Filed under: Photography
You’ve probably already seen this over at APE, but in case you haven’t, check out this great post by Scott Dadich, creative director at WIRED magazine, about the making of Dan Winters’ book “Periodical Photographs” on the Society of Publication Designers blog Grids.
Winters is a great inspiration and one of the best editorial/portrait photographers working today. See more of his amazing work here.
Filed under: Photography
A nice post by Ottawa-based photographer Tony Fouhse over at his blog Drool about the printed photograph. It’s worth a few minutes of your time on this Sunday afternoon. Hope everyone here in the states had a fun and safe holiday weekend.
Filed under: Photography
A few things I think are worth letting people know about.
1. First things first. I married the love of my life, Jessica, about a month ago in Key West, Fla.! It was a simple, kind of spontaneous wedding with good friends and some family. I’m a lucky man.
Photograph Copyright © Alex Boerner. All Rights Reserved.
Photograph Copyright © Romain Blanquart. All Rights Reserved.
Photograph Copyright © Romain Blanquart. All Rights Reserved.
2. Wilco, one of my all-time favorite bands, released their seventh proper LP, Wilco (The Album), on Tuesday. I don’t think it’s their best, but it’s slowly revealing little nuggets of beauty and greatness as I listen repeatedly.
Wilco (The Album)
3. Yet another great installment of Inside the Photographers_Studio over at What’s the Jackanory. This episode features Phillip Toledano. Check it out if you haven’t already done so.
4. This is so funny. Need an artist statement for your new project? Check out The Market-O-Matic (1.0) fine arts version here!
Filed under: Photography
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
Filed under: About Me
In desperate need of a long weekend away for some fun and relaxation, Jessica and I decided a few weeks ago to plan a short trip to Key West. It’s close enough for us to drive, not too expensive and fun. Perfect. As we were laying in bed discussing our getaway, we jokingly said we should just get married while we’re down there. We have been discussing the how, when and where ever since our engagement, but it kind of got put on the back burner for a while. So what started out as a half-serious conversation about getting married in the Keys changed course to a serious discussion about making it a reality in just a few weeks. Could we find someone to marry us, get rings, a license, a place to stay, time off, a dress for her, a beach wedding outfit and some new flip-flops for me ( I think it’s state law that I have to wear something like a linen shirt and pants) and more in such little time? The answer is yes.
So in five days, we will be married on a small section of beach at sunset, surrounded by the friends and family that are able to make the trip down. We drive down Thursday morning, get married Friday evening, play Saturday and Sunday and drive back home Monday morning. No honeymoon right away.
I never thought I would ever get married. Well, I guess I should say I never thought I would find a woman that would stick around long enough and love me enough to want to spend their life with me. Lucky for me, and I am truly lucky, I found Jessica. I remember clearly the first day we met in person two and a half years ago. We actually met over the internet, I know, crazy, but it worked out just fine for us. I suggested we just meet for coffee so each of us would have a safe out in case we decided it wasn’t quite right or weird (you never know with the whole online dating thing). She still gives me shit about Starbucks being our first date. But it wasn’t really our first date, it was our first meet, face-to-face. The first date came next. Anyway, it all worked out.
Jessica
It’s hard for me to put into words how important Jessica is to me, or how much I love and adore her, or how she makes me feel inside, or how she’s made me a better person. She is simply a beautiful person inside and out and my love for her is immeasurable. I am so looking forward to marrying this beautiful, beautiful woman. On May 29th, a little after 7 p.m., I will be the luckiest man on Earth.
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
Can you guess what this is?
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
I’ve been photographing the brush fires in Indiantown, Fla., for the last few days. Came across 67-year-old George James and his crazy dreads. I’ve never seen anyone wrap them around the forehead like this. Makes me feel itchy. Sitting in the shade under an Australian pine tree, George recalled watching the fires come just feet from his modest home on Lincoln Street Sunday evening, Mother’s Day, the day of his 67th birthday, keeping him from his birthday party across town. Thankfully, his home, and his dreads, both survived the flames. Jah bless.
Filed under: Photography
A group of us took our good friend Alex Boerner out this past Saturday for a day of off-shore fishing, tons of beer and not so healthy food to celebrate his upcoming sentence, I mean marriage, to Deborah Silver. The weather was perfect, the seas were smooth and the beer was cold. Couldn’t ask for a better day. There’s something about drinking a cold beer and eating fried chicken at 8 a.m. 15 miles off-shore with a group of great guys.
Alex reeling in his dolphin fish, a.k.a. Mahi-mahi
That's me, reeling in my dolphin.
Landing my dolphin into the boat with help from the captain.
Me and my fish.
During a lull in the fishing, Some of us decided to jump overboard for a quick swim to cool off and refresh ourselves. It felt great until someone on the boat told us to get back in, that there was a shark. Of course Alex thought they were just playing around. But they weren’t. We all climbed back in and saw the 10 to 12-foot hammer head circling the boat. Pretty exciting. The photos below are not great, but show our friend looking for its next meal. Or maybe he was just curious about all the noise. I think he wanted to eat us. It makes for a better story.
Hammerhead looking for lunch.
Hammerhead shark near the surface.
After getting beat up by the salt and the sun and who knows how many cans of Coors Light and Heineken, we made it back to dry land, cleaned the six dolphin we caught, grilled some of it over at Steven Martine’s crib and ate probably the freshest, tastiest fish I’ve ever had, all washed down with cold Newcastles. Deliciousioso!!
Congratulations Alex! Sorry we never made it out to see those dancing girls. Another time my friend.
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009, Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
Spent some time with some beautiful horses and some cool people today at the Equine Rescue & Adoption Foundation in Palm City, Florida. ERAF is a not-for-profit organization “devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation and re-education of abused, abandoned and neglected horses in south Florida.” This is Dana Earle and her draft Appalachian mix Attila the Hun practicing their natural horsemanship techniques. Can’t beat a beautiful day, nice people, incredible animals and making pictures.
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
Filed under: Photography
Today is the one year anniversary of Eat the Darkness and I’m struggling to post anything right now as I try to get over what I think is the flu. My vision is slightly blurred, my body is weak, my head feels like a brick, and I’m slightly dazed from the nighttime cold medicine I’m taking during the day (it’s all I have left) that’s only making me drowsy. So this post will be brief.
I really just want to say thanks to anyone who has ever visited ETD, and even more thanks to those who visit on a regular basis. I’m still amazed that people stop by on a regular basis to see what’s new. I don’t think I would have even started this blog if it wasn’t for the encouragement of a few friends who convinced me to put myself out there and use this as another creative outlet. So thanks to all of you.
ETD has served many purposes over the last year and I hope to continue using it to share my thoughts and opinions, my work, and the work and ideas of other photographers, artists, musicians, and creative people that inspire and motivate me.
Ok, I’m going to go lay back down and have some fluids.
Cheers!
Filed under: Photography
Some stuff I think is cool and worth checking out.
• My good buddy and inspirator John Loomis is currently honeymooning with his lovely wife Judyta on the Galapagos Island in the eastern Pacific. So it’s only fitting to turn you on to his new blog Pacific. His old blog, Drinking With a Dead Man is, well, dead.
• In addition to his own personal blog, photographer Kevin Miyazaki is also conducting short interview with his fellow Redux photographers over at the agency’s blog. So check it out and learn a little bit about Michael Rubenstein and Andrew Cutraro.
• One of my favorite bands, Wilco, has a new DVD coming out in a couple weeks. Ashes of American Flags will be released on April 18th. Pre-order it here!!
•
Filed under: Photography
Photograph Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
… Just not sure if he’s going to find it in the sand.
“The first farmer was the first man. All historic nobility rests on the possession and use of land.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A couple new portraits up on Matthew Ratajczak Photography. I’ve been photographing on a lot of small family owned and operated farms lately. When I’m out there with these farmers and their families in the early morning, it makes me want to put down my cameras and get my hands dirty, sweat and make something grow.
“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.”
–Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Jay (Aug. 23, 1785)
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
“An overcrowded chicken farm produce fewer eggs.”
- Chinese Proverb
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
“If you tickle the earth with a hoe she laughs with a harvest.”
- Douglas William Jerrold
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak/Scripps Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m still here. Just been busy with life. I’ve been doing a little work to Matthew Ratajczak Photography, adding some new portraits and a story about alligator egg hunting on Lake Okeechobee, shooting almost every day for my real job, doing some freelance, dealing with brush fires and the smokey stank that won’t leave my truck or clothes, not sleeping very well and thinking a lot about the upcoming move to PA for Jessica’s new job and what it all means in the grand scheme of things for me professionally and personally.
But enough about me. Tomorrow’s the big day (shit I guess it’s already tomorrow, didn’t realize it’s after 2:00 a.m.) for my dear friends John and Judyta. This incredible couple will be saying “I do,” we hope, and tying the knot at the beautiful Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Fla. Jessica and I couldn’t be happier for them. We wish them all the happiness and luck in the world as they begin this new chapter in their ever evolving story. We’re both looking forward to dressing up and sharing this special day with them. I still don’t understand what a beautiful, smart and lovely woman like Judyta sees in John, but what do I know. Just kidding buddy, I love you man!!
So for the few people that actually check this blog every now and then, sorry for the big gaps. There just seems to be chunks of time where I don’t have much to share or anything worth saying. I’ll get on it and try to be a better blogger.
Final Edition: The Rocky Mountain News
It’s a sad day. My Company, E.W. Scripps, pounded the final nail into the Rocky Mountain News‘ coffin today. It’s very unfortunate and disappointing that hundreds of people are losing their jobs and that a newspaper that has been reporting and publishing since the Civil War is shutting down. They almost made it to 150 years. What’s scary though, is thinking about what might happen if the Denver Post crumbles as well. Even if you’re not a big reader of local news, or much of a reader at all, it’s hard to imagine a city without a newspaper covering your community, whether printed on paper or published on the web, and serving as a watch dog over those in power. In a video on the Rocky’s website today, a reader sums it up very well. He says “I tell you what, if you take out our paper, people will not be informed anymore. And an uninformed society breeds a lot of social evils.” These two proverbs come to mind as well: When the cat’s away, the mice will play and where there is no cat, the rat is king.
The Rocky is the first big city giant to fall. Many more are on the verge. When they fall, and they will, I hope it is not the end of quality, in-depth journalism and photojournalism, but rather the beginning of something fresh. We won’t get anything with teeth or in-depth from television news or local radio. News related blogs are interesting, but they are usually focussed on national and international topics and I have little faith in their accuracy. There is no oversight, no ethics. They can do and say whatever they want and get away with it. Don’t get me wrong, newspapers are not perfect and they don’t always get it right. But more times than not, they do. But if you fuck up and don’t triple check the information or you skew the facts to your liking at a newspaper, the readers take notice and respond. You’re held accountable and have to either stand by your work and defend yourself, or stand corrected and ashamed.
Even if you didn’t like the Rocky, their political slant, their style, their columnists, their editorial page etc… I still think it is a terrible loss to Denver and they will be missed. The question is, when our city’s papers disappear, will the void be filled or will the mice play.
Filed under: Photography
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Anthony Suau and Time Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
American photographer Anthony Suau talks about his photo essay for Time Magazine on our shit economy and its crippling effect on the U.S. and the city of Cleveland with the The British Journal of Photography. The above photo, from this story, has also won the World Press Photo of the Year, and the essay a second place prize in the daily life stories category. Congrats Mr. Suau.
Just came across this piece, via Conscientious, written by photographer Simon Norfolk and this piece written by Oxfam Novib picture editor Evelien Schotsman, both for Enter, the online magazine of World Press Photo’s education department.
In the “Ask The Experts” section of the magazine under the subhead of Marketing 1 and Marketing 2, they address issues such as how photographers, primarily photojournalists, will market their work over the next several years and how they should approach their work (Schotsman says it’s not effective for photojournalists to simply try to “capture the facts of life or tell an untold story” and sees “a need for the photojournalist to become a photo artist of reality”). And Norfolk gives his depressing prediction for the future of all working photographers, “My advice? Get re-skilled. Keep your photographic aspirations but try to get a trade like film editing, web-design or accounting.” That’s encouraging.
Feel free to comment on this. Would be interested to hear what you think about what’s being said in these two articles.
Filed under: Photography
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
Friend and inspirator Romain Blanquart has produced a group of unique portraits made on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the inauguration of our new president Barack Obama. He made the photographs while on assignment for the Detroit Free Press where he works as a staff photographer.
Copyright © 2009 Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
“As the crowd gathered Tuesday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration, Free Press staff photographer Romain Blanquart carried a half-mask cutout of Barack Obama’s face and sought volunteers to pose for a portrait. Blanquart wanted to know: Is there a little bit of Obama in you?” From the Detroit Free Press Web Site. See the entire slide show here and here
Copyright © 2009 Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Ratajczak/Scripps. All Rights Reserved.
I met President -elect Barack Obama today, actually it’s after midnight, so yesterday, at a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration here in south Florida. He didn’t say too much. In fact, he was a little stiff, just standing by himself, leaning on the fence along the edge of all the festivities with his fake perma-grin, waving his tiny flag. Honestly, I expected more from the guy. Maybe he was just nervous. I don’t know, he was looking a little rough around the edges, all bent out of shape. I think he needs a massage.
I know, that was cheesy. Sorry, couldn’t resist. I did find it interesting though that there were more images of Obama at Monday’s celebration than of King. His likeness was everywhere, easily outnumbering that of one of the greatest, most important men in American history. But it seemed fitting and alright with everyone there. Ironically, as the country prepares to make Obama the 44th President of the United States of America today, I noticed yesterday that this was frame _DSC0044 on my CF card. I’m totally fucking serious, no lie.
So today is going to be a good day, no, a great day, the beginning of what I hope will be a major sea change for all of us and this country. If we’re all patient and don’t expect things to reverse course immediately, I think the next four years, maybe eight, will be positively historic.
Good luck President Obama!
Filed under: Books, Family & Friends, Kool Thing(s), Photography, Publishing
Issue 3
When compiling the list of my favorite things from 2008, here, I failed to mention in the photo portion of the post the three self-published issues of i like to tell stories by the seemingly prolific Jonathan Saunders. I purchased the first issue earlier this year through MagCloud and just recently received issues 2 and 3 in the mail (this time in a box and undamaged).
Issue 3
Issue 2
i like to tell stories are “touchable,” tangible, printed versions of selected entries from his blog of the same name in a magazine format. The content is sometimes very personal, sometimes confusing, sometimes kind of boring, sometimes very interesting, provoking, funny, sad, brilliant, blah. It’s all kinds of different things to different people. Check it out for yourself. Buy them here.
Issue 2
Issue 2
Issue 2
All Photography and Visual Media Copyright © Jonathan Saunders, 2008. All Rights Reserved.
Filed under: Books, Family & Friends, Kool Thing(s), Miscellaneous, Music, Photographers, Photography
I love reading through the different end of the year, best-of lists for music, movies, news stories etc… So I thought I would piss away some time and make some lists of my own as 2008 comes to an end.
Lets start with the tunes. Looking back, I don’t feel like I really listened to a lot of new music released in 2008. I used to pore over all the monthly music mags, trying to keep up with all the new bands and and all the hot new music being released. I don’t know what’s happened over the last couple years though. Too busy? Not interested? Too much work? Who the fuck knows. Anyway, here are some of my favorite releases from 2008.
10. Juno: Music From the Motion Picture. “All I Want Is You” by Barry Louis Polisar could possibly be our wedding song when Jessica and I get married.
09. Sea Wolf: Leaves In The River. This didn’t leave the CD player in my truck for weeks earlier this year.
08. Land of Talk: Some Are Lakes. Never heard of these guys until Alex and I saw them open for Broken Social Scene in Pompano Beach. They were killer. Still absorbing this one.
07. R.E.M.: Accelerate. Never a huge R.E.M. fan, but this is good shit.
06. The Walkmen: You & Me. (Thanks John!)
05. Deerhunter: Microcastle. Don’t have much to say here. I just really like it and listen to it a lot.
04. Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid. Such a grossly underrated band. They just keep getting better and better. A beautiful recording.
03. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes. I resisted this one for a long time because they seemed like the flavor of the month. I stand corrected. It’s fantastic.
02. TV On the Radio: Dear Science. Can’t stop listening to “Love Dog.”
01. Radiohead: In Rainbows. Technically released in late 2007 digitally, but I listened to it mostly in 2008, and am still enjoying it quite a bit. Saw the first show of their North American tour with John and Judyta earlier this year. A little rusty as they worked through some of the new material, but a fucking amazing show none the less. One of my favorite bands of all time.
Just like my new music experience in 2008, I didn’t see a lot of new movies. I saw a lot of older ones at home, but didn’t see a lot on the big screen. However, there were a few I did see and enjoyed very much. Now Jessica would probably disagree with most on my short list below, because her list is even shorter. In her mind, there was only ONE movie this year. “Mamma Mia!” She almost got me to watch it last night. For some reason I bought the DVD for her for Christmas. If I didn’t buy it , she would have. It’s inevitable, I will see “Mamma Mia!” in the near future. Who knows, maybe I’ll like it and take part in the sing along version. Highly unlikely, but you never know. The things you do for love. Anyway, in no particular order, these are the movies that were most memorable (that I can remember seeing) to me in 2008.
• Slumdog Millionaire
• The Dark Knight
• Tropic Thunder
• Iron Man
Like I said, not much. Maybe I’m forgetting something I saw and it will come back to me. However, I am looking forward to seeing these 2008 releases as soon as possible:
Gran Torino, The Wrestler, Rachel Getting Married, Doubt, W, Quantum of Solace, Defiance, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Religuious, The Reader, Let the Right One In, Role Models, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Visitor and Milk.
Shit, I guess I didn’t really get out too much this year. I have a lot of catching up to do. Almost forgot, Step Brothers cracked me up!!! I was in tears when I saw it for the first time. Haven’t laughed that hard in a while.
I would normally list my favorite photo books of the year, but I didn’t buy too many this year. I’m seeing a pattern here. Must be the poor economy and my lack of money to have fun with. Anyway, I did buy a couple traditional photo books that I really like:
Findings: by Hiroshi Watanabe
Stuff I Gotta Remember Not to Forget: by Darin Mickey
And some independent, self-published work too.
One: by Romain Blanquart
38: by Kevin Miyazaki
Superficial Snapshots Zine 2: An Issue With Lomos: by Allison V. Smith
Rank Strangers: by Susana Raab
I also purchased this print by Andrew Hetherington and this print by Beth Dow at 20×200.
More important than the music, photography and the movies is the fact that some very cool things happened in my life this year. I started this blog. Sold some prints (the print sale is still up and running here with a possible second sale with different images in the future). I finally got www.matthewratajczak.com up and running, getting one step closer to going out on my own. But bigger, better, more important, more beautiful and wonderful, is that Jessica and I got engaged! It’s changed me forever.
Overall it’s been a great year. I hope next year is even better and that it brings happiness, love, adventure and success to all of you. Happy New Year!!!
Jessica and I were lucky to have one day of wintery bliss while visiting her family in Ohio last week. We didn’t have a white Christmas at her sister’s in Marietta, but we did have a couple days of snow while visiting her father earlier in the week along the lake near Painesville in northeastern Ohio. It was so great to get out of Florida and spend the holiday with family. Hopefully next year we will spend the week with my family in Michigan.
These are just some random photos from the couple days we spent with my future father-in-law, Joe Elliott, and no he’s not the singer with Def Leppard, at and around his home in the country. Yes, that is a bullet hole. Don’t worry, nobody was killed. It’s a long story and it didn’t happen while we were there.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting several of the local wineries in the area, tasting and comparing a variety of the local wines (we were happily buzzed, and sometimes pretty drunk, from about noon until late that night). I especially liked Grand River Cellars’ 2005 Cabernet Franc, their Merlot, a grape I normally don’t care for, their delicious ice wine (a sweet dessert wine produced from grapes frozen while still on the vine) and South River Vineyard’s ”Trinity,” a blend of Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir. I had no idea the region was such a big, ever-growing wine producer. Driving along the winding, snow-covered country roads of the Grand River Valley, frozen grape vines were everywhere, just waiting for the coming thaw. A real treat. Happy New Year!!!!
All Photographs Copyright © 2008 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
O Christmas Tree,
O Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are
your branches!
Your boughs are green
in summer’s clime
And through the snows
of wintertime.
O Christmas Tree,
O Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are
your branches!
All Photographs Copyright © 2008 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved.
He stayed with me longer than I thought he would. Then he was one with the wind. Never saw him again.
Copyright 2008 © Matthew Ratajczak, All Rights Reserved.
I finally launched www.matthewratajczak.com! It’s still coming together and not perfect, but I really wanted to get it up. What’s up there now might not be what’s up there a week from now since I will still be refining and tweaking the content in the coming weeks. Thanks for looking!
It finally happened. It finally hit close to home. My newspaper laid off 38 people yesterday, including dear friends and fellow photographers Sam Wolfe and Sara Grile. No warning, just a mandatory 3 p.m. meeting. We weren’t sure exactly what was happening, but we all knew it was not going to be good. I was confused and unsure why Sam, Sarah and four others from the editorial department were heading away from the conference room, downstairs to a different meeting, while the rest of the newsroom was herded into another meeting. It didn’t take long for the news to be announced and the names of those fired read aloud.
Eyes filled with tears.
Sarah and Sam are both young and very talented. They are good people. I’m confident they will be OK. I hope, actually I know, they will turn this unexpected shit sandwich into opportunity. I don’t think they know just yet how lucky they are to be liberated. Unfortunately it wasn’t on their terms, and that sucks. Sam’s a survivor and he will continue to do great things. Sarah now has no reason not to enroll in the documentary film program at the University of Florida she’s been talking about. One door closes, a thousand more open.
You two will be missed more than you know. The last few years of having you two in our little photo family has been wonderful. It’s a great loss for all of us. The good news is that this is just a bump in the road. You’re still with us, just not working with us. You are the lucky ones in so many ways!
I’m writing this just minutes before November 4, 2008, election day. If you haven’t already voted early, I hope you all exercise your right to vote today, no matter who your candidate of choice is. I just hope that whoever is elected follows through on just a fraction of what they’ve promised over and over and over again. Asking anymore is just not realistic. These are a few photos from a recent Joe Biden rally in Jupiter, Florida. Elect Barack Obama!!!!
All Photographs Copyright © 2008 Matthew Ratajczak/Scripps Newspapers
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I want to apologize to all five of my loyal readers. Most of my free time has been spent trying to get my new website ready to go live. I’m close but not quite there. And then there is just life and all the consuming details of it. I promise to try and write more often and show some new work, but it might be a little while before I really get back into the groove.
In the meantime, to help satisfy your thirst, I’m happy to share that Alec Soth is back in the game. He is back blogging via Magnum. Check it out (here).
I also want to thank everyone who bought one of my photographs through my recent print sale here at Eat The Darkness. Your support is greatly appreciated and means a lot to me. The goal was, and still is, to help raise money so I can purchase some much needed camera equipment as I prepare to make the leap and go freelance. There’s more details in the original post. The sale is still active, so feel free to check it out and make a purchase. The holidays are getting closer, a photograph or two would make a lovely gift for your mom. I might even post a second round with some new photos.
I do have to say I was really surprised by the results of the print sale. The people I thought would jump all over it and help me out didn’t, and people I really didn’t expect to help, people I don’t talk to or see all the time, or people I haven’t seen or talked to in years, did! It was amazing. This is not a jab at those people who didn’t buy, believe me, I understand, kind of. I was just so pleasantly shocked by the people to who did buy a print, it’s not what I expected. Again, thank you so much. I’ve raised a nice little chunk of change. Far from my goal, but a good dent none the less. I don’t understand why more photographers don’t do this. There is so much amazing work out there that only lives on a website, a hard drive or a dusty DVD. Get it out there, make it available, share it, sell it, buy and sell art now!!!!
There are several photographers that I know, and many that I don’t, that if they made some of their photographs available for sale at affordable prices, I would definitely buy. Then again, many of them would probably not want to sell their work at a price most of us can afford.
Anyway, thanks again for your patience, and thanks to all of you who supported me.
2007 TED Prize winner James Nachtwey has his project online for the world to see. And you must see it. It’s important. Watch it (here), or below, and learn more about what Nachtwey is trying to accomplish through his documentary photographs (here). To watch his 23-minute acceptance speech for the award go (here).
I need your help. I’m afraid there’s no other way to put it.
I’m going to be leaving my job as a newspaper staff photographer in the near future, moving on to begin my new life as an unemployed, I mean freelance, photographer. There are several reasons and/or circumstances, some out of my control, that are bringing about this change. I will go into all that in more detail at a later date. I will say I’m very excited about this new opportunity, and nervous as hell too! This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but always found a reason not to do it. No more excuses, the time is right.
To make this a reality though, I need stuff. Lots of stuff. Expensive stuff. It sucks, but it’s just the way it is. It will be a gradual process, but there are some things I just can’t do without. The basics. The essentials needed to get the job done.
Over the years I’ve been spoiled with company camera gear, a company laptop and everything else needed to do my job. There was never a need to go spend thousands of dollars on equipment that I didn’t really need. More importantly though, these years have been spent at a newspaper that barely payed a living wage, definitely not enough to afford or save for expensive cameras, lenses, computers, lights etc…
So I’m having a print sale/fundraiser to help me purchase much needed camera(s) and lenses!! I’ve selected 10 photographs that I hope you like. Some of the photographs are from my personal “Convergence” project, a series I’ve been working on for a while that shows the often overlooked or unnoticed details of where man and nature subtly intersect with each other. And some are just random moments with the natural world and my daily life.
Each photograph is available as an 8X10 ($40) or 11X14 ($75). If you want something bigger, let me know and I’ll make a special order. I’ve set up links below each photograph that will take you to a PayPal site so you can purchase using your credit/debit card or PayPal account. If I know you, and you’re good for it, you can pay me with a check or cash and just let me know which print(s) you would like. The photos will be printed on Kodak Endura lustre finish paper by White House Custom Colour in Minnesota.
If there is a photograph that isn’t included here, or maybe you have something more specific in mind, let me know, I might be able to accommodate you. However, many of the photos I’ve taken over the years don’t belong to me. The newspaper owns the copyright, so therefore I cannot sell them. Also, please note that the photograph itself is slightly smaller than 8X10 or 11X14. These are the sizes of the paper the images are printed on. On it’s longest side the photo will be either 9-inches or 13-inches.
I know money is tight for almost everyone out there as the economy continues to tank. So I understand if you can’t help right now. But before you say “screw this guy, I can’t afford it,” consider that you can get an original photograph for cheap, less than what most people spend on coffee or lunch in a week. And if you go with the bigger print, It’s like you taking me out for dinner. I know it’s less than what a lot of you blow at the bar on a Saturday night and way less than a new pair of jeans or shoes! It’s a small investment to make in order to help out a friend. You’ll feel good about helping, AND you’ll get a nice print! Come on, I know you want to do something nice. And don’t hesitate to buy more than one. They would also make great gifts.
Thank you so much. Take a look at the photographs below. Hope you enjoy and feel moved to make a purchase.
8X10 ($40 unframed) 11X14 ($75 unframed)
CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS TO ENLARGE
Thank you for your support! It means a lot to me.
All Photographs Copyright © 2008 Matthew Ratajczak. All Rights Reserved
Filed under: Music
Love Radiohead as much as I do? Like killer animation? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, go check out the In Rainbows Animated Music Video Contest over at aniboom. Make sure to check out the other submissions that didn’t make the final cut as well.
I really love what Wolfgang Jaiser did with “Videotape.”
Just one day after I signed up with PhotoShelter I received an email telling me that they were shutting down the Collection part of the business, their stock photography venture. I was hoping to begin adding a lot of my work that I actually own the rights to (the newspaper really has me by the balls when it comes to all the work I’ve done for them over the years). Here is an excerpt from their official statement:
“Today, we regret to announce our plans to close The PhotoShelter Collection, our stock photography marketplace, effective October 10, 2008.
Going forward, PhotoShelter will focus our energy and resources on enhancing the PhotoShelter Personal Archive our original product that today provides thousands of photographers worldwide with bulletproof backup storage and robust ecommerce capabilities for managing image sales online. We will continue our commitment to developing new ways to use technology to advance the art and business of photography.”
Continuing to move forward with the personal archive side of the business is a plus. So all is not lost. You can see the entire statement (here).
Unfortunately though, there was another sucky result of the Collection shutting down. The death of Rachel Hulin’s PhotoShelter blog “Shoot! The Blog”. A daily internet staple of mine. I really enjoyed stopping by to see what she had to say and what visual treats she had to share.
Fear not. The blog’s demise was only a minor hickup. She’s back for the attack (man, I love being able to make a totally unrelated reference to Dokken’s 1987 album “Back For the Attack” in my blog. I really used to listen to them. This is really only cool in my own mind right now at 11:37 p.m., I know this. Don’t worry, I don’t listen to them anymore).
Anyway, most of you already know all this. But in case you don’t, go check out Rachel’s new blog (here). Thanks Rachel.
