Two Way Lens

John Arsenault

2012-01-26T12:03:00.001-08:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

It was in my junior year of high school. My friend Cindy bet me she could take a better photograph then I could, so I enrolled in a photography class. And I fell in love with it right away. She lost the bet and I found my passion!

I’m inspired by living life. My goal is to produce a visual monologue about my own life: the aspects of myself that I am most mystified and riveted by - my sexuality, my personal relationships, the masculine vs. feminine parts of my identity and my place within society.

With that said, my work is a photographic diary. I use the camera as a tool to capture the experiences that life presents every day. This includes vibrant color, humor & my ability of transcending the mundane: celebrating and highlighting moments that we often overlook are paralleled with intimate moments with friends and lovers.

My relationship with my work is a lot like all my relationships - some days I feel totally connected and other days I feel totally disconnected.

In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs? What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?

I was very patient with finding gallery representation. I did extensive research on galleries in NYC. I attended openings on a regular basis to see what art the galleries were showing and to determine where I thought my art would fit in. I made a handmade book and gave it to Brian Clamp, owner of ClampArt Gallery (where I’m currently represented). Honestly, Brian didn’t take me on right away, but eventually we formed a relationship. I sent out endless slides and promo pieces on a regular basis. Basically, I put myself out there and was relentless. That's what it takes.

Today there are so many outlets for artist to promote their work; Tumblr, Facebook, personal websites, ibooks, emails, etc. These options weren’t even available when I was starting out. But you can look it in two ways. On one hand, there means that there are so many additional ways to reach an audience and get the word out about your work. On the other hand, it's a lot more work and much more active communication that you need to stay on top of.

One vital action that I would pass on? There’s a line between being ready and letting one’s ego lead. Creating the work is most important. One has to have the work to evaluate and promote. Don’t loose sight of this. Find peers to critique your work, peers that will give truthful, constructive criticism.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

Commitment, determination, persistence, focus, talent, stubbornness and humility mixed with a lot of courage have allowed me to succeed. And I measure my success on my own terms, not by what the art community says.

During my freshman year at the Art Institute of Boston my professor Jane Tuckerman said to me “The art world is a crowded place and difficult to get into, but there’s always room if you’re determined and push your way in” I never lost sight of those words.

I created. I create. It's a process that never ends. And is my unfaltering commitment to my art and to myself.

I am My Father's Son, Provincetown, MA

Their God Called ME, He Said NOT to Worry cause We're NOT the Sinners going to HELL, It's Them

His Visitor, Echo Park, CA

FAGGOT, Provincetown, MA

Your Ignorance Could Smother the World, Hookerhill, NY

Love Won't Let Me Wait, Provincetown, Ma

I Won't Stop till My Tears are All Shed, Provincetown, Ma

Lonely, NYC

Forget About My Tainted Heart, It's You I keep My Legs Apart For, Provincetown, MA

New Guy In Town, Los Angeles, CA

Ellen Jantzen

2011-12-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I am curious and my art has evolved as a result. I don't really consider my self a "Photographer", but rather an artist who uses photography as my art form. There have been several times in my life where photography played a roll, first when quite young. At the age of five, I received a Brownie camera for my birthday and proceeded to capture the world around me. I have dozens of spiral bound booklets of photos where I scribbled words on the backs of each in crayon. Later, in college, I learned the basics of how to use a camera. I developed my own film and printed enlargements in a makeshift darkroom. But all of this was abandoned, as I did not find it fulfilling. It seemed too "real", I couldn't find the art in it…. yet.

With the advent of digital cameras and the ability uploading my images into a computer and subsequently altering and changing them, I found my perfect medium. Through alteration, I am able to subvert the "decisive moment" concept. Every image is a flexible piece of information that can be brought into the future or blended with the past.

I am inspired by the natural world, science (recent discoveries in physics; "multiverses", doppelgängers) and human consciousness. I am intrigued with issues of reality, memory, time and loss.

The photograph, historically, was seen as an evidentiary medium but as we all know, photos lie. The first lie is the translation of three-dimensional space into a 2 dimensional form with its subsequent framing of reality (and what was just outside of that framed area? How does that affect the story being conveyed?)

I have just finished Errol Morris's book "Believing is Seeing (Observations on the Mysteries of Photography" where he shows that even documentary photography has been manipulated.

I must say that my primary inspiration that keeps me working in this field is magic.

Photographs are magical creations (or should be). I strive to surprise myself at every turn. My aim is to create images that speak to people, that convey my sensibilities in a way that leaves room for the viewer to insert themselves and their interpretations.

There are many ways that emerging photographers can evaluate themselves.

First, a photographer must have a point of view, preferably a unique point of view. They must understand why they are using this medium as a creative outlet. (Writing a statement can help solidify one's objective).

They should study the work of other photographers and analyze what it is that they like and don't like and find a voice for describing their work in comparison to other's. It is always good to view work in person. Attend as many exhibitions as you are able to.

Create a personalized website, YourName.com (if possible) and upload a selection of your best work, update often with new pieces, begin sharing your URL.

Once the artist is fairly confident that they have a point of view worth sharing, I would recommend entering a few well selected juried competitions. Search for ones where the jurors are high profile professionals. This is a fairly inexpensive way to see if your work resonates. With the advent of so many social networks online, it is much easier for a lone photographer to become part of a community and learn about opportunities. Prepare for many, many rejections and don't be discouraged.

Much has been written about the benefits of portfolio reviews and I agree they have their place. But, the photographer has to be well prepared and well funded to participate. Attend with an open mind and take notes. Leave a little something behind so that the reviewer will remember you, a business card or post card. Follow up by thanking each reviewer by mail or email. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

It is vital to establish relationships with other photographers, curators and gallery owners.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

First, I kept working and refining my point of view. I enlisted the help of my husband Michael Jantzen (who is an artist) to act as a sounding board. He has been a great help with my editing process (and my main model).

Second, I started writing statements. The act of putting thoughts, feelings and intentions into sentences, helped me solidify my unique point of view.

Third, I created my website.

Fourth, I started to establish a database of jurors, gallery owners, curators, and other photography and art contacts. All were culled from reading reviews, journals, blogs and by word of mouth.

Fifth, I began to enter juried competitions. There was a steep learning curve as I grew to know which exhibitions and opportunities were the most significant. Luckily I was able to attract a bit of attention this way and won a few honors. Next, I began to seek publication opportunities. I looked at small startup publications first and followed their submission requirements.

Sixth, I joined groups like the Center For Fine Art Photography, the Atlanta Photography Group, Humble Arts Foundation, Griffin Museum of Photography, The Texas Photo Society. They all have newsletters and post member's news.

I promoted myself whenever I got into an exhibition, or was published by sending emails.

Seventh, I attended one portfolio review in Atlanta and was energized by the reviewers and the subsequent interactions with each, both in emails and online (Twitter and Facebook). The reviewer Stella Kramer made one salient point; she suggested always including a photo in any email, not just links. She never clicks on a link unless she sees something that peaks her interest.

Eighth, I stepped up my presence on Facebook by joining several photo related groups like, Flak Photo Network, A New History of Photography, etc. I try to post comments and interesting bits of information I find on the web. Through these interactions, I established a relationship with Susan Spiritus of the Susan Spiritus Gallery in Newport Beach California. Once Susan started seeing my work come through juried competitions she was judging, she started to take an interest in my work and earlier this year started representing me.

All of this "overnight success" took about seven years.

Proof, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

A Balance of Forces, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Hiding the Fiction, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Without A Trace, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Vital Spirit, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Descendant, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Incomplete Dream, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Melancholia, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Blossom, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

Absorbing Loss, from the series Losing Reality; Reality of Loss

David Simonton

2011-11-26T12:14:00.001-08:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I’d like to start with two quotations. The first is from an article (which I’ll paraphrase) on the Victoria and Albert Museum’s website. It describes a charming and significant portrait, although not a particularly powerful one, by a famous-photographer-to-be: This simple portrait of Annie Philpot is an important one in Julia Margaret Cameron's oeuvre; it is inscribed “My very first success in photography, January 1864.” Mrs. Cameron had received the gift of a camera only one month before it was taken. Having begun her experiments in image making “with no knowledge of the art,” she described her jubilation at producing the picture: “I was in a transport of delight. I printed, toned, fixed and framed it, and presented it to her father that same day. Sweet, sunny haired Annie!” The article goes on to say that the portrait manifests “the hallmarks Cameron would continue to use and refine over her 15-year career.” During that career she made many great portraits, as the history of photography acknowledges. Although that early one might not have been her best, Cameron said of her accomplishment, “No later prize has effaced the memory of this joy.”

The second quotation is by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Enthusiasm is the great engine of success.”

Mine is the “camera and a darkroom kit for Christmas while I was in high school” story. The story also involves my parents getting divorced, and photography providing me with some stability and solace. Photography became a place for me to turn my attention and my efforts. It was a comfortable fit, and something I could control. At the same time, it helped me define myself at a formative period in my life. It provided a means of expression, and suited my temperament. It was, in short, a path forward.

Making good photographs on a regular basis, I soon found out, is a challenge—technically, aesthetically and intellectually. After I’d been out with my camera a couple of times, I was hooked. Today, when someone of the stature of Elliott Erwitt is asked what is his favorite of all of his photographs, and he answers “The next one,” I understand completely. The idea that the best is yet to come is a potent stimulant! and it’s one of the things that compels me to pick up my camera.

So the reason I started in photography, and the reason I continue, are actually one and the same: I really enjoy it. I love the activity of photography, and the amount of energy and attention it requires to do it well. As a film-and-darkroom photographer I embrace the craft aspect, too. And it feels good to be participating in something with a dynamic history and tradition. For me, making pictures is both a challenge and a great pleasure.

I used to worry a bit that “because I like it” might not be a good enough reason to essentially dedicate my life to photography. Then I came across a quotation by the American photographer, writer and MacArthur “genius award” recipient Robert Adams, that helped me relax: “Most photographs would never be taken were it not for an impulsive enjoyment, a delight that is notably free of big ideas.”

Photography became the thread running through my life; whatever else I was doing—whatever job I happened to have at the time—it was the constant. If I wasn’t out photographing or working in the darkroom in my spare time, I was reading about photography or looking at photographs in books, or thinking about it. But I never showed my work to anyone (well, to relatives if they insisted). And it went on like this, happily, for many years.

I recently read an interview with the esteemed photographer Steve McCurry. One passage in particular stood out. Asked for his advice he said, “The first thing you should do is enjoy yourself. Explore. Observe. And then take pictures.” I couldn’t agree more with the underlying sentiment: if you’re engaged in the process, the results will take care of themselves.

When we start out as photographers, it’s common to imitate others, and to try out different styles and approaches. It takes time to become assured in our individual way of seeing and responding to things. It’s important to allow ourselves this time. The emulation/experimentation phase is when we learn to differentiate ourselves, and find our own vision and “voice”—something jurors and reviewers will be looking for. Why rush things? There’s valuable experience to be gained in taking your time. And not only valuable experience, but a growing body of steadily improving work. The more work you have, the more you’ll have to choose from; the strongest pictures will stand out as the others become less “precious.” Look at your pictures repeatedly over time (I keep recent work tacked up around the house). This practice will help you become a more objective editor. And look at your work in relation to other photographs you admire, and experiment with sequencing and pairing images.

I’d like to offer a few thoughts on portfolio reviews and gallery representation. Although I’ve served as a reviewer, I’ve never taken my work to a portfolio review. And I don’t use gallery representation. For better or for worse, I've always represented myself. (I currently spend about as much time promoting my work as I do making it.)

Although they undoubtedly represent a wonderful opportunity for some photographers, portfolio reviews aren’t for everyone. Your personality and temperament—and (let’s be realistic) your bank balance—are important factors to consider. Also, portfolio reviews are neither guarantees of, nor prerequisites for, success. And timing is absolutely critical. It can be self-defeating to participate too soon. Imagine Mrs. Cameron seeking a critical assessment of that early portrait of hers. One suspects she would have been advised (at best) to "Keep on working," something she would continue to do anyway; she was an artist.

She was, in fact, a great artist. But perhaps that wouldn’t have been recognized so early on. She hadn’t had the time yet to practice her photography and improve—she had only gotten her camera the month before. Cameron’s innate skill and unique vision were to develop and mature over time. It’s just possible that had her enthusiasm been dampened by a negative critique too early on, it could have sidetracked the very “engine of her success.”

So before you subject your work to the scrutiny of the most discriminating audience there is, consider trying it out on a few "test audiences" first. Enter competitions, locally, regionally and nationally. (I work best with a deadline). As much as possible, enter your work to participate in the process, not for the promise of prizes or sales. Then, when you feel like you have enough strong work, consider mounting a one-person exhibition.

Gallery representation, if it happens at all, typically comes much later on. And keep in mind that a gallery might (might) be interested in your work if they think it will sell. "Commercial viability," however, needn’t be the goal of every creative endeavor. Although it might seem like it these days, gallery representation is not the be-all-and-end-all of artistic achievement. Besides, it’s the rare art photographer who can make a living on the sale of prints, image rights, etc. In fact, generally speaking, most of us will spend more money on our photography than we’ll make on it. And that will certainly be the case when we start out.

Which brings me back to the article on J.M. Cameron: That early portrait has the pictorial hallmarks that Cameron would continue to use and refine over her career. And a hallmark is "a distinctive feature, especially one of excellence."

The one vital action I would recommend you consider, then, is to strive for excellence, not “success.” That, and (wait for it) be patient. It’s a difficult thing to do these days, but nonetheless it’s important. Here’s a helpful way to think about it: Patience is the suspension of expectations.

If you’re talented and committed, and excellence is your guide (from your camerawork to presentation and promotion)—and you enjoy photography—you’re doing it right.

After all, Julia Margaret Cameron spoke of experiencing the "joy" of photography. The great Henri Cartier-Bresson said, "I have a passion for geometry. My greatest joy is facing a beautiful organization of forms." And, lest anyone think that a sense of joy and even elation is some bygone notion with no relevance to serious contemporary practice, here’s Alec Soth, in Sleeping by the Mississippi (2004), "There is no greater joy than wide-eyed wandering."

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

In 1992 I had the privilege of meeting Harry Callahan and hearing him speak. I hung on his every word. This master photographer, 80 years old at the time, explained his reason for continuing to photograph: “To get out and walk and look is wonderful to me. Without any great intent, eventually I get something that amounts to something.” Thinking about the remarkable work that resulted from a lifetime of such looking inspires me to maintain that same approach.

When you’re doing what you enjoy without the (perceived) pressure of what someone else might think about it distracting you, that’s when you do your best work. When I’m out with my camera, if I sense imaginary eyes peering over my shoulder, judging every shot, I tend to freeze. I work best when I don’t put that kind of pressure on myself. I once heard André Kertész say about his photography, “It’s for me, I do it only for myself.” And he made some of the finest photographs I know of.

For almost twenty years I photographed without giving a single thought to what others might think about it; or even a single thought of exhibiting. It was just for me. The first time I showed a photograph was in a statewide juried photography exhibition. The following year I had my first solo exhibit at a local coffee shop. It was 1993 and I was 40 years old. My next one-person show was at a nearby Arts Council…and so on, and so on. Nearly two decades later, my photographs are in museum and corporate collections. The point being, that what worked for me as a self-taught art photographer was starting out small and local, and proceeding at a pace that was reasonable and practical, given financial realities. My only firm goal was the next picture.

As for the details, I like to focus on a project or two, establish a routine and see where it takes me. I also teach photography, and I exhibit my work, submitting exhibition and grant proposals and entering juried competitions on a regular basis (with an eye, always, on the juror[s]: Who would I like to see my photographs?) I seek out online opportunities, and I’ve made some wonderful connections. I have a website I maintain myself, and I engage in social media as it relates to photography. I continue to hone my craft, in the darkroom and at the computer—getting my prints to look “right” on the Web is a necessity in an age of online submissions and virtual exhibitions. And I look at lots and lots of photographs; online and in books, contemporary and “classical” (to borrow Bruce Davidson’s term). I look because I’m forever interested, and, yes, because I enjoy it.

Needless to say, leading a fulfilling (i.e., successful) life as a photographer involves more than just adopting a “don’t worry, be happy” attitude. Hard work and sticking with it are required. But having said that… if you love photography, and you’re pursuing photography because you love it, you’re on a path that’s as valid, worthwhile and well-traveled as any there is.

Photography, and especially art photography, has both enjoyed and endured significant changes over the years, including how it’s been perceived and valued by others. But for photographers, myself included, it has always been a magical and captivating medium.

Bonnie Cook was a young student enrolled in her first formal photography class at a local college where I was teaching. She was a natural. Arriving early to class one Monday morning, Bonnie rushed over and said, “I shot 13 rolls this weekend!” (the assignment had been for two). “And it was amazing!” Bear in mind that the students were using film, so Bonnie hadn’t even seen her pictures yet. Her enthusiasm had been generated by the sustained activity of making pictures.

In that exciting moment, Julia Margaret Cameron came to mind. And it occurred to me that, as much as the technology and aesthetics of photography have changed over time, this part—the joy part, the genuinely amazing part—never will.

But you asked me about success. I guess I do feel successful in that my own early enthusiasm for photography has never diminished.

Tom Griggs

2011-10-27T07:14:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I started as a painter, but I discovered it requires a lot of isolation and the discipline of a monk. Frank Auerbach – to pick an example - paints 364 days a year in his studio from sun-up to sun-down. I found I’m not built to do that. I’m too interested in art as it relates to external life experiences, physical exploration of space, and interactions with other people.

I began taking more photographs as I left painting. Its speed and portability were a revolution in terms of integrating my life and artistic practice. I discovered photography can be used to explore any discipline – from urban planning to rural sociology to jungle ecology. It gives me a reason to be part of events and allows me inside other people’s life experience. I can frame specific and direct questions about a subject. All of these things about the medium appeal to me.

I keep photographing because it continues to feed me as a person and artist. There are moments I imagine myself doing other things, but it’s never a consistent line of thought. I don’t think of myself a photographer. I am a person curious to understand and experience and photography continues to be the best way I know to do that. If I come to another conclusion, I’ll sell my cameras.

Taking on the second part of the question first, there have been a lot of good suggestions in other interviews on Two Way Lens. My recommendation is simply on when and how to use those suggestions: work as long as possible outside the gallery-museum-competition world before looking to enter it. Develop your craft, your vision and your relationship to the medium. Make images every day for a long time. Show them to people whose opinions you respect, then go back out and make more.

The reasons for waiting are several. Navigating the art world takes energy and time away from making work. People start to define you as you gain exposure and exposure brings expectations. It can become more difficult to take the exploratory risks necessary to find your way forward as well as confusing to have other voices involved with your work while it’s young.

As for how to know when you’re ready, I think that knowledge is based in developing an honest and reliable community around you. Self-evaluation is hard, especially at the start. Build a trusted circle of friends and look to establish mentors. Show them work, stay humble, listen. Be as objective with yourself about the work and where it’s at as you can. When it’s time, those people and the work itself will let you know its ready to be shown. You won’t have to think much about it.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

I think the easiest way to answer these two questions - and hopefully the most useful response for others – is to list the ideas that I work with or am working towards.

It’s a combination of lucky insights, stolen wisdom and brutal lessons:

Not only are there no divisions between your bodies of work, there is no division between your work and your life – they are all part of one thing.

You can’t do it all, but you can do one thing intensely.

Don’t be afraid of beauty, but don’t make it your main subject or content. The same is true for light.

Making images and thinking about your images need to be respected as separate processes done at separate times.

Photography does not require a good camera, the perfect light, or enough time. If photography is something you should be doing, you’ll make images on the days when you don’t have these things.

Carry your camera everywhere. A good image can be made anywhere.

To paraphrase the commencement speaker at my undergraduate graduation who was paraphrasing someone else: talent in art is about as important as tits on a boar. Success on every level - from personal satisfaction to your first Guggenheim - is work, work, and more work.

Give yourself permission to make photographs without prejudging them. You don’t have to show them to anyone. If you’re not sure if you should take the picture or not, take it.

Put down your camera and spend time just looking - frequently.

Take a few weeks off every year – at least.

At some point on this list I have to provide my thoughts for the pure realists and Machiavellians:

Photography has strong personalities, friendships of benefit, questionable minds with power, and straight-up assholes just like every other business. Many good photographers are not only good, they are also strategic and cutthroat. Exposure depends - to a degree - on developing connections and on what sells. You’ll have to market yourself; no one is out there waiting to discover your work. Sharpen your elbows as well as your vision.

Turn outside of photography for instruction and inspiration – go to movies, operas and the theater. Have music on while you work at home. Read all the time. Digest slowly.

Practical advice: Find a second source of income. Learn basic carpentry, become an EMT or study basic investing.

Travel every opportunity you can, especially during your 20’s.

We have witnessed an explosion of great photographers in this generation, but it’s an explosion of too frequently similar great photography. Understand longer cycles of art and have faith in understanding and developing your own innate drives within the medium.

Decisions by juries and committee are notoriously fickle and are frequently a compromise between several people on someone / something. Learn from rejections and listen to criticism, but don’t pin your sense of worth as a person or photographer on these things. There’s a degree of correlation between quality and success in the photography world, but it is not a meritocracy nor is it rational.

Build a community – photography is a game more fun played with other photographers. Go beyond yourself so that you rejoice in and actively help the success of others.

The best photographs involve you on all three levels simultaneously: head, heart, and sex. [tip of the cap to Nicholas Nixon]

The best photographers are students all of their life; photography can never be completely learned.

Finally and absolutely most importantly, laugh - and don’t be too hard on yourself, either. Photography is less serious than we usually think.

Nick Turpin

2011-09-28T06:27:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I was introduced to photography at school but didn't really take it seriously until I was at Art College and experimenting with painting, sculpture and design. I realised the unique power that photography has to engage head on and directly with the world as I experienced it day to day. I have always enquired into my own nature and photography became a part of that long term enquiry which probably explains why I have been committed to Street Photography for so long, it is the approach that most satisfies my wish to understand. I find working with a small camera in a public place with no preconceived aims to be a revelatory process, the act of being there and looking with that magical light recording device often results in the most unexpected results. I have always recognised that the still camera has this one wonderful trick, to freeze and store a scene for long term inspection. I don't think I will ever tire of playing with that process.

I think it takes quite some time to find your own voice and vocabulary as a photographer and there are a lot of attractive diversions along the way. Inevitably one starts by mimicking the work one admires of the previous generation and hopefully along the way one stumbles, often by accident, on to a unique path of ones own and realises one has something new to contribute to the history of the medium. When I teach I always encourage my students to 'own' their pictures and be confident being the 'author' of them, I get them to explain their decisions and I don't think its ever to early to start this process of self assessment. When you are content that you are achieving your own goals as a photographer, that is probably the point at which you are ready to show your work more widely and seek external criticism and exposure.

As a new photographer I think it is vital to recognise that people like to pigeon hole and categorise you and recognition will come more quickly if you focus your work in one area or style for the first few years, you will get shows, publications and work if you are the guy/girl that does 'that' thing....it's a shame but it's just the way humans do things. Once you are a name in your own right, you can experiment more widely and people will accept it.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

I think confidence, self belief, enthusiasm and above all energy have driven forward most of my projects and ideas. It takes a lot of faith to see through an idea you have during the night into a published book or a public exhibition. There are always times with any project when the pictures aren't coming and you begin to doubt the whole venture. I have developed strategies to get me through these periods and they come out of experience, out of having been there before. Having the confidence to experiment and do things a differently can go a long way to getting you noticed and for commercial work simply doing a great job is the best promotion you can have.

Everyone needs a break at some point, mine was being given a job on The Independent Newspaper in London at the time when that paper was leading the way and transforming the perception of newspaper photography, it was a very exciting time to be there. I have made mistakes a long the way of course, my biggest lesson was when I started to get Advertising work in New York and allowed myself to be bullied into working in a different way to my usual approach, the pictures where not good so the next time I shot for a big US Agency I behaved like a Prima Dona, ignored the client, demanded to use my usual little cameras with no tripod making spontaneous observations like I do on the street.....it was the best commercial Ad campaign I've ever shot. Those kind of lessons can only be acquired the hard way and they are the lessons that make one a safe pair of hands for expensive commercial commissions.

The climate for photographers has and is changing constantly though and we are all having to adapt quickly, my experience of 'making it' will very likely be different for someone starting out now. My advice to anyone on a photography course now would be to get out of the classroom and get some real world experience as regularly as you can, just go down and observe a professional shoot, make coffee at a photo reps office for a week and listen to the phone calls and conversations

Grenoble, France 2010 From 'The French'

Contrevoz, France 2010 From 'The French'

Le Touquet, France 2010 From 'The French'

Artemare, France 2010 From 'The French'

Lyon, France 2010 From 'The French'

Contrevoz, France, 2010 From 'The French'

Street Scene, London

National Portrait Gallery, London

Street Scene, London

Yael Ben-Zion

2011-08-28T11:48:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

YBZ

While I have always been drawn to photography, I saw it merely as a hobby until I stumbled upon an introductory photo class at the Yale art school. I came to the U.S. to study for my LL.M. and J.S.D. degrees (masters and doctoral degrees in law), after being trained as a lawyer in Israel. While writing my dissertation, I took a couple of photography classes that opened my eyes (literally and metaphorically) to the potential of photography as an expressive art form. I think it had a lot to do with my teacher, David Hilliard. I found myself spending hours in the darkroom and later at home - editing and sequencing my work. It felt very different from writing my dissertation, which was intellectually challenging, but didn’t engage me the way photography did.

As I was already quite invested in law, it took me a few years before making the switch, but when I finally did, it just felt as the right thing for me to do. And I guess that this is what keeps me going – the passion and curiosity, and the stories I still want to tell.

YBZ

I think that one is ready to start promoting his or her work when they feel that they have something to say and figured out how they want to say it. A project may not always feel complete, but there is a time when it feels mature and ready to go out to the world.

I don’t know if there is one vital action I can recommend in order to have work out there, other than trying to show it to people in the field who may support it and/or offer viable advice. It can be done in different ways depending on the work, as well as on the photographer’s personality. In my case, a couple of portfolio reviews led me in the right direction.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

YBZ

Circumventing the more propound question of defining “success” and the prerequisite combination of hard work and chance, I will refer to 5683 miles away, as this is the project that put me where I currently am. 5683 miles away is a long-term project that was photographed in Israel. When I finally set down to make sense of the work, I realized that due to the variety of images and the layered tale I wanted to tell, the proper presentation for it would be in a form of a book. I created a book dummy and met with Alexa Becker of Kehrer at the portfolio review in Arles, and this is how the book was born. While I was still working on the book, I contacted Bob Gilson of the 92nd Y who offered me a show in their art gallery. The book and the exhibition gained recognition for the work and hopefully will enable me to reach wider audiences down the road.

Flags, from 5683 miles away

Milk, from 5683 miles away

Ella with Protective Gear, from 5683 miles away

Laundry, from 5683 miles away

Black Iris, from 5683 miles away

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, from Lost and Found

Indian wedding, from Lost and Found

Pocket dress, from Lost and Found

Murphy bed, from Lost and Found

Hanukkah candles and advent wreath, from Lost and Found

Susan Burnstine

2011-07-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

My mother documented most of my early childhood with 126 instamatics, a vintage Polaroid that worked intermittently, and an optically unappealing Pentax110 that was always buried at the bottom of her purse. She never thought or cared to protect the optics for her cameras, so the lenses were typically dirty or scratched, which resulted in grainy, blurry, imperfect photographs. I suspect that’s how a developed a respect for bad optics.

When I was eight years old my mom encouraged me begin shooting with some of her vintage cameras. From the very first picture developed, she insisted I had an “eye” for making pictures and continued to encourage me to take photographs. I became obsessed with photography, so when I was eleven, my dad built me a darkroom in the basement next to his beloved tool closet. I spent most of my high school years inhaling photo chemicals in that darkroom.

At the age of 14, I began working for a respected portrait, occasion and commercial photographer in Chicago. I worked for him throughout high school, but the fun of making pictures disappeared when it became a means to make money. I ended up walking away from the commercial photography world to pursue a life in the entertainment field for many years.

Then there was my second incarnation as a photographer…

Ever since I can remember, I’ve suffered from night terrors, which were a byproduct from a real life trauma that occurred when I was five years old. As a young child, my mother taught me to handle the debilitating effects of these dreams by drawing and painting images from the nightmares. The process of recreating these dreams through art helped eliminate some of the paralyzing fear I walked around with, and thus, it was a practice that stuck through childhood.

In my early thirties, mother died tragically and the event triggered the reemergence of night terrors again. I needed a way to cope with and process my loss along with these new nightmares haunting me, so I attempted to photograph my dreams for several years. At that point, I had no intention of becoming a fine art photographer. Matter of fact, I had no idea it was an actual profession since I had solely focused on documentary and commercial work prior. I merely began journaling, then photographing my dreams to cope with my loss. In 2005, this process lead to creating my own cameras and lenses in order to emulate what my unconscious world looks like. Twenty-two homemade cameras and lenses, eight galleries and one monograph later, here I am. Kind of like a dream.

What inspires me to keep making photographs?

The search for the answer “why?” I’m like a petulant child that refuses to stop asking questions about vital unknown, unanswerable facts in life, such as death. Making photographs afford the perfect canvas to observe, explore and imagine all the possibilities to all that remains unfamiliar or unsolved in our lives.

First and foremost, it’s necessary to create a body of work that you believe in with all your heart and soul. To achieve that, you have to focus on and express something that is personally meaningful.

When I first began making images for Within Shadows, I was merely creating self-portraits of my unconscious world in attempt to cope with the unbearable realities of my conscious world. I think that’s the key… to make images that mean a great deal to you personally and which you also feel are the best possible photographs you can make at that time. The other key component is to be able to transfer your unique life experiences and vision into these images.

I am a frequent reviewer, teacher and juror and there have been times when I’ve witnessed new photographers “put the cart in front of the horse”. Some want the end result before creating a fully realized body of work, but they are skipping over the most rewarding and meaningful part of the journey. They may be technically proficient photographers, but their vision and voice has not penetrated the work yet. So it’s important to be honest with yourself and also to get the opinion of those you put the work out there. Feedback from those you trust is perhaps the most important element in the equation. If you and those that your trust believe the work is as realized as it can be and that your individual voice and vision is shining through, then it’s time to take a leap of faith and promote the work. A good place to start is reviews. They can be wonderful tools for evaluating your work and/or moving forward in your career and they have proved to be a vital and effective tool for my work over the years. There are also some contests that have the means to offer photographers a good deal of exposure and opportunities such Photolucida’s Critical Mass or the Center Awards just to name a few.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

Words like “status” and “success” make me itchy since they tend to define my work in a way that has an absolute or an ending, rather than an ongoing flow. Of course we all want what we envision as success. I’d be lying if I claimed otherwise. But what is success and how does one personally define it? The definition constantly changes in my perspective and that's what makes me itchy. But if you held my arm behind my back and made me scream “uncle”until I answered what attributed toward the elements of my success, I’d be forced to confess that I work 24/7 on my art and I have always subscribed to my native blue collar, Chicagoan belief that hard work usually generates results.

As far as the steps involved in reaching the point where I’m at today, my trajectory was not the usual fare. I was represented in galleries before I finished my first body of work, Within Shadows. And I was tremendously fortunate to find an audience for the work. I should note that this scenario is not what I’d suggest for anyone else to do, but opportunity knocked at Photo LA 2007 so I opened that door. Months after my first gallery signed me, two more galleries signed me up and so on.... I was making a lot of new work, attended reviews, made a lot of great friends at reviews, won some awards, wrote my own column for Black and White Photography (UK)… basically, I haven’t stopped to take a breath since I began but I enjoy every second of it. The culmination of all the hard work I put toward the first body of work recently paid off when Charta Editions released my monograph, Within Shadows, in June 2011. Two weeks later Within Shadows won PX3’s gold prize for best fine art book of 2011. All in all, it’s been a crazy, wild ride and I eagerly anticipate the next chapter.

Bridge To Nowhere, from the series On Waking Dreams

In Passage, from the series On Waking Dreams

The Approach, from the series On Waking Dreams

Glide, from the series On Waking Dreams

Circuitous, from the series On Waking Dreams

...When?, from the series On Waking Dreams

The Road Most Traveled, from the series On Waking Dreams

Suspend, from the series Between

Grasp, from the series Between

Return, from the series Between

Yearn, from the series Between

Jump, from the series Between

Run, from the series Flight

Threshold, from the series Flight

Joni Sternbach

2011-06-24T09:27:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

My introduction to photography was as an art student at the School of Visual Arts. As a fine arts major, photography was a required course. I had a chance to experience it along with sculpture, film, drawing and painting. The moment when my first print appeared in the fixer was pretty magical for me and after 1/12 years I switched my major to photography and graduated with a BFA. Part of my education was learning about the history of photography and that was one of the most exciting courses. I remember the Whitney had a show that concurred with the class I was taking and I was able to see many of the amazing historic images we studied in person and that was very inspiring. I loved the way photography offered us a window on life. The picture looked real, it seemed believable, but really it’s fiction.

It’s been a long time since then and I have been working in the field now for over 25 years. I’ve taught photography, and that can also be very inspiring. However, it’s when I think about photography’s past and history and what that means to the medium and imagery today, that I get very excited. I love the idea that we can revisit old ideas and period equipment and use them to turn it all upside down and make something new and very modern; the kind of work that embraces or references the past, but talks about the present.

When I was fresh out of graduate school, I felt that I was emerging for a good long time. Now the venue for emerging photographers keeps growing with the speed of technology. There are so many competitions and portfolio reviews, that a young photographer today only needs a good body of work and some cash to register for a portfolio review in order to begin to get their work out there.

I think creating a significant body of work that is real and personal is the key to finding an audience. These days an audience is not really so hard to find with all of the networking and social media. Finding a gallery however seems a bit more complicated.

Evaluating one’s own body of work however, comes with experience. The best way to gain that is to work with/for an artist/photographer you admire.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

For one, tenacity and also the love of the medium have kept me in the game for a long time. But it wasn’t always a pretty picture. I spent many years feeling like a “lowly artist” and took some hard blows of rejection that wore me down. In fact, I stopped making photographs for a time and went back to drawing and painting. What seemed a bit like defeat in the moment turned out to be a positive experience and eventually brought me back to making pictures, which in fact kind of resembled drawings.

I also think the combination of having created a body of work (SurfLand) that people were responding to and one that was well liked was the first step. Winning a book prize, was the second and they worked in tandem to create the possibility of having a monograph that served as an exhibition catalogue that I believe helped to get a solo museum exhibition. But really, if I look back I have to credit the work and the people who responded to it and believed in it.

06.09.10 #1 Mathieu, from Surfland

06.09.18 #7 Claire, from Surfland

06.09.22 #5 Kathleen, from Surfland

06.10.08 #7 Michelle, Dedee & Holly, from Surfland

07.02.16 #6 Erik & Jon, from Surfland

07.02.18 #2 Woody, from Surfland

07.05.27 #5 Graham & Janine, from Surfland

07.05.28 #1 Robert, from Surfland

07.06.15 #4 Andy, from Surfland

07.06.16 #4 Grommets, from Surfland

07.09.16 #6 Jessie, from Surfland

11.03.07 #3 Nick, from Surfland

Orville Robertson

2011-05-25T08:46:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I believe that my love for taking long walks, especially after work and also my love for watching movies on television really got me interested in getting a cheap Instamatic camera and taking pictures of the interesting things I was seeing. I was so curious about fragments people coinciding with light and shadow and conversations but had nothing on which to record this theater. Now what keeps me going is to always remember my original inspiration and try to not endlessly repeat myself. My wife reminds me quite often if she thinks I’ve been showing her the same type of images. She’ll tell me to go shoot somewhere else, such as our mutual project to photograph state fairs. She has a wonderful eye and for years has been pointing out really good shots to me. Plus if she feels I have stood in the wrong spot she’ll point that out as well. What helps quite well to keep me loving street photography is that i shoot very discriminately. I rarely go beyond 20 rolls of 35mm film a year.

Well if they’re doing street photography I advise them to go to a beach and photograph pretty models. There’s only personal success in street photography. If you still insist on doing this purely from love then you can seek out other street photographers either by attending an opening or use Google to figure out the players. We tend to be pretty sociable with other street shooters but talk about cameras way too much, which is fine by me. You will learn by seeing good work and bad work. If you’re honest and have some talent you might figure out which way to move forward. I strongly suggest avoiding the popular group shooting thing and mostly go shooting by yourself. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. When you feel you want to exhibit your work you can ask a friend who understands photography to help you edit and then make a submission to perhaps a university gallery that seems to like street photography. Do your homework.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

If success is measured in fame or fortune then I am a resounding failure. I am fortunate enough to be represented by Domeischel Gallery in New York, but not that many people have ever heard of me or care about the work I’ve produced. But in my own mind I am a success because I love what I do and have no intentions of stopping until I can no longer carry a camera.

New York Corners, 01.05.2004 #21

New York Corners, 01.10.2007 #8

New York Corners, 01.11.2010 #15

New York Corners, 01.20.1988 #26

New York Corners, 01.1985 #34

New York Corners, 02.11.2004 #21

New York Corners, 02.23.2011 #19

New York Corners, 02.26.1986 #6

New York Corners, 04.14.2009 #14

New York Corners, 04.17.2007 #34

Simon Roberts

2011-04-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

My formative years are infused with memories of my Dad photographing us kids and then setting up his old slide projector as we spent Sunday afternoon’s in the dark sitting through presentations of his (un-edited) photographs, listening to his enthusiastic running commentary. Whilst these experiences gave me an early connection with the medium, the primary inspiration that unlocked the marvel of photography was a holiday to Yosemite National Park, in California, when I was fourteen. Mid-way through the holiday I visited an exhibition of Ansel Adams’ photographs of Yosemite (some of his most iconic work) that were on permanent display in the Visitor Centre. As an impressionable youngster I was struck by the beauty and clarity of his photographs, however, more importantly, I was confused as to how these black and white, two-dimensional objects on the wall could be so much more engaging than the physical landscape I’d spent the past ten days exploring. What I came to understand was that these photographs had managed to unlock details in the landscape that I’d been oblivious to previously – clouds, for instance (an important motif in Adams’ work). I’d never spent much time looking up, and suddenly there they were, these extraordinary shapes that populated the sky. My reading and awareness of the landscape around Yosemite shifted dramatically after viewing these photographs; it was as if a whole new place had emerged and I was transfixed. I spent the last few days of the holiday voraciously photographing the place with my Dad’s Canon AE1 camera.

A couple of years, and a few hundred rolls of film, later I came across the work Stephen Shore and his book Uncommon Place. Near the end of the book is the photograph: ‘Merced River, Yosemite National Park, August 13, 1979.’ In this striking image Shore had chosen a totally opposing stance to Adams’ more romantic representation of Yosemite. Using a distant and elevated viewpoint, he had captured a banal scene, depicting the National Park as a place where tourists ‘consume’ the landscape, whilst revealing the lack of wilderness present. It is partly due to these two starkly contrasting views of the same geographical landscape, that I am continually inspired to take photographs. Places, events and ideas are continually reframed, redrawn and renegotiated depending on the artistic viewpoint of the individual photographer - we all have our own unique biography and stance, thereby bring a unique perspective to the subject matter we are narrating.

In my opinion there is no right or wrong time to start promoting your work, only hindsight can answer this question. The most important piece of advice I can give to an emerging photographer is to continually take advice from a mentor figure, someone who understands what your work is about and whose opinions you value. Furthermore, learn quickly from your mistakes. This industry is like walking a tight rope - it’s easy to fall, so take slow and steady steps forward.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

Gosh, that’s a tough question. I suppose the simple answer would be passion and tenacity. However, I’d say that all the following elements are important steps I’ve taken (or lessons I’ve learned) over the years. Note that some are contradictory!

The best delivery is simplicity - start by doing one thing well.
Generate your own projects and remember that ideas are your currency.
Keep a cuttings file with ideas.
Always carry a notebook and pen. You never know when an important thought might come into your head.
Stay focused on the projects that interest you and try not to waste time on trivial assignments.
Under no circumstance give away your copyright. It’s important to control your archive and the terms of usage of your imagery.
Don’t make any rash decisions for short-term financial gains- you’ll end up regretting them.
It’s inevitable that you’re going to make mistakes, so learn from them.
Do plenty of research: into your ideas, the marketplace and those who hold positions of responsibility such as picture editors, art directors, curators and gallery owners. Knowledge is key.
Seek mentors to help edit and critique your work, but only seriously consider the feedback from those you trust and who want to help you.
Build a network of people who like what you do and nurture these relationships.
Create a website with a portfolio of your work, it’s a free calling card. However, don’t just rely on people stumbling across it, promote it.
Apologies for the cliché, but remember it’s a marathon not a sprint.
More importantly, learn to accept that there is NO finishing line. There is only a time to slow down and a time to retire!
Treat everyone with respect. You never know where your paths might cross again in the future.
Watch a film by Andrei Tarkovsky.
It’s important to study and gain an education, but you don’t have to do this at University to make a success.
Attend portfolio reviews, however, it’s imperative that you research who you want to show your work to and why. Otherwise it’s merely an expensive waste of time and money.
Keep your finger on the pulse by subscribing to trade publications and art magazines. Better still, why not regularly browse magazines and listing guides for free in large bookshops!
Subscribe to influential photography and art blogs.
Make time every day or week to create something new.
You don’t have to travel half way around the world to make good work, first try looking locally.
Take a stance.
Keep your equipment requirements simple, they’re only a tool. The relationship between you and your subject is what really counts.
Recall what you first loved about the medium and retain an element of that innocence in your work today.
Be strict with how you use your time and don’t become a slave to emails and social networking.
If asked, give an artist lecture, it’s a good way to re-focus your mind on why you do what you do.
Go to artist lectures, everyone has a unique story to tell about their experiences.
Don’t be afraid to make beautiful photographs.
Try not to take photographs of empty parking lots at night, it’s been done countless times and in my opinion never makes for compelling imagery.
Visit a foreign photography festival to widen your experience and challenge your photographic boundaries.
Take a holiday every year (possibly without a camera).
Make a five-year plan, even if you don’t stick to it.
Enter juried exhibitions, grants and other competitions to be more likely to be in consideration for anonymous nomination awards.
Although remember to take note of the small print when submitting work, there can be some outrageous clauses lurking in there – like rights grabs.
Write an artist statement clarifying what your work is about, even if it’s just for you. Re-visit this statement every few months.
Keep an updated CV and online archive of all the tear sheets, cuttings and interviews related to your work.
Back-up your work regularly and be anal about cataloguing your archive.
Think laterally when looking for funding.
You are your best agent so work hard for yourself and don’t expect others to do it for you.
Trust your intuition.
Encourage your curiosity.
Experiment with your work and don’t be overly concerned with what others think.
Don't be afraid to take calculated risks.
Remember that the uncertainty of a freelance career can prove a source of motivation as well as frustration.
Regularly move yourself out of your comfort zone.
Quality control is of paramount importance. Think about your presentation and aim to be a perfectionist.
Don’t just look at your national market as an outlet for your work.
When making a new introduction, why not send a personalised note or small signed print by mail rather than sending yet another email.
Be patient and don’t expect too much too soon.
Have a dialogue with your peers.
Give back to the arts community by donating prints, acting as a mentor or hosting interns.
Keep perspective – there is life outside photography.
Relish in your successes, however small they might be.
One of the toughest challenges is trying to balance art and commerce – keep the balance on your art rather than the commerce. It’s always more rewarding that way.
Most importantly, be an author of your own work not an illustrator of others.

Frank Maloney, UK Independence Party, Barking, 29 March 2010 (Barking constituency), from the series The Election project

Gordon Brown, Labour, Rochdale, 28 April 2010 (Rochdale constituency), from the series The Election Project

Goodman Park, polling station, Slough, 6 May 2010 (Slough constituency), from the series The Election Project

Ladies Day, Aintree Racecourse, Merseyside, 4th April 2008, from the series We English

Cotswold Water Park, Shornecote, Gloucestershire, 11th May 2008, from the series We English

Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, Nottinghamshire, 16th June 2008, from the series We English

Blackpool Promenade, Lancashire, 24th July 2008, from the series We English

Burrs Country Park Caravan Club, Bury, Greater Manchester, 22nd July 2008, from the series We English

Police road safety sign, Magadan, Far East Russia, August 2004, from the series Motherland

Camping with Sasha and Paval, Kamchatka, Far East Russia, October 2004, from the series Motherland

Holiday makers onboard the Afanasy Nikitin cruise ship, Volga River, June 2005, from the series Motherland

Outdoor market in Grozny, Chechnya, April 2005, from the series Motherland

Doug DuBois

2011-03-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

DDB

When I was in high school, I found an old 35mm camera in a closet and convinced my father to have it repaired. I photographed for my high school yearbook and had a few friends who were into photography. Basically I was a quiet, nerdy teenager and photography gave me the courage to approach people and go places that were intimidating – which for me, at that time, was pretty much anything outside of my small, suburban existence (and much that was within).

My best friend Brook had a darkroom in his basement and we spent a considerable amount of time down there teaching ourselves how to process film and make prints. Our knowledge of photography came directly out of the Time/Life series of photography books on loan from the public library. My father helped me set up my own darkroom in our basement and one day brought home a Cartier-Bresson book called “Man and Machine.” Brook and I would put on music (we were really into progressive rock - don’t laugh) and entertain each other by making up stories to go along with the photographs. The ability of those photographs to evoke an entire world, at once strange and familiar to our adolescent sensibility, is what kept us glued to that book.

Books still provide an important and critical source of inspiration. I’m not a collector, my books take a hit by repeated handling and occasional spillage, but the solitary and private rhythm of turning pages provides, for me, the best way to contemplate photographs, think about the medium and find inspiration to make my own work. Films are a close second and I use DVD’s to watch films at my leisure – stopping, starting and repeating sequences. I keep files of film stills on my computer and from time to time, use them as models for my photographs. Galleries and Museums are another thing altogether. There, I mostly ogle and scrutinize the photographic object. I also pay close attention to the sequencing and installation, but the experience is fleeting and difficult to retain and study, which is why, I find myself returning to books.

DDB

I think there are so many paths that artists take to sustain and promote their work that it’s difficult to distill down to one, essential piece of advice, but the key to this question, or at least the central issue, is how do you evaluate yourself? It’s a tough balancing act to maintain a critical, yet confident inner voice. The critical voice is what compels you do it again and again until you get it right, the confidence is what assures you that you will eventually produce something of value. In theory this all sounds reasonable enough, but in practice, this balance is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve and maintain on your own. That’s where a network of friends and colleagues come in to offer a critical eye, a boost to your artistic ambition and a check on your hubris. In the end, however, it’s still up to you to make the decisions – no artist works by committee.

The process to get your work out into the word is not arcane – the interviews here offer plenty of good, practical advice. One thing that I’ve learned over the years, is to watch, if you have the opportunity, how people look through your portfolio or book. Pay attention to where, when and if they pause to linger over particular images or sequences. A reviewer offers a multitude of non-verbal cues about how your photographs are or are not communicating and simultaneously the level of reviewer’s interest or distraction. Teasing out the difference between the two is tricky. Portfolio reviews have popped up everywhere and offer a relatively efficient, cost effective context to show, watch and question people about your work. Just be aware that the person sitting across from you at the table may not always be on their game, generous or particularly insightful, but if you notice a pattern of responses among the reviewers, I would pay attention.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

DDB

Success is a difficult measure, as is status. I’m not terribly comfortable with either and I think if that is your goal as an artist, you are likely to be disappointed. But as I write this, it feels disingenuous. We are all interested in success -- for better or worse, it’s part of our national character. I like Ron Jude’s description of his success as meandering. I think that’s the experience of many artists and it’s definitely mine.

I got lucky by having several wonderful teachers and mentors when I was a student. I had an early success dropping off my work at MOMA while I was still in graduate school and I can still, occasionally convince a museum curator or collector to buy a print or two. I’ve received a few good grants and fellowships and stumbled into a modest amount of editorial work. Mostly, I rely on some very smart friends, curators, colleagues and editors to look at my photographs and then I do my best to internalize the smartest comments and forget the rest.

The other half of my professional life is in academia – a career and in some sense a calling I have pursued since I was a few years out of grad school. While I was a student, I never really considered a future career as a commercial photographer or an artist, for that matter. I made my living initially, as a printer and got to know Mitch Epstein, Larry Sultan and several other really wonderful photographers via the darkroom. For a while, that’s what I did to pay the rent and produce my photographs, but I admired my professors and actively pursued teaching jobs. Universities have their own issues, headaches and frustrations, but if you take teaching seriously and don’t let the cynical aspects of the institution bring you down, you are doing good in the world.

Really great artists, the ones that seem to live, breathe and exude profound and challenging work are like a force of nature. I have no faith in genius, but making art requires an intense and unflappable concentration that is difficult to attain and rarely sustainable over time. When it happens, even briefly, all the confusion, anxiety and self doubt are worth it.

Jumping the wall, Russel Heights, Cobh, Ireland, 2010, from the series My last day at seventeen, Ireland 2009 - 2010

Aaron, Cobh, Ireland, 2010, from the series My last day at seventeen, Ireland 2009 - 2010

Ben in Eirn's backyard, Cobh, Ireland, 2010, from the series My last day at seventeen, Ireland 2009 - 2010

Eirn and Kevin, Russel Heights, Cobh, Ireland, 2009, from the series My last day at seventeen, Ireland 2009 - 2010

Roisin, Russel Heights, Cobh, Ireland, 2010, from the series My last day at seventeen, Ireland 2009 - 2010

My Father in the Kitchen, Bridgeville, PA, 2004, from the series All the days and nights, Aperture, 2009

My father in the ocean, Naples, FL, 2006, from the series All the days and nights, Aperture, 2009

After the wedding, Gloucester, MA, 2006, from the series All the days and nights, Aperture, 2009

My mother's scar, Gloucester, MA, 2003, from the series All the days and nights, Aperture, 2009

My father commuting, Summit, NJ, 1984, from the series All the days and nights, Aperture, 2009

Jane Fulton Alt

2011-02-21T08:27:00.001-08:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

JFA

My photographic beginnings were very basic, initially. I was taking a trip to SE Asia and wanted to learn how to use a new camera. I had been taking various art classes at a local art center at the time and decided to enroll in a photography class. I had a wonderful photography teacher, Dick Olderman, who exposed me to the poetry of photography. I was an avid quilter at the time and had explored ceramics, drawing and painting. I realized that the camera allowed me easier access to exploring the world around me.

Essentially, my photographic explorations have drawn from my life and from asking questions about what it means to be alive. I am a clinical social worker (of 35 years) and raised a family of 3 children. I have also had the privilege of extensive travel, which has fueled my inquiry into what is universal to all people, regardless of race, religion or culture.

Contemplating man’s universal striving for love/connection, I have focused on the tension between love and separation. Man’s very first separation or disconnect happens at the moment of birth, when the umbilical cord is cut. This led me to explore pregnancy and how we all enter into life. After “documenting” several births, I created my first conceptual body of work, “Before the Butterflies.”

I then decided to explore our last and final separation, the moment of death. Death is one of the great mysteries of life and it is the only thing that is certain in life. This exploration has been ongoing and will probably continue until I take my last breath. I have visited slaughterhouses in Louisiana, Mexico’s Day of the Dead, and worked with hospice, both as a photographer and then as a volunteer. All of these experiences have enriched my life, both spiritually and photographically.

I have numerous bodies of work, many of which were created after exposure to places or events. In the fall of 2005, I discovered the power of combining my 2 professions, social work and photography. Previous to then I had kept the 2 careers very separate. I volunteered in the relief efforts post Katrina for 2 weeks in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans on a program called “Look and Leave”. After 3 days of accompanying residents back to their homes for the first time since fleeing, I had a melt down. I returned to my hotel room and realized I needed to more. I needed to photograph what I was seeing and hearing in order to be the ambassador for the people I was serving, as a way to keep their needs in focus and their stories alive. It was a turning point in my life as I realized the power of merging both professions. This integration has continued and infuses my work with a potency I had not previously known.

The Burn is my most current work. It addresses the life cycle. My artist statement communicates my current “take” on life….

“While accompanying restoration ecologists on prescribed burns, I am drawn to the ephemeral quality of the single moment when life and death are not opposites, but rather parts of a single process to be embraced as a whole.

As fate would have it, this project began on the same day (and actual hour) of my sister’s first chemotherapy treatment, having just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The parallels between the burn and chemotherapy were immediately revealed to me as I photographed with my sister in my heart and mind.

Burning helps reduce invasive vegetation that crowd out native plants, allowing sunlight to reach the seedlings. By opening the woodlands to more daylight, the fires prepare the soil for new spring growth, and the cycle of renewal continues. So too, chemotherapy removes unwanted growth, allowing for new healthy cells to reestablish themselves. It was with this deeper understanding of the life cycle that these images were created.”

I have found several quotes to be very helpful to me in trying to understand why I do what I do…One is by Andrey Tarkovsky, the genius of modern Russian cinema who died in 1986. He wrote Sculpting in Time, where he discusses his philosophy of filmmaking and art. He states in chapter 2, Art…A Yearning for the Ideal, that “The goal for all art…is to explain to the artist himself and to those around him what man lives for, what is the meaning of his existence…Art is a means of assimilating the world, an instrument for knowing it in the course of man’s journey toward what is called absolute truth.”

Another quote is from a poet, Wislawa Szymborska, who spoke on inspiration after receiving a Nobel prize December 7, 1996….

“I've mentioned inspiration. Contemporary poets answer evasively when asked what it is, and if it actually exists. It's not that they've never known the blessing of this inner impulse. It's just not easy to explain something to someone else that you don't understand yourself. When I'm asked about this on occasion, I hedge the question too. But my answer is this: inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists generally. There is, has been, and will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners - and I could list a hundred more professions. Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it. Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous "I don't know." ….. This is why I value that little phrase "I don't know" so highly. It's small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include the spaces within us as well as those outer expanses in which our tiny Earth hangs suspended.”

JFA

Art does not exist in a vacuum and needs to be seen by others. Feedback is essential.

Artists are constantly evolving and sometimes it is difficult to know if one is prepared to put the work out in the public. It is important to have feedback on the work, thru critiques, classes, portfolio reviews or individual consultations. Enter photo competitions but do not be discouraged if you are not included. Rejection is just part of the process. There is a blog that belongs to a writer that is solely devoted to all of her rejection letters!

I think it is important to look at other people’s work, via books, the internet, or galleries.

That said, I know that my work only progressed as it did because I was and am not making it for a “market.” My goal was never to “make it.” My path has been different from many photographers. I did not formally study photography and have not looked to photography for financial support as I had another source of income (thru my social work). My goal has always been to attempt to express my inner most concerns thru the photography. I rarely photograph for others and see my photographic practice as “sacred space.” This has been how I have carved out my practice. I think the challenges are great for the photographic market today.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

JFA

There have been many factors in getting the work out there. First and foremost, the work needs to be strong. Secondly, one needs to have the work seen. A web presence is essential and has led to tremendous opportunities for me. Portfolio reviews are efficient ways to have the work seen by many curators and collectors who would be very difficult to approach in other circumstances. Another alternative to the expense of traveling to a portfolio review is an online review such as Critical Mass (sponsored by Photolucida) which costs a fraction of traveling to a portfolio review. If the work is strong, it will be picked up.

But really, what is most important is just going back to doing the work.. and loving what you are doing.

My advice to emerging photographers is…

There is nothing more meaningful than being true to yourself and finding your own voice. Follow your heart and don’t let anyone discourage you. I once attended a portfolio review session providing feedback from 4 internationally renowned photographers. I had brought 20 photographs and saw each reviewer separately. In the end, I was surprised that each expert cared for different images, and had varied suggestions for how to continue my work. If each expert had been my teacher, I would have pursued 4 different directions and lost my way.

It is vital for any artist to nurture and protect that which will make your vision unique. One need to go inward instead of outward and learn to trust your own inner guide, preserving your identity and finding the answers from within.

If you must have a rule to follow, I suggest cultivating a dialogue with your inner voice and photograph with your heart. If you listen to the clues your own images offer, the resulting work will be fresh and authentic. Fall in love with your world, shoot a lot, and technical problems will straighten themselves out.

Burn No. 26

Burn No. 45

Burn No. 74

Burn No. 49

Burn No. 50

Burn No. 72

Burn No. 23

Burn No. 99

Burn No. 85

Burn No. 81

Charlie Grosso

2011-01-19T08:16:00.001-08:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I wish I could tell you a story of how a family member gave me a brownie camera for my birthday when I was 5 and I haven't been able to stop taking pictures since. Instead this is a story of contest of will and of sheer stubbornness.

The first thing I remembered wanting to be when I was little was an artist. At the time I was too young to understand the concept of medium and as an artist you had to work in at least one particular medium. At one point I remember telling my mom that I wanted to be a fashion designer in part inspired by her interest in fashion (she had attended a fashion institute and made a lot of my clothes and her own when I was young). I remember my inspiration was not well received. To be exact, "NO!" was the answer. Much of the first 11 years of my childhood was in search of an artistic medium that would not be rejected by my parents, anything from drawing to calligraphy to writing stories.

Then came adolescence. I moved from Taipei to Los Angeles and spent the next couple of years learning English and adjusting to a new world. Before long, I was back in search of an artistic medium that would win the approving nod of my parents. Theater was medium that occupied every bit of my time and energy from age 15-22. I loved all the different design elements and the narrative structure. I loved composing a visual scene with the actors and utilizing the designs to relay the subtext. Without surprise, pursuing a life in theater caused as much objection as the desire to be a fashion designer. But as time went on I became less and less concerned with winning the illusive approving nod.

I picked up the camera on a whim the summer between high school and college. I had the summer off and I thought that I needed a hobby. My grandfather is an amateur photographer and I grew up watching him photographing and working in the darkroom.

I spend the summer of 1997 with a private photography teacher who was once a student of Ansel Adams. One faithful sunny Southern California afternoon, he pulled out his Rollei Twin Lens Reflex and handed it to me. I looked down through the ground glass and I fell. Down the rabbit hole I fell and I was in love. Magic happened when I looked through the ground glass. I saw a different world. I still get the same feeling every time I look through the view finder of my Hasselblad or the ground glass of a large format camera.

Photography ended up being the perfect medium.

Some times I don't know if I have finally found the perfect medium or if all the different art forms before were in preparation for it. Did it find me or did I find it? Perhaps a little bit of both. Photography combines the compositional elements of stage direction, different aspects of design and contains the potential of story telling. I love it for so many different reasons and most of all because it is a synthesis of seemingly contradictory elements. It is technical (left brained) yet you must incorporate the artistic, give into the moment (right brain) in order to capture the decisive moment. It requires a lot of control from the artist yet the art demands an equal part of surrender as well. It is perceived to be the medium of TRUTH. What is photographed is real therefor true. Yet the moment captured is an edit of a scene, an edit of time, an edit of the total shoot. It is true and it is a lie. It can be the summation of a complicated story and yet it is only a part of the whole. To achieve mastery you must find the synthesis between opposing concepts. These are just some of the reasons why I love photography. Plus, I am also highly impatient and photography offers (nearly) instant gratification.

I feel the most important thing an emerging photographer can do is be very critical in editing their work. Shoot a lot and then edit, edit, walk away, have a drink and edit some more. It is important to develop a personal style and an artistic voice and that is much easier to achieve if you have a very clear idea of what is you are trying to communicate. How do you see the world? How is that particular vision articulated? I see the world with equal measure of irony, sarcasm, delight and compassion. It is apparent in all of my work, both commercial and fine art.

For a commercial photography career, I think it is wiser to show a portfolio that is diverse but driven by the same style. For a fine art photography presentation I think a very concise single body of work is more advisable.

One of the best career advise I had ever received is to never over invest in equipment. Your work is not your gear. Money is always better spend on creating new work and or promoting the work. The newest and latest gear will not make you a better photographer. Running more film through the camera or creating opportunities to shoot will.

I believe it is important to have a good understanding of the business aspect of the profession, whether be the commercial photography world or the fine art world. Aside from the act of creating something excellent there is a business and marketing reality to the life of an artist that I think is often neglected and always an after thought. Its great to create breath taking work. This amazing work that you create will do you and world at large no good unless it gets seen. To do that, you need to learn about marketing, branding and business practice in the arts in general. Artists needs to be able to develop the language to discuss their work. I don't believe it is enough to trust for the work to speak for itself. Help people understand the work you create and why it is worth their time.

If there is one vital thing that I could suggest for emerging photographers is to know your BIG picture goal. Where do you want to be and what kind of work do you want to do. To love the work you do, always ask how you can do it better but also check in and make sure that the work still brings you joy. There is 7 foot limited edition print of mine from an exhibit in my bedroom (Buying Chicken, Guangzhou, China, 2006 from Wok the Dog series). I look at it everyday and ask myself if I still think the image is good, if the work still brings me joy and how can I improve. Be true to yourself but never stop challenging yourself.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

Success is a funny concept. I think everyone has a different definition of it. It comes slowly for some and all at once for others. There is no road map and a lot of conventions are being challenged as we speak. Only you can define what success is for yourself. I cannot say that I fully understand all that has occurred that has gotten me to where I am now. What I am sure of is the passion I have for the work. The sense of certainty I have. I read a lot about business and marketing. I am obsessive about my work and so I spend a lot of time thinking about it, researching different opportunities and finding ways around existing conventions. I don't take no for an answer and I simply try try and try again. Sometimes I think success can be as simple as having the sheer human stubbornness to keep on showing up.

Never underestimate the power your passion has to inspire other people, move mountains and create amazing things.

One Part Passion + One Part Certainty + Armful of Ever Expanding Knowledge + A Dash of Stubbornness = Where I am Today

Blue Cages, Havana, Cuba, 2010

Nap, Havana, Cuba, 2010

During Eid, Cairo, Egypt, 2010

Butcher Against Orange Wall, Havana, Cuba, 2010

Intricate, Kamil, Morocco, 2010

Butcher, Walking Away, Havana, Cuba, 2010

Boy and Camel, Fez, Morocco, 2010

Number 14, Casablanca, Morocco, 2010

Fish Stall, Casablanca, Morocco, 2010

What Is Left, Georgetown, Malaysia, 2010

In Conversation, Casablanca, Morocco, 2010

Jess T. Dugan

2010-11-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

JTD

In retrospect, I have always had an interest in taking photographs. As a kid in Sherwood, Arkansas, I would create elaborate scenes in the backyard with my cats and teddy bears, shooting roll after roll of film and waiting impatiently to get the photographs back from Walmart. I moved to Cambridge at the age of 13 with my family, and I have a vivid memory of daydreaming about setting up a photo studio with a black velvet background in my new room and creating portraits. However, despite all of this, I didn’t get a chance to study photography in a formal way until my last year of high school. Throughout high school, I found solace in the art department and spent my days drawing and throwing pots, but photography was the most popular course and I wasn’t able to take it until my last year. Once I got in, I was immediately hooked. I would often completely skip whatever class came after photography, too immersed in my work and unable to pull myself away from the darkroom. I began photographing incessantly. Though I was exposed to other kinds of art before, I had finally found the way I was able to connect and communicate with the world and was completely addicted. As a young queer person, photography also gave me license to explore my identity. My first real photographs, taken at age 16, were of my fellow queer and gender variant friends and peers. I was just learning how to use my camera and technically, the images were not very good, but the process of making this work was my first experience with the power of exploring identity through photography.

By the time I fell in love with photography, I had already applied to art school, and I began studying at MassArt the next fall. I immediately enrolled in a photography class and never looked back. Luckily for me, I had the chance to study with an absolutely amazing group of photographers: Abe Morell, Nick Nixon, David Hilliard, Barbara Bosworth, Sage Sohier, Shellburne Thurber, Laura McPhee. I realize more and more each day what a privilege it was to learn from these inspiring artists. As a practicing artist, I am very aware how important my time at MassArt was. It gave me a solid foundation on which to stand, both in terms of technical knowledge and my sense of self as an artist, and for that I am unbelievably grateful.

I make photographs because I have to. It is the way in which I relate to the world around me, and the way in which I am able to know and understand myself. I primarily photograph people, and my camera functions as a way to get to know a wide and diverse group of people very intimately. One of the things I love about photography (and this is a sentiment borrowed from Barbara Bosworth) is that is gives me a reason and medium to explore absolutely anything I am interested in. My camera functions as an access card in many ways, giving me a reason and opportunity to know someone or something in a very personal way.

Right now I have two bodies of work going concurrently. The first is called A Place so as to Stay and is an exploration of people within their spaces and environments. I have absolutely loved making this work because every single person I photograph is fascinating and unique, and for a few hours, they let me into their world and show me who they are, at their core. This kind of access is not something I take lightly, and I am continuously grateful that people share their lives with me with such openness and trust. The second body of work is called Open View, which is a year-long documentation of a small, sustainable, peace and education oriented fiber farm in Western Massachusetts. It is one of the most amazing and beautiful places I have ever been, and I am thrilled to be making a long-term body of work there. Making this work has been an incredible experience, as I visit the farm for 2 or 3 days at a time and really immerse myself in that world. I only began shooting this work in May, but already I feel like the people on the farm are like family to me. Even in a relatively short amount of time, I have forged very deep friendships with many of my subjects and look forward to spending time with them every time I visit. In this way, my commitment to making pictures enriches my personal life in a way that is profound and meaningful.

I am always photographing other people, but in some ways my images are always a reflection of myself. If there is something I don’t understand about myself, or something I’d like to explore, I make images about it until I do understand. My image-making process ebbs and flows, sometimes more internally focused and sometimes focused only on the outside world. Being an artist, to me, means constantly evaluating and re-evaluating your own thoughts and emotions. It’s not for the faint of heart. If I’m not able to be fully present and aware of my own self, I can’t make good work. And sometimes that happens, and it is ok- I just shoot through it, and wait for that presence to come back.

JTD

I think a very important part of beginning to show and promote your work is having solid work to begin with. I see a lot of photographers who are so eager to show a body of work that they don’t give it the time and emotional energy to let it develop to its fullest potential, whatever that may be. That being said, I find it incredibly helpful to have a network of trusted people who I can show new work to and who will tell me, honestly, what they think, long before I’m ready to put the work on a gallery wall. It is so important to have a sense of community and people that you trust to look intelligently and critically at your work, and unfortunately, this is something that you really have to make for yourself once you’re no longer in the comfort zone of art school.

Once you feel like the work is ready, I would recommend taking steps to get it seen as well as becoming a part of the local art scene. Apply to group shows, attend openings, go to lectures, go to museums, look at other photographers you admire and examine what it is you like about their work. Talk with other artists in a similar stage in their careers and also talk with artists who are more established. I have found it very helpful to reach out to those who are in a place I’d like to be in someday and ask them how they got there, while keeping in mind that everyone has to figure out their own path and the same actions might not work for different people.

I am an obsessive looker, sometimes almost to the point of exhaustion. I like to know what is out there and what other artists are doing, but I also recognize when it’s time to pull back and sit with my own work and thoughts. The art world can be seductive- there is always another show to apply for or another contest to try to win, and it is easy to look around and see what everyone else is doing and feel like you somehow missed the boat or fell behind. At the end of the day, it is critical to find your own rhythm for making and promoting your work, and to be aware of the art world at large (and perhaps more importantly, the world at large), but not be driven by it. It is much more important to be able to continuously make your work and stay true to yourself than it is to get swept up in the tides of shows and “success.”

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

JTD

Success is a tricky concept. When I first left MassArt, I had a pretty rough transition from art student to working artist, largely because of my own expectations. For better or for worse, I left art school with a skewed sense of what it meant to be a working artist. I imagined an endless stream of residencies and traveling, constant states of change, eating ramen and freezing in the winter, etc. Very bohemian and unrealistic. I also left with the expectation that I would continue to be as productive and make as much work as I had been able to in art school, and for the first year, I struggled with letting myself down constantly. I had to find a job, pay the bills, find a way to afford my film, build a darkroom for myself, and discover that ever-slippery balance of time versus money, art-making versus real-world responsibilities. Eventually I adjusted my expectations and found my own rhythm, making work slowly but surely, printing one day a week and shooting when I could. For me, this is success. Finding a way to continue making work that I find meaningful and exciting amidst the confines of going to work and paying my rent represents a huge success to me.

The best kind of success, for me, is when someone sees my work and it makes them feel something. I never feel more excited about my work than I do when someone tells me how much they connected with it and that it had an emotional impact on them. This is something I love about having shows, more than the excitement and the reviews, is that people get to see my work in the way I intended it to be seen and I get to witness their reactions and hear their thoughts. Success is connecting with other people, whether they are my subjects or viewers of the work, on an intimate and meaningful level.

On a more tangible level, I have worked very hard to get my work seen and to make connections with galleries and other arts professionals. The summer after leaving MassArt, I interned with Joseph Carroll (of Carroll and Sons Gallery in Boston, MA) at the Bernard Toale Gallery, which was an invaluable experience and gave me so much insight into the way that galleries work. While working with Joseph, I met a lot of artists and people involved with other galleries in Boston. I also met Arlette Kayafas (of Gallery Kayafas in Boston, MA) and identified her gallery as a place where I would love to show my work. Over the next year, she and I forged a friendship and working relationship, and she gave me my first solo show of my black and white portraits in October of 2008. I recently had a second solo show of my series of large-format Polaroid photographs, Coupled, in March of 2010. Having gallery representation has been critical to moving my career forward, and I am so grateful to be represented by such a wonderful gallery and person. It is truly a blessing to find a gallery representative who understands and supports your work for exactly what it is. I have also continued to apply for group shows, grants, etc, especially those juried by people I respect or in spaces where I’d really like to exhibit. In the beginning, I applied for shows much more widely to try to build my resume, but now I try to be more selective and choose calls for entry that are appropriate for my work or that I feel will advance my career in some way.

Since joining Gallery Kayafas in 2008, I have gained representation in Chicago and regularly exhibited nationwide, from New York to San Francisco. I was recently in a group show at Carroll and Sons Gallery, and among the other artists in the show were David Hilliard and Sally Mann, and I was absolutely blown out of the water to share the wall with these folks.

Ultimately, it is important to know why you do what you do and to have faith in your own work. While it feels good to get into shows, get reviews, etc, you can’t depend on this kind of feedback to motivate you as an artist. There are always ups and downs. Sometimes you’ll feel on top of the world and other times you’ll feel like nothing is going your way and you’re totally lost and can’t figure out where to go next. It is all part of the process. Arlette has assured me on more than one occasion that the quiet time after a show or major body of work is as important as the excitement of exhibiting or achieving some kind of tangible “success.” What is essential to continuing to be an artist and to making photographs is your sense of self and your belief in your work. This, for me, is unwavering, and it is the anchor that keeps me grounded when things around me feel a little rocky or uncertain.

Lastly, you can’t do it completely alone. I have been influenced and positively affected by so many people, whether they are subjects in my images, curators or jurors who select my work for exhibition, or friends and colleagues who I go to for advice, friendship, and support. So many people have supported me and helped me along the way, and for that I am so grateful and hope that I am an equal support to others in return. My work and my life as an artist is as much about forging meaningful relationships as it is about the end product of seeing my work on the wall. For me the excitement and power is in relating to other people, and making photographs is the best way I know how to do that.

Dan, from the series Open View

Barb holding Frankie, from the series Open View

Suzi, from the series Open View

Violet, from the series Open View

Emmy making a basket, from the series Open View

Michael and TT at home, from the series A Place So As To Stay

Dad with his shotgun, Little Rock, Arkansas, from the series A Place So As To Stay

Shellburne at home, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from the series A Place So As To Stay

Ted and Virginia, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from the series A Place So As To Stay

Jon and Dixie, from the series A Place So As To Stay

Ken Rosenthal

2010-10-24T06:20:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

Probably my earliest inspiration for making photographs was my father. He was an advanced amateur photographer, and was always taking photographs. I’m certain that I caught the bug from him. When I was about 4 or 5 he got me a little Kodak Instamatic (which I still have), and kept me supplied with film cartridges for it. I imagine that my proclivity for the square format comes from the little square prints that the Instamatic produced.

We had a darkroom at the house I grew up in (in Los Angeles), and I used to help my dad on the weekends when he would process film and print. It was (and still is) a magical experience, seeing images emerge in the darkroom.

In my teens, I realized that a camera gave me license to experience just about whatever I wanted to. Early on, that meant fabricating a tale that I ran a music ‘zine. Music was my main passion at the time. I used to frequent the clubs on the Sunset Strip (the Roxy, the Whiskey, etc.) when I was in high school. I’d call the publicity departments at record companies and request a press pass for the concerts I wanted to attend, and nearly always received one. The earliest prints that I made in the darkroom and still have are from a Lou Reed show at the Roxy when I was 14 or 15. I remember coming home late that night after the show, processing the film, blow-drying the film, and making small prints that I took to school the next day. To this day, a camera empowers me to approach people or situations that intrigue me.

What inspires me to keep working in this field? Several things, I suppose. I have an insatiable curiosity about the world in general…a wanderlust, a need to explore. I use the camera, in part, as a journal…the photographs preserve the memories of my life experiences. Mainly, though, it is not a choice. I NEED to make photographs. Simple as that.

This is a tricky question. I think one should begin to try to get exposure for their work as soon as they have made a series of photographs that truly excite them. Let me qualify this though: you need to crawl before you can walk. You probably shouldn’t be approaching AIPAD galleries as an undergrad with 12 great photos from your Photo 2 class that rocked your professor’s and fellow student’s world.

Start with a very honest look at your own work. You should be excited about your own work, impressed with the work you have created. Edit ruthlessly. If you have exhibited a long-term commitment to photography, and you have a tightly edited, cohesive, and well resolved body of work then ask yourself a few simple questions:

- What is your work about?

- Who is your audience, and why does your work need to be seen?

- Is the work truly unique? Are you bringing something new to the table?

- What are your goals? (i.e. do you want to be an exhibiting artist? Do you want to publish? Do you want to have your work placed in collections?)

These may seem like obvious questions, however I am surprised how often I review a younger or emerging artist’s portfolio and they are unable to answer these questions. You need to know your work as well as you know yourself. It is, after all, an extension and reflection of you.

I don’t know that there is one defining action that I would suggest to a photographer to help them take their work to the next level (though a well designed and maintained website IS absolutely essential, and is a great way to start getting your work seen.) I think it depends on what their experience has been to this point. If a photographer does not have a MFA, and it is an option to take the 2-3 years to devote to an MFA program, I would strongly suggest that. The ability to focus on your work for an extended period of time with a group of peers and mentors is an invaluable experience. If he or she already has a MFA, I would take as much time as is feasible and focus on nothing but making work. Try to stay focused on one project, and edit, edit, edit. Then edit some more. And if a photographer has been working for a while and has a mature, long-term project that he or she is fully confident is ready to be out in the world, then I would suggest investing in one of the major portfolio reviews (Fotofest, Photo Lucida, or Review Santa Fe.) They are an opportunity to not only meet with the top professionals in the field, but also to spend time with fellow photographers. I cannot stress enough the importance of being a part of the photography community. Simply put, photographers are the best people. Our community is extremely supportive.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

It has come about through a combination of hard work, research, opportunity, and preparedness.

I consider myself successful in that I have met a number of goals that I set for myself. I sat down about 10 years ago and drafted a list of what I wanted to achieve as an artist. That was probably step one. I had studied how “successful” photographers that I admire put there work out there. I went to PhotoLA for a number of years, beginning in the mid-late 90’s, and learned so much about the business end of photography.

I knew that I wanted to have my work represented by galleries, but also had realistic expectations. I understood that I needed to have a mature and well resolved body of work under my belt before I approached galleries. I was fortunate in that I gave myself a year to do nothing but work in the studio. During that time I developed the core of my series Seen and Not Seen (which I worked on for about a year and a half.) After I felt it was ready to be out in the world, I sought the opinion of several friends who are professionals in the field. Their affirmation gave me the confidence to pursue a gallery. There is an amazing photography gallery in my city, Etherton Gallery, and I approached them first. I was very fortunate in that they responded to the work and took some work in on consignment. Not long after I was offered representation and a show. Terry Etherton, the owner of the gallery, has believed in my work from the beginning and has been a great supporter. He introduced me to his fellow gallerist, Michael Dawson, who owns a gallery in LA. Michael saw my work at Etherton, and through that connection he began representing and showing my work. I also applied to the photo-eye Photographer’s Showcase, and began showing my work on their online gallery. This was in 2001.

The next year I began attending portfolio reviews, and was able to build on the momentum of the previous year. I recognized the importance of trying to broaden the audience for my work, and approached a variety of opportunities in different markets. I met with commercial galleries, not-for-profit galleries, museum professionals, publishers, magazines, etc. In essence, things snowball. Get something started, let the momentum build, and then keep up the momentum…make sure things keep moving forward. It’s important to keep making new work, and to continue to gain increased exposure for your work. Additionally, I now have a wide circle of friends that I have met at portfolio reviews. We tend to help each other out, and suggest each other to appropriate galleries, publications, etc.

I feel as if I have been extremely fortunate in that I have been able to find and maintain an audience for my work, which was one of my main goals. That is not an easy feat. There is a wealth of great photography being made, and despite the myriad opportunities for one to get their work seen it is still tricky to find an audience for your work and to develop a following.

Seen And Not Seen # 001 - a - 1

Seen And Not Seen # 237 - 1

Seen And Not Seen # 1311 - 3

Not Dark Yet # HS - 11 / 12

A Dream Half Remembered # FB 41 - 1

A Dream Half Remembered # RBC 49 - 7 / 8

Missing # ZN - 52 - 10

Days Between # ROL - 52 - 9

Near Twilight

Cosmos

Michael Kirchoff

2010-09-26T07:20:00.001-07:00

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

Even though I’m the sole artistic member of my family I’ve always had a curiosity with art and photography. Come to think of it, it’s that curiosity that still remains and continues to keep me inspired. Creating a tangible piece of art from nothing more than your desire and vision is an incredible and powerful thing. You have a vision and you know how you want the work to be, but the journey in between is always a bit of a question mark. Trying to figure out that question mark is what keeps me coming back for more. Since I was a child I’d always had a camera of some sort, but it was when my father brought home an early SX-70 Polaroid Land camera that I became hopelessly addicted. Looking back I think I must have driven my parents nuts from constantly asking where another box of film could be found. I didn’t have any money of my own back then, so they were always going broke from my new found love. I was amazed at its ability to make the real world so much more interesting by infusing my own creative vision into it. It’s ironic to me that my early days consumption of Polaroid rivals my current obsession with instant film, even though the accessibility has changed dramatically the last few years. My high school years brought me to the darkroom, and it was there that I knew I was in for life. In school I had always done painting, sculpture, drawing, and other artistic pursuits, but it was seeing that image appear on paper in a developer bath that hit me like a ton of bricks.

My photographic work continues mostly because of my love for taking the worlds reality and creatively putting my own personal spin on it. Taking the three-dimensional world and putting it into a two dimensional space with your vision is an addicting process. Not only this but the tools or techniques are often changing, and it’s this change that makes for so many opportunities to explore new ways to create art. You’ll find me using these words over and over again, but really, I’m passionately addicted to creative pursuits.

MW
In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs? What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?

Take the time to self evaluate your images. It’s difficult to distance yourself sometimes from your work, as personal experiences from making the image can often obscure the value of the photograph within a body of work. Put the work together and look at it as a whole, and be in love with what you are creating Know what your work is about and know that learning to edit your imagery is key. A well rounded and inspired body of work needs to be accomplished before any real marketing or promotion of the images is sought. Once you know that you are showing your very best work and your very best prints you will have a great start. Stick to what you believe in with your work and stand behind it faithfully during its promotion.

I have to say that building and expanding your network of others in the industry is extremely vital. It seems to be easier these days to alert the world of your images with all of the social networking tools out there now. However, the personal relationships you make with individuals in the real world are what will move you further and faster than anything else. Joining photographic groups and organizations like Center, APA, and ASMP with like-minded people to share knowledge and ideas is a key component. Knowledge of the business of photography will come from this as well. Attend exhibit openings and lectures, talk with others about what they are doing, and above all, be supportive of your fellow artists. What goes around comes around is very true in this aspect. These relationships will be the foundation for every move you make while you strive to attain your goals in the industry.

MW
How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

Hmmmm…. achieving status as a successful anything makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. It sort of sounds like you’re at a plateau with what you do. Success is rather subjective and not so easily defined in the art world. I’d hate to sit back and rest on my laurels with what I’ve done, rather I want to keep hammering away at making new work and keeping myself intrigued with the artistic process. As long as I’m continuing to work in this field I will personally feel successful, though others may think that fame and money are essential to your success. I think my status as a passionate and dedicated photographer would sound much better!

The steps taken are far more important than the status level you could achieve. So much depends on your level of commitment and the effort you put forth to feed that need. The steps have been many, but a couple of important ones are rooted in the answer to the last question. Most certainly my relationships with others have been truly important to my success. I have to note as well, though I’ve done certain steps in my career to achieve what I have, the steps never go away and will continually be something that I work on without fail. Completing them once does not mean that it’s over and I can move on to something else. Momentum does build up, but you always have to be looking at what else is it that I could be doing.

I’m always shooting something new, and have adopted the process of getting a finished work out there as soon as possible. I may sit on an image or a body of work for a long time before I consider it done, but when I do, I get it out there and tell as many people about it as possible. It’s tough, but hitting the ground running goes a long way when you’re excited about your own imagery. It also keeps your name out there; you definitely don’t want to get lost in the throng of other artists out there. I’m always writing emails, knocking on doors, and ringing that bell in the town square, if you know what I mean. Being coy doesn’t get you very far with so much competition out there.

Know what to say about your work, especially with describing its purpose or your reasons for doing it at all. Speaking and writing about yourself and your work is quite mandatory, especially in the fine art world. I’ll admit that it can be difficult for many artists to do this, including myself, but it is quite necessary. A well-written artist statement goes a long way. You simply cannot go far by “letting the work speak for itself.” I’m continually writing and re-writing statements about myself and the individual bodies of work.

The bottom line is that your audience is out there; you just have to work extremely hard to find it. Perseverance is essential.

St. Patrick's Cathedral #2, Dublin, Ireland, from the series Cross + Stone

Ruins Arch, Kilfenora, Ireland, from the series Cross + Stone

Above Paris, from the series Vignette

Chimney Sweep, Listvyanka, Siberia, from the series Vignette

Monk's Quarters, from the series Vignette

Maarjamäe War Menorial, Tallinn, Estonia, from the series An Enduring Grace

Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia, from the series An Enduring Grace

Naval Cathedral, Kronstadt, Russia, from the series An Enduring Grace

Hindu Temple, from the series Los Angeles Study

Union Station, from the series Los Angeles Study

Palmer Davis

2010-08-25T10:23:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I took my first photography class in high school and it changed my life. Suddenly my eyes were opened to a different way of seeing and perceiving and understanding the world around me. It was an epiphany that started me on an exploration that keeps unfolding. I recently came across a snapshot of myself at 16, and sure enough, I had a camera around my neck! Back then my photography teacher, Walter Rabetz, was the first of many mentors, whose insights, encouragement and example have made this journey possible for me.

My education in photography continued at Hampshire College and later at the International Center of Photography, where I am now a member of the faculty. Because of that early obsession with photography, I was drawn to a career in advertising, where I became a creative director, responsible for national brands at top Madison Avenue ad agencies. No doubt, working with professional photographers all those years, art directing and editing images honed my eye.

But it wasn’t until I transitioned out of advertising, that I was able to really dedicate myself to photography. Upon my return from a year in Italy photographing formal gardens in the Veneto, I participated in a group show in New York City. This led to several more shows in and around New York. By that point I was able to attain representation with art dealer Carol Craven, who has been an invaluable artistic guide for me ever since. For almost ten years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of the few photographers exhibiting in her gallery on Martha’s Vineyard, alongside such important mid-century modern painters as Thomas Hart Benton, Milton Avery and Max Beckmann. This honor has been particularly meaningful for me because I consider my aesthetic to be more painterly than purely photographic. As a result of showing there, as well as other galleries, most recently Kenise Barnes Fine Art, I’ve established a considerable following of collectors and enthusiasts.

Besides the obvious rewards of exhibiting, I would have to say I continue to make photographs because I can’t not photograph. I’m increasingly addicted to that euphoric state of hyper alertness and simultaneous calm. It ignites my senses and makes me feel more alive in the moment. I find every aspect of the process of photography as gratifying as the end result: conceptualizing, shooting (color film with a medium format camera), printing in the darkroom, editing, sequencing and finally showing— whether in a gallery, an art auction, a juried show, an online magazine or blog like this one.

Still, nothing beats the feeling of walking into someone’s home and seeing one of my photographs hanging on the wall, or hearing a collector tell me how much my work means to them. So, yes exhibiting and selling one’s work is crucial, but I believe those things should come second. Creating the work comes first. The rush of creation is my primary motivator.

Creativity cannot exist in a vacuum. I’m always telling my students “You need to put your work out there. It’s a vital part of the creative cycle, otherwise you’re just talking to yourself.“ It’s important to get feedback from others in the field—anyone whose advise you respect. In addition, you need have an honest, ongoing dialog with your work. It will tell you what it needs, what is working, what is missing, what new directions you should pursue and whether or not you are ready find a broader audience. In order for you to communicate to others, first you must know what it is you want to say.

Once you are ready, there are an infinite number of ways to share your work with the world at large. It used to be that you had to lug your portfolio from door to door to get your work in front of people. Now, you can send your images to gallery owners, editors, art directors and collectors across the world on the Internet at the press of a send button. The exposure you can get from a single posting on an important photography website can be amazing. After some of my images were featured on Flak Photo, there was an entirely new audience looking at and discussing my photographs. For me to be able to read someone’s comments in Italian on my “Italian Light” series, or to be featured on Moloko + (a Russian online art and design magazine), or to see my images posted on a blog in Australia, seemed surreal to me.

So you need to get your work out there any way you can. This could be through the Internet, but if you’re just getting started, it could also be as simple as hanging your photographs in a local coffee shop, an outdoor arts festival, entering a photo contest, applying for a grant—whatever you can do to get a foothold. My first solo show was in a public library. I ended up selling more than I expected. Use your contacts; ask your friends and family and art colleagues for their connections. Once you start getting recognition for your work, one opportunity often leads to another. It makes me feel good knowing that my photographs are out there in the world, living and breathing and speaking for me—inviting people to think or wonder or simply exist in the time and place of my images.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

Successful is a tricky word. I prefer to define a successful artist as one who arranges his life so that he can continue to do the work he wants to do. It can be a long and lonely journey for anyone on a creative path, so it helps to find another definition for success that works for you. When I look at a contact sheet and find an image I’m excited about printing—that’s success for me. Of course, practically speaking, it helps to have other streams of income, which is one of the reasons I teach.

To get to this point in my career has taken blind faith, self-determination and passion for the work. As an artist, you need to embrace uncertainty, not knowing where the road you’re on will ultimately lead to. There are no short cuts here. You just have to trust your instincts and stick with it day in and day out.

You also need to surround yourself with a community of fellow artists and colleagues that will support you and inspire you as you navigate your way. So many of my breaks in the fine art world have been the result of someone putting in a good word for me at the right time. For example, Tema Stauffer, a fellow ICP instructor, introduced me to Daniel Cooney, who sold my work on an online art auction through his Chelsea Gallery. That same auction led to the Flak Photo posting I mentioned earlier. As I said, it’s all about getting your work seen. In fact it’s because my photographs are featured on Culturehall.com, a curated resource for contemporary art, that Michael Werner discovered me and invited me to be interviewed for this blog.

At the end of the day, as a photographer, I feel like I have a story to tell and no one else on the planet can tell that particular story but me. So against all odds and in spite of all reason, I keep on telling it.

all images below are from Palmer Davis' series American Stories

Daydream

American Gothic

Beer and Cigarettes

Marylin

Forest

Gilded Age

Swimming Hole

Sunday Paper

Broken Windows

Miller's Drive-In

Winter Trees

Amy Elkins

2010-07-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I had always been drawn to the arts growing up- drawing, piecing things together, painting, gluing together handmade books and collages, making things with my hands that came out of thoughts or emotions in my head. I was sort of a loner and spent a lot of time throughout my childhood riding my bike or walking around with amplified thoughts and daydreams racing about in my head. Los Angeles was sort of an isolating place to grow up. It was too big to go off and explore too often. Friends from school lived scattered across the city. My parents lived in two apartments, one in Santa Monica and one in Venice Beach. So I escaped in ways I knew how.. I liked the way I could transform things in my head onto paper. My father had studied art and has always been making and inventing things (from polarized plastic art to massive collages), his mother had been an eccentric painter who later became obsessed with Egyptian art. My mother has always played music and uses her hands to create things that way, the same way that her father had with a mandolin and my brother continues to do with many instruments. I suppose these things get passed down. I had always been very curious about photography growing up. My father had bought the entire 19-volume set of Time-Life Photography books from a thrift store when I was really young. I would lay around engrossed in the photographs for hours. Even then I was more drawn to photographs of people. A little later I ended up getting a red 35mm camera for my 8th birthday, which I used often. Years later, when I first started taking photography classes in college I was also studying life drawing, print making and various courses in psychology and cultural anthropology. I kept leaning heavier towards photography, eventually abandoning most other studies for it. I guess you could say I connected more with photography and its ability to represent things in a way that I didn’t find so much in other mediums.

What lured me back then, still lures me. I use photography as a means of looking into people’s lives in a way that I simply wouldn’t be able to, let alone have the nerve to do, in any other way. I draw often from an interest in psychology and a desire to connect with others, tending to work extensively on one subject/project at a time to try and understand it better before moving to the next. I consider myself a fine art portrait photographer and have always worked very slowly and formally with each subject. That curiosity, sometimes obsession, regarding the lives of others remains a constant source of inspiration.

While faith in one’s own work goes a long way, it has always been helpful in my experience to have a network of friends/peers that are photographers or artists, perhaps a professor or mentor or someone within the blogging community to be able to show work to and get feedback from. This really can help an artist ready themselves for how to talk about/think about new work, polish up a statement, put together a final presentation, figure out print size or output or sort out who would be interested in their work. While in school, this feedback is ongoing and easy to come by but once out of school it becomes harder to keep that dialogue going. While in my last year at School of Visual Arts I reached out to several photographers I had a great deal of respect for and we would meet from time to time in person to talk about photography and maybe look over the work I was making. These mentors that I was so fortunate to have really pushed and encouraged me continue making work, to enter competitions, build a website and get my work out there.

The Internet also creates a very accessible community. My first experiences with showing photography in New York came through Joerg Colberg, who runs the website Conscientious. I had emailed him and eventually when I had a website up he featured my work on the site, later doing my first interview. Roughly a year later he put me in my first New York exhibition with Todd Hido and Alec Soth, two photographers that I had tremendous respect for. There’s simply no real way of knowing what can unfold by simply contacting somebody or by putting your work out there to be seen. And it seems now it’s easier to do so than ever through reviews, competitions, grants, blogs, group shows, fairs, publications and d.i.y. project spaces.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

I do have quite a long way to go before achieving the status you mention here. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll ever get all the way there, but I’m ok with this. I realize that this field is very competitive and challenging. I would like to get to a point where I can let go of my day job and make my entire living off of my art. Like most artists early in their careers, I still struggle to fund shooting and producing my projects as well as finding the time to work on them.

In terms of what I have achieved so far- none of it has come without working hard, being persistent and continuing to make new work. I feel like when one does these things and the right opportunity presents itself things fall naturally into place. Without all of the hard work and persistence, without working on projects for yourself, those opportunities can fall flat. It seems the photo world is very small and that many things within it are deeply connected. Six degrees of separation, especially using the internet as a tool to reach people beyond your physical location. Being involved in a few group shows in New York very early on definitely unfolded into many other unpredicted opportunities for me. The exposure lead to my first private commission, my first editorial job with New York Times Magazine and introduced my work to Yancey Richardson, whom I’m currently represented by. When Yancey Richardson gave me a solo show of my Wallflower portraits in the project room, a curator from Vienna happened to see it and selected 5 of my images (from Wallflower and Gray) to be included in a history of portraiture show at Kunsthalle Wien, a contemporary art museum in Vienna. At the press conference for that museum show in Vienna I was introduced to a gallery owner in Frankfurt who ended up taking several Wallflower works to Pulse Miami during Basel. The work then sold to a gallery owner from Montreal, who curated it into a portraiture show that is currently on display at Pierre-François Ouellette art Contemporain. The way these sort of events unfold constantly surprises me and makes me feel very fortunate and grateful. Not only for the opportunities that have come up, but for the support of those who believe in my work and get it out there. It hasn’t always been as graceful an experience as those mentioned, and quite often it is far more challenging than that. There is simply no predictable path in this field. But I suppose if there were, it wouldn’t be quite as interesting.

Bon, Brooklyn, NY, 2008, from the series Wallflower

Brendan, Brooklyn, NY, 2008, from the series Wallflower

Jake, Brooklyn, NY, 2008, from the series Wallflower

Momentary, Brooklyn, NY, 2007, from the series Gray

Whispering Pines, West Greenwich, RI, 2009, from the series Gray

Heidi, 7th Ward, New Orleans, 2009, from the series The Weight of Air

John Ben, 7th Ward, New Orleans, 2009, from the series The Weight of Air

Bella, Uptown, New Orleans, 2009, from the series The Weight of Air

13/32 (Not The Man I Once Was) from the series Black is the Day, Black is the Night

26/44 (Not The Man I Once Was) from the series Black is the Day, Black is the Night

Sandra Dyas

2010-06-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

I started using my Dad's cameras when I was a little girl. The first one was a cheap Brownie. I was eight or nine. I dressed up our farm cats in my doll clothes and took their photos. Pictures of my family and cousins were part of my earliest work, too. In high school my Dad gave me his Rolleiflex twin lens. He had brought it home from WWII and he no longer used it. Mom took pictures of our family growing up, but I do not recall using her camera. I also used a Polaroid Swinger and a point and shoot in junior high and high school. My photos were always of people I knew. I really wanted to work on the yearbook but some of the teachers did not like my rebellious (very innocent) nature and voted me off of the yearbook staff.

Finishing high school I enrolled in a graphic arts program at a junior college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. How I got there is another story. It was indicative of the times... Mr. Wilson, our "guidance counselor" was aware of my desire to attend college for a degree in Art Education and said it was a "fantasy of mine". Matter of factly, he told me I would never make it in college because I did not like math and science. He convinced me to attend a junior college and enrol in Fashion Merchandising. I did not want to sell clothing and I promptly switched to Graphic Arts. This was 1971. My perception of my options in life was miniscule. Getting married, being a housewife or teacher, secretary, beautician or nurse...those were my options....as far as I knew. I was in the middle of nowhere on a rural farm in eastern Iowa.

I enjoyed the Graphic Arts program and learned a little about photography. My boyfriend gave me a Minolta SRT 101 for Christmas. It was the best gift anyone ever gave me. It was 1972. Following school I found a job working in the darkroom for a printing company in Dubuque, Iowa. By 1973 I was pregnant with my first daughter and I married my boyfriend, the one who had given me the camera. After Jenna was born, I began working as graphic artist in a printing shop in Maquoketa, Iowa. I did paste-up for brochures, business cards, etc. I made about $2.00 an hour.

I was married with a baby and needed badly to bring in more income because my husband's income was not enough and he was also young and irresponsible. In 1976 I was asked by a young woman in Bellevue, Iowa if I would like to buy her portrait studio business. My parents lent me a down payment for her business and I began photographing people for a living. I learned a great deal about people, lighting and business. It became a successful portrait business and lasted nearly twelve years. Being the portrait and wedding photographer in Bellevue eventually lost its appeal. I wanted something else and I knew it.

In 1987, my two daughters and I moved to Iowa City so I could attend undergraduate college at the University of Iowa. I had been divorced for seven years. In retrospect I can see I was making quite a leap and financially it was not such a good one. Going in debt with student loans, and being a single mom was difficult, oh and I was also learning how to be a student again. I loved school. After finishing a BFA in Intermedia (Performance Art and Video Art) I applied and was accepted into the Intermedia graduate program. During my long stint studying I was also immersed in fine art photography. The Lost Nation Photographs began in the later eighties and continued for nearly fifteen years. This work is a very personal and poetic exploration of the everyday world. Although Lost Nation is a small town in eastern Iowa, my Lost Nation does not occupy a physical place; it is a universal feeling and a metaphor for the human condition.

In answer to why I stayed in the field of photography, I would say, I love it and I think I am good at it. I enjoy the ability to go places with a camera I normally would not be permitted to go. Diane Arbus - an obvious influence of mine said once that she enjoyed the event of taking pictures. When I spend an hour or several hours with someone making their portrait, I am allowed into their personal space. Most of my work is on location. It feels very intimate. The title...The Two Way Lens speaks to this - there is always the photographer and there is always the person on the other side of the camera's lens.

Photography has taught me to pay attention to the little details in the everyday world. Teaching photography has done that too. I find myself talking to my students about getting in the zone, paying attention to the frame, slowing down and really seeing what is in front of you. Photography has taught me a great deal about life.

In 1999 I begun teaching photography part-time at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Teaching is something that is in my blood. I knew that when I was a girl. It is immensely satisfying and informs my own life as well as my art. Forming relationships with students keeps me connected. I can share my knowledge and passion with students who have similar feelings about art. Teaching is always about learning. I enjoy seeing their enthusiasm for photography.

I am at a crossroads once again. Maybe it is my age and maybe it is the economy but whatever it is, I have found it extremely difficult to obtain a full time tenured position in an art department. True, I have only begun searching three years ago. I continue to freelance and do commission work but what I would really like is a full time teaching position so as to be able to spend the rest of my time on photo projects. Who knows? It might be perfect the way it is now. I am ready for a new chapter though.

The internet is a wonderful way to network with other artists and photographers. Your work has a possibility of being seen if you have a website and/or blog or by using a photo network like Flickr. Entering competitions is another good idea for photographers. Jurors see your work. Sometimes your work is accepted and this gives you more presence in the photo world. Living in a community where you are part of an artist community is important. For me the quickest way to stop doing what I am doing is to isolate myself. I would like to live in a much larger art community but where and how are the questions. Making a living in the arts is very competitive. To live as an artist you have to be willing to live very frugally.

One thing I suggest to my students is to really study photography books. I am crazy about them and have a pretty large collection. They can teach

you so much about photography. I love reading interviews and essays about the photographers and why they make photographs. My books are a big source of inspiration.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

I had lunch not long ago with two younger artist friends - one a photographer and one a writer. We were talking about how to make it in the arts.

I still do not believe I have made it - but they both said I had - that my status was as a successful artist working in photography. Funny.... Maybe it is that we never believe we are where we should be or where we want to be. Maybe there is always the constant search for more. I have accomplished some success by having my name out there, being recognized by some people and getting my work into solo and group exhibitions. But it feels like I am only just getting started and sometimes I wonder about it all. With the internet and digital photography the competition is real. Mark Brautigam, (he and I were both chosen for The 50 States Project) a photographer in Milwaukee, said to me recently in an email, he had been doing some thinking about the photo world and the vast industry of portfolio reviews, competitions, etc. It seems everyone is doing it. And as Mark pointed out it is pretty easy to just get lost in it.

My book "Down to the River; Portraits of Iowa Musicians" was published by the University of Iowa Press in 2007 and that is my biggest accomplishment. A series of steps were involved in making that happen. The photo project was a personal project I had been shooting for nearly twenty years in and around Iowa City. I had no preconceived idea of ever showing the work let alone publishing it. I was working on The Lost Nation Photographs at the same time and I saw that work as my more important fine art work. Justine Zimmer, a very close friend, suggested I show the work to Holly Carver at the University of Iowa Press. Holly was extremely supportive. From the idea of publishing to the actual hard-copy book, it took me over five years of work.

This past decade I have continued to make new work and to exhibit it in college galleries as well as a few museums in Iowa. I have also been in a number of group shows outside of Iowa. Two of my gelatin silver prints were in Onward '10, juried by Debbie Fleming Caffery. Over a year ago I was selected by Stuart Pilkington to be the Iowa photographer for his 50 States Project . If my work had not been present on the internet, I would not have had this wonderful opportunity.

A month ago I created a new video piece (EPK) for Pieta Brown's latest cd "One and All". My MFA was in video art but everything then was analog. The video I made for Bo Ramsey in 2000 was made using analog. This past December, I invested in a new Canon HD Vixia camera, another big external hard-drive and Final Cut Express to make this new piece for Pieta.

I work in film and digital photography as well as video. In order to reach any level of success in the arts, you must get used to rejection, be dedicated, hard-working and of course have some talent. I struggle financially to make ends meet. If you are young and a people person, I recommend wedding photography. You learn everything about being a photographer by doing it. I have shot about 600 weddings or close to it. It is emotionally and physically a very demanding job. Extremely stressful. I did love it and I always wanted to please my clients. It was a good fit but once again, I see myself moving into something else. Not really sure what... It is not easy to be an artist but it is my life so far and I do like my life. The financial struggle is real. I have considered other careers but everything so far has been linked to photography.

The Blue Chair, from the series Heaven & Earth

Red Lips, from the series Heaven & Earth

The Gold Curtain, from the series Heaven & Earth

Blue Birds, from the series Heaven & Earth

Ballerina Girl with Apple, Iowa City, Iowa, from the series The Lost Nation Photographs

Cowboy, Iowa City, Iowa, from the series The Lost Nation Photographs

Carnival Man, Iowa City, Iowa, from the series The Lost Nation Photographs

Greg Brown, Iowa City, Iowa, from the series Down to the River, Portraits of Iowa Musicians

Joan In Her Turquoise Dress, Bellevue, Iowa, from the 50 States Project

Mark Stevenson, Iowa City, Iowa, from the series Holding On; Portraits of People I Know

Hiroshi Watanabe

2010-05-20T10:21:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

When I was in a high school, I was told by my parents that I must study hard and go to a university. I didn’t want to study. I had a good friend who wanted to become an artist., and he was a painter. I was somewhat influenced by his idea, but I knew I was not good at drawing and I had no other particular artistic talent. So, I thought I would do photography. Photography sounded fun and easy and no hard studying was necessary, I thought. I found the university with 4 year photography course and I was successfully admitted, and that satisfied both my parents’ requirement and my wish of easy life. My father bought me a Minolta 35mm SRL and that was my first camera. I had no prior interest in photography. I played a lot and enjoyed the four years of college life, but somehow I became serious about photography as I studied it. When I graduated, I found a job in the US which happened to be a production company specializing in making commercials for Japan. I thought I would work for the company for a year or two and look for a photography job meanwhile. But one photographer whom I met suggested that I stayed on with the job. He said advertising and filming had much potential while photography had no future. At that time, I was starting a family and I had the responsibility. So, I stayed on with the job and a four years later I started my own production company. After I ran the business for 15 years, one morning, I woke up and all the sudden I decided to become a photographer again. I don’t know why but I had decided. I traveled and built up a portfolio between commercial jobs for 5 years and after that I closed down the business and became a full time photographer. It’s been 10 years since then and I am still a photographer.

Obviously, one has to start by showing his/her work, and there are many occasions nowadays—contests, portfolio reviews, grants, etc. I don’t think opportunity is an issue here. There are plenty of chances to be discovered if you are good. So, the question is, “Are you good? “ Simple, easy, and sure way to find out is you. No one can answer this question but yourself. If you aren’t sure if your wok is good, then probably your work is not good enough. Don’t ask somebody else. Instead, hang your work and live with it. If it makes you feel good and proud that you made it, your work is good. If you think, “He will be sorry.” when someone rejected your work, then your work is very good. When you are sure about your work, you are ready to be found.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

I am not sure if I am successful professional photographer. If “successful professional” means I can live a good, somewhat luxurious, life by the profession, then I am certainly not. I am represented by well-established galleries in New York, Chicago, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, and others, and I sell decent number of work every month. But fine art photography requires a lot of money to produce. I spend a lot for films and prints and also traveling. I work full time 5 days a week and I don’t do anything else. My expenses are almost as high as my photography income and I have so little left at the end even when I am lucky. So, maybe I am not qualified to answer this question. Then why am I doing photography? I think it is a combination of passion and stupidity. For me, photography is intellectual, artistic, and curiosity fulfilling. I love making photographs.

White Terns, Midway Atoll, from the series American Studies

Maiko Takaku, Matsuo Kabuki, from the series Kabuki Players

Patient RC 2, Epilepsy, from the series I See Angels Every Day

El Arbolito Park, Quito, Ecuador, from the series Gods, Nations, and Histories

Aikichi 2, Suo Sarumawashi, from the series Suo Sarumawashi

Fukunosuke, Suo Sarumawashi, from the series Suo Sarumawashi

Santa Monica Pier, from the series American Studies

Bubble Man, New York, from the series American Studies

Sardar Market, Jodhpur, India, from the series Gods, Nations, and Histories

Ellis Island 2, New York, from the series American Studies

Marina Ema & Kazusa Ito, Matsua Kabuki, from the series Kabuki Players

Aline Smithson

2010-04-19T09:37:00.001-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

From an early age, I was immersed in creative pursuits, whether designing doll clothes or drawing cartoons, and in college I was doing pretty much the same thing on an elevated level--I was focused on painting, and designing clothes on the side. After college, I moved to New York to become the next Diebenkorn, but ended up involved in fashion, while continuing to paint in my free time.

Becoming a photographer was a totally organic evolution—I had been surrounded by photographers all my life (my father and my uncle), we had a darkroom in our basement growing up, and I worked as a fashion editor alongside incredible photographers, but hadn’t considered it as a career until it sort of hit me in the face. Once I committed to photography, it felt like it was natural fit and it brought me back to my roots as an image-maker and artist. I realized I had spent decades looking at images—on album covers, in magazines, in galleries and museums, and I wanted to create my own.

At first, there was a huge learning curve, but my happiest days were those spent in the darkroom, figuring out my craft and sensibility. I only took a few classes, and the rest has been self-taught. I had two small children at home and had to contain my photography to the hours that they were in school. I had no community, except for the friends I made in the darkroom, and spent hours navigating the internet trying to learn from other photographers—seeing how they put together portfolios, what exhibitions they submitted to, what magazine accepted submissions. But I never had any doubt that this was my path. And in retrospect, taking things slowly was a good thing. And even though I wish I could have started earlier and earned an MFA, I think being a self-taught photographer has kept my vision unique.

I made many, many mistakes, got rejected many times, but when I started creating work that kept me awake at night with excitement, things started to happen. I got into Review Santa Fe, was offered exhibitions, and began teaching.

What sustains my vision is that I continually want to interpret the world through my own artistic lens.

The two biggest problems that beginning photographers face are learning how to edit, and making high quality prints. Beginning photographers forget that it’s not just the image that is for sale, but the print. Many students have never produced prints, even though they have made thousands of photographs, and perhaps the fact that they have thousands of photographs, doesn’t allow them to commit to a single image!

Emerging photographers have to remember that the art world has seen everything, and in order to produce work that gets the attention of those rarefied eyes; it has to be unique, meaningful, and professional. Oh yes, and interesting or important enough not only in concept, but worthy of the energy it takes to promote the work for years to come. It’s important for work to say something, to tell a story, to have a point of view, to have a voice, and to understand why you are making the work and who your audience is.

When a photographer is ready to “emerge”, they should be visually sophisticated, well versed in the photo world—being familiar with galleries, museums, major competitions, and other photographers—and be able to present a cohesive body of work with a smart statement and corresponding materials. The best places for emerging photographers to test the waters are at portfolio reviews, with a wide variety of reviewers giving critical feedback. Portfolio reviews can be very expensive, but there are many smaller ones cropping up that emerging photographers can take advantage of. In the beginning, I started by submitting to group shows, many that included mixed media, and to magazines, online and in print. I realized early on that the most important thing was THE WORK.

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

Success is an interesting concept…I do consider myself to be professional, but I am not sure what successful means anymore. As I achieve more personal goals, I find just as many or more that I have yet to achieve, and that keeps me working hard every day. There is no magic to this journey. It’s just putting one foot in front of the other, trying to keep the momentum going especially on those days when the last thing I feel like being is creative. Trust me, there are dry spells, periods of insecurity and defeat, but I have discovered that by celebrating and exploring other photographers during those times (well, all the time) and living a visual life, it keeps me engaged and energized.

In addition, developing a supportive photographic community is vital to success. I have to say that having the encouragement and friendship of photographers, editors, gallerists, etc has been one of the greatest rewards of this journey. One gallerist in particular, Crista Dix from Wallspace Gallery in Seattle, has been my champion and sounding board, and I have learned so much from her guidance and friendship, and one magazine editor in particular, Russell Joslin of SHOTS, helped create my first community of photographer friendships and got my work seen on an international level.

I can’t speak enough about the importance of good will and to giving back to this community. Take time to make connections. Let other photographers know that you appreciate their work, compliment a curator on an exhibition or an editor on a publication, be open to what is going on, and show up. Donate to auctions, support institutions that promote your work. I have been writing the photography blog, Lenscratch, for the past several years, and though it’s a lot of work, I have learned so much and connected with so many terrific human beings. Opportunities have come to me because of that hard work, but better yet, opportunities have come to photographers I have featured on the blog. And I find that incredibly satisfying.

Fur, from the series Daughter

Quincy, from the series Spring Fever

Shirley and Boat, from the series Paradise in Color

The Baths, from the series Dolls at Night

Mother, from the series Dolls at Night

Arrangement 10, from the series Arrangement in Green and Black - Portrait of the photographer's mother

Moving Trough, from the series Shadows and Stains, Notes from a Dark Room

Mother, from the series Inside Out

Rhino, from the series Unreal / Reality

John and Roy, from the series Paradise in Color

Arrangement 1, from the series Arrangement in Green and Black - Portrait of the photographer's mother

Brothel, from the series Dolls at Night

© all images Aline Smithson

Stefan Heyne

2010-03-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

My first steps as a photographer are inseparably connected with the, at that time, divided Berlin. I was a student in East Berlin and lived very close to the wall. Beyond all the social symbolism which the Wall had for me first of all it had the effect of being a very present, physical view blockage. There was something, something behind it, that I couldn’t see. So for me it was succinctly connected with the uncertainty about, and only vague idea of, what lay behind it. On the other hand, the Wall was also something abstract for me, a big installation, which because of its monotone surface and endlessness appeared to be a big contrast to the pulsating chaos of the capital city. This was so fascinating to me that I absolutely wanted to take photos of it. Because it was forbidden to take photos near the wall, it was only possible under difficult circumstances, but mostly it was not possible at all.

And so today I am engaged with the narrow edge between the real and the abstract, between recognisable and unrecognisable conditions, between the habitualness of viewing and visual irritations. Greyzones and walking close to the border are still interesting subjects for me, so also the boundaries of photography.

The amazing thing about this is that only these boundaries lead into the centre, they come to the point of photography, what its own and unique reality actually is. If photography isn’t about these questions and is only used as a vehicle to transport content or subjects, the photographer doesn’t meet its uniqueness or potential.

Beside these more conceptual questions it’s always about the approach to the perfect image. This is my driving force.

From my point of view it is essential that photography itself - the making of images, the thinking about images and the viewing of images - is a basic need for the photographer. If you deal intensively with your own images, you quickly realize what is good and what is not going to stand up. A good image has to speak for itself and doesn’t need an explanation. If you still have the feeling that you have to enrich or support your own work with comments or explanations, this is a clear sign that the image does not speak for itself and isn’t ready yet. A good image burns into your mind so that even after you have seen many others, you don’t forget it, and even if you do, you would recognize it again immediately. This is of course the same for every gallerist and collector.

A second, essential point for finding your own position is uniqueness. The images have to have their own incommutable style.

In this context, I find the following quote from the German gallerist Gerd Judy Lübke most applicable: You always have to be searching for the stars and if you are good, the market will find you!

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

SH
In retrospect, this is hard to answer. I think one thing lead to the next. For me, it was important that I certainly always believed in myself and in the power of my images. Besides this, it was certainly helpful that I sought out the first publications very early on. More important was that I looked for allies with whom I could reflect upon my own position and strengthen it.

Stefan Heyne, Strasse / Street, 2004, 138 x 92cm / 54,33" x 36,22"

Stefan Heyne, Rummel 1 / Carnival 1, 2005, 126 x 190cm / 49,61" x 74,8"

Stefan Heyne, Fach / Shelf, 2007, 120 x 180cm / 47,24" x 70,87"

Stefan Heyne, Szene 1 / Scene 1, 2006, 50 x 75cm / 19,69" x 29,53"

Stefan Heyne, o.T. 3330 / Untitled 3330, 2009, 180 x 120cm / 70,87" x 47,24"

Stefan Heyne, Auslage Display, 2006, 160 x 106cm / 62,99" x 41,73"

Stefan Heyne, Fünf / Five, 2007, 140 x 92cm / 55,12" x 36,22"

Stefan Heyne, o.T. 5913 / Untitled 5913, 2010, 120 x 180cm / 47,24" x 70,87"

Stefan Heyne, Gebäude / Building, 2007, 180 x 120cm / 70,87" x 47,24"

Stefan Heyne, Turbine 3 / Turbine 3, 140 x 93cm / 55,12" x 36,61"

Stefan Heyne, exhibition view