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What Is Real?
We must be unapologetic and explicit in our aim to show viewers things they almost certainly would not see on their own, to inspire in our viewers experiences they would never have if it were not for our subjective sensibilities and feelings, our creative and expressive skills, and not just our technical abilities. more
The Devil’s Dictionary
Many of you will already know or will have heard of The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce which is often cited as one of the greatest satirical works of American literature. more
When Time, and Trees, Stood Still
Although photography is a visual medium I like the idea, or sense, of listening to the trees, of being receptive to their whispering voices. And I heard that there is much to be said for standing still. more
The Plain
Through my work as a photographer, I have also spent time in different kinds of landscapes; landscapes which are embedded with the aftermath and traces of war (as in Kosovo), or which are marked out as land under military occupation (as in The Plain). more
Creativity and Personality
Despite so many challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the requirement for social distancing also created opportunities for me to spend more time doing virtual presentations for camera clubs and other photography groups, answering photographers’ questions on a variety of topics. To my surprise, topics related to psychology seem to have been a recurring theme. more
The Cost of Convenience
While recently reading a monograph on a Harry Callahan exhibit the writer mentioned the process of making an image with an 8 x 10 view camera. I thought of how much photography has changed over the decades and began to wonder how those changes have impacted the photographs we make today, for better or for worse. more
Landscape Photography and the Meaning of Life
How effective we are at making meaningful landscape photographs is determined by our ability to forge, recognise and express meaningful connections between our lives and the landscapes we travel through. more
Cleveland Hills, Winter Storm
These are far from widely recognised places. Only a local would know where the pictures were made. Creatively this can work in our favour…it may be this makes these photographs more open to personal interpretation. more
The Natural Landscape Photography Awards
If anybody has been reading On Landscape on and off over the last decade, you’ll know I’ve written about competitions a few times. The idea of competitive art seems anathema somehow but I think we can all understand the desire to see how your work would be judged by your peers... more
Don’t Destroy the Cypress Swamp Experience!
There is no better place to be explored by a kayak, than these swamps. One just glides effortlessly and silently through a magical wonderland, chooses his own route, his own tempo. more
Poetic Odds
Of those concerned with truthfulness in photography, I ask this: if you inspire in your viewers an experience you did not actually have, is the fact that your images are not “manipulated” sufficient to make them “true”? more
Opportunity Cost
Edward Weston wrote in his Daybooks, “If I have any ‘message’ worth giving to a beginner it is that there are no short cuts in photography.” In the literal sense, Weston was wrong. more
Photography: An Art Born of Science
I have been fascinated by the gap between how I see and how the camera sees, by the gap between illusion and science. Like the prisoners in Plato’s Cave, I have stared at the flickering shadows and tried to divine what I can about reality. The tool I have chosen was, as I hope I have shown, forged in science. more
Paul Wakefield
There is an inherent mystery and contradiction in Paul Wakefield’s work that keeps me returning to it. I will never be able to make pictures like Paul’s, nor should I try; perhaps the greatest lesson we can learn from another artist is authenticity, to simply be ourselves. more
The Landscape of Memory
In the photographer’s actual experience surrounded by the light, colour, texture and space of reality, there is simply the moment; a living space/time continuum. more