The Short Version: My two new books are out today and you can get more information and links to how to get your hands on paperback, PDF, or Kindle versions at StartUglyBook.com. The longer version below is more compelling, but it’s, well, longer. Keep reading. In bold, trendy font, the advert for some piece of computer equipment aimed at photographers …
New Thinking > New Gear
In the eternal quest for better photographs (and you can define that however you’d like), we all tend to spend a great deal of money. You probably already know how I feel about this. When I look back at the money I spent on gear that made promises that were never kept (and yes, I know, I heard what I …
Without the Gargoyles
In the Middle Ages, churches placed gargoyles on their roofs to remind parishioners of the dangers that awaited them without the church, both then and into eternity. Literally hanging over their heads, the gargoyles kept the faithful, well, faithful, and warded off evil spirits. Most creatives I know, if not most human beings, have voices and negative people in their …
Find What You Love?
Poet Charles Bukowski says “find what you love and let it kill you” But that advice, edgy as it sounds doesn’t sit right with me anymore. But there’s another poet, also named Charles, and I like his life advice much more. Charles Baudelaire says “find what intoxicates you and let it give you life.” Or that’s how I read it. …
It’s Not the Tool
There’s a lot of talk these days about how much better analog tools are than digital, but when we rely on our tools to render soul and authenticity in our work, when the tools get either the credit or the blame, I think we’re heading in the wrong direction. Let’s talk about it. I’ve decided to begin posting my weekly …
Navigating Fog
Any creative effort, in fact life itself, is undertaken in a context of uncertainty. But there are times things feel more uncertain than other, like we’re lacking direction. The Japanese concept of Ikigai provides helpful vectors or points of light, that make it easier to navigate in the fog. Let’s talk about it. I’ve decided to begin posting my weekly …
Touch the Heart
Songwriter Leonard Cohen once asked “How do we produce work that touches the heart?” It’s a question I think we need to pursue if we’re going to make anything that finds traction or resonance, most especially for ourselves but for others. So how do we do it? Let’s talk about it. I’ve decided to begin posting my weekly podcast here …
How’s Your Balance?
Ask a photographer about balance and tension in a photograph and they’ll look at you like you just asked them about the mathematics of hyperfocal distance. Actually, that’s unfair; I know a number of photographers who could speak at length about the latter. I know fewer who can speak about the former. But ask a painter or sculptor the same …
Too Late?
If change is the one true constant in life and we’re subject to it as much as other things, why does it seem so hard to reinvent ourselves? Is it ever too late to evolve or start over, to move in new directions that are unexpected, to others, but often ourselves most of all? Let’s talk about it. I’ve decided …
What’s the Point
In the wake of the pandemic I recently heard an artist express words I suspect many of us are thinking about making and sharing our art: what’s the point? These thoughts have been haunting me. What’s the point? We are. You are. Life itself is the point and we (and you!) need your art-making more than ever. Let’s talk about …