Sasson Haviv: The Jewish World

Photo © Sasson Haviv-All Rights Reserved

Sasson Haviv is an Israeli photographer, currently living in New York. He is passionate about people and their life stories, and delves into rarely seen cultures and religions through his lens.

His website galleries include photographs made in the bars of New York, of the Occupy Wall Street movement, A Sikh community kitchen, an Orthodox Jewish family, and The Jewish World; a collection of images which Sasson describes as documenting the unique Jewish Orthodox world.

In this gallery, he sought to capture the intense spirituality and beliefs of the Orthodox people, and using a mix of fine art and documentary styles, these photographs depict the traditions of an extremely devout and spiritual community. The images were taken both in Israel and New York.

NB: It's pure coincidence that my recent posts were of monochrome photography. Color will shortly return!

Narratively: Stories Of New York

Living and photographing in New York City when I'm not traveling means that projects such as Narratively never fail to turn me on.

Narratively describes itself as a digital platform devoted to original, true, and in-depth storytelling about New York, through writing, photography, documentary video, animation and interactive media. And the best is that Narratively is on the lookout for interesting stories and talented contributors.

And this sounds especially compelling:

Each week, we’ll explore a different theme about New York and publish a series of connected stories — just one a day — told in the most appropriate medium for each piece. We might feature a longform article with portrait photos on a Monday, followed by an animated documentary on Tuesday, then a photo essay, an audio piece or a short documentary film. Every story gets the space and time it needs to have an impact. We’ll bring you weeks devoted to New York’s waterways, hustlers, sexual subcultures, obscure pastimes and countless other themes.

What's not to like? So drop by Narratively's Kickstarter's page, and if the concept also turns you on, consider supporting it.

LGBT At The Pier (With The Fuji X Pro-1)

Having spent most of the late morning and early afternoon on Fifth Avenue photographing the Gay Pride Parade, I felt rather bored by the commercialization of the parade with the incessant floats carrying some form of corporate logo and, although having found a nice shady spot, being unable to penetrate the phalanxes of barricades, I decided to switch gears...and walk down to the West Village and get some street photography going.

From the West Village, I followed the young crowds along Christopher Street to the Hudson River Park, and once there, started the shoot from the hip.

Within an hour of my return home, I put together an audio slideshow of some of the photographs I made with the Fuji X Pro-1. Most of the photographs were shot from the hip...some were Hail Marys...and a few were composed through the viewfinder. I used the Vivid film simulation setting, and I'm very pleased with the results. None of the photographs were processed beyond a little sharpening.

Fuji X Pro-1: Shooting From The Hip/Vivid vs B&W

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

With this month's credit card statement settled, I can now claim complete ownership of my Fujifilm X Pro-1 and the Fujinon 18mm lens that I bought last month, so feel I've earned the right to update my impressions having used it in the streets of New York as frequently as I could.

Let me start by saying that looks can be deceiving. Operating the Fujifilm X Pro-1's various options can be quite complex, and took longer than I expected, especially as I have the unfortunate habit of not reading manuals, preferring to learn on the fly.

Much has been written (and continues to be written) on the X Pro-1's performance, strong and weak points, quirks (some infuriating and others not so much) and superlative image quality...so I won't repeat them here, apart from saying this:

1. As I do much of my street photography in the streets of NYC by shooting from the hip, I rely on the X Pro-1's auto focus. Its auto focus is not infallible, but even my Canon 5D Mark II and 7D are not, so that's an issue I can easily live with. The main gripe I have with the X Pro-1 is that it occasionally goes to sleep, and it takes a few jabs at its shutter to wake it up. By that time of course, the subject of my attention has walked on by, or the moment I wanted to capture passed.

And to me, that's the main negative of the X Pro-1 insofar as shooting from the hip is concerned.

2. I tried a couple of color film settings, and I'm occasionally disappointed in the rendition of the Velvia (or vivid) setting. The color photograph above was made using the Vivid film simulation setting, and I just don't like it. While the whole scene is more or less fine, the color of the man's jeans (as an example) is unnatural, and seems too over-saturated.

3. The battery life of the X Pro-1 sucks. As I mentioned in previous posts, I manage to get about 300 images on one charge (that includes a bit of chimping). On the other hand, it recharges quite rapidly. So on my shopping list, is another battery. For an all day kind of shooting, 2 batteries (and perhaps 3) are the minimum.

That all said, I am quite satisfied with the performance of the X Pro-1 and I anticipate getting more comfortable with it during the next few weeks, and also expect that Fuji will come up with further firmware updates.

I added a monochrome version (processed via LR) which I much prefer to the color one. I suspect that if I claimed that it came from the new Leica MM, no one would guess otherwise.

Finally, for a website that aggregates all there is to know about the Fuji X Pro-1, drop by Thomas Menk's Scoop.it | Fuji X Pro 1 blog.

NYC's United We Dance Parade With The X Pro-1

All Photos ©2012 Tewfic El-Sawy (Click To Enlarge)

Serendipity was the reason I stumbled on New York City's 6th Annual Dance Parade yesterday.

Barricades and police presence around St. Marks Place can portend a lot of things these days, but when I was handed an announcement for United We Dance, I suspected I'd have a good time. This was corroborated by a woman standing besides me who predicted I'd also get fantastic photographs.

I only carried my Fuji X Pro-1 fitted with the Fujinon 18mm f2.0, and since the barricades had been erected along the route of the parade, I wasn't sure it'd work with such a short range lens. I was on the verge on hurrying back home and get my Canon 5D MarkII and the 70-200 f2.8 that serve me well in such events....but as the police seemed to not be in the mood to restrict photographers, press affiliated or not, I chose to stay and ignore the barricades.

 It worked.

Naturally, I had to compete with other photographers who had the "appropriate" gear,...DSRLS mostly with long zoom lenses, but I had reasonable access to the dancers as they performed. I chose a spot on 8th Street that was in the shade (the other side of the street was very sunny), took a reading off the asphalt, and kept my camera's setting at 1/500 sec and an aperture of f2.0 (for a shallow DOF).

In a way, it was both frustrating and liberating to shoot with the X Pro-1. I was frustrated in not having the 70-200 lens (or even a 24-70mm) with me for some close portraiture of the gorgeous dancers...and frustrated that the X Pro-1 seemed to 'oversleep' sometimes. I probably missed about 4-5 photographs because the X Pro-1 didn't respond as quickly as I wanted. Its AF also seemed to be confused  in some situations.

The liberating aspect of having the X Pro-1 is that it forced me to be close and personal with the dancers.   Its size makes it so much easier to be unobtrusive, although the dancers were eager to be photographed, so stealth was a little difficult.

The JPEG photographs were processed (minimally) in Photoshop.

NYC's Hudson River Pageant With The Fujifilm X Pro-1

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Chancing upon the Earth Celebration Hudson River Pageant on Saturday gave me the ample opportunity to try out my new Fujifilm X-Pro1 in a non-street shooting situation. As it was almost noon, the sun was really quite harsh, and I had to make do with intense glare off the concrete boardwalk, and rather deep shadows.

I had the only lens I have for the X Pro-1; the Fujinon18 mm f 2.0. Two of the four images were made at f16, and two others at f5.6...and all were at 200 iso. Oh, and I had neglected to bring the lens hood!

It was a pleasure to shoot with such a small unobtrusive camera, although I had to get  really close in some cases to get the photograph I wanted. There were some other professional photographers there; some with the almost obligatory 70-200 lenses, who probably made some lovely close up portraits (I did too...later on when I trooped back to the Hudson River Park with my own Canon 5D Mark II and the 70-200 f 2.8.

But back to the Fujifilm X Pro-1...these were made by choosing the Velvia Film Simulation setting, and Auto White Balance. I intended to get an overly saturated result for all these colored costumes, and I think I chose right.

By the way, Thomas Menk's Fuji X-Pro1/Scoop It website is one of the best ways to keep track of various reviews for this camera, and for its rumor, samples and news. If you're interested in the X Pro-1 or thinking of buying one, follow it.

And for those ecologically minded, the Hudson River Pageant was part of Earth Celebration’s fourth annual events to restore the native species and habitats of the Hudson River.

Leica & Magnum: Chien-Chi Chang's Chinatown

Chien-Chi Chang's work in this short video is a singular treat because it'll appeal with many of the street photographers who find New York City's Chinatown to offer the richest of visual opportunities...and I'm one of those.

This photo essay is made of a collection of photographs taken between 1992-2011, and each photograph is paired with a short clip of audio...which is a brilliant idea, and one I shall try to emulate as I walk the streets of NYC. I am certain that adding 5 seconds or so of high heels on the sidewalk of Bleecker Street and some pedestrian chatter for instance, will enhance the visual experience. I have already tried this yesterday, and it isn't as simple as it sounds.

But back to the Chien-Chi Chang's Chinatown. It is estimated that more than 100,000 Chinese live in the Canal Street are of NYC, which is the largest Chinese community outside of Asia.

The photographer spent 19 years documenting the lives of men from the Chinee province of Fuzhou who leave their wives and families to work as dishwashers, cooks, carpenters and day laborers in New York City’s Chinatown. they spend their days at work, usually in difficult circumstances, and live in overcrowded dorm like apartments where they cook, eat, sleep and dream of prosperity and of home.