In-between moments of real.

One of the things that I frequently engage in discussions with people (especially other photographers) on is the debate over sharpness, focus and technical perfection. In all honesty there really is no wrong answer here. If you have or are making photographs that you are happy with then that is the right answer for you.

For me, the most important thing is the moment. Is that moment moving and fluid or is it better portrayed in a clear and sharp approach? Every image has its emotion whether is be moody and emotional or more of a documentation approach. I try to leave myself the opportunities for "happy accidents" to happen as I find beauty in moments that are not able to be scripted. I love those moments. The in-between moments of real.

As a portrait photographer I can only capture what my subjects give to me. I always strive to be respectful of my subjects and show them in a light that they will be proud of but also to let them see something of themselves that they may not have seen before.

This is yet another of the images from the session with actor Tyler Hubbard. We sat in the studio with a simple background, natural north-facing window light and my Hasselblad loaded with Tri-X 400. The lens was a 150mm focal length so I wasn't right up in his face but I also wasn't a long way away. My shutter speed in this light was 1/30 of a second so if he moved quickly when I pressed the shutter you would see movement.

We talked, laughed and he ran through a series of interpretations of actors that inspired him from Marlon Brando to Tom Cruise to Leonardo DiCaprio and I pressed the shutter release at various points in our banter. This is one of the photographs from this part of our sitting that I love. It is real, it is unscripted and it will be a memory for many, many years to come.

I'll be posting and sharing more photographs from this session in the weeks to come so stay tuned if you want to see images from the beginning of a talented young actor's career just as it really begins to bloom.

Mr. Tyler Hubbard. August 2016.

Photography can change the world...

Photography can, does and will continue to change the world we live in.

Masters of Photography and their influence

I have been exploring inspiration, influence and the “masters” of photography for a while now. It all began last week when I went gallery hopping here in LA…

First stop was a big exhibition of Richard Avedon’s work at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. A huge exhibition of prints ranging from actual 6x6 contact prints to 15+ foot prints of some of his most famous images. I spent a good 2 hours looking and plan to return before the exhibition ends in January. So much better in person than any book I’ve ever seen. An I have a LOT of books. 

The second stop was Fahey/Klein Gallery on La Brea in LA to see the Von Unwerth exhibition. Her exhibition was good. I am a fan of hers but I felt that the work shown was good but not, in my opinion, her best work. The printing was solid but it didn’t knock my socks off. HOWEVER, in a side room right next to her exhibition was photographic heaven. There were original prints from so many incredible masters that it was easily the most incredible photographic experience I have ever had. They had original works from Newton, Ritts, Bassman, Horst and so many more. Including a signed edition 1 of 14 from his Around the Clock series. Wow. Just wow.

I was thinking about inspiration, influence and the “masters” of photography while in the car (Sitting in traffic in LA. Good time for thinking.) and I discovered a few things that make this clearer for me. 

1. “Pillars” or “masters” is a relative term based on your personal perspective. Some of the traditional “pillars” I find inspiration in and others I don’t. I can often find just as much inspiration on Flickr as I can at a gallery show. It just depends on the images.

2. I personally don’t look at others work as a “catalogue” but rather a chance to learn. I see images that I like and I try to determine why. I look at light, composition, subject, process and any other detail that I can determine and take away something that I may be able to “see” in the future and have that learning and knowledge as I’m planning or making images of my own. The foundations of great images are the same, light, subject, composition, content, etc., but it is the way that they’re put together that creates greatness. I also strive to have an element that facilitates an emotional response to me as I make them. All of these tools help me see things and hopefully also help with my continuing education of the ART of photography.

3. “Greatness” to me is seeing work that makes me want to shoot. That keeps me up at night with a vision forming or project to begin. Images that make me see things in a way I hadn’t previously. Not all great photographers are great all of the time. Some are great more often than others. Some are really great but nobody has noticed them yet. That, to me, is the true beauty of photography. To be consistently great is one of the hardest tasks of all. To be original and creative in your perspective is also a big challenge.

4. All of this comes to the idea of WHY you make photographs. Do you photograph for commercial gain? Do you photograph for your own personal edification or inspiration? There are so many variables to this question to the point that there is no hard and firm answer. Photography is what you want it to be. Photographs are what you make them. Photographs are WHY you make them.

There is a great quote attributed to Jay Maisel that was his reply to a young photographer about advice he has for getting into photography. He said “Quit…if you can”. 

I can’t. This feeds me. Pushes my buttons. Makes me think. Inspires me. All of this began with those before us who made good photographs, bad photographs, depressing photographs, inspirational photographs. We all have our road and find the drive and inspiration to travel down that road in different places for different reasons. 

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

I have a long way to go…

The value of photography

As I mentioned previously, in anticipation of an upcoming wet-plate collodion shoot, I have been spending a lot of time looking at historical plates and prints from the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s to get a feel for the styles and perspectives that photographers of that era shared. As I was reviewing these images it made me begin to think about the value of photography.

Now, I am not talking about photographic images that are up for sale at your local galleries or even the big name galleries for that matter. I am talking about the long-term visual, historical and memorial value of images that may be taken by almost anyone with a way to make a photograph.

I was looking through quite a few images and thinking about how technically and visually poor they were. It was kind of disappointing actually. Here I was in an internationally renowned library and with the rare exception the photographs were poorly composed and executed, and it made me wonder.

A few minutes later I was turning pages from a family photo album from around 1911 documenting their trip to Yosemite and I started to get caught up in the untouched beauty of the locations and the ways that the families enjoyed themselves doing activities like horseback riding, hiking, camping and such. It was such a different time. Or was it?

Sure, the landscape and values were different but teenagers still looked awkward and annoyed, people were still trying to escape the daily grind and smiles were still either as forced or genuine as photographs taken today. Pretty soon I began to get lost in the progression of the trip through the story the photographs told. I started to enjoy myself and be inspired by the fashions of the time, the beauty of the wild Yosemite landscape and the physicality of a photo album from 1911. I walked away feeling inspired and excited to make more photographs. More moments that I simply want to remember and hopefully more moments that make people feel something. Inspired, hopeful, happy, longing, whatever it is, these are valuable moments in life.

The take-away from this experience for me is that photography is amazing. It gives all of us a way to share, remember and hold close our stories. Life is all about our experiences and these experiences all add up to make us who we are. With the world being a big as it is it is not yet possible to see and experience everything, but through the power and timelessness of photographs we can see and at least get a glimpse of what came before us or even has happened around us that we weren’t there to experience. It is a story in a moment captured for as long as that image exists. And that has value.

The next time that you look at work from the great photographers and are discouraged that your work may not be as “great” as theirs, keep in mind that any image CAN have value it just not be in the same way that you think it should have value. Historical perspectives, though maybe not shot perfectly or not being works of “art” can have great meaning to future generations.

Keep making pictures. Photograph things that make you happy. PRINT them as often as possible in a way that can be shared so that they won’t have as much of a chance to get lost on a hard drive somewhere. Someday, somewhere your images may mean a great deal to a viewer that you never even thought of. And that is valuable my friends.

Recently, my wife’s parents gave me a stack of photographs and a few envelopes of old negatives left from the moments of their past relatives. The image below is just one of those moments captured forever, and it makes me smile. Every face in it has a story and I’d love to know what it was.

Learning to "see". Part II.

Yesterday was an interesting day for me as a photographer. I am in the middle of researching for a wet-plate collodion shoot for a 1913 based performance coming up so I started my day at the Huntington Library here in Southern California reviewing a couple hundred images taken between the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s. There were some stand-out images and a lot of not-so-great images. It just reinforced to me that just because you can TAKE a photograph doesn’t mean that you can MAKE a photograph. There are many factors to making a successful and compelling image and I hope that, with time and experience, I will be able to more and more consistently. Seeing these historic images of actors, actresses and performers in person certainly inspired some ideas  for the upcoming shoot so I am excited to see this effort come to fruition!

As I was reviewing images there were several from the New York photographerTheodore C. Marceau who’s images were generally much more interesting and well crafted. His studio also produced the finished images using a process that I need to learn. They were sharp yet soft with a beautiful DOF and a dimensionality and tone that absolutely inspired me. The problem is, I don’t know what the print process is. The way it looks can’t be scanned and show the same effect so I will have to show some images produced in the process to a master printer and see if I can produce something similar in the near future. I do love this stuff.  :)

After I left the library I want to attend a lecture at The Annenberg Space for Photography  by photographer Rasmus Mogensen and it was interesting to have such an interesting juxtaposition of historical and modern in such a short period. His work is modern and, to me, has a distinct european simplicity to it. In a good way. Simple lighting, clean lines and a strong eye for the female form are all inspiring elements of his work. Again, more fodder for inspiration and exploration for future work. 

I look at the creative brain as a bank. The more you put in, the more opportunities for output you have. You have to be selective what you put in because negative input is just as powerful as good input. It’s up to you to decide which is which for your creative perspective.

An image by Theodore C. Marceau. A digital representation cannot do it justice.

Learning to "see".

As an art director and creative director I have been working to refine and expand my sensibilities to “see” design and communication for over 20 years. Now that I am exploring photography as a personal outlet for my creativity and vision I am having to learn to “see” things from a different perspective. 

With the way that film, emulsions and other medias “see” and render light and colour I am learning to see things in different ways in an attempt to bring the things I see in my head to a single printed moment. It is fun, frustrating and wonderful. 

My most favourite thing to photograph is people. So many ways to look at and light and “see” faces and angles. I am also enjoying making photographs of vintage cars, trucks and motorcycles. But I have not been able to really make any landscape type shots that I am in love with so I am working to learn to “see” these images and soon attempt to photograph them.

Here is a video about Michael Kenna that is inspiring me today. His way of ‘seeing" is quite beautiful in its simplicity and content. Enjoy.

http://youtu.be/3glZrvAFVUU

Helmut Newton at The Annenberg Space for Photography

On Saturday, July 6th I visited The Annenberg Space for Photography’s Helmut Newton exhibition. This exhibition runs from June 29, 2013-September 8, 2013. Having a facility as nice as The Annenberg Space for Photography that has exhibitions of incredible photography at no charge to the public is really fantastic. If you have a chance to attend one of the exhibitions or even one of their (also free) lecture series it is well worth your time.

The exhibition was very well thought out and showed a large variety of Helmut Newton’s work as well as a well-produced video that gave a comprehensive and interesting overview of his work and legacy. 

If I had a single criticism it would be the quality of the prints shown for the exhibition. Now I will be the first to admit that I am a stickler for quality. As a photographer I am extremely picky about how the images I create are used, shown and displayed, but the quality of the prints didn’t stand up to any of his work that I’ve seen so far and quite frankly, it took away from the impact of the overall show.

Now before I ruffle too many feathers out there let me be clear. This is/was a fantastic opportunity to see work from Helmut Newton that you don’t often get to see in an amazing facility at no cost and I am incredibly thankful and have huge respect for The Annenberg Space for Photography’s work and contribution to our photographic community and I will support them and their efforts in any way I can. 

Overall I say that the time and effort to go to this exhibition is well worth it. And please support The Annenberg Space for Photography. The opportunities to see amazing work and learn from current photographers is incredible.

The beginning

I make photographs because that is how I see the world. I see and remember moments, instants, snapshots. I make photographs because I have to. This is not optional. I photograph, therefore I exist. Weird.