half entry

This is my short and sweet small entry. No photographer today guys... I thought that I would have more time when I got home but working has taken most of my photo shooting time, sadly.
This is Kirk again... he's gotten ahold of the heart of the xmas tree!

Quick update, Austin-American Statesman

So I drove down to Austin for a day yesterday, twas fun. I spent most of my time at the paper, the photo editor and photographers we're awesome and I learned alot from my 4 hours of hanging out in the photo department! Everyone was really friendly and educational. I even learned how to shoot nice food portraits! Natural lighting! (of course!) Will be going to visit the Dallas Morning News next week on Thurs... kinda nervous!

Robert Capa. "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough." A well known photographer. Didja know Robert Capa is an American photographer alias for Andrei Friedmann? He was born in Budapest in 1913. Not too much feedback on me today... but yay for passionate photographers.

Sushi that I ate in Austin. Shot with natural lighting, yay!

This is Kirk. I adopted him from a toy store in Austin, when I have a chance I will take a better portrait of him. He is taking a bath here. (I messed up the toning a bit on this one)

A lil history on photo and the family

Lets see as told by my father.... When the Vietnam war happened his brother who was a photographer and he sold photographs to one of the major american papers or magazine. Dad doesn't remember which one it was but because of that the communist found out who sold the pictures and threw him in jail. My uncle died while he was in jail, my father thinks from illness and lack of medication. My uncle had a son, my cousin, who also picked up photography for sometime. He ended up selling his camera to my dad because he needed money. About 15 years later or so my father finally passed his camera onto me. (When my bro's point and shoot broke, I had been shooting with it for about a year or so.)

Canon AE-1 program. I love that thing and I feel back in love with it when I got back from London. My 50mm used to be my dominate lense... I hate that the 20D isn't 1 to 1 on focal length. Cuz now my 50mm makes me too close to my subject!

Almost made an impulse buy of "Vietnam, Inc." by Philip Jones Griffiths... but I guess I can't afford it right now... maybe this summer.

Walter Iooss. Portraits are really impressive. His though process and creativity is great, all so different and all very well done.

At one of the wood pillars in the stockyards.

Outside of the candy store in the stockyards.

Old railroad tracks in the stockyards.

Hey can anyone give me some pointers on how to make my flash look more natural in situations like these? Cuz this looks kinda awful.

Home in Texas

Wow so lately I haven't had internet... and now we are using AOL on the home computer... Flight home was alright, they lost my luggage for a day. I had to work at mom's store for a bit so I havent been quite on the photo track at the moment. I need to call the multiple photogs here to meet up before I head to Syracuse again. Just updated my website yay! working on getting www.thaophotography.com ..... but not there yet... thao nguyen is too common to have my own name!

Finally bought The Photo Book!
Gianni Berengo Gardin. Aww I really enjoy his pictures, they make me think about how this is life and how its cherished. I would love to have taken that black and white workshop course taught by him!

At the Tate Modern with Drew.

Fluffy cloud I wanna touch you!

Daddy who picks me up from the airport every time I come home!

Tomorrow is my last full day...

Time is passing quickly... and mine is spent taking advantage of the printers here instead of going out and seeing London... Oh my... I think that tomorrow I will be more able to venture out. I only have to mount a few more prints and cut them out. Then it's really time to say goodbye to London. So many people here have just opened up their life and their world to me, I know that those connections won't be closed, I have repeatedly said that I will be back in 5 years. And I entend on keeping that promise. Even if its only for a short stay, I will be back to see Portobello Road and the people I've met from there. Also Greece as well, I want to do a story on my fisherman that I met there, it would be an enjoyable experience to go out with him on his boat and see the ocean at night.

On a different note, I have created many projects and things to do since I talked to Lefteris Pitarakis. I will start looking into charities and NGO's in Vietnam since I want to end up there... maybe contact a few and see how they operate and start creating a relationship with them. I also went was checking out the Magnum in motion website and on seeing Philip Jones Griffiths package on Vietnam... I don't it gave me chills watching the pictures and hearing him reflect on his time there.

Updated
so I just woke up.... went to take a nap last night at around 3ish and never really got up after that... I only shot 7 frames yesterday... although I had a wonderful vision of a still life with peppers... never woke up till now...

Edward Weston. Wow nice still lifes... my goal for Thurs I suppose should be those peppers again, well see how I do with em...

Books and Cooks has been around since 1983. The store is a bookshop that also has a small kitchen in the back of the store where a cook can try out some of the recipes in the book. French chef Eric Treuille now can be seen working in the kitchen. Treuille arrived at the shop and eventually from there entered Rosie Kindersley's life. The two are now the proprietors of the shop found on Blenheim Crescent in Notting Hill.

Late nite photos

Lets see today was officially the final day that I had a final! yay! Then I sat in the lab and basically dragged around and printed the whole day. Finish printing my fire photo story which is awesome, now I just gotta print a few that I owe to people and as well for myself.

I need to shoot more photoj-ish stuff... I think I've shot a bit too many portraits... it's good to know how to do that but I need to get into that routine of shooting events again!

Will Yurman. Yay for a picture a day! Also I like his photostory multimedia package with sound... the future of this lil ole blog of mine! :)

Roomie Judy!

I'm gonna miss ya Simon!

Awww so I spent the Sunday/Monday with Simon up in Folkestone, which is bout an hour and a half to the SE. (I think it was) Beautiful coastal lil town.

Simon is such a great person, I'm so glad I met him. Actually the more I learned about him the more I loved him as a person. First of all of course the first thing you notice about him is obviously his appearance. I hate people who judge by looks because they miss out on alot. There's soo much to say but I'll spare poor Simon the embarrassment! lol but in brief he's got a lovable personality, works at a learning disability center, a past that is filled with things like starting a skate park to boys scout (sorry had to say it!) and of course the very emo side of him... that includes the childhood critters hidden somewhere in his room!

The super benefits of photojournalism. Making friends for life.

Vincent Laforet. Very interesting pictures. The way he shoots seems to be really intimate. His shoots also have a feeling of clean, fresh or rather refreshing feeling to them. The pictures show how fun it could be to be a photographer.

Simon Reynolds wakes up a quarter before 7 am and fixes his hair before heading out for work. Reynolds says that he doesn't usually care that much about what he is wearing but when he goes out his hair has to be perfect.

Simon getting ready at 7am-ish... without glasses and tired from realizing that I couldn't handle 3 pints, I felt obligated to shoot in the morning...

"Come on (client name) its time for bed," says Simon Reynolds as he passes by one of the clients at the learning disability home where he works. (client name), who is blind, was sitting in the hallway after lunch and usually goes by himself to his room but today he stayed in the hallway.

Very restricted in shooting and I was lucky that I even got to go in... manager approved me at the end of his shift... but this is what I got... excluded name for patient confidentiality...)

Love the shadow... I shoulda played with it more!


Simon Reynolds enjoys a cigarette while he sips his pint at The Chamber, an underground bar in Folkestone.

Good bye cheese guys

So sadly today I had to say bye bye to my cheese guys, I really have gotten quite attached to them. It just makes me happy to see them joyfully smiling and serving cheese! I've started entering some of my entries into the NPPA student clip contest... I can't decide if I should enter my portraits from portobello road as individuals or as a photo story. Right now they are entered as single features. any suggestions?

In a couple of hours... if I ever sleep, I'll wake up and be on my way to Folkestone. Its on the coast I'm told. Off to visit Simon, the punk guy with the mohawk. I'm going to follow him around for 2 days... then I gotta head home and prepare for an exam the next day... yucky to that part. But yay for going some place fun.... and more importantly letting my photo lead the way to my new destinations.

Kevin Carter. What a horrible end to a life. Makes me think even more about shooting things like that... famine. Its a hard life, especially on a person emotionally.

mostly reminiscing shoots of portobello... oh and tomorrow I will be in Folkestone so I probably won't be able to update... oh yeah I was gonna shoot a portrait of a cook in the Books for Cooks store... will do soon...

Town butcher. Thought I'd show the peeps back home what a butcher shop looked like!

Cheesy memory.

Bye guys! Will miss ya greatly. Look at all that cheese!

Yay photo day!

Today was my touristy fun day. Went to Abbey Road, shot a guy signing the wall for John Lennon's anniversary death. Then off we went to find the Steve McCurry exhibit... sorry Drew got us a lil lost! Then we missed the last 159 routemaster bus... shucks... after that off I went to shoot the mayor! :) Then off I went to the end of the year semester party, twas alrite... then off to a pub for a lil pint.

Clay Patrick McBride. Yay portraits... actually this will be helpful since I have a couple of friends back home that are in a band that want portraits! :)

During his weeklong stay in London with his family, Kirk Anderson takes some time to visit Abbey Road and pay tribute to John Lennon as he signs the wall outside of the recording studio. Anderson and his family are living in Madrid for what he calls a "Sabbatical year" away from their hometown of Arizona. Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death.

Mayor Warwick Lightfoot stands outside on the balcony of the Royal Parlor room at the town hall in Kensington. Lightfoot was elected mayor last May and will remain the mayor for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for a year. The Borough is one of eight Royal Boroughs in the area. If a member of the royal family wished to visit the Royal Borough of Kensington or Chelsea, it would be Lightfoot's job to oversee their stay. Although he has no real official duties as mayor, he does attend hundreds of events in the borough as well as surrounding neighborhoods; all this is an addition to his original job as an economist.

Students attending the end of the semester party at Syracuse University London Program enjoy the chocolate fountain provided by the school for the first time.

Lessons from London

In photo...
I've learned how important it is to gain the trust of your subject, because there is a drastic difference in the portraits that I take whether they want me there or not. I've learned that portraits are really fun once you get started on them!

In life...
First the saddest part about leaving London is leaving Portobello Road. I've made so many friends and learn so much about myself there. I've learn to appreciate the farmers market and how sad I was to hear the possibility that when I come back in 5-10 years that it may no longer be there. Supermarkets are taking out all of the little guys... also the next generation in the families no longer want to follow in the footsteps of their parents. Its sad... Portobello has become such a part of me and realizing that it may no longer be there in the future makes me feel like a part of me will be stolen. I dunno how I am going to deal with going back home to Texas and Syracuse and realize that I can't just walk down the road and have a chat with my grocer, have him introduce me to new vegetables.... or that I can't just drop by and say hi to the cheese guys because I know that I'll leave there in a better mood than I came... or Ron... my barber who always stands outside of his shop and greet everyone who walks by... he amazing knows everyone on that road... Ron is like a father to me he just has a very welcoming feel to him.... I LOVE my friends at Portobello Road. I will miss them dearly.

Margaret Bourke-White. I sadly can't remember if I've done a feature on her... Well it is Bourke-White this time. I actually should try to go to the Bird library and see if I can see her actual negatives... that would be neat to see how she shots frame to frame.

The last day of our photo class... how sad.

Tomorrow will be much more delightful photos...bus 159, Abbey Road and Steve McCurry exhibit! :) Oh AND the end of year party with the display of the class' pictures! :)

Semester ending soon

I'm kinda sad that London will soon be but a mere dream. I wonder what having a daily shot will be like when I am in Syracuse, I will def have to venture out more into the community, because being here in London I realize that if I never roamed around I really wouldn't have many fun pictures, so hopefully when I get to Syracuse I'll either learn the bus system or find a way to provide some entertaining pictures. I promise better pics on Friday nite (will be going to see the 159 for its last route, Abbey Road, and Steve McCurry exhibit) as well as Sunday and Monday nite when I will be visiting Simon on Folkestone, UK.

Happy Birthday Martyna, I love you and hope you are having an amazing time. Thank you for recognizing my 21st on your special night.

Oh yeah and PS I passed out last night so I never quite finished my thought in the last post!

James Nachtwey. Of course an amazing photographer. We were suppose to watch War Photographer in our photojournalism class but somehow we never made it to that point... so I'll def hafta watch it when I returen to the states. I enjoyed the shots.

I guess your run of the mill car collision with a double decker bus... I got a bit harassed for this one.

Sleepless night

So of course its only a sleepless night when you have a paper to write. Too bad I didn't take a picture of myself and the roomies... yeah they had one too! But tonight I gave myself the challenge of shooting my own portrait... I coulda done better.

Larry Clark. Interesting... my favorite is just how he divided his world, and his decision in what he wants to cover. Racism, drugs,

Quick one

Todays post shall be a short and maybe sweet one. Just a day of work and more work. Printed pictures at the lab. On ride home took some fun pictures of Erika in the tube station. She took some pictures of me by the bus stop. Now its just writing paper time. Lo siento on the picture of the day, today it is more of a this is how photographers have fun! :)

David Leeson. It seems like I've heard that name quite often, not sure when or where but I have definitely passed by it. Maybe it's a Texas thing. What I found most interesting is that he is doing video work as well as shooting. Its quite interesting, shows you the role that a photographer plays where ever they go. I'm slowly gonna have to incorporate sound into this thing as I have been recommended to do.

Can you guess what Erika is doing?

Flatmate portrait by the lovely Erika. (thats Martyna next to me)

Mau Mau

So today I went through my whole day shopping and then went to a group meeting. Then of course when the school closed at 9 pm I realized that I hadn't really shot any pictures that day. So then went with Erika and Jessa to the Mau Mau a music bar on Portobello Road. With Jessa's little push of encouragement I set off to take a portrait of the bartender there. She was a very nice girl and fun to shoot.

I need to apply for the Eddie Adams workshop! prob should do it when I graduate and I need to remember to enter the NPPA clip contest!

Oh yes and if anyone hasn't figured it out by now, when I do my photographer review its of someone I want to be like or admire, and I will either comment on what I learned from them, why I admire them or how they relate or their photography relates to my vision.

Eddie Adams. Hey sometimes I feel ADD too! lol... actually it takes me around 3 hours to finish a post... I edit my pictures for a while, and when researching for the photographer comes up.... boy does my mind wander! lol So now I say I must go! I wonder what fun pictures await me tomorrow!

At the Mau Mau!

Peace rally

Today I woke up slowly... but got out the door by 10 to try and hit up Portobello. Shot a little bit, but the crowd was a little much and I didn't want to bother the vendors while they were working. Went to school to start printing prints when Judy calls and tells me that theres a peace rally in Piccadilly Circus. So off I went. Overall it was a fun experience. Now I'm at school trying to print off pictures for people whom I've made a promise to send prints! :)

Nick Ut. Of course, Nick Ut. I deeply aspire to be like him. Sadly I can't seem to find a large clump of his pictures online but what I like is of course he is Vietnamese and he covered Vietnam. I dunno, me being such an American, I really want to get back to my roots and do more of a focus on Vietnam with my photography.

Man dressed in cat suit handing out flyers protesting the use of Esso.

Speaker on climate change, alot of people... I'm bad at judging scale!

It's a lil weird how they are going for world peace but somehow this almost seems a bit like animal cruelty... dog had spray paint like thing on his head that reads "Nuke Off" which refers to nuclear power.

I found him in a tree and thought it would make a fun graphic picture.

A sign that reads "WANTED/ George W Bush/ The outlaw known as the Toxic Texan/FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE PLANET/ and attempted assassination of the Kyoto Treaty" lays outside of the US embassy in London after a rally against climate change. The march started at noon and finished around 5pm. The Campaign against Climate Change London demonstration was a part of International Day of Climate Protest.

Portobello mi amor!

Woke up and went out to Portobello Road this morning and didn't actually really go home unti l 5. (went home for a salmon, cream cheese bagel sandwich, yummy) Twas a very productive day. Met some awesome people, makes me love the road even more... and sad that I'm leaving it in 2 weeks.

Rene Burri. The way he sees light is really nice. It seems like he traveled alot and met soo many people. Very much the lifestyle I'd love to pursue someday... soon!

Olive seller on Portobello Road. My fave for the nite.

Cheese boys!

Barry, the produce guy on the movie Notting Hill.

British photographers... again... sad actually

Today is World AIDS day. First of all its great to know that there is such a thing. Second thing is... where was I all these years that these events were going on... I never seemed to have taken notice until recently. I wish that I woulda gotten to more of the events... but next year when I'm in Syracuse I must go cover it! Shoot was again more of an experience rather than a good shoot.

British photographers... WTF... I mean they go against everything that we define as a photojournalist. Well let me clarify there was a specific videographer who kept telling the group to move so that they could get a better shot, telling them to wave and stuff. But then Drew was taking pictures and one of the photographers actually had the nerve to come up to him and tell him to move. This saddens and angers me when I experience this.

Printing extravaganza going on here right now at Faraday house in the photo lab! I've never seen my prints so big! Will stay here until it closes probably and then venture to Portobello again tonite.

Garry Winogrand. See now this is more of the social landscape photography that I was talking about... I'm still trying to figure out what social landscape really is... I would say that to me it seems to be just everyday life kinda shots... but well see, I'll need to do a bunch more social landscape photographers to make my judgment. But I definitely like Winogrand over Friedlander.This guy was telling everyone to move down so he could get a better shot of them. Abomination.

The Big Issue

At first it was a sad day because I had planned on shooting but ended up having to go to a sight visit for my architecture class, check out books and then write a paper. After class and printing pictures I decided that I needed to just stroll and shoot. So down Portobello I go with Canon snapping away at some Portobello Road signs (mini fun project... to capture em all with diff backgrounds) and then I see a Big Issue seller. I buy one because its a nice thing to do and then I asked the guy if I could get a portrait of him. Stuck around and talked to his friends and the doorman guy infront of the oh so ritzy Electric bar. Good experience, will work harder for better pictures next time.

Oh and I brought some charity xmas cards. Didn't matter how much they cost, I just think that it is awesome how contributing money to buying a goat for a family in a third world country can provide them with a means of living.

"Goats for peace. Repair the ravages of war by gibing a goat. but no ordinary goat: this is a revolving goat. where communites are slowly rebuilding themselves, a revolving goat ( with the aid of a revolving ram) starts families. kids go to restock families without goats. and so on. a goat is milk and fertiliser factory and goes a logn way to improving the local diet, a four-legged step towards self-sufficiency. Buy a fine goat for a grateful family. And it really helps."

Charles Ommanney. The first thing that I noticed about his photographs is that they are well composed. He has all the angles down. Everything seems so perfectly composed.

One of they guys on Portobello.

O christmas tree!

Didn't do too much today. Printed out 5 in copies of my pictures from the semester. I really need to get cracking on my photo story! Shot a tree lighting in Trafalgar Square. Didn't really get too much out of it. Went to dinner with some Spanish boys that Erika had met. Shot a bit there, nothing too grand. Oh we got into a conversation (actually I'm more of an observer!) about a little part of town in Spain that was known for homosexuality. Where the men sit outside drinking their beers, speciality shops as in clothes, clubs and even food. (sexual shaped food that is) What are my first thoughts on this... how freaking awesome and that would make for such a fun photo story!

Bruce Davidson. Saw his pictures in a Magnum photo book at school. I enjoyed his pictures and I think that it is convenient because he lived in such a place as NYC and documented just everything that seems to be taken for granted. The subway and Central Park were such fun refreshing pictures. I know that when I get back to Texas, I am on a mission to capture what it is that is Texas! I have lived there all my life and cannot show you a picture that I've shot that really says Texas. I'm excited!

Tree lighting! (the tree is hiding on the left!)

Wonderful weekend

So I spent my weekend in the beautiful countryside of Scotland! I went with a host family who took me in and fed and cared for me! Twas a wonderful or shall I say lovely way to spend my Thanksgiving weekend. Aside from the slightly drizzly weather we had some nice walks through the woods and by the water. Not as much of a photo weekend as I'd like for it to be, don't get me wrong, I shot. I shot alot... but they were more of the family hanging out and being a family. I want to one day come back and follow the father around. He's had the farm in his family since the 1940's (if I remember correctly). He grows potatoes and barley. Owns hundreds of cows and sheep. I tried petting the calves but they backed away from me. Tried taking pictures of the sheep but they were meters away from me. Ate haggis! I actually liked it! Didja know the boys wear kilts to the village social? Its as a suit is to a man in our society! I found that fascinating! And another didja know that they don't have cliques like we do in high school. People are just people... no distinction of nerd, athletic, band, drama or anything of the such. Lots more to tell... but this is a photo blog! I have some pictures of the kids... but I don't know if its a good idea to put minors up... so I guess I'm sticking to the safe side for now... oh and I tried taking family portraits... man the 3 younger kids are squirmy and really didn't want to sit still for very long!

Two photographers of the day... to make up for last time...

Al Bello. Very nice... still partly looking through his stuff... (extremely slow connection). Very clean and thought out pictures. My goals for the Austin-American Statesman! Alot of fisheye stuff, which I don't see too often. The Seniors of the Freeport Recreation Center seems like such an enjoyable and rewarding story to have done.

Spencer Platt. His images give me a feeling of intimacy. Well the images on his profile do... having to look through the thousands of photos used as a wire service kind of thing... well it's sort of killing my experience... having to see everything just in chronological order to the way he shot it versus actually putting it together as a package makes such a big difference. The lesson today... organization is key... too bad he doesn't have a real website... not one I could find at least...

was gonna do Joe Readle but can't find a large sum of pictures... enjoy his work but wanna do a full and thorough look at it...till next time!

Haggis! Quite a strange sight huh?

Calves I tried petting.

Youngest daughter playing in the village.

Ducks in a stream alongside a house on the side of the village.

Lindsay's, the store that the kids liked for some reason!

Walking back from the wood... they use all the land in the pic.

Happy Thanksgiving!

How sad I am that I don't really have a picture to post today... But no fear, I promised a picture daily... so I will see what few I have from today. I already know that it is not of the photoj nature... it is mostly of people eating thanksgiving lunch/dinner. Oh also there is this wonderful toy that I want! It's a war journalist! All mine for only $60! I don't think I'll be buying that anytime soon... although I want to buy the professional photojournalism book when I get back to the states in Dec.

We put our stuff into a pre-portfolio today in class and most of my pictures came from the last few weeks... that actually makes me happy because before then I didn't really have any shots that I particularly enjoyed. After class we went to The Frontline Club for dinner. Its the club that was designed for photojournalist as well as video journalists. Good food.... Happy Thanksgiving!

I broke my promise... no photographer of the day.... I fell asleep and would do it this morning but I leave for Scotland in 4 hours! So I won't be updating until Monday!

Oh also it takes me a lil while to find a good photographer that I like.... so suggestions are greatly appreciated!

War Journalist

Cheers!