Steve Mansfield-Devine

France

Editor, Network Security at Mark Allen Group

Writer, Journalist and Photographer at Freelance

Freelance author, journalist & photographer. Editor of 'Network Security', 'Computer Fraud & Security'. Author of 'Lady Caine'

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Articles

How photography demands your presence

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Steve Mansfield-Devine

PERSPECTIVESmartphones carry the risk of distancing us from the world, but a camera is a way of connecting. Smartphones — and more specifically their integral cameras — have been blamed for distancing people from the world. At music events, it’s not uncommon to see a sea of raised phones as audience members apparently record the event rather than living it. To believe the doomsayers, younger people now experience the world through the mediation of the smartphone — they are no longer present in it.
Search & Rescue in Hawaii

3 weeks ago | cameralux.org | Steve Mansfield-Devine

PORTFOLIOThrowing people out of a helicopter just so you can rescue them doesn’t sound like a rational thing to do. Except when you’re practising for the real thing. The helicopter slowed to 10knots, skimming just 10ft above the water, and on a signal from the pilot the crew chief began pushing people out of the door, watching them drop into the deep waters of the bay. Not that they minded. Every one of them had volunteered for this.
Just settling in…

1 month ago | medium.com | Steve Mansfield-Devine

I’m still unpacking, but let’s have a quick chat about what you’re going to find here. Steve Mansfield-Devine·FollowPublished inMachina Speculatrix·2 min read·--My 6502-based homebrew computer, the Zolatron. They say you can’t teach an old blog new tricks. I beg to differ. Machina Speculatrix might be new to Medium, but it’s a blog I’ve been running for some years. I just thought this would be a better place for it. I’ve been a tech writer for more than four decades.
The power of words and photographs

2 months ago | cameralux.org | Steve Mansfield-Devine

VIEWPOINTThe interplay between text and image is complex and potentially powerful, and so easy to get wrong. The relationship between images and words has been studied, analysed and theorised to death. And that’s because it’s important. This is dangerous territory. There’s a significant risk of wading into the quagmire of structuralist semantics and its ugly stepchild, semiotics. Terms like ‘intertextuality’ are never far away.
A Night Flight to Remember

2 months ago | medium.com | Steve Mansfield-Devine

Member-only storyFlying a tired Cessna through a deep Florida night presented an unreasonable string of challenges. But it helped me overcome some major psychological hurdles. Steve Mansfield-Devine·FollowPublished inEngage·20 min read·--Another aircraft climbing into the dusk as we wait for ‘aeronautical night’. © Steve Mansfield-Devine 1989.
A shadow in New Orleans

Jan 8, 2025 | medium.com | Steve Mansfield-Devine

In the celebratory atmosphere of a festive French Quarter moved a restless spirit. Steve Mansfield-Devine·FollowPublished inEngage·16 min read·--© Steve Mansfield-Devine 1984He emerged from the cave-dark of the bar-room door and weaved slowly towards the kerb, one hand held against the sun, the other holding a plastic beaker of beer, his head bowed, his eyes narrowed against the noon glare. He stopped for a moment, either taking his bearings or selecting a target.
Seeing in black & white: the monochrome photographer

Dec 9, 2024 | cameralux.org | Steve Mansfield-Devine

TECHNIQUETo get the maximum effect from monochrome photography, you need to understand it as something more than just a palette choice. Sometimes colour is just too much information. Sure, colour can be a pleasure in itself — that’s why sunsets are so popular. In his book Cape Light, Joel Meyerowitz talks about how he is frequently attracted to a subject purely for its colour.
The Viewfinder

Dec 4, 2024 | cameralux.org | Steve Mansfield-Devine

NEWSLETTERJust nowThe Viewfinder newsletter is the place where we share short pieces, observations, snippets and asides. CameraLux is focused mainly on long-form, in-depth articles. Sometimes, however, there are ideas and images that deserve to be shared but which don’t warrant feature-length treatment. We’re aiming at a modest publication tempo — roughly one newsletter a month — so your email isn’t going to get swamped.
Photographic art in the Instagram age

Nov 15, 2024 | cameralux.org | Steve Mansfield-Devine

VIEWFINDERWhen everyone is taking and sharing pictures of the world around them, what sets the photographic artist apart — if anything? Since its inception, photography has been used as a way of making us look at the world. Now it seems impossible to look away. Photographic imagery is pervasive, ubiquitous and ceaseless. So how do serious photographers — artists still concerned with exploring, analysing, exulting or criticising the world — make themselves heard?
What digital photographers can learn from the analogue world

Nov 8, 2024 | cameralux.org | Steve Mansfield-Devine

TECHNIQUEEven if all your cameras are digital, there are approaches used by people who shoot on film that can have benefits for your work. To paraphrase, analogue photography is a foreign country — they do things differently there. Digital cameras freed us from many constraints imposed by traditional film-based techniques and processes. But on occasion, constraints can be a good thing, forcing you to think deeper about your approach and what you’re trying to achieve.