When legendary NY photographer Jay Maisel was asked how to make more interesting photographs, he unflinchingly replied, “Become a more interesting person.” You might have heard that story. It doesn’t surprise me at all; Jay is a blunt man who suffers no fools and saves his subtlety for his photographs. It’s a good answer, but it’s not very immediately applicable, is it? And …
Vision Isn’t Everything.
Vision Isn’t Everything. It’s Often Not Even the First Thing. Those of you who have been with me a while probably never thought you’d see the day when I’d write those words. I’ve built much of my teaching around the idea that “vision is better’” and, specifically, have placed a priority on vision being better than relying on endless gear upgrades where …
Making the Poetic Image, Part Two
You wouldn’t be wrong if you called the last article I posted a bit of a “think piece” and wondered when the more practical advice was going to show up. Think of that last one as a nudge towards considering why an intentional use of composition is important if you want to make images that don’t just show us what …
Are Your Photographs Poetic? Part One.
Painter Robert Henri said, “Paint the flying spirit of the bird, rather than its feathers.” Similarly, Poet Anton Chekhov said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” One is a plea to painters, another to writers, but both beg the same thing: make me feel something. Don’t just tell me; don’t …
The Way The Camera Sees
One of the things that fascinates me about photography is the raw materials it uses. Painters have paint and canvas. Sculptors have stone and metal. But photographers? We have space, time, and light, and I think that’s magic. Hold that thought for a moment. How we think about making photographs can change how we make photographs and, therefore, change the …
Should You Specialize?
In the long list of pieces of photographic advice that gets foisted on newer photographers by well-meaning and more experienced photographers is this: you’ve got to specialize. And, like all advice, my reaction tends to be, “Well, yes and no.” One-size-fits-all advice will be extraordinarily helpful to us the moment photographers (and people in general) come in one size. We do not. …
Slowing Down is the New Speeding Up
I want you to imagine you’re sitting down with me, looking at a photograph, and I’m explaining what I was thinking when I made it. If it helps, imagine it’s the photograph I showed you a couple of weeks ago in the video of the man making coffee in Istanbul. And now that enrollment for the course I recently launched …
What Makes the Image Work, Part 2
This past Sunday, I introduced you to a photograph of mine and sent you to my blog to discuss it, asking questions about the decisions I made and the effect of those decisions. I’ll keep this message short because I said most of what I want to say in the video I’m about to show you. But if you missed …
What Makes the Image Work?
As a child, my cousin James had a reputation for taking things apart. I recall one Christmas when he dismantled down to the wiring every gift he was given. Remote-control cars? Give him 20 minutes, and there’d be nothing left but a pile of tiny screws, little motors, and the tears of his mother who probably should have known better than to …
The Joy of Photography?
A couple of weeks ago, I confessed to you that I hadn’t picked up my camera for six months. The replies I received by email and comments on the blog were like a big collective sigh of relief from so many of you—like we were all holding our breath, thinking we were the only ones who had lost some of our …