Macs help LAMPP light shine

Macs were used in the creation of the LAMPP (Living American Master Photographers Project) exhibit, photography expert Paul Waldman told MacCentral.

LAMPP represents Waldman’s interpretation of the importance of individual vision and experience in photography. Since the project’s start in 1991, he’s traveled throughout America meeting photographers that represent the history of the profession, as well as the diversity of its execution. Fashion, art, photojournalism, travel and portraiture are just a few of the themes illustrated by the LAMPP participants.

Waldman — a photographer, creative consultant, poet and lifetime “Apple Evangelist” — is currently ranked number four worldwide in Apple’s Learn and Earn Program. He collects Macs as a hobby.

“Actually, I collect them because I can’t bear to throw away old friends,” Waldman said.

He uses a Power Mac G4/400 mini-tower with an Apple 17-inch Studio Display. His G4 is home to a Digidesign Audio Media III PCI card, an ATI graphics card and an Adaptec 2940U2W card driving two Seagate 9GB Cheetahs, plus “all kinds of other stuff.” Waldman plans on getting a new mini-tower and a new PowerBook after the upcoming Macworld New York.

Waldman uses Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, InDesign, Premiere, After Affects, GoLive, Dreamweaver, Flash, Quark, Pro Tools 5.1 LE, Microsoft Office, Eudora, Palm Desktop, Netscape Communicator, Now Contact and Up-To-Date. He said he has also enjoyed working with Final Cut Pro when he’s had the chance.

“I’m self-taught in everything so I’m better at some apps than others, but not yet a master of any of them,” Waldman added.

Waldman said his goal with LAMPP is to document each photographer as an artist and individual so that “we see them as people, professionals, and not just as the photo credit they are so widely associated with.” LAMPP participants represent a diverse group. As part of its tenth anniversary, a21 is previewing 21 representative individuals, including Eddie Adams, Ruth Bernhard, Donna Ferrato, Nan Goldin, Gregory Heisler, Mary Ellen Mark, Sheila Metzner, Arnold Newman, and Gordon Parks.

In the coming months, more images will be added from the LAMPP archives. Waldman said he would also continue to collect new portraits and interviews with America’s master photographers. You can learn more at the LAMPP Web page.

“The LAMPP is centered around personal vision, its realization and its distribution,” he added. “Wearing many hats, as I’ve done over the last 10 years, can be stressful. Working in front of a PC is WORK; working on a Mac is JOY incarnate. Most of my LAMPP time isn’t spent doing photographs; it’s spent managing/tracking, creating and distributing LAMPP media. Doing this on a Mac has made the nuts and bolts work for the project a much more productive experience. Working on a Mac is a constant reminder that seeing is a good thing, creating is a fun thing, and sharing … well that’s the most important thing of all.”

a21, one of the new leaders in the “eStock” photography, was founded early last year. Its mission is to “preserve, support, and guarantee the continuation of the craft and fine art of photography.” The company is also a bastion of Apple systems.

John Hamann of a21 said everyone in the creative department uses G4/450 Macs with 21-inch Studio Displays. A few people doing less graphics-intensive work use 15-inch flat panel displays — or both. The a21 Web site currently runs on a G3/400 running Mac OS X Server. The file server is a G3/400 running AppleShare IP 6.3.

“For the development of the LAMPP project we used Macromedia Flash 5, Macromedia Dreamweaver 4, and Adobe Photoshop 6,” Hamann said. “I also used a trusty old copy of Macromedia’s SoundEdit 16 to improve the audio track a bit.”