When the Audience Changes and We Have to Show Proof

A snapshot used to be a simple thing. We used a camera to save a moment from our lives to tuck it away under the bed in a shoebox or in a photo album, so that we could travel back in time at a future date and relive it. We even did it shortly after...

Photographing Children at Play in Safe America

I wish we didn't live in a world where there was so much suspicion about each other, where everyone is assumed to be 'stranger danger' until proven innocent. Where every man is looked upon as a creep, and everyone on the street has bad intentions. A man with a camera can only mean bad news....

Photography Today: Paint-By-Numbers Easy?

I was having a beer with a friend last night and he mentioned how easy it is nowadays to be a photographer, what with all the great gear and how everything looks good, even on a phone camera. Which of course got me thinking, "Is it that easy?" Has the tech made everyone great photographers?...

The Kind of Photographer, Artisan or Technician

Is there a difference between the photographer who uses film versus the one who uses digital cameras? And I always preface this question with the understanding that there is no right and wrong way with art--neither digital nor film is inherently better than the other, just different ways of working. I was thinking about the...

A New Photography Order – WAJDA’S MANIFESTO

We are at a unique time in the history of photography. The ability to capture an image, stop time and record it as it was has only been a part of human history since 1839, 181 years, which really isn't all that long of a time period considering the ages that humans have been on...

What Has Happened to Street Photography?

I was thinking about influencers and how that's a word that never used to exist. In a world with social media, the goal of attracting large numbers of followers and becoming popular to become "Insta-famous," what have we done to art? Wasn't there always influence from major players like John Szarkowski at MoMA, and plenty...

Kenneth Wajda Photo Critiques, 1-On-1 Mentoring and Book Publishing

Kenneth, who has judged photography contests and has been a professional photographer for over 30 years, is now offering 1-on-1 critiques of photographers’ work online. Here’s how it works, with three levels of participation offered. For less than a dollar a day, and for less than the price of a photography workshop, you can get...

“But People Are So Busy…”

I don't believe that. What are we so busy doing? People say that everyone is in such a hurry today, they have kids that have to get dropped off to after-school activities or sports. But wait, they've always done that. Are kids now on six or eight teams instead of the one or two they...

Productive Photographically in These Pandemic Times

This pandemic has certainly caused a major disruption in the lives of photographers. I've heard many say that it has stifled all creativity, there's just nothing to shoot. Sure, there were the photo essays on the pandemic, and people social distancing, masking up, etc. But after that, what's left? What's wrong with me? I've had...

Do The Work For The Art, Not For Fame Or Likes

Do the work. Make your art. Not for likes. Or thumbs up. Or fame. But because you have to do it, you have no choice in the matter, the work has to exist. It's the kind of work that if you put it out and didn't get a "Like", you'd still do it. That's how...