Category: Originals
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Does Being Creative Mean Being Original?
Most photographers use creative and original as if they are the same word. They are not. The confusion is causing real anxiety and getting in the way of real work. Here is a more honest and more useful way to think about what being creative actually means.
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Is Photojournalism Broken?
Photojournalism presents itself as the gold standard of honest photography. The unmanipulated truth. The moment as it actually happened. The reality is more complicated and the gap between the claim and the practice is worth looking at honestly.
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How a Single Photograph Tells a Complete Story
Most photographers think telling a story in a single image is impossible. They are wrong. The mistake is thinking you have to show the whole story. You do not. You have to imply it. Here is the difference and why it matters.
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The Enemy of Art Is the Absence of Limitations
Orson Welles said the enemy of art is the absence of limitations. He spent a career proving it. So did Robert Frank, Vivian Maier, and Daido Moriyama. Here is what constraint actually does to creative work and why more resources is not always the answer.
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How Project Photography Can Elevate Your Work
Most photographers shoot reactively. Something interesting appears and they respond to it. Project photography is the opposite and the difference in what it produces is significant. Here is why committing to a subject over time is one of the most powerful things a photographer can do.
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Seven Reasons to Actually Upgrade Your Gear
The photography industry is very good at making you feel like your current gear is not enough. Most of the time it is wrong. But sometimes upgrading is genuinely the right call. Here is how to tell the difference.
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Many Years in the making: The Monochrome Triangle
Why do some black and white photographs stop you completely while others, technically accomplished and carefully processed, leave you feeling nothing? I have finally found a way to answer it.
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Wabi Sabi and the Beauty of the Imperfect Photograph
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence. It is not a filter or a style. It is a way of seeing. And once you understand it, you will never look at a photograph the same way again.
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Take the Cliché Photograph
The advice is everywhere. Do not take the same photograph as everyone else. Find a unique angle. Push past the obvious shot. It is good advice. It is also incomplete. Here is what it leaves out.
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The Secret to Depth in a Black and White Photograph
A photograph is flat. It has no actual depth. Everything that makes a black and white image feel three dimensional is an illusion. Here is how to construct that illusion deliberately rather than accidentally.