Reaching Out, Asking For What You Want

I was traveling through Illinois recently and stopped for the night in Champaign/Urbana. While there, I googled "photography exhibits" and one of the results was the Urbana Museum of Photography. What? There's a museum of photography right in the small mid-western town where I'm staying? And it's dedicated to analog photography? I'm so in. This...

Frank’s Photo Books Are a Great Idea and a Tremendous Way to Share Our Work

A photographer I follow who posts online, Frank Solle, offered to send me a copy of his latest book, Travels in Utah. It's a booklet you might say, it's only 32 pages, and I said yes, of course. I'm always interested in what other photographers are doing. His book came in the mail and I...

Gimme Something Real

I wonder if social media isn't actually a menace to both photography and society. Right now, there are so many people addicted to their devices, and the research shows that the LIKE button makes many people feel more inadequate than good. The constant barrage of content ends up making people depressed as they find themselves...

Always the Rolleiflex for an Introduction

I've used a lot of different cameras and of them all, I'd say the Rolleiflex is the one that helps me meet the most people. This trio of photos tells a story. This is Juneau, the dog I was taking care of for three days last week. This is the owner of a cafe in...

Backyard Families: A Photography Project

I’ve found backyard parties a quite magical place where families come together and are most able to be themselves. Working as a photojournalist, I have been documenting backyard parties for years and continue to add to the Backyard Families photography series collection, whether it’s a dinner party, a photograph of three generations of a family...

I Didn’t Get To See Ethan Hawke

I heard Joel Meyerowitz had photographed Ethan Hawke for the current edition of T Magazine, a glossy, high-quality style magazine inserted in the Sunday New York Times newspaper. I like Joel and I like Ethan and so I was looking forward to seeing the photographs. But unfortunately, it wasn't a photograph of Ethan, it was...

I Will Be Known For My Photography Work, Not My Ability To Stroke Google’s Algorithm

I was talking to a friend who's a marketing professional who said I need to spread my photographer site links more. Create pingbacks. Also, I need to get my work listed in directories of photographers. And I need to boost my SEO. And make frequent posts to my Google business page. Plus get Google reviews....

What Are We Photographing For?

What's the plan, Stan? We get a car to drive places. We get a house to live in. We get a chair to sit in. We get a TV to watch shows. We make photographs... For what? I know I've asked this before but it keeps coming up. What are we making photographs for? Why,...

There’s Something About Portraits on 4×5 with a Graflex SLR

I went to the local lake with an Auto Graflex, one of the early 4x5 SLRs that didn't have a revolving back (RB) but a fixed back for horizontal photos. When I take a camera like that out in public, people respond with interest and wonder. It's a camera I picked up at a local...

No Control Over What Comes So Come What May

I was thinking about doing the work, what that means and looking back at the photographs I've done in the past and it's clear that I don't have any control over what I create. I work with creating photographs based on who I encounter and the situations that present themselves. I don't have the ability...