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Many Years in the making: The Monochrome Triangle
Why do some black and white photographs stop you completely while others, technically accomplished and carefully processed, leave you feeling nothing? I have finally found a way to answer it.
Wabi Sabi and the Beauty of the Imperfect Photograph
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence. It is not a filter or a style. It is a way of seeing. And once you understand it, you will never look at a photograph the same way again.
Take the Cliché Photograph
The advice is everywhere. Do not take the same photograph as everyone else. Find a unique angle. Push past the obvious shot. It is good advice. It is also incomplete. Here is what it leaves out.
The Secret to Depth in a Black and White Photograph
A photograph is flat. It has no actual depth. Everything that makes a black and white image feel three dimensional is an illusion. Here is how to construct that illusion deliberately rather than accidentally.
What Sebastião Salgado Teaches Us About Making Work That Matters
Sebastião Salgado spent four decades photographing people the world preferred not to look at. This week those photographs are selling for six figures at auction in New York. Here is what that means and what it teaches us.
How to Think Like an Editor Of A Novel
A novelist without an editor is a photographer without a filter. The work might be brilliant. But without someone asking the hard questions it will never be as good as it could be. Here is how to be your own editor.
How to Build a Portfolio That Actually Gets Looked At
Foto's portfolio feature is one of the best tools available to photographers right now for sharing a body of work. Most people are not using it well. Here is how to change that.
A Novel Way To Measure Progress
Last night at Open Studios someone asked me to tell them about a photograph on the wall. What came out of my mouth told me more about my progress as a photographer than any comparison of old work to new ever has.
The More You Practice the Luckier You Get
The more I practice the luckier I get. It sounds like false modesty. It is actually one of the most precise descriptions of how creative skill develops that anyone has ever put into words.
The Day My Hard Drive Died and What It Taught Me
I have been working on a new backup strategy. Last week the external SSD holding my black and white photo library corrupted without warning. The recovery process is still ongoing. Here is what that experience taught me about the photographs we take for granted.
The Problem With Portfolio Reviews
The photography portfolio review industry is built on a promise it rarely keeps. Not because the reviewers are bad but because the model is wrong. Here is what actually works.
You Have Not Lost Your Inspiration. You Have Lost the Signal.
Every photographer has felt it. The creative flatness. The sense that something has gone. But inspiration does not actually go anywhere. Here is what is really happening and how to find your way back.