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 wouldn't be surprised to learn that you have all heard the joke, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? " Answer: practice, practice, practice. Is this true for photography, too? And if so, how do we practice photography? Perhaps Yoda had the best answer, "There is no try, there is only do."
One of the worst things you can be accused of is copying a master's photograph. Have you ever tried to copy a master's photograph? It's impossible to do! Instead, we're supposed to find our own voice. But what if our response to the world is the same as others?
I rarely find success when I plan a picture idea, especially when I do so to a fine degree of control. More often than not, it's the unexpected that produces the best opportunities. I remember once pulling the car over on a long dirt road to photograph a juniper tree and some foreground sagebrush. As I approached, however, it was the perfectly preserved and thoroughly unexpected coyote skeleton that became the photograph I treasured.
One of Cherie Heiser's most poignant observations about photography was that photographers make thousands of negatives, hundreds of prints, exhibit a dozen or two, sell even fewer and are famous for one. I couldn't help but think about this as I wandered through the recent exhibition at the Fenimore Museum.
Being a photographer means learning things that will help us grow as an artist. During my first decades, that learning was narrowly focused on the technical aspects of image making. Looking back on those years, I can't help but thinking that I missed so much of the truly important aspects of being an artist. I now wonder how my photography would have progressed if someone has shared with me some of the deeper aspects of being an artist. Then again, maybe they did and I just wasn’t listening.
Over the decades, I've met and talked with a lot of people who collect artwork and photography in particular. One characteristic of collecting that I've noticed with almost universal consistency is that people have work because of their connection with the artist. Obviously, there are exceptions, but it's amazing how frequently I hear acquisition stories that involve knowing the artist in one capacity or another.
As a creator, I like to think that if I work hard, think deeply, and apply my best efforts with perseverance that I will be able to connect with people through my artwork. As much as I want to believe this, my experience tells me that sometimes that connection is simply impossible.
When I look at artwork, it often involves two different types of response. I can admire a work of art because of its amazing execution, or I may admire a work of art for its emotive content. Execution involves a wonderment about how the artist did it. Content involves a dialog about why they did it. I've learned that I can't process both of these ways of thinking simultaneously.
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).
