Glass Plate Photography: Glimpse Into the Past, A Snapshot For the Ages

I went to a local garage sale and there were glass negatives for sale, a whole box for $3. For the price of a coffee, I got a collection of 4x5 glass slides that each probably cost the subject a considerable amount of their weekly paycheck to make. Which makes me ask two questions: 1)...

Shoot Film, Make Art

I really believe that digital photography is here to stay. It's a tremendous medium for work that needs instant delivery. That is going to be used commercially and editorially. I also believe that the photographers who are working with film are the only ones making art that will last, that will matter. That will exist...

Goodbye Daylight Savings Time, Hello Short Days & Darkroom Printing

Today's the first day of standard time in the U.S., and we all know that means the loss of daylight way too early in the evening. One place that has no affect is when I head down the stairs and into the darkroom. This is the time of year I look forward to because I...

The Value of the Snapshot & Prints With Borders

I miss the snapshot, those small photos that would get printed with their scalloped white-edge border. I often order prints of my own and always add a white border to the print, but it's not the same as when it was done back in the 1950s, with the paper cut with a decorative edge. I...

If You Could Do One Thing as a Photographer…

Here's mine. If I could do one thing as a photographer, it would be to photograph people's parents and grandparents, sort of a celebrity photographer to regular people. Celebrating their magic. How about you, if you could do one thing as a photographer, what would you do? What would be the one thing one thing...

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...

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...

Publishing Four Very Important Photo Books in 2019

It started with a social media post. And it was an idea that would change the world. See, these four books for four friends are the most significant photo books I'll publish this year. And they're not even my photos. Because those folks weren't going to make photo books. They weren't going to print any...

The Magic is Missing in Phone-Snappy World

True story happened yesterday. I met a young couple, mid-20s, and we were talking about film photography. I told them how they could get one roll of black and white film from Mike's Camera and shoot one photo a month in an old Minolta SLR they had, and after three years they'd have a wonderful...

Photography is at a Low Point in its History

Photography is at a low point in its history. And it makes me sad. But first a little photography history lesson to see how we got here. (And hope for how we change it for the better.) We've been at this photography thing for just about 193 years--the first photograph was made in 1826.  And...