documentary

DL Cade

Alfred Stieglitz — The Father of Modern Photography

Legendary photographer Alfred Stieglitz was one of photography's pioneers. In a time when the arts, photography included, were stuck in the past and unwilling to change, he drove the art of photography into a new erra of expression. Because of this he is known by many as "the father of modern photography."

Michael Zhang

Photographer Captures His Daughter’s Journey from Birth to Womanhood

Ever since she entered the world 30 some-odd years ago, Alison has had her father Jack Radcliffe's camera pointed at her. Radcliffe, a Baltimore, MD-based photographer, started out by documenting her life casually as new parents commonly do, but slowly became more interested in the relationships involved in growing up.

DL Cade

Ten Magnum Photographers Working on Portrait of Rochester

Some might say that the city of Rochester, New York is struggling; others might say that it's evolving. One thing's for sure though: Rochester -- nicknamed The World's Image Centre -- is changing. Because of this, and because of the city's rich photographical history (think Kodak), ten of Magnum Photos' photographers have chosen Rochester as one of three locations currently being documented across the United States.

Michael Zhang

Documenting the Human Condition: A Documentary on Street Photography

Here's an oldie but goodie: back in September 2009, photographer Chris Weeks released this documentary about street photography titled Documenting the Human Condition. It's occasionally preachy and at times feels like a stealthy Leica advertisement, but should be interesting to you if you're at all interested in the practice of street photography.

Michael Zhang

Everything is a Remix Explores the Derivative Nature of Creativity

Everything is a Remix is a fascinating four-part video series by filmmaker Kirby Ferguson that explores the concept of creativity, and how everything created has some degree of copying, transforming, or combining of old ideas. While the series isn't specifically directed towards photographers, the ideas are quite relevant to the discussion of "original" work.

Michael Zhang

The Nature of Truth, Art, and Propaganda in Photography

Here's an interesting video in which acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (the guy who directed The Fog of War) talks about the issue of truth in photography, and how he thinks we've forgotten that there's a connection between photos to the physical world.

Michael Zhang

You Can Now Watch the Acclaimed Film ‘Bill Cunningham New York’ for Free

Update: For some reason the video is now showing as "expired". Not sure why.

Bill Cunningham New York, a movie that we mentioned back in March, can now be viewed for free. It's a documentary film about the life of New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, who's known for his candid and street photography.

For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns "On the Street" and "Evening Hours." Documenting uptown fixtures (Wintour, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor, David Rockefeller-who all appear in the film out of their love for Bill), downtown eccentrics and everyone in between, Cunningham's enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair. In turn, Bill Cunningham New York is a delicate, funny and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace.

The movie has received extremely good reviews.

Michael Zhang

Everybody Street: A Documentary Film About NYC Street Photographers

Everybody Street is an upcoming documentary film about New York City street photographers (e.g. Bruce Gilden and Joel Meyerowitz) who have taken some of the most iconic images of the past century. Created by photographer Cheryl Dunn, the film was originally a 36-minute short film, but is being expanded into a feature length movie.

Michael Zhang

The Story of How the Influential Nikon F SLR Camera Was Designed

The Nikon F, Nikon's first SLR camera, played an important and influential role in photographic history after it was unveiled in 1959. It was the first to combine many of the emerging camera design ideas into a single body, and was the first SLR system widely adopted by professional photographers around the world. This is an interesting 20 minute documentary film that tells the story of how the camera was designed.

Michael Zhang

Giant Spheres Created with Light Painting

Photographer Denis Smith creates photos giant balls of light without any digital trickery, relying instead on light-painting. His technique is to spin a light around while slowly turning his body, creating spheres of light when seen in a long exposure photo.

Michael Zhang

Blind Visual Artist Pete Eckert Makes Photographs Without Seeing

Pete Eckert didn't start out too seriously in photography. Trained in sculpture and industrial design, he was working as a carpenter when one day a doctor diagnosed him with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that leads to permanent blindness. He eventually discovered photography and has been doing amazing work since. The beautifully made video above sheds light on how he goes about creating art despite his visual impairment.