Frozen in time book photography backdrops
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Frozen in Time
By Anne W. Schultz | Photography by Gilles Mingasson
Look through the viewfinder and focus. Now steady the camera and click. Voila! An image is captured, a moment immortalized. “Frozen in time,” says celebrated French photojournalist Gilles Mingasson, referring to the way photography stops time and allows viewers to see something they might otherwise miss in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. With his Canon 5D Mark III camera and Canon 24–70mm lens, Mingasson sets a specific moment aside and frames it for viewers to scrutinize, look at more closely, and see something they’ve never noticed before. “In spite of being constantly bombarded by images from TV, movies, and other technology, society remains fascinated with still pictures,” he observes.
For twenty years, Mingasson has traveled the globe in pursuit of places and people to photograph, using images instead of words to tell a story. His soul-stirring, affective photos have earned him assignments in Asia, Australia, India, North Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Many of his clients are prestigious and include the likes of National Geographic Books, Time, the Smithsonian, Paris Match, the Discovery Channel, BBC America, BBC Worldwide, Scripps, Microsoft, Target, and Nike.
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In 1871 Richard L. Maddox revolutionized photography by inventing the dry plate process. Using this splendid new technology, traveling photographers no longer relied on cumbersome, portable darkrooms to ply their trade. And since the process was far more sensitive to light than the wet plate process used to that point, relatively fast shutter speeds were possible and carefully held poses no longer a must.
Then the early 1900s ushered in the golden age of postcards. According to U.S. Post Office figures, 677,777,798 postcards were mailed in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, at a time when the total population of the United States was scarcely 88,700,000 souls! Not surprisingly, camera makers honed in on a need and began producing cameras that shot real picture postcards, such as the 3A Folding Pocket Kodak Camera. In 1903 such a camera fitted with a quality lens cost as much as $78; according to Measuring Worth; Relative Value of the U.S. Dollar, that’s $1,968.77 in 2009 funds.
What is surprising, however, is that affordable postcard-format cameras like the Chicago Ferrotype Company’s Mandel-ette postcard camera soon emerged. These were simple box cameras with fixed-focus lenses. In the back of the camera was a black changing bag throu
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'Magnum Contact Sheets', a fresh exhibition rag Amsterdam's Foam film making museum, examines the disparaging winnowing call upon image sharp. Pictured: Magnum Ix, New Royalty, USA, 2001. Lay a hand on Sheet C. Photography: Clockmaker Hoepker. Elegance of Bubbles Museum paramount Magnum Photos
(Image credit: Thomas Hoepker)
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