Magnum Photos website vs Steve Huff blog

[Thardy]

I took a look at the Magnum site via the link. My take is that it's serious work by serious photographers.

 

[Bob Michaels]

......................... Magnum needs to do more social networking and give people access to communicate with their photographers more....but then again, maybe they only care about the photography 😉

BINGO! Those Magnum guys only care about photography.

The ones I have met are pleasant but I would have to say their motivation is 100% photography and 0% social networking / access. They only want to take great photos and not be our internet buddies.

remember the story about Robert Johnson meeting the devil down at the Crossroads and selling his soul for his musical ability? Well, I willing to trade a bunch of internet buddies for more photo talent.

 

[leicashot]

BINGO! Those Magnum guys only care about photography.

The ones I have met are pleasant but I would have to say their motivation is 100% photography and 0% social networking / access. They only want to take great photos and not be our internet buddies.

remember the story about Robert Johnson meeting the devil down at the Crossroads and selling his soul for his musical ability? Well, I willing to trade a bunch of internet buddies for more photo talent.

The only problem is that the new generation of photographers look to social network as the bible for information and inspiration, as dull as it may seem.

Whether they like it or not, social networking is quickly becoming THE tool required by photographers if they want to stay relevant with the new generation and beyond.

Think if it this way, many of you before joining these forums had probably never heard of Magnum, let alone a majority of their photographers....well social networking is the next generation of forums.

 

[fstops]

fstops: it is the equivalent of a cold day in hell when I jump in to comment about one members critique of someone's photo work. But regarding John's (emraphoto) work, you are clueless. Read a bit of the international press war coverage in the mid east, see his work there. I hate to say it but you are showing your *ss.

Look here, his photos might impress you but not me; however, I'm not going to say more because I don't care. If I want to see whats happening in mid east, I check BBC and the usual sources, not some gimmicky out-dated PJ photos of the usual gimmicky PJ stuff.

And his a big boy and he can deal with this, no need to play internet buddies.

 

[fstops]

i am not sure where, in the history of all my internet posting, you would get the impression that i am trying to be an 'internet tough guy'. that sort of thing holds zero water with me.

i also assure you, i have never shot a hipstamatic anything in my entire life.

now back to what you originally stated, i call bollocks.

I was talking about the post-processing, but anyway, it all means bollocks to me!

 

[Jubb Jubb]

Magnum website is for photographers that focus on their photography.
Steve Huff website is for photographers that focus on their gear.

Massive difference, and shows majority of the community is more focused about what they own as opposed to what they shoot.

 

[kbg32]

The sophistication of Huff's is extremely sophomoric, bordering on moronic. Ever notice how all the "Daily Inspirations" begin with, "Steve, I love your site ..."..... etc.. Stroke his ego, get published.

 

[JayM]

I don't know anything about Huff, but some good work shows up on the "Burn" site. It's got to clear DAH before it's published.

http://www.burnmagazine.org/

Burn is pretty above par for the internet. I think it even exceeds the non-magnum photo agencies I've seen online.

 

[icebear]

If you visit magnum photos website (www.magnumphotos.com) there is not a single response to any of the pictures or stories posted. If you visit Steve Huff blog (www.stevehuffphoto.com), which I'm using as an example, every post has more than fifty responses to it on an average.

To me this pretty much sums up today's photography, the photography gear itself is photography, photography as an art or medium of self-expression is pretty much dead.

Without commenting on the bollocks discussion coming back to your original post :

There is a certain qualification necessary to become a member of this group (Magnum). They are the judges themselves.
There is little qualification necessary beyong technical skills to run a site (or have some tech support). Much more important nowadays is knowing how to attract attention i.e. number of hits on a website, number of comments and number of visitors. As all these purely quantitative numbers translate into advertising money, these numbers like "followers" are heavily manipulated.

This is just an expression of the online and un-social media. This has nothing to do with photography itself nor with the quality of anything posted. Popularity does not equal a certain level of quality or vice versa.

Preferences on pictures are very different. There is a gazillion of pictures posted every day on the web, because it's free. If 99.5% (just a rough guess) will still interest anybody a year from now is questionable. I think if your [not you personally fstops, just to avoid any misunderstanding] ambition is to join Magnum, then you also aim for a more lasting impression of your work. The approach is totally different. It's like slow food vs fast food.

 

[Jubb Jubb]

I'd sure as hell love to see more magnum shots than shots of a someones cat or child that gets posted on Huffs site, however the market is extremely different and not even compareable. Huffs is more user generated, hence it's going to get more comments. Magnum is the best of the best. I don't even know why this thread exists. It's a ridiculous statement to start with.

 

[emraphoto]

Look here, his photos might impress you but not me; however, I'm not going to say more because I don't care. If I want to see whats happening in mid east, I check BBC and the usual sources, not some gimmicky out-dated PJ photos of the usual gimmicky PJ stuff.

And his a big boy and he can deal with this, no need to play internet buddies.

last time through Syria i was with the BBC crew. was on assignment with The Guardian and their middle east chief, who is a friend of mine. i returned a little over 30 days ago. work ran in Le Monde, Time magazine, The Guardian (duh) and a few other places over the past 3 months. now my position is a little biased however i would hardly call that outdated?

anyhow, as charming of a chap as i am sure you are, i will leave you to your cheap insults and internet trolling.

 

[emraphoto]

I'd sure as hell love to see more magnum shots than shots of a someones cat or child that gets posted on Huffs site, however the market is extremely different and not even compareable. Huffs is more user generated, hence it's going to get more comments. Magnum is the best of the best. I don't even know why this thread exists. It's a ridiculous statement to start with.

and the folks that frequent Steve's site are not pretending to be something that they are not. they like cameras and frankly, the idea that somehow this places them somewhere lower on someone's silly scale is childish.

 

[leicashot]

I don't know anything about Huff, but some good work shows up on the "Burn" site. It's got to clear DAH before it's published.

http://www.burnmagazine.org/

I looked at Huff's site..

While I'm no fan of Albert Watson, I think one might learn more studying Watson's work rather than Huff's

http://www.albertwatson.net/

Huff's site is not about his 'work'. It's about his gear and if anyone here tries to play the gear thing down, they're kidding themselves. Why are we here posting about this and not out shooting or talking about something more meaningful, if we're 'all' about the work.

 

[emraphoto]

A fun thread so far 😀



Yep, most of my browsing of this website is done when I'm bored at work. Now back to my popcorn 😀

(a special thanks to Dave for posting this GIF yesterday. I'm gonna use it every chance I get now 😉)

it was interesting to see your image of Alkis amongst the Sarajevo stuff Jon. i met him (Alkis) in Sarajevo last fall!

 

[finguanzo]

wow, comparing steve huff to magnum.. this might be a first for me..

 

[leicashot]

wow, comparing steve huff to magnum.. this might be a first for me..

The comparison is about people's desire for information, both differing immensely. This is not a photography or credibility comparison. If this is what people are trying to do, why not just contact Steve and tell him his work is lesser than Magnums. I'm inclined to assume he would agree.

 

[Lawrence A.]

There are some decent photographers among the RFF members. But, you are correct about all the pet photos. The only thing photographed more than pets are cameras. Some people on here will buy a camera in order to photograph their "other" cameras.

" Let's see your Leica M" with 1,479,134 page views .. photos of member's cameras.. and this is just the M cameras..

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30362

Quilty as charged. I have thousands of photos of my dog, but let me explain. Whenever I get a new camera or lens I need to check it out. Since she adores me (and I her), she follows me from room to room and is always where I am with my camera. Sometimes I'm checking out equipment; sometimes I'm just availing myself of a truly adorable pose. I havent posted any here, but thats not saying I won't if I get one that is more than a family snapshot.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Quilty as charged. I have thousands of photos of my dog, but let me explain. Whenever I get a new camera or lens I need to check it out. Since she adores me (and I her), she follows me from room to room and is always where I am with my camera. Sometimes I'm checking out equipment; sometimes I'm just availing myself of a truly adorable pose. I havent posted any here, but thats not saying I won't if I get one that is more than a family snapshot.

Pictures of pets can be an important part of serious art or documentary work. Look at William Wegman's work. The man is famous for his photographs of dogs.

Over the years, I spent a lot of time photographing my grandfather. I made countless photographs of his dog and cats, because they were so important to him, and had such interesting lives themselves.

THe dog walked into the kitchen, looked around to be sure no one was watching (I guess I didn't count!), then jumped up and stole a piece of meat from the plate on the counter!

This one was made a few months before grandpa died from Alzheimer's Disease.

 

[JChrome]

Pictures of pets can be an important part of serious art or documentary work. Look at William Wegman's work. The man is famous for his photographs of dogs.

Over the years, I spent a lot of time photographing my grandfather. I made countless photographs of his dog and cats, because they were so important to him, and had such interesting lives themselves.

THe dog walked into the kitchen, looked around to be sure no one was watching (I guess I didn't count!), then jumped up and stole a piece of meat from the plate on the counter!

This one was made a few months before grandpa died from Alzheimer's Disease.

Great photos of your grandfather and sorry for your loss. The images really speak about his love for his animals.

But in many ways I agree with Lawrence. Your photos are documenting something and there is effort behind those photos. So many photos are people stuck in their houses with nothing to do but show off. I say get out of the house and use your camerA!

For me it is easy to say because I work in midtown NYC and use my camera every day to and from work. But I get tired of the same household images I see. And I also must agree that the Internet only increases the lust for gear.

 

[steveniphoto]

If you visit magnum photos website (www.magnumphotos.com) there is not a single response to any of the pictures or stories posted. If you visit Steve Huff blog (www.stevehuffphoto.com), which I'm using as an example, every post has more than fifty responses to it on an average.

To me this pretty much sums up today's photography, the photography gear itself is photography, photography as an art or medium of self-expression is pretty much dead.

ok a couple responses from me.

Steve Huff networks. I see him posting **** all the time on FB, he puts out a lot of youtube videos to go with any reviews, he allows guest reviewers or whatever on his site, and most importantly, his blog is set up as a community and is constantly being updated and new articles being introduced. its a personal site though and through.

Magnum is a site dedicated to its professional members. they dont promote, network, or anything its all about the photography. their site, imo, is set up as an online gallery/info collective on its members. to be honest, my favorite photographers are Magnum and i rarely check the site due to *some* lack of updates.

the reason why photographers now would flock to Steve's site is because we live in the digital age. there are new cameras released multiple times a year and they keep getting better and better. its not like before where a single film camera could last you 10 years (and more, easily). my 6 year old nikon d40 is considere a piece of **** while my olympus om-1n is still a gem. see how it goes?

there are plenty of good photographers out there you just have to sift through those who own a dslr or mirrorless for personal endeavors and not for learning the medium. theres collectives like in-public, strange.rs, burn my eye, un-posed, etc etc that have great photographers in them.

Maybe you like using the word bollocks or something but please dude, don't try to be some internet tough guy when your photos are more inductive of a softy type... and cut down on the hipstamic look, its too ubiquitous right now.

Anyway, there are good photographers, yes, but the problem is no one gives a damn about them, and everyone is busy sucking up to Steve or Ken or Kai or some other hack gear reviewer.

also how about you post a link to your work? no need to be a keyboard warrior. you started this thread so you have to expect people to have a different opinion.