“There’s something corny about it,” Soth says of road trip photography. “I’m embarrassed of using that structure. But I keep returning to it.” — Alec Soth
“After I snap the shutter I never know if a photograph is truly special. Even months later I usually don’t know. Great photographs are a mix of light, time, and magic.” — Alec Soth
“I do think my work is as much about exploring the possibilities of picture-making as it is about the subjects I’m interested in.” — Dawoud Bey
Sunset at Chinde Point in Petrified Forest National Park.
I have been mostly working on my Foggy Morning Marsh pictures, so I decided to give you all a break and look backwards. It can be embarassing, but also comforting to know that I have made at least a little photographic progress since about 2016.
“Photographs somehow feel unfinished if they are not part of a completed project. In fact, I’m haunted by particular images that I haven’t been able to connect firmly to others yet.” — Matthew Connors, ibid., p 51.
“The photobook is the perfect form for me because, through sequencing, it allows us to tell the story exactly as it should be told.” — Sian Davey, ibid. p 59.
“The tool so many of us use to make our art—the camera—is also a way to see the world; to be more alive in this world. It can be a tool that brings such joy, and a means of saying things about the world, and ourselves, that we might not have otherwise. … It holds you to no obligation except that you hold it to your eye and see things anew.” — David DuChemin
“Most of the pictures you see, you actually miss. So inevitably, what you end up doing is taking a lot of rubbish. In fact, the basic theory is, the more rubbish you take the better the chances of a good photo emerging as well. So, keep on taking the rubbish.” — Martin Parr, Magnum Photographer, from The Art of Street Photography
“Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the way.” — Margaret Bourke-White
Camera/Field Techniques: – Choosing the right neutral density filter Think in advance of what effect you are seeking. Too long, and the effect is overdone, i.e., I don’t like milk in my streams, but smooth water can be very nice.
The Stad Amsterdam, a three-masted clipper design, was in town this week. It takes the best qualities of clipper ships, but has some improvements to make it safer like having a steel hull. She is quite fast for a sailing ship. Her normal speed is 15 knots. Her crew is Dutch, but the language on board is English. Rigging of the Stad Amsterdam with the World Trade building in the background.Off loading the gang plank.
“Paint the spirit of the bird in flight, not its feathers.” — Robert Henri
“I always say that photography’s closest cousin is poetry because of the way it sparks your imagination and leaves gaps for the viewer to fill in.” — Alec Soth
“The people that I photographed allowed me to photograph them because they didn’t want to be alone, and the truth is I didn’t want to be alone making the pictures.” — Alec Soth
