Author: Johnny Milano

"The truth is the best photograph, the best propaganda."

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The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is one of the nations most notorious White Pride activist groups. Founded in 1974, NSM has gained extensive attention across the United States for it’s politically oriented philosophies and actions. Among the core beliefs of the NSM are the preservation of a white America and it’s “European roots”. Unlike the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the NSM is not a religious oriented organization but a militarily and politicaly structured organization. The NSM’s calendar year does not begin in January and end in December, but begins and ends on April 20th, the day of Adolf Hitler’s birth.  I have a ton of images/videos/audio to sift through from this weekend.  I went into it knowing what I wanted to come out of it with and ended up shooting with my instincts.  It’s really starting to feel most natural when I “shoot first and ask questions later”.  As a photographer I find that I often go into a project with a particularly goal set in mind, a particular story that I aim for and what I end up capitalizing on and what really becomes the story is something completely different, something unexpected.  Going through these images will decide the fate of this story.

Johnny

More images from my project on my family.  It’s been interesting exploring the varying levels of relationships that exist within not just my own family but the idea of family in general.  So far it has helped me understand the complexities of my own family and how each and every subtle characteristic of each of my family members plays a role in the large picture of these relationships.  

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A comment on prospective clients seeking work from photographers…

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/01/26/why-wedding-photographers-prices-are-wack/

Above is a link to an article about a particular woman who was infuriated at the notion that a photographer has the gall to charge her several thousand dollars to photograph her wedding.  The original craigslist posting can be seen there as well as a sufficient article below it that discusses what exactly it means to shoot your wedding.  If you  continue to haggle the ability of professional photographers to make a living in favor of amateur hobbyists soon that is all that you will end up with in the industry-amateur hobbyists.

Johnny

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As my final project is making excruciatingly slow progress, I’ve been forced to explore other avenues so naturally I’ve been shooting my family for the past week.  I live on Long Island and commute to ICP each day- about 3 hours each day.  Combined with the time spent at school I’m never home besides for dinner and sleep, and occasionally a weekend night.  It’s really only in it’s beginning stages and I’m not exactly sure where the project could or will end up.  I’ve learned to shoot first and ask questions later.

 

http://www.johnnymilano.com

A Home Grows in Westbury

There are a number of projects that are at the beginning stages of expansion, some are basic ideas while others are more concrete.  A project that I’ve been currently working on for a few weeks now is that of a young couple in their mid-twenties that live (vivaciously), but with Down Syndrome (DS).  DS has always intrigued many people and most of us can only barely come to understand it.  That ignorance and mischievous curiosity often deter people from engaging with people with DS.  They are mislead by the surrounding hype that those living with DS are habitually inept and unmanageable.  The truth of the matter is just the opposite.  There’s not a single bad bone in their body, and knows what it takes to put a smile on someone’s face.  It’s interesting to note that what I’ve found in these past few weeks is that a lot of these characteristics that make up these individuals are ones to be admired, not shied away from or disregarded.  The talents, compassion, kindness, hurt, happiness, and rules that consist of the rest of the world are the same for them, albeit in not exactly the same ways.  Nowadays, people are afraid of what they don’t understand, when what they should be doing is seeking to understand what they fear and why they fear it.  Only then can you begin to be honest with yourself.  The following photos are a sample of the growing life of this young couple.  It’s a work in progress, as much of everything we do is.

John Milano

http://www.johnnymilano.com