How do you consider yourself as a photographer in terms of the work you do? Is it important to tell your viewers how you define your work as being a particular kind or made with a particular camera, or does the work you make define you instead? If I make more images, like the one … Continue reading Camera Position 213 : What’s your hashtag? →…

This episode covers some practical details. I go over the places where you can listen to Camera Position and list a number of online resources for you to explore photography that go beyond the “usual suspects” of Instagram – Flickr – Facebook. – Sources – Where to Listen to Camera Position Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts … Continue reading Camera Po…

"Whatever you do with your photography - don't ever do... "that"Our desire to learn quickly, be noticed in social media and not make any mistakes has led to some photography pundits saying things like the above with increasing frequencyJeff Curto

I can’t think of a time in my life that has been more disconcerting than this last year. The pandemic and the disruption to our daily routine. We don’t work the same, we don’t socialize in the same way, we don’t go out or see friends or family. We are certainly in strange and uncertain … Continue reading Camera Postion 210 : The Calming Camera →…

During this pandemic time, we have been forced to trade in the allure of travel for the allure of the backyard. As I return to the podcast after a long absence, I explore the idea that you don’t need to go somewhere special to make special photographs. Instead, you need to go deeper wherever you … Continue reading Camera Position 209 : Your Own Bac…

By slowing down as we look at photographs – ours or someone else’s – we can more easily bring ourselves to the photograph, and by doing that, learn more about the medium and ourselves. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: My Instagram Feed – Follow me and I’ll follow back Sign up for the Workshops … Continue reading Camera position 208 : Bringing …

Musicians warm up before they make music, but what about visual artists? Do photographers need to warm up before they create photographs? I think yes, and with the help of a podcast listener, we posit some ideas for getting warmed up visually. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: University of Georgia’s Cortona Studies Abroad … Continue reading Ca…

Some thoughts on living an artful life, led off by poet Mary Oliver’s “Instructions on Living a Life” Pay attention Be Astonished Tell about it. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Mary Oliver– The American poet at the Poetry Foundation Twyla Tharp – a brief video of some of Tharp’s choreography Samuel Beckett – … Continue reading Camera Position…

Rather than trying to make art your life, work instead on trying to make every day of your life into art. “You just have to live and life will give you pictures.” -Henri Cartier Bresson Play Podcast:Jeff Curto

The act of making photographs connects me to the world, to my medium and to myself. When I make photographs, there is always a reward. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Places you can find and listen to Camera Position: iTunes Podcasts Player FM Stitcher iHeart Radio Short OrangeJeff Curto

Many people think of a wide lens as a way to get farther away from a subject, but I think of a wide lens as a way for us to get closer… a wide lens is really a close-up lens, allowing us to create a dominant subject in the frame by emphasizing the difference in … Continue reading Camera Position 203 : Your Eyes and The Lens →…

Podcast listener Tracy wrote: “Photography comes from the depths of who we are. It is not only an exploration of our world, it is also an exploration of ourselves.” This episode is a “part 2” of self-exploration and its relationship to our photography, utilizing a worksheet that you can download called “Passion and Mission” to … Continue reading Ca…

What is your story? What are you curious about? What do you care about? How can your photographs express those interests? Making stronger photographs often depends on digging deep to determine your passion and then translating those passions into images. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Morton Arboretum Photographic Society – Where I’ll be … C…

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes and art is knowing which mistakes to keep. Instead of living in fear of “getting it wrong,” a better, more useful strategy is to keep moving – plowing through the things that don’t work and slowly refining the process to get to the things that resonate for you … Continue reading Camera Position 200 :…

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” -Miles Davis One of the most consistent questions I get from students is this one: “how do I develop my own style?” Miles Davis helps with an answer. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Miles Davis Interview on YouTube … Continue reading Camera Position 199 : Playing Like …

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton How can we use the art we make with the camera to grow, learn and provide ourselves with a way of saying new things… to, as Merton says, “find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time”? I’m asking … Continue reading Camera Position 198 : Losing and Finding …

When the subject takes precedence – when you point your camera at things that are the most interesting thing to you – you are on your way to developing a personal style – the sense that these subjects are the most important things and can only be pointed out in this way by you. “To … Continue reading Camera Position 197 : Let the Subject Take Prece…

How do we go beyond a record of a place and begin to make photographs that convey a real sense of place? The objective is not just to show what your destination looks like, but rather to convey, in photographs, what it felt like to be there. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Exhibition: WANDERLUST: … Continue reading Camera Position 196 : A Sen…

This episode is a little meditation on the importance of aligning ourselves with the messages around us, using Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird as inspiration. “The Gulf Stream will flow through a straw provided the straw is aligned to the Gulf Stream, and not at cross purposes with it.” -Anne Lamott Play Podcast: Links … Continue reading Camera Pos…

“But the art in an artwork might not be located precisely where you thought it was. Perhaps it was just as much in the damage and decay as it was in the intact original. Perhaps it was in the gaps – in contemplating and rending those insults and injuries – that we find ourselves, by … Continue reading Camera Position 194 : Our Wish To Persist →…

As photographers, we know that there is a fairly wide range of options available to us that change what was to what we show the world in our images. Every photograph is a composite of the choices we make as the person who eventually presents the image. Every photograph is an interpretation of the way … Continue reading Camera Position 193 : Is It A…

An early influence on my ways of thinking about photography on a deeper level was the great writer John Berger. A poet, novelist, artist screenwriter and more, Berger, born in 1926, and died just a few weeks ago, in January of 2017 at the age of 90. A read of Berger’s work gives great insight … Continue reading Camera Position 192 : John Berger, Lo…

Walt Whitman’s poems in his opus Leaves of Grass mirror the actions of the photographer by beginning with facts and transforming those facts into ideas. I explore how both photography and Whitman’s poetry use simple language to convey complex ideas, giving any object or experience new importance by recording it on a previously blank page. Play Podc…

“You can observe a lot just by watching.” – Yogi Berra I like to see photographers out in the world and watch them photograph. Observing how photographers photograph can be a great aid in helping us make better, more informed, more personal photographs. Play Podcast: There are still a few spaces left in 2 of … Continue reading Camera Position 190 :…

What drives and motivates photographers to do the work they do? I think that our unifying motivation is curiosity – an unrelenting, never-ending curiosity – an “itch” to know more about something and to learn about that thing through photographing it. I was prompted to think about how we should cultivate the itch – our … Continue reading Camera Pos…

Do you take time to be creative each day? The creative act is worth taking the time for. It’s worth making the time for. It’s what holds us up and keeps us going. Thousands upon thousands of creative people are forced to make the time to create. It’s worth it because of what we give … Continue reading Camera Position 188 : You Are Worth The Time →…

If you see a picture that you think you may have photographed before, take it. Both the subject and the photographer may have changed since the last time you photographed it. Regardless of the reason, you should always make the photograph. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, … Continue read…

Among the many things that make photography such an interesting pursuit are its qualities of objectivity combined with subjectivity. In the end, photography is an objective medium with a subjective soul. Play Podcast: Sign up for the Workshops Mailing List – Planning is underway for the 2017 Italy Photography Workshops. Each one of these … Continue…

In addition to the phrase “Less is More,” the great architect Mies Van der Rohe also had another saying that relates to making creative work, and that is “God Is In The Details,” suggesting that attention to each and every detail of your process, from conception to execution, is integral to making the best work … Continue reading Camera Position 18…

Whether it’s a stack of dishes in the sink, moving forward with your photography or climbing up a steep mountain, looking at the path that you’re traveling is usually the easiest way to the top. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Sign up for the Workshops Mailing List – Planning is underway for the 2017 … Continue reading Camera Position 184 : L…

The difference between a conscious and an unconscious photographer is that the conscious photographer produces better work by thinking more and photographing less. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Sign up for the Workshops Mailing List – Planning is underway for the 2017 Italy Photography Workshops…

In a few past episodes, we’ve looked at alternate ways to get your work in front of an audience, and here’s another one: ‘Zines. This “low-fi” type of publication is a great (and cheap) way of getting your work into others’ hands. I use my former student Michael Jarecki’s ‘Zine “Just Make Pictures” as an … Continue reading Camera Position 182 : The…

The great architect Mies van der Rohe is famous for the phrase “Less is More” to describe his approach to simplifying his designs. That philosophy can be applied to photography as well, as it is often better to make fewer, but more thoughtful, images. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: The Mies van der Rohe … Continue reading Camera Position 181…

From aperture and focal length to shutter speeds and focus points, our modern photographic tools give us a wealth of information about our photographs. We can use that information to learn about the way we approach photography and what strategies lead to our greatest successes. JUNE 28 Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Julieanne Kost’s … Contin…

All of us make photographs that, for some reason, don’t quite work, even though we had high hopes for them. If we embrace those photographs that almost worked, but didn’t, we can find some tools to help us improve and grow. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera … Continue reading Camera Positio…

When you face something you think you can’t possibly do and then go ahead and do it anyway creativity is the tool you use. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Using Virtual Copies in Lightroom – a great way to experiment Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr – Share … Continue reading Camera Position 178 : Ever…

A lot of people who are “into” photography seem to think of the “doing” of photography as the end unto itself. While the mechanical act of making photographs can be pleasurable, I think of photography as a medium for self-examination, not a pursuit unto itself. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook … Continue reading Cam…

The American abstract expressionist painter Richard Diebenkorn (1922 –1993) is noted not only for his great work, but also for his thoughts about the creative process. Diebenkorn’s “Notes to myself on beginning a painting” is a list of 10 things to think about as we begin any creative work – we can think of them … Continue reading Camera Position 1…

There’s an old adage in photography: “inside every 8×10” print, there is a really excellent 5×7” image waiting to be found.” That old saw is the foundation for an exercise that I’ve used for myself and in my classes over the years; take an image that you’ve made and search for alternate cropping choices that … Continue reading Camera Position 175 :…

A listener asked where the logo for Camera Position came from, which gave me an impetus to talk about that photograph and the concept of the Lone Tree image – a compulsory photograph for nearly every photographer. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr … Continue reading Camer…

When we position the camera, we are ultimately positioning the viewer of our photographs. We explore this idea using a 1757 painting by the Venetian Painter Canaletto, who often used a camera obscura to create his paintings. Thanks to Dirk Rösler and the folks at the Large Format Photography Forum for setting these wheels in … Continue reading Came…

Everyone has ideas, but many people keep those ideas hidden inside. The creative person finds a way to get those ideas out the door in a way that allows them to breathe. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr – Share your images Jeff’s … Continue reading Camera Position 172 : …

“Anyone can print black – just put a piece of photo paper under the enlarger, turn the enlarger light on and leave it on. But light values… ahhh… light values… they are the soul of the black and white photograph. Not everyone can print white and have it sing.” So said one of my great … Continue reading Camera Position 171 : Tone, Value and Mr. Benn…

Camera Position is ten years old! The first episode of Camera Position was published February 5, 2006 and it’s been a wonderful decade of learning about photography, my listeners and myself. A huge thank you to all of you listeners out there! I really appreciate your support and your participation in the Camera Position community. … Continue readin…

“How do I get started in learning black and white photography?” That was the question I got by the boatload after the podcast about B&W photography, so this episode is dedicated to articulating some resources for that pursuit, starting with some advice from one of the greats, Ansel Adams. Play Podcast: Links for this episode: … Continue reading Cam…

Edges – The edge of the frame, the edge of the subject, the edge of the world, the edge of a moment. Regardless of how we interpret it, the assignment of “Edges” can be a good one to expand our understanding of photography. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share … Continue reading Camera Position 168 : Edges →…

Can photography be better learned in black and white? That’s the question that I look at in this episode, as we look at line, shape, tone and texture as we see our world in black and white. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr … Continue reading Camera Position 167 : Learn P…

Photography is about storytelling. Sharing your images and the story that they create is one of the ultimate goals for most photographers. Fortunately, our contemporary world has some amazing tools and interesting ideas that can help us tell our stories with words and pictures. Play Podcast: Links to some ideas discussed on the podcast: Listener … …

Today’s world of photography is so very confusing. Photographers are confronted with a barrage of advice about how to make good photographs and what gear you must have to make them. Of course, that advice has some value, but I think best way to learn is to actually go and make photographs because, as a … Continue reading Camera Position 165 : Forge…

The great photographer Ernst Haas said, “”The frame of the camera is the photographer’s discipline. It can contain as much as it withholds, cut into or hold together images that detract or contribute to a given theme.” In this episode, I explore the idea that the frame of the camera is a discipline. Play Podcast … Continue reading Camera Position 1…