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If all goes well, this will be the last blog entry prompted by the discoveries that I made during my recent spring-cleaning. As I was reviewing, editing and purging old documents, files and papers, I had a few more flashes of wisdom worthy of one last blog entry. Those insights reminded me of the value of my having studied the history of photography in college. Although I make my living as a commercial photographer, that education, focused on the liberal arts, rather than on a specific skill, continues to serve me well, thirty-odd years later.
25
Jun 10
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The class that I was teaching in India ended on the same note that many of my classes do. The students had made good progress and wanted to keep their creative growth going, after the class ended. I teased them, saying that about a week after the class they would all be “master” photographers. I say that to almost all my classes, because the things learned in a workshop take about a week to become an innate part of any student’s photography. The follow-up point is that about another week later, the skills they had learned in the class would start to diminish. The end of the joke is that about a month later, they would still be better photographers than when they entered the class, but no longer the “masters” they had briefly been. So what did I tell them to do to try to hold on to the “mastery” they had briefly achieved?
21
Dec 09
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The importance of original source material
My daughter was recently talking to me about her growing passion for studying history, primarily through what she said were the best part, original source material. That reminded me of two points in my early life as a photographer, when what is now known as original source material changed my perspective on photography.
20
Feb 09
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The latest in electronic flash in my camera bag
As promised, this blog entry will not include any writing about my “philosophy.” For the moment, I have happily returned to talking about cameras and photographing. In this post I am going to highlight the other new and important piece of gear in my camera bag.
16
Feb 09
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One photographer’s career path
This podcast explores my career path, from student photographer to established professional. As I tell my story, I show photographs from the many phases of my career.
28
Jan 09
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Photographs as mirrors and windows
I often tell my students that their best photographs are the ones that reflect their personalities, life experiences and outlooks. I was recently giving a presentation, when an audience member’s question stopped me cold and forced me to articulate how that same idea has played out in my own work.
26
Jan 09
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Where I learned the most about photographing
I recently realized that if I carefully look at my career as a photographer, I can pinpoint where I learned the most about the act of photographing. It was not in high school, where I learned the craft of photography. Nor was it in college, where my study of the history of photography taught me about the art of photography. It was in a different place, one that I fear is fast disappearing from the photographic landscape.
16
Jan 09
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Creative evolution of my project “Concurrence: India”
This podcast explores the creative evolution of my project, “Concurrence: India.” The work evolved from a literal reportage on globalization to a more personal exploration of the fluctuating encounter between the eternal and the modern.
31
Dec 08
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Important things to know about the business of photography
If it seems like I am obsessed with the business of photography, I am. That is mostly because I make my living as a photographer so the general state of the photography market interests (and impacts) me directly. However, I am also interested on a more philosophical level.
29
Dec 08
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Photography, poetry and crossing disciplines
I stumbled across a great quote recently. It is about poets, but I immediately thought how it applies to photographers. Following on my last entry, about the importance of practice, I got to thinking about how a lot of things cross the lines that appear to divide different mediums, but really are common to most all of them.
15
Dec 08
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The history of photography of California farmworkers
In politics there is the so-called “Washington read” which, according to Word Spy is: “The perusal of a book in a bookstore that consists of checking the index for references to oneself and reading only those parts of the book.” I never thought I would live to see the day when I did my own version of the “Washington read” of a book, but that happened recently.
01
Dec 08
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One of my favorite photography books of all time is a remarkably simple book called On Being A Photographer.
29
Sep 08
