opinion – Photoni.st

19/05/2025

On Library Lending Cards

Warning: this is photography-adjacent only.

Sometimes I buy second hand books. Either on Amazon or on local markets. Mostly because when you buy a lot of books it becomes expensive. Especially photography books. And I need the money for photography and astronomy. On occasion, these books come from libraries that have closed or that have sold some of their stock of rarely borrowed books to replace them with books people prefer.

I love when these books still contain their date stamped lending cards.

16/05/202515/05/2025

Is Substack Just a Bunch of Echo Chambers?

I’m still trying to identify why I like Substack so much more than other social platforms. So navel gazing warning is in place.

One of the things that annoyed me with Substack is the fact that the various people writing on it do so for duplicates of themselves.

An interesting boat. Nothing to do with the post, but I wanted a photo in it

12/05/202512/05/2025

Exploring Street Photography in Paris

I’m not a street photographer. Part of it is that I live in the middle of nowhere and we don’t really have streets. I was in Paris at the weekend to visit my parents, so I experimented a bit.

09/05/202514/03/2025

An Obsession with Details

Sometimes, photography reminds me of scientific research. Both disciplines demand an intense focus on minute details, adhering to conventions that outsiders rarely understand, communicating in a formalized way, and both often seem incomprehensible to the general public.

Cheese grater with a macro lens. I love the pattern

08/05/2025

What happened to Rita Carl?

During my last visit in Paris, I went to a Richard Avedon exhibition at the Cartier-Bresson Foundation.

02/05/202514/03/2025

The Case for Printing Photographs in the Digital Age

In our modern world of unlimited cloud storage and high-capacity hard drives, the practice of printing photographs might seem antiquated. Yet, this traditional approach to preserving memories remains not just relevant but crucial, particularly when considering the long-term preservation of our visual heritage.

Cover of one of my printed books showing the Orion nebula

24/04/2025

Pedant, moi?

Sometimes people call me pedantic because I insist on defining things precisely. I don’t do it for pleasure. I do it because it’s important and it helps understand things.

18/04/202527/03/2025

I Hate Photography Challenges. But I Like Them

I hate photography challenges. They just don’t work for me. But I also desperately want to take part.

Forest shot once part of a photoghraphy competition

11/04/202510/04/2025

It’s Good To Be Derivative

Over the years, I have developed what I call my photographic style. It doesn’t mean my photos are good, just that I found what pleases me and what works for me. And that’s what I do. I don’t do this professionally, not even creatively, so I don’t feel the pressure to be different.

04/04/202501/04/2025

Embrace Your Failures

Admit it: you can’t always be great. Despite what “influencers” want you to believe, not everything in life is perfect, and certainly not from the get go.