Writings by Kirk McElhearn
David Ulrich is a photographer, writer, and teacher. He worked as an assistant to Minor White, drank with Ansel Adams, and crossed paths with many of the great photographers of the late 20th century. His life was changed when he witnessed the Kent State shootings in 1970, which led him to change his path from photojournalism to fine art photography. His latest book, influenced by his Zen practice, is The Mindful Photographer.
Read the rest of the article on Popular Photography.
In our last episode, Kirk asked a question that stumped Jeff: While on vacation, did Jeff ever think about not taking a camera with him for a day? Being a photographer of any level means you look at the world a little differently—you develop a “photographer’s eye,” but could that be a detriment? Is it possible to just enjoy one’s surroundings without looking for compositions and dynamic lighting?
Find out more, and subscribe to the podcast, at the PhotoActive website. You can follow The PhotoActive on Twitter at @PhotoActiveCast to keep up to date with new episodes, and join our Facebook group to chat with other listeners and participate in photo challenges and more.
This month’s photobook selection includes a collection of photos of pairs by Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallahti; Thomas Hoepker’s look back at his 1963 road trip; Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb’s lockdown project of photos from Cape Cod; a collection of Bob Kolbrener’s B&W Californian landscapes; and a groundbreaking trilogy of photobooks by Ralph Gibson from the early 1970s.
Read the rest of the article on Popular Photography.
Jeff just returned from two weeks in France and Italy with almost 3000 photos, even though his was a family vacation and not a “photo trip,” per se. From choosing gear to bring and finding time to make photos amid demands of travel and family, it turned out to be an interesting photographic challenge. We talk about what Jeff experienced and learned for the next adventure.
Find out more, and subscribe to the podcast, at the PhotoActive website. You can follow The PhotoActive on Twitter at @PhotoActiveCast to keep up to date with new episodes, and join our Facebook group to chat with other listeners and participate in photo challenges and more.
Rankin has photographed many of the big names in fashion, music, and society. Known for his portraits of Kate Moss, David Bowie, and Queen Elizabeth II, he is also at the head of a creative agency with dozens of employees. When lockdown hit in March 2020, and Rankin could no longer work in his studio, he set up a camera in a spare room of his country house and started photographing dandelions. Then he started setting them on fire.
Read the rest of the article on Popular Photography.
What do the cameras of the future look like? The ones we use now are vastly different from cameras just a decade or two ago, so it’s reasonable to assume that changes will continue to advance. Jeff and Kirk speculate on what’s coming.
Find out more, and subscribe to the podcast, at the PhotoActive website. You can follow The PhotoActive on Twitter at @PhotoActiveCast to keep up to date with new episodes, and join our Facebook group to chat with other listeners and participate in photo challenges and more.
In this month’s photo books selection, we take a look at an expansive annotated selection of Alec Soth’s work; a collection of images by famous photographers all shot on “the other film” (Polaroid); flowers in contemporary photography; Antigone Kourakou’s surrealist B&W images of women and nature; Curran Hatleberg’s photos of the dog days of summer; and the classic monochrome photos by Bill Brandt.
Read the rest of the article on Popular Photography.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) wrapped up last week, and with it a lot of news about hardware like the M2-powered MacBook Air and what’s coming in macOS Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9. In this episode, Jeff and Kirk look at what struck their interest for photographers.
Find out more, and subscribe to the podcast, at the PhotoActive website. You can follow The PhotoActive on Twitter at @PhotoActiveCast to keep up to date with new episodes, and join our Facebook group to chat with other listeners and participate in photo challenges and more.
Cig Harvey lives in a farmhouse in rural Maine, where she photographs the people and places around her. Harvey’s photos often feature bright, saturated colors, and a touch of surrealism, as she tries to find the magic in the mundane. Her latest book is Blue Violet, an exploration of grief through flowers and colors.
Read the rest of the article on Popular Photography.
This month, we look at a collection of COVID-19 lockdown portraits of mothers and their children, each captured through a pane of glass; a series of subtle B&W photos showing a diverse Parisian quarter; a look at the history of portrait photography, from the Daguerreotype to the selfie; a guide for photographing mindfully; monochromatic photos of the highest peaks of the Alps; and Joel Meyerowitz’s classic Cape Light, which is one of the most important photobooks of the 20th century.
Read the rest of the article on Popular Photography.