The Beholder Has Changed
You already know the photograph. Nick Ut took it in 1972 on a road in Vietnam: a girl running, napalm smoke behind…
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✦ Category
opinion
Teaching Photography #1: Starting From Why
My niece is twelve. She loves taking photos with whatever’s in her pocket, but the 550D I gave her sits mostly untouched…
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The Evolution of Photographic Meaning
I’ve been thinking about how photographers develop over time. Looking at what I’ve been writing over the last few months, I see…
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How Photography Works In My Head #6: Working With Your Cognitive Style Instead of Against It
Once you understand your cognitive profile, the question becomes what to do with that understanding. You can fight your natural architecture, trying…
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The Two Objects of Photography
There’s a contradiction that’s been nagging at me for years, and I’ve only recently found a way to articulate why it’s a…
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How Photography Works In My Head #5: Finding Your People Through Cognitive Style
Your audience self-selects partly based on shared cognitive architecture. This isn’t about intelligence or sophistication. It’s about whether your mode of thinking…
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When You Stop Treating Photography As a Performance, You Can Embrace Your Self Image
My mother sometimes jokes that she raised a ghost, because there are barely any photographs of me as a child or teenager.…
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How Photography Works In My Head #4: Teaching Photography to Brains That Work Differently
Photography instruction assumes cognitive uniformity. Teachers describe their own process and expect students to replicate it. “Learn to see the light.” “Pre-visualise…
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Live Photography is About Life
I can tell you exactly how I felt standing on a sand dune in Morocco many years ago, watching my wife photograph…
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How Photography Works In My Head #3: Why Some Photographers Can’t Write About Their Work
Photography education and criticism privilege verbal articulation. You’re expected to be able to explain your work, discuss your influences, articulate your intentions,…
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