All too often we look at the photography that we produce in the small term. The single photograph, the small portrait sitting, a day out shooting or a full wedding shoot. Even working at a project, it often has defined parameters and an end point, it’s not often we consider the full output of our productivity and what people will look back on it and think.

© Vivian Maier, Courtesy of John Maloof

Those of us that cover weddings or family events will usually know that their work is appreciated during the subjects lifetime. What happens to it afterwards? Will it become part of the family photo history, brought on on rare occasions as people are rifling through a drawer, looking for a specific photo or document?

All photographs, and genres of photography have a different values and to a certain extent a “lifespan”. Indeed, many photographs will have their value fluctuate as time passes. Take for example, wedding photographs. These will be immediately valuable to the couple and their immediate family, but once they have passed on the value will drop, apart from maybe one or two of the photos held dear by their children. Once we have passed that generation their value will more be of a record of the “times” in which the photo was taken, the styles of dress, fashion and rituals of the time. This is not to make light of wedding photography in any way (I have and do cover those events), but merely an observation and musings on the lifespan of  photographs.

What brought me to this? Well I recently stumbled upon the works of Vivian Maier. The blog of her work is run by John Maloof who acquired her work in an auction, some 30-40,000 negatives,  many of them undeveloped. He’s had a great and inspirational experience looking through, and developing the films in the collection.

To see such a large body of work, devoid of a commercial angle or bent is interesting. You are seeing through the photographer’s eye without the wishes of the client having any impact. This appeals to me, mainly as I have had several discussion with family and friends over the years, about what I’m “Going to do with my photography”. With a lot of it centering around people not understanding my reluctance to make money from what I do. It’s not from a lack of aptitude, or from a lack of confidence, but from what I want to cover/show and how I feel, mainly that the work I want to cover  is not something that’s going to be commercially viable, and a commercial aspect could get in the way of the meaning behind those photographs.

© Vivian Maier, Courtesy of John Maloof

I’m interested in the non-commercial aspect of photography, the documentary and telling of a story unfettered by commercial concerns.  This comes back to looking at the parameters to your work. There is the real danger that without any parameters or goals a life’s work can become formless and hard to manage. 40,000 negs is a lot of images to catalogue, edit and narrow down! Imagine how bad it can be these days with the numbers of digital images that we take! Vivian Maier’s work appears to have avoided this, she has a strong vision and central theme, one that is communicated excellently through her archive. Her work centers around the streets of Chicago and New York, and the people that inhabit them.  It is a good example to look at as inspiration for work driven by a vision and goal.

Looking back at the shots you have taken, will you be happy with your “life’s work”? Are you happy with what you have shot to date? I feel I’m on the right tracks, in a few cases I’m shooting what I want to shoot and, where possible, working to doing more of that. Do I want fame and money? Surprisingly, no.

Ok, an exhibition in a major gallery would be nice, it’s always nice to have your ego boosted like that, but it’s not why I do what I do. I enjoy the act of photography, and I like the idea of a comprehensive and impressive body of work* that’s driven by what I want to cover.That is what I’m aiming for, with a few side goals where individual projects are concerned of course.!

*it still needs some work admittedly

If you have yet to browse Vivian’s work then do so, there’s a lot of inspiration to be had there.

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Gear. We lust after it. Camera manufacturers know that, and they play on that “must upgrade” mentality/desire. I know I am guilty of it, my recent post on the new offering from Panasonic is a case in point. It is the carrot that they always tempt us with and a bloody juicy carrot it is too.

I was browsing a web forum dedicated to photography and there was a comment regarding the new purchase that someone had made. They’d upgraded from a Nikon D40 to a D200, quite a jump and to a very capable camera, a good learning step. However, a comment from someone made me think, this person was looking forward to what they’d produce with this camera, almost as if they would suddenly improve. I know what they meant, a better more capable camera gets in the way less, so you can perform better, however, as a photographer it is not the camera that is important and often we are not better with a new camera as it means a change to how we work,  so what did this person mean and why, to an extent, were they right?

Well, I remember a review of a new camera in the early(ish) days of the DSLR revolution* and the reviewer made a reference to receiving the boxed camera, which he came back to at the end of the review. The best part about new gear, they said is “opening the box”. The joy you have at getting  the camera out and using it. Yes, we can never recapture that, but the reviewer made a great point. Put your main camera away in its box, use another for a while. Your backup camera if you have one (and it is different to your main camera), if not break out the old film cameras (or spend a little to get one). Once you have done thatfor a while go back and get your main camera out, you will be surprised at how you feel with it in your hands.

The difference it will make will be quite surprising. If it is a camera which you have not used in a while, you will be amazed at how comfy it feels and what memories it brings back… yes it will have its flaws, perhaps be slower but with it comes some good memories and that lovely sense of nostalgia. If it is a new ( but old) camera then with it comes a period of discovery, tinged with expectation. What does this key into? Well it taps into that “love” that we have for making pictures.  That sense of joy and fun, either from an old friend or finding  anew one. Reusing an old camera reminds us why we liked it in the first place and re-invigorates our desire to make pictures. On top of this you feel refreshed when you go back to your main camera. It becomes new again and a welcome return.

This re-invigorsation for your love of taking and making pictures will always show in your images. Technicality aside, if you are loving the process, in tune with yourself and the subject then there will always be the making of a good picture in there somewhere. That desire and joy will shine through, so go pack up your main camera for a while, pick up a different one and go shoot.  Once you have finished open the box, and revel in the return of your main camera, as if it was new. If you are lucky you will enjoy both aspects of this challenge, at the very least you will enjoy getting your main camera back and so will have a renewed interest/appreciation of it, at best you get enjoyment out of both aspects. What’s to lose? Box it up and have fun, embrace the love and joy of picture taking.

*I wish i could remember who the reviewer was and which camera it was, if you know drop a line in the comments.

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The Press Photographer’s Year (PPY) is a competition open to all press photographer’s working in the UK (or outside the UK for UK-based publications) and showcases some of the very best editorial photography around. The 2009 award-winning entries have recently been chosen and you can now view them all on the PPY’s website.

There are some incredibly inspiring shots on there, not to mention winners from previous years to browse through if you have the time.

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Yes, yes, I’m still alive and back from the dead… :p

It’s that time of year when the 4Togs (well, the 3 least-hairy 4Togs, anyway) like to pack up their bags and head for pastures new.

So, whilst Mark is chained to his desk (which he quite enjoys, apparently), the rest of us are upping sticks and heading to Newquay for some sun, sea, surf and shandies. You can expect a variety of daftness over the course of the next week as we share our adventures with you all.

We welcome audience participation, as always, so if you have any suggestions on where to go, what (or who) to see, or adventures to have – please let us have them. So far, all I’ve managed to come up with is a day out as the Pyrites of Penzance

Watch this space… The frolics start Sunday!

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There’s a new photo-blog out there, that you probably have heard of, “Lens” from the NY Times, another one that I visit on a regular occasion since first coming across it.

This post on Prisons in Arkansas reminded me just how much I like the panoramic aspect ratio. It can give a very convoluted composition that really makes your eye work in the frame, but can really tell a story through that. An example is shot 4 in the Arkansas Prison series.

Maybe I should get that panoramic camera…..

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A friend sent me this video:

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

When I was in Utah  I saw a  night sky like I never had before… and I so wish I had done something similar to this, next time! Night photography is something that has always interested me. I must get out and do some more.  It is worth checking out the HD version on Vimeo.

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Three of the 4Togs have shown extreme concern over the whereabouts of Monty, he was last seen a long time ago following a can of lager on a string, and has not been seen since. If you know where he is, or have a lead that may help us find him; please do not hesitate to contact any of the three remaining 4Togs.

His return is important to us, as without Monty, the 4Togs are one quarter less awesome than before…

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One of the compromises you have to make on beery holidays is the time you can spend with the camera – you can’t hold up your mates indefinitely whilst you wait for the right light, so you have to be pretty instinctive and reactive with your photography. 

I had such a weekend in Jersey where I shot about 400 shots of random stuff in 4 days,  mainly in boozers or walking between them. Getting anything that’s meaningful from that is more of a challenge than any dedicated weekend in the lakes with your kit bag and 20 hours a day. All I had was a 5D, 24-105, 3stop ND Grad and a lensbaby with the pinhole adaptor fitted (by accident, thought it had the normal optic in – arse!). 

I think you need to try to tell a story where possible, avoid posing everone, look for moments to arise naturally rather than force them into action and gradually people will just accept that you’re taking shots and act naturally. Avoid flashes too, just attracts attention and blinds people, may even set off a fit if you’re not careful. 

So I got the shots back and just cropped and used some actions that I happened up on once – one grainy mono, one Grunge Rock – no more, not much point in doing too much processing as I was story telling, not trying to get an award in some photo magazine or anything… 

Here’s a few I quite like anyway

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