I’ve been extremely busy with several photography projects as of late, and I have not been able to write as much as I’d like here. The good news is I have a whole series of articles waiting to be started and finished, so there will be much to come in the near future. I appreciate all of you who read regularly and leave comments or email me directly.
I recently discovered a YouTube channel called Rangefindergeneral which features video documentaries on legendary photographers from the past and present. Included is a 4 part series on Ansel Adams which I found fascinating and reminded me why he is considered one of the greatest photographers of all time. One particular quote which really struck a chord with me is an exchange where he is being discouraged from becoming a photography because a “camera can not express the soul”. Ansel answers that “a camera can’t express the soul, but a photographer can!”
In an other exchange, he questions the use of the word “abstract” in reference to one of his photographs, stating that only a painter can work with the imaginary which exists in his mind but not the physical world. He prefers to think of it as “extraction”, eliminating those elements from a composition which help us identify the subject.
I definitely enjoyed watching these, and I learned a great deal – check them out when you can…
