May 2012
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“There is a tendency at every important but difficult crossroad to pretend that...”
– Bill McKibben
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April 2012
3 posts
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“We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk....”
– Robert M. Pirsig
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looking forward to laugh out loud afternoons into...
These images are part of a long-form documentary project I have undertaken on sustainable living in Vermont with the working title: Defining Sustainability
Photographs © Copyright 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.
March 2012
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“In a world that is buckling under the weight of profit-making, that is overrun...”
– Henri Cartier–Bresson
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burn like roman candles across the night… →
Pay a visit to Jennifer Sherowski’s site to get great gone mad, rekindle your stand off with the steering wheel a while, read a beauty of a poem and catch a glimpse at Director Walter Salles’ (The Motorcycle Diaries) On The Road trailer a la Kerouac.
Excerpt from How to Meditate by Jack Kerouac:
…When a thought comes a-springing from afar with its held- forth figure of image, you...
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“How to respect a situation while also creating a work of art? By addressing...”
– Sophie Ristelhueber
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Watch
Really we are in the business of creating a miracle here on Earth…
—Ian MacKenzie
February 2012
6 posts
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letters to a young photographer (part one: edited...
Question:
What advice would you give me—as far as taking pictures goes—as I depart for Thailand on Friday? I am hoping to have minimal "should have" and "could have" moments when I come back, and to prevent these, I've been thinking ahead a lot about what I want to focus on…—Maria
Answers:
1. I would suggest you reconsider using the phrase "taking pictures" and possibly replace it with "making pictures". In the final analysis, you are the author of your photographs and your personal viewpoint in a single image or series of images is of principle concern in the interest of effective storytelling value. Mostly, there are in between moments in photography and the division between these and the matter of successful evocative imagery may be the made up in the passing of a fraction of a second and in the movement of a fraction of an inch to the right or left, up or down.
2. Remember that light and all it's qualities are the basis of photography and without there are no pictures (or at least no successful pictures). Always consider the lighting; your subject(s) gesture and their rhythm; the relationship between figure and ground; the moment when these elements relate best in the interest of the story—with care.
3. Don't over think things. Simply witness, respond and calmly cover the scene from as many valuable angles as possible. Always find pictures from far away, near and in the in-between—this means many overall angles, details and medium-distance vantage points. Seek out all the visceral angles that might best tell a given story.
4. Work predominantly in even lighting situations and avoid distracting elements of formal dissonance or hi-key color such as blown-out highlights in your frame. Recompose to avoid items of stark contrast where they detract from the subject. First find the "safe" photographs and craft them well, then diverge from there. Always photograph using the full-frame and experiment copiously. Watch your edges.
5. Do not censor yourself. If you find something which captures your interest, slow down and stay with it for it may not be revealed again. Trust your intuition.
6. Be mindful of cultural ritual, influence and tradition. Learn the language and use it with respect and good humor. Work to portray your subjects with both dignity and honor—keep this in your heart and they should notice. Be patient.
7. Never carry fear or anxiety with you—yet be mindful and careful of your immediate environment—watchful toward what is to come. Find fascination in your surroundings, be curious about everything in the capacity of your senses and ask of your experience many questions. Slow down. Look to the periphery. Always remember to breathe deeply as this simple act will find you all the more relaxed and aware in your surroundings.—Seth Butler
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“…ya’know he was like something out
of a W.P.A. project like Dorothea...”
– Barry Lopez (via The Mappist)
Dorothea Lange
Walker Evans
James Agee
Inspiration to Cultivate
The world is a miracle unfolding in the pitch dark. We are lighting candles. —Barry Lopez
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January 2012
8 posts
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one too many mornings & a thousand miles behind…
Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan
Chimes of Freedom features a diverse group of artists across the generational and musical spectrum. The performers, including many of Amnesty International’s longtime supporters, range in age from Miley Cyrus, 19, to folk music legend Pete Seeger, who, at 92, records Dylan’s poignant “Forever Young,” with a children’s...
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in silent protest
Kham Province, Tibet. 2007. A Chinese settler works to process recycled grain bags as two native Tibetans walk past. Due to oppressive government policy, ethnic Chinese have taken many of even the most rudimentary of jobs in Tibet, as well as much of the land the native population once used for it’s primarily nomadic culture. In an intervention document prepared for the United Nations,...
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“The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our...”
– Rachel Carson
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examining our lives
An investigation of our human responsibilities commingles with a discussion of our daily perception of reality in the film Examined Life, a documentary which places some of today’s most influential thinkers in the day to day context of our world.
It takes tremendous discipline, it takes tremendous courage to think for yourself, to examine yourself… —Cornel West
The film includes Cornel...
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moving forward giving back
Photograph © Copyright Christian Bobst. All Rights Reserved.
Just before the holidays I received a stunning 8 x 10 print of a photograph by former Momenta Workshops student Christian Bobst which I had recently purchased for a close friend as a holiday gift from Nuru Project.
The concept of Nuru Project is beautiful and quite simple really, they split the revenue from all their print sales with...
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“Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of...”
– Carl Sagan (via cwnl)
Inspiration to Stay Curios.
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WatchOnly from The Netherlands will you get this sense of humor…
Hans Aarsman on beauty in photography via Conscientious / andrewquerner
December 2011
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art for the sake of advocacy
A very inspired...
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defining sustainability
Community Building
A harvest party organized by Fable Farm CSA in Barnard, Vermont to clear the remainder of their fields after the first snow of the year. Over thirty individuals from the town and surrounding communities volunteered together to harvest a bumper crop of approximately 2500 pounds of organic carrots which would be donated to local farm-to-school programs, individuals and...
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courage to face realities of our time
The ironies are unmistakable- the first trans-atlantic cable was connected here on Midway; the scars from the Battle of Midway are unmistakable. Yet now, as a protected area, we can’t help but look at the role this island had in the past, and think about where we are today. This place, a historic moment in World War II, stands a turning point that launched America’s economic dominance of...
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absence in our presence
For over three years Ashley Gilbertson has been investigating the less than tangible affects of war through a body of work focused on the bedrooms of deceased U.S. soldiers left intact by their families. In this work Bedrooms of the Fallen, Gilbertson seeks to explore the effects of war from a nuanced standpoint while paying homage to the lives of the fallen.
Discussing the work, Gilbertson...
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among tenets develop approach
stay with the subject matter (be patient) take simpler pictures see if everything in background relates to subject matter vary compositions and angles more be more aware of composition don’t take boring pictures get in closer (use 50mm less)
— Tony Ray-Jones via Simon Roberts
November 2011
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vermonters opposing tar sands pipeline
Vermont Govenor Peter Shumlin addressed an estimated 1000 Vermonters gathered for the 350.org Moving Planet event on the State House lawn in Montpelier, Vermont. The Montpelier event was one of over 2000 such gatherings that took place in approximately 175 countries on September 24th, 2011 in the interest of transitioning the world beyond fossil fuels to a clean energy future. Photo: ©...
October 2011
5 posts
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inverting the sublime
Interview with photographer Edward Burtynsky before the opening of his OIL exhibition in the museum Huis Marseille in Amsterdam (Nov 29 2009 - Feb 28 2010), about his approach of the subject connected to his photographic style, as well as about his commitment to the environment.
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against the great defeat of the world
THEY WAIT We’re going to begin the fight again / the enemy is clear and we’re going to begin again / we’re going to correct the errors of the soul / its pain / its disastes / so many little friends wasted / little sons wasted / we’re going to begin / day has come with its documentation of death / night with its documents / death itself has come with its documentation /...
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September 2011
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#VTResponse Volunteer Numbers Drop
As VPR’s Kirk Carapezza reports, VTResponse.com is now trying to rekindle the volunteer spirit and make sure assistance remains available.
Read More on the VPR site.
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One Step Backward Taken Not only sands and gravels...
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August 2011
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"…Negative Capability, that is when man is capable...
—John Keats
Negative capability describes resistance to a set of institutional arrangements or system of knowledge and categorization of the world and human experience. It explains the capacity of human beings to reject the totalizing constraints of a closed context, and to both experience phenomenon free from any epistemological bounds as well as to assert their own will and individuality...
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WatchThe last half-century has seen the disappearance of the American family farm, and the grave cultural and environmental impact of the resulting suburban sprawl.
In 14 years of looking and listening, Scott Strazzante sets judgment aside as he explores the evolution of one plot of Illinois farmland, and the people who live their lives there. He is there as Jean and Harlow Cagwin watch their...