Photography

I must admit that I am not a member of the ugly school. I have a great regard for certain notions of beauty even though to some it is an old fashioned idea. Some photographers think that by taking pictures of human misery, they are addressing a serious problem. I do not think that misery is more profound than happiness.

And, as Pauline Vermare writes in the new monograph, this might be understood through Leiter’s belief in a very Japanese concept: ‘Saul lived in accordance with the mayor zen principle of not attaching any great significance to himself, or even his art, and having no defined purpose or intent in life except for being present to the world and always highly aware of its fleeting beauty,’ Vermare writes. ‘Not preaching, just looking.’ 

We use equipment to avoid the hard work of photography.

The easy part of photography is getting the gear and learning how to use it. The harder part is finding something to say, having ideas and vision, and setting up the projects that will give you access to great subjects and stories. It can be daunting to really question what your photography is saying, and it can be a lot of work to organize the photo projects that will let you say it.

It’s endless. Master composition? There’s light to crack. Nail light? Timing’s next. Landscapes, portraits, street-every corner’s a new game. Boredom’s not an option; there’s always something to chase.

You trust your eye. After years-decades, maybe-of shooting, you don’t second-guess every click. You walk into a scene, spot the light, the lines, the moment, and know it’ll work. It’s muscle memory, like a chef tasting a dish mid-cook. McCurry’s said he feels a “click” in his gut when it’s right; masters live for that instinct.

You can’t unsee the layers. That’s joy and a curse-beauty’s everywhere, but so’s the itch to capture it.

Light has four big traits-intensity, direction, quality, and color. Intensity is how bright or dim it is-think sunny day versus overcast. Direction is where it’s coming from-front, side, back-and that shapes shadows and depth. Quality is hard (sharp shadows, like direct sun) or soft (diffused, like through clouds). Color’s the temperature-warm golden hues at sunset, cool blues in shade.

Film’s emulsion-coated on the plastic strip-has light-sensitive particles. Low ISO films have smaller, tighter-packed crystals, needing strong light to activate. High ISO films use larger or more reactive crystals, catching dimmer light but sacrificing smoothness.