Above: Image by Gina Milicia. Women in Red. South Africa 5D MK 4.“When people look at my pictures, I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.”―Robert FrankI love this quote by Robert Frank. It sums up the way I feel about photography. I want people to care about my images. I want them to feel something when they look at them.What’s the point of creating art that nobody cares about? Often we are so hung up with technique and megapixels and postproduction that we forget the real reason art exists in the first place.Great art is visual storytelling, and great storytelling evokes a reaction. I feel something when I look at an image.I can still remember the first time I saw the work of Rodin, Van Gogh, Mapplethorpe, Fan Ho, or Herb Ritts.I’ve read books where I fell...
Above: Images by Christian Chaize via https://www.jacksonfineart.com Christian Chaize is a French artist born in 1960. Chaize has enjoyed a successful career as a commercial photographer for three decades. In 2004, Christian Chaize began focusing his artistic attention on a small stretch of coastline in Portugal. Since then, using medium and large format film cameras, his commitment to documenting one specific beach from a consistent vantage point – that is, taking its ‘portrait’ at various times of the day over a variety of seasons over several years – has culminated in his most renowned series, Praia Piquinia.
Above: Bali fisherman Fuji x100f image by Gina Milicia I can’t believe 2018 is almost over! It’s been a huge year, and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the two most valuable lessons I have learned. Those of you who regularly read my newsletter, follow me on Instagram or listen to my podcast will be aware of the frustration, dummy spits and challenges I have encountered making the switch from DSLR to mirrorless. To be clear, I still shoot with DSLR for my commercial shoots because I believe mirrorless isn’t quite there yet as a pro commercial camera. It’s close, but I’m not ready to make the switch – yet. I did, however, make the switch to mirrorless for all my personal projects and after a few frustrating months, I’m over the moon with the results. I love my Fujix100F more than Nutella! There I said it....
“When you buy something from an artist you are buying more than an object. You’re buying hundreds of hours of errors and experimentation. You’re buying years of frustration and moments of pure joy. You’re not buying just one thing, you are buying a piece of a heart, a piece of a soul… a piece of someone else’s life.” –Rebekah Joy Plett Above: Image by Gina Milicia
In the digital/Photoshop age this image is no big deal but imagine the skill and patience required to capture this image in a single frame? In the following video, Halsman’s daughter explains how the shot was created and includes the outtakes. Above: Philippe Halsman Dali-Atomicus
Above: Image by Gina Milicia Here is one thing every photographer needs to update before they can take their work to the next level. There have been so many incredible advances in photography in the last 5-10 years. Every day I hear about a new camera model, faster lenses, lighting kit, and post production software improvement. It’s difficult to know when to update or switch systems. Upgrading your gear is both a huge financial and emotional drain. It’s hard work, and there are no guarantees that stepping up to new equipment will improve your photography. What if I told you there was only one thing you need to update today that is guaranteed to improve your photography? A new mirrorless camera system will undoubtedly make your life easier as a photographer because you won’t need to lug all that extra weight of DSLR around but it won’t make you a...
Above: Image by Gina Milicia “When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.” ― Robert Frank
Above: Image by Jay Maisel “You can take fantastic pictures from a jet, you can take great pictures from a helicopter, you can take great pictures from a car, but if you get down and start walking, that’s when the intimate, meaningful, insightful things happen. It’s not a game to see how much territory you can cover, it’s a game to see how much you can see.” ― Jay Maisel
Above: Image by Gina Milicia What would you do if I gave you the choice of: A. A brand new mid-range DSLR or Mirrorless camera + lens of choice, yours for free today B. Wait two years and receive two brand new DSLR or Mirrorless cameras + lenses I’ll give you a couple of minutes to decide….. *cue game show think music* If you chose A. Congratulations you are the proud imaginary owner of a brand new DSLR. Enjoy! If you chose B. Congratulations x 1000 because according to research your ability to delay gratification or put off a smaller win today (one camera) to have a greater windfall in two years (two cameras) is one of the most essential character traits of a successful person. The problem with delayed gratification is, well, it’s delayed. Why wait when you can have instant gratification? We live in a world where everything is about instant gratification. The interwebs...
Gina Milicia is one of the most widely known and respected photographers in Australia. She is the master of capturing that ‘magical moment’... READ MORE
