February 25, 2022

Bert Stephani

Gold

February 25, 2022

Bert Stephani

BY BERT STEPHANI

So, what gear do you bring to the Under 18 Belgian Athletics Championship? What about a slow medium format camera and a short(ish) manual lens? At least that’s what I did: GFX50R and the Mitakon 65mm F1.4.

But the real reason I was there is that my girlfriend’s eldest daughter participated in the pole vault competition. Because I knew I wouldn’t have good access, I also packed my X-Pro3 and dusted off the XF50-140 to document one of the best days of her life. Before the big day, I gave her my best advice: crush the competition … and boy, she did just that! With a series of beautiful jumps, she went over 3.40 meters, improved her personal best and won the Belgian championship.

Above you see the the sequence of the jump that sealed the deal. It’s art in motion but the picture that we like even better is the one below of the most relaxed smile we’ve seen on her face in ages. The pressure of high level sports is a very heavy burden to carry for a teenager. But when the stars align, it’s all worth it.

June 11, 2021

Bert Stephani

Essay

Headless

June 11, 2021

Bert Stephani

Essay

BY BERT STEPHANI

Why is it that the head, and particularly the face, has so much importance in people photography? Convention states that the face should be the bright, in focus and get to be center stage in the composition.

A couple of Robert’s pictures of headless statues made me think about the importance that is generally put on the head/face in photography. While the rest of the body can tell the story just as well or even better. I’ve never been afraid to make a picture that doesn’t include the head but until recently I also never deliberately set out to not include the head in pictures.

So in the last couple of days I tried to do just that when taking pictures around the house.

In the last few months, I’ve been also busy figuring out and creating a new body (pun not intended) of work. And one of the the aspects that I’ve been experimenting with is not including the face of the subject.

So what are your opinions on headless photography? Is it acceptable? Is it still portraiture?

October 17, 2018

Jonas Rask

chronicle90

October 17, 2018 at 11:50 pm (Tokyo, Japan)

October 17, 2018

Jonas Rask

chronicle90

Photography and words by Jonas Rask

Ending the study of capturing the mundane everyday.
Ending the stories that lie in everyday living.
Ending the narration.

In Japan. A place that for me is not mundane, nor everyday.
But for some it is indeed.
Mundane everyday
Everyday Living,

Ending the narration.

October 10, 2018

Jonas Rask

chronicle90

October 10, 2018 at 10:10 pm (Maarslet, Denmark)

October 10, 2018

Jonas Rask

chronicle90

Photography and words by Jonas Rask

I have a thing with numbers. I guess it is what drives my sanity in times of chaos. Its about absolute order of things. It has been like that for as long as I can remember. I always excelled at math instead of linguistics. I chose the mathematical line in high school, and obviously ended up in medschool. So numbers are a big factor in my life.
The Chronicle 90 journey is almost at the end of its lifespan. Again it was a quest of numbers. 90 days. 1 post a week.
Next week I’ll be visiting Fujifilm in Tokyo, so this week is all about preparing for that trip. Mostly about dates, hotelsbookings, time schedules, etc. You know…. the numbers.

So imagine my delight when I saw todays date.

10 images today. On 10/10. At 10:10

Now that is a journal entry in its own right. Regardless of story.

October 3, 2018

Jonas Rask

chronicle90

October 3, 2018 at 06:26 pm (Maarslet, Denmark)

October 3, 2018

Jonas Rask

chronicle90

Photography and words by Jonas Rask

Last week was ‘Kina 2018 week. As I’m sure you probably know by now I was there giving 3 talks. So was Bert, Patrick and Kevin along with many others from the Fujifilm “family”. Yes I call them family, cause that is actually what it feels like to be around this particular group of people. It feels safe. I feel that I can be myself. I have strong feelings towards many of them. So yes, this is just like a family relationship.
I’m humbled beyond words to be able to have this in my life. I’m grateful for everything that it brings me. This is so far from what I expected when I took up photography those almost 10 years ago.

As with any great thing in life that must come to an end, the withdrawal effect can be overwhelming. And thats what I’m going through this week. Withdrawal.
I force myself to pick up my camera, but the mood of it all is rather dark. So I go with the flow, and do what my slumbering overloaded creative brain wants me to do. I embrace it.

So today is dark. Today is abstinence. Today is longing.