Photographic Quote of the Week: Harry Callahan

To be a photographer, one must photograph. No amount of book learning, no checklist of seminars attended, can substitute for the simple act of making pictures. Experience is the best teacher of all. And for that, there are no guarantees that one will become an artist. Only the journey matters.

-Harry Callahan

Multiple Exposure Tree, Chicago, Harry Callahan, 1956

Photographic Quote of the Week: Berenice Abbott

Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.

-Berenice Abbott

Blossom Restaurant; 103 Bowery. Oct. 3, 1935; by Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) from her "Changing New York" Works Progress Administration/ Federal Art Project

Photographic Quote of the Week: Edward Weston

Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual.

 - Edward Weston

Pepper #30, Edward Weston, 1930

Photographic Quote of the Week: Garry Winogrand

I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.

 - Garry Winogrand

Albuquerque, Garry Winogrand, 1957

The Marbury Tree

I believe a turning point in my approach to photography occurred on a trip to England in 2008. My wife Mary, our friends Gay and Mike, and I visited a small town called Marbury. As we were walking through the cemetery of the town's church, the remnant of a gnarled old tree caught my eye. I had brought a Canon compact digital camera on the trip. I had done some 35mm SLR photography in the past, but when digital photography came along, I contented myself with a point-and-shoot.

An epiphany of sorts occurred when I walked around the tree and pointed the camera into the eroded interior of the trunk.

That photo showed me the potential of going beyond the representational vacation snapshot.

Local Show

Thanks to Kay Westhues​ for inviting me to participate in an exhibit celebrating the city's sesquicentennial at the South Bend Museum of Art. My photos are on the wall to the left of Larry Piser's furniture, toward the corner. The show opens Saturday, March 21 and the artists' reception will be Friday, May 1 from 5-9.

I'm honored to be part of this show, which is called South Bend Selfie and is meant to represent the current status of the local art scene. The selection process is described on the museum's web site:

The South Bend Museum of Art selected 5 individuals who are influential within the arts community. They each selected 2 artists who they feel are making important work, and/or deserve a chance to shine. Those artists selected an additional 2 artists each. In the end, artwork by 30 artists is featured in the exhibition. The branching nature of the selection process sheds light on influences, friendships, and other complexities that help create the rich and varied arts culture of South Bend.

Dogs

Margaret Eakins with Harry, Thomas Eakins, 1880

Robert Adams wrote a brilliant book called Why People Photograph (Aperture, 1994). One of the essays within is titled "Dogs," which closes with the words, "A photographer down on his or her knees picturing a dog has found pleasure enough to make many things possible." I highly recommend the essay and the book.