story

How I Learned a Lesson About Having Multiple Backups as a Photographer

We’ve all heard the horror stories of wedding photographers having their cameras stolen only to lose all of their couples’ photos, the photographer whose car was broken into after leaving their camera gear inside, only to lose important photos in the case, etc. You never think it’s going to happen until it happens to you.

A Con Man, a Credit Card Fraud, and a Stolen Fine Art Photograph

Back in December, a young man walked into one of the fine art galleries that represent my photographs and engaged the gallery owner in a conversation about some of my prints. He seemed to be familiar with my work, said that his girlfriend was actually a fan, and remarked that he had been thinking of buying her a piece.

I Picked Up My First Camera in 2008, and It Has Changed My Life

For anyone who isn’t interested in this wonderful art form we call photography, it might seem pretty straightforward: using a camera to capture an image. However, as many of us know, photography is so much more, once you go beyond the surface level.

Capturing the Moon in the ‘Crown’ of the Bank of America Headquarters

Charlotte, North Carolina, is nicknamed the Queen City, after Queen Charlotte. I moved to Charlotte from Frankfurt, Germany in July 1992. That was not just the year but also the month that the Bank of America (BofA) building was completed. The 871ft (265m) skyscraper is the tallest building in the Southern United States outside of Atlanta or Texas, with its “royal” crown on the top.

Does Instagram Notify When You Screenshot a Story?

When browsing Instagram, it could be tempting to take a screenshot of a Story, particularly since the content is always changing, advancing to the next Story after only a few seconds. If you give in to that urge, you might wonder if the owner of the account gets notified about your interest and that you saved an image from their story or feed.

How I Captured a 40-Mile-Wide View of an Arizona Landscape

It all started when a couple Iowa guys’ video production company booked a commercial video project with the nation’s largest magazine publisher in collaboration with Arizona tourism. The fun story here is how we ended up on top of a mountain, in the Arizona wilderness, taking photos.

My Last Mocha: An 8×10 Polaroid Passion Project

Brzz, bzzzrrr. The rollers on the vintage Polaroid developer start to suck in the 8×10 Polaroid. Dan Bosman, a Mars Cafe barista of 14 years, and I are chatting just like we always do.

Petroglyph Daguerreotypes on Daguerre’s Birthday

Toward the end of November, I went back to one of my favorite places in the desert. A spot out in the middle of nowhere, with the nearest significant human population well over an hour drive away.

My Visits with Ansel Adams

In the 1970s, I was seriously pursuing my hobby of black and white landscape photography with a 4x5 view camera. My prints were being sold by the Image Gallery in Palo Alto and the Focus Gallery in San Francisco and by me at occasional street fairs. Selling prints never generated much money, but I appreciated the acknowledgment of my work.

I Chose to Document the Final Months of My Grandparents’ Lives

I never set out to make this book nor did I have a plan for the images as I was making them. The photos were a way for me to process what was happening in front of me. This story is about my grandparents, it's about loss, and it's about dementia.

My Journey in Photographing Nudes

This photo is Untitled (1977) by photographer Jerry Uelsmann -- it was my key inspiration. It took one curvy shaded line to make the rock alive and sexy. This was on the wall in my living room when I was 14 and I looked at it for countless hours.

Photography and Collecting

My father was the archetypal collector. He had dozens of cameras and optical devices. Tens of thousands of LP record albums, and eventually even more CDs and DVDs. There were always books, in particular series of books. And art books. He bordered on being a hoarder, but with great taste.

The Photo That Got Me Into Brown University

Around the time I was applying to college in 1980, Time magazine ran a short piece about the college application process (coincidentally, at Brown); in it, they described an applicant who had soaked her application in water, then let it dry completely, so it got warped.

VSCO Went Full MacGyver to Create an Authentic Kodachome Film Simulation

Last month, VSCO achieved a years-old dream of releasing a preset/filter that was based on Kodak's iconic "Kodachrome" film stock. But creating the KC25 preset was anything but easy. In fact, it involved custom chemicals, custom hardware, and two years of experimentation to get this one right.

Perfect for 36 Frames: The Scariest Assignment of My Career

Most everyone’s got one. If you’ve been around for a while, you may have some great stories or a few crazy or scary assignments, but this one is not what you might think. Oh, I have had some interesting gigs for sure, but most of my work was in studio and not at all scary (with the exception of melted ice cream). I’ll save those stories for another time. No, this phone call was a different kind of scary.

Reflecting on Old Photographs: Nathan’s Famous Since 1916

When I was maybe six years old, my father introduced me to Nathan’s. We had dropped off his mother at her what was to me dreary apartment. That woman never seemed happy to me, and it wasn’t until I became an adult, I understood why.

The Waitress, the Tarantula, the Body in the Bathtub, and Why I Had To Buy My Girlfriend a New Pentax

I’ve got a lot of 35mm negatives, which have suffered quite a bit of damage over the years. My ex had a penchant for purchasing houses that were prone to basement flooding. So my pix got flooded out precisely the same way in two different locations two years apart. Seeing my negatives go floating by gave me a feeling, which was the exact polar opposite of seeing my sons being born. Twice.

My Photo Shoot with Grant Imahara

For quite some time, I had an understanding with my agent that if they could get me any television show to shoot a campaign for, I wanted it to be Mythbusters. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a nerd at heart, and Mythbusters was the show that really started to make it okay to geek out over science.

My Photo Shoot with Mike Tyson

Every so often a photo shoot comes along that both excites you and terrifies you at the same time. Today’s article is about one such experience.

Photographers Save Swimming Deer from Drowning in Lake Erie

If you need a little end-of-week pick-me-up, this story should hit the spot. While out kayaking on Lake Erie with his friends, photographer Eric Tischler ran across a deer swimming away from shore, already almost a mile out. The trio immediately set about saving the poor creature, capturing photos and video along the way.

Do Photos Really Tell Stories?

It's funny how deceiving a photograph can be. I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that this roller skater has turned his head to check out the girl on her phone as he skates past her. Without any context, that does appear to be the story here.

Quarantine Baby: Photos of a Life Born Into Social Distancing

Our daughter Kira came into the world on March 31st. Little does she know it is a much different world than the one we all came into. This is a photo story I put together document her first month on this pale blue dot in the cosmos.

My Portrait Session with Fidel Castro

It was my younger years. I had just published work from the Sudanese Civil War, and the Editor-in-Chief of Germany's GEO magazine, wrote that “Per-Andre risks life and limb for a good shot." Basically, I presume he meant I was a young fool, who took on assignments very few in their clear mind would consider.

Shooting K9 Charity Calendar Photos for the Waterloo Police

The classic cop story: a devious crime, a detailed investigation, an exciting high-speed chase, an intense interrogation, a news conference with flashing popping as the police show off their impressive bust… except this one involves more drool, flying fur, and a gruesome pile of bones -- dog bones, that is.

Photographer Turns Symphony Hall into the World’s Largest Darkroom

During this year's STORY conference in Nashville, TN, photographer Blake Wylie did something really cool. He turned a massive symphony hall into what might be the world's largest darkroom so that he could capture and develop a tintype portrait on-stage, in front of an audience of 1,400 people.