Favourite Things
Between you and me, sometimes the whole Gear is Good, Vision is Better thing makes me worry that people think I don’t like toys, but if you know me at all, you know that’s just crazy talk. I like stuff. I’ve been accused of having champagne tastes, by no less an authority than my own mother. So this, not really …
Glory Days
Ethiopia, 2006 It might surprise some of you, and to others be a shocking reminder of how fast time flies, for me to tell you it was only 10 years ago I stepped off the stage as a comedian for the last time and returned to my dream of being a photographer. Comedy, which I did for twelve years …
Make It Now.
This moment, this light, in Cape Churchill last week: it didn’t last long. You can photograph it, or let it pass you by. But you may never see it again. Last week I was sitting in a tundra buggy not photographing polar bears. The bears, driven by a months-long hunger were out on the sea ice, hunting seals. If we’d …
A World of Stories
“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” — Jawaharlal Nehru A couple months ago an incredibly enthusiastic team of storytellers approached me about getting on board with a new platform they were creating, a place to …
Light , Gesture, & Color
The first, and only time, I met Jay Maisel, he asked what kind of photography I did. At the time I was busy with humanitarian assignments and I told him so. He looked me in the eye, having just met me, and said, “You mean people pay you to do that? You’re an evil man.” And then he laughed. …
Cape Churchill Polar Bears
I’m sitting in a Winnipeg hotel room, the sun’s coming up late into a bleak winter sky, and I’m surrounded by cold-weather gear, long lenses, and the sense of loneliness that comes after a long-anticipated adventure has wrapped up – that anticipation having been a companion for months. And now it’s over and I head home to do the work …
Hudson Bay Polar Bears
In a couple days I’ll be on a small plane heading towards Wapusk National Park on Hudson Bay, Cape Churchill to be exact, to live on the tundra buggies for 8 nights and spend my days with Polar Bears and Arctic Fox. I’m thrilled. It’s the first of several bear trips I’m doing over the coming year. I’ve also …
Study the Masters: Margaret Bourke-White
At the Time of the Louisville Flood (1937) Gandhi (1946) “If you want to photograph a man spinning, give some thought to why he spins. Understanding for a photographer is as important as the equipment he uses.” –Margaret Bourke-White “Utter truth is essential and that is what stirs me when I look through the camera” –Margaret Bourke-White. Margaret Bourke-White …
About Critique
Popular photography education is awash in the idea that critique is helpful. God knows there are more than enough voices out there willing to give it, solicited or otherwise. And while I think it can be helpful, it often falls wildly short on the ability to provide that critique in a positive way. Nor, I think, does it give any …
Inspired by the Tangible
Any company whose mission revolves around being inspired by the tangible and getting images off our devices and into our hands is a company run by people I want to hang out with. So I’ve been ordering prints from Artifact Uprising and am seriously impressed with them – their quality and their service are spectacular. And their blog is inspiring, …