Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These short 2-4 minute talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 35 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work and building an audience. Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. His latest books are "The Creative Life in Photography" (2013) and "Looking at Images (2014).
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Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These short 2-4 minute talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 35 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work and building an audience. Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. His latest books are "The Creative Life in Photography" (2013) and "Looking at Images (2014).
I was recently at a scenic overlook where there were quite a number of others using what appear to be fairly modern digital cameras and long lenses. It occurred to me that probably all of them, or at least almost all of them, would end up with a very lovely photograph. The light was beautiful, the view from overlook was breathtaking, and their cameras quite capable. A lot has changed in the last 50 years of photography.
Unless, that is, your objective with photography is to provide an income. When someone tells me it's their best-selling image, what I hear is that this is the most expected, most cliché, most common photograph they've made. This does not mean that your worst selling photograph is your most personal, most unique, most treasured photograph that you've made.
What are the implications when thousands of photographers are making tens of thousands of spectacular images? What happens to the value of accomplishment when the product ceases to be rare? The photographic priesthood has dissolved. In its place we have a perfectly democratic medium. This is a good thing for the simple reason that it will refocus our efforts toward meaning and content rather than impressive technological accomplishments.
I've been a presenter at two different events in the last 10 days, and in both events I was asked about my camera. I'm not a gear-centric guy and this isn't a gear-centric podcast, but the truth is that we do need to use gear. The right gear makes the task easier and the wrong gear can easily become a barrier to what we want to accomplish. With this in mind, let's consider gear for just a few minutes. First, when you look at a famous image, so you need to know what camera was used?
Photographers are compelled to include location information in their image captions. Why? Does the viewer need to know this? Maybe we should reveal the location where the image was printed. Or the date we signed it. Or who was with us when we framed the print. Or how old we were when we photographed it. Or who our travel agent was to the exotic locations we visited. Which information will do the most to connect our viewer with our artistic intent?
Photography at times can be so cruel. Our best plans can evaporate in technical failure. Our precious artwork can be rejected by a monstrous editor. Ahem. The work we love like children can leave others cold. No one said the life of an artmaker would be lollipops and rainbows every day. To quote one of my favorite lines from The Princess Bride, "Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
I continue to believe that location is an overrated commodity in photography. Perhaps this doesn't prove my idea, but in the last month on the road I've captured images for 15 small projects from 13 different locations I never anticipated or never knew existed.
In my twenties I work for the 9th largest retailer in the United States, a company called Fred Meyer, located in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Meyer had a fascinating philosophy. He observed that everybody needs three things: food, clothing, and shelter. Everything else is a luxury. I suppose that includes photography. It's an uncomfortable reality for us photographers but no one needs what we produce. At the same time, making art is one of the most important activities we can pursue.
Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These short 2-4 minute talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 35 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work and building an audience. Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. His latest books are "The Creative Life in Photography" (2013) and "Looking at Images (2014).
