Joni Sternbach

MW

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

JS

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.

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?

JS

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.

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?

JS

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

© copyright all images Joni Sternbach

Orville Robertson

MW

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

OR

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.

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?

OR

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.

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?

OR

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

© copyright all images Orville Robertson

Simon Roberts

MW

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

SR

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.

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?

SR

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.

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?

SR

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

© copyright all images Simon Roberts

Doug DuBois

MW

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.

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?

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.

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?

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

© copyright all images Doug DuBois