Nevada Weir.

Nevada Weir is a travel/documentary photographer. She travels all over the world to take photos. She specializes in the remote areas of the world and the cultures that inhabit them. Her journeys have taken her through many obscure areas of the world, including Southeast Asia, India, China, Nepal, Africa, New Zealand, Central Asia, Mongolia, and South America. "I travel to have experiences, and the photography aspect heightens that, because the camera forces me to come in closer, become involved and notice what people are doing. I'm trying to capture on celluloid one instant or feeling or action or moment in their lives that has to be fairly poignant."(Nevada Weir) She has been published by many national and international publications such as: National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic, Geo, Islands, and Outdoor Photographer. Before becoming a professional photographer, Nevada used to take snapshots as a hobby while she lead Outward Bound tours. In December of 2000, she planned and pitched an expedition to Africa with National Geographics. There she photographed the people and places along the wild African river.

Today, Nevada Weir has merged her tour guiding career with her photography career, and has created a business for herself doing photo tours. Nevada believes that in order to be a good photographer, you must feel comfortable with the act of photographing people. "I think the most important thing is feeling comfortable with the actual act of photographing people. I've found, in teaching, that often people feel shy or intrusive, or that it's rude. -- In order to photograph people, you can't feel that way. I sincerely believe that photographing someone is a compliment. It's a sign that you find someone interesting." (Nevada Weir)

Nevada Weir shoots using film. She has tried using digital cameras, but doesn't like them and thinks that film is much more practical for her out in the remote areas she travels in. "I don’t need that instant replay, and they're technically much more difficult to work with in the field. It's more practical for me to use film and then [digitize an image] if I need to."(Nevada Weir)

I strongly admire Nevada Weir and her work. I would love to have the opportunity to do what she's doing, and travel the world to take photographs. When I look at her images, it makes me want to get out there and discover new places and new cultures. I have always wanted to go to Africa to take photos, and when I see Nevada's images, it really inspires me and encourages me to want to do that even more. I think that she is leading a truly fascinating life, doing something that she loves, and I admire that very much. I also like the fact that she says you must feel comfortable with the aspect of photographing people in order to be a successful photographer. I agree with that, and it is something that I am working on right now. Since I am shy, I usually find myself uncomfortable approaching people and asking if I may photograph them. I am working on trying to get more comfortable doing that though, because I know that it is important.

To see more of her work, please visit her website: http://www.nevadawier.com/SlideShow/port.htm

Sources
http://www.nevadawier.com/bio.html
http://www.photomediagroup.com/pmm/issues/Winter2001/profile.htm

Nevada Weir Photos.

Nina Leen.

Nina Leen was born in 1909. Although she was born in Russia, she was raised in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. She always knew that she wanted to be a photographer and was fascinated with viewing the world through a camera lens. Her first camera was a Rolliflex. She enjoyed photographing members of both the human kind and the animal kingdom, and became acclaimed in Europe as an animal photographer. She moved to the United States in 1939. She was fascinated by the culture differences and the habits and rituals of teens in her new homeland. She began to photograph American teens, and created two seires called, "A Teenager Monopolizes the Telephone" and "The American Male".

In 1945, Nina Leen joined LIFE Magazine. She was one of their first women photographers and produced over 40 covers and countless spreeads for them throughout her career. She covered a wide variety of stories throughout her life, and is best known for her continuing story of a dog named Lucky. Lucky was a dog whom Nina Leen adopted, after it had been found near dead on the highway by some LIFE staffers. She won over the hearts of America with these photos.

Nina also photographed bats. Her bat series was published in a book called "The World Of Bats", 1n 1970. She had long been fascinated by bats and called them her flying kittens. She'd spend hours walking through jungles and exploring caves, crouching for hours on end in the darkness in order to achieve photos which had never been seen before. In her career, she published 15 books in total, including Women, Heroes and a Fog, Love, and Elevated Apes. She passed away on January 5, 1995.

I really admire Nina Leen and all the work that she did. I especially love her photos of animals, and I found it really amazing when I read about what she had to entail in order to get her bat photos. It definitely takes a lot of strength and courage to venture into dangerous places like dark caves and the jungle for some photographs. I really admire her strength and the patience she has that allowed her to wait for hours at a time in order to get photos. She has definitely inspired me to be more patient while I am shooting. I also love her photos of her adopted dog Lucky, because I enjoy photographing my dog as well. I find the pictures to be very touching, and they have given me inspiration for when I am photographing my own dog.

Nina Leen would fall under the category, "Women in Photography".

Sources
http://www.gallerym.com/artist.cfm?ID=51
http://www.photocollect.com/bio.php?id=225

Nina Leen Photos