Photographers On Photography – Videos

 

It’s insightful to learn about and from the photographers who make the classic photographs.

Here’s a collection of videos on photographers that I’ve enjoyed most.

You’ll find them inspiring!

Where do I recommend you start? With the classics – in red.

 

Sam Abell | View 

Ansel Adams | View 1 View 2 | View 3 | View 4

Robert Adams | View

Diane Arbus| View

Richard Avedon | View

James Balog | View 1 View 2 | View 3

Richard Benson | View

Ruth Bernhard View

Yann Arthus-Bertrand | View

Phil Borges | View

Bill Brandt | View

Chris Burkett | View

Edward Burtinsky | View

John Paul Caponigro | View

Paul Caponigro | View

Harry Callahan | View

Keith Carter | View

Henri Cartier-Bresson  | View 1 | View 2  | View 3  | View 4  | View 5

Chuck Close| View

Anton Corbijn | View

Gregory Crewdson| View

Bruce Davidson | View

William Eggleston | View 1 View 2

Alfred Eisendstaedt | View

Walker Evans | View

Andreas Feininger | View

Robert Frank | View

Adam Fuss | View

Ralph Gibson | View

Laura Gilpin | View

Nan Goldin | View

Emmet Gowin | View

Lauren Greenfield | View

Lois Greenfield | View

Gregory Heisler | View 1 | View 2

David Hockney | View 1 | View 2 | View 3

Kenro Izu | View

Chris James View

Bill Jay | View

Chris Jordan | View

Ed Kashi | View

Michael Kenna | View

Sean Kernan | View

Andre Kertesz | View

David LaChapelle | View 

Frans Lanting | View

Jacques-Henri Lartigue | View

Annie Leibovitz | View 1 | View 2

Jay Maisel | View 1 | View 2

Sally Mann | View 1 | View 2 | View 3

Arthur Meyerson View 1 | View 2

Eric Meola | View

Duane Michals | View 1  View 2

Mary Ellen Mark | View

Steve McCurry | View

Joe McNally | View

Joel Meyerowitz | View

Richard Misrach |  View

Cristina Mittermeier |  View

Tina Modotti | View

Sarah Moon | View

Edward Muybridge | View

James Nachtwey | View

Arnold Newman | View

Helmut Newton | View

Elizabeth Opalenik | View

Gordon Parks| View

Martin Parr | View

Eliot Porter | View

Chris Rainier | View 1 | View 2

Eugene Richards | View

Sebastiao Salgado | View 1 View 2

John Sexton | View 1 | View 2

Cindy Sherman | View

Stephen Shore | View

Aaron Siskind | View

Eugene Smith | View

Rick Smolan | View

Fredrick Sommer | View

Edward Steichen | View

Alfred Stieglitz | View 

Paul Strand | View

Jock Sturges | View

Hiroshi Sugimoto | View

John Szarkowski | View

Joyce Tenneson | View 1 | View 2

Pete Turner | View

Jerry Uelsmann | View

Nick Veasey | View

Jeff Wall | View

Andy Warhol View

Weegee | View

Edward Weston | View

Kim Weston | View

Garry Winogrand | View

Dan Winters | View

Huntington Witherill | View 1 View 2

Art Wolfe | View

 

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Photographers on Photography – Quotes

 

We can all learn a lot from the photographers who make the classic photographs.

Here’s a list of links to collections of my favorite quotes by master photographers.

You’ll find them inspiring!

Sam Abell

Berenice Abbott

Ansel Adams

Robert Adams

Diane Arbus

Richard Avedon

Richard Benson

Ruth Bernhard

Bill Brandt

Christopher Burkett

Harry Callahan

Julia Margaret Cameron

Keith Carter

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Chuck Close

Wynn Bullock

Edward Burtynsky

John Paul Caponigro

Paul Caponigro

Harold Edgerton

William Eggleston

Alfred Eisendstadt

Elliot Erwitt

Walker Evans

Andreas Feininger

Robert Frank

Lee Friedlander

Adam Fuss

Emmet Gowin

Ernst Haas

Gregory Heisler

Kenro Izu

Stephen Johnson

Michael Kenna

Andre Kertesz

Josef Koudelka

David La Chapelle

Jacques-Henri Lartigue

Annie Liebovitz

Jay Maisel

Sally Mann

Robert Mapplethorpe

Joel Meyerowitz

Arthur Meyerson

Duane Michals

Richard Misrach

James Nachtwey

Olivia Parker

Irving Penn

John Pfahl

Eliot Porter

Chis Rainier

Sebastiao Salgado

John Sexton

Cindy Sherman

Stephen Shore

Aaron Siskind

W Eugene Smith

Fredrick Sommer

Edward Steichen

Alfred Steiglitz

Paul Strand

Jock Sturges

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Joyce Tenneson

George Tice

Jerry Uelsmann

Andy Warhol

Edward Weston

Weegee

Minor White

Gary Winogrand

 

Photographers pick their favorite quotes by other photographers.

 

John Paul Caponigro

Sean Duggan

David DuChemin

Mac Holbert

Sean Kernan

Jay Maisel

Eric Meola

Arthur Meyerson

Chris Orwig

Seth Resnick

John Sexton

Joyce Tenneson

Vincent Versace

Huntington Witherill

 

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Photographers On Photography – Conversations

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I have been fortunate to have had a number of wonderful conversations with many remarkable photographers. As a peer, I share a common experience and speak a common language that many people who speak with artists do not and this is reflected in the kinds of questions and answers that guide our way deeper into seeing.

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Photographers

Amy Arbus
Richard Barnes
Richard Benson
Barbara Bordnick
Gary Braasch
Christopher Burkett
Harry Callahan
John Paul Caponigro
Paul Caponigro
Keith Carter
Brad Cole
Tillman Crane
Robert Farber
Lee Friedlander
Adam Fuss
John Goodman
Emmet Gowin
R Mac Holbert
Ryszard Horowitz
Jim Hughes
Gordon Hutchings
Kenro Izu
Christopher James
Stephen Johnson
Michael Kenna
Sean Kernan
Julieanne Kost
Eric Meola
Arthur Meyerson
Richard Misrach
James Nachtwey
Elizabeth Opalenik
Olivia Parker
Moose Peterson
Chris Rainier
Edward Ranney
John Reuter
John Sexton
Craig Stevens
Jock Sturges
Joyce Tenneson
George Tice
Jerry Uelsmann
Cole Weston
Huntington Witherill

Video Conversations

Sean Duggan
Steve Johnson
Sean Kernan
Arthur Meyerson
John Sexton
Joyce Tenneson
Huntington Witherill

 

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Photographers On Photography – Q&A

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In Q&A
photographers share their answers to
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20 questions;
10 Core Questions
10 Optional Questions
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Answers are kept short and sweet.
.

 

Core Questions

What’s the best thing about photography?
What’s the worst thing about photography?

What’s the thing that interests you most about photography?
What’s the thing that interests you most about your own photographs?
What’s the thing that interests you most about other people’s photographs?

Who were your early photographic influences?
Who are your photographic influences now?
Who were your early non-photographic influences?
Who are your non-photographic influences now?
What’s the most inspiring work of art you saw recently?

What’s the best thing about gear?
What’s the worst thing about gear?

How do you know when an image doesn’t work?
How do you know when an image is good?
How do you know when an image is great?

What’s the most useful photographic mantra?

Do you practice another art form? (If so, which?)
What benefits do you get from (this/these) other art form/s?

What was the most significant visual moment in your life?
Which was the most important image to you that got away?
What failure did you learn the most from?

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
What’s the thing you most hope to accomplish?

If you had to do it all over again, what would you change?
If you had another life to live a completely different life, what would you choose to do?

What are the most important questions to you?

Optional Questions

What’s photography really all about?

How did photography change the world?
How did photography change your world?

Who were the most important photographers?
Who are the most important photographers working today?

What’s the best thing about influence?
What’s the worst thing about influence?

What’s the best thing about our times?
What’s the worst thing about our times is?

What keeps you up at night?
What gets you going in the morning?

What’s your favorite movie?
What’s your favorite book?
What’s your favorite piece of music?

What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
What is your greatest fear?
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Who is your favorite hero in fiction?
Who are your heroes in real life?
Which living person do you most admire?
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
What is your greatest extravagance?
What is your favorite journey?
On what occasion do you lie?
What do you dislike most about yourself?
What is your most marked characteristic?
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What is your greatest regret?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
What’s your most treasured possession?
What is your favorite occupation / past time?
What do you most value in your friends?
What’s your motto?
What other talent would you most like to have?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What is it that you most dislike?
How would you like to die?

 

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Photographs On Photography – Photographs

You’ll be inspired by these great photographers and these collections of their classic photographs.

 

Sam Abell

Ansel Adams

Robert Adams

Richard Benson

Christopher Burkett

John Paul Caponigro

Paul Caponigro

Harry Callahan

Julia Margaret Cameron

Keith Carter

Edward Curtis

David DuChemin

Elliot Erwitt

Walker Evans

Rober Frank

Lee Friedlander 1 & 2

Adam Fuss

Emmet Gowin

Lois Greenfield

Gregory Heisler

Kenro Izu

Stephen Johnson

Michael Kenna

Sean Kernan

Josef Koudelka

Jay Maisel

Eric Meola

Joel Meyerowitz

Arthur Meyerson

Duane Michals

Richard Misrach

James Nachtwey

William Neill

Arnold Newman

Olivia Parker

Irving Penn

John Pfahl

Eliot Porter

Chris Rainier

Sebastiao Salgado

John Sexton

Charles Sheeler

Aaron Siskind

Fredrick Sommer

Edward Steichen

Alfred Steiglitz

Paul Strand

Jock Sturges

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Joyce Tenneson

George Tice

Peter Turner

Jerry Uelsmann

Brett Weston

Edward Weston

Gary Winogrand

Huntington Witherill

Minor White

 

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Photographers on Photography – Quotes

 

We can all learn a lot from the photographers who make the classic photographs.

They’re inspiring!

Sam Abell 

Berenice Abbott 

Ansel Adams 

Robert Adams

Diane Arbus

Richard Avedon

Richard Benson

Ruth Bernhard

Bill Brandt

Christopher Burkett

Harry Callahan

Julia Margaret Cameron

Keith Carter

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Chuck Close 

Wynn Bullock

Edward Burtynsky 

John Paul Caponigro

Paul Caponigro 

Harold Edgerton

William Eggleston 

Alfred Eisendstadt

Elliot Erwitt

Walker Evans

Andreas Feininger 

Robert Frank

Lee Friedlander

Adam Fuss

Emmet Gowin

Ernst Haas

Gregory Heisler

Kenro Izu

Stephen Johnson

Michael Kenna 

Andre Kertesz

Josef Koudelka

David La Chapelle

Jacques-Henri Lartigue

Annie Liebovitz 

Jay Maisel

Sally Mann

Robert Mapplethorpe

Joel Meyerowitz

Arthur Meyerson

Duane Michals

Richard Misrach

James Nachtwey

Olivia Parker

Irving Penn

John Pfahl 

Eliot Porter

Chis Rainier

Sebastiao Salgado

John Sexton

Cindy Sherman

Stephen Shore

Aaron Siskind

W Eugene Smith

Fredrick Sommer

Edward Steichen

Alfred Steiglitz

Paul Strand

Jock Sturges

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Joyce Tenneson

George Tice

Jerry Uelsmann

Andy Warhol

Edward Weston

Weegee 

Minor White

Gary Winogrand

 

Photographers pick their favorite quotes by other photographers

 

John Paul Caponigro

Sean Duggan

David DuChemin

Mac Holbert

Sean Kernan

Jay Maisel

Eric Meola

Arthur Meyerson

Chris Orwig

Seth Resnick

John Sexton

Joyce Tenneson

Vincent Versace

Huntington Witherill

 

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Photographers On Photography – Videos

.

Learn about the classic photographs from the photographers who made them.

It’s inspiring!

 

Sam Abell

Ansel Adams | View 1 View 2 | View 3 | View 4

Robert Adams

Diane Arbus

Richard Avedon

James Balog | View 1 View 2 | View 3

Richard Benson

Ruth Bernhard

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Phil Borges

Bill Brandt

Chris Burkett

Edward Burtynsky

John Paul Caponigro

Paul Caponigro

Harry Callahan

Keith Carter

Henri Cartier-Bresson  | View 1 | View 2  | View 3  | View 4  | View 5

Chuck Close

Anton Corbijn

Gregory Crewdson

Bruce Davidson

William Eggleston | View 1 View 2

Alfred Eisendstaedt

Walker Evans

Andreas Feininger

Robert Frank

Adam Fuss

Ralph Gibson

Laura Gilpin

Nan Goldin

Emmet Gowin

Lauren Greenfield

Lois Greenfield

Gregory Heisler | View 1 | View 2

David Hockney | View 1 | View 2 | View 3

Kenro Izu

Chris James

Bill Jay

Chris Jordan

Ed Kashi

Michael Kenna

Sean Kernan

Andre Kertesz

David LaChapelle

Frans Lanting

Jacques-Henri Lartigue

Annie Leibovitz | View 1 | View 2

Jay Maisel | View 1 | View 2

Sally Mann | View 1 | View 2 | View 3

Arthur Meyerson View 1 | View 2

Eric Meola

Duane Michals | View 1  View 2

Mary Ellen Mark

Steve McCurry

Joe McNally

Joel Meyerowitz

Richard Misrach

Cristina Mittermeier

Tina Modotti

Sarah Moon

Edward Muybridge

James Nachtwey

Arnold Newman

Helmut Newton

Elizabeth Opalenik

Gordon Parks

Martin Parr

Eliot Porter

Chris Rainier | View 1 | View 2

Eugene Richards

Sebastiao Salgado | View 1 View 2

John Sexton | View 1 | View 2

Cindy Sherman

Stephen Shore

Aaron Siskind

Eugene Smith

Rick Smolan

Fredrick Sommer

Edward Steichen

Alfred Stieglitz

Paul Strand

Jock Sturges

Hiroshi Sugimoto

John Szarkowski

Joyce Tenneson | View 1 | View 2

George Tice

Pete Turner

Jerry Uelsmann

Nick Veasey

Jeff Wall

Andy Warhol View

Weegee

Edward Weston

Kim Weston

Garry Winogrand

Dan Winters

Huntington Witherill | View 1 View 2

Art Wolfe

 

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Photographers On Photography – Q&A

.

Photographers answer 20 questions.
10 Core Questions
10 Optional Questions
Answers are kept short and sweet.

.

 

Core Questions

What’s the best thing about photography?
What’s the worst thing about photography?

What’s the thing that interests you most about photography?
What’s the thing that interests you most about your own photographs?
What’s the thing that interests you most about other people’s photographs?

Who were your early photographic influences?
Who are your photographic influences now?
Who were your early non-photographic influences?
Who are your non-photographic influences now?
What’s the most inspiring work of art you saw recently?

What’s the best thing about gear?
What’s the worst thing about gear?

How do you know when an image doesn’t work?
How do you know when an image is good?
How do you know when an image is great?

What’s the most useful photographic mantra?

Do you practice another art form? (If so, which?)
What benefits do you get from (this/these) other art form/s?

What was the most significant visual moment in your life?
Which was the most important image to you that got away?
What failure did you learn the most from?

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
What’s the thing you most hope to accomplish?

If you had to do it all over again, what would you change?
If you had another life to live a completely different life, what would you choose to do?

What are the most important questions to you?

Optional Questions

What’s photography really all about?

How did photography change the world?
How did photography change your world?

Who were the most important photographers?
Who are the most important photographers working today?

What’s the best thing about influence?
What’s the worst thing about influence?

What’s the best thing about our times?
What’s the worst thing about our times is?

What keeps you up at night?
What gets you going in the morning?

What’s your favorite movie?
What’s your favorite book?
What’s your favorite piece of music?

What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
What is your greatest fear?
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Who is your favorite hero in fiction?
Who are your heroes in real life?
Which living person do you most admire?
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
What is your greatest extravagance?
What is your favorite journey?
On what occasion do you lie?
What do you dislike most about yourself?
What is your most marked characteristic?
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What is your greatest regret?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
What’s your most treasured possession?
What is your favorite occupation / past time?
What do you most value in your friends?
What’s your motto?
What other talent would you most like to have?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What is it that you most dislike?
How would you like to die?

 

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.

Photographs By Great Photographers

 

You’ll be inspired by these great photographers and their classic photographs.

 

Sam Abell

Ansel Adams

Robert Adams

Richard Benson

Christopher Burkett

John Paul Caponigro

Paul Caponigro

Harry Callahan

Julia Margaret Cameron

Keith Carter

Edward Curtis

David DuChemin

Elliot Erwitt

Walker Evans

Rober Frank

Lee Friedlander 1 & 2

Adam Fuss

Emmet Gowin

Lois Greenfield

Gregory Heisler

Kenro Izu

Stephen Johnson

Michael Kenna

Sean Kernan

Josef Koudelka

Jay Maisel

Eric Meola

Joel Meyerowitz

Arthur Meyerson

Duane Michals

Richard Misrach

James Nachtwey

Arnold Newman

Olivia Parker

Irving Penn

John Pfahl

Eliot Porter

Chris Rainier

Sebastiao Salgado

John Sexton

Charles Sheeler

Aaron Siskind

Fredrick Sommer

Edward Steichen

Alfred Steiglitz

Paul Strand

Jock Sturges

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Joyce Tenneson

George Tice

Peter Turner

Jerry Uelsmann

Brett Weston

Edward Weston

Gary Winogrand

Huntington Witherill

Minor White

 

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The Difference Between Painters’ and Photographers’ Color Wheels

ColorWheel_Apple_425

The photographers’ color wheel rendered by Apple.

ColorWheel_Itten_425

The painters’ color wheel painted by Johannes Itten.

 

In color theory, one of the primary uses of color wheels is to plot complementary colors.

Painters and photographers use this information to create neutral colors. Painters mix complementary colors to get more neutral hues. Photographers add complementary colors to remove color casts, making neutral colors appear more neutral.

But photographers and painters apply different complements. Photographers identify three primaries and complements; red and cyan, green and magenta, blue and yellow. Painters identify three primaries and complements; red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple. Why do they use different complements? Painters have to address the impurities in the pigments they’re mixing.

Photographers deal with pure light.

From a practical standpoint, both types of artists learn to achieve the effects they want to achieve. From a conceptual or theoretical standpoint, the difference is significant – and they share the same theories but their application of those theories differs. Photographers and painters should talk to each other more.

Photographers can enrich their understanding of color if they become familiar with the longer richer history painters have had with color, and at the same time painters can refine their theories and produce stronger effects by using photographic complements.
Physically and biologically our eyes do specific things. By using maximum hue contrast, complementary colors in close proximity to one another create optical effects: they make each other look more intense; any lines between them becomes more pronounced, often producing a light line, which can appear to flash if the eye moves back and forth across it; if made very small (like scanned pixels or printed halftone dots) they average to a neutral color. Artists use these effects to make more powerful visual statements.

Optically photographic complements are correct. You can test and prove this yourself. To do this, take advantage of the retinal after images your eyes produce. Simply stare at a solid patch of color for more than twenty seconds and then shift your gaze to a neutral field of color, like a white wall. The color you’ll see will be the photographic complement. So, if you want to take maximum advantage of the optical effects generated by complementary colors, choose photographic complements.

Finally, color theory can be very useful. Artists frequently create consistent color structures (some call them color harmonies), much like the tonal structures or scales musicians. They often use color wheels to plot these relationships (not unlike a musician plots a circle of fifths to identify musical harmonies). They draw geometric figures inside a circle of color to identify regular intervals between the colors chosen; straight lines for pairs, triangles for trios, rectangles for quartets, etc. There’s no ideal structure. Different structures generate different effects, both optical and psychological – and it’s useful to know what those are. What matters most is that a color structure is created, rather than color chaos. The colors identified as complements define a color wheel. Once again, because of the impurities in pigments, painters distort their color wheels (expanding the oranges and reducing the cool blues) to help them identify which colors to mix to make neutral or more neutral colors, but the unintended consequence of doing this is that they plot color structures on a distorted color wheel. Their ideal theories are skewed by physical imperfections.

Long after his death, it was noted that pointillist painter Seurat, who started a whole school of painters who used broken bits of complementary colors rather than blended less intense colors, could have achieved even richer visual effects if he had adjusted his color choices. Viewers experience visual effects with their eyes. And the photographer’s color wheel is aligned with our eyes.

 

Learn more about Color Theory here.

Learn more in my digital printing and digital photography workshops.