Have you ever wondered how a designer thinks or how they see the world? Meet Michelle, a Senior Graphic Designer on the team defining the look and feel for Kodak's products and services. Recently she and I had a chance to talk about photography in a brief interview. Below are a few excerpts to share with you:

Michelle

Laura: How do you use photography in your life?
Michelle: It's very important to me... the history around the photographs they're invaluable. A lot has to do with images of my Mom and Dad who've passed and the images I have of them- my parents were always taking pictures and movies - each picture composes a memory where every face and expression is meaningful. Having the farm and the visual history gives me a point of reference. Looking at images from 50 years ago when there were no vehicles and the barn was red... Seeing my Dad when he was just a little baby boy... all of it defines who I am in a way.

Dad & Michelle / Michelle on the Farmall H

Michelle: Pictures in my design life inspire me. A photograph's lighting, the contrast, the expression on someone's face... I love to paint from pictures. I take an image of a person, then paint it to make it my own... almost surreal. My favorite painter is Caravaggio- for some reason I'm attracted to the stark contrast in his work. Kind of mimics my life... I'm a designer who studied at RIT, works at Kodak, and I'm also a farmer.

Beam of Light (photo credit: Mike Hanlon)

Laura: How would you define what makes a great photograph?
Michelle: If it evokes a memory or sense of feeling, transcending your experience. Carl Jung called it the collective unconscious. You can feel it even though you weren't there. That's what I love about my farming pictures. It invokes this feeling of what it was like forty years ago.

Laura: What kind of camera do you like to use?
Michelle: My parents had a Brownie and which I still have. Had a big plastic flash on it. Used that when I was younger. Then I had a 35mm Chinon... Right now I'm really in love with my Kodak M853. Quick little camera, small, very powerful. We've got the camera out all the time. It's in the barn sometimes or in the garage. Might take a shot of a row of parsnips I just planted... or shots of my tractors.


Turnips 2007                                                  

Laura: How do you see images affecting the social fabric?
Michelle: I'm now on a forum for Farmall Tractors to get information like what is the point gap for the engine... and I can't wait to share my tractor images with people all over.

I think photography has never been more powerful as far as affecting people. It can spark turmoil, sympathy, movements... with greater access to imagery, when someone sees pictures of a child suffering now you cannot ignore it, unless you are made of stone. The power is incredible.

Have you ever wondered how a designer thinks or sees the world? Meet Arlene, a Human Factors specialist, who works on creating the future look and feel- the experience- of Kodak's products and services. In a brief interview she talks about her passion for photography-

Arlene

Laura: How do you use photography in your life?

Arlene: Generally recording important moments, like everyone else. If you see nice scenery or your kids are doing something or when your family has a get together it's a means of recording something so you can look back and remember it.

Hiking in the Adirondacks

Laura: What do photographs mean to you?

Arlene: I'd save them before anything else in my house.

Laura: Are there certain types that are more important?

Arlene: The scary thing is it's not always the best ones you take, that you keep. It's the important moments that you catch.

I think one of the best pictures I have of my daughter is when she's a little kid and I capture her personality. It's not a good picture [technically] by any means, but it is her.

Another example was a moment, that when I turned around, and saw the kids looking like they have the most wonderful hug. It's actually a headlock where they've loosened their grip for a moment! Others comment "Oh look they're smiling, he loves his sister, how cute!" They were 3 and 5 year olds and for a fraction of a moment they're not trying to kill each other, because they were caught. I still look at it and laugh.

I've taken pictures at people's weddings where it wasn't the picture perfect photograph that made the difference; it was the personality I captured in the photo.

Laura: How do you capture the personality?

Arlene: Sheer dumb luck. I'm serious. You just take lots of pictures. That's where digital photography makes a difference. The real nice thing is if the camera has a decent auto mode. You don't need to do the thinking, the camera does it. For that matter, you can just keep the camera above your head and keep taking pictures and pressing the shutter button, the camera knows what to do.

Laura: Do you use Auto mode all the time?

Arlene: Yes and No. For general shots in a room like this, I might. For night photography... or the challenging shots where the camera may or may not get it, I'll venture out of auto mode.

Nice thing about auto mode is it knows the vagaries of the camera. How the camera is going to react... It knows the ISO setting, the compression algorithm, what the white balance is set to... You can be a great photographer but unless you know your camera you don't know how it will react to manual settings.

Cat on the Step

Peach Rose

Laura: What makes a truly great photograph?

Arlene: If it captures the moment or what you want to see. Like in the famous Afghan girl photo. Or even the one I have of my kids. It did not capture what was going on, but was a representation of what I wanted to see.

Years ago, it was all about the camera and the film. You had to be a technician to take a great shot. I know, I used to be. Now it's all about the picture. The cameras have the sophistication, the user does not have to... If you have a great auto mode, all you have to worry about is the moment.

Have you ever wondered how a designer thinks or sees the world? Meet Steve, a Human Factors specialist, who works on creating the future look and feel- the experience- of Kodak's products and services. Below are a few comments from briefly chatting with Steve about photography-

Laura: How do you use photography in your life?

Steve: Well, I'm the secondary photographer in our household. My wife does most of the family photography. So I do some recreational photography... typically that includes my kids at sporting events like little league or soccer because that's "Dad's" time with them. When we go someplace as a family, I'll be the one taking extra shots while my wife's getting the family pictures. Fortunately she usually brings multiple cameras with her!


 
Steve's daughter Miranda as a spectator at big brother's bicycle rodeo

Another responsibility I have is the "portrait shots"... my arm stretches a little longer to hold the camera while capturing both my wife and I side by side! Other photo interests I have include cycling...

Laura: What are your favorite shots when cycling?

Steve: I've tried a couple different things- just scenic ones, and other ones- and I gave up on some of these relatively quick- like shooting every town sign while I doing a bike tour, but that got a little bit annoying, stopping, getting off the bike to get close enough to those tucked away signs!

 
Pennsylvania Bike Tour

Laura: Do you shoot cycling races?

Steve: I've shot some. Its been a challenge. Learned a lot because I've usually borrowed a higher end SLR I'm not familiar with... you pick up a lot of focusing tricks when an object is going 45mph towards you. It's really better to compose shots so cyclists are going parallel to you instead of at you! The easy shots are at the top of the hill as they are getting tired.

Also use photography to document landscapes when on vacation. I focus on capturing the locations we're visiting while my wife does the people shots. Last year in Italy there were a lot of architectural shots- panoramas of building tops or surrounding countryside. In that situation the photography was more about the "where"... I enjoy being able to remember places we've been.

Ponte Vecchio, Florence at dusk

Laura: How do you like to share your images?

Steve: I really like hard copy output. Typically when I print I don't look at photos as being "disposable." They go up in my office. I do prints for the house too. Sometimes I print two so my wife will pick one and the kids can have the other one. The kids might end up cutting it up for a craft or photo project...

I like the tangible sense you get from prints as opposed to being backlit on a display. It's a different experience when holding a picture!

Have you ever wondered how a designer thinks or how they see the world? Meet Jason, a User Interface Designer, who works on creating the future look and feel- the design experience- of Kodak's products and services. Below are a few comments from talking with Jason about photography during a brief interview.

Laura: How do you use photography in your life?

Jason: To take pictures of family primarily, especially now that I've moved far away from home. Home for me is Jamaica. Now that I'm further away it helps to have some of those snapshots of people and places I'm far away from.  Another reason is sort of more functional- for designs I've worked on. I take a lot of pictures of interesting textures, or scenery, or ambiguous close ups, that I end up cutting and chopping and in the end may not look like a picture or photograph that should exist unto itself.

Summer 2007, Jamaica

Laura: What makes a great image for you?

Jason:  There would be two sets of criteria, the first is clarity and texture, if I capture what I'm trying to use for a graphic goal. If I use it to be manipulated and can create what I need, then it's good enough. Often what are really bad photos will work. The other reason is when a photo gives me an accurate record of my memories of a person or place. The content, more than the photography in and of itself, it's the people that are there that's most important.

  
Textural Image                                  

Textural Image

Laura: What kinds of cameras do you like to use?

Jason: For capturing family, actually a smaller camera is best. The longer it takes them to realize there is a camera around, the better. I have to take a picture quickly or I miss the moment . . . no one usually likes to pose. If I had a digital SLR or some other really expensive larger camera they'd just leave- I wouldn't be able to take family pictures . . .! So usually smaller point and shoot cameras are good for what I need. The V550 works well for me.

Laura: What do you think pictures will be like twenty years in the future?

Jason: I see the Harry Potter photo.  As in the movie, the portraits on the walls are still photos, but are "alive" with an ongoing multimedia video looping where the trees are moving in the wind and the hair is blowing. It's still a photo as opposed to video conferencing or video that's linear with a narrative. Those are intrinsically different.

Laura: How do you see photography affecting the social fabric of how people live and act?

Jason: As I've grown older I've cared more about taking pictures. The more the years add up you realize what's happening around you and if you don't capture it, it sort of gets lost. Its generational . . . maybe some things are being missed with generations falsely assuming photography is outdated. They will start taking pictures when they have children. I think it's cyclical.

Have you ever wondered how a designer thinks or how they see the world? Meet Walter, a Senior Human Factors professional, who is another member of the team working on the look and feel- the design experience- of Kodak's products and services. Below are excerpts from pulling Walter away from work to talk about his thoughts on photography.



Walter

Laura: How do you use photography in your life?

Walter:  I use it for two reasons in my life... one is in an artistic sense. I try occasionally to go out on sort of "assignments" with friends and look for interesting shots. Taking pictures is always on my mind... my motto is never leave home without a camera. Secondly, I have a cell phone with a camera, and though the resolution isn't that great, it's a way to capture pictures spontaneously that spark an interest. Of course often they are very ephemeral as a one-time shot. Although, if the picture has nice composition qualities, it becomes a reminder to come back another time with a better camera.

Laura: What do photographs mean to you?

Walter: They are memories. Having taken pictures of my children over the years, I really enjoy the photographic record. Definitely love looking at the older ones right now. I see them and I say wow, that's how it was back then... I view them with a completely different perspective. Any pains and sort of drudgery of the time are removed. You see just the beauty and all the better things of that period. These pictures are like fine wine, as opposed to short-term shots. The images season over time, getting better each year. It's like an investment.

 
Walter's kids, Adrian and Nicole as aliens


 
Nicole as a snow angel

Laura: What are your thoughts about the future of photography?

Walter: A couple points... when I'm in a place like Greece, I'm really impressed by the hills, the topography, and the way the light shines over the contours of the land. Sometimes a photograph doesn't quite capture the three dimensionality of the space adequately. How can I share this view in 3D so others can really enjoy it...? I'd like to have stereo photography come back. We've had it in various forms. Remember the View-Masters? What if, in the future, we could produce new types of photos, something in luminous 3D, close to your face, that fills your entire view.

Sky view of Greece and the Aegean



Watching the sun set over Greek island villages

Overall, in the future, I'm seeing an intention to make photography more casual, used more for play as a secondary form of communication. It'll be secondary to chatting on the phone or as a compliment to it... perhaps transitioning to less of an art form in some cases. It'll become about the emotional impact for that instant, as opposed to over time.

Have you ever wondered how a designer thinks or how they see the world? Meet Anna, a Project Industrial Designer on the user experience team defining the look and feel for Kodak's products and services. Recently she and I had a chance to talk about photography in a brief interview. Below are a few excerpts to share with you:

Anna

Laura: How do you use photography in your life and work?

Anna: As for work, I use digital photography regularly to communicate with team members and our OEM suppliers. Digital photography is an excellent tool for bridging language barriers.

Like everybody else I take pictures to share the moments and to capture things I want to remember. We take a lot of pictures of our daughter... My daughter Evelyn draws on her Magna Doodle and before she erases it, we have to take a picture!! She requests a lot of pictures...!

Evelyn's Magna Doodle Drawing and Evelyn's Foot

She first showed interest in digital cameras when she was just a toddler. She wanted to look at herself on the back of the camera. The little joystick was something that was very interesting to play with...

Evelyn the Photographer (also Anna and Andy's daughter)

Laura: Tell me more about what photographs mean to you.

Anna: There are certain images that are really dear to me that I want to share... I'll make prints for my mother who is not email ready. Sometimes it is difficult keeping up with the shear quantity of pictures. I take a lot of pictures because digital pictures are free. I can take ten and pick out the best one. My husband Andy wants to keep every single one and so we have thousands and thousands of pictures on the computer... They're all important to him!

Puddle jumping in the late evening light

Pictures that capture motion, a gesture or a mood intrigue me. I like an image that implies action or gesture because it's somehow natural. The emotion or memory the image provokes makes it dear to me, even though it may not be a "perfect" picture. I find digital photography to be a lot more fun and spontaneous because each shot you snap is not so precious. The result, however, the one picture that captures the moment or the mood, is.

Laura: What cameras do you like to use?

Anna: It's a little bit of a family choice. We switched over to the V803 since my husband just likes the feel of it and it's convenient... He's been doing more of the picture taking lately. Since he is home with our daughter during the day, he uses images to share their day with me.

Laura: What are your thoughts about social networks and photography?

Anna: It's going to grow...! There is a greater need for global localization with on-line communities. Image sharing is a means to be connected with the outside world, and to be closer to communities of like-minded people elsewhere.