own backyards, sidewalks and parks. But we tend to overlook, ignore, squish and exterminate them because they may not fit into our lives. If we get up really close and personal with these creatures we can see that they are worthy of understanding and appreciation. I am not sure they have souls, but I do know they have a story to tell and I want to show that through a portrait.

After 15 years as a military and combat photographer, I have seen and done more than most. I can honestly say I've been there, done that and got the t-shirt and photos to prove it. But when it comes to wrangling and photographing a portrait of a captured wild creature in a studio setting I was a little challenged.

For this personal project I set a parameters for myself and followed a few rules in order to make this project consistently follow a theme. It was very important not to drift from my parameters too much, remember that (like a creature) this project is a living and breathing entity that grows in it's own way.

 - All creatures must not be harmed. To me, this is an obvious issue. Poisonous, stinky, slimy or just plain nasty, these are living creatures. They need to be treated with the utmost respect.

- All creatures must have come from the wild. No museums, zoos or pets. My subjects must come from the local area and the wild. In Florida we have a problem with many creatures that are not indigenous. That does not matter to me. If they are in the wild and making a life for themselves, then they are fair game.

- All creatures must be released back to the wild unharmed.

Within this framework I rely on my creativity, tempered with the manageability of the creature. Sometimes a subject will give me 30 minutes to shoot, while others will be there for two frames and fly away. The trick is to be prepared in advance.

I use a multitude of lighting scenarios with white or black backgrounds, often vinyl or foam core, and on occasion, I experiment with glass or plastics. I focus on the colors and design that make these creatures so unique. Removed from their natural setting, the eye sees what is most important, the subject.

When in my home studio I use Elinchrom light kits with a series of modifiers ranging from strip lights to a six-foot octabank. This gear is amazing and really makes a difference to me. Of course some may think it a little overkill to shoot a ladybug with an octabank, but I don't think so. The quality of light that comes from these is amazing.

I shoot with a Nikon D90 and a 60mm macro lens, and for larger creatures I use a 17-55mm, focusing as close as possible. When in a backyard other than my own, I use several Nikon SB-800 flashes controlled wirelessly.

So far, I have photographed over 150 species and I hope that I can eventually shoot every species in the U.S.

Images from this and other personal projects can be seen on my website at www.ansarov.com

Dead Queen Emerges From Watery Grave

ASMP South Florida member George Kamper is a native of New York City, and has been working in Florida for several years. He shoots fashion, lifestyle, tourism and sports and works with motion creating TV advertisements. The following is adapted from his blog.

Presented with a wonderful challenge and having a can do attitude,  I was recently tapped to produce the 30 second video spot for the Queen Mary "Dark Harbor" Campaign as well as simultaneously creating the outdoor billboard and web banner images.

View the 30 second Queen Mary's Dark Harbor spot on Vimeo.

From the high tide and full moon to the underwater lighting, every detail had to be planned in advance.

From start to finish this project had an open dialogue with the executive creative director Rob DeLuke of the Y Partnership. Utilizing Rob's and my point of view and eagerness to create something fresh and new, the sky - and the depths - had no limits.

Believe it or not, this actually evolved from a predominantly studio shoot utilizing stop motion, to a full blown outdoor, nighttime, on the water production utilizing the Canon 5D MkII.

The project was taken on because it was a challenge and Rob kept saying he wanted our input and vision. He wanted it to be super cool and scary, and not the least bit canned.

I should mention that this project had a pretty challenging budget.  Which is one of the reasons I took it on. If this was a full blown Hollywood production, we probably wouldn't have come out with something as fresh and raw. Our motto is less money, more freedom!

We love the idea that we had to do everything ourselves, produce, scout, direct, light, camera operate, right down to providing the bug spray on site. That's not to say that we didn't have a wonderful crew,  everyone contributed in a big way because we all saw this as a portfolio piece.

The first challenge was finding a location on the water where we could control the environment, didn't have to fight the waves,- remember the movie “Water World” - and could have some power availability and necessary shelter, rest rooms, food availability on site. There was no budget for a RV

We also wanted to shoot in an isolated area so we didn't have to fight off onlookers, other people's flash cameras, potential theft and the like. And it was sea turtle nesting season, another challenge because you can't shoot on the beach in Florida at night, as any light would confuse the hatchlings.

Lighting is the key to my work. I love it. When it works it can bring magic to a shoot! In this case, we knew the look we were trying to achieve and the key light had to come from underwater.

A tidal creek became the perfect location, located at John U. Lloyd State Park in Fort Lauderdale, and at night the creek was the perfect eerie location.

One of our greatest challenges was finding an actress who would be willing and strong enough to stand in water on cinder blocks in five feet of water, for five hours, at night, wearing a tattered ball gown, prostheses glued to her face and hands, blood dripping from her eyes, with seaweed entwined in her hair with a crown on her head.

We must give credit to Ashley DeLuke, Rob's daughter, who models and is a budding actress. She swam a marathon for us and was willing to go the extra mile.

We could see fish and crab moving around in the water. Ashley didn't know this, but part of the diver's job, armed with a spear behind her in the water, was to fend off any sea creatures that got too close.

Under the watchful eye of a helpful park ranger, we were a little nervous we might get stopped after the first take lighting on fire the Queen Mary life preserver ring floating in the creek. Everything went smoothly with several takes of flames in the water.

Many people contributed to the success of the project:

We talked with Robert Carmichael, Brownie Marine Group's CEO, who volunteered his services and equipment along with Mikkel Pitzner. They became our underwater diver and lighting solution. Brownie Marine is known for it's depth of knowledge regarding anything that has to do with diving and being around the water. They also work closely with Halcyon and the EUE, and hold several patents for diving solutions.

One of the first phone calls I made was to makeup artist June Ellis who does wonderful work and was up for the challenge of working with prostheses, blood, seaweed and water! In addition to all the research and testing she did, she was a great presence on set, and constantly checked in with Ashley to insure she was doing OK. In all makeup took five hours in studio and then five hours standing in the water. You gotta love crew that loves their job!

The wardrobe and jewelry were handled by stylist Melanie Whittle.  I've got to say, from all the research she did identifying just the right style and fabrics, to personally sandpapering and distressing the gown, she's become one of my new heroes.

Peggy Chase Jordao, one of my go to people, handled props for me and made arrangements with Melanie and June to work on this production.

Gearing up for this shoot took me a couple of weeks since I hadn't fully made the transition to shooting video on my 5D's from motion picture 16mm and 35mm film. Chris King, who helped guide us through outfitting our 5D and was on set.

Special thanks has to go to my first assistant Jim Wenger who through thick and thin, was right beside me in five feet of water managing the dry ice. We had three different devices for managing the “smoke” on the water, and in the end, it was Jim’s ability to use a gloved hand that made the photo. Even though the dry ice burned his hand, he just kept taking it for the team.

The sound on the project had everything to do with setting the mood and making it interesting.  Mark Sunderland composed and engineered the sound as well as voice over talent Zach Miller and Danielle Lillig. Lillig also wrote the spot with just the right amount of cleverness and restraint and we love her for it.

Every film maker knows it's not only what's in the can that counts, but how it's cut together. I've got to give super special thanks to the tech and editor, Zach Scheffer, who had the vision to put the spot together with the effects that really push it up a notch.

 We wouldn't have those hands on that shot of the Queen for the billboard if it wasn't for fantastic retoucher and budding editor Christine Craig. She did a fab job on the Queen's skin and interpreting the lighting.

And lastly the person that deserves the most credit for this project is Rob DeLuke. He has a great eye, is always willing to go to battle for a great idea, who is willing to step out of a comfortable zone and back us up all the way.

Member Spotlight: David Benoliel Provokes A Feeling

David Benoliel, who recently joined our South Florida chapter after moving to Miami from Paris, is featured in this Member Spotlight, an occasional series of articles introducing the photography of chapter members to each other.

David, who specializes in fashion and still life, reports he discovered photography only a few years ago, and since taking several workshops at the International Center of Photography in New York City on lighting and editing, he's learned the rest of his craft by himself during studio sessions. Working with a Hasselblad H4D, he works with clients in the United States and around the world.

 

"Fragility" was created for the exhibition "Arts For A Better World" during Art Basel 2010. David created 13 original works depicting beauty and nature. "It was a really exciting challenge and this one represents the fragility of earth getting old (with the white hair)", David says. (Makeup and Hair by Eliut Turin)

David distills his creative philosophy as follows:

"The collaboration of light and beauty is what breathes life into my work, the unique images are produced through my appreciation for strong features and sharp colors. I feel that an image should provoke a feeling and it should inspire or trigger something very deep within the observer. I like to reveal the beauty of each woman's personality and individuality through my photographs."

Model and reflection in mirror photographed for editorial fashion spread.

 David is the owner of AD013 Studio that features shooting space, instruction and a "creative emporium", and is located North of downtown Miami in the Little River neighborhood.

  

"Cotton dream" was also shot for the "Arts For A Better World" exhibition, in which 40 artists participated. David says that "because the model looked so natural and fresh we decided to go with this mood of clean and pure with a touch of nature in it. The makeup on the lips to accentuate her doll-like innocence." (Makeup and Hair Eliut Turin)

Environment Awakens Through Lush Tropical Light

Scherley Busch is currently exhibiting her latest fine art work “Eco Abstractions- Keeping it Real” in a one woman show at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival Gallery II in Miami. The ASMP South Florida chapter member says "Eco-Abstractions creates an awakening of our environment through a fantasy of vibrant colors, and dramatic abstractions of brilliant sunlight and sensual geography".

The Coconut Grove Grapevine blog notes 
"Exhibiting intimate and fresh color photographic compositions, Scherley uses her camera to “paint with light” as lush tropical tones play against geometric angles and sinuous curves. She also uses Florida’s searing sunlight and sensual geography as her color palette.The exhibit bridges the gap between art and life by raising awareness and appreciation for our natural resources in all its 'abstractions.' "

Also showing  are "Eco Soundscapes", a video and selections from Busch's Black and white colorized infrared images, "Miami DreamScapes" previously selected for exhibit by Art in Public Places at Miami International Airport.

The exhibition, which opened in February, runs through March 21 at The Coconut Grove Arts Festival Gallery, located in the Shoppes at Mayfair,  3390 Mary Street, Suite 128, Miami, FL, 33133.