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I really enjoyed this quote from the always informative, always thoughtful Sonic Blog.

“The necessary condition for an image is sight,” Janouch told Kafka; and Kafka smiled and replied: “We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. My stories are a way of shutting my eyes.”


Roland Barthes, 1915 - 1980

I am of the camp who believes the megapixel craze has gotten a bit out of hand. Particularly when it comes to consumer point-and-shoot cameras, many companies market on the basis that the more megapixels they provide, the better the camera. The reality, however, is that most point-and-shoots are just too small to effectively translate all those megapixels captured into a better image. The greatly informative website 6mp argues that for most cameras this size, 6(ish) is the magic number, meaning relatively lower numbers of megapixels are best handled by smaller sensors, creating optimum results. Today I came across this article on Sony's soon-to-be-supposedly-anachronistic 7mp Cybershot W120 model. 

Tonight (January 8th), the Hasted Hunt Gallery (cleverly named for owners Sarah Hasted and W.M. Hunt) in Chelsea opens what looks to be a great exhibit — Contradictions in Black and White, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. It'll be worth the trek in the cold weather, I promise!

In this series of photos from Madrid's Plaza Mayor, photoblogger Francois-Noel Masson includes images of statues with photos of mimes (1 2 3

Check out this awesome photo by Joshua Lott. Joshua is a freelancer who makes all kinds of great pictures, and recently covered the presidential campaign. He also started a new photoblog last month — the cleverly named lottsafotos. I love this photo of two dolls on a phone wire, taken in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

One of many great photography pieces I'm catching up on from the holidays was this awesome, informal yet informative interview that Frederick Van Johnson conducted with iStockphoto expert contributor Nicole Young. Check it out!

Three separate and unrelated photographer-police run-ins occurred, remarkably, within less than a week at the tail end of 2008.

The Soho Photo Gallery in Lower Manhattan was packed with people last night for the reception of five (count 'em, five!) show openings. The rather large space was so packed, in fact, that Zoom In was unable to get in to part of the exhibit upstairs! What we did see, though, was an eclectic mix of photography and gallery-goers, drinking up the art, the scene, and the free champagne.

Gregory Aiello's section, entitled "City Dreams: Selected Works 1994-2007" was particularly striking. His large cityscape images present the urban, magnified, while at the same time giving a unique perspective on the totality and enormity of modern architecture. The patterns and angles Aiello discovers in these black and white prints are truly captivating. It's one of those things that you have to see in person to truly appreciate. (Ahem, Soho Photo's new hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 1pm to 6pm.)

Shift by Gregory Aiello

Adobe released the Lightroom update 2.2 a couple weeks ago, providing photographers with software improvements for the new year. Although the changes aren't drastic in this update, the new 2.2 provides greater usability and increased hardware compatibility. Here are some of Zoom In's favorite photos made with the aid of LR 2.2.


Shortcut to Brilliant: Adobe CS4 Production Premium Road Show

Pushing Creative Boundaries, Increasing Productivity

North America: January 12-February 12, 2009