I get asked all the time why in the world I take self-portraits. Usually it is a simple curiosity. Especially from fellow photographers who can’t imagine being in front of the camera, this is a strange thing to do. It is vulnerable, reflective, and telling. But it is also a way to take control over all parts of your craft – to focus on the self is to be bold, brave, and mindful. Or at least, it can be. Often…
Scroll for information about today’s giveaway, to watch the video, and read my thoughts. I took a self-portrait class. Even though I’ve created over 800 self-portraits, even though I’ve taught self-portrait classes before… I went. And I was a student. Going to this class, taught by the gorgeous person Meghan Davidson, opened up two ways of thinking for me. The first was one that I had to understand before I went. I’m a natural facilitator. I love teaching, love guiding…
How often do you make something that surprises you? As the great photographer Jerry Uelsmann once said, and I paraphrase – if he has any goal, it is to surprise himself. I think that is one of the most profound statements an artist can adopt. It is so difficult to surprise ourselves. After all, we are ourselves. To do something so out of our usual comfort zone that even we are surprised by what we do or the outcome of…
When I began making images, it was entirely selfish. I wanted to have control over my creativity, I wanted to see how much I could learn. I enjoyed the process and soon I learned that I wanted a career. Half a year into creating, I knew that photography was becoming a much larger portion of my life than pure selfishness would allow. I wasn’t only creating for myself, I was creating for others. For all of my creative adulthood I’ve…
I declared 2018 my year of NO travel, and that will be true…after June. So far I’ve spent a month away in India, Sri Lanka, and Florida (that sounds a lot less exciting after the other two). Soon I’ll be heading to Tennessee and Wisconsin before going to Greece and Maine. That’s all by the third week of March. With that pace it is extremely difficult to keep up routines. I find myself in airports, hotels, Airbnbs, grandma’s houses. I…