Of course Jazz should be played and listened to every day -but it is good to raise the profile of the broad sweep of Jazz during International Jazz Day on 30th April….
PARIS (AP) — Herbie Hancock and scores of other big names in sound, rhythm and improvisation gathered in Paris on Friday to celebrate a new annual event: International Jazz Day.
Hancock, a UNESCO goodwill ambassador, is the force behind the creation of a world day of jazz on April 30 starting Monday.
The yearly event aims to encourage people around the world to break down barriers between them using music.
“International Jazz Day is the great metaphor for international harmony,” Hancock told The Associated Press in an interview, before kicking off jazz day at UNESCO where it gets an early start.
Things were getting groovy behind the sober, concrete walls of the headquarters of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
About 400 students from Paris music conservatories and schools were taking master classes from Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater or Ibrahim Maalouf. Workshops, films, lectures and performances by musicians from around the world preceded an evening concert with an array of artists, including South Africa’s Hugh Masekela and French-born Manu Katche. And to show that jazz crosses musical borders as well as national ones, opera star Barbara Hendricks was taking part.
Hancock planned to cross the Atlantic to New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, for a sunrise concert with jazz luminaries on Monday, then head to the United Nations in New York for a sunset jazz fest for diplomats that will be streamed live. Many countries, from Azerbaijan to India, plan activities of their own to celebrate jazz on Monday.
Jazz by its very nature is a bridge across cultures, says the 72-year-old Hancock, whose roots are in classical music. Jazz musicians feed off each other, exchanging, improvising, inspiring and creating together — and forbidding nothing.
“Jazz is very open and very willing to be inclusive instead of exclusive,” Hancock said. “We all want to live in a jazz world where we all work together, improvise together, are not afraid of taking chances and expressing ourselves.”
Jazz’s roots among African-American slaves have long spoken to others with no voice but music, Hancock said.
“When a human being is oppressed, the natural tendency is to feel anger,” he said. “Jazz is a response to oppression that is not bullets and blood. Jazz is the expression of harmony … and at the same time of hope and freedom.”
This is the third of my compilations of Robert Doisneau’s images -and as a teacher, it is probably my favourite. The focus is on children and ther antics on the street and in school. Doisneau’s work gives unusual prominence and dignity to children’s street culture; returning again and again to the theme of children at play in the city, unfettered by parents. His work treats their play with seriousness and respect. In his honour, and owing to this, there are several Ecole Primaire (primary schools) named after him. An example is at Véretz (Indre-et-Loire).
Les tabliers de la rue de Rivoli, Paris
children-in-the-palais-royal-garden-c-1950
les enfants de la place hebert – paris
Les frères rue du docteur Lecène à Paris XIIIème
A selection of images
Le remorqueur du champ de mars -1943
les-ecoliers-de-la-rue-damesne, 1956
La dent – 1956
Le cadran scolaire – 1956
1936
la premiere maitresse -paris-1935
la voiture fondue-1944
le nez au carreau – paris-1953
enfants aux patins a roulettes menilmontant-paris-c-1950
La Sonnette
Un enchantement simple
l’information scolaire – paris-1956
So, which is your favourite image?
If you are interested , I have two other posts -Robert Doisneau 1 and Robert Doisneau 2
Having had some success with blue pictures or cyanotypes (see previous posts) on my own and with young children while teaching , the joy of ‘alternative’ photography can certainly be extended by building a pin hole camera. A good change form the predictability of digital….read on…
This is an international event created to promote and celebrate the art of pinhole photography.
On this unique day, we encourage people throughout the world to take some time off from the increasingly technological world we live in and to participate in the simple act of making a pinhole photograph. to share their visions and help spread the unusual beauty of this historical photographic process.
Pinhole photography allows you to make a photograph that requires only a light-tight container (box, can,…) with a tiny hole in one side (as a camera) and any photo-sensitive surface in it. You can adapt an existing camera, or make the camera yourself . The experience of image-making becomes a little more special when created with your own hand-made camera; so, we provide different instructions in making your camera on the Support page.
With your own camera, infinite depth-of-field, skewed perspectives, and slower exposures, you may ultimately become more creative and more selective about what you choose to photograph. Magical things happen in pinhole photography…
This project is rather simple. You can do it with your family, your kids, your students or your friends. We have supplied photos as a visual guide, rather than lengthy descriptions.
Format: Paperback, 44 pages, black & white, perfect bound
ISBN: 978-91-633-4380-3
Publisher: AlternativePhotography.com (2009)
And to whet your appetite -here is an example of one of the articles on pin hole photography that you will find on the website:
Adventures with multi-pinhole cameras
Writer and photography / Malin Fabbri
Malin Fabbri builds and tests multi-pinhole cameras. An excerpt from Diffusion magazine, volume II.
malin fabbri
Image right: Sergel by Malin Fabbri
I have always been drawn to alternative photographic processes for many reasons. Among those reasons exists the potential for what I call “happy accidents”: events and outcomes that occur without intention and that ultimately result in a better print.
Typical happy accidents are often related to the print-making process: an unintentional spill of emulsion on paper, a brushstroke taking on a shape of its own or a color shining with an unexpected hue. Such accidents, commonplace in the pinhole photography, can lead to a very pleasing print (and, in my case, a very happy photographer).
These “accidents” may also occur in-camera, however: intriguing light leaks, a failure to fully wind between exposures, or an imperfect container all can result in surprisingly beautiful images. When it comes to building a pinhole camera, though, why leave these events to chance? If one can create his or her own luck, shouldn’t it also be possible to lure the happy accident into forming?
Unique Characteristics of Pinhole Photographs
Many special effects can be created by modifying a pinhole camera. As an example, the camera can be designed with a bent film plane, which distorts horizons and subject matter. Additional effects can be obtained by modifying the focal length: a camera with an extremely short focal length creates a wide angle effect, whereas a telephoto effect may be created by building a camera with a long focal length. Another alteration involves zone plates, which are a series of clear and opaque rings that add soft focus and sometimes a halo to the subject. Furthermore, a “cubistic” effect (multiple exposures) can be achieved by building a “chest of drawers” style camera. This effect involves several pinholes exposing light on the paper or film.
When it comes to uniqueness and special effects, my favorite pinhole camera technique involves using multiple pinholes. The first multiple pinhole I ever set eyes on was taken by Jan Kapoor with her 360-degree camera. With such a camera, subjects and landscapes merged in Jan’s images, touching and interacting with each other. Jan’s pinhole camera was created using a hexagonal box. It has six separate pinholes of the same diameter on each side of the box. Inside the camera, the film is wrapped around a cylinder, making it possible for Jan to expose the film from several angles. She is able to use those six pinholes individually, simultaneously, instantly or over a period of time to create her wonderful landscapes.
Constructing Multiple Pinhole Cameras
Now that we’ve covered some basics, let’s delve a bit deeper into my favorite pinhole camera technique. In the experiment I will describe, I had a particular goal in mind: I wanted to see what kind of results I could get by creating and comparing two multiple pinhole cameras of similar size but of different shape: one square, the other round.
The first step? Choosing my containers. I admit that I am one of those computer nerds who buys software and then keeps the boxes, full of manuals and CDs, on the bookshelf. When I was looking for a container for my most recent camera a big, sturdy, completely black (and therefore already prepped as a pinhole camera) “Apple” box caught my eye. I was forced to sacrifice a few manuals into the recycling bin, but I decided this box would be perfect for making a square multi-pinhole camera. The second container was even easier to choose, as it involved washing down a tin of very tasty “Anna’s Gingerbread Biscuits” with a few cups of tea to free up a perfectly round container.
I then spent a day with Lena Källberg, in her studio in Stockholm, to build and test my two cameras (ingeniously named “iPinhole” and “Ginger”). Lena, who is also an avid pinholer, built her own multi-pinhole camera using a round cake tin. She named it “Turizt” after the name on the box. You can call me crazy, but I have a theory that computers and cameras work best when they have a good name. If you don’t already have names for your cameras, give it a try…you might be surprised by the results.
After contemplating the technical details, I decided to give the iPinhole camera three openings (the openings would eventually hold a piece of aluminum, through which the pinholes would be drilled): a square opening in the front – piercing the Apple logo – and one in each side. Ginger received three openings as well, each spaced evenly across the front of the tin. Lena decided to make hers a 360-degree camera, which meant the Turizt camera was the beneficiary of three openings, carefully measured and spaced exactly equidistant around the box – she is a perfectionist!
Each of our cameras received an inner circular can for fastening the paper. For the iPinhole and Ginger, the inner can was placed in the center. The inside of Ginger was then sprayed with matte black paint. Turizt was given a coat of matte cardboard paper while iPinhole, already black both inside and out, needed no extra coloring.
After prepping the cans and the box, it was time to work out optimum pinhole sizes. We elected to use “PinholeDesigner”, which is a great calculator that can be downloaded and installed from this site:www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholedesigner. Our calculations revealed that the optimum pinhole size for both iPinhole and Ginger was between 0.31 mm and 0.40 mm. Turizt had an optimum pinhole size of 0.36 for all six holes. Making nice, round pinholes of the right size is one of the trickiest challenges in constructing a pinhole camera. We selected to use an old beer can, which was cut, sandpapered smooth, pierced with a needle, scanned in and measured in Photoshop, pierced, sandpapered again, scanned and measured again, and again, and again.
One might ask at this point: why drive ourselves crazy trying to make the perfect hole? For this reason: a perfectly calibrated pinhole camera has an infinite depth of field, which means that everything in the final photograph will be in focus. That quality is what we were after, and we managed to make all the holes with a difference of less than 0.02 mm.
After we had determined the size of the pinholes and the focal length, we could easily work out the f-stop of our cameras using this formula: focal length/diameter of pinhole=f-stop
Testing the New Cameras
All three cameras were quite close in their f-stops. The iPinhole camera had f-stops ranging from f/179 to f/211. Ginger’s range landed between f/160 and f/184, and Turizt had an f-stop of f/180.
When the paint had dried and we were finally happy with the pinholes, it was time to test for light leaks. We journeyed into the darkroom and inserted a brand new sheet of unexposed paper into each camera and placed the cameras in the sun for a few minutes, WITHOUT opening the shutters. The paper was then developed and each sheet emerged white as snow – perfect, no light leaks!
We could finally head out to the park to field test our cameras. It was late in the afternoon, but it had been a lovely day and it was still sunny. The September sun was setting behind a number of buildings. After consulting the exposure chart listed in From pinhole to print (also shown here) I decided on an exposure of “cloudy at f/180”. This translated to an exposure time of two to four minutes, so I selected to expose the paper for an average of three minutes.
Ginger behaved excellently during the exposure, and the black tape shutters worked fine. Turizt also performed well. iPinhole, however, was a different matter. The use of a black tape shutter on a cardboard box was not optimal, as part of the box’s paper tore loose when I pulled the tape away for exposure. This not only ripped pieces off the box but also rendered the black tape useless for further exposures. As I had not taken this into consideration, I had no more black tape with me in the field and had to cover theholes with my hand on the way back to the darkroom. Not ideal.
malin fabbri
Image right: Sushi bar by Malin Fabbri
It was now late, however, and the sun had set. It was time to call it a day – no more time for test shooting. We returned to the dark room to develop our prints. iPinhole’s test print did develop a black patch on the side of the paper – I suspect due to an inability to close the shutter properly. That very night, I used a beer can to create a reinforced plate over the holes in iPinhole, so I would be able to remove the black tape without parts of the box falling off. Much better!
The cameras were now complete, and the test prints developed. Complete, at least, in the cases of iPinhole and Ginger. Lena achieved a very nice test shot with her Turizt but, because she is a perfectionist, has decided to fine-tune her camera. She is working out the optimum space between the inner can and the outer can to make a perfectly seamless gap between each image. So far, her conclusion is that five pinholes, coupled with the use of a smaller outer can, will result in a perfect multi-pinhole camera.
Although we have improved our chances of avoiding accidents, we are still treated with unpredictability of pinhole photography and those aforementioned happy accidents. To the seasoned photographer, pinhole cameras may seem too simple to offer much versatility in the area of image-making. However, these “limitations” often help a photographer free him or herself from the discrete and often rigid technical settings that more modern cameras possess. Such pinhole cameras, utilizing one or more tiny, drilled holes, record the world differently than the way our eyes see it and add unexpected characteristics to reality. In this way, what were once limitations may then become the opposite: they may become, in fact, opportunities, inspiring creative problem-solving in less than perfect situations.
An explanation of how the multi-pinhole camera reverses the image
When light enters a pinhole camera, the image is reversed and upside down. A multipinhole camera will not make panoramic images, as perhaps would be expected, since each image is reversed. An object that sits at a dividing line between two pinhole projections will be split into two pieces that are on the far sides of the negative. To achieve panoramic images you would in fact need a very complex design using mirrors. What you achieve instead with a multipinhole camera is an interesting blend of the landscape and and unexpected merging of objects. The images reverse into each other, one after another.
This article was published in Diffusion magazine. Malin Fabbri moved from Sweden to London to study, and earned an MA in Design at Central St. Martin’s. She has worked professionally with big media names in London, and has written two books on alternative photographic processes. In 1999 she began AlternativePhotography.com, and continues to be it’s editor.
Having blogged about International Jazz Day, Johnny Childs from New York reminded me that there was some movement on the support for an International Blues Music Day.
Being a blues music fan myself I am happy to support the effort.
You may be interested to know more about the development of the idea about an International Blues Music Day from this interview with Johnny Childs
On August 17, 2011 an online petition was launched on Facebook advocating for an International Blues Music Day. Within a few months the group reached thousands of members from around the world, comprising of blues fans, supporters, musicians, promoters and the general public. A formula is now being worked out to choose a date to declare and start celebrating an International Blues Music Day.
The Petition was the brainchild of blues musician Johnny Childs from NYC. A recognized and respected blues artist known for his unique and recognizable guitar style and colorful showmanship.
Johnny Childs is also the founding President of the The NYC Blues Society which he formed in 2010 as well as the subject of an award winning documentary film titled “The Junkman’s Son”.
Bman: Hi Johnny. Thanks for taking time out fro your busy schedule to talk with me. How did this idea of a petition for an “International Blues Music Day” come about?
Johnny: It’s a culmination of over twenty years of pursuing a career as a professional blues musician and some other recent events that made me act on it. I’ve been wondering for years why there was no IBMD and even back when the U.S. Congress declared 2003 “Year of The Blues” I felt they kind of missed the mark given the inherent expiration date. Then in a highly controversial move, The Grammy Awards scaled back their blues music category leaving us with little else in the way of a high profile awareness to promote the blues as a Genre. Of course we have the annual Blues Music Awards in Memphis which is very popular but still barley gets picked up by the mainstream media. After years as a musician promoting my own act I realized that ironically it might just be easier to think of ways to prop up the entire Blues Music Industry [since it basically sells itself] and start an effort for everyone and with everyone. And I started thinking about how the potential benefits and effects of this initiative can be significant if not limitless.
Then one day I was reading the paper and there was a blurb about International Lefty Day for left handed folks from around the world, and it kind of struck a chord with me. Aside from the obvious deserved recognition Blues Music as a music genre isn’t getting enough of, I could no longer live in a world that has an International Lefty day and a national Empinada Day etc… and not and International Blues Music Day.
Bman: You are putting a lot of time into this so I can tell you are taking it very seriously.
Johnny: Obviously this cause [to create an IBMD] is very personal to me. I started the Facebook petitiion and started inviting all my friends to the group and asking them to let their blues loving friends know about it. Before you knew it we had close to 7,000 folks join the group in support of an IBMD. I approached all the Blues Societies in the US and around the world, I approached The Blues Foundation and other respected institutions and asked them all to support this any way they could. We’re now also working with local and international government offices, educational institutions as well as event promoters and venues all over the world so that over the next few years we can fully integrate IBMD as an official international holiday and an event that can potentially bring continued recognition to Blues Music in a very large, multiplying and public way and to help it grow and continue to eveolve as we know it can and will in our lifetime and for generations to come”
Bman: It’s a great idea. I have been trying to do it through showing similarities across cultures in the music videos that I blog about in Bman’s Blues Report. We cover quality bands from every country that we can locate them in.
Johnny: As soon as our Facebook petition reaches 10,000 international members we will declare a date and begin preparations to celebrate the inaugural ‘International Blues Music Day’ with hundreds of planned events around the world . You can then find an event or concert near you and join us in an annual worldwide celebration of this incredible music genre and artform, and in making blues history around the globe. Our hope is to bring in new fans and help the current base of fans and artists continue on their personal journeys of blues discovery, enjoyment, participation, appreciation and support.
Bman: That’s great! I know I support it and I’ll hope that this interview helps to explain what we are trying to accomplish. I am also putting a badge at the top of the page so that readers can join in the efforts as they read this article.
Johnny: You can show your support for an International blues music day and help us get ready for our official declaration by joining the facebook group today. www.facebook.com/groups/Internationalbluesmusicday
Bman: Thanks for your time and we’ll hope to see the goal met soon!
Although I would like every day to be blues music day I am more than happy to support Johnny in this. Perhaps we can petition the UN once we get the IBMday on the road.
Is anyone in the UK supporting IBMday? Perhaps we can work together?