Underdogs issue 2

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DOGS photography magazine / issue_2

Ana Caldas Dennis Erfmann Eric Frot Karl Gunnarson Richard C. Johnson John Koch Max Lindquist Brad McMurray Walter Stรถlz

Designer/Editor: Isa Gelb Cover & back cover: Max Lindquist

All images and text published in Underdogs are the sole property of the featured photographers.

NO image can be reproduced, edited, copied or distributed without the express written permission of its legal owner.

NO part of the publication may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher.

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Welcome to the second issue of Underdogs.

For those of you who are viewing the magazine for the first time, I wrote in the introduction to Issue One that I conceived of Underdogs as a way for me to share with the world the types of images I like to see, from other “undiscovered” photographers who show their work on the web.

But I’ve repeatedly asked myself a few questions since I became the editor—namely: does my liking an image mean it is good? How much authority, if any, do I have to make that judgment?

These questions are mostly theoretical, since I am happy to say that Issue One was well received by viewers. Yet I reflected on the same questions again after viewing a recent program on Vice with Bruce Gilden. In an 11-minute segment, available at http://www.vice.com/Take-it-or-Leave-it-with-Bruce-Gilden/bruce-critiques-art-photography.

He brusquely reviews photos submitted to him under the category of “art photography,” looking at them for a few seconds, passing judgment on them with words such as “good” or “shit,” offering a few sentences to explain why, and moving on.

I often found myself agreeing with Bruce’s judgments. Even if he came across as harsh, his swift responses to the photos presented to him didn't seem much different than my responses when I am on Flickr or Facebook, clicking the “Favorite” or “Like” button—or choosing not to.

Not only do I have strong instinctive responses to the images I see, my interests also run contrary to what’s popular. On these points, what more can I say than that I have my own taste, upbringing, and cultural background, and that they influence what I like and don’t like?

But there’s a deeper level than the auto-sorting of images that creates the initial “good” pile and “bad” pile. There are images which initially strike one as “good,” but then lose their attractiveness immediately afterwards, or slowly over time.

Then there are the images that stay “good.”

More concisely: there are the images that stay.

This is a more neutral way of explaining the phenomenon that led me to create Underdogs.

It’s not about picking “good” photos so much as it is about the experience of finding a ground in the images of others, and my need to communicate that ground in the best way I can, through a conscious interaction with photographers and their styles.

I hope this level of experience and interaction is evident to you, and shared by you, as you view Issue Two. Thank you for reading.

Isa Gelb https://www.flickr.com/photos/91262356@N06/ http://punkroyaltiger.tumblr.com/

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ANA CALDAS

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ANA CALDAS Lisboa / Portugal https://www.flickr.com/photos/31434401@N02/

HER CAMERAS My camera is mainly my mobile phone which is a Samsung galaxy Plus Core SM G350 and its apps (Vignette for Android, Camaringo Lite, Little photo, retro camera, XN Retro, Pixlr Express).

I was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1970.

I can define my self, since I remember, as an image lover but most of all I define myself as a storyteller because I like to hear and tell stories to others. It is a personal demand and need, more than “tell”, I like the verb “suggest” stories. Each fragment, each moment , each detail can be part of a whole story. Each person can, by what he or she sees, adds something to the image and that can be fascinating. So my images are part of the others when finished in the way that they contain what I created but what the others add and that is part of each individual imagery. So, if I can express my self through other's words, I can make Julie Delpy, my own words : “I like to put photos together like they tell a story (...) They are put the way my mind works, (so) to others they could mean nothing at all“.

In fact my photographic work – and I think I’m not a photographer in a classic sense – is not about me but is “me” because what I see and what I feel can determinate the way I present images. This process is an inner process and because of that, very personal.

What is important to me is not necessarily the camera – I can use anything in this moment that can help myself to express, since mobile phone to analog or digital and video included – but the result of what I call a “mental process” that by lucky is using a camera.

I like to play with images and colors and in some cases with editions and new technologies applied to photography are so interesting and fascinating. These smartphones and tablets apps allow people to be even creative and in the limit, it applies to nostalgia in the sense it made reinvented new ways of capture an image and make something diferent and personal with it. Finally to me is important to give people informations about the year the photo has been taken and in some cases the place because each moment has a meaning and there is a natural evolution of the photographer. The person we were some years ago is not the person we are now.

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Her favorite photograph

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DENNIS ERFMANN 11

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DENNIS ERFMANN Amsterdam / Netherlands https://www.ickr.com/photos/98066086@N06/ http://denniserfmann.tumblr.com/

HIS CAMERAS

Contax T2 / Yashica T4 / Fuji GA 645zi / Pentax ME Sony RX 100 13

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His favorite photograph

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ÉRIC FROT 17

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ÉRIC FROT Paris / France https://www.flickr.com/photos/95469389@N03/ http://ericfrot.prosite.com/

HIS CAMERAS

Leica, M6, M6 TTL, M9

His favorite photograph

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KARL GuNNARSSON

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His favorite photograph

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KARL GuNNARSSON Falun / Sweden https://www.ickr.com/photos/karlg/ http://butfornow.net/

My photography is an exploration of my environment. At the same time it’s an indirect exploration of myself and thoughts on belonging and materialism.

I'm interested in the everyday scenes we usually pass by without a glance or thought. To me these scenes are rich in metaphors and statements about our world and my experience.

HIS CAMERAS

Olympus OM-D E-M5.

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RICHARD C. JOHNSON 29

One of his favorite photograph

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RICHARD C. JOHNSON Duluth (MN) / United States https://www.ickr.com/photos/26685743@N07/

I was trained as an artist, and this training I carry in some way to my work today.

Aesthetics always play some part in my image making process, so from time to time beauty raises its ugly head whether I beckon it or not.

However, I consider my work to be primarily a type of documentary process, rather than a strictly aesthetic one. I work more for an image than an object for consumption.

I am attempting to record a certain geographic location, at a certain time in history.

HIS CAMERAS I own a number of cameras that I enjoy using. My favorite would be an old Rolleiflex TLR. I use it sparingly, but enjoy it just as a beautiful machine. Much is the same with a Leica R8 that I have. The images I have made with it are not all that successful, as they have been with color film and I do not feel that comfortable working in color, but its charm is in its shutter sound and buttery smooth film advance. It is a machine with gears and mechanics, not an electronic device.

My most used camera is a Fuji XPRO1, which produces files that lend themselves to B&W conversion quite nicely, and has an electronic viewfinder that makes manual focusing through glass quite easy. I also use a Panasonic GF1 for most of my square format work.

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JOHN KOCH

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JOHN KOCH Portland (OR) / United States www.ickr.com/photos/orphotographer/

I am, and probably forever will be, a work in progress as an artistic photographer. For me, it's more than enough to travel to the city or country, meet people, and share a sliver of experience with them.

I am grateful for those opportunities above all.

If some of my photographs turn out well, or communicate something to the viewer, it is most likely the result of forces that are unconscious to me.

HIS CAMERAS Nikon D3100 (predominantly) Minolta Autocord, Minolta SRT-101

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His favorite photograph

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MAx LINDquIST 41

MAx LINDquIST Malmö / Sweden https://www.flickr.com/photos/10037165@N02/ http://cargocollective.com/maxlindquist

HIS CAMERAS

Canon 5D and 7D

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BRAD MCMuRRAY

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BRAD MCMuRRAY Vancouver / BC Canada https://www.ickr.com/photos/22488303@N05/

My work focuses on the mundane and ordinary world and I think that no subject is fuller of implications than this one. It is possible to find beauty and pleasure in banality and disorder. I strive to make forms make sense visually and I try to find beauty and displays of color in ordinary scenes and subject matter and trust that the mystery and the poetry will follow.

HIS CAMERA Fuji and Leica digital

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One of his favorite photograph

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WALTER STOLz

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WALTER STOLz Losone / Switzerland https://www.ickr.com/photos/walterstolz/

Rather than defining meanings in my photographs, I like to simply be aware of what i see when it somehow speaks to me and record it unconcerned by any concept of uniformity and stylistic coherence.

It is the only way I know to discover an image for myself, and eventually find out what the image might suggest to others.

HIS CAMERAS I use a 1932 Contax 1 rangefinder and a Contax G1 when i'm shooting film, a Mamiya m645 for medium format film and a Fuji X100 for digital.

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His favorite photograph

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MANY THANKS TO ANA CALDAS https://www.flickr.com/photos/31434401@N02/

DENNIS ERFMANN https://www.flickr.com/photos/98066086@N06/ http://denniserfmann.tumblr.com/

ÉRIC FROT https://www.flickr.com/photos/95469389@N03/ http://ericfrot.prosite.com/

KARL GUNNARSON https://www.flickr.com/photos/karlg/ http://butfornow.net/

RICHARD C. JOHNSON https://www.flickr.com/photos/26685743@N07/

JOHN KOCH https://www.flickr.com/photos/orphotographer/

MAX LINDQUIST https://www.flickr.com/photos/10037165@N02/ http://cargocollective.com/maxlindquist

BRAD MCMURRAY https://www.flickr.com/photos/22488303@N05/

WALTER STOLZ https://www.flickr.com/photos/walterstolz/

Special thanks to John Koch for his help on my introduction text.

Next issue january 2015

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