Receiving an award can be very satisfying, especially if it comes from a respected source and the other candidates were equally worthy. It’s not quite the same when everyone wins a trophy. An award for work you care about doing is confirmation that you are on the right track. The work you are doing is …
In the movie, the Deer Hunter, Robert DeNiro explains his philosophy of hunting. You take one shot, make it count. You could easily apply this to photography, taking fewer photos and being more deliberate. It’s always a good idea to be deliberate.
There is a never ending flow to the projects we can do, on our own or with others. For our recent group project, Flemington Streetview, we focused on photographing Main Street, Flemington NJ during one weekend in October. The aim was to express downtown Flemington as it is, now, in the early part of the 21st …
What’s a generic photo? What’s “generic?” Generic means not specific, not one of a kind, not especially unique. Generally acceptable but not remarkable. When are our photos generic? Probably most of the time. But that’s entirely OK if you keep producing, keep reaching and pushing the envelope. Generic is easy and quick. There is little …
What’s showing? Are you showing? In a show? Showing off? Showing your cards? Showing your true self? Lots of meanings in there. Showing our photos can have many meanings, too. Some of us show to compete, some to sell and some just to be a part of a larger effort. The best is when it’s …
Joe is an artist. An irreverent, wacked, passionate artist. And a good friend. His advice to young artists is to be obsessive. Good advice. When you are obsessed, you’re focused. When you are focused, you are at your peak of attention. You’re there (wherever there may be).
What matters more, content of presentation? In the early days of photography presentation was pretty rough. Photos were blurry, over or under exposed and often fairly passive with people just standing. Not much action. But it was state of the art. Later came small format film and the pioneers of street photography and photojournalism. Content …
How often do you see a nice shot and think, “I need to get that shot sometime.” This can happen as part of a commute or maybe a local trip you take occasionally. I head to the city every couple of months and pass areas I’d like to stop and get some shots. But I’m …
Fog is fun. It has softness and mystery. Fun to photograph in, terrible to drive in. It was also a mystery when to expect fog. Sometimes I could guess, like when it was rainy or there was snow on the ground and the air got suddenly warm. But what made the fog? Naturally, there is …
“The only cure for distraction is attention.” Pico Iyer (and a camera focuses our attention)