The Holy Week rituals performed in Antigua, Guatemala (preceding Easter) are a feast for the eyes and ears (as well as for the nose and taste buds.) To witness such acts of devotion is to partake of a long standing ritual that is as relevant and magical as ever. Read More
A carnival, like so much of life, is interpreted and experienced differently by each person. Building on that idea, I used audio, video and time lapse animation to interpret and re-interpret my own experience of a carnival in Warwick, Rhode Island. Read More
Photographers of a certain age, like me, have been struggling with what we now know as white balance for as long as we have been making color photographs. Like so many technological changes, the control over white balance that comes with digital imaging is a blessing and occasionally a curse. I was reminded of this when I tried to answer a question posed to me recently about that very complex issue. Read More
I am teaching a series of workshops in Singapore. I had an “aha” moment during one of my recent classes. Purely by accident, I did what a good teacher is supposed to do. I took something that I knew well and I reconfigured that same information into a new format. The new approach made it so people who did not know the information could easily comprehend it. The expressions of “oh” and “aha” from my students showed me that I was on to something pretty useful for most photographers. Read More
This is the final of three blog posts exploring the question of using color vs black and white in photography. To date, I have shared work that was intentionally made in color and later converted to black and white for comparison purposes. I also shared work that was made in color, but was intended to be experienced in black and white. After sharing those two sets of work I also wrote about factors to consider when choosing between the various media. In this last entry, I will offer some other, last thoughts on the two media. These points, and in fact all three blog entries apply to both looking at existing work and to making new work. Read More
In my last blog entry, I started exploring the question of black and white vs. color photographs. Specifically, I was talking about how a photographer should think clearly about the intentional choice of using one or the other for a given project. To get started, I suggested that readers look at a set of my photographs, exploring the foreclosure crisis, in both color and in black and white. The set of work that I offered in both media, was made in color and later converted to black and white. While those photos were intentionally created and presented in color, what about work that was made in color but was intended to be seen in black and white? Read More
One thing that I love about blogging (and teaching,) is how both have helped me take a half-baked idea and clarify it. Like most people, my head is a jumble of ideas that come and go. Certain ideas appear more often than others, and the most persistent ones eventually take on a life of their own. When they do that, they move from my head out into the real world, through my photography, my teaching or other behavior. One such idea that has been rolling around in my thinking for a long time finally crystallized this last week. Read More
I recently wound up a series of blog entries exploring my experiences with and thoughts about technology. The non-technological process of spring-cleaning prompted all of these posts. In the process of that cleaning (or more accurately my massive archival purge,) I looked at thousands and thousands of my old images. Some scared me, some impressed me and some surprised me. Though it was not my intention, it turned out to be a great way to consider the arc of my evolution, as a photographer and as a professional. Read More
With the announcement that Kodak is discontinuing its legendary color slide film, Kodachrome, I find myself frequently humming Paul Simon’s song about that film. Then I got to thinking about the film, which I once used in VERY large quantities. Finally, I came to consider the film’s successor(s.) Just like when the ruler of a country dies, he (or she) might be gone but the next leader is soon in place and most importantly, the institution lives on. That is how I see Kodachrome’s and photography’ continuing forward. Read More
Periodically, I see things on the web that leave me stunned. Many involve other people’s stupidity. Some involve equally striking acts of creativity. Some of the best, to me, are those showing simple and elegant ways to modernize small but important photographic tools. Read More