#40-41 November - December 2014

ISSN: 2285-5734

Challenge Creativity

Mihai Ilie
Radu Mihai Iani
Oliver Merce

Tina Genovia Obreja

& Luiza Boldeanu

Summary

40-41 November - December 2014

7 | Editorial
8 | Events
Astronomy Photographer of the Year
Horst: Photographer of Style
at Victoria and Albert Museum
The Photographers 2014
Retrospective> Filmmaker
Marguerite Duras

12 | Photo Books
The Essence of Photography
Group f.64: Edward Weston, Ansel
Adams, Imogen
Cunningham, and the Community of
Artists Who
Revolutionized American
Photography
Masterclass: Arnold Newman
Photography: The Whole Story

18 | Portfolio
Mihai Ilie

76 | Journey = Photography
Venice

92 | Street Core Photography

98 | PhoneCam Project
106 | Guy Tal on photography

Tina Genovia Obreja & Luiza Boldeanu

Radu Mihai Iani

50 | Advice 4all
10 Tips for Better Landscape
Photographs

56 | Photo populis
68 | Project4all
Short Stories
Senior Editor: Cristina int
(cristina.tinta@foto4all.ro)
Editors: Cristian Bassa, Andrei Baciu,
Emilian Chiril, Ana Neaca
Contributors: Bence Makkai, Guy Tal,
Michail Moscholios
Translators: Irina Dinescu
Graphic concept: studio seven (www.studioseven.ro)
DTP: Ilie Popa (ilie.popa@gmail.com)
Cover photo: Luiza Boldeanu & Tina Genovia Obreja
Marketing: Cristina int
Online editor: Ionu Dorneanu
Legal owner: S.C. SALES EXPRESS NETWORK S.R.L.,
VAT no. 28241939
Suporters: ANZI SOFT SRL, Andrei Zincenco
The authors of each article shall be liable for the
content they provide. Any copyright infringement,
whether it is total or partial, shall be punished
according to the applicable law. The property of
each image and article published by our magazine
belongs to the authors and to FOTO4all.ro.
e-mail: publish@foto4all.ro
FOTO4ALL.ro 20122014

Editorial

love photography,
love life. simple.

It's all about the experience after all. The more you
enjoy it, the better your images will show that as well.
I always try to keep that in mind, but none the less I
always come to forget it at some point. I don't know
why are we built this way, but we rarely accept that
we could be so much better if we'd work harder for it.
Instead we hook on all of the comfort zones we
encounter and even try to create new ones. We are
afraid of letting go of the things that don't work
right in our lives, of facing ourselves, of admitting
that we don't always do what we would want to and
that gathers hard feelings, of telling the ones we
like that we do so, even if we dont stand a chanceonly to liberate ourselves and face discomfort, of
accepting that there are times for pain just as they
are for joy. And whatever we create should reflect
the emotions, the situations, the stories.
Its the simplest thing to be sincere and the hardest to
play roles. Although at times it may seem the other way
round. But its only another way of fooling ourselves.
Its not quite the message you probably expected at

the end of the year. Oh well, its time for reflection

and new resolutions after all. But you have to open
your heart for that. For life. For photography. For the
things that you care about.
We have come down to issue 41 and at times it still
feels like it was yesterday that we started.
I can only hope you enjoyed the ride just as much
and whatever comes next you found at least at
some point a little thing that intrigued you, moved
you, made you press the shutter.
If so, part of my mission was accomplished and I
thank you, the reader, for that, If not, well try harder
next time.
Happy 2015 and love photography & life.
As simple as that!

Cristina int
Editor-in-Chief
7

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Events

Astronomy Photographer of the Year

From 19 September 2014 to 22 February 2015
The Royal Observatory Greenwich, London
T h e Ro y a l O b s e r v a t o r y
Greenwich is the fitting setting
for the Astronomy Photographer
of the Year 2014. This prestigious
competition sees some of the
most talented photographers
from around the world competing
to win the highly contested title.
The exhibition showcases some
stellar images of the night sky,
covering everything from the
Solar System to deep space.
Previous highlights include
pictures of the transit of Venus,
comets, nebulae and aurorae.
Open to amateurs and
professionals, the striking
images have been captured

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with various techniques using

both high-tech and low-key
equipment. Entrants to the
competition become a part of

the Royal Observatorys scheme

to map the night sky, with
selected photos being added to
the vast catalogue of images.

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Events

Horst: Photographer of Style

at Victoria and Albert Museum
From 6 September 2014 to 4 January 2015
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The work of one of the last century's

greatest photographers is explored at
the V&A in Horst: Photographer of Style.
This exhibition is the definitive
retrospective of his mesmerising work,
a huge talent whose career spanned an
amazing six decades. Horst specialised
in pictures of couture creations,
including Chanel, Schiaparelli and
Vionnet in 1930s Paris. It was during
this stage of his life that his work also
kick started the careers of many models.
A decade later, his work was New York
orientated. It was here that he began
experimenting with early colour processes,
leading him to create vivid, memorable
works that became the focus of attention
in many prestigious magazines.
This exhibition shows off some of
Horsts best known work as well as
some rarely seen efforts and vintage
prints. With a replica of his studio and
other rare personal items, this is a
brilliant demonstration of the genius
that Horst was capable of.

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Events

The Photographers 2014

23a Bruton Street, London

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Events

Retrospective> Filmmaker
Marguerite Duras

Osborne Samuel has announced a collaborative

exhibition with Beetles+Huxley to present and
celebrate the variety and influence of photography
through the ages. Running 20 November - 23
December 2014, this major photography exhibition
crosses both of these leading London galleries to
showcase over 150 important photographs from the
19th century to the present day.
The exhibition displays a range of arresting and iconic
imagery from all periods of this groundbreaking
medium, including works by legendary photographers
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Horst P Horst,
Walker Evans, Cecil Beaton, Robert Mapplethorpe,
Lord Snowdon, Brassai, Bill Brandt, Man Ray, Irving
Penn, William Klein, Cecil Beaton, Bruce Davidson,
Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke White and Edward
Steichen.
Previously unseen self-portraits by American street
photographer Vivian Maier will be showcased for the
first time. During her work as a nanny, Maier took
more than 150,000 photographs of the people and
architecture of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
She recorded some of the most interesting marvels
and peculiarities of urban America in the late 20th
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century.
Also presented is a rare and unusual group of
exploration photographs, including the work of travel
photography pioneer Herbert Ponting, who produced
some of the most enduring images of the Heroic
Age Antarctic Exploration, as well as Frank Hurleys
photographs of the Shackleton Expedition. Featured
alongside these are original, rare NASA photographs
from seminal space missions.
The exhibition displays significant works by mid20th century French masters such as Willy Ronis,
Brassai, Robert Doisneau and Henri Cartier-Bresson,
whose focus on capturing the decisive moment
exemplifies the innovation of this influential period
of photography.
Contemporary photographs include those with
a particular focus on the natural world, with
photographers including Edward Burtynsky, Michael
Wold, Alex Maclean, Justine Blau and Michael Najjar
examining mankinds impact on the landscape.
Powerful works by important contemporary
practitioners Ruud van Empel, Susan Derges, Julie
Blackmon, Nadav Kander and Mona Kuhn are also
presented.

For the Autumn Festival in Paris, the Centre Pompidou

presents a full retrospective of the films of Marguerite
Duras, under the title Filmmaker .
From Friday 28 November to Saturday 20 December
2014 , Centre Pompidou, Paris
As an author she is known for successful masterpieces
as A dam against the Pacific, The Loveror even Moderato
Cantabile. Marguerite Duras was also no less sharp as a
filmmaker: her filmography includes twenty works, which
were written with the same taste of imagination and
exploration that made her books possible. But her films
have been underestimated for a long time.
The Autumn Festival in Paris offers spectators a followup session: a tribute to the lesser-known works of the
playwright. With this, the Centre Pompidou offers Filmmaker,
a large retrospective of the 19 films of Marguerite Duras.
The titles are already an invitation to exoticism and a
chance to discover a universe in full: India Song, Baxter
Vra Baxter, The man from the Atlantic
Filmmakersand contemporary artistswill show their
attachment to this workwhich arouses captivating
impressions and hypnotic sensations in them. Its a
filmography which is undoubtedly more current and
evocative than it was at the time of its release (between
1966 and 1984).

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Photo book

Photo book
The Essence of Photography
By Bruce Barnbaum

There is a lot more to photography than simply

picking up a camera, pointing it toward something,
and tripping the shutter. Achieving a great
photograph requires thought and preparation,
an understanding of the photographic process,
and a firm grasp of how light and composition
affect a photo. There must be personal
involvement and personal expression. There
must be experimentation, with the recognition
that only a small percentage of experiments end
successfully.
In this book, best-selling author and worldrenowned photographer and teacher Bruce
Barnbaum explores these seldom-discussed
issues by drawing upon his personal experiences
and observations from more than 40 years of
photographing and teaching. In addition to
photographs, Bruce also uses painting, music,
and writing, as well as the sciences and even
business, to provide pertinent examples of
creative thinking. These examples serve as
stepping-stones that will lead you to your own
heightened ability to see and be creative.
Creativity is a topic that is almost wholly ignored
in formal education because most instructors

Group f.64: Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Imogen

Cunningham, and the Community of Artists Who
Revolutionized American Photography

By Mary Street Alinder

think that it cannot be taught or learned. To the

contrary, Bruce has proven that photographic
seeing and creativity can be taught, learned,
and improved. This book expands on the ideas
that are central to Bruce's method of teaching
photography, which he has used in workshops for
the past 41 years.

Group f.64 is perhaps the

most famous movement in
the history of photography,
counting among its members
Ansel
Adams,
Imogen
Cunningham, Dorothea Lange,
Willard Van Dyke, and Edward
Weston. Revolutionary in their
day, Group f.64 was one of the
first modern art movements
equally defined by women.
From the San Francisco Bay
Area, its influence extended
internationally, contributing
significantly to the recognition
of photography as a fine art.
The group-first identified as
such in a 1932 exhibitionwas comprised of strongly
individualist artists, brought
together by a common
philosophy, and held together
in a tangle of dynamic

relationships. They shared a

conviction that photography
must emphasize its unique
capabilities-those
that
distinguished it from other
arts-in order to establish the
medium's identity. Their name,
f.64, they took from a very
small lens aperture used with
their large format cameras,
a pinprick that allowed
them to capture the greatest
possible depth of field in
their lustrous, sharply detailed
prints. In today's digital world,
these straight photography
champions are increasingly
revered.
Mary Alinder is uniquely
positioned to write this first
group biography. A former
assistant to Ansel Adams,
she knew most of the artists

featured. Just as importantly,

she understands the art.
Featuring fifty photographs by
and of its members, Group f.64
details a transformative period
in art with narrative flair.

Masterclass: Arnold Newman

By William A. Ewing
A posthumous retrospective on Arnold Newmans fascinating career,
filled with iconic images as well as photographs seen for the very
first time
Arnold Newman (19182006) was one of the most productive,
creative, and successful portrait photographers of the twentieth
century. For nearly seventy years, he applied himself to his craft, and
he was rewarded by the regular publication of his work in the most
influential magazines of the day. He also had several major solo
exhibitions, and his work can be found in prestigious photography
collections around the world.A celebration of Newmans achievements
and the first monograph to be published after his death, this book
contains more than 200 images, many of which have never before
been seen in book form. These include individual and group portraits,

foto4all.ro 12

as well as landscapes, architectural

details, and cityscapes. Published to
accompany a touring show opening
in Berlin in March 2012, the book
features quotes from interviews
with Newman, short biographies of
his sitters, and essays on this most
deeply principled of perfectionists.
The
mainly
black-andwhite
photographs showcase Newmans
remarkable talentwith subjects
ranging from Truman Capote and
Marilyn Monroe to Igor Stravinsky
and Gore Vidalin an homage to a
true master of modern photography.
210 illustrations, 22 in color
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Photo book

Photo book
Photography: The Whole Story
By Juliet Hacking

Photography: The Whole

Story is a celebration of the
most beautiful, meaningful
and inspiring photographs
that have arisen from this
very modern medium. The
book begins with a succinct
overview of photography,
placing it in the context
of the social and cultural
developments that have
taken place globally since
its
arrival.
Organized
chronologically, the book then
traces the rapid evolution of
photographic style, period
by period and movement by
movement. Illustrated, indepth essays cover every
photographic genre, from the
early portraits and tableaux

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to the digitally manipulated

montages, splitsecond sports
images,
and
conceptual
photographs of today. The
ideas and works of key
photographers are assessed
to reveal what motivated
them, who influenced whom,

and what each was striving to

achieve. Detailed cultural and
individual artist timelines
clarify historical context. If
you love photography and
would like to know more,
Photography: The Whole
Story is for you.

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Portfolio

C..: Who were the first photographers that you found

inspiring?
M.I.: I dont remember and I dont think I had a
name or more that I was following those days. I
had been inspired by the images, and less attentive
at the author.

MIHAI ILIE
an interview by Cristina int

Mihai Ilie is a perfectionist and every little detail

seems to have its purpose in his images. They
will move you, they will disturbe you and you will
recognize his style anywhere. Photographs with a
meaning, a story and many emotions behind.
C..: Do you remember when you first became interested
in photography? Tell us a little about it.
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There were several titles in the 90s that I was

interested in, and then in some photo magazines
from abroad, inexplicable expensive. I was a student
in those years and I had just received my first camera
from my uncle. A Zenith.
M.I.: It happened in the 8os, during my high school
years. At that time I was reading everything that I
could get a hand on: magazines, small calendars
the ones hanged on the walls with photos from
around Romania. Then, there were photos that I
was founding in my familys drawers. Some really
old from 20 40s. Any camera I had been seeing
fascinated me, and that time you couldnt see many.

C..: Favorite photographic subject?

M.I.: Nature and portrait. And I think photojournalism
is a style that defines me the best. Tough, in the last
years I had in mind projects from different areas and
this interest came once Ive started approaching
photography more seriously. Lately I fancy abstract
conceptswe will see what this journey will bring.
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C..: How do you come up with ideas for your projects?

And in general, how long do you work on a project?
M.I.: It depends. The projects come form within. I
do not have time to sit and think, they just surface.
From 10 ideas, one might be finished very well. I
would like to have more inspiration. The rest is just
work. Projects might last 10 minutes or couple of
years. It is not a rule, because everything depends
on the drive of the moment, on the inspiration, and
on how the idea is implemented. And this might
take a lifetime, and a project the same.
C..: All time favorite image? Why?
M.I.: It might be a surprise, but I do not have an
image in my mind, today. I like many, but I do not
have one that is leading the herd.
C..: Cerebral or intuitive in photography?
M.I.: Pure intuition. I do not have a photographic
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Portfolio

specialized education. I did not take specialized

courses or trainings. Everything has been built on
own work and inspiration. Between 1990 and 2010
I enjoyed photography as a passion. It was the only
passion in my free time. In holidays and weekends.
Starting with 2010, at the same time with my startup as an entrepreneur, Ive set my target to give
this hobby to a more professional level. Ive started
to learn, with small steps but confidently, what
photographic business means. From technics to
marketing, form contracts to deliverables. And I still
have to learn a lot. Day by day.
C..: What are the moments that you love most in
photography? Where do you find the most happiness?
M.I.: Hmmm. It is the moment when you see and take
the shoot, and this is it. A moment Ive met very rarely.
Another moment is when you see the beautiful end
of a project, either personal, or commercial.
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C..: At its core, do you think photography gets easier

the more you do it or you think it gets harder because
you are seeking some sort of deeper, more elusive truth?
M.I.: It depends on each photographer. I think
maturity and seeking for the truth is an evolution,
a journey. As much time you let to this natural
evolution, as much easier it will be. Personally
I prefer to insist and to offer myself as many as
foto4all.ro 24

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possible new experiences in photography. I havent

found this harder so far.
C..: What do you think about the place it has and the way
photography is seen in Romania? How far behind are we?
M.I.: In Romania, photography hangs in a few strings.
A few. We have a history which we dont tell, and
a potential which we dont promote as we should.

Everything done is just individually; everybody

does this as it feels like. I have no idea how far we
are. Its a very subjective question. What Im seeing
is a gap between the well-known, experienced
photographers with knowledge and the younger
ones that rise overnight and think they know all. Its
sad, but Im sure there are better ways to evolve. If
we raise the expectations, we will raise the quality.

It doesnt matter the talent (the real or the imagined

one) to reach a good result. It matters the work
behind an image, with everything this implies.
C..: Any words of wisdom for the up and comers?
M.I.: One can find countless advices in on-line. I have
just only one be true to your images. There are
always many thinks that could be said in a few words.
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Tina Genovia Obreja is 36 years old and she lives in

Barlad.
Shes been working in a photo lab for almost 13 years
now. She discovered her passion for photography
about 11 years ago when she bought her first
professional film camera, a Nikon F65. In 2005 she
bought a Fuji S9500 and started going to workshops
to learn more about photography. From workshop to
workshop she met a lot of people, including Luiza,
people from who she learned so many things. Shortly
she and Luiza became very good friends, giving and
asking opinions about new photography projects,
certain images or new workshops to attend.

IDENTITIES

By Tina Genovia Obreja & Luiza Boldeanu

A portrait all is to make a self portrait. Its a type

of photography which allows you to know yourself
is easy to make once we know composition,
technique and editing. The challenge comes with
the wish to attain an image which is able to wake
foto4all.ro 28

up emotions, feelings, a condition. And the biggest

challenge of and to reveal parts of you which
didnt even know they were there You will get
to know most of you, most of your feelings and
emotions.

She has tried many types of photography, but in

the end she came to the conclusion that portrait
photography is the closest to her heart, it is what
best represents her.
Luiza Boldeanu is 27 years old and she lives in
Bucharest.

For her, photography means more than technique and

composition because photography talks through light
about emotions, about places, life, culture or people...
She always tries to make pictures in which each viewer
can find himself in a certain stage of life. She started
photography in 2007 when she decided to capture the
places where she was traveling. But travel photography
was not enough so she started to challenge herself
with different projects. She met Tina at a workshop and
since that moment they are very good friends. And as
we know, from a true friendship only good things can
come out, so they came today to present a project on
which theyve been working for several months.
Started in mid February, Identities came to
life from the idea of a collaboration between two
photographers, two different minds and conceptions
brought together to create something new, perhaps
unique. As a result. the Identities project has more
than 30 images in which the artists mirrored their
personality as a single being, incorporating their
experiences, desires, fears and their state of mind.
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How did it started?

As a game. With an idea. Often when they worked on
their projects or images, they were asking for opinion
to each other about composition, editing or what
did they think of one image or another. The project
was born in one of those late nights spent editing or
watching online workshops. They were talking and
out of the sudden they came with the idea to create
at least 20 images of conceptual self portraits, in
which each image will suggest a feeling.
Said and done. They started to draw the future images
and soon enough they moved together in Barlad in
order to start implementing theur ideas and start
looking for props and locations. It was not easy but
they knocked on all the doors that could help them
with props and started looking for old houses, hills
and lakes that they wanted for their images. The time
was not always on their side but all obstacles that
they faced were a source of inspiration because it
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challenged their creativity andthey learned from

mistakes.
During the course of project implementation they
had both fun and dangerous moments, they were
really close to be bitten by 5 immense dogs, they
endured really cold weather, they almost fall in a
frozen lake and so many others. They laughed, They
had fun, they learned from each other and from all
those experiences, they lived beautiful moments and
the most important thing: they finished a project
that you will surely enjoy.
Last but not least, the girls want to thank everyone
who helped them, especially Tinas mother, without
whom the project would have been much harder.
Also special thanks to Denisa Costin and Lacramioara
Menciu who helped them with props and clothes,
to Tinas father and all the others who have given a
helping hand during the development of the series.
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Portfolio

Radu Mihai Iani

- an interview by Cristina int

There is a lot to see in Radu Mihai Ianis images: from

unusual angles and perspectives to graphics, anecdote and
contrasts, all wrapped around stories. Photographs that
will surely not leave you indifferent.
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C..: How did you discover photography?

R.M.I.: At first, as a child I was captivated by an old
Zenit camera and kept playing with it and trying to
understand how it works ; meanwhile Ive discovered
in my grandfathers bookcase few photography albums
I fell in love with and kept admiring. Later on Ive
developed a passion for travel, which woke up the
need to capture the beauty of the places Ive seen.
C..: What makes you press the shutter?
R.M.I.: These days fewer things make me press the
shutter; a friend of mine told me to imagine that I am
still on a film camera and since then my motto also
became less is more. Usually things that happen on
the streets make open my eyes wide and look for that
decisive moment shutter needs to be pressed.
C..: Which do you prefer most: color or bw? Why?
R.M.I.: Definitely b/w, but I wont refuse a color
foto4all.ro 44

picture, if the colors in it dont distract the viewers

attention from the action. Somehow in the previous
sentence I already explained why I rather prefer the
b/w, as it simplifies everything, leads your attention
on what really matters.
C..: Who are your personal favorite photographers?
(foreign and/or Romanian)
R.M.I.: There are so many great photographers I
like, both Romanian and foreign, that I would need
a whole page only for this, so, now I will only refer
to a romanian photographer, which Ive discovered
not long ago: Corneliu Radu Sarion (known on social
media as Foto Grafice), as he quite had an impact
on me, made me want make things even simpler
photographically speaking. And in order to extrajustify my nomination I will tell you a secret: shortly
after Ive seen his pictures I bought myself a new lens,
an ultra-wide angle one. Please dont tell anyone.
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C..: A photograph you took and you like more than the
others. Tell us its story.
R.M.I.: Last autumn, I went for a walk, of course, with
the camera in my hand. At some point Ive reached
an empty countryside road and a stray dog was in
the middle of it, watching me from a distance; thats
when Ive decided to lean on my knees and take a
picture and gain its trust, which Ive managed. Well,
I like that picture more than others, as the dogs
eyes/looks tell more, tell the story of our friendship.
C..: What is the situation of photography in the current
world?
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R.M.I.: Thats a tough question! I am too small to see

from above, but I consider that there are too many
pages with photography in their name. I guess
somehow social media diverted attention from
quality to quantity, from what photography should
be to that kind of photography that grants success
easily.
We live in an era in which everybody takes pictures,
buying a decent digital camera doesnt cost a fortune
and even the cheapest smartphone allows you to
make editing directly after you took the picture. We
are living challenging times, thats for sure!

C..: What do you think about the place it has and the
way photography is seen in Romania?
R.M.I.: Unfortunately photography is seen more a
source of income than a passion/way of expressing
creativity.
C..: What music do you listen to, what books do you
read and what films do you watch?
R.M.I.?: I love rock music, mostly British alternative
rock, but I wont say no to some classical music;
when it comes to books and also movies, well I
prefer those based on a good story, with some
unpredictable twists and lots of logics involved.

C..: Favorite photographic subject?

R.M.I.: Definitely STREET J
C..: Future plans and resolutions about photography?
R.M.I.: What I want from myself is to shoot fewer,
simpler and better pictures and for 2015 I wish to
have the inspiration and luck to begin and finish my
24 hours project which is mentally finished since
last December.

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Advice 4all

Advice 4all

10Tips
1. LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION?
NO SUCH THING
There is no such thing as
Landscapeorientation, any more
than portraits can only be made in
Portrait orientation. Let the lines
and relationships, and what you
are trying to say, determine your
orientation.

for Better Landscape

Photographs

Cristina int

Cristina int

2. DEPTH OF FIELD PREVIEW

4. BE PREPARED

If you arent using polarizers and split ND filters,

youre missing out on powerful tools to control the
aesthetic of your image. Dont fall for the digital
photographers dont use filters line.

Be prepared for weather changes and contingencies.

Tuck a small first aid kit into your bag, along with a
bottle of water and a meal bar. Bring a flashlight in
case the light surprises you and you stay out after
twilight. Bring a cell phone, long-range radio or
satellite phone. The fact is, some of the most beautiful
landscapes are remote and to place a higher priority
on your photographs than on your safety is foolish.
Be prepared.

3. USE YOUR TRIPOD

Work the scene and take advantage of the tripod.
Lock off the shot and take a safety or two, without
the grad filter, in case your grad placement is off, or
your polarizer is vignetting. I do the same with my
longer exposures, bracketing a few more and a few
less seconds, just in case. A tripod is for more than
just avoiding shaky images. They make composite
work possible, as well as panoramas, and yes, sharper
photographs. But turn off the vibration reduction on
your lens.
Dorin Bofan
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5. DONT BE SEDUCED BY YOUR SUBJECT

Landscape photography is like any other photographic
discipline: your subject alone will not carry the
shot. You can have amazing mountains, great water,
gorgeous lines, and still make a boring photograph
if you pay no attention to composition and light. A
photograph of a great landscape is not the same
thing as a great photograph of a landscape.
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Advice 4all

Advice 4all

7. LOOK FOR CONTRASTS

Contrast provides interest in a photograph,

and can help propel a sense of story. Contrast
of colour (or tone if its going to be a black &
white photograph like the one above), line,
shape, texture and light all pull the reader
in, give them something specific to look at.
Ask yourself,

Florin Ghebosu

Cosmin Ovidiu Stan

Where are the contrasts in this scene?

Then point your lens that way.

Cristina int

Cosmin Ovidiu Stan

6. PLAY WITH SCALE

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frame. Without that, its just a desert, but with it, its,
Wait, is that tiny thing a house? That desert must be
immense! The same applies to mountains, or trees.
It applies in reverse to tiny objects as well. A tree
frog is just a frog until you photograph it on a leaf
that dwarfs it.

8. GET GREAT BOOTS

Get a great pair of boots and start walking.
Photography is about exploration, curiosity.
Move around, go a little further, see whats
behind that next corner.

Cristina int

If you want to show how vast a desert is, you have

to create a sense of scale. You know how vast it was,
you were there. But for the reader to sense it, you
need to give them a visual reference.
A car, a tree, power lines; anything they can recognize
and, from that, extrapolate the size of the rest of the

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Advice 4all

Andrei Baciu

9. CHASE BAD WEATHER

The best landscapes, and the most dramatic
photographs, seem to take place at the edges
of weather patterns. Look for fog and rain and
snow and go for a walk when it arrives. The
shot above was made in driving rain, and its
the cloud and rain that make the shot.

Nine tips arent going to do it. Theyre a start.

But the best thing you can do is study this
craft. Look at books of great landscapes and
learn from them. You dont need exif data or
words from the author telling you how she did
it. Figure it out.
foto4all.ro 54

Cristina int

10. STUDY

Photo populis

shoot publish
in your world

in ours

We are publishing your photos. We are eager to

publish what you photograph. If you want to see your
own photos inside our magazine, you can either send
them to this section or to Under the magnifying
glass column. One other way of having your images
published is to participate in the thematic photo

Goodtoknow
My portraits are more about me than they
are about the people I photograph.
(Richard Avedon)

foto4all.ro 56

contest or challenge we put up every month.The idea

is simple: keep sending your photographs to us at
publish@foto4all.ro.
Every month we will select and publish 5 images in
color and 5 in black and white.

The photographs you send should

meet the following specifications:
JPEG file, 1600px on their long side,
150 dpi, no frame attached. They
can be in color, black and white,
edited or not, its up to you. Please
send them without watermark.

Together with your images (not

more than 3) please add to the
email: your name, your age, some
details about the camera you are
using and a few words or a title
for your photographs.

There is no special theme. We are

looking for photographs that tell
stories.

Only your talent counts.

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Black & White

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Loredana Btculescu

Loredana Btculescu

Loredana Btculescu

Photo populis

Dont shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like.

(David Alan Harvey)
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Photo populis

Photo populis

Black & White

tefan Chirobocea

Cristina int

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A good photographer must love life more than he does

photography. (Joel Strasser)

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Photo populis

Color

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Alex Bobeic

tefan Chirobocea

tefan Chirobocea

Photography is more
than a medium for
factual communication
of ideas, it is a creative
art. (Ansel Adams)

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Photo populis

Photo populis

Florin Lucian Simina

The eye should learn to listen before it

looks. (Robert Frank)

Color

YOU ca
pture

h
s
i
l
b
u
p
e
W
foto4all.ro 64

Loredana Btculescu

Collect moments rather than things. Moments

get away. (Matthew Knisely)

Send yor work at:

publish@foto4all.ro
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Project4all

Project4all

SHORT STORIES
By Oliver Merce
The photos that compose this series have been taken over the past two years.
Noticing that some pictures are related to each other, I began to consciously
take photos which, placed one alongside the other, can tell a short story. The
images refer to the cycle of life and death, trying to pay attention to the brief
episode that a being traverses on its way to eternity. Some of the photos show,
maybe, a dramatic show, mostly determined by the adverse effects caused
by the human involvement in this cycle.
The stories in this series reflect life itself, in all aspects, as we see it day by day.
It is the path of life. Even if sometimes it seems unfair or cruel, it is pure reality.
Some of us may ignore it or may turn the head in the opposite direction, but at
the end of the day these images presents the real factor, which includes all of us.
Oliver Merce lives in Timisoara. He discovered his passion for photography in
2010. After a period of searching, he focused on street photography, but shoots
with the same pleasure portraits and photo reportages. Since December 2013, he
is part of the photo group PhotoTeam. PhotoTeam started up from Dan Moruzans
idea, to put together some photographers ready to accept the challenge offered
by different photographic projects. PhotoTeam is a simple construction - a group
without leadership, a group of photographers who manage not to argue between
them - and more than that, to be even real friends.
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Journey = Photography

Journey = Photography

Venice
Photos & text: Carmen & Drago Ioneanu

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Venice is the place where you can get out from your
house or hotel directly into the channel, where there
are no cars and local people use more rubber boots
than elegant shoes. And is is also a place with an
amazing charm, where every little channel, bridge or
corner can hide a small visual gem. I usually dont
like to get lost in a city, but getting lost in Venice is
both very easy due to its maze like shape but also
very pleasant as you can go off the beaten path and
discover something new.

We arrived in Venice after few days spent in Florence;

it was raining on and off the whole way, so when we
went off the Santa Lucia train station, the weather
was not so welcoming: heavy rain and grey clouds. We
bought the mandatory plastic boots that you can easily
drag on top of your shoes to avoid wet feet; they put
a stamp on the person who wears them: tourist. And
instead of getting bus or metro, like in other places
we jumped in the vaporetto, cruising along the Grand
Canal to Rialto bridge, the closest stop from our hotel.
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Journey = Photography

After a quick check in we ignored the heavy rain and we

rushed to San Marco square, the heart of touristic Venice,
to get a quick feeling of the city before the sun will
set. There, we got the first contact with a spectacular
phenomenon that you can experience in Venice during
the late fall and winter months: acqua alta. It is an
interesting phenomenon caused by tide, rain and the
winds, especially sirocco that interfere with the normal
reflux, keeping the water inside the Venetian lagoon.
At high tide, the water is covering the lower streets
and most part of San Marco square, forming large
queues of people on the wooden walk-ways specially
arranged to provide access to various points. So in our
first day there, Venice was just a kingdom of water: a
city surrounded by water, almost covered by water and
with water pouring from above in large quantities.
During the next days the weather was more friendly:
some sun, some dramatic clouds, few more showers
and another massive aqcua alta. All the weather
foto4all.ro 78

ingredients to see and photograph the faces of

Venice. One after another we shot most of the classic
places and views of Venice: San Marco square at
sunrise, the dance of the gondolas with San Giorgio
Maggiore in the background, the majestic view of
Grand Canal from Ponte delaAcademia, Ponte dei
Sospiri plus many other that are not that iconic but
as charming and photogenic.
A sunrise in San Marco square is a wonderful
feeling, an amazing opportunity to play with lights
and shadows while the sun is breaking through the
columns of Dodges palace. The busy Rialto in night
has its own charm while the fish market just a cross
it is a very animated place where colors, smells and
noises blend together. Ponte dei Sospiri was called
like this by Lord Byron having in mind that the small
windows of the bridge were the last opportunity for
the convicts to get a glance of the beauty of Venice
before being imprisoned.
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Journey = Photography

Every channel can give you a chance to see a gondolier

during his duty in their picturesque striped shirts.
While in the past gondola was the most common
way of transportation in the city, today is a popular
but quite expensive touristic attraction.
For a day trip outside Venice, Murano and Burano can
be a interesting combination. Murano is renowned
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Journey = Photography

for its beautiful colorful glass; there are factories

and stores all over the island, so everybody can find
something from a small souvenir to a very expensive
art objective to decorate their homes. Photography
wise, Burano is much more interesting with its
colourful houses. The colors are decided by the
municipality so each time someone wants to paint
his house, he or she should ask for the list of colors
that are allowed, that fit into the urban landscape.

There are no two neighbouring houses having same

colours and all the colours are vivid and saturated.
As a result, the island is charming, a real feast for
the eye. Burano is also famous for its lace production.
Venice is a very touristic city, busy all day long. If
you are willing to avoid the crowds of tourists, late
fall and winter before the carnival can be a good
choice, but even in those periods there were still

a lot of people from all over the world. The street

merchants aggressively selling all kind of useless and
fake stuff can be a nuisance as well, but we tried to
stay focused on the city and the treats that it can offer
and we simply ignored those. We returned back home
charmed by Venice and with a strong wish to return
again in the future. It is a place that you cannot hate
no meter how much bad weather you endure due to
its unique beauty.
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Street Core Photography

Street Core Photography

Bjrn Larsson

CURATED on Street Core Photography

EVALUATION: Winogrand, Friedman, Bresson? Any

of these could have been the author of this picture.
And we cannot but agree with S.Sontag when she
claims that "many of the published photographs by
photographys greatest names seem like work that
could have been done by another gifted professional
of their period."
Bjorn is relating that "I I took the picture in 1957,
when I was 15 years old. The boys lived next door.
Took it with a cheap Agfa Isolette 6x6 folding camera.
One year later I bought my first 35mm camera".
No Leica Bjorn?! We cannot underline enough that
GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) will never have a
positive impact on creativity. Enjoy the infinite DOF,
the freeze of the gestures and the pallette of greys
of a "cheap folding camera".
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Wong Chunli
EVALUATION: In SCP we have suggested no colour
unless it adds to the impact/information, no puddle
reflections, no billboards, unless you can go beyond
all these stereotypes.
How a teenager shoots such a glorious picture and
most importantly how he recognises its value and
decides to keep it? Our aesthetic values and feelings
are there by intuition and a natural talent will always
be able to spot a meaningful frame.

Here is your bright guiding example of how to go

beyond. How creativity will never stop evolving. How
the photographic eye will see even more and better
by using less and by connecting the unrelated.

We may cultivate our visual literacy but it is obvious

that in Core Photography the less the exposure
to theory the more the chances for an original
expression.

Art photography is not a matter of perfection,

of sharpness, of expensive gear, of technically
impeccable pictures. And, trust me, there is an M9
behind the present image.

The picture works in several levels. The symbolism is

served by the younger boy's struggle to catch up with
the natural force of the admired brother. The steel
structures are offering a play of abstract shapes. The
car (already collector's in 57) and the hanging jacket
are conferring the time surrealism of a mutable and
vulnerable youth.

Some critics would argue that photography is an

uncertain art and that many published photographs
by Masters, seem like work that could have been done
by another gifted photographer. This is the whole
point. The mass of work is not important. The single
masterpiece is. Anyway, stop worrying. No critic will
ever recognise art in photography.

The present image is the result of an obsessive quest

for the "unseen", the futile, the frame which the naked
eye will never stop upon. The symbolic and surrealist
juxtaposition of human fragments is only possible
through the photographic vision of the author. And
down there (in Calvino's invisible city Argia) below
the puddles and the dirt "the dampness destroys
people's bodies, everyone is better off remaining still,
prone but we can sometimes hear a door slam".
The principle of "aesthetic rightness" is another myth
and the image does not have to be beautiful in order
to convey a message or to have an impact. In any
case aesthetics change in a changing world and our
sensorial capabilities (cultivated or not) never remain
the same.
If photography (as many say) is closer to poetry than
to painting or to cinema, then meet the author of
this dramatic monologue, Haiku and lament at the
same time!
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Street Core Photography

Street Core Photography

Ivan Maranov
Vasile Doroli

EVALUATION: E la nave va! But where? In

Fellini's surrealist movie the dream was clear and
straightforward.
But where is the boat in the picture heading to?
And why is it filled with so many contradictions? The
despair and the prayer, the dream and the nightmare,
the longing and the impatience.
The photogrpaher is not trying to understand the
world. He is just collecting it. And what a collection
of reality suspending doubts. Could it be a "boat of
distress", a vacationers ship, or even the Argo of each
one of us?
All subjects are equal and the author is looking for
beauty in any ordinary situation. His "heroism of
vision" allowes to him, and to us, to reflect more than
a couple of seconds on our own life voyage.
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The prow becomes a cradle to protect the innocent

and the "different". How many of us still reject a
comfortable seat for an uncomfortable steel spot
under the sun, the salty water and the sea wind.

EVALUATION: A photograph which contains all the

answers is a documentary picture. And a rural moment
usually has all its elements decoded nowadays. The
behaviours are known. Even the contradictions are well
established and studied and deciphered by the society.

Ivan is seeking the abstraction and the juxtaposition

that will give his vision of the world. He is keeping
enough context for us to share with him the voyage
but he is masterfully limiting and focusing the scene
to the human figures, which become the real engine
that powers this artificial trip. A cyclical and looping
doubts generator.

A wedding in the village! Men and women standing and

watching separated. So what? So many documentaries
or our own experience have already made us not
having any surprise in watching this phenomenon. It
is familiar, explained and accepted (or not).

Next time you'll hop on a boat during your

supertourist** holidays, leave your seat and remember
for a minute that you have seen nothing until you
have tried to photograph it.

The author is exploring this very question. In Frank's

Americans we do not know any more "whether a
jukebox is sadder than a coffin". In Vasile's image we
do not know any more whether the bride's joy is any
lesser than the women's determination or the men's
ambitions.

Are there any mysteries left in this world?

The symbolism of the inherent despair just before

the ultimate happiness (same as the fear just before
the heroic act) is treated by the author with a touch of
lightness and humour. The spirits (of the distilleries)
are gathering to help the fairy-like bride overcome
her outmost and unspoken fears; her hesitations in
front of the ruthless mirroring of her future life in
the eyes of the villagers.
The white veil with its blinding bright abstraction
captures all our attention just enough to lead us to
the dark clothes, faces and looks of the gathering. All
human figures are perfectly detached from each other
and perform their own role in a majestic staging that
only Koudelka knew how to "direct".
Why wedding photographers do not take some
unpaid time to try to create similar masterpieces? Did
they stop dreaming or hunting the unattainable?
Let's hope not.
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Street Core Photography

Street Core Photography

Bernhard Grabner

Nilanjan Karmakar
EVALUATION: Do you like bets? Is there someone
who wants to bet that (s)he can do better than the
author presented here?
Yes, Picasso did better in cubism. But that was a long
painting process. Here, the fragmentation of reality is
performed using the mirror in a sumptuous way. The
photographer does not limit himself in spotting the
emerging scene. He approaches the subject gradually
(probably with a continuous shooting) in order to get
in-his-bag the outstanding frame. His state of alert
is such that he never leaves the subjects out of his
viewfinder (hence the eye-level shot).
And the result is more than rewarding. A frame
in frame, yes, but what an entry into a parallel
world. Apart the unrepeatable surrealist creature (I
challenge, you the readers, to try to reproduce it. IMO
in vain), the contextual information is provided by
the image step by step. Nothing is obvious and yet
everything is so "ordinary' taken separately.
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Where ends the world and where starts its replica?

The author bravely avoided the crop which surely
would have created the "perfect" puzzle, but which
would have prevented us to "walk" through the image
and discover the mysteries while interpreting the
factual information. The modern Atlas carries on
his back his burden but at the same time, through
the mirror, invites us to have a different look at his
surrounding reality. Where the revamped facades melt
with the walls in decay. Where the colours compete
in tenderness. Where another Calvino's invisible city
is inhabited by Muses.
And when we are about to leave thinking that we
saw it all, the questions are coming to protect the
secrets of this photograph. Why the scarf around the
neck in a hot day? How the arms look like legs? Are
these electric wires or dry branches, or both?
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the best photographer
of all? Could be you!

EVALUATION: Still life! Is this street photography?

Once again I have the same answer to this repetitive
question. Who cares? The objective is to have a
powerful photograph.
Nevertheless, in order to reply to the purists, yes, the
absence, the ghost of humanity, is also street core
photography. The relics, the marks, the devastation
that the human beings leave behind are part of them.
And the present image does exactly this. It testifies
the absence of humanity with a scream of despair.
Initially I wanted to see more of the context around
the picture, but then I guessed that it would have
weakened the impact of the clear message. We
cannot fail to underline the masterful use of bright
and dark areas.
It's true, this image is not ambiguous. The questions
it raises are not inherent to it but only indirect. It's a
statement against the unsolicited violence and the

urban aggression.
It can definitely be used for social campaigns but
it has at the same time a hidden melancholy albeit
the marks of violence. It has the mystery, the secret
of transforming a moulded plastic into a marble
statue. These mannequin manufacturers are really
competing for (sur)realism nowadays.
The abstraction of the shattered glass is immediate
and used creatively here (inspired by many
masterpieces in the same line). The author, an urban
wonderer, must have seen many broken glasses
around. He stopped at this one. Let's thank him for
the insight and for this meditative moment of a
devastated "still" life.
For the PS lovers: try to have the same effect with
some Plug-Ins or Filters. You will never make it (the
decomposition of the T-shirt in glass fragments is
majestic). Observe and feel, do not manipulate.
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PhoneCam Project
The PhoneCam Project Group is a community that believes that art is
not expensive technology and expensive technology is not art.
Visual arts, and most of all Photography is not about the gear you buy,
its about the image you see and the message you send.
Although the intrinsic message needs no tools to be understood, if you
want to draw, you need at least a pencil and a sheet of paper. Its the
same with Photography. You need at least a camera. Any kind of camera.
Techniques and technology, especially in photography is often mixed up
with arts, and this is why art photography lost in value in digital era.
The most common confusion is: expensive gear = great art.
The PhoneCam Project aims to eliminate this distorted perception about
photograpyh, with a very challenging and very large scaled project: we
can create art even with a 2mpx phone camera.
If you are into arts, if you have a message to share and if you think that the
tool is not an impediment in creating images and messages, feel free to post
here (http://www.facebook.com/groups/ThePhoneCamProject/) your works.

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Mihai Ursea

Mihai Ursea

We have only two limitations: phone cameras only and no Instagram, please.

Mihai Ursea

PhoneCam project

PhoneCam Project

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PhoneCam Project

Mihai Ursea

PhoneCam Project

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Mihai Ursea

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Lepedus-SiskoPter

PhoneCam Project

BethlendiTamas

BethlendiTamas

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PhoneCam Project

SzcsTams
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Guy Tal on photography

Guy Tal on photography

Love, Beauty and other

Unfortunate Clichs
In the fall of 1942, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, his
wife and family were taken from their home in
Vienna, transported to Germany and placed in a Nazi
concentration camp. Two years later Frankl was moved
yet again, to Auschwitz, separated from his wife and
forced into slave labor. He was ultimately rescued in
1945, after three years of horror. He later recalled one
experience in the camp:
We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and
through large puddles, along the one road leading
from the camp. The accompanying guards kept
shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their
rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself
on his neighbors arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the
icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth
behind his upturned collar, the man marching next
to me whispered suddenly: If our wives could see us
now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and
dont know what is happening to us.
That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And
as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots,
supporting each other time and again, dragging one
another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both
knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally
I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and
the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread
behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my
wifes image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness.
I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and
encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more
luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I
saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets,
proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers.
The truth that love is the ultimate and the highest
goal to which Man can aspire. Then I grasped the
meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry
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and human thought and belief have to impart:

The salvation of Man is through love and in love. I
understood how a man who has nothing left in this
world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment,
in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of
utter desolation, when Man cannot express himself
in positive action, when his only achievement may
consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way an
honorable way in such a position Man can, through
loving contemplation of the image he carries of his
beloved, achieve fulfillment.
Frankls wife, Tilly, his mother and brother were
murdered by the Nazis. Viktor and his sister were the
only survivors.
It is hard to reconcile such accounts of love at its most
profound and dignified, with so many commercials
about loving fast food or a teen pop sensation writhing
and screaming about love to a bouncy beat. It is equally
hard to consider the dignity and inspiration that may
be found in beauty and to separate it from so many
clichs. And yet, to dismiss all love, beauty, kindness,
compassion and other elevated states of emotion as
clich is among the greatest misfortunes that a person
may choose and a choice it is. To do so is to surrender
to the hijacking of what is most noble by the most
base of human desires.
And yet, the prevailing view in todays art world not
only ignores beauty, but in many cases goes out of
its way to debase and suppress it. The most elevated
of human emotions and the most uplifting of lifes
experiences routinely and casually are shunned,
rejected, dismissed and ridiculed, drowned in
sophisticated cynicism, incomprehensible artspeak
and baffling abstractions. And, in the mindless pursuit
of fame and greed, so many of us artists quiver at the
thought of pronouncing that the current king has no
clothes, nor much of a physique to look at.
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Guy Tal on photography

I can think of several reasons for the dismissal of
love and beauty in todays art scene, but perhaps the
most relevant in these times of cynicism, greed and
fear is the fact that to truly love, to deeply revere, to
be wholly inspired, to seek life rewards beyond the
material, two preconditions are required: vulnerability
and commitment. And the rejection of such elevated
states has little to do with sophistication or intelligence,
and a lot to do with cowardice,
apathy, indifference and laziness.

Some time ago I asked readers of this blog to fill a

short survey about their favorite works of art. Among
the respondents, Im sure, were many schooled in the
arts, and some who work in the arts. Overwhelmingly
the works cited, whether paintings or photographs,
literal or abstract, were ones of great beauty and skill.
Even those who understand and appreciate other types
of art, when asked to pick a favorite, reached for beauty.
In these times when so many
of us are bombarded by cheap,
easy and meaningless aesthetics,
we should not take the easy and
cowardly path of condemning
all love and beauty as pass or
clich. Each of us has within our
core the capacity to experience
such noble, painful and eminently
beautiful emotions as expressed
by Viktor Frankl, with all their
terrifying implications and nearunbearable weight. These may be
the most difficult things of all for a person to contend
with, and yet without having experienced them a life is
that much poorer, that much more ordinary and numb
and wasted. We must be ever diligent in protecting such
things in their pure and powerful form, and in elevating
them, separating them, holding them inviolate and
defending them from the clich, from the trite, from the
cheesy, from the corny, from the fashionable, from the
banal. Most importantly, we should not allow them to be
discarded like so many fashions whose time had passed.

Love is the fundamental necessity

underlying the need to create,
underlying the emotion that gives
it form, and from which grows the
unfinished product that is presented to
the world. Love is the general criterion
by which the rare photograph is judged.
It must contain it to be not less than
the best of which the photographer is
capable. Eliot Porter

As a landscape photographer
such bold statements are easier
for me to make than they might
be for an urban painter or sculptor
whose livelihood depends on
acceptance by gallerists and
curators. I will leave it to these
artists to find their own courage
and humanity, but I will admonish
them to consider how much
longer such emotionless work is
likely to remain relevant. In a Guardian essay, Jonathan
Jones writes,Today, though, it [beauty] is simply treated
by the art world as a joke, a con, an idiotic, old-fashioned
idea. This makes much art irrelevant, because beauty
is everywhere and obsesses everyone (whatever your
idea of beauty happens to be). Maybe this is why
photography, professional and amateur, is the true art
of our time. Photography has no objection to beauty.

In mapping the evolution of art, it is easy to see the

various styles, schools, fashions and movements
branching off, tree-like, limbs reaching in many
directions and branching into yet more genres and subgenres. It is my contention, however, that the trunk of
the tree is, and will remain, beauty. From beauty springs
all art. In such characterization it is also easy to observe
that, throughout history, anything branching away from
beauty ultimately peters out and wilts, overshadowed
by other branches or left to fall to the ground and be
forgotten. Beauty endures. So long as the tree has life, its
trunk remains its most powerful feature. This is because
art, ultimately, has no value in itself. The value of art
is assigned to it by humans; and humans, by and large,
understand and yearn for love and beauty, even if they
dare not express it.
foto4all.ro 108

Beauty, like love, can change lives, in deep and

meaningful and important ways. I know this because
it changed mine, more than once. It changed the quality
of each of my days, it changed my philosophy and my
beliefs and my politics and my attitude. It changed me.
And I am forever grateful for being so changed.
It is equally hard to consider the dignity and inspiration
that may be found in beauty and to separate it from
so many clichs. And yet, to dismiss all love, beauty,
kindness, compassion and other elevated states of
emotion as clich is among the greatest misfortunes
that a person may choose and a choice it is. To do so
is to surrender to the hijacking of what is most noble
by the most base of human desires.