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A Photo Story: The Island That Taught Me to See People
David Clark retired three years ago and bought his first serious camera. Since then he has been making up for lost time. A week in Havana on a portrait workshop led by legendary photographer Peter Turnley changed how he thinks about photographing people. Here is the story.
Seven Reasons to Actually Upgrade Your Gear
The photography industry is very good at making you feel like your current gear is not enough. Most of the time it is wrong. But sometimes upgrading is genuinely the right call. Here is how to tell the difference.
Photographer Spotlight: Kirill Baranovskiy
Kirill Baranovskiy on street photography, shooting spontaneously, and why the best photographs tell their own story.
A Photo Story: The Block
For the past several months Joe Moro has been returning two or three times a week to the same corner in Melbourne. The same stretch of footpath. The same light. The same cast of strangers who are slowly becoming familiar. This is what it looks like when a photographer decides to go deep instead of wide.
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.
Weekly News Roundup
A big week. Artemis II returned from the Moon with 10,000 photographs. The Salgado auction closed in New York. Lee Miller opens in Paris. And there is new gear and exhibition news worth knowing about.
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.
Photographer Spotlight: Robert Stacy
Robert Stacy has spent his career pointing his camera at the things the world would rather look away from. Reproductive rights, civil rights, homelessness, economic justice. Not because it is comfortable but because he believes photography can change things. We talked to him about dignity, spontaneity, and why he always walks back the way he came.
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.