Headphones

I took this photo at an exhibition in the Quai Branly museum in Paris.

The line of headphones is what attracted me when I was walking from piece to piece in the exhibition (Hoda Afshar). They have nothing to do with the exhibition itself, they’re probably there in general, but when I saw them I knew I wanted to photograph them somehow.

Headphones
Continue reading “Headphones”

In a World Where Everybody Has a Camera and Takes Photos All Day, What Is Being a Photographer?

Since I started taking photography seriously ca. 2003, the craft has become democratised beyond recognition. Every pocket contains a device capable of producing images that would have required thousands of euros of equipment twenty five years ago. But, I see the same tired shots repeated endlessly: the obligatory sunset, the artfully arranged breakfast, the mirror selfie with calculated spontaneity, the same copycat shots of the masters.

This saturation creates an interesting paradox: we’re drowning in images whilst starving for actual photography. Are we really all photographers?

Intense drumming
Continue reading “In a World Where Everybody Has a Camera and Takes Photos All Day, What Is Being a Photographer?”

Where Are The Documentarians?

A while back, Josh suggested that I read a book by Austin Kleon, “Show your work“. I wasn’t convinced at first I’d be interested, but as he thought I would be, I gave it a chance and bought it. It turns out that the title and the blurbs are misleading and the book is in fact very interesting and overlaps significantly with what I write here.

One of the things Austin says is “become a documentarian of what you do”. When I read that chapter, I had the realisation that this is potentially the one thing I miss the most in the world of photography. It seems photography has lost its documentarians somewhere along the way.

Early attempt at rock photos, 2007
Continue reading “Where Are The Documentarians?”