This week I guested on Kevin Walker's Serie A Weekly Roundtable. Give it a Listen!!
In this week's Serie A roundtable I'm joined by Dov from Italian Football Fancast and El'Negrini himself from the MadAboutFutbol blog website. Together the guests and I discuss the first Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Chelsea as well as the top Four in Serie A, Inter, AC Milan, Juventus, and ?Sit back and enjoy the show and please send us your feedback to, owngoalnetwork@live.ca
Listen Here
http://www.serieaweekly.com/2009/04/podcast-serie-weekly-roundtable-01x.html
Showing posts with label Features. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Features. Show all posts
Friday, 1 May 2009
Sunday, 8 February 2009
A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words
“A picture speaks more than a thousand words." - How true this statement is! A camera captures moments and conveys them much more effectively than words can ever attempt to. The right kind of photograph can speak volumes about a certain subject. The same holds true for fashion photography, that wonderful branch of photography that focuses specifically on 'fashion'. The trained eye of a skilled fashion photographer can work wonders for a fashion accessory, model or a show, and add to its beauty.
Fashion photography, in the form of presenting garments on and off bodies and the system in which these images circulate and operate, has long been on tenuous ground in both the public and academic spheres. While the public may continue to be critical of the idea of such photography and the idea of fashion in general, its triviality, wastefulness, impermanence and commercialism, many people still buy the clothes and keep up with the trends.
Attempts to legitimize the topic of fashion and its depiction as a subject as an area warranting serious academic consideration and examination however, have proved more difficult. Although these attempts have been increasingly frequent as the role of fashion has become increasingly more evident and influential and its dialogue more social in its mainstream prevalence, the general consensus is still to view fashion and its related institutions in a largely negative manner and its presentation unworthy of consideration beyond a superficial level. Proponents and creators of fashion photography have strained to garner respect for their form as well as maintain an appearance of continuous innovation and a sense of progressive ‘modernity' through each season.
I don’t want to downgrade or deglamourize fashion photography, it is far too much hard work to do that, but let’s not forget that the main reason for its being, to show what a garment looks like, to show it off in glossy magazines and catalogues in order that the readers will spend a lot of money buying it.
A fashion photographer is judged not only on his photographic ability, but how good he is at shifting dresses off the rails. In fashion photography the client always calls the tune and as a result it has traditionally been regarded as the lightweight end of the photographic practice. Its close relationship to an industry dependent on fast turnover makes the fashion photograph the transitory image par excellence . . . the commercial sphere of photographs, the domain of the everyday image, which represents the debasement of a conventional history of photography.
Having said that, the best fashion photographers have always had their own trademarks. Among the best fashion photographers it is always possible to distinguish one from another. The best assignments go to the fashion photographer that stands out and is able to come up with ideas that differ from the norm.
Any competent photographer could make a decent and competent job of photographing a woman’s catalogue or even the fashion page of a popular newspaper, but on a higher level of doing a fashion shoot for “Vogue” a more creative level of thought is needed. Top end magazines, such as “Vogue” etc will only employ fashion photographers that have built up a reputation forever coming up with new ideas in their photography, looking for new scenarios and different props in their pictures, and for a consistency that puts the photographer under a load of pressure.
The nature of fashion and fashion photography to be impermanent, its latent transience in ever changing and shifting trends, generates and exudes a perpetual ‘in-process' quality. This quality is delusory however, as images and styles repeat themselves in carefully calculated and timed increments.
The apparent instantaneousness of fashion lends it an attractive volatility. Fashion is really about maintaining the eternal sameness, preserving the status quo; it is a quixotic gesture, a con trick, a sleight of hand, which makes us think that change is happening when the opposite is closer to the truth. Fashions are not about putting into circulation the really new, because the genuine novelty cannot be absorbed quickly into the cultural formations of everyday life.
Fashion periodicals are the primary purveyors of these images and subsequent identities, with ‘Vogue’ as the gold standard for magazines in this arena. Through fashion photography, these publications exhibit and mediate the ideals of each era. Their role in such activities of dissemination and influence is problematic and damaging on several levels. With the growing popularity and seductive appeal of this medium and the apparent innocuous quality assumed by it, of merely reporting new styles and where to obtain them, the publications' more subversive edge remains hidden.
Fashion magazines do not just present fashion, they instruct in the creation of image and self-representation. Through these publications, women are able to imagine and construct the ‘best' and ‘most desirable' versions of themselves. Fashioning the body becomes a practice through which the individual can fashion a self. Whole distinct identities are formed through dress; social perceptions of wealth, class, taste and personality are mediated by the presentation of the body. The garment constructs the self, and the individual captured in photography memorializes and makes permanent that self.
Today, fashion photography is now not merely confined to recording of an event or a fashion
accessory on film. It has evolved to become a highly stylized art form, capturing an entire era and the trends prevalent during that period of time. Fashion photographers have become a highly influential community in the media world. Today, fashion photography blends fashion and art beautifully, while making a subconscious mark upon us all.
Fashion photography, in the form of presenting garments on and off bodies and the system in which these images circulate and operate, has long been on tenuous ground in both the public and academic spheres. While the public may continue to be critical of the idea of such photography and the idea of fashion in general, its triviality, wastefulness, impermanence and commercialism, many people still buy the clothes and keep up with the trends.
Attempts to legitimize the topic of fashion and its depiction as a subject as an area warranting serious academic consideration and examination however, have proved more difficult. Although these attempts have been increasingly frequent as the role of fashion has become increasingly more evident and influential and its dialogue more social in its mainstream prevalence, the general consensus is still to view fashion and its related institutions in a largely negative manner and its presentation unworthy of consideration beyond a superficial level. Proponents and creators of fashion photography have strained to garner respect for their form as well as maintain an appearance of continuous innovation and a sense of progressive ‘modernity' through each season.
I don’t want to downgrade or deglamourize fashion photography, it is far too much hard work to do that, but let’s not forget that the main reason for its being, to show what a garment looks like, to show it off in glossy magazines and catalogues in order that the readers will spend a lot of money buying it.
A fashion photographer is judged not only on his photographic ability, but how good he is at shifting dresses off the rails. In fashion photography the client always calls the tune and as a result it has traditionally been regarded as the lightweight end of the photographic practice. Its close relationship to an industry dependent on fast turnover makes the fashion photograph the transitory image par excellence . . . the commercial sphere of photographs, the domain of the everyday image, which represents the debasement of a conventional history of photography.
Having said that, the best fashion photographers have always had their own trademarks. Among the best fashion photographers it is always possible to distinguish one from another. The best assignments go to the fashion photographer that stands out and is able to come up with ideas that differ from the norm.
Any competent photographer could make a decent and competent job of photographing a woman’s catalogue or even the fashion page of a popular newspaper, but on a higher level of doing a fashion shoot for “Vogue” a more creative level of thought is needed. Top end magazines, such as “Vogue” etc will only employ fashion photographers that have built up a reputation forever coming up with new ideas in their photography, looking for new scenarios and different props in their pictures, and for a consistency that puts the photographer under a load of pressure.
The nature of fashion and fashion photography to be impermanent, its latent transience in ever changing and shifting trends, generates and exudes a perpetual ‘in-process' quality. This quality is delusory however, as images and styles repeat themselves in carefully calculated and timed increments.
The apparent instantaneousness of fashion lends it an attractive volatility. Fashion is really about maintaining the eternal sameness, preserving the status quo; it is a quixotic gesture, a con trick, a sleight of hand, which makes us think that change is happening when the opposite is closer to the truth. Fashions are not about putting into circulation the really new, because the genuine novelty cannot be absorbed quickly into the cultural formations of everyday life.
Fashion periodicals are the primary purveyors of these images and subsequent identities, with ‘Vogue’ as the gold standard for magazines in this arena. Through fashion photography, these publications exhibit and mediate the ideals of each era. Their role in such activities of dissemination and influence is problematic and damaging on several levels. With the growing popularity and seductive appeal of this medium and the apparent innocuous quality assumed by it, of merely reporting new styles and where to obtain them, the publications' more subversive edge remains hidden.
Fashion magazines do not just present fashion, they instruct in the creation of image and self-representation. Through these publications, women are able to imagine and construct the ‘best' and ‘most desirable' versions of themselves. Fashioning the body becomes a practice through which the individual can fashion a self. Whole distinct identities are formed through dress; social perceptions of wealth, class, taste and personality are mediated by the presentation of the body. The garment constructs the self, and the individual captured in photography memorializes and makes permanent that self.
Today, fashion photography is now not merely confined to recording of an event or a fashion
accessory on film. It has evolved to become a highly stylized art form, capturing an entire era and the trends prevalent during that period of time. Fashion photographers have become a highly influential community in the media world. Today, fashion photography blends fashion and art beautifully, while making a subconscious mark upon us all.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Christmas: What is it all about?
Beyond the trees and lights, Beyond the bows and wrapping paper, Beyond the sounds of carolers and smells of gingerbread, Beyond the armloads of gifts and the grim reality of credit card bills, Beyond red-suit clad Santa’s and tiny angels adorned with tin foil halos, Ever wondered what Christmas was all about? Far from the glamorous festivities that mark today's celebrations, the first Christmas proved the humblest of events.
A couple engaged, but not yet married, traveled to a distant city to pay taxes. Adding to the rigors of the journey was the woman's very-pregnant condition. Despite her state, she claimed to be a virgin and said the child she carried was the Son of God, not the product of any human relationship. How the tongues must have wagged in ancient Palestine! Probably they questioned her sanity. Certainly they challenged her morality. And they must have wondered about the intelligence of her husband-to-be. What sort of man would marry a woman about to have a child that was not his?
Whatever the community thought, Mary knew the truth. Joseph initially doubted his bride-to-be's fantastical story, but an angel appeared to him one night and told him that the child was indeed God's and that his fiancée was pure and honorable, a suitable wife. After that night, Joseph needed no more convincing. Together, the couple made plans for their new life as one flesh, and for the addition that was soon to grace their family. That meant obeying Caesar and paying taxes.
Yet when the twosome reached the city, they could find nowhere to stay. Every room in the city was taken. Mary's condition complicated matters. The child was ready to be born. And as any woman who has ever given birth knows, babies don't delay their arrivals because of inadequate facilities.
Finding no other shelter, Joseph and Mary settled for a stable--a common barn filled with animals and the accompanying smells. The baby came, but no soft receiving blankets graced his skin. No sterile crib awaited the squirming newborn. Mary did the best she could for her baby. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in the softest spot the barn offered--a trough filled with hay.
Glamorous? No.
Festive? Hardly.
But glorious? Yes. A thousand times yes.
You see, like any proud father, the infant's Father (God Himself) hastened to announce His Son's birth. Yet unlike any other father, He proclaimed the good news as only God could.
Without warning, the night sky over Bethlehem came alive. An angel split the night-sky, hovering over a pasture filled with shepherds. Fear gripped their hearts, but the heavenly visitor immediately spoke peace. "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Before they had time to regain their composure, similar creatures literally filled the sky. And angelic praise shattered the typical evening quiet. The shepherds probably didn't think twice. Who would have under the circumstances?
Abandoning their flocks, they headed back into Bethlehem. They didn't stop until they found the child about whom the angels sang. Then, there in the barn, they worshipped the newborn King.
That is the glorious event we do celebrate, every year on the 25th of December.
With a tree bursting at the base with gifts so thoughtfully chosen, and decorated with such care and precision, it arrives. Has Santa been, kids everywhere rush from their bunk beds to see what delights await. The latest Power Ranger or Barbie doll? Parents across the country despair. After a typically chaotic present opening session the hard work commences. Turkey – DONE! In the immortal words of Gordon Ramsey.
Sitting round the overly crowded dining table with family members you wont see till next Christmas or Easter if your lucky, we gather round the television to watch the Queen’s speech, listening intently as we are given a message of hope and optimism for the future. Alternatively, as a growing number do, you can flick over to Channel 4 for an enlightened look at the years events, usually brought to you by modern cultural powerhouses namely Ali G or Marge Simpson.
Then, after consuming a years worth of calories in one sitting, a bloated kindred plunk themselves on the sofa and relax as Goldfinger or any other 007 that happens to be transmitted begins before the round of special episodes commence. A particular highlight for most is the yearly screening of ‘The Snowman’ a true Christmas masterpiece. Have we forgotten why we gather on this day?
I ask, on the days leading up to the monumentous day, while trawling round the shops looking for that perfect gift for your sibling, parent or significant other. Becoming increasingly annoyed by the endless repeating of Slade and Wizzard, combined with whatever a Z-list celebrity has decided to call an ‘X-mas’ song. Think about those less fortunate. After all this time of year is about giving, forgiveness and goodwill to all.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas.
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