Ajaye

"One feels like getting down and crawling on all fours after reading your work."  ~Voltaire

Ether

Pro versus amateur has always been a comparison that made me cringe. By definition, I have always been and always will be both. But it has always felt like one description was empowering and the other degrading. That's nonsense, of course— there can be terrible professionals and sublime amateurs, with anything in-between. It's just that the words themselves seem so black & white at face value. It feels awkward to call yourself an amateur if you're doing accomplished work. I recently browsed an encyclopedia of photographic terms that broke photographic amateurs into three camps: Serious Amateurs, Art Amateurs, and Mass Amateurs. All three descriptors date back to the 1890s. The advent of the Brownie camera (the first snapshot camera) brought forth the Mass amateurs in that anyone could take a photograph, whether great or terrible. That tradition continues right up until now with the camera phone. If you are a 100% amateur, shooting might be as simple as your photos existing to make yourself happy. Or to preserve memories of your friends, family, and experiences. For a pro it might be as simple as earning a paycheck, whatever way that you can, and nothing more. While I've met a few that are one or the other, the real world tends to have more shades of gray. Most photographers fall somewhere in-between. I think that I've always been right in the middle— in fact, most people might have a hard time telling the difference among images that I've been paid for or not. The truth is that I've often been paid for work that looks very personal or even indulgent. I never really cared, because I (mostly) have not needed to— clients tend to come to me with trust to do what I do because that's what they want. I definitely have always appreciated that...

Lee Loo La & Heff

"I don't like white paper backgrounds. A woman does not live in front of white paper. She lives on the street, in a motor car, in a hotel room." ~Helmut Newton

Little One

Everyone should tend to be careful not to assume that the camera plays a primary role in the quality of the pictures. Do pro photographers prefer expensive cameras with lots of fancy features? Sure. But here’s the thing: any good photographer can create beautiful pictures with just about any camera. I started off thirty years ago with just OK cameras, yet some of my favorite images (and prints) were made back then. I've taught classes where I was at least a little jealous of images taken by kids just starting out and using whatever they could afford... their youthful outlook is what helped them, and they would most likely have been at a loss with what to do with a more complicated camera at that time. That's exactly what helps snapshooters take better pictures with an iPhone— it's easy-peasy for anyone to take a shot with it, and the added bonus of computational photography helps them even more. So, it's the best thing for the situation. Which reminds me of the old adage— the best camera is the one that you have with you...

PXE

Tell your kids to get into photography as a hobby— it will ensure that they will never have enough money to get into a drug habit...

Sylvia

"The process of photographing is a pleasure: eyes open, receptive, sensing, and at some point, connecting. It's thrilling to be outside your mind, your eyes ahead of your thoughts."  ~Henry Wessel

Candace

It’s easy to get carried away— you’re bitten by the photography bug and before you know it you’re shooting every day. Problem is, you’re shooting the same subjects in the same places and making lots of virtually identical images. We’ve all seen it. The Flickr accounts full of flowers, sunsets, food, the girlfriend... if you find yourself stagnating as a photographer or if you feel a sense of dread when you leave the house holding a camera, leave the camera behind. Forget the fear of missing a photo. You won’t. And if you do, it’s not the end of the world. Spend some time with your family and friends (or alone, if you’re an introvert like me). Recharge, refocus, and you’ll be a better photographer with fresh eyes when you’re ready to shoot again.

Ash

Retouching is not a lie, nor is it cheating– it's been an inherent part of photography since the beginning. Can it be taken too far? Of course. Is it deception if it's done well enough that the viewer can't tell? No. Not disclosing your methods is as old as art itself, and is common to every art form. I've seen arguments against retouching since I started working with film thirty years ago, and the arguments against it got more vitriolic with the advent of digital. I don't feel the need to write about or defend the practice anymore than I just have, as I think it's a moot point.

Lee Loo La

In the now nearly 200-year-old history of photography, there have been many different movements and genres, and while each successive one tended to try to invalidate previous ones, in the end, all of them are completely valid and still hold interest. They all figure into the history for good reason. Even the lowly selfie amateur snapshots (whether from a Kodak Brownie or an iPhone) have and/or will get their own scholarly books to anoint their place in history. The lesson to be learned? If anyone tries too self-righteously tell you that whatever genre you're doing is rubbish, you can tell them where to stick it...

Smurfasaur

I love photographic prints; I love viewing them; I love making them and I love sharing them. There are certain qualities to a great print that simply cannot be accomplished when the image is viewed on an electronic display (and sometimes vice versa, I should add— color images can greatly benefit from the glow of a screen). It’s well known that photographers have been printing less and less over the years. Part of it is because they don’t need to, and instead, simply distribute images online through communities. This is inherently built into the current crop of younger photographers coming up these days. They understand Polaroids, but they don’t understand labor-intensive prints. They don't understand the point. Of course, not all are of this mentality— but I have definitely noticed that many are. It used to be that prints were the ultimate end process for a photographer. It seems odd that, in an age when the technology to make superb prints in one’s own home or studio is within reach of almost any photographer, so many choose not to. It's so weird to me. Objective qualities aside, it should also be mentioned that the satisfaction of seeing your own print materialize in a development tray or rolling off a printer exactly as you intended it to look, is among the most satisfying experiences that a creative photographer may have. Here is a tangible thing made by you, encapsulating your vision, emotion, and skill; something to present to others with pride and with the knowledge that it is unique and touchable... to keep for the rest of your life, and even (perhaps most importantly) pass on to a future generation.

Ash

"I am very sad that some designers are still using real fur when the fake alternatives are so effective and so easily obtainable." ~Twiggy

Ash

I always get great images in bathtubs. The warm water is a natural relaxer— Calgon, take me away. When the water turns colder, the goosebumps turn on. The details that I look for, despite that I'm being a bit cruel...some more warm water and the cold is quickly forgotten. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Suhanisa

"I'm a big fan of wearing old, vintage slips and stuff as outdoor wear. I got a pair of these little silk bloomers. I think they were even considered underwear in the '40s. I wore them as shorts the other day."  ~Zoe Kravitz

Ajaye

I shot this the week of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, but I just finished working on it today. I've always been a huge fan of the hippie chick look, but honestly, I rarely find a model that has that perfect vibe & look going on. I guess that I just live in the wrong city— I definitely would find more models like this in Portland. C'est La Vie. Ajaye had really long dreads, but she had to cut them off because they were giving her back problems... then she had a short pixie cut for a while, but now she has long care-free hair. The hair and the peace tattoo, plus that she has the right expressions— she makes for a perfect hippie chick. I have to do more of these before she changes again...

The Kiss by Auguste René Rodin

I shot this at one of my favorite haunts— the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. The combo of one of my favorite sculptures and great lighting (museum lighting is often too bright & even) made for an easy shot.

Dessa & Jonny

This is actually a few years old, but I've never posted it. It reminds me of The Kiss by Rodin, which I shot recently and will post next...

Sonia & Dessa & Iris

I've shot the "hair in the face shot" so many times that I wouldn't want anybody to count. They usually look too "not quite right", if that makes any sense. That might be just me, for someone else might say that it's nice to see me loosening up... anyway, here's a few that I like.

Christina & Kellie & Donna & Jess

With the exception of suspensions, I regret spending as much time as I have in the past shooting with a white backdrop. With the suspensions, I feel that it gets rid of the unnecessary distractions, therefore keeping things elegant. With some of these, I actually tried black backdrops first, but too much information disappeared into them— the white gives everything a nice pop and a sense of depth that black was missing. Otherwise, in retrospect, the white backgrounds feel kind of soulless. They also feel fake, like a fashion shoot— which is what I originally got those types of backgrounds for. They still represent, for better or for worse, my past work.

Ash

A (very) small window into a cutters world. I've photographed quite a few that have engaged in self-harm. Although I tend to be rather interested in the personal psychology of those that I work with and often ask questions, cutting is something that really bothers me (I can't relate) and I don't typically go there. Just like that my subjects typically look introspective but not depressed— that's not a coincidence. My genuine interest here is aesthetics... I like marks that are thoughtfully carried out while having a rhythm & order. I've seen so many scars that are as chaotic as perhaps the thoughts that made them. I've tried shooting those, but I never pick them in an edit— probably (definitely) because they really bother me. Everybody has different limits as to what they can look at, and while images like this please me, I can understand that it might bother someone else.

Percolate

The Delights of Familiarity. When you use the same few lenses, you get used to them focusing the same way, and the aperture ring moving in the same direction, not to mention knowing what kind of image you can create with them before you even attach them to your camera. It’s the same with the camera. Put another way, more familiarity leads to fewer obstacles, and there’s far greater fluidity in the whole experience— something I greatly value in making photography an immersive and rewarding pursuit. I’m definitely guilty of going through phases where I'm in camera tester mode, rather than true photographer mode... where I'm doing a shoot that is probably compromised because I'm testing a different camera out, only to find that I'm not really comfortable using a said camera. What I mean by that is that I use a particular camera because I'm at least slightly (if not completely) making it a fetish object, rather than using my tried-and-true equipment. My confirmed and proven equipment isn't hip & cool, but instead completely reliable for getting the job done. I find that using equipment that you’re so familiar with it almost becomes invisible is the best equipment to get the best images. Knowing how your camera and lens will perform in any scenario— where shooting becomes a meditative, almost zen-like experience of seeing and capturing each image. While I typically appreciate the experience of trying some really cool new or vintage camera out, I tend to ultimately treasure the comfort (and the results) of the tried-and-true.