Fri Aug 17 11:11:15 UTC 2007Photographing close to homeHello everyone, I'm excited to be an instructor at The Compelling Image and to teach my course "Developing a Photographer's Eye" this fall. I haven't been traveling like my colleagues here. Instead I've been focused on photographing close to home. These days home is Beirut and one of my recent projects has been to document the fascinating graffiti that marks many walls around the city. Most of it is political commentary of some sort, though I am learning that certain icons are also related to artists' work. For example, the little bomb is an emblem of the band The New Government, whose songs skewer the convoluted politics of Lebanon. The first photo's graffiti reads "Beirut Doesn't Die," a statement of resistance in the face of recent assassinations and bomb explosions. The last few weeks I have been very busy finding photographs for the next issue of the magazine Middle East Report. As the photo editor I get to look at many photographs, which has helped me learn to analyze what works and what doesn't. The challenge is, of course, to apply what I learn to my own photography. In my course in September we'll work on ways to put new ideas into practice and develop techniques for creating great photographs. Talk to you then! Michelle    |
