whose work are you inspired by?
A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he is being photographed, and what he does with this knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what he’s wearing or how he looks.
Richard Avedon
Why don’t you take pictures of people?
I sometimes get criticized, and perhaps that’s too strong of a word, maybe admonished is better, for not photographing people but that just isn’t where my passion lies. I find it challenging to break through the veneers that most of us wear and lose patience with the process of trying to capture that. Put a dog in front of me though and time stands still.
I find this a little ironic considering how much I admire the work of Richard Avedon and how his minimalist style always managed to reveal so much character.
I think an important part of growing as an artist is not just learning the technical skills behind it but figuring out what really moves you. I like to look at other art forms in addition to photography and see which ones resonate with me and why.
This information can begin to affect your shooting style.
This information can be taken and developed into something of your own.
There is a distinction to be made between outright copying a style and making it your own. Derivative work, changing just one or two things like perhaps the color or a slight perspective change, does not make it your own; I think one needs to consciously go beyond that.
I tend to shoot more black and white than I do color but occasionally when I find myself drawn to color it is usually because there is something in that scene that reminds me of that wonderful painter, Wolf Kahn. I fell in love with his landscapes the moment that I saw the first one.
Alfred Stieglitz, will always be my first love. His painterly style of photography inspires me to this day.
Michael Kenna’s photography has such simplicity and clarity to it. It reminds me to pay attention to composition first and foremost.
Photography today has changed so much in that now almost everyone is walking around with a camera and we are inundated with imagery. Now more than ever I think it is important to ruthlessly edit our own work and be more conscious of how and why we are taking a photograph.
Is there someone who inspires you? I would love to hear who that is and why…
it's (almost always) about the water... 