Three Truths to Guide a Photographic Career

I was recently featured in an interview on Getty Images’ Artist Blog. Read an excerpt here, or click through to the full article below.

To quote Aaron Siskind, “When I make a photograph I want it to be an altogether new object, complete and self-contained, whose basic condition is order (unlike the world of events and actions whose permanent condition is change and disorder).” Pretty wordy, but what rings true to me is the need to distill order from disorder. I find a beautiful composition soothing and inspiring at the same time.

I have been lucky enough to have had three mentors in my photographic career. The first, Tom Young, told me never to shoot nature photography without a chainsaw. The second, Jerome Libeling told me I had too many closed doors and needed to be more honest in my work. The third, Dick Fish, told me a photograph should tell one story clearly and simply. These three truths have guided me through my personal and professional work:

• don’t be passive, be involved and work with your subject.
• be honest and open in your work or people will mistrust the image.
• tell a story simply (not necessarily a simple story).