As I’ve worked with one of my newest photographs, I’ve noted a loose relationship Alfred Stieglitz’ “The Steerage” from 1907. It reminded me that photographers need to be aware of the image makers who have gone before them and helped them see. Now, I’m not saying that my photograph is the same as Stieglitz’ masterpiece, but I do want to suggest that it’s important to build a visual sensibility based on awareness of other photographers’ work. If you’re not looking at images, you’re not growing as an image maker.

If you’re not familiar with Stieglitz, here are a couple sites that can help you out:
American Masters – Alfred Stieglitz
Masters of Photography – Alfred Stieglitz

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Photographs by Jeff Curto

Sometimes, when you think that there is a photographic subject in front of you, you can’t see the picture you want to make. In this episode, I talk about taking a left turn, both to find a photograph and to provide a catalyst for even more images. I also take a left turn with my vow to not talk about technical matters and wax rhapsodically about the new Epson V750 Pro scanner I’ve been using this past week.

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This episode of Camera Position is a bit different from previous episodes. First off, it is a lot longer. Weighing in at a little over an hour, it is a podcast of a presentation I made recently at the MacSpecialist store in Villa Park, Illinois. I had been invited to come and speak to a group of photographers, illustrators and designers on the creative process and how not to become stagnant creatively. I titled my presentation “Getting Back Your Box of Crayons” and spent my time talking about how creativity works and how we can nurture and encourage creativity in our lives. Thanks to the MacSpecialist folks for the opportunity to be a part of their schedule of presenters.
During the presentation, I reference a couple of PDF documents which are available for download here:
Soft & Hard
What If?

Also, I’ve posted a PDF of the “slideshow” of the presentation here:
Getting Back Your Box of Crayons

If you’re watching the podcast via iTunes on your computer, you’ll be able to see the slides in iTunes; otherwise you will probably want to download the PDF above. Unfortunately, the audio quality isn’t what you’ve come to expect from Camera Position, but I hope you’ll find the ideas useful.
The next episode of Camera Position will return to our regular format, but I thought at least some of you listeners might find this presentation interesting.

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As I return to Camera Position after a month-long hiatus, I give you a few minutes with one of my favorite paintings, “The Calling of St. Matthew” by Caravaggio. Caravaggio’s sense of light and moment of “exposure,” were extraordinarily “photographic.”

See a larger version of the image with this link

Yes, I’d planned on trying to podcast while I was away, but instead, I spent most of my time making new photographs (nearly 400 sheets of 4×5 film and 18 rolls of 120 film) and enjoying the amazing Italian culture (translated: drinking wine and eating great food). I’ll be posting some of those new photographs with you over the coming weeks, but for this first return episode, I wanted to share one of my favorite artists with you. If you’ve never looked at the paintings of Caravaggio, you really should spend some time looking at his astonishing sense of realism, moment and light.

Thanks for hanging in there with me during my absence.

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Photographs by Jeff Curto

The visual device of a “view through” from one place to another is a fairly common one in photography, and one that I tend to use often. This episode explores a variety of ways of using the idea of framing a subject to emphasize a sense of space and place.

I’ll be gone in Italy for the next 3 weeks making photographs. I’m hoping to produce a Camera Position or two while I’m gone (bringing the PowerBook and recording gear along with) but don’t know about finding high-speed access to do the uploads. With any luck, you’ll hear from me before I get back, but otherwise, I’ll be back at the end of June. Thanks for listening!

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