Insomnia

I found myself shooting more images in the late night than I normally would. I know I have, and one of the ways I deal with it is by doing late night photography. These late nights walks are the reason for my latest series I am focusing on, entitled INSOMNIA. I decided to do this with a Tiffen Pro Moist filter on my 28mm lens. This gave my work some exaggerated lens flare. I enjoy that exaggerated work, as the filter accentuates the white while the contrast of the dark really gives some vivd and interesting monochrome scenes.

In this work, I also wanted the buildings themselves to be a part of the story. The unique look and grit of the buildings in NYC give each image a story.

I hope you see some of what I saw in the work. Thanks so much.

• Maurice

Four reasons we should all study photo books

Why do we study photo books? What can we gain from studying photo books? Let's explore together. 

Photobooks I personally own

Photo books are collections of images placed together in book form. They are often a body of work, years of a certain photographer's practice. We should read them more often. 

I love photo books. I find it an advantageous way to understand my craft. One must do street photography; photographers can't learn it through instruction alone. Please understand me; I am not making this post to say that simply reading a photography book will make you the next great photographer. No. I think that each photographer can enhance their skill by using photo books.

As a medical provider (in a previous life), I would still have to do some rigorous medical education even after seeing multiple patients over a year. This medical education helped sharpen my discernment and understanding of patients and increasingly changing medical conditions. I argue that as photographers, we should treat our craft with similar professionalism and urgency. Photo books are a way to continue our education as photographers. What are some ways studying photo books helps? Here are five reasons. 

Page from Magnum Contact Sheets

Understand art history

As with all art, understanding the history behind what you're doing is essential. While some photographers could have extraordinary natural talent and understanding of what came before, you can only shape your craft for the better by further study. I'll think of this as I think of music. Growing up, I loved hip-hop. I know the 80s influenced the hip-hop artists I loved in the 90s.

Similarly, all of the great street photographers I look up to pay homage to older street photographers . We should use our photo books in this vein. It's more than a glimpse into the past. It's a way to understand what hello photographers were doing in the past. It's a way to connect, learn from, and get mentorship from older legends of photography. Ultimately, an understanding of art history helps form and shape the type of photographer you will be. But this only looks at art on the whole; what is your personal history as a photographer?

Image from “The World Through my Eyes” Daido Moriyama

Know your photographic history 

Is your goal to fundamentally change the art market with your unique vision? I think that is a goal all artists have, but we have to know that history to know what we're fundamentally changing. This is another reason to consider photo books part of your artistic journey. Understanding art, on the whole, can be helpful. However, understanding your photography, in particular, can change your understanding of yourself. Where do you fit in the lineage of photographers before you? Do you stand on the shoulders of giants? If so, then who? We have to evaluate our history as photographers to understand how to move the profession forward. 

Perhaps you're stuck in a rut; I argue that studying photo books will help you understand new methodology that you wouldn't have considered previously. I further argue that to create something new, we have to be intimately familiar with the past. 

Find your visual voice.

To paraphrase Bresson, your first ten thousand shots will suck. This is just true with any endeavor or practice that you want to make perfect. Perhaps out of the context of not sucking, do you want to find or refine your visual voice? Again, photo books come into play. Here we can understand a photographer's intent. Unfortunately, we are trained by Instagram and other photo-sharing platforms to only consider one image at a time. This is fundamentally incorrect. When an artist presents a body of work it's just that, a body of work. While some words in a sentence can be interesting, it's the sentence itself that really moves you. It's the entire paragraph of the full essay that can really inform your view of the world.

Book cover - Daido Moriyama - The World Through My eyes.

Similarly, understanding the full breadth of white one was trying to present is important. Consider Daido Moriyama's photo book "The World Through My Eyes." The book, of course, consists of individual images that are fantastic. But taking in the entire work changes the story the author was trying to tell. Taken together, you see the scenes of Tokyo. You get a full sense of what he was trying to say and ultimately what his visual voice is. 

Way to do the act of photography when you actually can't 

Coronavirus lockdowns have stopped some of the work that I would typically do. It has moved me to sit and reflect much more. The act of photography for me is catharsis. It's a way to express myself and entirely focus on something without any of the distractors of life. Not being able to do that has been challenging.

When reading a photo book, I can imagine what it was like for that photographer to take that image. 

Why was he standing there? How did he get into that position? Why did she choose that F stop? Why did she decide to use that perspective? How did the camera get so low? 

All these things are thoughts and ideas that go through my head when I'm out shooting. I find that I can use my imagination and literally bring myself to that place. I can be where the photographer was; I can imagine what they did. Believe it or not, this has helped me many times in my work.

And I hope this post is a help you. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Part 2, how to study photos books, will be coming soon. 

Maurice D Masdeu…

Images from “Where I find Myself” Joel Meyerowitz

Can I learn photography on my own?

The short answer is yes!

Photography, like any other art form, is entirely learnable on your own. And I fully mean this for any "style" of photography you are considering. There are trendy black and white fine art photographers that have no formal training in photography. Truthfully, learning photography on your own can be done quickly with just a few steps. Here's my guide.

Step 1 - Master exposure.

In a literal sense, photography is a term coined by John Hershel, meaning "drawing with light." Just as a traditional artist must master their medium (stencils, paint, ink, clay, etc.), the budding photographer must master their medium, light.

For exposure, this image was shot at a shutter speed of 1/500 sec, an aperture of f/2.0, and ISO at 100.

Ultimately, light in photography is effectively measured in stops. The photographer must understand how these stops of light work in all aspects of their photography. It does not matter which camera you use; understanding the why of stops of light will make your images better.

I recommend conducting a search with "photographer's exposure triangle" in your favorite search engine as a good starting point.

As a new photographer learning on your own, one should have an understanding of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Once you understand these things, learn how your specific camera deals with each. Perhaps your camera sets your aperture and Sutter speed for you. Perhaps your camera sets the ISO for you. Maybe your camera is like mine and you set each of these characteristics every time you shoot in manual mode. Either way, your mastery of exposure as it pertains to your particular camera will be paramount to your success. I think Ansel Adam’s book “The camera” (Amazon link) is a great introduction to understanding exposure

Step 2 - Master composition

Composition is a subjective aspect of photography. However, as with any art form, you can learn from previous work. I use photo books as my means of learning from masters. When I open the photo book, I look at how the photographs are composed, why the photographer put themselves in that position, what story was the photographer intending to tell with that specific composition. Then, I think if I can re-create (not copy) that composition in my own style. I would argue that you should do the same.

Once you figure out what your niche in photography is going to be (even if you're not considering one), try and look at what others are doing in that style. Pay attention to how they place their subjects in the frame. What do they include in the frame and why? I am not saying that you should outright copy anyone. This, of course, is wrong. However, all great artists in any form are standing on the shoulders of giants. People who produce music don't have a natural talent for it; they listen and listen and listen to everyone they respect and come up with their own style.

I like the composition in this image, though composition is very much subjective. What compositions do you like?

I offer that you can do something similar once you learn What type of photography you want to show the world. Then, go to other visual artists and learn from them (it doesn't have to only be photographers, this can also be from movies and whatever visual medium you like, even comic books). All that matters is you get something from it and use it to forward your photography.

Step 3 - Master one editing solution.

Of course, photography is exceedingly digital, and as such, you should find a software solution that works for you. I use Adobe Lightroom as my primary editing tool. However, I am not advocating any specific tool; I'm just saying I learned Lightroom in such a way over the last four years that I can use it in almost any scenario and generate an image that I want to show the world. This came from consistently using the platform over and over again in both of the desktop and mobile version.

To learn photography, you have to learn how to edit. Whatever your editing solution is, you should know it forwards and backward. As an example, if you were going to be an analog-only photographer, you should pick up Ansel Adams' books and learn everything you can about dodging and burning in the dark room. If not, whatever platform you choose, go on YouTube and learn as many tutorials as possible to master that part of your craft. For those interested, here are Ansel Adam’s “The negative” and “The print” (amazon links) books where he goes more in depth on understanding photography.

Step 4 - Find and master a niche.

My niche is black and white fine art.

Sometimes I think finding a niche for a photographer is one of the hardest things that they'll do. One of the photo books I was reading said that a new photographer should try every style possible. Go shoot batteries for this company, go shoot a wedding, do some baby photography, do some pet photography, etc. It's only until you've involved yourself in all of these different styles of photography that you can truly say "yes, I want to do that!"

When I first started down the path of photography, I thought I wanted to only be a commercial photographer. I tried to set myself up as someone who would take pictures of families and pets, but that doesn't go along with my personality. This is an important point every photographer must come to. How does this type of photography go along with your personality.

I'm an old soldier, I spent 20 years in the military, and I think about things differently. Perhaps it was the military, but I don't really think emotionally, I spend my thinking time in a fact based world. Therefore, I don't care about family photos. I much rather would be a black-and-white photo journalist style street photographer that goes out finds a scene establishes that scene and tries to get the most artistic value from it.