LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
Brooks Jensen
Brooks Jensen
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).
15h ago
HT2476 - The Balance Between Doing and Finishing These last few months have been a particularly busy time for me photographically. I've been doing lots of work, processing images, organizing files, keywording, brainstorming ideas, getting to know the 3,500 captures I came back with from my trip to the West Coast. I've been doing a lot, but I haven't accomplished a thing. That is to say, I haven't finished anything. This exposes one of my failings as an artist; I can so easily confuse activity for accomplishment. I've been known to spend an entire day working on my to do list but not actually doing anything from that list. It goes without saying that without finishing, no artwork is made. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
1d ago
HT2475 - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor I suppose everyone listening to this commentary would, to one degree or another, describe themselves as "a photographer." But how we define ourselves and how that creates our self-image can be helpful or hurtful to our creative life. Self-image and the psychology behind it can be a powerful influence on how we think and what we produce. By the term "photographer" do you mean someone who makes images to be framed and displayed on the wall? Do you define yourself as a seeker of truth? Do you define yourself as someone who does photography to make money? If asked, how would you describe the kind of photographer you are? Has that been consistent through the years and decades of your involvement in photography? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
2d ago
HT2474 - Validation via Publication Last spring, I had an opportunity to show some work to a new acquaintance. They were complimentary and then asked where the images had been published. I found that a curious question. When I told them the work had never been published, they expressed a visible dismissal as though without publication the work was unworthy of their attention. How and when did publication of a photograph become the high water mark of accomplishment in the eyes of the public? I found it doubly curious when I later realized they had not asked if the work had ever been exhibited. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
Dec 9
HT2473 - Sorry Disney, Snow Is Not White With the turn of the weather, we photographers in the northern hemisphere can start thinking about snow photography. I've always found snow to be one of the trickiest things to photograph because I think of it as being white but photographically it's not. It's bright, but bright and white are not the same thing. What makes snow look like snow are the very delicate gray tones that give pure white its three dimensionality. Snow is an example where ETTR fails us. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
4d ago
LW1484 - Persistence and Longevity I'm a believer in sustained effort. I know this puts me in direct conflict with today's instantaneous culture, but I'm first and foremost a pragmatist. My 50 years in photography have provided evidence over and over of the virtues of longevity. What do I mean by that? Simply this: if you stick with something long enough, good things will result. 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.
4d ago
HT2472 - The YOU Who Photographs When I go out photographing, I often begin with the sense that I need to shift mental gears from everyday thought to artmaking thought. I feel the need to begin the process of "seeing aesthetically." What does that actually mean? How is my aesthetic Self different than my ordinary self? Is it possible that my aesthetic self is simply more in touch with the rules and conventions that define the medium throughout history? If so, is it possible that "shifting gears to art making mode" is actually a barrier to creativity? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
5d ago
HT2471 - Predictability and Art Lynn and I have been watching a series on Netflix that has become totally predictable. Every plot twist, every character reaction, every conflict between characters has become so predictable that it has turned into a game for us to make such predictions as we're watching. Curiously enough, its predictability has us slowly becoming less interested. Does predictability play a role in all other art media as well? Turning this to our chosen medium, does a perfectly predictable photograph become less interesting because it lacks an element of surprise? This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2400 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!
6d ago
HT2470 - Enough Camera for the Purpose In my life, I've owned and used an 8x10 camera, a 5x7 camera, a medium format monorail camera, 35 mm cameras, twin lens reflex cameras, and over a dozen different digital cameras. To that list I should add a half a dozen phones that have been pretty good cameras. Isn't it interesting that when I look in my finished artwork I rarely remember anything about which cameras used? More to the point, when I go out photographing today, does it make a difference which camera I bring with me? As long as I have enough camera for the purpose, do I need to put any more thought into which camera I use? This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2400 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 .
