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,...

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

HT2560 - Describe What You See

3/13/2026

HT2560 - Describe What You See Before you click the shutter, tell me what you see. I would be willing to bet big money that your description would mostly include details of the things you mentally isolate from the larger context. In essence, your description would be a list of objects you deem important enough to notice. Reread that last sentence and replace the word "description" with "photograph." To make a better photograph do we need a better description? Or, is what's missing emotional content and connection beyond mere description? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2559 - A Catalog of Your Work

3/12/2026

HT2559 - A Catalog of Your Work A friend of mine (who is a little older than I am) is involved in a massive project to create a digital catalog of his life's work. This consists of over 2500 finished images. He has inspired me to think about doing a similar project and catalog for my own work. But then, I had to ask myself, who would ever see it? Why would such a catalog be important to anyone other than me? Which is more important, doing new work or recording that past work has been done? Perhaps here is a compromise Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2558 - Losing History

3/11/2026

HT2558 - Losing History When I started in photography some 50 years ago it was axiomatic and universally understood that it was important to learn the history of photography. There were, I'm guessing, a couple of hundred photographers who are still important to this day, who were the pioneers, whose work we needed to know at least briefly if not intensely. We built a library of their books, study their images, read their essays, and recognized intuitively that this was a prerequisite for our own photographic growth. Instagram and internet influencers have replaced the need to study the masters from the history of photography. I'm trying to imagine a novelist who doesn't read novels or a pianist who never listens to music. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2557 - Key Tones

3/10/2026

HT2557 - Key Tones There's a theory in fine art photography that every image needs to have key tones, some spot in the photograph that is absolute black and another that is absolute white. These tones supposedly calibrate our vision for everything else in the image. They become tonal reference points. Like all other rules in photography, I find this one contains a truth, but not a rigid one. Key tones are worth considering, but not with inflexible rigidity. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2556 - Knowing When to Move

3/9/2026

HT2556 - Knowing When to Move I think it was Picasso who said, "The trick in painting is knowing when to stop." I've adapted Picasso's thought for photograph. When out photographing, try to remind myself that the trick is knowing when to move on. I'm always tempted to move on immediately after I've pressed the shutter. I have it, so be done. If I can remember to resist this temptation, it's amazing how many times I find a better picture by being still, waiting a few moments, paying attention to the changes, and looking for the unexpected. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

LW1496 - When do you own a photograph?

3/9/2026

LW1496 - When do you own a photograph? Do you own a piece of music because you purchased the CD, or do you own it when you have memorized the tune? Do you own a novel because you purchased the book or because you read it? Do you own a photograph when you've purchased the original print? Or do you own a photograph when it becomes so familiar that it's part of your mental gallery? Thought about another way, do you own a photograph because of the physicality of the print, or is it more important that the image is treasured in a corner of your soul? 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

HT2555 - My Advice Cannot Make Your Pictures

3/7/2026

HT2555 - My Advice Cannot Make Your Pictures I spend way too much time on YouTube because it's such a great way to learn tidbits about the technology of photography. That said, there are also gazillions of videos that will try to tell you the steps you must (or must not take) to make an aesthetically pleasing photograph, in essence how to follow the rules without admitting that you are following the rules. The challenge is to learn from the technical while simultaneously using aesthetic advice with extreme caution lest you find you are making other people's photographs. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2554 - Scant Feedback, If Any

3/7/2026

HT2554 - Scant Feedback, If Any Applause is lovely. Accolades are lovely. Sales are lovely. Relying on such feedback to fuel your motivations is to place yourself in a position that doesn't help your creativity. Statistically, it just doesn't add up. Produce your work because you need to do it and because the Universe needs you to do it, not for the applause and (God forbid) not for the sales. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.

Duration:00:02:43

HT2553 - Minutia

3/6/2026

HT2553 - Minutia It can be quite entertaining to hear photographers talk about their images. Almost without exception, the photographer will examine tiny areas of the image including details, juxtapositions of composition, perfect tonal relationships, extremely subtle things that non-photographers would never see, or I should say never notice. For some reason, photographers think these minutia can make or break the success of a photograph. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2552 - Big Things and Little Things

3/5/2026

HT2552 - Big Things and Little Things Some friends of ours are visiting Kyoto this week, many of the same places I visited in 2019 in my last visit to Japan. They are sending lots of pictures and I can't help but observing a difference between what they're photographing and what I photographed. Same locations, different visions. I suppose this shouldn't be a surprise, but it does have me thinking. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2551 - Four Hundred Donuts

3/4/2026

HT2551 - Four Hundred Donuts We all like a donut now and then. Two donuts on occasion. Three donuts? Might be entering the realm of excess. A dozen? Impossible without getting sick of donuts. Enough is enough and more than that leaves us overwhelmed, repulsed, ill. This comes to mind because I recently received a 400-page monograph of photographs. Roughly 40 pages in and I started feeling numb. At page 100, I gave up, realizing I hadn't really seen the last 60 images at all — and there were 300 more pages left to go! Too much of a good thing finds us racing for the exit door. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2550 - The Best Way to Add Value to Your Photographic Artwork

3/3/2026

HT2550 - The Best Way to Add Value to Your Photographic Artwork Not everyone is pursuing the sale of their photographic artwork, but it's also not uncommon. The foundation of this pursuit is to try to build value into your artwork. If history teaches us anything, there are two keys to building value in your artwork: produce your prints prior to 1975; be sure you died in the 20th century. Both are difficult tasks here in 2026, but at the very least, announce you are not feeling well and you fear your art producing days are limited. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

LW1495 - Ten Lesser-Known Masters You Should Study

3/2/2026

LW1495 - Ten Lesser-Known Masters You Should Study Have you heard me talk about the "airport test?" Name for me 10 famous painters, 10 musicians, 10 novelists. I'll bet you can. Ask 100 people at random at the airport to name 10 fine art photographers. Everybody is familiar with Ansel Adams, and a few might know of Edward Weston. Here are 10 lesser known masters of photography you should study precisely because they brought something to photography that has made a greater impact than their reputation would indicate. 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

HT2548 - Exposure Tones vs Exposure Textures

3/1/2026

HT2548 - Exposure Tones vs Exposure Textures The so-called "exposure triangle" is usually thought of as a means of controlling the lightness and darkness of an image, and that's obviously true. But we old timers learned in studying the Zone System that tones are related to textures, particularly in combination with the angle of illumination. Human vision almost never sees tones without textures. Even the absence of texture is a form of texture. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2547 - Ten Is the Perfect Default

2/28/2026

HT2547 - Ten Is the Perfect Default All media have a comfort zone within a common range of sizes, plus or minus. Novels are typically a couple of hundred pages, popular songs 4 minutes, statues are commonly life-size. Exceptions are not uncommon, but it seems as though every medium has its default size. I've always felt that the default size for photography is 10 inches. We might see more detail in a larger print, but do we need to? This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.

Duration:00:02:43

HT2546 - The Love of Fast Shutter Speeds

2/27/2026

HT2546 - The Love of Fast Shutter Speeds Here's an odd observation spanning the opposite poles of my 50 years in photography. In my youth almost all of my work involved long shutter speeds, reciprocity failure, and sturdy tripods. Now, at the opposite end of my artistic life, my favorite shutter speeds are all a 1/2,500 of a second and faster. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2545 - On Long-term Survival

2/26/2026

HT2545 - On Long-term Survival Just as a thought experiment, let's assume the long-term survival of your artwork is a concern to you. What could you do that would increase the odds of your artwork surviving into the long-term future? Would it be making prints with the most archival materials and techniques? Are you sure? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2544 - Famous or Decor

2/25/2026

HT2544 - Famous or Decor I may be wrong about this and I'm more than willing to admit that, but I think photography on the wall divides itself into two fundamental types. There are photographs we frame and hang for their value as decor (goes good above the couch) or it is a photograph that is celebrated for its maker (often a collectable master). This is the main reason why I so rarely frame my photographs for display on the wall. My work tends not to be decor because it is too personal and I'm not famous nor collectible. Worse, I'm not interested in chasing fame nor chasing those kinds of images that make great decor. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2543 - Choosing Your Preferred Medium

2/24/2026

HT2543 - Choosing Your Preferred Medium Let's say you want to read a book. Do you go to the library or bookstore, get the book and consume the miles of text across the physical pages? Or do you download the e-Publication onto your tablet or e-reader and consume the miles of text across the screen? A live symphony performance or a recording? Physical prints, or a PDF? Such decisions used to be about fidelity of the experience, but I'm not sure that's true anymore. I have countless images in my mental gallery about which I can no longer remember the medium in which I first saw them. It seems as if medium has become a matter of personal preference and choice. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43

HT2549 - From Whence We See the World

2/23/2026

HT2549 - From Whence We See the World Photographing is always a subjective act. I can't think of a single instance in which a photograph is truly objective. After all, as photographers we choose where to stand, when to click the shutter, which things to include in the photograph and not, all of which are subjective decisions, decisions that reflect our point of view, our value system, our statement about what is important to observe. Photography becomes art when we embrace that subjectivity. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

Duration:00:02:43