Nigerian style birthday party

I have been busy over the last month, so I have not had the chance to post anything up. I know these images are a little different from what I normally post. I had the the rare experience to document a Nigerian style birthday party for Comfort Egbufor. What I like about these images is do from the party taken place in the basement of a church and the authentic african attire...it gives the viewer a sense that the images were taken in Nigeria itself and not in northwest DC.

What photographers did before the iphone..

I am finding myself going back to the simplest form of photography..shooting with a holga..no not the iphone app that everyone is posting to their facebook pages. The little $20 plastic camera that you load 120/220 film, not having any control over shutter, aperture or the way that it will leak light. Its photography at its rawest form...a lost art.

Director Zack Snyder for WB

Last week I was contracted to document a photo op by Warner Brothers with Director Zack Snyder, who just directed the upcoming movie "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole." He visited an Owl Sanctuary in Chevy Chase, Md. It was a really fun shoot..as he is very laid back guy showing up in a plain t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

Who has the right to say photojournalism is dead???

"Okay, I’m that friend and I’m stepping forward and calling it. “Photojournalism: time of death 11.12. GMT 1st August 2010.” Amen." was written by Neil Burgess photographer and who runs his own picture agency, NB Pictures. which was quoted in article on the Editorial Photographers UK website

I am starting to see articles like this almost on a weekly basis..."photojournalism is dead,""newspapers are dead,""The broke photojournalist" and "magazines are dying." I have decided that I am not longer reading these articles as I feel that they are just a way for people who are stuck in their old ways and not willing to get with the changes of the industry and the way a photographer markets themselves. So they decided that they have to complain and make it seem like that everyone in photojournalism school should drop out and get a job at Burger King, because they will make more money.

James Estrin wrote a great piece about the new cooperative Luceo Images and how these young and upcoming photographers have a good business sense and making good money doing what they love in the New York Times Lens blog.

I could go on paragraph after paragraph talking about how the ways that photojournalist can save the industry, how we only shoot for the respect for other photojournalist and not the consumer. We are in the business of sales, like it or not and you have to sale what the consumer wants. Yes that not might be the story about a starving family in India..instead it might be about a feature piece on a celebrity and their new movie. Even great photographers like Christopher Morris is doing stories on Taylor Swift and Ashton Kutcher.

So I am calling it..photojournalism is not dead...it is alive and well. So go out figure out what the consumer wants to read and shoot that to pay the bills. Every artist has those personal projects that they close dear to their heart. I am not saying give up on those..but realize that it might bring home the bacon. Sometimes its the most cheesiest stories that bring home the biggest paychecks.

OVO

Last week I did a shoot for Cirque du Soleil of their new show OVO, which is at the National Harbor Center until late October..

Neil Godleski's Candlelight vigil 1979-2010

Many of you dont know, but early Sunday morning a friend of mine, Neil Godleski, was shot and killed in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington DC. He was only 31 and finishing up his degree at Catholic University. Everyone that knew Neil, spoke very highly of him and became very close to him. Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty was in attendance and spoke during the a candlelight vigil that was Wednesday night at Sherman Circle, the scene of the shooting. He said that police have strong leads and he was confident that the case would be close very soon. For information about the shooting please feel free to check out this link at http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/08/catholic-u-senior-fatally-shot-on-his-bike-4211.html.

Below is a photo essay that I shot from the candlelight vigil that was held last night and that saw over a 150 people showed up.

Neil Godleski Candlelight vigil - Images by Kristopher Connor

Street view....

I had to run some errands downtown yesterday, so I decided to take the G10 out for the day. I recently read a web post by Chase Jarvis, who said that if you stand in one spot and you looked around. That you should be able to come up with ten amazing photos around that area. So I tried it down at the corner of 7th and H in the heart of Chinatown. I started to look at different spots to shoot from and how I could frame the image. Here are three images taken from the same view point, seconds apart from each other. The distortion is not from the lens of the camera or from an effect in post production. Its from the window that I was shooting through. I have to admit, I like what it adds to the images.