I was recently contacted by Profoto’s head office in Stockholm about them taking over the technical support of Profoto User’s Group page I created on Facebook.
This is a huge honor to have Profoto officially support my page.
What this means is, any questions concerning Profoto’s products will be answered accurately and directly by Profoto’s tech staff and engineers.
This is huge! And I’m ecstatic to have their support.
As I sat here thinking about my list of Top 5 females I would love to shoot, a sad reminder comes over me that the person that I desired to shoot the most is no longer with us. The exquisite China Machado was at the very top of my list. It’s hard to put into words how I feel about the loss of this iconic woman who broke through racial barriers to become the first non-Caucasian Supermodel. Ms. Machado was the Muse of legendary fashion Photographer Richard Avedon. China (pronounced CHEE-na) was born December 25th, 1929 in Shanghai, China to a Portuguese father and a Chinese mother (which would explain her stunning looks). At age 19, Noelie de Souza Machado would take the modeling world by storm unwittingly challenging the all white standard of beauty and opening the doors for models like Naomi Sims, Beverly Johnson, Jourdan Dunn and Iman. Yes, it all started with China Machado and we are eternally grateful.
http://www.emfotografik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/China-Machado-Cigarette-2.jpg
http://www.emfotografik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/China-Machado-Cigarette-2.jpg
China Machado photographed by Brigitte Lacombe circa 2011
China Machado, dinner dress and jacket by Ben Zuckerman, New York, Nov. 6, 1958. Photographed by Richard Alvedon
http://www.emfotografik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/China-Machdo-by-Avedon.jpg
http://www.emfotografik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/China-Machdo-by-Avedon.jpg
China Machado, dinner dress and jacket by Ben Zuckerman, New York, Nov. 6, 1958. Photographed by Richard Alvedon
http://www.emfotografik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/china-machado-vogue-2-30aug13-cole-haan_b.jpg
http://www.emfotografik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/china-machado-vogue-2-30aug13-cole-haan_b.jpg
China Machado photographed by Daniel Jackson in New York at Pier 59 on Aug. 6, 2013 for Cole Haan
The Shanghai-born, South America-raised beauty shot to fame in the Fifties, and in 1959 became the first non-Caucasian model to appear in a mainstream American publication. She was a house model for Givenchy and muse to Richard Avedon and continued to make waves all the way up until her untimely death at age 86.
As a photographer, it is always my goal and dream to shoot iconic people.
People who are RAW and true to themselves.
People make us reflect on our own lives.
People who have shaped and/or changed the world in dramatic ways.
One such icon is the infamous China Machado.
Miss Machado became the very first non-caucasian Super Model to grace the covers of top fashion magazines.
The video below pretty much sums up what it’s like for many of us making our living as a professional photographer in today’s world of mobile phones and everyone with a thumb thinking they’re a photographer.
People don’t seem to understand or appreciate the ridiculous amount of time we invest in honing our skill or the ungodly amount of money we invest in our equipment.
Most people don’t even seem to think there’s any skill involved in creating beautiful images. They seem to think it just happens by some sort of magic and that we are just monkeys pushing a button. We are simply a conduit for that magic to happen but we aren’t the ones actually creating it. But they couldn’t possibly be more wrong. Without extensive knowledge of lighting, lots of planning, excellent management and leadership skills, scientific and analytical skills, and buckets of creativity, your images would be nothing more than boring snapshots.
TRUE STORY:
I remember a horrible experience one client telling me that she didn’t have the budget to pay my full rate and asked me to photograph her at a hugely discounted rate as a favor because she simply could not afford anything more. I reluctantly agreed because I thought she was a friend, but told her that she would need to do her own make-up as I could discount my services, but it wouldn’t cover the cost a professional Make-up Artist. She then asked if she could book my regular Make-Up Artist (MUA) and I told her sure, but that my MUA usually charges ¥30,000 (roughly $300) a day. To which she replied, “could you please book her”. Needless to say I was pissed!
1. Because supposedly she no more money and was on a tight budget, but was magically able to come up with another ¥30,000 ($300) for my MUA.
2. Because she valued the MUA enough to pay her full price but tried to stiff me for a discount.
She saw the value and skill in having a professional MUA on set, but tried to undervalue my skill and expertise as a professional photographer.
People often overlook the “Professional” part of our title description mainly because they are used to dealing with a lot of non-professionals who wrongly claim to be professional just because they happen to have bought an expensive camera or they are just clueless to begin with. Sadly, this is the sort of crap that we as professional photographers have to deal with on a daily basis.
We are under-appreciated, undervalued and yet are expected to perform miracles.
Soooo, this is supposed to be a portable Laptop?!
This is undoubtedly one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen. Why would anyone in their right mind want to carry thins around?
Wouldn’t it be better to just buy a dedicated Desktop Machine with a proper display?
And lucky you, you get to pay $9,000 for the privilege of looking like a complete moron.
