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An exhibition called ‘Sight Unseen‘ has opened at the California Museum of Photography which showcases the work of twelve blind photographers from around the world.

The curator of Sight Unseen, Douglas McCulloh, explains how visually impaired people are able to capture such beautiful images.

See the gallery, visit the virtual exhibition, or over at the BBC some (commentated) photos.

Solargraph by Pekka Salminen

I’ve done some pinhole camera experiments in my younger days, but Justin Quinell is our age’s master in this technique. Have a look at his collection of multiple-month exposures, which he calls Solargraphs.

He also built a miniature camera, letting you expose from within the mouth. And he even sells those little cameras for next-to-nothing.

And do visit Junstins homepage, where you’ll find lots of other goodies, including instructions on how to build a 720-degree camera out of toilet rolls.

A good friend, who is both a programmer and dancer, sent me this well made french dance film from 1994, Le petit bal perdu. Love the feel of film (and can you spot the matte box?)

David Griffin, who is the photo editor for the National Geographic, talks about the power of images.

1. Save on food
   Budget properly for catering. The more so if your crew is underpaid. The more so, the longer the shoot is.
   Doesn’t cost much more, but does wonders for crew morale.
2. 16 hour days, 5 days a week
   Just because this film is the No.1 priority for you, doesn’t mean it is for everyone else on set. Not only does the crew have a right to a life as well, and not only do they need to be able to work on their next film, but overworking the crew makes you liable for accidents that may – and eventuall will – happen.
   If all these arguments don’t count: My experience is that 6 days with 16 hours are not more productive than 5 days with 10 hours.
3. Concentrate on the money shots
   While nice for marketing and your show-reel, the audience will only sit through your film if it is good in its entity, not just some scenes.
4. Who needs a DP – I can buy a camera instead?
   An experienced cameraman will free you to concentrate on telling the story by giving your actors good instructions. An experienced cameraman will speed up the production by knowing what to shoot, what will work visually, which lenses to use, which stock to use, and many more things that you have never heard of. more…

Martin Amm takes amazing macro shots. Observe:

There is a new(ish) blog for assistant editors, aptly named Post Production Standards.

Take a look here.

Art, just like life, has always been evolving. New tools arrive, adding to the possible ways of expression. Looking at a video that compresses 500 years of painting female portraits into 3 minutes, and knowing that cinematography is a mere 100 years old, I am excited about the future.

The web can be a (as in: one of many) resources for inspiration. One of my favourite sites is BibliOdyssey, which regularly shares its visual bounty from dives into old libraries. With high quality scans and informative text, it shows glimpses of a rich cultural past.

In the last couple of months I had the honour of filming a number of old (as in 75 to 3-digit years) people. I always enter the room with great respect for what they have been through. They have suffered at least one world war, built up the countries and are now at despair to the route politicians are taking Europe. Money – not people’s best interests – seem to rule the world.

We should listen more to old people and less to Excel sheets.