LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work, and building an audience. Included in this RSS Feed are the LensWork Podcasts — posted weekly, typically 10-20 minutes exploring a topic a bit more deeply — and our almost daily Here's a thought… audios (extracted from the videos.) Here's a thought… are snippets, fragments, morsels, and tidbits from Brooks' fertile (and sometimes swiss-cheesy) brain. Usually just a minute or two. Always about photography and the art life. Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. He is the author of 13 books on photography and the creative life -- the latest books are The Best of the LensWork Interviews (2016), Photography, Art, and Media (2016), and the four annual volumes of Seeing in SIXES (2016-2019).

Location:

United States

Genres:

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Description:

Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work, and building an audience. Included in this RSS Feed are the LensWork Podcasts — posted weekly, typically 10-20 minutes exploring a topic a bit more deeply — and our almost daily Here's a thought… audios (extracted from the videos.) Here's a thought… are snippets, fragments, morsels, and tidbits from Brooks' fertile (and sometimes swiss-cheesy) brain. Usually just a minute or two. Always about photography and the art life. Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. He is the author of 13 books on photography and the creative life -- the latest books are The Best of the LensWork Interviews (2016), Photography, Art, and Media (2016), and the four annual volumes of Seeing in SIXES (2016-2019).

Language:

English

Website:

http://www.lenswork.com/

Email:

editor@lenswork.com

Episodes

HT1896 - A Book Group for Photography

5/13/2024

HT1896 - A Book Group for Photography I suspect many of you are a member of a book group of one kind or another. Have you ever heard of a photography book group? I never have. In fact, I think this could be a wonderful idea. I'm often grateful to hear how others think about a photograph or a group of photographs. Seems to me like it would be easy enough to put something together on Zoom. Hmmm. . . All 1880+ episodes of Here's a Thought . . . are available in their entirety to members of LensWork Online, our extensive resource library of our 30-year publishing history. Learn more about LensWork Online.

Duration:00:02:43

LW1401 - Advantages of Small Projects

5/13/2024

LW1401 - Advantages of Small Projects I suppose it's no surprise that as the publisher of Image Suites, Seeing in SIXES and Trilogies that I'm a advocate for small projects — projects from just a few to perhaps a dozen or so images. I was therefore startled when I received an email from a LensWork reader pointing out that I've never specifically addressed why I'm such a fan of small projects. I looked back and she was right; I've never specifically addresses the concept of small photography projects. Here are some of my thoughts about this. All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

Duration:00:12:54

HT1895 - The Fun Components

5/12/2024

HT1888 - Photography's Fascination with the Rare Photography can be hard work. For most of us, the work of artmaking also includes lots of fun and pleasant entertainment. Which parts of photography do you find the most fun? As a hobby, wouldn't it make sense to increase those components and to strategize ways to reduce the work? For example, I dislike framing, so I either use presentation methods that don't involve framing, or I pay someone to do my framing for me. All previous episodes of Here's a Thought . . . are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com that looks at failures as a way to learn. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1894 - Postponing Your Art Life

5/11/2024

HT1894 - Postponing Your Art Life No one begins their photographic journey by immediately leaping into 40-inch prints. We all start small, 5x7, or 8x10. Then somehow we get gripped with the idea that bigger is better. Rather than turn our attention to making more personal, more meaningful, or insightful photographs it becomes so much easier to pursue the greater technical challenges of large prints, thereby postponing the launch of our real art life.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1893 - Dry Spells and Damp Spells

5/10/2024

HT1893 - Dry Spells and Damp Spells Wouldn't we all love to be creatively on fire every day, every moment. Unfortunately, that rarely happens. Instead, we have times when we are productive and times we are not. We think of those fallow times as "dry spells" which can be accompanied by guilt. But there's also a spell that is neither dry nor productive and can be an incredibly useful time in a creative life. I think of them as "damp spells."

Duration:00:02:43

HT1892 - The Time to Make a Picture

5/9/2024

HT1892 - The Time to Make a Picture Let's take just a moment to think what a miracle is photography. Before photography, think how long was required to make a picture. Drawing one l line at a time, adding one brushstroke at a time. Pictures were relatively rare and treasured. That way of relating to pictures leaked over to photography in its earliest days. Compare that to the bombardment of pictures that assault us every day! Our pictures aren't special because they are pictures, they need to connect through content to be special.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1891 - Grabbed by Artwork

5/8/2024

HT1891 - Grabbed by Artwork I suppose all of us have, from time to time, been mesmerized by a piece of artwork. It grabs us, it seduces our attention, it fills our consciousness. Why? What is it about a piece of artwork that gives it this power to influence us so deeply? Maybe not 100% of the time, but most frequently I find this happens when the artwork engages my imagination, when it allows me to drop my normal awareness of the world and to be transported to a world of its making.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1890 - Experiences or Things

5/7/2024

HT1890 - Experiences or Things A friend of mine is downsizing in preparation for moving to a retirement community. She can't find anyone who wants her extensive collection of sheet music. Another friend is finding it difficult to find a home for her collection of dinnerware and silver. No one wants them. It seems like the younger generation values collecting experiences far more than collecting things. I've come to regard this as the joy and burden of ownership. What are the implications for our fine art photographs?

Duration:00:02:43

HT1889 - A Self-assessment

5/6/2024

HT1889 - A Self-assessment On a whim, I decided to look back at the entire collection of my work that has been published in Kokoro. So far, that consists of 172 projects containing 2,432 images. I was happy and proud to publish every one of them - - at the time. Needless to say, some have not stood the test of time as well as others. That's good. All 1880+ episodes of Here's a Thought . . . are available in their entirety to members of LensWork Online, our extensive resource library of our 30-year publishing history. Learn more about LensWork Online.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1888 - Photography's Fascination with the Rare

5/5/2024

HT1888 - Photography's Fascination with the Rare Ask most people what makes a fabulous landscape photograph and they will unhesitatingly say a fabulous landscape. That is, the magic is out there. This implies that the photographer is simply a faithful recorder of the scene. Ask most photographers what they actually do when they are out photographing and they will tell you they are looking for the spectacular scene. All previous episodes of Here's a Thought . . . are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com that looks at failures as a way to learn. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1887 - Obscurity Is Inevitable

5/4/2024

HT1887 - Obscurity Is Inevitable I distinctly remember in my youth being encouraged to consider archival properties and longevity of my images as one of the primary goals of processing my prints. It was just assumed that it was important that our work survive 50 or 100 years when it would be valued by generations yet unborn. But now that I've been in photography for 50 years, I can't help but notice that my bookshelves are filled with photographers who have disappeared in the obscurity of time. I know that's the fate for my work, too, and that prompts me to consider other strategies.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1886 - Private Work

5/3/2024

HT1886 - Private Work The real work of the artist all takes place outside of the spotlight. If a pianist doesn't enjoy practice, they will never be an accomplished performer. If a photographer doesn't love the darkroom or studio work, that will be obvious in their prints. Toiling away on one's own is the heart of the art life.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1885 - The Most Important Tool in the Darkroom

5/2/2024

HT1885 - The Most Important Tool in the Darkroom Ansel Adams used to preach that the most important tool in his dark room was the garbage can. I believe the corollary in the digital workflow is the virtual copy. I've often thought that the terms "making art" and "editing" are synonyms for the same activity. If you don't progress through at least a half a dozen drafts, I think you are fooling yourself.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1884 - Sample Notes

5/1/2024

HT1884 - Sample Notes Earlier this week I was discussing the importance of note taking in our creative life. We need to capture those fleeting ideas before we lose them. A listener asked what kinds of notes are the useful ones to capture. Here are some samples from my own notebooks.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1883 - Cameras or Software

4/30/2024

HT1883 - Cameras or Software I suspect we would all agree that the advancement in camera technology over the last 25 years has been amazing. Curiously enough, when I look at my digital images in my Lightroom catalog, the advances in camera technology pale in comparison to the advances in software processing. I'm not sure my newest and latest camera has allowed me to do anything that I couldn't do with my first digital camera 20 years ago. The latest camera technologies have made my life easier, but I'm not sure it's made my artwork any better.

Duration:00:02:43

LW1400 - A Book vs a Collection of Images

4/29/2024

LW1400 - A Book vs a Collection of Images To us photographers, a book is most frequently a collection of great images. To the rest of the world, a book is a collection of great ideas or stories. Perhaps this is the reason why the market for photography books is primarily other photographers. For example, I suspect many of you are a member of a book group of one kind or another. Have you ever heard of a photography book group? All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

Duration:00:12:54

HT1882 - Seeds

4/29/2024

HT1882 - Seeds Often, while I'm working on a project, I'll try something that doesn't work at all for the project I'm developing. It ca be tempting to just delete the failure and move on. Instead, I've come to realize that perhaps the failed idea is a seed for a new project. I guess what they say is true, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." All 1880+ episodes of Here's a Thought . . . are available in their entirety to members of LensWork Online, our extensive resource library of our 30-year publishing history. Learn more about LensWork Online.

Duration:00:02:43

LW1399 - Your Photographic Lineage

4/29/2024

LW1399 - Your Photographic Lineage In most every walk of life, lineage is a big deal. This is particularly true in religion, politics, and nobility. It might seem less true in photography, but I'm not so sure. We each see ourselves as the inheritors of an approach to the art life that not only informs our self-image, but can heavily influence what we produce All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

Duration:00:12:54

HT1881 - Taking Notes

4/28/2024

HT1881 - Taking Notes Creative ideas rarely manifest on demand. Be brilliant, right now, this instant. You can. Creativity doesn't work that way. In my mind, there is no doubt that one of the most important activities about the art life is capturing ideas when they pop into mind. How you capture ideas is a strategy that is worth thought, planning, organization, and commitment. All previous episodes of Here's a Thought . . . are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com that looks at failures as a way to learn. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

Duration:00:02:43

HT1879 - Twenty Times, a Variation

4/26/2024

HT1879 - Twenty Times, a Variation As a follow up on yesterday's conversation about music and looking at photographs, I could apply the exact same logic to locations where I photograph. The first time I go anywhere I tend to photograph the fairly obvious compositions - - and perhaps do so without nearly as much depth as I would like to. I need to return to a location a half a dozen or a dozen times before I feel I've gotten to know it. Weather changes, seasons change, but most importantly, I change.

Duration:00:02:43