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Photographer Spotlight

Where photographers who shoot in black and white come to learn, share and grow

  • Stop Trying to Find Your Style

    Stop Trying to Find Your Style

    Find your style. Develop your style. Have a consistent style. It is the most repeated piece of advice in photography. It is also backwards. Here is why chasing style is getting in the way of better work and what to do instead.

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  • Nobody Told You Your Photography Would Change Like This

    Nobody Told You Your Photography Would Change Like This

    Every serious photographer travels an arc. The work that excited you when you started is not the work that moves you now. The light you chased then is not the light you chase today. Here is what that shift is really about and we want to hear how it has shown up in your own…

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  • The Real Gift of Modern Camera Technology Is a More Present Photographer

    The Real Gift of Modern Camera Technology Is a More Present Photographer

    We talk about autofocus and auto exposure as technical improvements. They are. But the more significant thing they did has nothing to do with sharpness or exposure accuracy. They gave the photographer back to the moment.

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  • How to Create Layers in a Photograph

    How to Create Layers in a Photograph

    A layered photograph is one where the eye keeps finding something new. Not complexity for its own sake but depth that reveals itself gradually. Here is what that means in practice and how to create it deliberately rather than accidentally.

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  • Weekly News Roundup

    Weekly News Roundup

    A busy week coming out of NAB. Panasonic has a new 40mm prime worth knowing about, Canon’s anniversary compact is already selling out, and Blackmagic just announced something that could change how a lot of photographers edit.

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  • Does Being Creative Mean Being Original?

    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?

    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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  • Photographer Spotlight: Matt Hodson

    Photographer Spotlight: Matt Hodson

    Matt Hodson calls his style post-street. Not the decisive moment but the moment after. Not the person but the space they left behind. It sounds like a stylistic choice. It is also a philosophy that grew directly out of grief. Here is the photographer behind it.

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  • How a Single Photograph Tells a Complete Story

    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

    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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