It might sound strange to suggest that painters can teach us anything about photography.
I believe, though, that any creative pursuit springs from the same space within us – whether it’s photography, writing, painting or even making exquisitely beautiful cakes.
Creativity comes from a desire to express ourselves, to verbalize our experiences, thoughts, ideas and what fascinates us about the world.
The ways we express ourselves are merely our personal preferences, but the fact that we choose to create, that is a universal desire and, what I would argue, is also a need.
In keeping myself motivated as a photographer I love to look for inspiration from all across the creative spectrum.
I like to take the advice of my favourite photographer Ernst Haas in this, when he recommended to:
“refine your senses through the great masters of music, painting, and poetry. In short, try indirect inspirations, and everything will come by itself.”
Not only do I love Van Gogh’s paintings, but I love how he talks about being an artist. I feel he expresses that desire to see the world in a new way so uniquely.
I liked too how he wrote very simply of the life-giving qualities of being creative.
Today I wanted to indulge in his brilliance and see what we can draw from his life to help us with our photography.
1. We are all deeply creative
“Does what goes on inside show on the outside? Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney.” Van Gogh
I have met too many people who say they aren’t creative types or arty types. And yet they have a huge desire to create, to be people who make things.
That desire is enough. That fire within is enough to take you to where you need to go with your photography.
2. The strange magic of creation
“What is drawing? How does one get there? It’s working one’s way through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do. How can one get through that wall? — since hammering on it doesn’t help at all. In my view, one must undermine the wall and grind through it slowly and patiently.” Van Gogh
I love this quote. It shows some of that strange magic that is involved in the act of creativity, but also the grind of just doing the work.
Sometimes I don’t know where my images come from. I just know my role is to show up, push through discomfort when it arises and keep going.
3. Paying attention to your subject changes what it is
“It is looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning.” Van Gogh
When you look deeply at a subject it starts to transform into other things.
Perhaps it becomes intertwined with your imagination, your memories, and thoughts. Your imagination transforming it from one thing to another.
Perhaps it changes because as you look, really look at something, you notice its many facets, its individual details, its many elements. It becomes less a part of a whole, and more a whole world in itself.
4. We all need to be courageous
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Van Gogh
I need this stapled to my forehead sometimes. I feel that my life requires a lot of courage, often. I’ve chosen a different path to others, so I see what this would be. When I overcome fear and feel courageous, wow, it’s an amazing feeling. When I succumb to fear and am not courageous, then, yes, it doesn’t feel great. But the mere act of attempting courageous acts induces a lot of creative energy within me.
“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore” Van Gogh
5. Taking photos is the most important thing I can do
I wonder if it’s my age, but my desire to create photographs feels in some ways more urgent than when I was younger. Maybe urgent is the wrong word. It feels more essential than it ever has.
When I was younger taking photos was a deep pleasure, it was fun, it was adventurous! I have loved all of my work and projects and learning.
But there is something about getting older when you see with starker and starker clarity what is essential to your life and what is unnecessary filler.
I want to only fill my life now with things that are essential to my being. That makes me proud, that push me to be a better person, that help me grow and learn and help me experience the world in beautiful new dimensions.
6. Kill self-doubt with action
This connects to my last post about how we all need creative pursuits in our lives. I love this quote of Van Gogh’s:
“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
Self-doubt is the enemy of creativity, and it’s one we all face. But self-doubt only controls us if we let it. If we plough on regardless, self-doubt is eradicated by taking action.
7. When we are seeking to do what we love, life is complete
“I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” Van Gogh
This is the true test for me of a good life – are we in it with all of our hearts? I like to think I am in mine, and like family, photography is a natural conduit to living in a wholehearted, connected way.
So I hope these are some nice thoughts for you, giving you some inspiration for your photo practice.
I’d like to leave with one last quote from the great man, one I have quoted several times before on my blog, but is always a good reminder for me:
“I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.” Van Gogh
So there is no reason not to do things. The time to do things is now, regardless of where you are and what you don’t know (yet.)
Can I help you become a more creative, confident and artistic photographer?
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PS: Want to know more about us?
I’m from California, but I now live in Andalucia, Spain with my beautiful family. I came to Europe to shoot London twenty years ago for my first book, London at Dawn, and stayed to create a series of books and exhibitions on Cities at Dawn. I run my business with my wife Diana who is a writer and marketing genius. My projects and work have been featured on The Guardian, BBC World, French Photo Magazine, The Economist, CNN, Atlas Obscura and Digital Photographer. As well as sharing my knowledge and passion for photography in regular articles + videos I also run photo workshops around the world and inspiring live online classes.
“London goes beyond any boundary or convention. It contains every wish or word ever spoken, every action or gesture ever made, every harsh or noble statement ever expressed. It is illimitable. It is Infinite London.” Peter Ackroyd, London
I spent almost twenty years shooting London, in particular at the dawn hours for my two books about the city. This city is for me one of the most inspiring and interesting to photograph, even (maybe especially!) because of the challenges of steely grey skies, abundant drizzly weather and the short daylight hours through the winter. Seeking out good light in London is an adventure in itself, you appreciate it so much when it comes.
The biggest challenge most photographers face when shooting London is creating interesting and unusual shots of the landscape and buildings. Most photographers who are famous for shooting London are known for their street life work. This city is hard to get a handle on.
But what’s special about London is the the landscape and the buildings. They are not just a backdrop for portraits. They can be the subject. And what will help you capture this aspect of the city is being up at dawn – shooting these incredible buildings and cityscapes when no-one one is around. You’ll catch a purer experience of the city.
Here is what I what I want to cover in this post:
I will:
Outline the basics of how to technically capture dawn
Give you ideas on some of my favourite places to shoot in the city (the city is way to big for me to tell you all in one post)
Tell you how I captured some of my favourite shots of London
What is fundamentally interesting about shooting London at dawn is that contrast of the urban environment, the overwhelming imprint of human beings on its streets and the ethereal, floating, piercing beauty of mother nature’s light at dawn.
Even the most busy tourist sites, where hundreds and thousands of people swarm to see the stunning views, are empty at dawn. And dawn is time away from distraction when you are connecting with your subject, alone.
Incidentally, Monet believed that most people are blind to their environment. They don’t notice what lies before them, so habitually are we locked into the habit of our minds. But he believed that the light of dawn and sunset actually coloured reality, making it easier for people to see the wonder of the world around them. And that was why he spent so much time painting in the twilight hours. So if Monet believed in the power of dawn, then so can you 🙂
Dawn can be wondrous at any time of the year, but spring, summer and early autumn are my favourites. The transience of the light makes dawn special. And you know that within an hour or two that it will be gone and the feeling of life returning to normal will have invaded the landscape.
“Just before dawn I have the world all to myself.” Terri Guillemets
Note – from here, I have chosen photos of details of London that are interesting to me. I haven’t got any more sweeping views because, quite frankly, they aren’t that difficult to take. Instead I want to look at how you can tell the story of a city by picking out details and smaller scenes.
And I love London’s abundant oddities, like the law that says it’s illegal to die in the Palace of Westminster. I mean how crazy is that?
So here are some ideas, tips and techniques on shooting this great city.
The sheer joy of it
I don’t know why being up when the sun rises is so powerful – but it is. It feels like you are at the beginning of something really special. It is a truly magical feeling seeing the rebirth of the day. As I wander through empty streets I feel I could be wandering through a forest, or a vast expanse of green, or even along the sea shore. There is that sense of freedom for myself – away from the distractions of people.
“Have you ever seen the dawn? Not a dawn groggy with lack of sleep or hectic with mindless obligations and you about to rush off on an early adventure or business, but full of deep silence and absolute clarity of perception? A dawning which you truly observe, degree by degree. It is the most amazing moment of birth. And more than anything it can spur you to action. Have a burning day.” Vera Nazarian
Now for the technical bit….
Every photo that I have taken for my dawn books, before sunrise, was exposed at -1.5 stops. As the sun rises this exposure gets closer to 0 as the light increases. Why, you may ask? Well, I will give you a quick lesson on the camera meter. The camera meter is an averaging system. It looks at all the tones in an image frame and averages it all to a middle grey. From now on and forever think of the 0 exposure as a bland middle grey.
For example, say you had a black wall that filled your frame. If you were to expose that wall at the meter’s 0 setting – like the image below – your black wall image would not be black but middle grey. Same for a white wall. If you made the exposure at the 0 setting your white wall image would come out middle grey. You would have two photos looking exactly the same. Your meter is telling you that the black wall is way too dark and the white wall is way too bright, so here is the proper exposure. Stupid thing doesn’t know anything. You have to know and interpret the information.
The correct exposure for the black wall is at -2 stops (darker) and for the white wall +2 stops (brighter). Dawn being darker than a middle grey needs to be underexposed to retain the deep shadows and rich colours that are inherent for that specific time. NOTE: This is something about auto-modes that people need to understand. If you are on an auto-mode (shutter or aperture priority, etc) your base exposure will ALWAYS be on the 0 exposure, unless you move it with exposure compensation.
I can go into much more detail about this in another post. Just remember, if your tones are predominantly dark your exposure will most likely need to be darker. Inversely, if your tones are mostly bright, or at least brighter than middle grey your exposure will need to be brighter. Counterintuitive, yes? Essential, absolutely!
For most shooting situations that 0 exposure is going to work fine. But not for dawn!
People
I think crowds and busyness make people act a bit un-human, and so when there are less people around, people are definitely friendlier (and often they’ve been up all night and still on that all-night high of happiness). There is a sense of camaraderie.
When you do happen upon people at dawn it’s much easier to really see them. What they are occupied with? Who they are? They can be very interested in what you are doing photographing at such a crazy hour. Often they want to be a part of it (I’ve had loads of people want to be in my photos over the years. I think that may be a great blog post!) Here are a few of the people I have seen:
What do you think this guy is feeling? I sense tiredness and resignation. Other people have seen humour, that his face is turned in the direction of the gorilla’s behind. I like that people see different things in this photo. And I love the little pops of colour of blue, yellow and red in the sea of grey and brown. There is a lot of muted colour (and grey!) in London. So looking out for strong colours is a great way to provide interest points and contrast.
When I first came to London my good friend Nick, who was a black cab driver, drove me around. One fantastic thing I discovered through him were various all-night places to buy tea, like the Blackheath Tea Hut below (someone even made a documentary about it) and Cabman’s shelters – cafes in little green huts dotted around the London streets for cabbies.
I love this photo of the tea hut, situated in the middle of a vast stretch of green, Blackheath, and edging the A2. An odd place for an all-night cafe, but it was always busy with workers, late-night partiers and other random night folk when I visited.
But apart from the memory, I love the colours. Even though the heath looked scrawny and dusty, I managed to position the red and green colours of the hut against the deep blue of the morning sky. I love simple bold colours and contrast! It doesn’t even matter that the people aren’t all in focus, which is sort of unusual for me. It’s the feeling you get when you look at the people that makes it.
When in doubt, wander
The photo below was the very first one that I took in London for my book. I was walking around at 5am, fresh off the boat from LA and I was freaking out. I didn’t know London at all. My only previous visit had been for two weeks over Christmas with Diana, which was mainly spent in pubs and at parties.
I had been commissioned to do a book about London and once I had actually arrived it seemed like the most daunting task in the world. How could I do this (unknown-to-me) city justice? What I have learnt over the years, though, is I always freak out at the beginning of a project – my wife says she can predict it down to the minute. The first step is to just get my ass out of bed and wander.
So I was walking around feeling excited about new discoveries and suddenly I turned a corner and saw this scene in front of me and I thought, wow. Yes that’s it, I can do this. This is so London to me. Pubs! History! A jumble of mismatched low buildings.
I then walked up to St Paul’s and took this one, below, which is almost the same view but in the opposite direction (always remember – don’t just take the photo of the iconic view or building, look behind you, go inside, look for a different angle).
I love this photo even though it doesn’t have great light; you can feel the grimness of the city, and in spite of the greyness of the scene the scene works. (Can I just repeat – I know this repetition is probably deafening – but can I encourage you to always, always, always consider the light before you take your photo. You don’t have to have great light, as this photo shows, but you do need to be completely in tune with the light and you want to try and respond to what the light is doing, and if necessary adjust accordingly).
This photo would not have worked without the little orange lights. So, again, when you have an abundance of grey or quite similar colours, look for some pops of colour or light that will allow the scene to be what it is but adds some depth or points of interest.
Going east
I love photographing at the Thames Barrier. It’s an otherworldly spot in the very far east of London. It’s a wonderful view way down the river and I think it’s the only place in London I’ve seen the sun rise just as it comes up on to the horizon.
Tip – I use the Photographer’s Ephemeris app to tell me where the sun will rise so I can get in position in time. The light changes very quickly and so I want to be exactly in the right spot.
The photo below is of the canal in Hackney. (You can walk for six miles along these canals.) Those houses are very London – all squashed together (or that’s how they seem to me; I’m from the land of ranch styles homes). It’s this closeness that struck me and the blandness of the light that said to me I’m no longer home! Very English. Very London.
The Square Mile as ‘the city’ is nicknamed is fantastic for the mix of old and new buildings – and represents that constant changing nature of the city. This is probably one of my favourite shots as it mixes shiny, reflective new buildings (love those to photograph) and an old house and church. And then a lush tree at the top.
This photo may not be my most well composed or technically amazing, but it does something that photos should do – which is to capture and communicate the essence of my subject. It tells a story about London, and that’s what I’m here for.
There is also many stories of the area on the blog Spitalfields Life, which also has a small publishing arm. I loved Bob Mizer’s book of photographs of London in the 70’s and 80’s. Very different look to the city then.
Along the Southbank there’s a lot of Brutalist architecture (which has become a bit of a fetish I think for some photographers. It looks to me like big slabs of concrete, one-colour Lego put together by a symmetry obsessed child. Here are some interesting buildings in the Brutalist style). Below is my image of the now demolished Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle.
Here you can see that I have some very muted colours to play with but then some rich sunlight appeared, and because beautiful light makes everything look interesting, you can see that it makes these subtle browns, yellows and greens look sumptuous.
This photo below personifies that urban/dawn contrast very well. We have beautiful light penetrating and illuminating the dense London graffiti (which is Leake Street by the way, a legal graffiti tunnel started by Banksy and a place I like to go pretty often. Mostly the graffiti is your standard words and tags, but sometimes some really cool pieces of art pop up.)
“London is a roost for every bird.” Benjamin Disraeli
Walking along the Southbank from Waterloo to Tower Bridge is a favourite, but usually I veer off into the side streets. Just one or two blocks south of the river you’ve got a hodgepodge of buildings and architecture that create all kinds of interesting opportunities for light to bounce, reflect and refract from.
There are also cool little roads – like the workmen’s cottages of Roupell Street and the almshouses of Hopton Street, tiny little old cottages set against a dramatically large new shiny office building.
Just north of the river is this hidden view of the Shard. I love this photo because it’s a view that very few people spot. I was walking along Upper Ground and caught this through a gap in the buildings. You would miss it if you were in a car and maybe even a bicycle. It’s a very small gap.
London will always keep you on your toes. Its views aren’t organised in the way that those in Paris are; nothing feels ordered about London. It’s almost like a treasure hunt where you are walking miles and miles to spot things in little gaps, down side streets or on top of buildings.
Battersea Power station is a great structure; shame it’s surrounded by some pretty boring landscape. The photo below uses natural framing. It’s a fairly simple technique where you use an internal frame within the photo – either something natural or manmade – which works nicely when you have a strong subject that you want to draw the eye to. It also creates a pleasing layer and additional element. Make sure what you choose as your natural frame is distinct and doesn’t blend in with the subject or background.
A touch of the west and the north
If I’m honest, south and east London are my favourite places to shoot. There is tonnes of history in both areas, and many more contrasting buildings than in the west. Although West London suffers from ‘same-ness’ (sorry), I do live there because it’s a fabulous place to bring up kids, very green and the river is awesome.
The photo above is of Richmond. If you head directly up Richmond Hill from here there is such an awesome view stretching across the river and out to the west, one that Turner painted. Then you can head into Richmond Park, a great little stretch of wildness (well, manicured in my opinion, but wild for a city.)
Other good green spots
My preference is for shooting places like Hampstead Heath and Richmond Park in winter or autumn when the leaves are not so thick and allow for a bit more depth to the photo.
Can you see in this photo the leading line that is taking the viewer on a journey through the photo? I love leading lines, they are one of the few compositional techniques that I still avidly use.
Now, photographing dawn is a challenge
It’s a big challenge to get up before dawn, I ain’t gonna lie! Sometimes I am awake at 3 or 4am to start out. And it can be cold – even on a hot day. And it’s dark, and hard to get around. There are so many things that make it inconvenient when you sit down and analyse it. But didn’t Nietzsche say that the hardest things in life are often the most satisfying?
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. ~Rumi
But…it is exhilarating. And not many people do it. So go for it!
So that’s it for me. I would love to know how you would photograph London. Please comment on my blog below -I love hearing from you.
Have an amazing week. I’m heading off to the Redwoods now!
“To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It’s a way of life. ” Henri Cartier-Bresson
I hope you are all doing well and you are doing some great things with your day.
Today I am continuing my occasional series about photographers that I love.
I’ve done Ernst Haas (my all time favourite photographer and king, in my view, of communicating feeling with colour), Elliot Erwitt (master of seeing poignant and amusing moments of life) as well as:
I love looking in detail at another photographer’s work, because to immerse yourself in the space of someone else’s creativity and seeing what their ideas spark in you, what excites you, what makes you sit up and think – wow, that’s really cool – that’s all great fuel for your own photography.
My subject today is Henri Cartier-Bresson. Born in 1908 he was initially drawn to painting before discovering photography at the age of 24 (and the Leica camera!). After a spectacular career he started to move away from photography at the age of 60 and spent the rest of his long life focused more on drawing and painting.
Although I can’t ever imagine giving up on photography I really admire it when people take big leaps in their creativity like this. I mean he was a world famous photographer, he could have coasted on that for the next thirty years, but instead he was drawn back to his first love.
I aim to be that fearless with my decisions in life. To just go for what moves me, and not what makes most practical sense.
What I love about Cartier-Bresson’s photography is his steadied and almost scientific approach to composition – he had a great feel for shape and form and putting that together into compelling compositions.
In this article I am using my own photos that I think draw from is style and influence.
He is very much known for his street photography which, as a genre, I often find comes across in a cold, slightly sterile feeling. But I think Cartier-Bresson’s photographs, and his street photography, have a real warmth combined with a concern for humanity.
So here are some things Henri Cartier-Bresson can teach you about photography.
Patience
You know what all good photographers have? Patience. You know what almost every person who comes on my workshops needs more of? Patience.
You have to accept that if you want to be a great photographer (or even almost-great. Or anywhere above average) you need the ability to not rush the moment.
You need to enter into the moment that you are in, be totally present and to let it just run as it sees fit. To observe the world around you with no expectation, to drift through the place you are in, and to completely resist the temptation to keep moving on.
“One minute of patience, ten years of peace.” Greek proverb
If there is one thing I would like you to take away from this post that will make your photography instantly better, it is to take twice the amount of time looking than you usually do.
To fight your mind and your body in the urge to keep moving on.
When you find a scene that interests you, stay put.
Explore it, probe it, wait for things to happen. And in general, walk twice as slowly, stay out taking photos for twice as long.
But as Joyce Meyer says – “Patience is not just about waiting for something… it’s about how you wait, or your attitude while waiting.”
Be patient in your patience 🙂
2) Find the perfect expression of your subject
Cartier-Bresson is most famous for coming up with the term the decisive moment. The term actually came from the English title of his book. The book opens with the quote from Cardinal de Retz, who wrote in the 17th century:
“There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment and the masterpiece of good ruling is to know and seize this moment.”
There are all kinds of interpretations of the decisive moment, I like this one from a great article about The Decisive Moment and the Brain:
“The decisive moment refers to capturing an event that is ephemeral and spontaneous, where the image represents the essence of the event itself.”
When they talk about the decisive moment it could come across as being that you wait for that perfect moment, then you take a photo, then you move on.
But actually Cartier-Bresson worked the scene like most of the rest of us, taking lots of photos. And from this he would pick a photo that most accurately captured the essence of the situation – that gave the viewer the most information and feeling about the subject.
3) Use your intuition
“Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera.” Cartier-Bresson
This to me again speaks of shutting off your chatty, worky, to-do mind and trying to just enter into the moment. There is a lot that we intuit that we probably don’t acknowledge, so occupied are we at listening to our endless thoughts.
I feel like it’s like you need to get out of your mind and into your body – and see what it is noticing about where you are at, ignoring that busy mind of yours.
“Photography is not documentary, but intuition, a poetic experience. It’s drowning yourself, dissolving yourself, and then sniff, sniff, sniff – being sensitive to coincidence. You can’t go looking for it; you can’t want it, or you won’t get it. First you must lose yourself. Then it happens.” Cartier-Bresson
I like that, you must lose yourself. It’s exactly what I feel when I am in the ‘zone’ or the ‘creative flow state’. I am losing track of space and time, and just completely immersed in my subject. It doesn’t happen every time I shoot, but I know that when it happens I am getting something very special.
4) The beauty of shape and form
Cartier-Bresson was very into lines, shapes, organising and balancing the geometry of the world.
“In order to “give a meaning” to the world, one has to feel oneself involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, a discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry– it is by great economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression. One must always take photographs with the greatest respect for the subject and for oneself.” Cartier-Bresson
5) Take the time to reveal your subject
“The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.” Cartier-Bresson
This for me perfectly captures what you need to be doing when taking someone’s photo. And this isn’t easy! Taking a portrait for me is about your subject revealing something about themselves or their experience.
It could be through their movement, the expression within their eyes or face – but it has to tell you something about the person or the situation they are in.
Almost everyone (with the exception of young children) have a veneer that they present to the world, and this veneer will harden when you put a camera up in front of them.
People are programmed to want to project a certain image – but that image is boring to photograph most of the time.
So what this comes down to again is time. Spending time with your subject or watching your subject so that they start to relax and reveal something about themselves.
You want them to go from feeling consciously looked at, to feeling unconsciously looked at. Because that veneer is hard to maintain, and people will forget about a camera after a while.
So, in order to get to that point where people are losing their guard and starting to reveal something interesting about themselves you need to push through the discomfort you are likely to experience whilst waiting.
It’s weirdly self conscious pointing a camera at someone you aren’t acquainted with for long periods of time. So again, be patient with yourself and move through the discomfort.
It could be that you are just clicking away, having the subject get used to you. Gradually they will.
Or talk to them – or watch them if you are shooting them unawares. Wait for those fluttering changes in their face, their eyes. See what they do with their hands, where their eyes turn when their preoccupations come back to occupy their minds.
But then sometimes it’s more interesting to see not what I think of people, or my view – but what they think of themselves and of the world.
6) Don’t be nostalgic about your photos
“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.” Cartier-Bresson
I think a lot of us photographers worry that we aren’t ever going to take a truly original photo. When I visit to new cities I certainly worry about that. I mean there are photographers everywhere! (This writer worked out that “Every two minutes, humans take more photos than ever existed in total 150 years ago.”)
I think there is a little bit of nostalgia in wanting to take photos. Life is such a flowing, never stopping act, that to take a photo and halt that process of always changing, always moving on, is to gain a small window of time to stop and reflect. To have an opportunity to stop and breathe.
Photography is a weird dichotomy of being completely present and living in a very rich connected way, and this constant reflecting back on the past. On past moments that you have captured.
But Cartier-Bresson was someone who constantly pushed forward and gave very little thought to his earlier photos.
“The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.”
I hope you are inspired to explore his work more. A good place to start is the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, set up with his wife Martine Franck (a great photographer in her own right), and his daughter. And as he was one of the co-founders of Magnum.
And, as always, we love hearing what you think, so if you’ve got some thoughts on Cartier-Bresson please comment below. And please share with anyone who you think would enjoy this post, it means a lot, thanks!
He really inspires me, not just with the art that he made, but how he talked about creativity and how we can all tap into that inner realm of mystery and magic to make things that are unique to us, our soul, our vision, our selves.
“Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it.” Vincent Van Gogh
And this is what we are all trying, right? To capture the beauty and poetry that we see all around us.
I wanted to share some of the best articles we have written over the years that we have been told have created the biggest impact on people’s photography.
These are articles that will help you expand your perception of photography, help you awaken your inner artist and give you techniques and skills so you can shoot with confidence.
If you want bring more creativity and feeling into your photography – you will find something marvellous on our list of our best articles & videos.
(Do we care about) Kit & technique?
Answer: yes and no
Tripod as Zen Master – Using a tripod regularly in my photography has created a huge impact on my photos – not just technically but in how I shoot. It has slowed me down and given me the opportunity to become even more connected with my environment.
My most controversial photography article – ever – Even with my regular smartphone use I am still a massive fan of shooting on manual. No computer makes better creative choices than us. Hands down. Until that changes, this is what I discuss in an article I wrote for Digital Photography School which people loved or hated!
19 Photos to Show You Why Your Camera Doesn’t Matter – Because I also embrace my smartphone as a tool, I share my favourite photos in this article to show you it’s YOU not your CAMERA that matters, regardless of what you are shooting with.
(It’s really all about) Developing the artistic mindset
“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” Ernst Haas
This is where I start with people in my workshops and courses – your mindset! Because we are what we shoot!
Photography starts with preparing yourself and how to connect with your creative energy, becoming present and connected to your environment and bringing your imagination into your photography.
Here are some great ideas to help you:
You are an artist (even if you don’t think you are) – So many people say to me – I’m not a creative person! Well, you are. Every single human being is creative. It is how our brains are made. All that happens to our creativity is that it atrophies from under-use.
Two essential things you need to be a great photographer – If you haven’t downloaded and read our Creative Photographers Manifesto – I urge you to do this right now! This is a wonderful eBook which is the very heart of my teaching and artistic process as a photographer.
How you live your life is how you take photos – Working out how your personality and habits affect how you shoot – and how to overcome the ones that are inhibiting your creativity.
Letting go of judging your photography – We all judge out photos, it’s natural. But excessive judging can inhibit your ability to be free and connected when we go out and shoot. Some ideas to help!
What kind of photographer are you? – We are all on our path, our own journey as creative people. So there will never be a one-size-fits-all learning journey. That’s why I personalise everything I teach, so that it connects to who you are as a photographer, as a human being and what excites you creatively the most.
Fear is prevalent in almost everybody’s photography practise. It’s a normal reaction to new experiences and new learning situations. I am not immune to it either. Here are two articles about how I deal with fear – How fear holds us back from being better photographers and
Creativity and Age – There is such a misconception about aging and being creative. I say – let’s get more creative as we get older, not less. Use our incredible life experiences to blossom in our photography.
(Not the normal) Composition techniques
Photography is all about what you leave out – Photography is a process of construction AND reduction. In this article we talk about how to bring this idea into your photos so that you are able to consciously construct your composition.
Video: The Problem of Subject Fixation – This 5 minute video introduces one of the biggest issues we see with amateur photographers. And, of course, how to solve it!
Capturing the feeling of light – George Eastman summed it up for me when he said – “Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”
How I Got the Shot – I’ve done a bunch of these articles, dissecting how I created some of my favourite images. This is cool one giving a behind-the-scenes tour almost of my images.
5 advanced composition techniques – I love to teach all of the core compositional techniques like leading lines, as they have helped my photography tremendously. But here are some more unusual techniques that are super-helpful to create better compositions.
My ultimate guide to travel photography – Immediately I am going to say I am not a traditional travel photographer, but really a photographer who happens to travel a lot. But what I have to share is fascinating and it’s a lot of in-depth teaching in this guide.
One thing that comes up a lot with people who want to develop their photography is a word that many people don’t want to hear – and that is practice.
If you want to improve at anything, it’s about practice – consistent practice. Even if it’s just one photo a day, or shooting for a few hours a week.
But of course when you are working, living, looking after family and involved in many, many other things in life, photography isn’t always the priority and it can be hard to practise.
And so photography challenges can provide a wonderful way to focus your attention and bring photography more into your life.
Videos: How to Sell Your Photography – If you want to sell your photos, this interview that I did last year in Arles with Crista Cloutier from The Working Artist is very helpful.
13 things Ernst Haas taught me about photography – The photographer who has inspired me the most! I discovered Haas in college, and he showed me the potential and possibility of photography. He is a true master.
In keeping myself motivated as a photographer, I love to look for inspiration from all across the creative spectrum. I like to take the advice of my favourite photographer Ernst Haas in this, when he recommended to: “refine your senses through the great masters of music, painting, and poetry. In short, try indirect inspirations, and everything will come by itself.”
Photos of the Full Moon + 11 Mary Oliver quotes to inspire bold creativity – Mary Oliver was an extraordinary poet. She had the most exquisite ability to capture some of the beautiful truths about recognising the very best of this life and being creative. This was a lovely collaboration between Di and myself.
What John Berger can teach us about photography – I photographed the writer John Berger before he died a few years ago and he inspired me so much with his love of photography and art. He has a wealth of excellent ideas for us photographers.
Some pure and beautiful photography inspiration
Here are a couple of videos I made about my love of travelling, shooting and light!
I look at many people’s photographs and I’ve noticed that how people take photos is in direct correlation to how they live their day to day lives. This may not sound like a startlingly profound fact but, put simply: your personality can create the biggest barrier to achieving interesting and unique photographs.
It’s not your kit, it’s not your ability to capture perfect focus. It’s who you are and how you live that you need to examine.
Let me delve a bit deeper and explain.
For example, let’s take me. One thing that I do profoundly well is live in the moment. I am very present and that is stunningly useful when I want to connect to the world around me and take photos. It’s also super cool when you are around kids, because kids are just so totally present. Even my uber-dreamy son doesn’t understand later – he wants to share his discovery about slugs with me right now, because it’s just so exciting.
So presence is a very awesome attribute to have as a photographer. But guess what – there is an aspect to it that makes my photography more challenging, that I’ve had to work on getting over, so that I can be a better photographer.
I realised a while back that neither the past nor the future seem to occupy my mind much, so it made creating long term projects and stories very hard. I have always found it easy to take singular wonderful images.
But the part that I have had to really work on and push myself out of my comfort zone with – is creating these stories and projects.
Now here are some stereotypes…
Are you a busy, task-oriented person? Your photos are more than likely going to be rushed and you are going to struggle to be present, truly in the moment and to take photos that are meaningful and well composed. They may make you feel like you’ve achieved something, but really you haven’t. Taking 500 photos is not an accomplishment, taking 2 or 3 well composed, meaningful photos is.
Are you a very practical, handy person? Can you read a manual for a washing machine and understand it? The issues you are likely to have are excellent technical skills in your photography, but ones that don’t capture mood, feeling or experience well.
Are you a very creative, dreamy, ideas person? You are likely to have the opposite problem. Your photos will probably full of mood and emotion.
You’ll be able to recognise in the world around you wonderful moments of human expression, or evocative moods in the changing weather. But technically? You’ll likely struggle as you try and kick that bit of your brain that is underutilised into action.
Now I ask you: what do you see in your personality that is reflected in your photos? Both the strengths and the weaknesses. And if you recognise it, you can discover the key of what you need to learn and it is that that will radically improve your photography.
Photography is a very personal journey and everyone needs to learn different aspects at different times. I work with beginner photographers all the time and no two beginners are the same, we are all on our separate path.
We all learn at different rates – and more importantly we absorb information differently. Some people find things like learning manual a breeze, while others struggle for years. And the same goes for composition, capturing emotion etc.
Learning is a hugely personal thing that is most effective when it meets us where we are.
When I looked recently at the portfolios of images that my students give me, it is obvious that everyone’s challenges are distinctive. And it basically comes down to their personalities.
But what exactly is the problem?
Now, we could just accept who we are, carry on and just try improving over time, right? We could just focus on our strengths and keep going – which is what I find many of my students do.
The super-techy ones just keep learning more and more about tech things, the creatives keep reacting to the tech stuff with horror and working harder on capturing mood and emotion.
Developing a skill, though, is not just about increasing your strengths, but working on your weaknesses. This will help you create balance within your imagery.
You don’t have to make your weaknesses as strong as your strengths, or be totally in harmony – but by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone you will surprise yourself, you will generate new ideas, you’ll even start lighting up different parts of that big ole brain of yours. Clear the dust out I say!
Photography is an inner process. It’s not an outer process. It’s about you, your experience, your passions, your mood etc. So by looking clearly and objectively at yourself you can more easily identify where you should be improving.
And you know what’s so funny about this? When I tell people where I think they are weak, they always know deep down. They see immediately what I am saying because when I demonstrate the weakness in their creative output, their photography, they see that weakness in their personality.
Now how do you we identify our weaknesses and improve?
Ask your nearest and dearest! Ask them not just about what your weaknesses are (because after all by living with or close to other humans we are often helpfully reminded by them what our weakness are :)) but also our strengths.
We usually think we know our strengths, but you can also get super surprised about other people’s opinions of your strengths.
And often our perceptions of ourselves are outdated. What we were told as children we were good at is often what we carry as a permanent vision of ourselves – and that gets outdated! You need a fresh vision of yourself as an older person 🙂
I know you aren’t all trying to be the world’s greatest photographers. But if you want this photographic journey to keep reaping its beautiful benefits on your life, then it’s worthwhile examining what might be limiting you, or stopping you from developing.
I want to encourage everyone whom I teach to think about photography not as an endpoint or an output – how can I get the very best focal length etc.
I mean of course that all has a place, a very good place, and a function – but as a sense that your photography is on the same journey as you. It’s intertwined with your life. For me, taking photos is how I make sense of, remember, enjoy and connect with what’s around me.
Photography is not always easy or effortless for me either, it does kick my butt at times – but it keeps me thinking, keeps me fresh and most of all it keeps me awake to this amazing world.
I’d love to know what you think. What do you think that is in your personality that is holding your photography back? Please comment below.
And as always, get in touch if you have any thoughts, questions etc. about anything to do with photography at all.
Keep on keeping on!
Anthony and Diana
Photos from the beautiful landscapes of Northern Vietnam
This is Diana and today I am standing in for Anthony as he is deep into teaching our workshop in Vietnam. It’s got off to an amazing start, and the group are loving the experience.
I am always learning things from Anthony about being a creative person, and he vice versa I would say. One thing that I feel is so significant is that he never stands still with his photography, there is always a process of evolution.
Now it’s a very slow, long process of evolution. His photo obsessions and projects can take a year, or even a decade. But evolve he always does.
And even within a project like his Cities at Dawn, on which he has been working in different cities since the early 2000’s, the way he shoots and what he shoots, and how he shoots is always developing and changing. Slowly but surely, it’s like a very long, windy road leading from one place to the next, landscapes slowly changing.
So I suppose what I have learnt from this way of working – is the importance of being committed to things you love, the subjects that make you feel excited and passionate, but gently keep pushing yourself to learn more, see more, and do more with that subject.
Keep asking questions, keep looking to get deeper into your subject.
This morning Anthony sent me some new photos he’d taken of the little village of Du Gia in Ha Giang. After our most recent post all about photography in COLOUR they were surprising – because all of these photos were in monochrome.
Anthony does occasionally take photos in monochrome, but never a series. So I was delighted to see them.
When I asked him why he chose monochrome for this selection of images he said:
“I went for the monochrome because after travelling through miles and miles of green – and shooting this dense, verdant green – I wanted to experiment with a new look. Something with a heightened and exaggerated texture.”
I thought this was very cool because it’s this idea of always gently developing one’s photography. Always pushing a little envelope.
So here are some more photos from this beautiful little village in the mountains of Northern Vietnam.
I’ve interspersed it with some extracts from poems by famous Vietnamese poets, which I thought would be wonderful to share.
“The grieving willows droop in deep mourning,
Their sad hair streaming like teardrops falling.
Here comes autumn, here comes the autumn cold
In its faded mantle woven with leaves of gold.Various blossoms have fallen off their branch
Amidst a garden where the red mingles with blue.
The trembling breath of breeze shakes the leaves and
A few shriveled limbs like fragile bones in somber hue.”
From Here Comes Autumn by Xuân Diệu, translated by Thomas D. Le
“Drop by drop rain slaps the banana leaves.
Praise whoever sketched this desolate scene:
the lush, dark canopies of the gnarled trees,
the long river, sliding smooth and white.
I lift my wine flask, drunk with rivers and hills.
My backpack, breathing moonlight, sags with poems.
From Haste by Xuân Diệu, translated by Thomas D. Le
“The russet and the brown of distant woods of maple trees seemed like a background frieze, new-painted by the autumn sun in colours drab and dun to symbolise their parting woe, towards which, sad and slow, the horseman rode in robes of rust, wreathed in red clouds of dust, and slowly disappeared from sight…” The Tale of Kieu, by Nguyễn Du, Huỳnh Sanh Thông (Translator)
We’d love to know what you think about Anthony’s new images – please comment below.
Have a wonderful day everyone,
Diana
11 creative ideas from Henry Miller (to help you become a better photographer)
Today I want to bring you some very relevant and useful pieces of creative wisdom from the late, great writer Henry Miller.
In these days of 24 hour news, in these days of stress about the planet and politics, of uprisings and obstructions, of frustrations and injustices.
(And that’s before we’ve even thought about our own lives.)
It is important to not lose our minds to stress and overwhelm.
Photography, creativity, art can help.
I use my photography to revive my spirit as much as I use it to learn and notice and create.
I use my photography to show me what’s possible in the world, not what isn’t.
And I use my photography to guide me towards all that is beautiful and fascinating – to help my mind remember that the world isn’t just challenging.
I use photography to bring me exhilarating experiences so that I can remain connected to the good in the world.
Recently I was reading about the writer Henry Miller, and it struck me that some of his ideas were so relevant in our journey as photographers.
He wasn’t writing about photography – but about what it is to be human, a writer and a creative person.
But some of his ideas are so powerful that I think they will help you see your photography in a whole new way.
Let’s get started…
All the following quotes are from Henry Miller.
“Strange as it may seem today to say, the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.
In this state of god-like awareness one sings; in this realm the world exists as a poem. No why or wherefore, no direction, no goal, no striving, no evolving.”
This is everything we need as photographers – being in a state of awareness. Not lost at sea in our minds, but here. Living. Paying attention to this life that we’ve been given.
And we can take that awareness to incredible heights. We can drink madly on the beauty of the world, we can deeply relish the gift of life.
With our photography we can set our minds (and our lives free) as we have no end point to focus on. No goal to reach. Nothing to achieve.
Being in a state of awareness is enough.
“For the artist there is nothing but the present, the eternal here and now, the expanding infinite moment which is flame and song.”
Isn’t this beautiful? To think that within the present moment, within our attention, there lives every element that we need for our photography, for our creative spirit to be nourished.
“[The artist] opens himself to all influences — everything nourishes him. Everything is gravy to him, including what he does not understand — particularly what he does not understand.”
There is fodder for our photos everywhere we go, everything we are and everything we do.
Be open, notice, look, see and be curious.
Look at light on your walk to the shop. Examine the textures of the food as you are putting things away in your kitchen. Notice the nighttime sounds in the world outside as you lay in bed waiting for sleep.
It’s not just an image based world we need to notice as photographers – fine tune all of your senses.
“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”
Our day to day contains so many rich opportunities for photography that we just don’t see.
Always challenge yourself to see more.
“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”
I love this, and use this idea all the time in my photography – to pay close attention to not just the obviously interesting – but to all of the things that we often ignore – the textures of walls, the lines of rubbish by the river, the mossy graffitied walls. Reality comes in different scales, from the micro to the grand.
Include everything in your curiosity.
“Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.
Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.”
The world is full of the full spectrum of experience. We can as photographers, as artists, use it all.
Every single moment holds something for us if we decide to choose to see the world as a series of ‘golden moments.’
“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without the benefit of experience”
To learn is to experience that discomfort of not knowing. To have a new experience you first have to step into the unknown. Discomfort is part and parcel of growth.
“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.”
I don’t wake up every day inspired. Far from it. We don’t all have to be bundles of enthusiasm and excitement for life in order to create.
This is when I use my awareness to discover things that will pull me out of whatever mood I find myself in. I look for inspiration, I awaken my passions and curiosity by noticing the beauty of the rain, not just the inconvenience of it. Or the strange beauty of a steely grey sky, not the bleakness it creates.
“Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognise them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own power, our own criterion of truth and beauty.
Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. there is no mystery about the origin of things.
We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there.”
If you are moved by art, photography, music – anything creative, then you have the soul of an artist.
We can all be artists. It’s just that simple.
I think there is this idea that only certain people can be artists, that we have to be born that way (and stay that way) and if we aren’t artistic now, then we won’t be ever.
I have worked with hundreds of people who have said they aren’t creative, and so I know, and you can therefore trust me on this, that every single person on this planet is creative.
Everyone has the capability to dig into that inner creative spirit, that well of creative ideas.
It’s not something that is only gifted to people who are professional artists.
If we want to connect with our inner artist – we can. The only thing we have to do is believe that we can.
“No matter what you touch and you wish to know about, you end up in a sea of mystery.
You see there’s no beginning or end, you can go back as far as you want, forward as far as you want, but you never got to it, it’s like the essence, it’s that right, it remains.
This is the greatest damn thing about the universe. That we can know so much, recognise so much, dissect, do everything, and we can’t grasp it.”
I love that photography is a place in our lives where things don’t have to make sense. That we can use it to explore the mysteries of the universe.
Exploring the mystery of the world is the most exciting part of my life.
“It is the creative nature of man which has refused to let him lapse back into that unconscious unity with life which characterises the animal world from which he made his escape.”
Sometimes all the things going on in the world – and our lives – can make us want to retreat into that animal like unconscious. I know I feel that way sometimes – but look at this wondrous mind, our perception and then gifts we have been given.
Let us use them.
Let us use them to connect ourselves to the world, and to share beauty, wonder and curiosity with the world.
So – there are 11 ideas, that are overlapping in many ways, but so relevant I think to our journeys.
I hope you enjoyed them – and would love to hear what you thought – let us know in the comments!
Have a great day,
Anthony and Diana
Is the East End the most interesting place to photograph in London? Yes!
I lived in London for almost two decades. It’s a city I love, even though it lacks the beautiful weather of where I grew up in California. And when you grow up in the sun, it’s hard to live with out it. So really it’s testament to what an incredible city London is that I managed to last so long there.
I no longer live there (we swapped it for the southern-California like climes of Andalucia) but I go there often to see family and work.
I have have done so much shooting in the city, and made three books about it. I know the city better than my London-born wife!
I have also taken hundreds of people on my workshops there at dawn, so I feel confident that I can show you the best parts to shoot.
Without a doubt East London is my favourite place to shoot in the city. For these reasons:
The mix of architecture is fascinating. You have ancient, hundreds-year old buildings sandwiched in between glistening glass towers. It’s so trippy
The history is so vivid and interesting. The little squares, old alms houses, the livery buildings, markets that have been running for hundreds of years.
The abundance of different cultures is exciting. East London has traditionally been the place where immigrants arrive first, and set up their lives. You’ll find layer upon layer of different cultures who’ve left their influence on the city. It makes it feel so vibrant and interesting.
The street art! Some of the finest street artists in the world make mesmerising images all over the east. Every time I go I see something new.
The people – all over East London there are interesting businesses running, projects evolving out of the diversity of influence, good music to listen to, festivals and fun to be had.
If you love photography, and have London in your sights, I encourage you to check out the east. Explore and see what you can find.
Hope you enjoy!
Anthony
East London at Dawn: photo book
For over a decade photographer Anthony Epes has shot many of the world’s iconic cities at their most peaceful time, dawn. This month marks the publication of a collection of his photographs from one of his most explored haunts, East London.
Greetings from Palermo, on the beautiful island of Sicily. I have just finished running a workshop and now I am shooting and filming. It’s been a great week for me!
Di and I were talking recently about why travel feels so exhilarating to us.
I think:
We travel to see the beauty of nature and the ingenuity of people.
We travel to see the majestic buildings, the ancient sites of worship, the beauty of the old.
We travel to see different formations of nature, animals and wildlife.
We travel to see different colours, smell different smells, try different foods, feel the air of a faraway place.
But we also travel to remove ourselves from ourselves. To find other ways to live, and to be away from everything that traps us into who we have become.
To experiment and explore other ways of being – and that is exhilarating.
It brings life, and it’s meaning to us, into focus in way that being at home day after day doesn’t.
I wonder if you like to travel? What does travelling mean to you?
When I travel I have one essential need – and that is to meet local people.
Even though I am not a people-centred photographer, I have more photos of nature, empty streets and sunrises than the humans living in these places.
But it is the people I meet that makes my experience of a new country deeper, more fascinating than anything I could do on my own – by simply bearing witness.
Meeting local people brings to life everything I am seeing. Instead of just seeing history I become part of local culture, living history as it were.
Instead of just eating the local foods, observing local culture, seeing the sights – by meeting people, and becoming involved in the community, I become part of life being lived.
I recently came across the Instagram account @everydayeverywhere. Growing out of the success of @everydayafrica, whose aim has been to break down stereotypes of the continent, tell stories and show those outside of Africa a different collection of images than the ones we just see on the news.
The Everyday Everywhere account curates photos from all over the world of everyday life.
I like that it reflects my experiences of travelling – where I see people living their lives in almost exactly the same way, with similar values, as I have in my country (or what has recently become my many home countries :))
Why is this important?
Because we often form view of countries we don’t know from our media, and they are usually highly selective views about a tiny collection of events.
We start building up ideas in our mind of cities, groups of people, whole countries or continents being dangerous or totally poverty stricken or inhospitable – when in fact the majority of life being lived in that place is just like ours.
We often think – over there – is so much more dangerous than right here at home.
For me – one of the best way to eradicate stereotypes is to travel.
“I have no reason to go, except that I have never been, and knowledge is better than ignorance. What better reason could there be for travelling?” Freya Stark
And if you can’t travel or you just love to explore – thankfully we have fantastic projects like Everyday Everywhere where we can see lives all over the world.
In an age where stereotypes are becoming used politically to alienate and separate – I can’t think of a better way to combat this than be focusing instead on our similarities.
“Ask yourself what is really important. Have the wisdom and the courage to build your life around your answer.” Lee Jampolsky
Today I want to share some of my thoughts as well as some cool quotes I’ve collected that capture why Havana and the country of Cuba is one of my favourite places to photograph.
For me Cuba ignites one of the principles that guides me so much now, especially as I get older and move away from accumulating things.
I work instead to have experiences that will deepen my connection to life. That will speak to my soul, and make me feel more alive.
The energy of Havana, the beauty of the country, help me drink in all that life has to offer us. To live in the moment, to celebrate what life is. And that makes me want to create!
As soon as you land in Havana you find incredible things to photograph. The colours of the buildings, the architecture, the light – which in January is beautiful all day – combined with the friendliness of the people, mean you’ll probably be snapping photos in the taxi from the airport.
So here are 19 reasons why I think Cuba will blow your creative mind. Some are thoughts from others who know and love Cuba, and some are my thoughts.
“Don’t come here with a long list of questions. Just arrive with an open mind and prepare for a long, slow seduction.” Lonely Planet
“In Cuba and specifically in Havana there’s a sort of energy that turns every situation into something unexpected.” Fernando Perez
“Havana still looks like you want it to look. Or maybe just how I want it to look. What was once one of the wealthiest cities in Latin America, left to the elements, left to collapse, was frozen gloriously in time. In fits and starts Cuba is changing.” Anthony Bourdain
“No one could have invented Havana. It’s too audacious, too contradictory, and – despite 50 years of withering neglect – too damned beautiful.” Lonely Planet
“However you feel about the government, however you feel about the last 55 years, there aren’t any places in the world that look like this. I mean, it’s utterly enchanting.” Anthony Bourdain
I love the fantastic, inventive street art that you might find on a crumbling colonial building, in a square filled with football-playing kids or outside a bar that is vibrating with the unmistakable beat of Cuban music.
“As an American, Cuba is one of those places that’s forbidden…and magical.” Rebecca Whistle
“Havana seduces the visitor with her good looks, her steamy weather, chrome-festooned American cars, zesty cocktails, pretty buildings, heart-stopping Afro-Cuban beats and hip-swivelling, story-telling, garrulous locals. With her bedrock layered with Spanish empire treasure, slave-fuelled sugar wealth and a heavy top coating of communism, Havana is simply one of the world’s most exciting, confusing and compelling capitals.” Time Out
“Every day above earth is a good day.” From The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, written in Cuba
“The beautiful Cuban capital is finally coming in from the cold … a wave of optimism and creativity is unleashed.”Lydia Bell
The complexity….Cuba is not an easy place, this is definitely not Disney World! It’s not straightforward and easy to understand. It has its own logic, its own life. And part of what makes it a magical place is because you are thrown into the unknown.
Delicious fruits &veggies….I had some of the best fruit and vegetables I’ve ever eaten, in Cuba, which surprised me no end! There are daily markets where people bring the foods they grow in municipal gardens or from the local farms.
“Artists and photographers with international acclaim (stellar painters such as Roberto Diago, Yoan Capote, Kcho and Roberto Fabelo) are like rock stars in Cuba, where successful creativity is still ahead of entrepreneurship in the bank balance stakes.” The Guardian
Local Artists….I loved meeting local artists, musicians and creatives as they are changing the perceptions of their country, and produce fabulous art.
“Havana is an enchanting and captivating city, with the twists and turns of its compelling history and rich culture laid bare in the surprising diversity of its architecture and kaleidoscope of citizens.” Rough Guides
“Cubans are incredibly resourceful…they use everything until its last breath.”
The music…. is wonderful. It sounds clichéd but it’s true that there is live music and dancing everywhere, out on the streets, in the dark rum-filled bars and spilling out of clubs. The music scene is infectious.
The Paladares – the local restaurants in people’s houses. One of the best meals we had on our last workshop was a simply cooked roast chicken with an array of fresh salad that was made for us by our friend Carmen in her home. Very cool experience.
“Havana is one of the great cities of the world, sublimely tawdry yet stubbornly graceful, like tarnished chrome – a city, as a young Winston Churchill once wrote, where ‘anything might happen.’ ” Jonathan Miles
I hope those were some tantalising ideas for you.
If you’re planning a trip to Cuba, or would like to join us on a photo workshop. I want to tell you – Cuba is the photographic adventure of a lifetime!
It’s everything you’ve heard, and then some.
My next next photography adventure will be running this coming January 2020.
On this workshop I will:
Help you overcome any fear of photographing strangers (and there are tonnes of amazing street photography opportunities in Havana at all times of the day.)
Use my friends and local contacts to immediately make you feel welcome and looked after.
I help you avoid the obvious – and dive into the local, the intriguing and the most interesting and exciting places within the city.
Show you the great iconic views as well as areas off the beaten path, and into the back streets of the city.
We will shoot both the dawn and the evening blue hours. And take our shooting into the night. Havana is the best low light city I have ever been to.
Most of all I want to help you develop your personal vision of Havana – to create photos that you will be proud of.
I only take small groups so that I can give you lots of personalised teaching. I want to make sure you come back with a stunning portfolio that will be enchanting for your friends and family.
My team and I will also help you smoothly journey through the country, as Cuba can be a challenging place as a traveller.
And some of these are the same challenges the Cuban people face everyday of their lives – a lack of infrastructure, spotty public transport, bad internet (not so bad when you can find it!)
Bring your camera and your spirit to Cuba!
What I promise for this workshop is that having filled your time with such beauty, adventure and creation, you return completely refreshed and energised for your life. With new ideas and new ways of thinking. And a beautiful portfolio to boot!
Have an awesome day and, of course, any questions just let me know.
Anthony and Diana
Photographing the unique beauty of Cuba: January 20th – 27th 2020
Workshop fee: £3,567 GBP
Approximately – $4,479 US / 4,037 Euros.
Please check with your bank or your payment provider for today’s exchange rates.
Join me for a trip to the mesmerising, complex and beautiful tropical city of Havana for the photography adventure of a lifetime.
Today I leave Istanbul. Saying goodbye to this beautiful city after 2 weeks of photographing, exploring and running a wonderful workshop.
One of the most exciting things for me to see in Istanbul in the spring is the tulip festival, where an incredible 30 million tulips are planted all over the city in different displays.
As the city awakens from its deep dark winter the celebration of spring, colour and life here is just gorgeous.
Here are some of the photos I took of these beautiful blooms.
The history of the tulip is pretty fascinating. Although you might think of tulips being of Dutch origin, they are actually native to a band of land running between Southern Europe and Central Asia. Tulips were found growing in mountainous areas with temperate climates.
Wikipedia states that – “While tulips had probably been cultivated in Asia from the tenth century, they did not come to the attention of the West until the sixteenth century, when Western diplomats to the Ottoman court observed and reported on them.”
When tulips were cultivated by the Ottoman empire they created such an impact the era is called Lale Devri –the Tulip Era.
They went on to become a highly sought after commodity when imported to Holland, and this created a tulip mania.
Wikipedia also states: “The name “tulip” is thought to be derived from a Persian word for turban, which it may have been thought to resemble.”
Here is a great little video showing some of the magnificent blooms around Istanbul.
“Without the cat, Istanbul would lose a part of its soul.” from Kedi
One thing you notice when you arrive in Istanbul is the abundance of stray cats and dogs. This might sound a little off putting, but in fact these are some of the friendliest animals you will meet.
Locals feed and look after the strays, sometimes creating little homes for collections of cats in the neighbourhoods.
These are just a few of my snaps of cats in the city.
If you love cats – and Istanbul – you’ll love these stories too:
Sometimes photography can bring you in touch with the worlds and life beyond our mere small planet.
As someone already fascinated about space and the possible life in the galaxies far far away, I love Jaxson Pohlman photography.
Pohlman has become well known with his Astrophotography, and creating beautiful images of star speckled skies and rich coloured moons.
“My fascination with Astrophotography started when I first saw a few photos of the Milky Way on social medias. It blew me away. I had never seen it in real life, so I was beyond inspired to see and capture it. When I was 19, I was gifted my first cheap crop-sensor DSLR camera and immediatly took it outside to photograph the night sky.
I was completely shocked by what came back on my camera screen. There’s something magical about photographing in a dark environment and seeing the world around you come to life through the camera. I fell in love with Astrophotography right at that moment.” Jaxon Pohlman
Even when he’s pointing his camera here on earth, and not into the mesmerising expanse of stars and other planets, his photos seem to capture the timelessness and otherworldly aspects of the planet on which we live.
His photos evoke the feeling that my kids would call ‘epic’.
It might sound strange to suggest that writers can teach us anything about photography.
I believe, though, that any creative pursuit springs from the same space within us – whether it’s photography, writing, painting or even making exquisitely beautiful cakes.
Creativity comes from a desire to express ourselves, to verbalize our experiences, thoughts, ideas and what fascinates us about the world.
The ways we express ourselves are merely our personal preferences, but the fact that we choose to create, that is a universal desire and, what I would argue, is also a need.
I like to show these connections between the different arts because I think the more we look outside of our particular craft, the more ideas we can allow to flow into our photography.
The state of creating is one of both absorbing and doing, not just doing.
I love to find little seeds of truth and inspiration about being a creative individual, and so for this article I have turned to some of my favourite writers.
I have found 10 ideas that speak to the universality of being creative – as well as expressing some of the most essential lessons we need to learn (or be reminded of) as photographers.
I hope you enjoy them!
“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” Henry Miller
The world is here to feast on, with our eyes as well as our senses. As photographers, to be enthralled with the visual world and to pay attention to all that is around you will open up your perception so you are always seeing things anew.
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Anaïs Nin
The brain processes two billion pieces of visual data a second! And yet we only see a few hundred. It’s surreal to think that what we are choosing to pay attention to is not necessarily what the person standing next to us is seeing.
What we notice is defined by what our mood is, what we are doing and thinking about, and what we are expecting to see in the world.
Release your expectations of what you think you might see, and try and find something new and unexpected.
“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” Ernest Hemingway
There is an agony in getting started in any creative pursuit. Photography is no different.
Our mind can stop us in our tracks by starting an argument within us about all the things we do badly in our photography, all things we are no good at, or all the equipment we don’t have, or how uninspired we feel by our environment.
When, in fact, the only way to take photos, is to take photos. When we are stuck in the agony of getting started I like to think of this thought – you don’t need to worry about what you will do later or tomorrow, just start by taking one photo. One photo of something that you are intrigued by.
Once you’ve taken one shot, you are over the hump and can take one more. Before you know it you’ll be in the flow and away.
“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” Jodi Picoult
Again this speaks to when we are having a hard time getting started. Getting the camera off the shelf, blowing off the dust, telling ourselves off for being lazy with our photography and getting out there.
I say, better to take a bunch of terrible photos, that no photos at all. Sometimes I even say, it doesn’t matter if I get rubbish shots, it’s better than staying at home!
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Anton Chekhov
Mood and feeling mean so much in photography. We think we are taking photos of interesting subjects, but really we are aiming to transmit the feeling of what it is like to see that subject, or to be that subject, or to be standing where you are with pretty morning light dancing on your face.
Practise showing the mood and feeling of a place. Practise transmitting feeling in your photos.
Because…
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” Robert Frost
And this is 100% true of photography also. If we feel nothing when we take photos, the viewer will feel nothing either.
“One writes out of one thing only—one’s own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give.” James Baldwin
You are a wealth of life experience. You are a fascinating, unusual and totally unique human being. All that you have seen and done and witnessed comes into play in your photography. Celebrate your passions and loves and desires with photography.
Because also I totally believe that…
8.“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” Franz Kafka
Sometimes we can get too focused on what other people think of our photos, and almost start taking photos for praise.
We have to remember, though, that what makes us who we are, and what we love to photograph, may not always be the most popular subjects.
It may be that our images are of things that are strange and unusual, but they are meaningful to us.
Forget populism, and go instead for what you love.
“I believe myself that a good writer doesn’t really need to be told anything except to keep at it.” Chinua Achebe
We will find all the lessons we need to learn along the way. We can read books, articles and watch videos. But nothing, nothing is more important that keeping at it.
Practising and making photos.
And because….
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Maya Angelou
I don’t need to tell you that our life here on this beautiful planet is limited. That there are no guarantees, except this very moment right now.
I don’t have to tell you that taking time, even if it’s just a small, small sliver of time, out of your day or week or month, to do and make things that make you happier and more fulfilled, should be a priority for you.
I don’t need to tell you any of that because you already know.
But what I will ask you is, where is photography in your life right now?
I don’t like to have complicated goals in my life. But I do like to have a vision for my life that I follow each year.
Last year I was focused on expanding my skills, starting a brand new photo project and getting more feedback on my artwork. Did I achieve that? I did mostly, but not in the way that I thought I would.
I like the unexpected elements of life, and when new opportunities for creative growth appear, I have learnt to embrace them.
My favourite selfie of the year!
I also learnt some tremendous new skills – not the ones I actually intended to learn, but ones that will massively help my journey as an artist.
Normally around New Year I like to pick out my favourite images of the year and show these. But 2018 was such an unusual year for us, with projects dominating my focus rather than singular images, that I am choosing the things, rather than the photos, that have made the biggest impact to me photographically.
Three things I am most proud of creating in 2018:
New Photo Project: Sea Meditations
I have never lived by the sea before. Something pretty profound seems to shift in me being so close to water all the time. We fall asleep at night hearing the waves – which sound sometimes gentle and calming, and at other times roaring with energy.
Full moon at night
I have loved witnessing the daily change in the sea, its changing colours, feeling, textures and energy. Of course, everything I love I want to photograph. So over the year I have been photographing the sea for a new project.
This is such a different project to ones I’ve worked on in the past couple of decades. It also reflects where I am at in my life. I am in a more reflective, meditative state of mind right now. I love connecting my energy to the natural world all around me here – and this project truly reflects that.
New Photo course: The Art of The Image
I’m not going to lie – creating this course kicked my butt! It was a steep learning journey that took me two years to work up the courage to attempt. And, of course, I wanted The Art of The Image to be magnificent.
I knew I wanted to create something that would be creatively unique – and would take people on a deeper artistic journey with their photography. I knew that it would take all of my attention, my passion and my skills.
And you know what – I think I have done a good job. Well, that’s what I am being told by the students on the course (Phew!)
I have to say I am extremely proud of this course. I rose to the challenge – even when it felt like an impossible task. And I created something that people have benefited from. Pretty grateful for that experience.
3. New home: Southern Spain
Di and I never intended to come to Spain. It wasn’t on our list of must-go-to places. But life – and our children – had other plans for us, and it involved this gorgeous little area of Spain.
This place has opened up so many avenues of inspiration for me photographically. Of course, it’s beautiful to be by the sea, and it’s super relaxing. But the area is intensely rich for photographic opportunities.
From little mountain villages that make you feel like you are back in the 1950’s, to the gorgeous seascapes, to the buzzy city and hip street art of Malaga, to the pine-scented walks through the forests and vast landscapes to capture, to the beauty of the Moorish architecture of Granada made more mesmerizing by the rich orange sunsets.
There are so many opportunities for compelling photographs, and every time I am out exploring I am blown away by the possibilities – which will lead me later into telling you about the new workshop we have created in Andalucia.
But first, a question for you:
What did you create in 2018 that you are proud of?
It could be one thing, or three like me. Or more.
It could be one solo photo or a project or something you’ve learnt or mastered.
It doesn’t matter what it is. What is important is the time to reflect on what we have done with our time (not always thinking about what we haven’t done).
Now let’s move onto this year ahead: What will you create in 2019?
This has to be my favourite photo of my daughter this year
We now have a fresh clear run where we can create whatever we want. Yes, whatever we want.
We can dream and imagine and create anything. So:
Who will you photograph?
What will you photograph?
Where will you go?
What will you learn? Perhaps you’ll start shooting on manual? Or learn more about HDR? Or work to improve your composition.
Maybe it’s time to take a class at your local college, join a photo club, buy a book, watch videos.
What will be the outcomes for your photography? Perhaps you’ll make a book of your images? You’ll start a project? You’ll take portraits of your family, or print your work for your wall. Maybe you’ll start a blog?
This is such a good time to ruminate on what your photographic vision can be for 2019.
Even if it’s just saying – once a month I’ll take an afternoon to go explore my area and take photos. Or I’ll photograph the everyday life of my dog.
Here are the things I want to create in 2019:
Finish my Sea Meditation project and have it exhibited
Last year I met two people who have become part of my art team. They are challenging my vision of my work, bringing new ideas flooding into my photography and helping me take it to exciting new places.
This year is the year then that I will bring my new work into the world. With the help of my new team I have some exciting plans – and I will commit time and energy into making it happen.
I haven’t had an exhibition in a couple of years now and I have to say I miss it. (It’s so exhilarating to see your work out there in the world, being looked at and experienced by strangers.)
Create a library of inspiring courses for people
Creating my first online recorded course, which is where most of my personal learning came in, has been thrilling. It is now my intention to focus on building a fantastic library of online courses – so that you can access my teachings easily and affordably wherever you are in the world.
Aside from getting good reviews (aren’t we all a little susceptible to praise?) one of the most joyful things for me about creating The Art of The Image is seeing the progress people are making. As the lessons go on and people post their images, I can see that they are making brilliant leaps in their photography.
That is so inspiring to see. To know that I created something that is helping people (again, love the praise!) but also for people to see the possibility of making such significant progress with their photography when they make a commitment to learn and practice.
And it’s not just me saying: take my course. You should choose the way to work that works best for you – for example, if you prefer to learn through books. (My favourite photo website for technical advice has just updated their book Understanding your Camera, which I thoroughly recommend.)
Support Di’s launch of her book – The Everyday Art of Living a Creative Life
The person I turn to when I am in need of inspiration is Di. She is like a fountain of inspiring energy – and in our circle, she is the person many people turn to seek clarity and new ideas on their work and projects. So I am going to create the environment for her to book to excel.
So much of our work – my work – is driven by or inspired by Di’s ideas. So I want to make sure that this book comes into the world and she can share her ideas on a wider scale. Because she is my wife, I can be shameless and say you’ll definitely love her book.
So again with the questions – what are you going to create in 2019?
Where will your photography take you?
I would love to know – let us below.
Now for some exciting news – Di and I have developed a brand new workshop focused around our new home.
This workshop is going to take in the best of the area of Andalusia where we live (sea, mountains, whitewashed villages, Granada, street photography in Malaga…) but it also is going to be a creative retreat where I teach you many of the advanced composition and technical skills I use every day in my photography.
We’ll be shooting lots of different locations, using many genres of photography. Every day I’ll be teaching you new skills to make the best of each location.
Some of the subjects will be quiet and meditative and beautiful (shooting the sea, walking through forests, exploring the dappled light, capturing the landscapes and mountains).
Some will be more intense and busy – capturing the street art and urban life of Malaga, creating interesting photos of the Moorish architecture of Granada, exploring mountain village life and finding portraits.
We’ll do night shooting, dawn shoots, we’ll go out at dusk for the rich, beautiful light of Southern Spain.
Each day we will be doing feedback and sharing sessions so you can see how other people approached the same subject, generating within you new ideas and ways of seeing.
At the end of the workshop, you will have an incredible portfolio of images, five of which I will have professionally printed for you and shipped to your home.
Early bird price – £1,477 (Includes tuition & transport within Andalucia) Regular price – £1,847
The aim of this workshop is to develop your personal artistic vision and style. To delve into your inner artist.
I will provide you with a multitude of subjects that will challenge you to learn and develop new skills, to see that anything can be your subject when approached with the mindset of an artist (the gas stations on the highway, the sunset on the ocean, the church in the warm sunset of Granada.)
I will be giving a very diverse selection of subjects which will challenge you.
We’ll be shooting for several hours a day, with the rest of the time spent learning new techniques, developing your creative vision for your photography and reviewing your images.
We will be photographing:
Street photography, urban architecture and the street art of Malaga
Beautiful seascapes, nature and beauty of the Costa Tropical (where I live!)
The industrial outskirts of Granada – juxtaposing the abandoned theme parks and vast architectural warehouses with the magnificence of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (the area reminds me of Ernst Haas’ New Mexico work)
Grandeur, history, windy streets and the Moorish architecture of Granada at sunset
Exploring the lost village of El Acebuchal
Capturing the pretty Spanish mountain villages around Granada
Creating compelling landscapes around of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
During the workshop, you’ll be processing your images with me giving you lessons, tips and techniques so you fully get to grips with processing and where it can take you artistically.
You will leave the workshop with at least 5 finished images which I will have printed at my favourite London printer, and shipped to you after the workshop ends (how much fun will that package be to open?)
This intensive workshop will help you dive deep into your creative self and develop a stronger, more unique photographic vision.
From beginners to experienced photographers – you can all benefit from this intensive, fun and challenging workshop where we can all share knowledge, feedback and experiences.
Some of the highlights of this workshop are:
You’ll learn how to tell stories with your images
You’ll learn how to develop a personal creative vision of your photography
I’ll fill in the gaps of your technical knowledge – giving presentations as well as plentiful demonstrations as we are out shooting
We’ll do in-depth processing so you can make your images the very best
We’ll use the multitude of subjects around us to discover new aspects to your photography
You’ll learn professional lessons on creating images in a variety of genres
You will leave with many new skills – plus a new portfolio of images
The workshop will use our village of La Herradura, which is by the sea, as our base (we are an hour east of Malaga) from which we will explore and take many trips.
We’ll be using my beachfront apartment for our teaching sessions, critiquing and processing.
There are a number of places to stay in our beach town – from great little hotels & B&B’s, to airbnb apartments. More details are on our workshop page.
A few days ago my son and I went on the famous Caminito del Rey walk in Andalusia.
It was once the world’s most dangerous walk, tiny walkways clinging to the hills with 100-metre drops, but after the renovations, it now offers stunning views across beautiful gorges and valleys. It was fun walking over the moving walkways and feeling the deep stillness of nature.
Of course, I want to record the beauty we experienced, so most of the photos today are from this walk.
Di and I are working on a post about the colour blue (coming hot on the heels of our blog about the colour purple.)
I am a great lover of colour. I talk about it all the time. Almost as much as I talk about how much I love light (and we’ve had great discussions over on our online course about colour these past few weeks.)
In our explorations around the colour blue, we’ve been reading about the artist Yves Klein.
Klein was obsessed with creating the purest blue that had ever existed, so he created his own – called ‘International Klein Blue’. This blue doesn’t absorb green or red light, and so keeps an intensity of blue that he felt hadn’t existed before.
Talking about blue – this was our beach this morning after a storm last night. It was beautiful.
It’s a super fascinating story – and there have been many other artists and people who have wanted to bring the purest colour into fruition in the world.
People get very passionate about colour.
Anish Kapoor, for example, received a lot of flack for buying the exclusive rights to the technology of the ‘blackest black’ called Vantablack. A fellow artist retaliated by producing Pinkest Pink, which he said anyone could buy, except Anish Kapoor.
I discovered the art-fight issue and Yves Klein’s obsession in a very interesting essay by Simon Schama, which includes the story of the Forbes Pigment Collection. I had no idea that there was such obsessiveness about pursuing the potential of colour.
So while we were reading these cool, interesting stories on our journey to learn more about the colour blue, Di came across this quote from Yves Klein:
“May all that emerges from me be beautiful.”
She said – That sounds like something you would say.
And I thought it is. Beauty for me seems to be my primary motivation in taking photos.
We all have a vision of what we want to do with our photography. I have always, always simply wanted to show the world the beautiful things I see.
Of course, beauty for me is my perception of beauty. Other people will have a totally different perception.
It got me thinking about how we when we write about other photographers – Richard Avedon or Ernst Haas, for example – they have seemed to have an overriding purpose to express something quite specific. There seems to be a singular vision that weaves its way into all of their work.
We all see ourselves and our journeys differently as photographers.
This is one of the things we love about writing about other photographers. So I wanted to pick out some of my favourite photographers and tell you what they themselves said was their motivation for taking photos.
Let’s start withAra Güler, whom we wrote about recently: “They call me a photographer, imagine that! Son, I am a historian. I record history.”
And then, for me, Ernst Haasshows how photographers can be poets:
“Bored with obvious reality, I find my fascination in transforming it into a subjective point of view.
Without touching my subject I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes more made than taken.
Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself – less descriptive, more creative; less informative, more suggestive; less prose, more poetry.”
If I am to align myself to any one vision – it would be that of Haas. Because, for me, the world is so much about light, colour, shape, motion, feeling and texture. That is what I experience when I step out into the world.
With Elliott Erwitt it becomes about noticing the strange and wonderful things we humans do…
“You can find pictures anywhere. It’s simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what’s around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.” Elliott Erwitt
Even though he is famous for being a war photographer, Don McCullin wants now to be remembered as a landscape photographer. What I like is his philosophy that:
“Every day to me is an opportunity is to discover something new, not just about myself but about the planet that I live on.” Don McCullin
The power of remembering, that we can all be explorers, discovering things even if it’s in our own backyard.
Gordon Parks captured powerful images that carry messages about social justice and humanity. I think photography can often be a more impactful medium than writing in many ways:
“I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera.” Gordon Parks
We can also use photography as a way to bring life into complete focus:
“Does not the very word ‘creative’ mean to build, to initiate, to give out, to act – rather than to be acted upon, to be subjective? Living photography is positive in its approach, it sings a song of life – not death.”Berenice Abbott
Or to tell stories….
Sebastião Salgado said: “I’m not an artist. An artist makes an object. Me, it’s not an object, I work in history, I’m a storyteller.”
Or to comment or express what we are seeing in the world, and reformulate it with our own ideas…
“We’re all products of what we want to project to the world. Even people who don’t spend any time, or think they don’t, on preparing themselves for the world out there – I think that ultimately they have for their whole lives groomed themselves to be a certain way, to present a face to the world.” Cindy Sherman
Personally, I feel I am an artist. That is the ‘label’ I identify with the most. I think because it feels then like I have more licence to just create with my imagination. To not be confined. But really, labels are not significant. It’s your passion that counts.
I can find beauty in nature, in people, in buildings but also in the trash on the street or in broken and peeling walls – I often find it in grafetti.
I don’t see beauty everywhere – but there is the possibility to see it in anything.
I want to ask you now: what do you want to speak about in your photography? What is motivating and inspiring you?
I’d love to know if you’ve thought about what moves you. What gets you excited to take photos?
Is it something you are conscious of?
I’d love to know – tell us below.
We’ll be back in a few days with our exploration into the colour blue.
Now – I’ll leave you with one last quote, which made us quite happy:
“Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.” Gordon Parks
I spend a lot of time shooting at dawn. I have created several projects around the cities at dawn theme. I love the light, the emptiness and the serenity of the hours around sunrise.
People often say to me about my dawn escapades – Oh I could never do that. I’m too much of a night owl! Or I really really need my sleep. I could never get up before dawn!
What I know about myself is that I am both of these things – a night owl who intensely dislikes going to bed. And a cat-like person who relishes sleep like, well, a cat.
But what I also know is that all of this, and most of what I am, is habit. And habit can be broken if you want something enough.
“As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge” Henry van Dyke
Did you know that something like 70-80% of the thoughts you will have today you also had yesterday? How crazy is that? And that 95% of who you are – your habits, beliefs, personality etc. is set by the age of 35 (unless you make an effort to change). That’s even crazier than crazy. That’s plain scary.
But.
And this is a big but. Science has discovered recently that actually your mind has the ability to totally reinvent itself – if you so desire.
And the reason I LOVE this idea is that we find out how it can affect us creatively. So I thought it would be cool to tell you some of the ideas that have totally blown my mind and inspired me (and none of them are about photography directly. But you can find inspiration anywhere.)
Remember – we don’t have to buy into our ideas about ourselves which limit our creativity.
So here are some ideas that are all about unleashing the creativity that’s deep inside us:
1. Life is long (if you know how to use it)
“The part of life we really live is small. For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time.”
Seneca’s essay ‘On the Shortness of Life: Life is Long if You Know How to Use it’ is fascinating.
The concept is in the title, but you can also read the text which offers up more wisdom. Tim Ferriss has the full text on his website, and very helpfully he has also bolded out certain bits of the text if you only have a few minutes and want a quick read.
2. Curate your own life
There is nothing like one of Jason’s Silva’s shot in the arm two-minute videos to electrify you with inspiration. This talk I particularly love because he talks about how you don’t have to let life happen to you – you can instead curate your own life exactly how you want it to be.
3. Your mind is made of playdoh (well, almost)
When I grew up, the prevailing scientific thought was that our brain was fixed at a certain age and brains couldn’t be repaired or changed. That theory has now been blown to pieces and the concept of neuroplasticity is now gaining widespread acceptance.
“New research shows many aspects of the brain remain changeable (or “plastic”) even into adulthood.” Wikipedia
That is an amazing thought. So instead of being hardwired and unchangeable, our brains can still develop new neural pathways, we can still change how we think and what we believe, we can still learn new things – all the way into old age.
Lucky us right?
Have a look at this article, highly interesting stuff!: Neuroplasticity: You Can Teach An Old Brain New Tricks.
4. Start from where you are
A little while ago we received a comment on our site which to me was very touching:
“I had put away my camera 2 years ago because of my own pressure to achieve great pictures. With all the technology that’s to hand now I often feel over saturated with images, and don’t think that my photos are any good.”
And it made me realise that so many people get stuck (including me) because we get overwhelmed and our expectations of ourselves are not high enough to overcome them (or we get stuck in perfectionism, which if it has you in its embrace is a crushing vice to creativity).
To counter this, as well as to help you jet-fuel your search for your own passion, I fully advocate the ideas of Sir Ken Robinson, who is a very funny, brilliant guy and his talks about education are awe-inspiring (and changed the trajectory of my family’s life). He has a brilliant talk about passion aimed at all ages.
“Do you have the courage? Do you have the courage to bring forth this work? The treasures that hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.” – Jack Gilbert quoted in Big Magic a great book about ‘creative living beyond fear’.
5. What fear does to your life when you avoid doing what you want
Ok, I am slightly going to step into the morbid here, only to inspire you though, promise! This article about the book – The Five Top Regrets of the Dying – is incredibly moving. But it also clarifies how much we need to pay attention to the time we have on this earth – relishing, enjoying and experiencing as much as we can. Carpe Diem! When I’m getting weighed down with irritation about stupid, irrelevant stuff I read this.
On a lighter note, this article about John Gardner’s book ‘Self-Renewal’, on the chronically interesting site Brainpickings about What Children Can Teach Us About Risk, Failure, and Personal Growth – is super inspiring. We could all learn a lot from kids about being brave with our creativity (as I do daily with my kids).
6. We are all creative geniuses
For a long time most cultures (and some still do believe this) believed that creativity and genius came not from you but some other source (god, your subconscious, your higher self, the universe etc.) I like this theory because it takes the pressure off, doesn’t it?
So the theory works like this – all you need to do is get out of the way and allow this force that’s within you to do the creating. Awesome huh? Elizabeth Gilbert did a cool Ted talk on this.
7. And I will leave you with something both funny and beautiful
This is not directly related to creativity, but it is a wonderful, funny and powerful short film. Anything that can spread joy and put you in a good mood is always good for your creative juices right!?
It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen all year. Please watch it, it’s only 7 minutes long: Merci.
So – the guy in the video is a bodhisattva and he uses the power that is within all of us to affect everyone around him. It wasn’t magic, he realised his innate power, a power that everyone has, and brought joy to people’s lives.
I will leave you there. I hope those are some cool ideas for you. I would LOVE to know what you think – and if you have some mind-blowing inspiring ideas of your own.
Let us know below.
Anthony & Diana
To be a good photographer you need to live the vast spectrum of human experience
“Your days pass like rainbows, like a flash of lightning, like a star at dawn. Your life is short. How can you quarrel?” Buddha
Last night I arrived in Istanbul. I was greeted by a sultry, warm city. As we drove through the dark streets, illuminated by the many cafes and little shops, and into the ancient part of the city, Sultanahmet, I had to pinch myself. What a feeling of aliveness this city has.
Whilst I am in Istanbul my family has moved back to our little base in Spain. We have all felt the sting of displacement as we wave goodbye to my children’s sacred grandmother, and the large extended family and friends’ circle in England.
We weighed up the ups and downs of moving. Displacement is hard for children, hard too for us. But ultimately we pick Spain to be a base for us because of the incredible freedom we find here.
We know, too, that being human involves a whole spectrum of experiences – that sometimes the most incredible ones are also laced with sadness or the feeling of challenge.
In our little town by the beach, with good weather and friendly people, we find the chance to have the kind of family life we only dreamed about in London.
A life where we are in nature every day, where we can smell fresh air, where we can let the children run free. And for ourselves we are not in the thick of the dizzying pace of life of London.
We work hard wherever we are – but here it feels that we have time for life. We are not waiting for life to give us time, we have it right here.
I read an article recently on Brain Pickings about the writer Rainer Maria Rilke, that to me seemed to fit the spirit of where we are all at as a family, but also gave a wonderful insight into what we need as creative people.
He wrote that in order to be a writer (but let’s substitute photographer or any creative pursuit):
“For the sake of a few lines one must see many cities, men and things. One must know the animals, one must feel how the birds fly and know the gesture with which the small flowers open in the morning.
One must be able to think back to roads in unknown regions, to unexpected meetings and to partings which one has long seen coming…
To childhood illness that so strangely began with a number of profound and grave transformations, to days in rooms withdrawn and quiet and to mornings by the sea, to the sea itself, to seas, to nights of travel that rushed along on high and flew with all the stars — and it is not yet enough if one may think of all of this.
One must have memories of many nights of love, none of which was like the others, of the screams of women in labor…
But one must also have been beside the dying, one must have sat beside the dead in the room with the open window and the fitful noises.”
It’s perhaps obvious to say, and too simple really, that to create something, anything, you must have experienced both the good and the bad in life. The light and the darkness of life feeds our minds and creates ideas.
But it is also saying that there are many other experiences between those highs and lows. The hundreds of train journeys we’ve taken, the nights we’ve held our sleepless baby and looked out onto the street, the darkness punctuated by warm globes of light; the endless washing up and cleaning of our dwellings.
All of our experiences are nourishment for the creative spirit, because:
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty.” Rainer Maria Rilke
So to have a vast spectrum of experiences to draw from is what a rich creative life needs. Who knows what happens when it all gets mixed together in our minds, our histories and thoughts, our ideas and the places we go; what we will pick out of that unique mix, to create the things that we do.
The most important thing, of course, is that we do. We create. We say yes to our creativity.
Those are the thoughts and ideas I wanted to share with you today. I hope they provide something interesting to mull over as you contemplate what you could do with your photography today, tomorrow or in the days ahead.
