Déjà vu… I saw yesterday on the BBC News that
Johnny Marr is to receive top NME honor.

You might ask what have I got to do with Johnny Marr?

First… This is my last post for a while, in a few days I am leaving for yet another very long Journey to Myanmar and Cambodia. I am really looking forward in meeting some new and old participants for my Photo Tours and Workshops. Please forgive me if there are no Blog posts for a few weeks, and only sporadic posts on Twitter and Facebook. But I make up for it once I return.

But now…Congratulations to a very nice person
and a super cool musician, called Johnny Marr.

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr will be awarded with the Godlike Genius accolade at this year's NME Awards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21409581
The event takes place on 27 February at The Troxy, an east London gig venue.
Johnny Marr received also the best re-issue award for The Smiths Complete at last year's NME Awards

Well, it was way back in 1991 when I wrote and directed the music video "Get the Message" for the English band Electronic (Warner Bros., USA ) Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner came to the Philippines from the UK to shoot the Video covering areas like the sand dunes in Ilocos, Vigan, Taal Volcano and many different places in Manila.

Credit must also go to a very good Filipino crew; lets not forget, it was 1991. Everything was shot using 35mm movie film, quiet a task them days, not to mention the postproduction.

For example our radio communications in the field looked like monsters… no iPhones them days and you almost needed an assistant to carry those huge things around.

Shooting out of a helicopter without a Gyro Stabilizer (not available) and shopping for a whole school in Ilocos; purchasing 50 pair of shoes, Pants, T-shirts etc. (at least the Kids where very happy with all their new cloths) and then there where the Kites… we had to bring in from Germany.

I never forget the face from the owner of the shoe shop…
Sir can I help you? Certainly… I need 50 pair of different sizes and color shoes!
I honestly had to reassure him that this was not a joke.

We had so many challenges those days but managed very well and ended up with a nice MTV. The whole Filipino Crew did their utmost best and performed outstanding.

I might add Johnny and Bernard are both super cool guys and exceptional Musicians and we had a real great time and lots of fun together.

Please Note:
There are actually two version of this MTV; the one on YouTube was reedited by Warner Bros. and is the one with the text blocks, but I never liked this version myself, the one that was used in the UK and the original one in my opinion was so much better.

Unfortunately I can’t find it anywhere, but see below the LINK to the Warner Bros. version:

Left to right: Johnny Marr and Bernhard Sumner
clip from the MTV 'Get the Message"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBRXTWaTDp4

This was one of the first 35mm MTV production in the Philippines of the single “Get the Message”, that later enjoyed top ratings on international music charts.


Excerpts from an interview with Johnny and Bernard:
-The single was promoted by a colorful music video in which Marr and Sumner strolled through the Philippines and atop the still-active Taal Volcano.
Directed by Gunther Deichmann, whose published photographs in one of his Books had impressed Electronic. -


Excerpts from the BBC:
During a recent interview when ask What's the best song you've written?
Johnny replied:
The best song I've written is “Get The Message” by Electronic, with Bernard Sumner. It's great because I have no idea how it happened - I can remember starting with a bass line.
It was the second single from their 1991 debut album Electronic and was a commercial success around the world. It is a good example of Marr and Sumner's original concept of mixing the fluid synthesizers of New Order with The Smiths' rich guitar sound.


And for our Music and Guitar buffs out there check the LINK below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=6PD2qRyL470

Johnny Marr plays riffs from The Smiths, The The, The Kinks

Johnny Marr plays guitar and demonstrates the differences between five Fender amps at Seedy Underbelly Studios in LA during the mixing of The Cribs album "Ignore The Ignorant" in 2009. The opening riff is 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore', :22 'Dogs of Lust' by TheThe, 'All Day_ And All Of The NIght' by The KInks, 'What Difference Does It Make', 'Hey, Scenesters' by The Cribs and 'The Headmaster Ritual'. Not sure about the other (rifftastic) riffs.

Tags: Music, MTV, Film, Cambodia, Myanmar, New Order, Directed, Gunther Deichmann, Director, Bernard Sumner, London, The Troxy, The KInks, Get the Message, Electronic, postproduction, 35mm movie film, Video, Philippines, Johnny Marr, Musician, NME honor, guitarist, Smiths guitarist

The Journey continues through Laos - Cambodia & Myanmar
its beautiful people and true colors.

A question I get ask all the time, and a quote by Imogen Cunningham sums it up nicely.

“ Which of my photographs is my favorite?
The one I’m going to take tomorrow." – Imogen Cunningham




Inle Lake, Myanmar
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com




Laotian Monks looking towards Thailand, it is here where the
Mekong River separates these two Countries, Vientiane, Laos
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

I am always in search for true colors and besides the question above, which is my favorite photograph I also get often ask about my colors. The colors in my images are real and have not been manipulated using editing software.

"I have seen colors which I thought didn't exist, but they do." - Gunther Deichmann

One of many Battambang's Monasteries, Cambodia
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Amazing colors are all around us, finding and seeking the right combination one needs to see; no need to distort something which is already provided by nature or human. It is all out there, in front of us ready for the taking with what ever camera you use, let your eyes guide you, separating colors from the background.

Lets look at the world through our eyes, not through photo-editing tools. But have said that, we almost don't get a choice these days…in the digital age we have to use Computers and editing softwares; I am still looking for a roll of Ektachrome to be processed, that I shot recently in Cambodia. My last roll of film? If I ever get it processed…

Festival time on Inle Lake, Myanmar
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Battambang, Cambodia
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

All my camera settings are pretty much set on default and my images are processed with Aperture 3 using only the RAW Image conversion, color temperature, slightly sharpening, a little contrast and the usual cropping/straightening tools and of course getting rid of sensor dust, that little evil thing in digital photography.

During the film days we didn't have all those tools, you had to do a lot of bracketing and if you missed it then that was-it. Now we have all these options, but I honestly believe in Travel, Nature, Journalism, Geographical Photography etc., we should tell the truth.

Bagan, Myanmar
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com



Mandalay, Myanmar
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Luang Prabang, Laos
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Luang Prabang, Laos
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Moving Nuns - Kyauk Se Monastery, Myanmar
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com



Phnom Kulen, Cambodia
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com


Just one more...

Tonle Sap, Cambodia
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Essentially, I have made no changes since the good old Kodachrome film days on how I approach and create images today. My approach and my soul are the same, and this is my philosophy about light and color.
GD

Tags: Kodachrome, Film, Aperture 3.2.1, Colours, Ektachrome, Colors, manipulated, Imogen Cunningham, editing software, RAW Image, sharpening, photo-editing tools

Deja vu…recreating a Photo at the same location…
but 12 years later in Myanmar, the story behind the Photo

I visited Nyaung Shwe also known as Yawnghwe) a town a few kilometers north of Inle Lake in the Shan State of Myanmar for the first time some 12 years ago.
While driving through the town I spotted this amazing Monastery build out of Teakwood during the 19th Century with a Novice Monk standing at the oval shape window.

Oh boy… what a nice image I thought…so I loaded another roll of film in this case Kodachrome Pro 200 ASA and started to shoot. Years have past now and many images have been produced by a variety of Photographers with and without Monks at this Monastery.

I might add that the shot I took 12 years ago was not at all a setup; it just so happens that this Monk was actually standing at the window when I spotted it and this photo was later published many times.
Now 12 years later and during our GD Photo Workshop last October we made a stop at this remarkable Monastery again.

Kodachrome Pro 200 ASA or Digital?
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

I had actually planned this all along to re create the image I took some 12 years ago, but of course there was very little hope that a Monk was standing again at the window. Well…we arrived and sure enough there was NO Monk standing there.

Kodachrome Pro 200 ASA or Digital?
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

OK I thought, let’s recreate the images and I ask politely one of the Novice Monks to stand in about the same position at the window, then I went outside and took the image.

I normally don’t set shots up, but in this case I found it interesting what I could come up with, shooting digital instead of Kodachrome film from the same location but 12 years later.

An interesting exercise and the Monk I had picked was about the same age from what I remembered years ago.
I let you decide which of the two images featured is Digital or Kodachrome 200 film, I might add that the digital image was shot at the same 200 ISO and no Photoshop or other manipulation has been used.

I only used Aperture 3 with the raw conversion, some straightening, a little cropping (the same in the Kodachrome Image) added a little contrast, minor sharpening and adjusted the color temperature to daylight taken in to consideration the overcast sky.

This amazing teakwood monastery has not changed much at all except for the surrounding areas that have now additional more modern looking buildings, other than that it was pretty much the same.
The monastery is over 150 years old and sits on sturdy stilts, a protection for occasional flooding coming from the Inle Lake.

The temple next to the Monastery
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Next to the monastery you can find a small but very amazing temple that is absolutely worth a visit, housing hundreds of little Buddha statues and incredible artwork along the walls.

The temple next to the Monastery
Copyright all Rights reserved. Mandatory credit with image use:
© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

So, there you have it 12 years later, little has changed and I hope it will stay like this for many more years to come.
GD

Tags: MYANMAR/BURMA, ASIA, TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY, Nyaung Shwe , Monasteries, Shan State, Inle Lake , Kodachrome, Film, Aperture 3.2.1, Digital

The real image? The story continues...


http://www.deichmann-photo.com/australia.html
© Gunther Deichmann - double rainbow over the Olgas N.T.
Central Australia, image taken on Kodachrome 25, 1981

Feedback and good dialogue is always a good thing…learning something everyday even if you think you old and wise…exchange of knowledge can only open our eyes and broaden our Horizon…
Read below some of the un-edited emails I have received, different opinions from different Countries…in the end it is up to you which way you create your images but as mention before I am very firm when it comes to Photo Journalism, Geographic, Culture and Travel Photography.
If you like to go crazy then go for it…YOUR Choice, it is after all a very creative field with many different interpretations on any given image.
However in Documentary Photography we should be truthful to our selfs and the public.


Henry Bateman an Australian Photographer/Artist living
in the Philippine wrote…
(thanks Henry for letting me use the images you send me)
Check out Henry’s work, you might find it very interesting@ http://www.pissedpoetpics.com/


Friday, May 16, 2008
Is This a Real Image?

Is this a real Image? Well yes, I guess it must be, it's there in front of you. (Ok, I am begging the question, but then it is a poorly phrased question) Is it a literal representation of what was in front of the lens? Well no, I guess not, it is my interpretation of the scene. Although, except for a few lines I added to highlight some edges, nothing has been added that didn't exist in the original photograph.
It was taken at the opening of Luis Martin Harder's exhibition, Unscripted.

© Henry Bateman- thanks Henry

My interest lies in exploring the why of things rather than displaying their literal representations. My images relate to a broader discourse and use the medium (captured light) to tell the story rather than just relying on the here is narrative.

I use Photoshop to make the image, but because it is made from only one negative/raw file it requires a particular approach to using the camera to get a file that can accept the manipulation. In fact it requires a different way of looking to find the scenes that will work.
Does this make it less real? Different yes, but only in so much that I am looking at from a different point of view.

My reply to Henry…
Hi Henry,
great I just read your blog, no problem I think a very nice and cool forum... what i am saying and what i am worried is that in Journalistic terms like real events this real verses manipulated becomes an issue.
I also have been using Photoshop almost since day one and do some crazy stuff but in covering events and real life encounters? We have to be careful, anyway thanks for your thoughts and I really like your stuff…
Cheers Gunther

Henry’s reply…

Hi Gunther
Thanks for the kind words mate and yes I am in agreement about keeping in touch.
 
I take on board your concern re doco pics but lets face it it aint nothing new. Granted PS makes it easier but it has always been buyer beware. As per the 2 attached pics circa 1854/5 by Roger Fenton titled "The Shadow of the Valley of Death".

Courtesy of Henry Bateman - R-Fenton-circa-1854-(1)



Courtesy of Henry Bateman - R-Fenton-circa-1854-(2)

There was a lovely debate some 12 months ago in the NY Times about which photo came first and which had been altered, albeit not by PS but physically by hand. The question that wasn't asked was "Which of the 2 pics best told the story?"
No 2 photographers will shoot a scene the same way, "Which of the 2 best tells the story/truth?". I can shoot the same scene in several ways with each telling a different story.
It is in part why I have chosen to do what I do. The camera doesn't lie is up there with "of course I will love you in the morning". As Picasso said the job of an artist is to convince people of the truth of their lies.
regards
Henry


From Picture Group Photo News Agency in India…

GD
 You tell us how ?
 
Chandu

My reply…

Hi Chandu,
Great to hear from you.
Now to your ?

Very difficult indeed to tell, I am an advocate for real things when it comes to Photo Journalistic images, we should not mess around with these, of course Photoshop and all the other stuff out there has is place and I use it too, but in real life and events we should be careful and not manipulate the images or distort a given event. In advertising and creative we can of course do what we like... go crazy if we choose so.
But how to tell is very difficult these days I guess ethics play a big role here, from the Photographer to the editors.
Thanks for reading the blog, remember it is only my opinion.
Have a fantastic day,
Cheers Gunther

Chandu’s reply…

Hi GD
 
I may be now editor but I am photographer 1st - I am out with the camera to shoot, I do not crop nor make any major changes in the "raw" image expect for transmission or printing.
 
that is all I have to say - i do not know what other photo editors do. Even agency like Magnum, I know quite a photographer attached to them, I have heard what happened at the board meeting, the older ones has quite taken back with the portfolio's they are getting for approval which do get approved. I will not give names but that is life...one has to change with it...if do not you get left behind....what do you have to say this....
 
Cheers
Chandu

My reply…
Hi Chandu,

thanks for this dialogue... very interesting indeed, hmmmm let me think, the image in the end will win you and I know that, I guess it boils down to only one thing your  conscious  and been able to feel good about it and say... yes this is real, I know that, even if they dont believe me, that alone is a good feeling and worth a lot. A nice gut feeling if nothing else!

It is an interesting subject which ever way you look at it and  we all know times have changed when Digital arrived, I am just a little concern, since I  admire the likes of Capola, Ansel Adams and many more, a craft which is now seldom taught even in schools, sad but true, can we change it?  I guess not.
We have arrived at this Digital age and I am no exception, all of this just crossed my mind the other day when i run into this young photographer and having this conversation. I have no doubts that this subject will be around for quiet some time, being old or young.

You are right we have to move forward otherwise we will be left behind... sad but so true.
Thanks for your words and exchange I do appreciate this very much, at-least we can talk about it, and that is just so nice,
have a great day and we stay in touch,
Cheers Gunther


From Luis Martin Harder, Manila Philippines

Hi Gunther,

Thanks so much for putting my exhibit on your blog. You're super cool,
man. Just as I was thinking about learning about true "photography" and
then you came out with an article about "are we getting real" photos or
images. You know GD I really want to learn more about PHOTOGRAPHY in its
purest sense. I believe you're the right person who can impart the
knowledge since I can see that you are one of the few remaining true
blue "PHOTOGRAPHER".

Can you help me with this? I'll surely appreciate your interest.

Thanks again GD. Hope to see you soon.
Cheers!
Luis Harder
WINGS TECHNOLOGY ENTERPRISE INC.

My closing words…thank you all for your thoughts and input very interesting indeed and I do appricitae all your comments…

" If we lose our human values by having everything mechanized, then machines will dictate our lives."
Dalai Lama

GD

Tags: Photo Journalism, Photoshop, Film, Kodachrome, Digital v. Film, Photography Today, Documentary Photography, Aperture 2, Art, Images, Australia

Coincident…? Maybe…? Probably yes…?
But maybe not sure…?
Confusing isn’t it?

© Gunther Deichmann - for more images go to
www.deichmann-photo.com
Image above...lightning over Manila Bay...the Typhoon
and Monsoon season is approaching.

Having send off this riddle I better explain… a visit today by a young and up coming Photographer who is studying at a prestigious school in Berlin…sorry no names, made me think during our conversation.

We talked about the good old days…back in the film days, photo labs, processing and how things have changed now.
Do you know about push processing, clip test’s etc., etc., I asked?
He looked at me and said, what are you talking about?
Don’t they teach this at your school? No, we all study digital and only had an hour or so with a little Black and White film.

Now here is my point…read below my personal thoughts and philosophy about Photography today…bear in mind this is only my opinion.

Lets put aside the commercial photography for a moment, like fashion, products and many other subjects related to advertising…yes they have to be around and will be with us, there are some great Photographers out there shooting some real nice stuff, we all have to make a living, including myself, right!

But when it comes to travel or plain and simple Journalistic/Geographic type Photography, I have to think…

During a recent exhibition I overheard some of the visitors saying WOW what a great shot, but he did this in the Computer…not believing that the image had been taken on Kodachrome 25 and was as real as it gets, taken some 25 years ago.

Now here is my point and concern, when do we know these days the difference between
a real image or a manipulated one?
How far can we go with our computer…it is a creative field after all…in commercial work, advertising, FX, or experimental creative photography we can go wild and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that…the computer and the software today allow us to do some amazing things, I have seen some pretty cool stuff and do some of it myself.

But when do people say WOW what a great shot and he or she did this for real… not using Photoshop and only the minimum tools in the editing software?

I guess these days we all, well almost all have to use our computers and software to do the editing and processing…it is the digital age after all, no turning back.

But it is a bit of a worry… personally I am not fond of all those filters and certain effects, (some manufactures even claim, "helping create the world's greatest images.")
Yes some of these filters and other plug-ins have a place in commercial photography, but then who can tell these days that they have not being used on other images, how can we show how the image really was at the time the shutter had been released, very difficult indeed.
I guess we have to believe the photographer and take his word for it, not much else we can do.... or do we have a choice?

I am using Aperture 2 as my darkroom and I love it for it’s speed, simplicity and management system, it is just great, plug- ins for me are out, except for the ones which can make my life a lot easier e.g. Exporting and the delivery of images from one destination to another, this is very cool stuff.
Aperture 2 unlike Photoshop let me work on my images up to a point…and this is the part I really like, you don’t get tempted to move some “heads around”, a great management system, nice editing tools you do need for digital files and a few other cool tools and applications.

But manipulation is out…if I like to do that then I switch to Photoshop or buy some new plug –ins for Aperture 2, the nice part is and this is real great…with Aperture 2 YOU can choose and set it up the way you like it, customizing to suit your type of photography.

With most other software you buy everything, it is all inside, if you use it or not, plus the temptation to “fix things” is always there.

When I shoot commercial work I try to get it right in the first place, I had to do it for some 30 years, why change now…but not adopting the attitude oh well, I can always fix this in the computer later, maybe I sound old fashion but it is so true these days.

I like the way Aperture evolved, but I feel to much attention has been given to all these plug ins, yes if you do commercial work go for it, but NO if you do serious creative, Journalistic and real life work, because you like to look into the eyes of your client and say… YES this is the real thing you can take my word for it…

If we forget or not been taught the old traditional ways, then a few years from now, we cant be sure anymore what is real and what is not.

Only a few years ago we had our negatives or slides and could prove what was real and what had been manipulated…I guess now we can only rely on our Raw images, one more reason to shoot Raw only, what I am trying to say is, that it is getting harder and harder to prove these days what is real and what is not…please think about and form your own opinion like I have with all my blah, blah above.
But isn’t a great feeling to look somebody into the eyes and say...
YES, this is the real Mc Coy.
GD

Tags: Photoshop, Lightroom, Plug-ins, Filters, Film, Processing, Software, Photography School, Raw Images, Negative, Slides, Art, Photography,, Education, Kodachrome, Commercial Photography