large format

ESPN Mag: Last Time They Met

Posted on November 29 2012 by Greg Miller

Brian Downing at his home in Smiths Station, Alabama.

In late September, ESPN Photo Editor, Jim Surber asked me to photograph the two men caught up in the now infamous video that shows Brian Downing “teabagging” Garrison Stamp who passed out at a Bourbon Street Krystals in New Orleans after last year’s trouncing of LSU by Alabama. This story, written by Mark Winegardner, part of ESPN’s, One Day, One Game issue, examines what happened that day and the fallout for Downing and Stamp as well as their families in the aftermath of the viral video.

One Day, One Game, November 26, 2012 Issue of ESPN.

To be honest, until I got this assignment, I had not seen the video or even heard about it. I am not a huge fan of football or of viral videos for that matter. I watched about a minute of it and didn’t need to see any more. It is painful to watch. Painful, as many people have said, because no one, not even Downing’s friends, stopped to help Stamp (or Downing). And painful, especially once you meet them both, to see how two people’s lives can be irrevocably changed in today’s world, not because of football and not because of alcohol (although partly), but because of the internet.

In the story, Winegardner describes the moment when Downing and his wife are headed to Target and the video goes viral:

On the way, as they cross the Chattahoochee River, Brian’s cell rings. It’s his sister’s husband.

“Um … dude?” the brother-in-law says. “Did you know you’re on the Internet?”

Brian frowns. “Huh?”

“From New Orleans. I think you’re on the Internet.”

Just then, Andrea’s cell goes off. It’s her best friend from high school, who’s heard from a mutual friend that he’d seen someone who might be Brian on a football website. Andrea looks over at her husband.

“Do you know what for?” the brother-in-law asks Brian. Brian’s phone vibrates with a text message, then another from someone else. “I think I have an idea,” Brian says.

The best friend doesn’t want to tell Andrea exactly what the person who might be Brian does on that video, but she communicates the gist of it. She says she’ll send a link. Andrea’s thinking, It can’t be. That’s not Brian. Another call comes up on her phone, then a text message. Brian hangs up. He has calls coming in too and a fusillade of texts. Neither one answers.

Brian pulls his Escape to the side of the road. Andrea is shaking. She asks him what’s going on.

It is a bit of a challenge, photographically, to photograph both perpetrator and victim without casting that judgement on the subjects. I wanted, above all, to simply document them so that the reader could see them, as two human beings first.

Not to belittle the very real crime that took place, but I see them both as victims. Victims of today’s harsh online social environment. Unfortunately, no one stepped in to save either one of them from that.

Brian Downing at his home in Smiths Station, Alabama.

Garrison Stamp at his Mother’s home in Missouri City, TX.

Brian Downing at his home in Smiths Station, Alabama.

Garrison Stamp at his Mother’s home in Missouri City, TX.

I would like to thank Jim Surber and the whole gang up at ESPN Magazine for trusting me with a great story.

Quoted text by Mark Winegardner.

All images unless otherwise noted, copyright Greg Miller.

By The People

Posted on November 27 2012 by Greg Miller

First-time voter, D’Andre Stevenson, Cuyahoga County Precinct 4 at Mount Olive Baptist Church. D’Andre’s hands were shaking as he voted. After he cast his ballot he said, “I voted for Obama. It felt good because I could vote for who I really wanted. My vote counted.”

This year I decided to head to the great city of Cleveland, Ohio to continue my Election Day project. I have been photographing polling places and voters since 2004, the year Bush defeated Kerry. That year, Esquire magazine hired me to photograph polling places and voters for a possible feature on the election. Unfortunately, the story was killed right after the elections since, it seems, there is little interest in an election after it’s over. I loved the pictures and I was forever changed by the experience of meeting and talking to the pollworkers whom, I had never really spoken to, I must confess, other than to give them my name and address. I have photographed in most of the elections since in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and now Ohio.

It hit me the first time I photographed polling stations that this is what an American democracy looks like: a clerical exercise of shuffling papers and bean counting–not overturned cars in the street or mobs throwing Molotov cocktails. The tallying of 121,745,725 votes cast in the days after Nov 6, 2012, comes down to the service of ordinary citizens who take an oath not to interfere with the process and are paid less than $200 for the day.

Meanwhile, from the voter’s perspective, regardless of what we think about our options for who we can elect or whether we believe any great change took place, we have either retained or overthrown our government by casting one vote. The evolution of our voting laws has been a long 200 year process to finally include everyone (except convicted felons and minors). My pictures are a window into what that process looks like up close.

Pollworker, Howard Greenberg, Cuyahoga County, Bay Village Precinct at Bay High School. Howard was a paratrooper in the Philippines in World War II. “I participated in the 60th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion on D-Day in 2004. I was 79 years old then.” He and his wife of 64 years, Selma, have been pollworkers for 10 years.

Stephen Murray, Cuyahoga County, Hunting Valley Precinct at Hunting Valley Hall. “I voted for Barack Obama. It felt like it mattered more than in previous years. It felt like there was more at stake.”

Pollworker, Rashida Jones, Cuyahoga County, Cleveland Heights Precinct at the Judson Retirement Community.

Voters at Cuyahoga County, Bay Village Precinct at Bay High School.

Pollworker John Szenger (right) with other workers, Cuyahoga County, Precinct 13 at the American Legion Post 469.

Voter, Rachel Pop with her daughter, Arianna. Cuyahoga County, Precinct 13 at American Legion Post 469.

Voters at Cuyahoga County, Bay Village Precinct at Bay High School.

Photographing Howard Greenberg at Bay High School. Photograph by Sophie Schwartz.

Election day is always a long day but this one seemed to fly by because I was in the very capable hands of Cleveland photographer Rose Marincil and Laurel High School student Sophie Schwartz, a talented photographer in her own right. I would also like to thank Mark Schwartz and Tina Katz and their daughters Emma and Sophie, for very graciously hosting me in Cleveland and Mark, who helped me plan a winding path through Cuyahoga County. And lastly, I would like to thank the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the beautiful Clevelanders who graciously allowed me to take their picture and the nearly 122 million Americans who voted.

Unless otherwise noted, all images copyright Greg Miller.

The Large Format Narrative Portrait

Posted on May 29 2012 by Greg Miller

Las Vegas, 2001.

Have you ever wanted to try out shooting large format but didn’t have the equipment or nerve? Are you terrified of talking to strangers? Maybe you already have experience in large format but would like to push yourself to do more. My large format photography workshop in the beautiful setting of Rockport, Maine is coming up July 8 through July 14. It is an opportunity to challenge yourself within a supportive and encouraging environment with likeminded artistic individuals.

The weeklong workshop is geared toward getting you up to speed with a 4×5 camera while looking and discussing the pictures you make during the week often referencing images that you have taken before the class. As the week progresses, we turn the camera to photographing people, often strangers, on the fly, in sometimes unexpected environments such as grocery store parking lots, local neighborhoods or the beach to name a few. Beyond that, we will be looking at creating narratives and stories within the frame as well as within bodies of work.

Greg helped me find my voice by encouraging me to use a larger format, but more importantly through his profoundly sharp, insightful, and constructive critiques. He helped me slow down and develop my emerging style, skills I keep building on years after taking his class.

-Christi Paige, Photographer

Photographers at any level, from students who have never touched large format cameras, to experienced large format shooters are encouraged to register. Shooting large format photography in the world challenges and inspires every level. This course discusses not only the basics of camera operation, camera movements and anything needed to get up and running, but also addresses the challenges of photographing people in the world, such as approaching strangers, obtaining release forms, and addressing the fears and boundaries associated with this type of portraiture.

Equipment (4×5 cameras and tripods) as well as film processing and printing is included in the tuition.

If you have any questions about the course please comment below or email me at studio@gregmiller.com.

Click image for more information or to enroll with Maine Media Workshops

Below is a video made by a local Nashville TV station in 2008 showing me shooting on the street.

You can always find up to date workshop information on my new workshop page.

Best Friends at Gallery 339

Posted on May 11 2012 by Greg Miller

Modena, Italy. 2012 Photograph by Andrea Modica.

Opening tonight is Best Friends, platinum prints of high school kids and their best friends by Andrea Modica at Gallery 339 in Philadelphia. At a time when the word “friend” becomes more virtual and less anything real, Modica’s images are a gorgeous and fascinating exploration into who we chose to be our real–flesh and blood–best friend.

Gallery 339
339 South 21st Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215.731.1530

Opening tonight 6-8pm

HOURS:
Tuesday- Saturday, 10:00 am-6:00 pm

Dumpster Pinholes

Posted on May 3 2012 by Greg Miller

Dom Hamburg

I love these. Photograph by garbageman Bernd Leguttky, Christoph Blaschke and Mirko Derpmann. Trashcam Project via Good

Ash Wednesday 2012

Posted on April 4 2012 by Greg Miller

From the series Unto Dust, 2012.

How time flies. Feels like yesterday I was heading out to photograph on Ash Wednesday and now this weekend will be Easter and the beginning of Passover.

This year’s Ash Wednesday was maybe my best ever. For those of you visiting this blog for the first time, this year is my 15th year photographing towards my series Unto Dust, portraits of people that have received ashes on Ash Wednesday in midtown Manhattan. You can catch up on the back story from last year’s post here and more from previous year’s images on my website here.

I am often overwhelmed by the generosity of strangers when I am shooting on the street. That New Yorkers (and some out -of-towners) will stop and allow me the 5-10 minutes it takes to make a picture always astounds me. I was recently moved by Thomas Merton’s “Louisville epiphany” in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander: Merton was a practising Trappist monk who one day realized that there is no separate special world of the holy:

“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers[...]Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts[...]the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed[...]I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.”

When I read this I was taken aback by how closely his connection to “total strangers” aligns with how I feel towards the people I meet on the street when I am photographing. I think Thomas Merton could have been a street photographer! My hope on this 15th anniversary of my project is that people can look at this work and, regardless of religion, see themselves and their neighbors with more compassion.

From the series Unto Dust, 2012

From the series Unto Dust, 2012.

I was accompanied again this year by my friend and photographer Amy Skinner who documented the day. Many thanks to Amy, NPR Picture Show blog and the TIME tumblr blog both for featuring the project last month. And as always I am grateful to the two dozen or so people who were willing subjects this year.

photograph by Amy Skinner

Photograph by Amy Skinner

All images unless otherwise noted © Greg Miller

My Summer Class – The Large Format Narrative Portrait

Posted on May 11 2011 by Greg Miller

Las Vegas, 2001. Photograph by Greg Miller

It’s almost summer! Time to get outside and start talking to strangers and what better way than with a big camera. There is still space left in my class, The Large Format Narrative Portrait at Maine Media Workshop. It runs next month June 12 thru 18. It is kind of a crash course in finding your photographic voice in large format. Whether you are looking to move up to large format or are a seasoned LF shooter and just want to conquer your fear of approaching and photographing strangers, this could be the class for you and hey, hopefully you will have time to grab a lobster roll in the process. The class quickly gets you up to speed in large format (it’s not that hard and the school provides cameras) then moves into shooting as many pictures you can before the week is up. Processing is provided by the school so you can focus on shooting, classes are small, intimate and you get tons of one on one attention.

Greg helped me find my voice by encouraging me to use a larger format, but more importantly through his profoundly sharp, insightful, and constructive critiques. He helped me slow down and develop my emerging style, skills I keep building on four years after taking his class.

-Former Student

To register click here or for more information go here.

Hope to see you there!

A scene from Maine Media Workshops 2010...

...and another.

11WFTPJ03B – Large Format: Portraiture & Street Photography

Posted on April 8 2011 by Greg Miller

My intrepid 2011 Large Format Portraiture and Street Photography class at ICP.

My beloved large format ICP class ended last Friday with a bittersweet farewell party complete with a traditional home-cooked Yemen meal. I wish my students the best of luck and look forward to seeing their continued success in any format they choose. This year was one of my most remarkable with students from Yemen, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Buenos Aires and, of course, the US. (You can see last year’s class portrait here.)

Next up, Large Format Narrative Portraiture, taught in a 5 day workshop at Maine Media Workshops slated for June 12-18.

Ash Wednesday 2011

Posted on March 24 2011 by Greg Miller

Untitled, 2011 from Ash Wednseday. Photographs by Greg Miller.

Here are the results of my photographing this year’s Ash Wednesday. You can see an edit from previous years here. I have been photographing this day in midtown Manhattan for 14 years now, but since it’s only one day a year it is a slow process. It’s like I have been shooting for only 14 days. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent in the Catholic calendar (Episcopals do it too), so it’s actually a somber day meant to remind the faithful of their mortality, the inevitability of sin and of the promise of forgiveness. It has always struck me that, when administering ashes, the priest says, “Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”

In case you are wondering, I am not Catholic. I was raised Methodist. My grandfather was a Methodist minister but died when I was one year old so I don’t remember him. My grandmother, walking around her kitchen, talked a lot about him and shared their humanist beliefs with me. I believe that much of the way I see the world was shaped there in her kitchen.

The beauty of Ash Wednesday is that very ordinary people, heading to the train, to work or school, exercise the simple act of wearing their faith for this one day a year. A very old ritual against the backdrop of modern society.

As a photographer it is something of a ritual for me as well. When I began the project in 1997, I wasn’t planning on shooting Ash Wednesday but walking around on the street to photograph… anything. One of those days happened to be Ash Wednesday. Because of my relative unease with the camera back then, I used to center the subject and have them engage the camera. Now I do anything I can to avoid people posing or looking in the camera. But for the sake of continuity I return to this way of photographing people, sort of a testimonial portrait, for one day a year.

I am editing the series for book publication in the near future. I want to thank Amy Skinner from the Guggenheim Foundation for coming with me this year, documenting the day and for being a lovely presence.

Behind the scenes photographs by Amy Skinner

Andrea Modica – Best Friends

Posted on February 16 2011 by Greg Miller

Modena, Italy. Photographs by Andrea Modica

Andrea Modica has produced a new series of portraits called Best Friends that was published recently in Zoom magazine that I am proud to be able to show you here. In the accompanying interview, Andrea explains the genesis of the project:

This project was begun a year and a half ago, when I was invited to photograph in a high school in Connecticut. I initially attempted to make single portraits. However, the student’s best friend was often nearby. This resulted in a small collection of photographs of pairs of high school students. I continued this work in my city of Philadelphia. I also had the opportunity to photograph at a high school in Modena, Italy where I was on a six-month residency which was generously sponsored by an Anonymous Was A Woman Award.

The resulting prints are luscious platinum/palladium prints. She goes on to say that the slow methodical collaborative process of photographing people with the big camera still suits her interests. I can see why. It is good to see beautiful new work from Andrea. The pictures here are all from her trip to Modena.

Modena, Italy.