Through the Lens of Laurence’s Cell Phone Camera


VOIR LA TRADUCTION FRANCAISE

Laurence Berthier is from France and speaks French, thus this interview is posted in both French and English. She caught our attention by sharing beautiful images. We thought that she was a professional photographer, but not. She captures these captivating images with just a cell phone camera.

 

Laurence, your pictures are so beautiful and captivating. How is it that you are able to capture such beautiful images?

I love nature, its beauty, its light, its transparency color, the mood and atmosphere it gives off. Not only my eyes that see but all my being that feels this energy I feel beautiful and the imperative need to take the photos.

When they are old buildings or houses, I always think about those who built them. La Rochelle is a very old city and can be understood according to the architecture history of the city.

Have you ever had any professional training in photography?

I have no training in photography. I am a contemplative and let myself be lulled by instinct, the moment and feel.

 

What do you do for a living?

My job is secretary to an association of assistance to job seekers in their job search.

 

You are also a Mom. How many children do you have and what are their ages?

Yes I am mother of two children. My son is 9 years and my daughter 7 years 8 months.

 

Back to the photography, what kind of camera do you use?

I use a simple camera and not professional: Casio. My first pictures were taken with my mobile phone …

 

Why do you take pictures? What does it mean to you or do for you?

Because I am very curious about everything! Nature, animals, people or monuments — everything interests me and fascinates me. Every day, hour, season, weather gives a different aspect to the same landscape (for example).

Taking pictures outdoors makes me calm as I am completely taken by all the beauty around me. It excites me so much that I cannot wait to see the result of my shots on my computer …

 

What do you plan to do with your photos? You obviously have a gift. What do you want from it?

Nothing more than to enjoy myself watching them, share them with family and post them on some sites. A friend of a hospital volunteer who saw my photos on facebook asked me if I would participate in a photo exhibition organized by the hospital. For now I have not responded to his request …

 

 

EN FRANCAIS

Laurence Berthier est de la France et parle francais, donc cette interview est public en francais et en anglais. Elle a retenu notre attention par le partage de belles images. Nous avons pense qu’elle tait un photographe professionnel, mais non. Elle capture ces images captivantes avec juste un telephone portable.

 

Laurence, vos photos sont tellement belles et captivantes. Comment est-il que vous etes capable de capturer ces belles images?

J’aime la nature, sa beauté, sa lumiere, sa couleur de transparence, l’ambiance et l’atmosph¨re qu’elle degage. Non seulement mes yeux qui voient, mais tout mon etre qui se sent cette energie Je me sens belle et la necessite imperieuse de prendre des photos.

Quand ils sont de vieux bâtiments ou de maisons, je pense toujours ceux qui les ont construits. La Rochelle est une ville tres ancienne et peut etre compris en fonction de l’histoire de l’architecture de la ville.

 

Avez-vous jamais eu aucune formation professionnelle dans la photographie?

Je n’ai aucune formation en photographie. Je suis un contemplatif et me laisse bercer par l’instinct, le moment et la sensation.

 

Que fais-tu pour vivre?

Mon travail est secretaire d’une association d’aide aux demandeurs d’emploi dans leur recherche d’emploi.

 

Vous etes egalement une maman. Combien d’enfants avez-vous et quelles sont leurs ages?

Oui, je suis ma re de deux enfants. Mon fils a 9 ans et ma fille de 7 ans et 8 mois.

 

Retour la photographie - ce genre d’appareil que vous utilisez?

J’utilise un appareil photo simple et pas professionnel: Casio. Mes premières photos ont prises avec mon telephone portable …

 

Pourquoi pensez-vous de prendre des photos? Qu’est-ce que cela signifie pour vous ou pour vous?

Parce que je suis très curieux de tout! Nature, animaux, personnes ou de monuments - tout m’interesse et me fascine. Chaque jour, heure, saison, la m donne un aspect different de la meme paysage (par exemple). Prendre des photos en extrieur me fait calme que je suis complitement pris par toute la beauti autour de moi.


Elle m’excite tellement que je ne peux pas attendre pour voir le resultat de mes photos sur mon ordinateur …

Que comptez-vous faire avec vos photos? Vous avez avidemment un cadeau. Que voulez-vous de lui?

Rien de plus que moi de profiter de les regarder, les partager avec famille et les afficher sur certains sites. Un ami d’un benevole de l’hôpital qui ont vu mes photos sur facebook m’a demande si je voulais participer à une exposition de photos organise par l’hospital. Pour l’instant je n’ai pas respondu sa demande …

 

See a video of Laurence’s Photos

 

 

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August 12th, 2011 | Category: Photography, Visual Arts | Leave a comment

Maurice Robertson – Open House is in Session

The next time Maurice has an open house, you just might want to go.  If you don’t, then not only will you  miss beautiful art, but you also miss small bites of history that were frozen in time.  The captured moments that live and breathe in his photography show us pieces of the universal vibration.  – Tomaca

We went to Maurice Robertson’s open house at his studio in Hartford, CT. He holds them every four/five months.  People are invited to his home to view and purchase his pieces.

Q: You’ve taken probably hundreds if not thousands of photographs of artists, famous, not so famous.  Is there something about music and photography that seem to go hand in hand for you?

A: Yes, my focus is music, culture, and nature. I am also a jazz radio announcer on WWUH. FM 91.3 fm Wednesday nights, 9-12AM. My father played all kinds of music, so I grew up hearing jazz, soul and music from Jamaica, the island of my birth.

Q: How did you get started?

A:  I started when I got an instamatic camera in the late seventies, the seed thought was watching my father take photos of  family gatherings. I shot then music performances, cultural affairs and my crew of friends.

Q:  Aren’t you a musician also?

A:  I no longer play flute, I did not have the time to really study and grow. Therefore, I listened to my wife, who suggested that I was a much better photographer.

Q:  Do you travel the world specifically to take pictures or to experience new places and things, or both – is it vacation, experience, or art, or all of these?

A:  I travel to broaden my experience as a human being, a citizen of the world. The camera is a tool for documenting those new experiences and feelings. The artfulness occurs with practice and being open to spontaneity. Thus far, I have been to Morocco, Egypt, Holland, Brazil of course Jamaica, and several other islands in the Caribbean.

Q:  We know you are drawn to music and artist, what other subjects are you most drawn to?

A:  Yes, I am drawn to music and the other performing arts,  but nature also. I love shooting in parks and I am a gardener, so I have a great appreciation for nature’s myriad manifestations. On occasion, I shoot people candids, but not so much lately.

Q:  What are you telling us with your photography?

A:  It is an attempt at conveying feeling, intimacy and documenting history – particularly when it comes to shooting concerts.

Q:  Is the artist in you awake and aware at every moment and taking snapshots of everything?

A:  I strive for awareness, to be present. I don’t carry a camera constantly, but I am recording in my sphere of awareness new compositional views and subjects. I walk a lot to enhance my observations so that I don’t keep repeating myself.

I am getting more in tune with the in between, the space around an attractive object, performance, subject can be just as provocative as the performer, object etc. For example, with performance, the moments, the musicians move away from the microphone after soloing, with instrument at rest, can be quite revealing. So, I continually look for the candid moments, reflection or the communication between musicians.

Q:  What does it take for someone to see the world through your eyes?  Is the artistry of photography something that can be taught, or do you feel that one has to be born with it?

It can be taught, the technical format of any artform, but the growth of awareness of the symetry in the world within and without, is a meditative, growth journey. Experiences teach, but grasping the significance of those moments, separate the genius from the everyday seeker. Then translating to film, canvas or whatever medium an intimate, delight, comes only from an active connection with your soul.

Q:  What do you want people to know most about you?

A:  I am an empathetic human being, consistent and fun to be with.

Q:  What will be important for us to remember after you’ve gone? What will be your legacy?

A:  One who was always willing to share on some level, that I was generous and optimistic.

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August 26th, 2010 | Category: Photography | One comment

Ron Thompson – Photography Is About What Happens

Ron Thompson’s photographic odyssey began 33 years ago in Hartford when he purchased his first camera from the classifieds for $25. As a self-taught photographer, some of his most creative work was in a kitchen pantry that was converted into a darkroom, using tag sale photo enlargers and equipment. Ron specialized in black & white photography documenting city life. Over the years, he received 14 awards from Scope Magazine and Pine Meadow Photographers, 4 photos were eligible for print of the year. Ron is also an avid camera collector.

In 2003, Ron entered into the digital photography world. He has completed courses in digital photography at Manchester Community College in 2005. He exhibited in the Huntington House Museum 2005 Summer Invitational Fine Arts Exhibition with over 35 New England and nationally known artists photographers, sculptors and artisans. In 2006, Ron won first prize in the Hartford’s Catch a Rising Star Photo Contest FACES Category with his photo titled “Boy in the Hood” and three-second place prizes in different other categories. Also in 2006, he won first prize in the Connecticut Audubon Society photo contest with his photo titled Monarch Butterfly.

His most recent exhibits have been the Red-Tailed Hawks were at the 80th Henry Keney Course Golf Anniversary, all hawks in the exhibit nested on the golf course. Other collections on exhibit are Instruments, Inner City Blues, and Ron’s Black Folks, all in the New England area. His collections also include Birds, People, and Flowers. Ron is currently working on a Fine Arts and Native American collection. Ron has volunteered with Hartford school system teaching students photography.

I first became interested in photography in high school around 1963, when in I saw the chemical processing of a photo, but I did not purchase any photography equipment until ten years later. When I purchased my first camera from the classifieds for $25, after that I converted my kitchen pantry into a darkroom, using tag sale photo enlargers and equipment. My wife, children and other family members became my first subjects.

What are your favorite subjects to photograph and why?

My first love was the black white photography and developing. The photos of people and friends from inner city the neighborhood where I grew up became were my best subjects. I believe that all photographers have an eye, each one maybe see the same picture differently through their lenses. One of my quotes is Color is the way you see it and Black and White is the way you feel it.

You have a collection of black people images. What do those pieces say? What prompts you to do that?  Are you expressing something specific?

The images in my Black Folks collections is to utilize your imagination in not in what you see, but what you do not see.

You show us what you see when you take a photo, what do you hear? Is there sound that goes with what you see?

When I am taking a photo I do not hear anything, but I get a feeling and then a vision of what I would like to see through my lenses using the right lighting and technique.

You have the ability to capture things in just the right moment. When you are focused on a subject do you miss moments?

The key for getting a good photo is to know the basic rules of photography and then breaking them to create something unique. Also being at the right place at the right time is always a plus.

Is there anything special that you do to get yourself prepared to take photos – do you have to get into some sort of zone, or are you always in the zone to do your art?

I am always in the zone when comes it taking photos. Preparing to take photos is very important, whether it is for five minutes or five days, taking in consideration lenses, lighting, filters and having that vision of what want to do.

Is there anything special that you do to get yourself prepared to take photos do you have to get into some sort of zone, or are you always in the zone to do your art?

I am always in the zone when comes it taking photos. Preparing to take photos is very important, whether it is for five minutes or five days, taking in consideration lenses, lighting, filters and having that vision of what want to do.

I know you would take photos with or without receiving awards. Does getting an award hold any special stock for you, is it important to receive them?

I have received many awards over the years, but greatest award is when I am completely satisfied in capturing a moment in time.

http://RonThompsonPhotos.com

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August 26th, 2010 | Category: Photography | Leave a comment

Azeem – 15 yr old with a Camera

Put a camera into the hands of 15-year-old Azeem and he will show you the things right in front of you that you would never see on your own.

That is the job of artists in our world, to take us places that we just wouldn’t be able to get to by ourselves.

There is a place for everyone in the world. We all have gifts that help to create the whole. Use your gifts to uplift as you serve your fellow humans and our supporting animal world.

Azeem, thank you for giving us a different view by sharing your photographic art with us

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August 26th, 2010 | Category: Photography | Leave a comment

Bob Theisfield – Capturing People Places & Things on Film

Visit his website: www.thiesfield.com

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August 25th, 2010 | Category: Photography | Leave a comment