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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Épigénétique

J'ai appris via l'émission Découverte que deux chercheurs canadiens avaient, pour la première fois, démontré que des intérations sociales pouvaient modifier le code génétique.  C'est stupéfiant !  Vous vous rendez compte des implications !!







Des recherches [...] avaient identifié des mécanismes biologiques par lesquels les expériences de vie modifient l'expression de certains gènes, ceux du stress par exemple.


Leurs travaux, effectués à partir de cerveaux de personnes suicidées, ont montré que les mauvais traitements subis dans l'enfance altéraient de façon durable des gènes impliqués dans la réponse au stress.
Pour la première fois, [...] Gustavo Turecki, Michael Meaney [...] ont observé de tels mécanismes chez l'humain.

L'article complet


J'étais sous l'impression, depuis longtemps, que le code génétique était une recette inchangée qui se reproduisait, simplement, à chaque division cellulaire et qui était mélangé lors de la reproduction.  Et bien il semble que ce soit un peu plus complexe.  Et c'est la base de l'épigénétique:


L'épigénétique, dans son sens le plus récent, est l'ensemble des modifications transmissibles d'une génération à l'autre et réversibles de l'expression des gènes sans altération des séquences nucléotidiques.


 « On peut sans doute comparer la distinction entre la génétique et l’épigénétique à la différence entre l’écriture d’un livre et sa lecture. Une fois que le livre est écrit, le texte (les gènes ou l’information stockée sous forme d’ADN) seront les mêmes dans tous les exemplaires distribués au public. Cependant, chaque lecteur d’un livre donné aura une interprétation légèrement différente de l’histoire, qui suscitera en lui des émotions et des projections personnelles au fil des chapitres. D’une manière très comparable, l’épigénétique permettrait plusieurs lectures d’une matrice fixe (le livre ou le code génétique), donnant lieu à diverses interprétations, selon les conditions dans lesquelles on interroge cette matrice. » Thomas Jenuwein (Research institute of molecular pathology, Vienne, Autriche)



Friday, February 19, 2010

How do you go about shooting people?

I really like this guy, Sam Javanrouh
I follow his work through is blog : "Daily dose of imagery"
The following is an extract from an article he wrote on his web site.


shooting people | January 29, 2010

Seen on King street east. Artist extraordinaire Mike Brown (we work together), clearly not happy to see me!

I get asked all the time; how do you go about shooting people? As you might have already noticed I don't have many shots with people as main subjects but here are a few thoughts from my experience shooting people on the street. Every case is different. Shooting on the street is an adventure and you just have to experience it and see what happens. You have to be ready for anything, and be very aware of where you are. Here are a few scenarios from past photos.

I shot this while he was passing the street. In a situation like this there is no way to ask if it's OK to take his photo. You lose the moment and it won't look real anymore anyway.
Later when I posted the image his father sent me an email saying he liked the photo.

She was watching Obama's inauguration speech and was very emotional. She clearly noticed I'm taking her photo and I wasn't trying to hide. We exchanged looks that it was OK but I already had my shot. It's usually better to ask after anyway because if you ask first the moment is gone and most people will pose, even unintentionally.

Another tough situation. Capturing the moment was key here and it was impossible to catch up with him after. t was pouring and he was running very fast! And I'm shooting with a long lens. Later when I posted, he sent me an email asking for a high res copy for himself.

She was jupming for her friends so they can take her picture in the air (off frame here). They had a P&S camera and it's very tough to freeze the moment with a camera with shutter lag so she was jumping again and again! Everyone including her sees I'm taking the photo. No need to get permission.

Saw him from across the street and noticed he had a great face. Went and talked to him. He was happy to pose for me and I gave him a $5 or $10 bill, I can't remember exactly.

[Go visit his site ;-)]
We went on a photo shoot and ended up somewhere we weren't supposed to be. It was white everywhere and we didn't notice we were in a no trespassing area. He saw us and didn't say anything. Then we went to the car and found all 4 tires are flat! I took this from the hip while he was passing after flattening our tires! We paid the price for our mistake, waited for 6 hours in freezing cold until help arrived.

[Go visit his site ;-)]
Obviously he saw me taking the photo and didn't say anything. I still can't tell if he's pissed or proud!

[Go visit his site ;-)]
I still have a hard time sleeping at night, thinking what will happen to me if I've seriously pissed off the dark knight.

[Go visit his site ;-)]
On days like this I take the camera and walk for hours. I end up with hundreds of shots and it's pretty much impossible to ask everybody's permission when you take the shots. I'm not even sure if I got any interesting shots until I see them at home. The result is a photo that I can't use for commercial purposes (like selling as stock image) but might be a decent street photo.

Photo from yesterday's post, another situation that I didn't know I had a good shot until weeks later when I was going through the shots. When I took this I was almost certain that I didn't even have a sharp photo. But when i saw it later I liked it. So no way to ask her now. I won't be selling this image for stock use. And if she ever contacts me and tells me she's unhappy about it I'll take it off the site. Street photography is all about the fractions of a second. You have to take the shot when you think you have it (to be precise, you take the shot just before the moment. Good photographers can see the future, like Joe McNally!)

[Go visit his site ;-)]
It was impossible to get close to ask permission for these, too many screaming people in the middle. They're famous or something. But I suspect they'll forgive me.

Noticed her at Toronto Zombie Walk, asked her permission and she posed for me. Later she contacted me and got a print for her portfolio (professional makeup artist). We ended up doing a few projects together. Sometimes it pays to ask.

[Go visit his site ;-)]
I was taking many photos during the trip and he saw me taking them. I assume if he didn't want his photo taken he would have said something. I could have cropped him out but it would have ruined the shot.

There is a good story for this. Basically she was a visitor of this site and contacted me to take her photo as a surprise birthday gift for her friend who was also a daily visitor. Read the whole story here. This photo ended up being published many times. Now I have to contact her and ask her to sign a model release form for Getty Images.

[Go visit his site ;-)]
Took this photo first and then went over and showed him the photo. He was OK with it. And I gave him some money.

... To conclude, every photographer is different and so is every subject. If you're shooting people on the street hoping you will some day sell the images to stock sites, you need to carry copies of model release forms all the time and ask people to sign them. Getty is interested in some of my images but I can't sell them because I don't have release forms and no access to subjects. But if you are a street/document photographer, by law you're free to shoot in public places (depending on where you live). That's why paparazzi can get away with pretty much anything. It really depends on your own comfort level. I have friends who are excellent documentary photographers but have lost gear and been injured (beer bottles thrown at them, cameras kicked,...)
I don't shoot people often, and if I feel people are uncomfortable in front of my camera I respect that and don't take the shot. But what I learned is you have to shoot first and think later. Or in the case of people, you may want to shoot first and ask later, hoping that it's not too late.

Happy shooting.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Hindu castes system explored by an engineer

As I travel, in any country, I try to get a general understanding of its history, its political and religious systems.  I had quite a challenge in India!
Being an engineer, I often retreat in graph and boxes to simplify situations (can't help it !  it might be the first step to insanity.  Who would be surprised?).  So the following graph, represents the understanding I have of the Hindu castes system.  Take it lightly, I did not mean to offence anybody.





Few key words :


- The Vedic Ashram System : 4 principals stages of life
- Four stages, four principal spiritual shelters
- Caste system
- Marga  : a path toward, a way or reaching Moksha (Liberation)
- Sadhu
- Karma : I simplified it by: "conduct or action of a being in life" / "accumulated sums of one's good or bad deeds"
- Dharma : I simplified it by : "appropriate behavior for one's station in life".

Wondering what is in the little "option" boxes deciding what happen of you at the end of your life ?

Here is what's in it :


"What the hell !!!" ... 
Written in another way : 


> At the end of your life we judge you by your Kharma and your Dharma (good or bad).


> If your are not a woman and you had a good Kharma and a good Dharma, you accumulate bonus "luck" points.


> The choice is done randomly,  but if you have a lot of "luck" points you have more chances of tipping the balance in your favor.


> If you are lucky to be "chosen" and you are not a woman, you go up to a higher caste.  Meaning you are reincarnated for another life cycle, a better life in a higher caste; going up the holyness ladder.


> If you are not lucky, you are reincarnated into the same caste for another life cycle.


> If you were bad, meaning if your actions, your karma, was not good; your are reincarnated into an animal, at the very bottom of the system.


> Here's the trick... If you are a woman, your best hope is to be reincarnated, in the same caste, being a male... duh !!  Where do I get this, well... it is based on discussions we had with local people back then, back there.  I looked for a written reference and I got this : "Although females can accumulate good karma, they have a harder time achieving enlightenment due to their social standing and their commitment to their family value".  But really, two facts of common sense : 1- Have you ever seen a woman sadhu ??  2- What do you expect, considering how woman are considered in other religions... that it would be different here!!.  


I must mention that I was very impress by the Hindu religion, the oldest religion in the world.  Its complexity, variety and its awesome history deserve a lot of respect even though in today's world, some aspects of it seems quite archaic.  This religion for someone who loves to learn new things everyday is an ever full well.


Please leave a comment ;-) 


Started December 18th, 2002.