Fresh Market

Brazilians love fruits. It is summer time and it is a tradition to have lots of fruits on the table for New Year's Eve dinner. 

Santander Bank

Santander Bank has a beautiful architecture. It used to be a Sao Paulo State Bank and it was sold to Santander this year. 

Sao Paulo View

Today, I went to downtown Sao Paulo to find a good spot to demonstrate how big this city is. Sao Paulo is the 3rd largest city in the world. Unfortunately, it is also called a city of concrete with 20 million people. I am on the top of Santander Bank. It used to be the tallest Brazilian building in 1948. 

Fresh Coconut Water

We also have lots of hard workers like Mr. Santos. He works in front of The Pinacoteca Museum in Sao Paulo. He does not like been photographed but he opened an exception today. 

Homeless

Even though the economy is doing better in Brazil we still have social differences. The number of homeless in Sao Paulo is considerable large. There are lots of institutions supported by the population trying to help them. 

Skin Heads in Brazil

I was surprised about seeing that in Brazil we also have gangs. The teenagers in the photo are Skin Heads. They were nice to me and excited about the picture but one of them was holding a hammer. 

Visiting Sao Paulo - Brazil

This weekend I went to Hilton Hotel in Sao Paulo to shoot this new bridge crossing Pinheiros River in Sao Paulo. It was decorated for Christmas. It is good to be home for a while. Happy New Year!

Photojournalism Final

This is my Final Project for Photojournalism Class. I covered the Presidential Rallies in North Carolina. Some Barack Obama's supporters like Bill Clinton and Mrs. Ann Cooper's photographs were included.

Peter Kaplan

"Peter B. Kaplan is a commercial and editorial photographer who has captured subjects ranging from wildlife in the Serengeti to the high-rise buildings in New York City and nudes perched at lofty altitudes. He's climbed and photographed the Golden Gate Bridge, The Empire State Building, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the St. Louis Arch, the World Trade Center and numerous other sites. He is the "Preferred Photographer" for the Statue of Liberty/ Ellis Island Foundation." If you want to learn more about Peter Kaplan just click here.

Personal advice from Gregory Heisler

The interview with Gregory Heisler can be named as "inspiration". The opportunity of having a very professional photographer with simple and valuable advices was really a gift. In the end of the interview I asked him what he would suggest to someone like me, 43, and just starting on this field. He said:  "You can succeed but do not waste time"! I think it was everything that I wanted to hear.

Tutankhamun Exhibit at Atlanta Civic Center

I went to visit the Tutankhamun Exhibit today at the Civic Center. Due to the weather there was no line and I was the last ticket buyer! During my visit I tried to look everything with photographer eyes. I start thinking how interesting the mums discoveries were to the photojournalists at that time and  how much the egyptians appreciated symmetry. Some studies have proved a relationship between symmetry and beauty. Their jewelries were very symmetrical and beautiful. It was a great experience!

5th Quarter is over!

It is amazing how time goes by so fast. Last year, when I started this program I though:" Photography Program... few mornings during the week...easy, I can handle it.  I WAS WRONG. 

This is a very intensive program. I have learned a lot and as much as I research about well known photographers in the world like Ansel Adams, Bill Eppridge, Gregory Heisler, Dennis Heggie and others I feel liket I still have a lot to learn but at the same time I feel motivated to pursue my dreams.  It is not an easy path but it is worth. This is a wonderful team. I am glad to have joined this journey. 

Gregory Heisler at Gwinnett Technical College

Today is a very exciting day, we are honored to have Mr. Gregory Heisler here at Gwinnett Technical College.  He will be interviewed by Mel Scott . This will be the first Pilot Project among 12 planned by Photography Network.  Gregory Heisler  is a "New York based photographer who is renowned for his technical mastery and thoughtful responsiveness. He is perhaps best known for his more than seventy TIME Magazine cover portraits."  Check it out!

Mustafah Abdulaziz

It is worth to spend more time going through Mustafah Abulaziz work. Mustafah specializes in social documentary and reportage as well as wedding photojournalism. His website is getting a facelift due to the 2008 Photojournalism 1st Place Award. According to his site "he is a self-taught photographer, and he has photographed reportage for the Tribune newspapers,  the Morning Call, Newsday, Baltimore Sun and Macleans magazine as well. His goal is to use photography as a means to communicate effective and accurately across borders and fences so as to do his part in creating bridges of understanding in an increasingly technologically interconnected world." Click here if you want to access Mustafah Abulaziz's blog.

2008 Photojournalism Contest

The Photojournalism Organization has already published the 2008 contest winners.  The attached photo by Mustafah Abulaziz received the first place with Sebastian Iglesias, a Chilean cowboy leading his horse through the mountain in search of roaming cattle in far Southern Patagonia, South America. Click here if you want to have more information about the 2008 contest and seminar.

Bill Eppridge at The Photojournalism Seminar

It was a pleasure to be in the presence of Mr. Bill Eppridge. He became very famous for his documentary about Robert Kennedy Assassination and Panic in Needle Park. Click here to access his blog.

Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper

Mrs. Cooper is going to turn 107 years old soon. This year she voted for the first time. She became known through CNN Headline News and Mr. Barack Obama's telephone call to Mrs. Cooper thanking for her support. I really enjoyed visiting and listening to her childhood history. Mrs. Cooper is very sweet and she looks good! By the way, the picture that she is holding was taken by me.

Great Women of Photography at Lumiere Gallery

Lumiere Gallery presents "Great Women of Photography" with Berenice Abbott and Imogen Cunningham from the Twentieth's Century.
The exhibit will be held through December 23, 2008. Lumiere is located at the Galleries of Peachtree Hills, 425 Peachtree Hills Ave. 29B - Atlanta, GA 30305. More information at www.lumieregallery.net.

J. Garner Wedding Photographer

This week we had a lecture about Wedding Photography. This is J. Garner's photography who was considered "One of the 10 Wedding Photographers in the World by American Photo Magazine and Best of Seattle by Seattle Bride Magazine". Click here and take a look on his blog.

Glamour Shot

This is the Glamour Shot that my Advanced Portraiture teacher, Mrs. Harkins selected today for my assignment. I love that place with white walls and fake red window. It is a car dealer located in Cumming. My little girl, Sophia, is posing again. I feel under pressure since she asked me if I am going to have her picture in my portfolio like Miss Amy does!

Tutankhamun Exhibition in Atlanta

I received a very interesting Make Up Assignment for Multimedia Class this week and it is about photographing the Tutankhamun Exhibition held in Atlanta at the Atlanta Civic Center from November 15th, 2008 to May 2009.
The exhibition includes approximately 130 objects from the tomb of the King Tut and other famous Egyptian pharaohs . "King Tut was born during the Amarna Age, a time when the pharaoh Akheneaten, his probable father, had introduced quasi-monotheistic beliefs into ancient Egypt, replacing the traditional religion. . The prince, however, ultimately did not maintain the religious movement his father introduced. He ascended the throne (around 1333 BCE), while still a child. Tutankhamun restored the traditional gods and re-established Thebes as the religious capital and Memphis as the administrative center. He also changed his name to Tutankhamun in order to direct attention to the restoration of the pantheon and the god Amun at its head. King Tut reigned for only about nine years."He died before turning 20 years old of unknown reason.
Tickets for students for the exhibit + movie is around $29.00. Click here if you want to know more about this interesting exhibit.