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

"The only rule in art is there are no rules." ~ Steve Anchell

I can not say that Sebastião Salgadois the most important photographer of our time, though perhaps he is. I will say that he is the most relevant. I say he is the most relevant because as a world-renowned photographer who has devoted his career to social issues, he is in a solid position to influence others. And I don't mean just photographers, but people who are concerned for the direction the environment is taking and what can be done about it.

The work he shows of his family's reforestation project in Brazil provides hope that change can be effected. And hope for the future is perhaps the greatest gift photographers have to offer.

Sebastião Salgado

Salgado is not the only photographer attempting to bring environmental consciousness to the world. Here is one of a series of videos produced by CNN that documents their efforts.

Protectors of the sea is the story of two of these, Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, who are on a mission to save the threatened species that live in the oceans.

If you are wondering in which direction to point your lens to accomplish the most on the agenda for survival, these videos may inspire you.

Protectors of the Sea

Date: Thursday, May 11

Time: 12:30 pm ET

The SDN Salon provides informal online networking opportunities for SDN members. Bring a cup of tea or coffee and your work in progress or portfolio, ideas to discuss, or just yourself. The SDN Salon is an opportunity to share your work, view the work of others, and to talk about any issues that are relevant to being a documentary photographer in 2023.

Register for the Salon

© 2023 Mustafa Bilge Satkın from Drowned History

Twice a year, ZEKE magazine presents the best of global documentary photography. Each issue presents outstanding photography from the Social Documentary Network on topics as diverse as the war in Syria, the European migration crisis, the Bangladesh garment industry, and other issues of global concern.

There are many documentary photography magazines, but few, other than ZEKE, support documentary photographers beyond publishing their work. ZEKE actively supports documentary photographers, publishes documentary portfolios, hosts monthly Zoom calls, and offers documentary photography workshops to rival ICP and Duke University.

The Spring 2023 edition of ZEKE is now available. Don't miss it.

ZEKE Spring 2023

© 2023 Craig Semetko

As long as we are on the topic of social consciousness, are you looking for a printer? Even though I live on the West Coast, I use Digital Silver Imaging, located in Boston.

DSI is one of the finest printers in the industry. Among other services, they are able to make real silver prints, developed in traditional chemistry, from digital originals or scans of your film negatives. You don't have to send your original negative to them. 

What drew me to DSI in the first place was not the quality of their printing but their social consciousness. DSI supports a number of documentary photographers and projects, such as Zeke magazine, Documentary Matters, and events hosted by The Social Documentary Network, along with numerous workshops throughout the year.

It is important to me with whom I spend my money and where they spend theirs.

Digital Silver Imaging

In April Adobe introduced another update to Lightroom. This one's not as big as some, but adding AI Noise Reduction is big news. The accompanying video will help you better understand and use this new feature.

Until now, NR has been an afterthought in LR. This first attempt at taking it seriously is a good start, but it doesn't yet match some of the aftermarket programs, such as Topaz or DxO Pure Raw.

The other new features and improvements in LR, in addition to AI noise reduction, are new people masking features, the introduction of Curves into Masking, the ability to open an image in Photoshop as a Smart Object, or Open as Smart Object Layers in Photoshop.

Key Dates to Inspire Photography Content Ideas

We all know the feeling of staring at a blank screen, desperately searching for something to write to promote our business. It can be a frustrating experience.

Fortunately, national awareness days can be an excellent solution to this problem. With hundreds of events and campaigns taking place every year and typically more than a hundred in each calendar month, you have a huge amount of content prompts at your fingertips.

Read More

Announced via its Creators account, Instagram has introduced the ability to add music to photos that appear on the app’s feed, which it says will provide creators with an additional tool to “bring their content to life and express themselves.”

Instagram says that music is a “huge part” of expression on the platform and that as such it is adding the ability to pair music with photos on the feed in the same way that it already supports it in Reels and Stories.

Read More

My 96-year-young mother keeps a bowl of candy by the front door. Whenever anyone comes by, mail carrier, evangelists, Girl Scouts selling cookies, she offers them a piece. I asked her why she did this. She said, "There's not enough sweetness in the world, so we need to put as much out there as we can."

There's not enough fun in the world. Fun makes us happy, happiness makes us nicer to be around. Photography can be serious work, but it can also be fun. One way to have fun is to play with non-conventional cameras and different ways of doing things. Not only is this fun, but it helps to expand our vision.

If you're not having enough fun with your photography, then try something new. Pick up a Polaroid camera and share instant pics with your street subjects. Or spend a day in a botanical garden photographing exotic plants. Attach the images to a 20x24-inch piece of archival mount board in an exciting array. Hang it on your wall or enter it in a show.

Have fun.

Polaroid Now Generation 2

Are you looking for the camera instruction manual for your Contax IIa and can't find it? Or perhaps it's the manual for your Argoflex Model E. Search no more. Michael Butkus has you covered.

Since the 1990s, Michael has been collecting and publishing film camera instruction manuals for everything from an Aga Ansco Box 2 to a Russian-made Zorki 3.

The manuals are free for download and use, though a donation of $3 is always welcome. I've been using Michael's service since I taught at OSU. I always leave him a $10 donation (hint) to thank him for his selfless efforts.

And, oh yeah, don't forget you never know when you'll want to dust off your Busch 4x5 Pressman. Makes a great backup camera for your 1901 Adams Reflex.

Camera Manuals

Deadline: July 2

The Forgotten, people, places and belongings that once mattered, now unremembered, out of mind, left behind.

Items once significant to someone, personal items, buildings, object, person, a place that once had the importance to another, the possibilities are all around us.

The SE Center is looking for all forms of imagery of the Forgotten, black-and-white and color, analog, digital or antique processes. Photographers of all skill levels and locations are welcome.

Forgotten

Calypso. © 2023 Steve Anchell
Leica M7, 35mm f/1.4 lens

Deadline: July 23, 2023

The New York Center for Photographic Art (NYC4PA) invites photographers world-wide to submit images using any photographic process (print, image transfer, emulsion transfer, encaustic, black and white, color etc.). Winners will receive a total of $4,000 in cash awards, be featured in the NYC4PA Online Gallery and Award Winners Catalog. The Grand Prize winning image will be posted on the NYC4PA home page. 

This call is about images with a single compelling focal point. It could be a person or thing that is alone in the frame or an element of a large grouping that clearly stands out. A field of lilacs with a single bright red rose would fit the bill, as would a portrait reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World" and a single shell on a vast beach. You can isolate a single pedestrian from the crowd on a city street using selective focus. What about that track runner clearly in front of the pack or the prematurely leafless tree amidst a forest of foliage?

NYC4PA ONE

Children of the Earth. © Delphine Margau

Deadline: July 2, 2023

The connection of Black and White Photography with tradition and timeless values is beyond contestation. Since its infancy, black and white photography was not only the craft but primarily the art, where ideas conjured in the artist’s imagination is immortalized through the lens of their camera.

The Monochrome Awards is primarily aimed at people for whom photography is a passion and a way of life. It is a platform where professionals and amateurs can enter their shots amongst a sea of ambitious and creative photographers from around the world for a chance to win $3000 and an opportunity to show their work to an international audience.

Monochrome Awards

© 2023 Laurent Baheux

The Solo Exhibition competition is open to any category of photography or subject matter. Photojournalism, street photography, artistic photography, portrait, nudes, landscapes, nature, wildlife, urban, architecture, fashion, fine art, or documentary photography, the subject doesn’t matter; unleash your creativity!

Solo Exhibition

Mushrooms, 1994. © 2023 Steve Anchell
Agfa-Ansco 5x7 with a 4x5 reducing back, 240mm Schneider-Symmar, Ilford HP5+

There is nothing more exhilarating than creating high-resolution images with a large format camera. Standing behind the camera with a dark cloth covering both you and the ground glass viewing screen, it’s real, it’s dimensional, and each time is a new experience, whether it is a still life arranged in your home or a landscape in Yosemite.

Large format cameras are not difficult to use or learn, but it helps to have someone show you the right way to use the many controls available for your creativity.

This summer, I will lead a Large Format and Making Enlarged Digital Negatives workshop at the Photographers' Formulary in Condon, Montana.

Large Format Workshop

The Alhambra in Granada

Andalusia is an autonomous region of hills, rivers, and farmland bordering Spain’s southern coast. The region has been under Roman, Visigoth, Moorish, and Spanish rule. The architecture and landmarks reflect all of these influences.

Andalusia's Moorish heritage sparkles in the historic former capitals of Granada and Córdoba. And the pride of the Reconquista and the power of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand enliven the region's incredible sights. Tasting the fabulous seafood, smooth sherry, and gazpacho for which the region is famous, we will search for the passion in Andalusian culture.

On our 10-day photography tour, we will visit and photograph four of the most enchanting cities in Andalusia, Granada, Cordoba, Seville, and Ronda. Our locations will include the Alcázar castle in Seville, Córdoba’s Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral, and Granada’s enchanted Alhambra palace. We will visit a horse ranch in Seville to photograph the famous Andalusian horses. We will visit the bullfighting mecca of Ronda and the famous Roman bridge that connects the two parts of the town across a chasm.

Our time together will include individual and group discussions, inspiring ideas, and great fun. There is no better location to express your creativity than Andalusia, Spain!

Andalusia Spain Workshop