At a recent electronic music performance, the English duo Rob Brown and Sean Booth, who perform as Autechre, plunged Sydney’s City Recital Hall into darkness. [Read More]
AI is all the buzz and it seems to be attaching itself to everything, everywhere, all at once. The canary in the AI coal mine? Images and writing. [Read More]
The context and process behind a photograph can be interesting on a technical level when it comes to the gear, film, lighting setup, and any artistic emotion or guidance that may have gone into it from a photographer with an interesting backstory to them. [Read More]
Want to see some bad street photographs? I’ll share them and tell you why I think they’re not good. These photographs were all made during a five-day visit to New York City between October 31 and November 4, 2022. [Read More]
The broad strokes of an emotion can be fairly simple to translate into visual communication. A smile for joy, a tear for sadness, bared teeth for anger, wide eyes for fear.
If the intention behind a photograph is to produce something photographic, weighted by aesthetic merit, or artistic expression, then it is your observation via the camera that you are most likely going to share in that image. [Read More]
I was struggling through Caesar in 10th grade Latin class when I first heard the term “synecdoche” (although the term is from the Greek) — it’s a figure of speech where a part of something is used to represent the whole.
In all my years in photography, I don’t think any camera has had as much buzz leading up to its release as the Nikon Z9. There were many reasons for that, both good and bad, but now that the camera’s here, does it live up to the hype? After one week of using it, I […]
Producing photographs, writing, and ideas to share with others is such a wonderful way to direct creative energy, and for many, this approach involves setting themselves up as a photography business practice in some way, whether that’s offering the work as a product or as a service. If offering photography as a product, as an […]
One of the most constantly joyful aspects of photography is the ability of the medium to allow the creator to make something from nothing. Nothing doesn’t mean forgetting and leaving the lens cap on but instead studying things that are not epic or poetic in a way that renders them aesthetically. I’ve seen beautiful photographs […]
When starting out, you will inevitably stumble upon someone telling you to use a three-light setup for portraits and a beauty dish for fashion photography. I think that’s a whole bunch of nonsense. Lighting setups don’t teach you light — they only confuse you and derail you from progressing. I remember buying my first light […]
My name is Jordan McChesney, and I’m a photographer based in Japan. Let me start by saying that I am not a professional photographer, and I’m well aware that my movement towards success is an ongoing process that is (hopefully) in the early stages of even bigger things to come. That being said, I think […]
Ethics in photography is a topic that just keeps popping up. Whether it’s the latest dish on Magnum, or an argument about photographing the homeless, some days it seems you can’t turn around without stumbling across another disagreement.
This is the end of my essay series on how we see and think about photographs. While I could certainly ramble on more or less forever, this is a good place to stop. I started from a simple thesis, a single idea: that we react to a photograph differently than we do to, say, a […]
In the previous essay I set aside a category of ethical issues around photographs. Specifically, the issues that arise from the very existence of the photo, rather than from the meaning of it. Issues around consent, and around extraction (who gets paid.
Sony’s non-surprising Alpha 1 announcement this week seems to have set a few Nikon shooters into panic again. More disinformation and clickbait headlines are also proliferating. The common theme seems to be “Nikon can’t/won’t keep up and will fail.
It’s undeniable that life is often seen as a kind of race or competition, but I absolutely despise this idea. For kids, it’s about academic grading (which school they go to), athletic ability (who plays sports better), their looks (who is more popular among girls/boys), etc. As we grow older, we face the harsher realities […]
I’ve been writing for a while now on this single idea: that photographs transport you, in a sense, to the scene of the photograph; that you therefore react to photographs as if you were there, viscerally; that you react specifically by imagining the world around the photo; and finally that this imaginative reaction, this meaning […]
If you’ve been following along for any length of time, you might be starting to wonder if the author here even owns a camera, and if so, whether he can work it at all. I can! I really do, and I can! I mean, kinda, anyways. This is a picture I took. Let’s talk about […]
The previous essays in this series have tried to develop some ideas about what happens when people look at photos. The realism, that mass of realistic detail, causes (I claim) a visceral reaction: we feel, we react, we think, a little as if we were transported by the photograph into the scene itself. We find […]
In the previous essay, I introduced a couple of imaginary photographs. The first, an old woman celebrating her birthday with family and friends; the second a photograph of a man seated in a chair, attentive to something out of frame.
So, you make photographs? Or take them, or something like that? I’m going to guess here that you probably hope people will like them, or see something in them that’s interesting. You’re interested in how people see photographs, how people make sense of photos.
The ability for individual photographers to have any kind of cultural impact feels diminished and diluted when you consider just how many are working towards the goal of producing meaningful work. Where individuals are limited in the time they can spend, the ground they can cover, and the final result they can output, a group […]
The ability for individual photographers to have any kind of cultural impact feels diminished and diluted when you consider just how many are working towards the goal of producing meaningful work. Where individuals are limited in the time they can spend, the ground they can cover, and the final result they can output, a group […]
I recently watched a video on YouTube by the very popular landscape photographer Thomas Heaton. The video was titled “AI editing will ruin photography as we know it” where Thomas discusses a new photo editing program soon to be released by Skylum: Luminar AI.
It’s funny how deceiving a photograph can be. I wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking that this roller skater has turned his head to check out the girl on her phone as he skates past her. Without any context, that does appear to be the story here.
One of the byproducts of the new-wave approach to street photography, which champions anonymity, mystery, and a cinematic aesthetic, is that there is an absolute abundance of images featuring silhouetted figures and shadow play.
There is an excellent quote regarding practice attributed to legendary martial artist Bruce Lee that I think provides a great framework for many pursuits but also highlights one of my earliest struggles with ideas around “style” in photography: “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who […]
There seems to be a trend in current photography goals to achieve a “look” to one’s work. I feel this is a short-sighted goal, and that a consistent aesthetic is more the result of careful curation of a large body of work, rather than something that ought to be deliberately achieved. I think that a […]
I did my first advertising assignment in the year 2000. I still remember how excited I was when I, a few months later, walked out of a bookstore on Chestnut Street in San Francisco with several magazines with my pictures in them.
Photo Twitter collectively chuckled at the announced availability of Canada Goose’s Photojournalist Jacket. With editorial day rates hovering below $300/assignment, actual photojournalists were unlikely to be purchasing such a luxury item – even if it was inexpensive by Canada Goose standards.
Conversations around photographic style have always felt a little odd to me for a few reasons. It’s something I get asked about a lot by my students, as they feel that without a style, a visual signature, then they will find it very difficult to differentiate themselves from other working artists. So much of today’s […]
The National Archives of the USA is putting on a show. “Rightfully Hers: American Women and The Vote.” Out front of the show, there is a large visual display that includes an iconic photograph of the Jan 21, 2017 Women’s March on DC with some blurred out elements. Specifically blurred out is some language on […]
Over the past few years, I’ve experienced a number of lenses that were optically stunning. Near-perfect examples of optical technology, lenses like the Sony 135mm f/1. 8 (which I reviewed and loved) and 24mm f/1.
Yes, it’s post-processed. I get this question all the time, like every other photographer on the planet, and it often sparks heated debates that challenge the notion of objective reality and the meaning of photography.
I’d like to share some thoughts here on being a musician before I get to the difference between seeing and looking as a photographer. Please bear with me. This will all make good sense. For musicians, there is a big difference between hearing and listening. For example, if a musician is driving around in a […]
Landscape photography is an art. That is for sure. It is a way for us to express our emotions when in a location and capture a scene forever. With social media, you could easily be mistaken to think that I good photo is the one with the most likes or comments. Or you may think […]
Dear Entitled, I came across a screenshot of your “I have started a photography business” post in a “Classifieds” Facebook group. I don’t know your name, but honestly, even if I did, I wouldn’t use it.
Have you ever wondered why the images you created a few years ago look very different from the pictures you are taking now? Chances are you became a better photographer. You trained your eye and you got better at post-processing.
The Internet is a gold mine of information about cameras, lenses, and other photography equipment, but there’s always a fair amount of BS circulating. There are opinions masquerading as fact. We’re constantly told to buy new gear… while also hearing that gear doesn’t matter.
Dear writer of the Forbes Magazine article, “Your Top 10 Objects Your Kids Don’t Want”… I just read your article. In it, you outline the objects in your home that you feel one’s children will not want passed on to them.
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, and I want to talk about 4 things I truly hate about portrait photography in 2019. #1. Nobody Knows What a Portrait Is We’re living in a bizarro world.
There is an observation about stand up comedians that once they reach a certain level of fame their material becomes less about “grounded” observations and criticisms and instead becoming more about airplane food and hotel rooms.
From Wiktionary: Noun pixel peeper (plural pixel peepers) (idiomatic, photography) “A person who carefully scrutinizes a magnified digital photograph in order to evaluate resolution and image quality.
One of the major shortcomings of sharing work online, especially on social media, is that it is often a highlight reel of incredible work. That’s not a bad thing if your only goal is to enjoy work, but for people looking to learn, it can offer some unrealistic expectations. One of the reasons I think […]
A year ago, I wrote an article over at 35mmc in which I discussed some of the jobs I had worked on using 35mm film and the way I handle a film workflow for assigned work. Since writing that piece I have taken on many more commissions for film-based work, and I thought it would […]
As a street photographer, I accept that I have a bias towards the kind of work and criticisms I prefer to seek out as an audience to the work of others – although there are examples of landscape or portraiture that I do enjoy it is street photography and photojournalism that take up the majority […]
100 years from now, no one is going to care who I am. I know this. I don’t mean that in a bad way and I don’t say it in the hopes someone will contradict me and shower me with praise; this is not said as compliment bait. No, I say it because it’s true. […]
For a while now I have been working on establishing myself as a street photography educator by leading lessons and workshops throughout London, focusing on documenting human behavior and emotion rather than more new-wave techniques involving light-architecture and intricate technical compositions.
I see a lot of articles across the Internet claiming to know the “rules to follow” or the “things to avoid” in street photography, easily one of the most hotly debated genres.
It’s difficult to see how anyone other than the photographer is responsible for a photograph they may take, although I’m sure there are some specific exceptions – but usually, if a photographer is not responsible for their photograph, then who should be? [Read More]
This year marks 50 years since Susan Sontag’s essay "Photography" was published in the New York Review of Books. Slightly edited and renamed In Plato’s Cave, it would become the first essay in her collection On Photography, which has never been out of print. [Read More]
Language is an underlying reality in our everyday world, present in our thoughts, our words, and even our haptic gestures. When interacting with someone else we are incorporating language to translate abstract thoughts into communication, communication into meaning, and meaning into understanding. [Read More]
Failing to succeed doesn't mean failing to progress. I think for many of us the last few pandemic years have spotlighted this sentiment, especially as when it comes to photography “success” is already such a broad and nebulous concept. [Read More]
My particular interest in photography aims for hitting certain notes in the image, regardless of content. So whether I’m shooting landscapes or my garden, friends at a party, or my kids on vacation, I’d say the approach is consistent. [Read More]
Ten years ago, I began making a series of images using a nylon bodystocking. The stretchy fabric created a dreamy space around the bodies of the models when they pushed out against it from inside. We played many variations; one model in the cocoon, two models, smearing body paint or mud on the fabric to […]
Photographs are omnipresent in our daily lives. From social media and advertising to family photos hanging on your wall. Images are used for identification and as evidence, as well as informing us at a cultural level about who we are.
This is the third essay in this series, and it begins a smaller sequence of notes running over the ways we as viewers make sense of pictures. We spend, I think, too much time thinking about what happens before and during the making of a picture, but not enough on what happens when someone actually […]
In the previous essay, I made an argument that photographs (and things that are like photographs) metaphorically transport us into the scene of the photo. We react, body and mind, a little bit as if we were actually present.
Having spent a good portion of my life standing in the dark, dodging, burning, and spotting my prints, I doubt I will ever go back to analog in any meaningful way. I saw this negative and scanned it because these are two people who I was once very close too. I don’t know either of […]
While teaching a recent workshop, I joked that street photography was the only genre where people would buy $3,000 worth of cameras and lenses and then deliberately use them to make out of focus, grainy, imperfect images.
Consider this: think like a painter. Painting is basically an additive process: the painter adds paint to a canvas. Photography is basically subtractive: the photographer, through careful composition and cropping (or cloning in the digital darkroom), subtracts unwanted or distracting elements from a scene to create a vision — or impression — of a scene. […]
My name is Adam Marsh, and I’m a Melbourne-based event photographer. I recently wrote an article titled “Adobe, This is Why Photographers Are Hating on You,” and it seems to have been incredibly divisive.
Well-curated portfolios can be some of the most powerful tools available to a photographer looking to efficiently communicate what they’re about to potential clients and customers. The classic portfolio is a physical book of prints, maybe 10-20 total, often accompanied by a declaration of intent in writing or in person if being showcased at an […]
The scene through the viewfinder was one of pastoral beauty: a thatched and jettied cottage, with colorful Gertrude Jekyll borders full of Lupins. As my eyes drank in the peached colors of summer, a single press of the shutter button on my camera brought me tumbling back into the splintered blues of winter. Beyond the […]
Over the last month, communities around the world have felt passionate responses to the developing conflict in Israel, Gaza, and surrounding areas. As simple or complex as one might find the hostilities in the abstract the ripples of geopolitics affect us all, sometimes very obviously, and sometimes subtly. [Read More]
If you are not responsible for the meaning behind your photographs then who is?
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I recently wrote about the importance of discourse on the ethics around photography, where I offered my perspective on why rules and doctrines around decision making can diminish your ability to stand behind your work, justify your decisions, and really take responsibility and ownership over your vision. [Read More]
What makes a great hobby? Most people don’t have to ask themselves this, they just naturally gravitate to activities they enjoy and make time for them–but I’ve had to think about this for years.
The camera is a reasonably recent image-creation tool; compared to millennia of paintings, drawings, carvings, and illustrations, we have only a few hundred years of photographs and photographic development.
When I work on a blueprint for a potential documentary project most of my attention goes to unpacking whatever it was that drew my initial interest – usually a collection of themes, locations, and characters that I will visit in order to discover what direction the story will end up going in. [Read More]
The photographer Dorothea Lange once famously said “A camera is a device that teaches you to see without a camera. ” I always loved this quotation. Once you get good at shooting, you start to see the world like a photographer — you notice things, you notice light, you look slower, you take pictures in your mind.
There’s an expression in relation to investment banking I’ve heard which I think translates quite well into advice for documentary photographers: “it’s not timing the market, its time in the market.
When competing in an attention economy, giving your audience a reason to stay rather than scroll onwards is one of the most essential paths to retaining that attention. Offering value in some way that makes people want to see the next slide, turn the next page, or even buy a print or publication to see […]
I previously wrote an article on some of the gear that photographers can buy used and how I saved $15,000 doing so. It feels wrong for me to buy any new gear — like I’m burning money when doing so.