LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
Kanalaren Xehetasunak
LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art ph...
Atal Berriak
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HT2483 - Pixels Per Meter
I was looking at an astronomy website when it introduced me to a term and concept I'd never heard before. Describing the resolution of an image based...
HT2482 - Useful Photography
It seems that most fine art photography tends to be decorative in nature. I love seeing a beautiful print on display in someone's home. Décor is not t...
HT2481 - Counting Shots
My first 35 years in photography were deep in the roots of the analog workflow. One of the realities that was constantly at the top of my thinking was...
HT2480 - A Language I Do Not Speak
One of the objectives of art is to communicate with others. That communication does rely, however, on a common language and vocabulary. I was thinking...
HT2479 - Screen vs Print Synchronicity
A source of constant frustration over the years has been the differences between what I see on my computer monitor and what I see in a print. They're...
LW1485 - Do We Still Need a Camera?
LW1485 - Do We Still Need a Camera?
A long-time LensWork reader asks why Brooks is not an early adopter of AI technology for making photographic...
HT2478 - Photography As a Spiritual Practice
Photography and spiritual practices would seem to be worlds apart. I'm not so sure about that. Do we need to know the photographer's foundation in ord...
HT2477 - Your Philosophy of Photography
The mechanical, chemical, and technical aspects of photography do not need a philosophical basis as their foundation. Science is needed and perhaps a...
HT2476 - The Balance Between Doing and Finishing
These last few months have been a particularly busy time for me photographically. I've been doing lots of work, processing images, organizing files, k...
HT2475 - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor
I suppose everyone listening to this commentary would, to one degree or another, describe themselves as "a photographer." But how we define ourselves...
HT2474 - Validation via Publication
Last spring, I had an opportunity to show some work to a new acquaintance. They were complimentary and then asked where the images had been published....
HT2472 - The YOU Who Photographs
When I go out photographing, I often begin with the sense that I need to shift mental gears from everyday thought to artmaking thought. I feel the nee...
LW1484 - Persistence and Longevity
LW1484 - Persistence and Longevity
I'm a believer in sustained effort. I know this puts me in direct conflict with today's instantaneous culture...
HT2471 - Predictability and Art
Lynn and I have been watching a series on Netflix that has become totally predictable. Every plot twist, every character reaction, every conflict betw...
HT2470 - Enough Camera for the Purpose
In my life, I've owned and used an 8x10 camera, a 5x7 camera, a medium format monorail camera, 35 mm cameras, twin lens reflex cameras, and over a doz...
HT2469 - The Doors Lit My Fire
My generation, like most generations, had their own music. As a child of the '60s and '70s, I had no idea that rock and roll was following the well-es...
HT2468 - Until Spoken Through
One of my favorite quotes about the art life comes from Anaïs Nin who advised "Do not speak unless spoken through." This captures my philosophy of pho...
HT2467 - Depreciation Happens
We all know the bumper sticker wisdom that can be politely translated with the phrase "poo poo occurs." That's the sense with which I titled this comm...
HT2473 - Sorry Disney, Snow Is Not White
With the turn of the weather, we photographers in the northern hemisphere can start thinking about snow photography. I've always found snow to be one...
HT2466 - Postpone or Intensify
Photography has the ability to lead us to two completely different relationships with existence. We can use photography to postpone our relationship w...
HT2465 - Rotating Batteries
Here's one of those dumb little practical ideas that can be so useful. It has to do with using multiple batteries and amortizing the wear and tear on...
LW1483 - Some Thoughts on Inventing Our Own Medium
LW1483 - Some Thoughts on Inventing Our Own Medium
At its most fundamental and simple terms, artmaking something that expresses something. Notic...
HT2464 - A Most Welcome Winter Photography Tool
Perhaps you've heard the advice, "There is no bad weather, there is only bad clothing." When I woke up this morning, it was -2° F outside. For reasons...
HT2463 - The Responsibilities of Owning Artwork
I had a water leak that dripped into a couple of portfolio cases where I housed artwork from other photographers. I lost 13 pieces of wonderful work t...
HT2462 - My New Phone Has Adaptive Display
My old phone finally gave up the ghost when its battery wouldn't hold a charge anymore. So off to the phone store and a new phone, and that sizable pr...
HT2461 - Variations on a Theme
I'm a fan of Sergei Rachmaninoff's piano compositions. I was not aware, however, until last night, of a composition he wrote titled Variations on a Th...
HT2460 - With the Passage of Time
I'm certainly not the only photographer who looks back at their earlier work and feels a sense of embarrassment. What was I thinking? Of all the negat...
HT2459 - AI and the Ideal
When we say that one photograph is better than another, how do we arrive at that conclusion? When we are processing our images, what is the criteria w...
HT2458 - Every Capture Is a Teacher
The core of artmaking is the twin fusion of learning and producing. It's easy to see that if there is no producing there is no artwork. It's not so ob...
LW1482 - The Importance of Momentum
LW1482 - The Importance of Momentum
Borrowing a phrase from Carl Chiarenza and his book, Pictures Come from Pictures, I'd like to propose that "...
HT2457 - One of One
In 1989, I commissioned a metal shop expert to create an adapter for my Arca Swiss monorail view camera that would allow me to use Polaroid 3¼ by 4¼ f...
HT2456 - The Most Memorable Photographs of our Age
Time has a way of filtering out the unimportant. Think back 500 years ago. We don't remember local politics, but we do remember the great art from tha...
HT2455 - To Prime or Not to Prime
There is no question that prime lenses have a reputation for being superior in comparison to zoom lenses. The most expensive lenses are often the very...
HT2454 - Decisions vs Execution
Art making is the fusion of decisions and execution. It's not at all uncommon for photographers to explain that they became a photographer because the...
HT2453 - From My Distant Past
Twice now in the last few months, I've received a kind-hearted compliment about one of my pictures — in both cases, however, from images I made more t...
HT2452 - Photographing Is Not the Same Thing As Making Art
I have 200,000 digital captures in my Lightroom catalog. Does that mean I have 200,000 pieces of artwork? Of course not. So I ask you, precisely, at w...
HT2451 - Knowing When to Stop
I think I'm remembering this correctly that it was Pablo Picasso who said the trick and painting is knowing when to stop. Obviously, the same sentimen...
LW1481 - Every Picture Is a Compromise
LW1481 - Every Picture Is a Compromise
I think I'm remembering this correctly that it was Pablo Picasso who said the trick and painting is knowi...
HT2450 - Pepper Number Twenty-Nine
Edward Weston's famous photograph, Pepper #30, has always intrigued me. It's a beautiful image, but to be honest I'm less fascinated with the image it...
HT2449 - Bonus Images
I'll bet that most of you, from time to time, watch the bonus features after you've finished watching the movie. Or perhaps you watch the director's c...