in this issue
	Photo Of The Month Brian Belefant Interview Graham Seidman Michael Dubiner William DeRosa

Brian Belefant Interview

Background information about Brian Belefant: Director/Writer/Photographer After getting early parole from film school, Brian Belefant started shooting commercials. He won lots of awards, mostly for public service announcements that he'd directed as personal projects for things he cared about. A gun safety spot he shot was even inducted into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Brian loves ideas. He's always looking for ways to challenge conventional thinking. Two years ago, Brian invented an entirely new camera filtration system, something that gives his film an ethereal, otherworldly look. He's spent the past two years testing the system, both on still and motion picture film, and last October he filed for a patent on it. He is constantly looking for the right projects to work on. Projects that use that part of his brain that sees things a little off-center. They don't have to be film or writing or photographic projects. They just have to require innovation and maybe a little subversion. Statement: [Brian] tried selling out, but it just didn't take. So a few years ago, he wandered into the desert in search of his truth. When he came out, he invented an entirely new camera filtration system, shot several short films, and rediscovered his writing-his latest screenplay was just named a semi-finalist in the Chesterfield Writer's Film Project.. Mia: Brian, I must admit, I am not familiar with any of your work other than your photography on Pixiport. But it helps to know that I never watch television, seldom see movies since most of my time is spent on the Internet. However, perusing through your website, having read as much information as I can about you, your beliefs, and studying your photography, I am able to visualize at least a two-dimensional picture of you. My impression of you is that you avoid being defined; i.e., being predictable and coming across as a boring elitist. Brian: I love that comment. I suppose I do. But I think I might phrase the notion differently. I want to surprise. That has more of a positive connotation. Read on... »

Graham Seidman

"ACCIDENTS ONLY" was the sign on Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, where I was born July 6th 1932. And life has all been accidental since then. Nothing ever went as planned and it never was how it should have been. I'll never know how it could have been. Dragged up in the streets of Manhattan, Music & Art High School, Art Students League during the forties. Maryland Institute of Fine Art education interrupted by Korean War. Hung out in Paris on the GI Bill, studying French wine and women in a Cafe culture from 1955 to 1960. Had a room in the not-then-beat-Hotel and spent years of flight time with Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and especially Gregory Corso, who were cuppa-flour neighbors. Photographs of this period were in 1997 show sponsored by the City of Paris "That Was Paris During the Fifties" and consequential book. Turned on in Venice Beach during the early sixties and tuned into San Francisco during the late sixties. Dropped out to Puerto Rico for twenty years where I built my own house on 6 acres of lush land overlooking the Caribbean. Now I live in Sunrise Florida. My fine art approach to photography can be seen in the collections of: La Bibliotheque National de France, La Bibliotheque Historique de la Ville de Paris, La Musee Francaise de la Photographie, La Musee Carnavalet and the Centre Pompidu in Paris. Over one million people viewed one man exhibition "Around the World" at the Carrousel du musee du Louvre during July-August 1995. Participated in 1996 Celebrity Portrait Show at New York's Danziger Gallery with Portraits of Allen and Gregory. Rewarded by French government for a series of digital pictures "Monuments of Memory" commemorating the 85th anniversary of the signing of the armistice ending world war one. Scheduled for one-man show at the San Luis Obisbo Art Center in California in 2004. For me, Digital photography and printing is the greatest technologic advancement for artists since the invention of canvas and oil paints. The image is the thing and the craft of getting that imagine is just that, a craft, to be mastered. The concept of sitting in one's home with a creative mind in front of a blank screen and printing out the product of that mind without the need of intermediaries is true creative freedom. Graham's new gallery on Pixiport "Death In The Afternoon" Visit Gallery... »

Michael Dubiner

Eating Out Alone While some manage do it with panache, most people feel uncomfortable about eating in a restaurant alone. There is something in the mind of the diner, that makes him feel he is signaling that he is friendless, someone not worthy of breaking bread with. Of course, many feel perfectly comfortable eating out alone, some probably prefer it. Others, as the gentleman in the first image, may look at it as a respite from a busy world, a time to catch up on paperwork or study, a time for reflection, or nowadays, a time to make those telephone calls that a hectic day does not otherwise not allow for. There is another group, those that are alone, perhaps friendless, whose decision to dine by themselves is made by circumstance, not choice. These people, are often elderly and because of the life span differential between men and women, are disproportionately female. South Florida is a haven for the widowed and therefore, it is typical to see a woman, dining alone, most often in relatively inexpensive restaurants. Because of the nature of how I make my images, the picture of the woman above, as with most of my images, did not allow me to inquire as to her marital state, let alone her motivation or feelings on eating alone. It is the nature of the work I do. A glimpse and the press of the shutter. There is no communication and almost never any eye contact. However, when exposing the image, and to a greater extent, after reflecting on the final print, I allow myself to speculate on the meaning of what I have captured, and in this case, the woman's state of mind. Even if I am wrong about what she is thinking or feeling, to me, and hopefully to others who view the image, she is representative of that which I intend the image to evoke. That is what I enjoy about Street Photography. Full Story »

William DeRosa

Since I was a small child I have had an enormous passion for photography. Perhaps it started with my mother taking me to be photographed at a very young age, I don't remember. The fascination may have begun a little later in life at the age of 7 or 8 when my grandmother gave me my first camera, one of the early Polaroid models. Whenever it began, the passion has been with me my entire life and grows deeper with age. I find enormous satisfaction and relaxation in my photography both as a professional and as an artist. My professional career started at 28 years of age when I started taking courses in Black and White photography. I built my own dark room and spent hours working on my photos. Later I learned how to develop and print from color slides. This led me to spend even more time in my dark room. I reached a point where I realized that I wanted to take my art to a higher level. I had met the female model of my dreams in High School, and married her at the age of 18. We soon had a son and I had three mouths to feed. I was not able to become a full time student, so I enrolled in The New York Institute of Photography. Visit Gallery... »