nex·us | \ ˈnek-səs \ :  CONNECTION, LINK a connected group

"The rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values is for me the essence of photography; composition should be a constant of preoccupation ... an organic coordination of visual elements."

—Henri Cartier-Bresson

Eric Smith's photo, 1-hr Parking, Consolacion del Sur, Cuba, 2019, is on exhibit from May 18 to June 8 in "The Shape of Things" at the Praxis Gallery in Minneapolis, Minn.

The image was created on a visit to Consolacion del Sur during my 2019 Havana Street Photography workshop. The next Havana Street Photography workshop will be held May 30 to June 7, 2025. There are still spaces available.

Praxis Gallery

Untitled. © David Rudin

David Rudin has been selected as the Winner of the 21st Pollux Non-Professional Section, Best Series, for his photos of Carnival in Venice, Italy. His winning work is published on page 223 of the special FotoNostrum magazine issue dedicated to the Non-Professional winners of the Pollux Award.

FotoNostrum magazine

Pastel Walk. © Richard Petronino

Richard Petronino's image, Pastel Walk, has been nominated in the People category for the 17th Annual International Color Awards.

International Color Awards

Antique Car, Seligman, Ariz., 1986. © Steve Anchell
Diana Camera. Lens: Plastic. Exposure: "Click"

September 6 to 8, 2024

In September 2024, we will spend a weekend photographing in the streets of Rome with plastic low-tech film cameras. You will be amazed at how this will change your vision and how much fun you will have.

We will develop our film using a Lab-Box daylight film developing tank and, time permitting, digitize the images to create enlarged prints.

The workshop is beginning to fill. I have reserved 6 rooms at a hotel within walking distance of the Vatican and our meeting location. Four of them are spoken for already. If you would like to join me, don't wait to register.

Immediately following the workshop is the Rome Street Photography workshop, where you may use any camera, film, or digital.

The weekend workshop is sponsored by ars-imago, a premier camera store in Rome.

Holga Camera Workshop

The Woodmans

I want to introduce you to a remarkable and controversial artist who began her short career at the age of 13 and ended it at the age of 22.

She is best known for her thought-provoking black-and-white photos featuring either herself or female models, naked or clothed, blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured. Her work continues to be the subject of much positive critical attention years after her death in 1981.

The 10-minute video I am presenting here is not the one I wanted to share, but it is a very good introduction, with music, to her work. The 1 hour and 20-minute video I would like to share is the poignant story of her brief life and that of her artist parents, George and Betty Woodman. Unfortunately, the video file is too large to load in Nexus. You can view it here:

The Woodmans

Onix and Maylet, and Cuban co-instructor, Alberto Arcos, Havana, 2023.
© David Levingston

Photographer and workshop participant David Levingston captured behind-the-scenes moments of the models, photographers, and locations of the 2023 Havana Nude workshop.

This image was made during a break at the home of a world-renowned Cuban artist. Model Onix is checking her texts while my co-instructor, Alberto Arcos, is checking his images.

The 2024 Havana Nude is scheduled for December 4 to 9. There is one space still available.

More behind-the-scenes images can be viewed on David's website.

Warning: The site contains nudity

Exposed for the Shadows

Bombo Headland, New South Wales. © Mitch Green
ISO 100, f/18, 1/5 sec

These elements often come to mind when we think about landscape photography. And for many years, they’re what I chased trip after trip.

But I’ve found that coveting and waiting for glorious skies vastly limits the type of landscape photos we can capture. Expectations stifle our creativity and lead to disappointment when the conditions fall short or fizzle out.

Landscape photography can be (and is) so much more than golden rays and brilliant colors. It’s about capturing the essence of an environment and immortalizing defining details in the landscape.

So what if you simply excluded the sky altogether?

Assuming your exposure is correct, image quality results from two physical factors: the quality of your camera’s sensor and the quality of your lens. While there are many good reasons to use a zoom lens, as a general rule, fixed focal length lenses will almost always create a sharper image. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of fixed focal length lenses that aren’t worth the cost of their lens barrel. While there are good arguments for using OEM lenses, the truth is that with modern lens-making technology, OEM lenses aren’t always better than third–party lenses.

Viltrox is making high–quality fixed focal length lenses with AF and large maximum f–stops for Nikon Z–mount, Sony E–mount, and Fuji X–mount cameras for significantly less cost than OEM lenses. They are smaller, faster, and lighter than zoom lenses. You can carry a set of three in a small sling bag along with a handful of charged batteries.

Viltrox offers a 7–day return policy. I recommend testing the lens for sharpness, color, and clarity as soon as you can after receiving it and returning it if you don’t like the results compared to your current lens.

The AF 35mm f/1.8 lens, shown here, retails on the Viltrox site for $399.

Viltrox Lenses

The Diver. © Liz Potter. SOHO Krappy Kamera Competition.

SOHO PHOTO COMPETITIONS stimulate interest in diverse forms of photography and present an opportunity for photographers to challenge their creativity and skill.

Their competitions include Alternative Processes, Krappy Kamera, National, and Portfolio competitions, with each having its distinct character and following.

All Soho Photo competitions are open to the general public. Information and entry requirements for upcoming competitions are announced on their home page. Join their email list to be the first to hear about upcoming competitions.

SOHO Photo Competitions

Street Lights, Ottawa. © Gareth Jones.
2023 winner of the Architecture category.

Deadline: June 15

The Black and White Photography Award provides international recognition for talented photographers capable of showing new points of view. From Italy to the United States, from China to Argentina, professionals and amateur photographers worldwide are invited to participate in this competition.

B&W Photo Awards

© Krzysztof Maksymowicz

Deadline: June 19

Are you ready to elevate your street photography from hidden gems in your portfolio to celebrated art on a global stage? The LensCulture Street Photography Awards invite you to submit your most captivating photos and series, offering you a unique platform to showcase the vibrant, pulsating life of your streets from around the world.

Street photography is not just an art — it’s an encounter, an ongoing dialogue with the unpredictability of everyday moments. It’s the early morning rush, the late-night stillness, and every artful shard of light and shadow in between. This is your opportunity to transform ordinary instants into profound visual narratives that resonate with audiences far and wide.

LensCulture Street Photography

The Rome Street Photography Workshop is an immersive experience with four day and one night street photography sessions, accompanied by Steve. The workshop includes
presentations on the practice and ethics of street photography, each one in a different area of Rome, a viewing of students' work, and a final critique. Steve will share his methods of street photography using the methods he has taught at the International Center of Photography in NYC,Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, and Toscana Photography Workshops in Buonconvento, Italy.

If you want to extend your stay in Italy and maximize your experience, immediately following the HOLGA Camera Workshop, join me for five days of street photography in Rome.

If you enroll in both workshops you will receive a discount on both workshops.

Read More

© Steve Anchell

Street photography is a genre that records unmediated chance encounters and random incidents in public places. The very publicness of the setting enables the photographer to take candid pictures of strangers, often without their knowledge. Street photographers do not necessarily have a social purpose, but they prefer to isolate and capture moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. The street photographer is an outsider, a voyeur in the true sense, in that they watch and wait until the right moment occurs and capture it using a camera.

The workshop will begin Friday evening with a presentation that will guide you through many techniques and pitfalls for creating successful street photography, followed by a Q&A session. On Saturday and Sunday, we will visit two different areas of Portland to practice street photography with Steve’s guidance.

The Oregon Society of Artists sponsors this workshop.

Taking It to the Streets