Photographs Made! Not Shot, Not Captured, Not Taken Nor Snared

I make photographs. Sometimes that involves photographing news events, life on the street, and other times people posing for my lens for a portrait. But all those photographs are made. I make an effort to create an image the way I want to, using photographic and compositional techniques as well as my experience on how...

When I’m Out in the Street, I Walk the Way I Want to Walk

Every time I go out to photograph in the streets, I get out of my car and it looks like nothing to photograph. People walking, doing nothing. Nothing interesting, that's for sure. "Nothing to see here, move along." And so, I do. I move further up the street. But there are stories that inevitably cross...

Street Photographers: The Quickest of Them All

Street photography is a style of documentary photography many photojournalists create when they're between assignments because they see little bits of life that others often miss. And they have to photograph those moments--there are stories unraveling in front of them, how can they not? Oh, and also get the exposure correct, and the composition, all...

My Two Events for Denver Month of Photography

Denver Month of Photography is a biennial event (every other year) and it's on this year, March 2023. Check out the full schedule of events and get to the galleries and get inspired! DenverMOP.org I'll be hosting two events, one on Street Photography and one on The Wise Photo Project in late March. Both are...

Ideas Are The (Elusive) Gold That Needs Mining

Harvey Stein is a documentary portrait photographer having photographed the people of Coney Island for over 50 years. He's published, he's known and his work is collected. In the photographer world, he's a made man. He may not be a household name with Tom Cruise-like fame, but he's known among his peers, the best kind...

In a World of Struggle, I Choose to Photograph Joie De Vivre

Alfred Eisenstaedt, a Life Magazine photographer you know--he made the famous photograph of the sailor kissing a nurse in New York's Times Square at the end of World War II--is a photographer who I am a big fan of, the reason being while others were photographing the struggles of war, he was photographing joy. He...

Finding Themes in the Street

There are certain things I will always photograph. Street vendors are one of them. There's something about going to someone who's working in a portable box all day serving up breakfast bagels, hot dogs, pretzels and knishes. What's there not to love? Like this group of photos from New York last month. They form a...

We Are at a Societal Crossroads, a Most Important Time to Be a Photographer

It's never been a more important time to be a photographer than today. You might question, "Why?" When it seems like everyone is a photographer with a phone in their pocket and there are more photographs being made today than at any time in the history of photography. The thing is virtually none of those...

Amid Billions of Photographs, Where Are the Visionaries?

I'm an optimist. An encourager. I want to be a positive force in others' lives. I believe we can do anything we set out to do if we're willing to do the work. I am known to encourage young photographers that they can, too, as long as they stick to their own vision. I wrote...

Wanna See Some Good Street Photographs?

Here are some that tell a story. These photographs were all made during a five-day visit to New York City, October 31-November 4, 2022. NY Subway Riders The NY Subway is tiring. Here we get a little connection and a moment shared between a couple. For that same reason, this next one also works. We...