Photoblogs
Photoblogs.org (via Lucdesk) I feel a new artform coming up. I have been wondering for a long time how photography and the net can get happily married, online albums ("online albums"! The expression alone makes me feel bad) just don't cut it. Maybe photoblogs will.
Apart from the usual amateur "look I can copy a professional" stuff, there are some good finds out there. Noah Grey has good pictures, I'm just not sure if he has found the optimal format, it feels like an exhibition, not a website.
Marc North is promising as well, I think he needs to evolve his style some more (witness these earlier first-year-in-photography-class pictures) but there is potential there. The actual pictures are hidden behind a tiny link at the bottom of the page though.
Way -> blue has got the format down pretty much. Small studies (6 pictures about a theme), and pictures first, navigation second. One tiny addition that could help: pre-load the next picture while watching the current one. Decent stuff, sometimes lacking relevance but also with a refreshing down-to-earthness in its choice of topics. Photography for the joy of it.
I just noticed photoblogs seem to limit the amount of pictures on a page (to 1). I think that's good - focusses the attention and saves bandwidth. If you count the amount of pixels used for content versus navigation I believe photoblogs would come out as clear winners. That's a good thing.
Life through a lens uses frames (no linkable URL's) and ha a different approach: it posts little groups of pictures (5 to 8) on one page. The photographer is clearly experimenting with form, shape and colour, but seems to be lacking some voice. Feels like second-third year photography school. I like the presenting of lots of pictures on one page, but it does make you skip some.
Halftone experiments as well, but with content instead of form. It has some focus and has a few pictures per topic: complete strangers, don't think.
Brandon's photoblog shows groups of pictures per date, but more than one date on the homepage, more like a classic blog. I like this format less: it takes attention away from the pictures.
Shutterbabe has, apart from a great title, an approach based on the MT-format: a main picture, with additional pictures hidden behind a "more" link. Thematically: buildings and friends. Once you find the little arrows (Fits law!) it's easy enough to browse. Lots of experimentation, the early beginnings of a personal style.
Using my back button a lot I notice I spend at least 15 pages on each of them - photoblogs invite browsing. (the fast line helps)
Slower.net: vibrant style that slips into 80s now and then, some personality. Simple blog format: latest on top.
There are many more. Let me know if you find a really good one, from this quick survey of photoblogs I feel a lot of them lack the personality lots of classic blogs display. Too much copying of commercial styles ("Look ma, I can take pictures just like the ones in National Geographic!"). Not enough rawness.
On a related note, I bought this Robert Frank book on the street in NYC last weekend ($35). Amazing stuff.