View allAll Photos Tagged Questions
For any questions or help, you can find me on Twitter
copyright © 2012 Abdulrahman AlKhalaf photography
President Ramaphosa virtually updating Parliament on the national effort to contain the coronavirus, including public health measures, social relief, economic recovery and on a range of related matters on the occasion of questions for Oral Reply in the National Assembly. [Photo: GCIS]
ipod shuffle or itunes or whatever u have !
1. Put your iTunes/ ipod / mp3 on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. Write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing this
tagged by Black♥Kat & lostfromreality :)
1.What word/phrase best describes your doll collection?
@!#?@! - Motion City Soundtrack
2.What makes you happy?.
I'm in Miami Bitch - LMFAO
3.What do your friends think of you?
Property - Say Anything
4.What do your friends think of your dolls?
Get Free - The Vines
5.What do you think of your friends?
Catch Hell Blues - The White Stripes
6.What should you be doing now?
Close to Me - The Cure
7.What should you collect next?
Fire Coming Out of the Monkeys Head - Gorillaz
8.Where will you be in 5 years?
Cemetery Drive - My Chemical Romance (Ummm)
9.Is there something you must share with someone?
Dark Fantasy - Kanye West
10.What is life trying to teach you?
Add It Up - Violent Femmes
11.What’s the best thing that could happen to you?
Dance Off - We Are Scientists
12.What new experience should you try once?
Big Pimpin/Paper Cut - Jay Z & Linkin Park
13.What do people like the most about you?
Chilly Winds Dont Blow - Nina Simone
*ATTENTION* I basically went through my entire contacts list A-Z and tagged everyone I could. :D
For those of you I tagged who do not collect dolls, you substitute the word "dolls" with "figures" or whatnot. XD
Sorry if you have been tagged already! (i'm totally copying Black♥Kat !)
2016-02-26: A photo of a kid responding to a question during the school kids welfare project of AfDB.
These companies indicated through a variety of questions that they were 'advanced' in their social business efforts.
Read the post here
www.web-strategist.com/blog/2011/03/24/data-how-the-advan...
If you were carrying around a small aluminum foil ball in your pocket, what would you imagine it to be? I give my thoughts on my blog at: www.spudart.org/blogs/randomthoughts_comments/3918_0_3_0_C/
Questions on any subject the government is responsible for are put to the government in the chamber. A government minister or spokesperson answers and members follow up with supplementary questions.
Learn more about how the Lords checks and challenges government decision and actions.
This image may be used with credit for non-commercial purposes. Credit: Copyright House of Lords 2019 / Photography by Roger Harris
Email hlinfo@parliament.uk to request use for commercial purposes.
....like there is no ring on my finger and when are you going to do something about it?
Eden Walk, Kingston-upon-Thames
28th July 2011
20110728 IMG_1323
"I dream of a better world, where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned"
sign on the square in Denton, Texas, haha
IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2018 Fifth Plenary Session: Raising the Bar for Regional Security Cooperation
Speeches by Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, France; Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Defence, UK; Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence, Singapore; followed by Question and Answer session.
Gray scale image of a student (a young boy) in a plaid shirt (as viewed from behind), sitting at a school desk with his right hand raised as if to ask a question of his teacher; with a stack of books and an apple at his feet. I scanned this tiny image from an advertisement. Origin unknown.
debated questions in the SWAPPING CAMP :ARE WE THE PUPPETS OF THE CULTURAL INDUSTRY ? " "WHO ARE THE NEW VOICES ? ""DO CONFERENCES CREATE APATHY ? " " DO WE NEED A REVOLUTION ?"
part of COPENHAGEN ULTRACONTEMPORARY BIENNALE warm up at Arts & Globalization conference.
a warm up event mai 2015 for
www.emergencyrooms.org/formats.html
part of Arts & Globalization
Kauai is without question Hawaii's hidden gem, and one of the most remarkably gorgeous destinations in all of the Pacific.
I have to give a huge thank you to the Kauai Visitors Bureau for hosting, and to McNeil Wilson Communications for putting together a brilliant itinerary.
Flash Parker Photography:
My biggest tornado question is WHY IS THIS WOMAN JUST STANDING THERE with a tornado bearing down on her?
Question - What do you make when you want to make some cupcakes but have no flour?
Answer - Cheese Cake Cupcakes
"#MyWhy Question! Last year like everyone, I had a question in my mind as to what will the future will be for all of us.
I wanted my freedom and roam freely, go to pub😊
I wanted to come out of the virtual world and live in the real world without fear.
And that’s the reason I decided to put my sleeves up and take the jab’s and be a part of the vacci-nation."
Had a male Northern Cardinal in the yard today with some interesting coloration. Face, bill and crest were the usual reddish color. Black mask was OK too. But the rest of the bird's body was a combination of gray, peach, light orange, sort-of-bluish, and whitish colors. In other words, the facial area looked fine for a male Cardinal, but the rest of the feathers looked a little "different". Young male not quite transitioned to adult male plumage? Partially leucistic bird? Artifact of late afternoon light?
Question Mark. Aus der Serie „Satzzeichen“ 2014
Rotierende Skulptur aus Lianen Findling, fluoriszierendes Klebeband, schwarze Totenkopf Büchse und Schwarz Licht
Skulptur, Objekt, Video, Installation, Fotografie
Markus Wintersberger 2014
A 4.1m high bronze sculpture of a boy on a rocking horse has been unveiled on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset say Powerless Structures, Fig 101 questions "monuments predicated on military victory or defeat".
Tagged by BratzRLife:))
Fave color? Sea Green/Teal(The colour gaga had her hair..you know, teal ish?)
Biggest dream? idrk.. to meet gaga I guess
Lucky/favorite number? 2..I don't know why.
Celeb crush? Niall from 1D doe <3
Sexuality? [I wanna be that] G. A. Y. (sorry couldn't not do it)
If you could meet anyone n earth, who would it be? Gagaaa
Middle name? John:s
Believe in love at first sight? I guess so, but not true love ofc just like love for a year?crush?idk not really I guess then
Allergies? sun block..yeah. Plus I don't tan, I burn. Love summer.
Addiction? Gaga, watermelon gum, youtube(grav3yard girl doe)
Typical weekend? going to town with like 7 friends and all getting lost in the woods in like 3 little groups(coughhappenedontuesdaycough)
Fave serial killer? myself;*
Birthday? very soon..keep an eye out:*
Best friend(s)? myself;*
I have some but i'll just call them by the first letter of their name- L, M, S, F, N, A, L, H..pretty much(offline friends tho u see)
Fave food? i don't eat
Milkshakes or yogurt? MILKSHAKES YAASSSS
Cheetos or Fritos? don't have either of them here plus I don't eat xoxo
Would you rather eat tentacles or fuck a donut? obviously fuck a donut mm yass that donut pussy doe
Fave social media site? facebook, my addiction
I have like 3 accounts, 2 personal and 1 for flickr
Current mood? SUPER HAPPY BECAUSE THE KATY PERRY DARK HORSE VIDEO IS JUST EVERYTHING(Look out for a Cleo custom lolz) and excited for tomorrow bc haircut and meeting with friends again and we just sit in the pool for like 9 hours<33333)
Age? somewhere between 1-100..
1, 2, skip a few, 99, 100:*
Have you ever stolen anything? I once stole these tiny tiny little erasers that were the same size as the smallest nails that came with the Totally Polished girls when I was like 6 and I got so upset that the next day I went back to that shop, cried and gave them back
Are you a virgin? maybe
When did you get your first kiss? in the rain after school finished aw lov him doe
What's the weirdest food you LIKE? idk Asian foods like little panda biscuits
Would you rather kiss Satan or a monkey? um
Have you ever cheated on somebody? no but someone's cheated on me
feels great l0l
How long have you waited before you took a shower? um I don't shower I bathe, we don't have a shower lolz, and sometimes during the summer I'd bathe like once a week(but this year I promised, and have kept that, that i'll bathe once every other day)
Ever been in love with "just a friend"? yes sigh
How many girls have you dated? none bae
What is your favorite movie? Evil Dead(2013)<3333
Do you remember a lot of your dreams? every other night, yes
What do you like about yourself? um nothing
the fact that my friends find me hilarious and really cute?im really ugly doe lol
What is your favorite sport? I hate all sport rofl
Do you smoke? no what ew tar
Do you drink? yes sometimes I be a rebel and have 2 glasses of pepsi in a row don't tell my parents tho lolz!!
Do you like to play video games? despise games ewwww
I do like to watch IHasCupquake tho which is weird because I hate games
What do you think of Valentine’s Day? shitty because I've always been alone plus it makes people who've been alone for a long time feel bad about themselves
idc if youre in a relationship I think it should be banned
How do you feel about tattoos? I like ones like quotes (my friend who's like 3x my age and works in burger king has a giant arm tattoo saying BORN THIS WAY and when I first saw it when he served my friend I was just like YAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS)
Do you like anyone? as in love then yes
What is the perfect first date? to me it's just walking home after school, stopping in a field and talking for like 15 minutes aw but that's just me
Have you ever broken a bone? when I was 10 I fell and broke my wrist lolz
What deodorant do you wear? I honestly wear febreeze Thai Orchid x)))))
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? idc I've always LOVED Egypt but I really want to live somewhere like the carribean?yknow if it was like a hotel because I loOOVVE hotels
What is your biggest regret? not saving the money for the artpop ball because I thought tickets wouldn't be on sale till after my birthday sighhhhh(I WENT TO FUCKING BUY THEM AT 9:05 (they went on sale at 9) AND THE HAD ALL SOLD OUT IN LIKE 29 SECONDS GAGA WHY ARE YOU SO PERFECT FFS)
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? myself
What are you scared of? the dark, dogs. x)
What was the name of your favorite toy as a kid? idrk but it was a little pokemon thing that I lost aw
What is your favorite sugary cereal? ew sugar
Are u still a virgin? mayb;*
Boxers or briefs? nude:*jk um
Do you like cheese? nope
Who are you talking to right now? my bfffffffff 'L'
When did you go to sleep last night? 'bout 4, was up talking to BratzRLife and Melly aw love them tho
Do you have armpit hair? no ew
How big is your dick? about half the size of the Eiffel tower
What’s your favorite TV show?idk I don't watch TV, I usually only watch '____(Lady gaga, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj) - Brand New Music Video!' even though I've probably seen it like 20 times already
What’s your longest relationship? like 5 months then it got too out of hand so its like on hold lolz
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be? idk, Morocco, Egypt, NYC, I went to france last summer(Bolongue or something) and trust me it was SO beautiful I literally couldn't, I have pictures if y'all would like me to upload?:D
Favorite song? Dark Horse by Katy Perry, or Air Balloon or L8 CMMR by Lily Allen;3
What do you want to be when you grow up? I actually don't know ummmm
What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done? idk, I'm in trouble a lot but Its not really physical things..
What’s your favorite animal? I've always adored giraffes but I mean I love me some cats tho
Would you rather have love or a million dollars? honestly, love. (Ofc it depends if it's with that one person I want)
How many kids do you want? I'd adopt like 1 maybe
Ten years from now what do you want to be doing?sex-i mean um just helping out people and stuff
Do you like massages? NO EW
Question for Joe Biden - Why encourage the public to buy shotguns if they murder more people than assault rifles?
Find your legislators and contact them now: www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
Chicago and Cook County are not the only city and county in the country giving money out with no question asked. More and more "blue" regions are doing that. With welfare payments and EBT cards, the recipients are restricted to use the money to buy daily necessities. But these new programs have no restrictions whatsoever. So the recipients can use the cash to buy guns, drugs and/or alcohol! ☹️
The program is not based on needs either. Here's the link to the application. The only criterium is being a resident of Chicago.
cloud.citynews.chicago.gov/cash_pilot_updates_2
Which best describes your interest in the pilot?
▫️I applied to enter the lottery
▫️I’m a member of the media
▫️I am a guaranteed income researcher, advocate, policymaker, or implementor
▫️I’m a curious member of the public
www.datalounge.com/thread/32447121--500-a-month-no-string...
$500 a Month, No Strings: Chicago Experiments With a Guaranteed Income
CHICAGO — Christopher Ellington’s South Side photography studio crashed in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic. By March 2021, he was scraping by on a tax preparation and financial advice business when gunshots rang out one day as he was leaving work. Two bullets from a drive-by shooter pierced his head and left him permanently blind.
The creditors were closing in, the rent notices piling up. And then a helping hand came late last summer from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration: the first of a year’s worth of monthly $500 checks, with no strings attached and almost no questions asked.
“Talk about shock,” said Ellington, 32. “It was ‘Hey, the government is doing this? Wait a minute. I don’t have to, you know, report this and report that, and you don’t have to go through all of my business and I don’t have to watch what I say?’ I was like, ‘This is how it should be.’”
Chicago and the surrounding suburbs of Cook County are conducting the largest experiment of its kind in the nation, an effort to supply thousands of residents with a basic level of subsistence, not in the form of food, housing or child care — just cash. Lightfoot’s $31.5 million Resilient Communities Pilot selected 5,000 city residents in August to receive a guaranteed cash income for a year. The first $500 checks from a separate program, a $42 million county pilot, went out in December to 3,250 residents concentrated in the near-in Chicago suburbs.
On Monday at its conference in Washington, which started over the weekend and runs through Tuesday, the National Association of Counties will announce a network of county-level basic income programs to match the mayoral initiatives that have sprouted to 50 cities.
Both Chicago and Cook County are tapping money sent to local governments through the 2021 pandemic relief law known as the American Rescue Plan. Both programs are administered by a group, GiveDirectly, that had been better known for helping poor people in developing nations. The city and county efforts are being assessed by social scientists at the University of Chicago.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for us to be bold and innovative,” said Brandie Knazze, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services.
For Democrats, the concept is a wager on big government at a time when faith in democratic governance is at a low ebb. For Republicans, it’s a return to discredited welfare handouts that waste money and foster dependency.
Whatever the outcome, the spread of basic income programs is a reminder of the growing divide between Democrats and Republicans, urban voters and rural conservatives, those who want more government in people’s lives and those who want less.
“There’s no indication that I see that the American public thinks what we really need is more aid to people who choose not to work,” said Robert Rector, a conservative public assistance expert at the Heritage Foundation who helped shape the welfare changes of the 1990s.
But in Democratic cities, in states deep blue and bright red, such as Columbia, South Carolina, Shreveport, Louisiana, and Birmingham, Alabama, political leaders are moving in the opposite direction. Lightfoot may be in the throes of a difficult campaign for reelection, but none of her eight rivals for the Democratic mayoral nomination before the first round of voting Feb. 28 have made an issue of her guaranteed income effort.
Instead, Lightfoot is picking a fight with the national Republican Party.
“These are the same people that didn’t want to expand health care, and look at the number of people in their communities, these ruby-red communities, that are suffering,” Lightfoot said. “These are the same people, frankly, that are attacking the very core of our democracy, demonizing being different, being the other, based upon your religion, your creed, who you love, your gender identity.”
She added: “I’m the mayor of the city of Chicago. I know what our people need.”
news.wttw.com/2022/09/14/applications-lottery-determine-w...
Applications for Lottery to Determine Who Gets $500 Per Month For 2 Years to Open Oct. 6, Preckwinkle Announces
September 14, 2022 11:44 am
Cook County residents suffering from the economic catastrophe unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic can apply starting Oct. 6 to enter a lottery to get $500 per month for two years, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle announced Wednesday.
The program, which is expected to include 3,250 households, will launch a test of a basic-income program with $41.5 million from the federal COVID-19 relief package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March 2021, Preckwinkle said. It is the largest program in the nation.
Preckwinkle has said she is confident that making cash assistance payments directly to people struggling to make ends meet can help reduce poverty in Cook County and should be made permanent.
The deadline to apply is Oct. 21, officials said. More information is available online.
Those selected to participate in the program will get the first $500 payment in December, officials announced.
“Cook County is proud to be leading the way for government in the American guaranteed income movement,” said Preckwinkle, who is running for re-election in November. “With this historic investment, we aim to show the nation what guaranteed income at scale can achieve.”
A separate program for Chicago residents drew approximately 176,000 applications before it closed on May 13. The city’s $31.5 million program will send 5,000 Chicago families $500 per month for 12 months, officials said.
In 2021, Cook County officials used $8 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to send $600 cash assistance payments to 14,000 residents hit hard by the economic catastrophe triggered by the pandemic.
To be eligible for the cash assistance program, participants must live in Cook County, be older than 18, and live in a household that earns no more than 250% of the federal poverty level, or $69,375 for a family of four, officials announced.
That would make approximately 36% of all Cook County residents eligible to apply for the pilot.
Participants already selected for the Chicago basic-income pilot program or the Evanston program cannot be selected to the Cook County program, officials said.
Cook County selected GiveDirectly, a firm operating in Africa and the United States, and Denver-based AidKit to administer the program, county officials announced. Those firms are also administering Chicago’s program.
The University of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab and the university’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and Inclusive Economy Lab will complete a study on the impacts of the pilot and residents’ experiences to help officials understand how the cash assistance program worked and how to determine how to make the program permanent.
More than 70% of the participants in the city’s program are women, and more than 68% are Black, according to data released by the mayor’s office on Tuesday. Most live on the city’s South and West sides, officials said.
Participants have a median annual income is $14,000, according to city data.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | hcherone@wttw.com
Question Mark. Aus der Serie „Satzzeichen“ 2014
Rotierende Skulptur aus Lianen Findling, fluoriszierendes Klebeband, schwarze Totenkopf Büchse und Schwarz Licht
Skulptur, Objekt, Video, Installation, Fotografie
Markus Wintersberger 2014
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Nikon D800E Fine Art! A Study of the Sunset at the San Clemente Pier! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Photography! Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR!
I think my hallmark/trademark might be that I see more beauty in things than others, and I can never pick my favorite shot! For instance, as the sun set over the San Clemente Pier, I loved all the light!
New Instagram!
Celebrating Dr. E's LAw of Moving Dimensions ^& Dynamic Dimensions Theory dx4/dt=ic which derives from Homer's Odyssey! "Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them." --Homer's Odyssey! herosodysseyphysics.wordpress.com
Will be busy printing and framing in nice large, matted formats and frames and museum glass! Five of these photos will be printed on 40" x 60" floating wall mounted metal sheets! I think I know which--will share photos of the photos hanging on the walls!
And I am mounting some on plexiglass/acryllic--front mounting them! Some I am printing on lossy fuji-crystal archival paper too, and then front mounting 40"x60" versions to plexiglass--will send photos!
The secret to HDR photography is that you want people to say, "Woe dude--that's unreal!" And not, "Dude--that's not real!" "Unreal" is the word they use when they're trying to figure out the photo--what makes it cool--is it a photo? Is it painted? How'd it come to be--how'd you bend the light that way? "That's not real," is what they say if you have the saturation/HDR/ etc. turned up too high. :)
Some (almost) final edits for my Los Angeles Gallery Show! Printing them on metallic paper at 13" x 19" and mounting and framing them on a 4mm 18x24 white mat and 2" dark wood frame. Also printing some 40" x 70" whihc is over three feet by five feet! Wish you all could come (and hang out with the goddesses)!
Let me know your favs.!
New Instagram!
Videos!
I booked a major photography show at a major LA gallery in December! Will also be giving some lectures on the story--the Hero's Odyssey Mythology--behind the photography!
Follow me on facebook!
www.facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken
Preparing for some gallery shows this fall to celebrate 300,000,000 views! Printing a few dozen photographs in ~ 30"x40" formats and mounting/framing. Here are some close-to-final edits. HDR photography 7 exposures shot at 1EV and combined in photomatix: 36 megapixel Nikon D800E with the awesome Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens. 45SURF Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography!
Epic Scenic HDR Landscapes Shot with Nikon D800E: Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography!
Enjoy the Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography, and all the best on a hero's odyssey of your own making!
All the best on your epic hero's odyssey!
New Instagram!
New blog! 45surf.wordpress.com Ask me anything! :)
This has been a question that's been on my mind lately:
If you had to choose between being blind or deaf, which you choose?
The practical person would choose deaf; that way they would still be able to see & communicate. But I can't choose.
I need to hear music. It's like my water, I can't survive without it for very long
But at the same time, I need to see so I can take pictures. If music is my water, photography is my oxygen.
Which would you choose?
~ns4~
The enigmatic Japanese photographer, who took some of the 20th century’s most compelling images, is finally getting his first retrospective in the UK - and Switzerland. ‘Yes, it’s a bit late,’ he tells our writer
Charlotte Jansen
It isn’t easy to get to know Daidō Moriyama. The Japanese photographer, 85, answers my questions from his home in Tokyo via an interpreter, and is quick to bat off personal questions. “Photographers can only take pictures,” he shrugs.
But Moriyama has done far more than take pictures. Although best known as a street photographer, he has pushed the form to its limits, interrogating what photographs are, how they are experienced, their ethics and effect. He is also behind some of the most iconic and influential pictures of the last 50 years – from closeups of fishnet stockings to portraits of stray dogs they are regarded as lyrical, symbolic expressions of the postwar era in Japan.
“He is shy, inconspicuous, and concentrated. He is a real brain – very articulated and well-read, who speaks in elegant, metaphoric ways,” says Thyago Nogueira, the curator of a rare retrospective exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery that gives an unprecedented view of Moriyama’s dazzling work.
The show is a riveting, rapturous exploration of the enigmatic and prolific photographer, spanning from his earliest works in the late 1960s to today – he continues to go out with his camera, and a cigarette. “Although I have some constraints, including my health, I want to take as many photos as possible each day.”
Moriyama set about photographing the world not as it was but as he saw it – a confused, chaotic and fragmented reality.
Photographs are presented in myriad ways: at times completely overwhelming the viewer. There are slideshows on projectors (some more than an hour long), installations of images covering entire walls, magazine and book spreads, and sequences of glorious prints, mostly in black and white, changing in scale. In their various incarnations, with repeated images amounting to a kind of neuroticism, the photographs have a relentless pace. “They are a punch in the stomach,” as Nogueira puts it.
Moving back and forth between decades, the black and white film imbuing the images with a kind of timelessness, Moriyama contests photography as a form rooted in a moment or place. His photographs articulate something else, they palpitate with mystery – the great inexplicable essence of life. Perhaps this is why he is reluctant to speak for the images.
Moriyama was born in Osaka (then Ikeda), Japan, in 1938. “I was raised in a very ordinary way. My father was an office worker, and my mother was a housewife,” he says. His childhood wasn’t easy. Against the backdrop of US occupation and the second world war, home life was punctuated by loss. A twin brother died when Moriyama was two. The family moved often for his father’s work, before his early death. “I did not fit in at school. I lost my father when I was young. But I have always loved to draw so I became a designer through an acquaintance.” He apprenticed at a graphic design studio. His first photographs, he recalls, were of the family dog. In a later series “Memories of a Dog”, Moriyama returned to places of his childhood, to photograph his memories.
In 1961 he moved to Tokyo to pursue a dream of becoming a photojournalist, like his sensei, Shōmei Tōmatsu – Japan’s pre-eminent postwar photographer. “I became a photographer because I found the photographers I worked with very sporty and cool – and I guess I was never cut out for desk work,” Moriyama says wryly.
From early staid, documentary, journalistic-style images, mostly shot at the American base at Yokosuka (some of which are presented at the Photographers’ Gallery’s show) Moriyama’s approach quickly evolved into an expressive, subjective style that evoked his own experience of the world. He was invited to join Provoke – a collective of young photographers determined to revolutionise photography – by Takuma Nakahira, a photographer and critic, who died in 2015. “Takuma Nakahira was then, and still is, my only friend and my only rival.”
Provoke published just three issues of a visual manifesto between 1968 and 1969, but they had a profound effect. Japanese critics ridiculed the group’s lack of technical skills as “are, bure, boke” (“grainy, blurry, out-of-focus”). These terms were later reclaimed to describe the style pioneered by Moriyama. But, he says, “I never consciously shot that way, nor did I care.”
Moriyama set about photographing the world not as it was but as he saw it – a confused, chaotic and fragmented reality. There is a furious urgency to the pictures he took between 1968 and 1972: black and white photographs of everything and nothing, of underground kabuki actors and other avant garde artists and performers, erotic scenes, portraits of animals and street life, photographs of photographs, and of TV screens and newspaper headlines – precursors to screenshots and reels. “I was strongly inspired by William Klein’s books of New York, Moscow, Rome, Tokyo, published when he was still young. It was something in particular that I saw in his photographs that seemed to connect me to my own photography.”
Questioning the purpose of photography so deeply led Moriyama down a dark road.
Moriyama’s photographs have become a testament of a tumultuous time in Japan, conveying a sense of the grim and gritty reality of the underbelly of the city in grainy images. “I understood the social atmosphere at that time, but personally I had no interest in politics,” Moriyama reflects. Many of these images were originally shot as photo essays for magazines – it was the golden age of the Tokyo publishing industry, and magazines were museums for photography as it became a new artistic form. The pictures were later printed again, sometimes at different scales, reshuffled and reordered, and compiled into the photobooks Moriyama is famous for – such as his acclaimed work, A Hunter, shot from the window of a car as Moriyama hitchhiked around Japan. “When I am going along the road, snapping the shutter as I read each moment, I become at times a poet, a scientist, a critic, a philosopher, a labourer, or a politician,” he said.
A less familiar, groundbreaking series of work on show at the Photographers’ Gallery is a monthly column Accidents produced throughout 1969 for a mass media publication. Each series took on a different aspect of photography and its exploitation by the mass media – a poster of a car crash designed to shock and scare; photographs of TV screens and newspapers in Japan in the week after JFK’s assassination. It shows Moriyama’s concern with the ethics of photography and its exploitative nature.
But questioning the purpose of photography so deeply led him down a dark road. In 1972 Moriyama published “Farewell Photography”, a swan song to his chosen medium, a mashup of old negatives, scraps and prints gathered from his archives and thrown together. Photography, Moriyama realised, wasn’t going to change the world as he had once believed.
He suffered depression and became addicted to sleeping pills. It was almost a decade before he picked up the camera again, when he was commissioned by two editor friends concerned for his well being. Just as the camera had plunged him into an existential void, it pulled him back from the brink of self-obliteration.
“Moriyama spent his life asking a basic, fundamental question: What is photography?” Nogueira says. “He never answered that question, but his life’s work is a constant and honest response to that.”
Today, Moriyama is humble about his achievements. “I am happy to know that many people around the world have been exposed to my photographs and photo books,” he says. Photographing daily for so many decades, “there is nothing that has not already been taken – each photograph becomes a great cycle. It is connected to the past and to the future – and that is why there is the most reality in the current photograph that captures it.
“Beyond the photographer, the work returns to society – and that is the most powerful force of photography.”
Locke, Ca
. . .
One of the most famous and well liked bars in Sacramento Delta. Those are dollars bills on the ceiling. How did they put them there...? That is the three dollar question...
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust held its 2012 Annual General Meeting at Beechen Grove Baptist Church Hall, Watford on 25 September.
This gave members ot the public the opportunity to meet hospital staff to discuss their work through displays, as well as listening to presentations from the Chief Executive Jan Filochowski and representatives from Kier Property, the preferred private sector partner to deliver the Watford Health Campus scheme.
In addition, copies of the Trust accounts, the Quality Account and the Annual Report for 2011/12 were made available. The Annual Report can also be accessed at www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk/annualreport/
Here, Trust Chairman Prof Thomas Hanahoe listens to a questions from a member of the public to the panel during the 'questions from the floor' session.
-25 September 2012