Can you become a selfless photographer and reach a state of Zen with your camera? Fourth in an irregular series of “books for photographers’ bookshelves” is Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel, where Herrigel’s works towards the “perfect shot.” Replace “bow” with “camera,” “arrow” with “shutter” and “target” with “photograph” and you have a wonderful little book about how to stop thinking and start making.

Left: Old cover art for book Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel

Center: Windowsill Daydreaming – Photograph by Zenmaster Photographer Minor White

Right: New cover art for book Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel

Dirk Rossler’s Megaperls weblog – Thanks for your comment, Dirk!

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Abruzzo Sheep – Photograph by Jeff Curto
(click for a larger view)

Photographers should always use the right tool for the job, right? But what if you’re stuck with the wrong tool in the right situation? You just wing it, that’s what, and sometimes something interesting happens. That was the case with me this summer when I was stuck with my 4×5 camera in a situation that really demanded a smaller, more mobile machine. Lemonade out of lemons? Lamb chops out of… wait… no… bad analogy…

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Montepulciano, Toscana, 1998 – Photograph by Jeff Curto

Yes, it’s the age old question… does size matter? Does the size of the prints we make change how we view the images? Have you ever made a large print of your work? Here’s an image that I recently had The Print Lab print to a very large size for me.

In the podcast, I also talk about a new exhibition I have at the University of LaVerne in LaVerne, CA, and about a new series of History of Photography Podcasts, and about a new episode of the Focus Ring podcast

Other links for this show:

• Jeff Wall exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago
• Exhibition of Jeff Curto’s work: Evidence of Hands on Stone at the Carlson Gallery of Photography at the University of LaVerne
• Jeff will be speaking at Photo Plus Expo – October 18 to 21, New York
• The History of Photography Podcast – Web Page or at iTunes
• A new episode of the Focus Ring podcast

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Summer’s lazy days put me in the mind of childhood and a recent encounter with some ideas by Pablo Picasso and some photographs by French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894-1986) made me think about how important a childlike sense of wonder is to photographers.

Picasso said:

“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” – Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso – Two Women on the Beach

Lartigue started taking photos when he was 6, his subject matter being primarily his own life and the people and activities in it. So, as a child he photographed his friends and family at play – running and jumping, racing wheeled soap boxes, building kites, etc.

Photographs by Jacques Henri Lartigue

Jacques Henri Lartigue at Masters of Photography

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An image isn’t finished until it starts to feel like what you saw. Here is a brief look at the way I approached the post-production (what we used to call “darkroom work”) of this recent image from Gubbio, a marvelously medieval town in northern Umbria, Italy. The differences are subtle, but the idea is to more accurately capture the feeling and mood of the time of exposure.

For a great overview of how to create outstanding prints of your own images (even in the digital age!) check out Ansel Adams’ The Print.

Gubbio, Umbria, 2007 – Photograph by Jeff Curto
click image for a larger view

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