Search Results for: vivian maier

I often teach new photographers to study the greats, both past and present. Study and be influenced, but please don’t aim to copy them -- I promise you that won’t get you anywhere.

For a photographer with so many memorable quips to his name, Garry Winogrand didn't leave much of a paper trail. The four books he made during his lifetime (five if you count the 1976 Grossmont College booklet) consist almost exclusively of pictures. Although they also include some great essays, none are by Winogrand. Nor did he write for any outside books or sources.

You can now research the popularity of what photographers are searching for through the Google Images search engine. Google Trends has expanded to include more "lenses", and one of those is Images.

Michael Schwartz is a New York-based photographer who shoots fashion, advertising, and celebrity portraiture. He has shot top celebrities for some of the largest brands and publications in the world.

Black-and-white still remains the photographer’s favorite for street photographers, and with very good reason. Where in other genres monochrome has become a niche look, street photography is different. Why does B&W remain the favorite choice of street photographers, and are there logical reasons to go for it?

There has been a lot of talk about diversity in street photography and, in particular, the lack of visibility for female street photographers in a genre that is populated mostly by men.

“Being a man [street photographer] is way harder. People will think that you are a creep if you take photos of children and women.” – reader comment on my last article on public privacy

Staring into a mirror and taking a self-portrait with a camera is nothing new. People have been trying to find ways to take their photographs since the 19th century. As humans, we take an interest in ourselves - a curiosity with a dash of self-obsession. A photograph can acknowledge our existence and allow us to view ourselves from the standpoint of others around us. Here are a collection of mirror self-portraits from years passed.

Peter Fordham was a British photographer best-known for his music work in the 1970s. If you own a copy of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, his second solo album, you’ll be familiar with his work. Fordham was the photographer who took the picture of Lennon, sat at his white piano with a pair of headphones on, at Lennon’s Tittenhurst Park home where the 1971 album was recorded. It’s a classic of rock music photography, Lennon singing into a hard black mic set against a stark white room, and was included as a fold-out poster in the album.

Well known photographer and blogger Scott Kelby recently pointed to the 18-55mm kit lens as a reason why beginners find it difficult to take good shots -- it is neither wide nor long enough to create visual impact, he wrote. I'd like to respectfully disagree.

It's precisely because the 18-55mm kit lens is cheap and common that I relish the challenge of capturing great images with it. I just love the “You shot that with a kit lens?” wide-eyed reaction when people realize how learning to read the scene and lighting makes more difference than splurging on an expensive lens upgrade.

In the age of the iPad, there still is something glorious about a photo book. Here are a few of our favorites from 2014, so send Santa (or Hanukah Harry) a quick tweet, and get a big dose of inspiration this Holiday season.

Want to watch a non-fiction film about photography? Here's a list of documentaries (and some other stuff) concerning photography that I've collected over the years.

English historian Thomas Fuller once said that "Bad excuses are worse than none." To help street photographers who are having trouble responding to subjects after candid portraits, Swiss street photographer Thomas Leuthard has come up with a list of "the best excuses" to use on the street.

Frank Oscar Larson was an auditor living in Queens back in the 1950s who had a passion for street photography. Every weekend he would travel around the city armed with his Rolleiflex camera, photographing the things that caught his eye. After Larson died of a stroke at the age of 68 in 1964, his photographs quietly sat in a cardboard box for 45 years before finally being discovered by his son's widow in 2009. They offer a beautiful look into what life in NYC was like half a century ago.

When I die I will no longer have active control over my archive. My will will outline that my negatives are left to any archive that may want them -- depending on whether my career looks anything like I’d want it to, this may be one or two, or none. The main responsibility falls to me to do what I can while alive if I’m to enjoy being represented in the photography community by work that legitimizes me.