Sep
13
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Iphone photo 'art' controversy clicks in
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One of photographer Alessandro Vannucci’s favourite photos is of a small boy running towards the camera, Bakong temple standing proud in the background. It is thoughtful, moody and beautifully composed – and shot on an iPhone.
The image is part of Vannucci’s “iPhoneography Project” of the temples of Angkor, and reflects the growing trend of Hipstamatic photography. He has had good feedback so far, including from a couple of boutique hotels that have bought some of his Angkor iPhone photos.
Hipstamatic is an iPhone app that gives a photograph the look of having been taken with a vintage camera, using filters to create an arty, retro effect. One look on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook shows just how popular this app is. But Hipstamatic, cynics would argue, makes anyone a good photographer – or worse, makes everybody’s pictures look the same. So what is a professional shutterbug like Vannucci doing using it?
“Actually it started like a kind of game, an experiment,” Vannucci, who is also photographer guide, explains. He was taking photographers round the temples, advising them. One of the photographers spent the whole day snapping away on his iPhone, despite having a ‘proper’, SLR camera. Vannucci was surprised but impressed when he saw the photos.
He’s now a convert, and for the last three months he has been shooting on just iPhone.
“I am very happy with the result,” he says, showing me a striking picture of Ta Prohm. “It is made with Hipstamatic, and then there is some small post-production. The last step was with Instagram to make it a little bit sepia. I think Hipstamatic is very nice, for a very strong contrast.”
The other appeal, he says, is the instantaneous element.
“I went to Phnom Penh a few weeks ago on the bus and it had wifi. It’s amazing, because we stopped in Kampong Thom, took some photos and got back on the bus. I did some easy post-production to the photo I had just taken and then I put it online on Facebook while on the bus… It’s crazy! And it’s fun.
The other bonus, he says, is that with an iPhone you don’t miss anything. With an SLR camera you may lose precious seconds fiddling around getting the exposure and focus right. Using an iPhone you can be sure to ‘catch the moment.’
Vannucci refers me to the photo of the little boy. “This is exactly an example of the kind of photo you can miss. This guy was running to play with me and I was just in time to take my iPhone out. It was already set up so I didn’t have to open the application – just open and click. It’s very easy to compose because you have a big screen. And actually I was just in time because he was almost out of the frame.”
Are people surprised when they find out Vannucci’s little secret? Always, he laughs. He describes how a famous photographer in Italy, “the guru of black and white”, was full of praise for Vannucci’s photographs and the quality of his prints.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, how can I tell him?’ I was embarrassed! So I said, ‘Listen I have to tell you, this is made with a telephone.’ Five seconds of blackout, total blackout, and then he said, ‘Well you know, very nice.’ So people are always very surprised.
“There is a lot of prejudice. But what is important is the result, not what you are using.”
In fact the app is the source of much contention among photojournalists, several of whom were up in arms last year when New York Times photographer Damon Winter came third in Picture of the Year International contest for his Hipstamatic image of troops in Afghanistan. It’s fine for ‘arty’ pictures, the argument raged, but not for serious, journalistic photography.
Vannucci can see both sides. “Photography is an art, but photojournalism is a bit different. So I can understand these complaints, but anyway this is the present and the future will be – I mean we are always moving forward…”
As for Vanucci’s future with the iPhone, he says, “For me it’s still a kind of a game. Maybe in a year I’ll be bored but for now, most of the photos I’m taking are with iPhone.
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Sep
13
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Dim Socheata, go-getting green super hero
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At 23-years-old, Dim Socheata is finishing her studies in finance and banking at Cambodia Mekong University. But Socheata’s major is misleading: she’s poised to turn the capital into a regional example of how individual citizens can save the environment.
120912_08“In spite of the fact that we can’t change the whole world by ourselves, we can start from small points,” she says. “And then everything will start to change.”
Cheata’s been working to save Cambodia’s environment since she began university, when she joined Mekong University Students for the Community, a volunteer group. Cheata and her peers took special interest in helping the environment.
Back in 2009, Cheata remembers that she and the group went around the city and planted trees – Cheata personally distributing over 200 cards that read “Healthy Environment, Happy Family” to people along the road to help raise environmental awareness.
Every year since, Cheata and her team have successfully procured grants from various companies in Phnom Penh to produce the “We Concert” at her university. The purpose of the charity concert is to raise funds for environmental awareness – and also aid projects that help the disabled and orphaned.
Cheata says that if you’re going to teach environmental awareness, it needs to be fun and interesting.
“If we just explain what’s wrong with the way we treat the environment, that teaching won’t be effective. But if the issue is presented in a fun way, like with the concerts, we’ll have great success.”
Cheata adds that aside from the annual concerts, she and the team sponsors video and photo slideshows that address the damage of loose rubbish and show new and interesting ways that the ordinary person can get involved in helping the environment.
Cheata’s work didn’t go unnoticed: she was sponsored by organisers in Singapore to attend an environmental workshop there with two others. During her time there, she visited dumping sites and learnt of the dangers of how much rubbish a city can produce, and what we can do to develop sustainably.
Not too long after she returned from Singapore, Cheata was awarded with a scholarship from the USA to join a program for young global leaders. The program focused specifically on leadership in the context of global environmental issues.
In America, Cheata was inspired by a family that was especially driven to save their natural environment.
“If we don’t all start to better our environment now, then we can’t get anything going,” Cheata explains.
After she came back to Cambodia from America, Cheata joined with other program alumni and conceived a project called the No Plastic Bag Campaign to stamp out the harm caused by discarding plastic bags into our natural environment.
Cheata’s No Plastic Bag Campaign was publically celebrated at Soriya Mall, City Mall, and Sovanna Supermarket in Phnom Penh. The establishments shared leaflets, gave presentations on the advantages of using reusable bags, and had viewings of environmental documentaries.
Although Cheata may be set to be one of the city’s top power brokers at the stock exchange, she says she’ll never stop fighting for the environment.
“I want to see this through,” she says. “I want everyone to participate in saving our environment, and for it to come from their hearts.”
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Sep
13
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Phnom Penh City Hall Organizes a Workshop on Gender Issue
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Phnom Penh Municipality organizes a workshop on gender issue here on Sept. 11 under the presidency of its Deputy Governor Mrs.Touch Sarom with the participation of 172 female counselors from communes and districts across Phnom Penh Capital City.
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Preah Vihear Province Holds a Meeting on Disaster Management
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13/09/2012 10:54:26
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Bangkok Airways to start flying to Vientiane
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13/09/2012 10:31:54
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Citizen Seng
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13/09/2012 10:25:57
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Fixture cancellation angers touring team
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13/09/2012 10:14:36
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Raffles Hotel Le Royal Phnom Penh
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13/09/2012 10:12:00
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Human remains found at Cambodian pagoda
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13/09/2012 10:05:33
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Coffee colonialism in Laos
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13/09/2012 10:01:34
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Cambodia conducts child protection and training for tourism professionals
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13/09/2012 09:52:22
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Photographic exhibition on Vietnam opens in France
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13/09/2012 09:49:53
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