Author Archives: Michael Marks

Being In The Zone

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I recently had to spend an extended period of time visiting someone in a cancer treatment facility. By accident I found out that on the premises was located a space devoted to “art therapy”. The person in charge was a professional artist who was almost spiritual in her approach to art and life.

Basically, the idea is that taking the time to make art, even if you are not very skilled, provides therapeutic benefits to the body and soul in many ways. In fact there is a growing amount of medical evidence to support this claim.

We had a very nice chat and it certainly provided a much-needed break from the many hours spent at the hospital under much less happy circumstances. I even tried my hand at painting a watercolor. It wasn’t very pretty (no surprise there!), but doing it gave me a lot of enjoyment. What I was being told and in fact was experiencing, was that this type of activity enabled you to “get into a zone”, far removed from the problems and stresses of your normal daily life. My wife, who was with me, smugly confirmed this notion based on her experience as a multi-talented quilter, crafter and paper artist.

All of a sudden, I realized something very important. I had that same feeling when being out in the world, away from the daily grind … making photographs … even if I made only a few, or none at all.

Think about it … you are away from all the junk, all the pressure; you’re not connected to your cellphone (if your smart!), or your computer. You’re out there on your own, thinking creatively and enjoying yourself, capturing images of the world that impact you and no one else. When this happens I am in “the zone” … and apparently a healthier and better one at that!

Aaron Siskind 100

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In my opinion Aaron Siskind was of the great 20th Century photographers. His primary focus was the abstract; his subjects were paint on streets and walls, portions of rock formations, sand, weathered objects and other found fragments that caught his imagination. Published in 1993 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, this is a stupendous retrospective of his life work.

In 2004 I was fortunate to see a major exhibit of his photographs at the great Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. If you ever get a chance to see his work, do it! I don’t think Siskind is exhibited nearly as much as some of the other Masters, such as Adams, Weston, Strand and Stieglitz, so the next best thing is to get his book if you can. Unfortunately it had a limited production run so it is out of print and somewhat pricy. I was lucky enough to purchase it when it first came out, but if I didn’t own it now and had to make a decision on how to spend my scarce photo book dollars, it would surely be at the top of my list.

The large reproductions of Siskind’s black and white photographs are beautifully printed, each on a single page, facing a page containing only the name of the image and the year it was made. Clean and elegant. His “Credo” that guided his work is also included as an introduction.

What is so important about this book is that it shows you that it is possible to produce deeply meaningful and personal black and white photographs in your own surroundings (another very different example of this is Paul Strand’s exquisite photographs made in his garden). Perhaps abstract is not your cup of tea, but Siskind proves that there are no excuses for not being able to go out make photographs wherever you are.

Look at this wonderful book and be inspired to get out there and be more aware of the limitless possibilities that lie before you!

Second Photo Chat Get-Together

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Let’s get together! Yes, how about getting together to chat about our photographs and the stories behind them. What was your intent in making the photograph, what were you trying to say, was it a success? If you made your print, were there any particular challenges involved?

This is not a discussion focused on gear — the idea is to share insights, get constructive feedback, learn a few things, relax and make new friends!

Well, if this sounds interesting and fun, how about joining me in beautiful downtown Doylestown, PA, in the heart of scenic Bucks County, and we will get together over a cup of coffee.

Photographers of all levels are welcome.

I think a total of 3-4 people is the right size. Bring only a couple of prints to discuss. Obviously the prints should be Black and White and should be film based!

The get together will be on Sunday, March 20th, 10:00-11:30am at the Zen Den coffee shop, located on ‪20 Donaldson Street, Doylestown, PA 18901.

Email or call me at 215-348-9171 if you are interested. First come first serve!

I look forward to meeting you!

Second Photo Chat Get-Together

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Let’s get together! Yes, how about getting together to chat about our photographs and the stories behind them. What was your intent in making the photograph, what were you trying to say, was it a success? If you made your print, were there any particular challenges involved?

This is not a discussion focused on gear — the idea is to share insights, get constructive feedback, learn a few things, relax and make new friends!

Well, if this sounds interesting and fun, how about joining me in beautiful downtown Doylestown, PA, in the heart of scenic Bucks County, and we will get together over a cup of coffee.

Photographers of all levels are welcome.

I think a total of 3-4 people is the right size. Bring only a couple of prints to discuss. Obviously the prints should be Black and White and should be film based!

The get together will be on Sunday, March 20th, 10:00-11:30am at the Zen Den coffee shop, located on ‪20 Donaldson Street, Doylestown, PA 18901.

Email or call me at 215-348-9171 if you are interested. First come first serve!

I look forward to meeting you!

Keep It Simple

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Ok, so we have discussed GAS. GAS occurs when you feel that you need to keep on buying things, or buy things for the wrong reason(s). This isn’t a discussion about GAS … rather it is about the woes of indecision and stress from having too many choices to make. The dreaded results of having too much stuff include missing a picture due to unfamiliarity with an underused camera, being waded down and made overly conspicuous by carrying much more gear than necessary for the task at hand, or having outright paralysis because you have too many choices to make. In the end you become frustrated and unhappy.

This is not to be confused with having the right tool for the job. Or as some people on the forums are fond of saying, “horses for courses”. For example, there are times for you when a rangefinder might be the right solution, and other times when a single lens reflex might be best. Depending on subject matter or circumstances it may come down to a decision to use 35mm, medium or large format size. Or to use a camera with movements verses one without.

What I am talking about is my belief that it is best to keep things simple concerning whatever outfit you have or are using. That means generally one camera for the task at hand (it does not mean you shouldn’t own a back up in case your main camera breaks or falls into the lake), and only the lenses you need, verses all those you think would be great to have, or all the focal lengths the manufacturer makes! Ok, for certain applications I can see the value of having more than one camera, each with a different lens … or I know … one for color and one for black and white … but I hope you get the point.

I really believe that those who are less caught up with the need to carry an over abundance of gear – particularly lenses, have more time to concentrate on capturing the best picture instead of trying to figure out what is the best lens to use at any given time. Truth be told, probably more than 90% of my pictures have been made with a 50mm lens or near 50mm lens equivalent in different formats. But even so, I have owned more than one focal length for my outfits, because the other lenses do get used when necessary, albeit not as nearly as often the “normal” lens.

Think about this — using the 50mm, it only takes a few steps forward or backwards to get the equivalent of a mild wide angle or mild telephoto lens. In your case with the way you see the world, it might be a 35mm lens moving forward a few steps to give the view of a 50mm when needed. Entire careers of great photographers have been built around these two focal lengths or their equivalents. In any case, the point is to know your equipment, be familiar with what it can do so you can be free to concentrate on what counts – capturing the vision you have when you decide you want to make the picture!

Does Size Matter?

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Short answer — it does, but only to you, because it’s your picture. That’s right, but make sure the size you make is done for the right reasons. Very large prints are trendy now, but almost every time I see them in exhibits I am overwhelmed by the size and underwhelmed by the content. That is because what seems to be on display are large images of boring subject matter, many of which I believe wouldn’t get a second look if they were smaller in size.

This realization was really brought home to me as a result of two shows I saw over the past several years. The first was a very nice Edward Weston show hosted by the wonderful Michener Art Museum, located where I live, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The second was the recent stupendous Paul Strand exhibit mounted at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. None of the Weston prints were larger than 8×10 because he only contact printed his large format negatives. With Strand, most were no more than 8×10, with many being much smaller, and the remainder not much larger than 8×10.

These prints forced you to stop, get close and look at them. You had to really study them to discover their secrets, rather than just walk by each mammoth print some ten feet way.

So I think a small print really has to stand on its content, but just as importantly it draws in the viewer and compels him or her to really concentrate and think about what is going on in the image.

Now be brutally honest with yourself; are you making really large prints because you have been conditioned to think that what’s in? And while large size will get attention, does it mask content that wouldn’t get a second look in a more intimate size?

And don’t feel compelled to make really large prints because you are using larger negatives. Negative size should not determine print size because of the available higher resolution.

The vast majority of prints I’ve made have been on 8×10 sheets of paper, which means they are actually smaller than that. There have been a relatively few made using 11×14 paper, based on vision and/or use of a square negative.

So only print those photographs that you believe really have something to say … and when you create the print that captures your vision, make it the size you think works best for that image.

First Photo Chat Get-Together

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Let’s get together! Yes, how about getting together to chat about our photographs and the stories behind them. What was your intent in making the photograph, what were you trying to say, was it a success? If you made your print, were there any particular challenges involved?

This is not a discussion focused on gear — the idea is to share insights, get constructive feedback, learn a few things, relax and make new friends!

Well, if this sounds interesting and fun, how about joining me in beautiful downtown Doylestown, PA, in the heart of scenic Bucks County, and we will get together over a cup of coffee.

Photographers of all levels are welcome.

I think a total of 3-4 people is the right size. Bring only a couple of prints to discuss. Obviously the prints should be Black and White and should be film based!

The first get together will be on Sunday, February 21st, 3:00-4:30 at the Zen Den coffee shop, located on ‪20 Donaldson Street, Doylestown, PA 18901.

Email or call me at 215-348-9171 if you are interested. First come first serve!

I look forward to meeting you!

First Photo Chat Get-Together

2 Replies

Let’s get together! Yes, how about getting together to chat about our photographs and the stories behind them. What was your intent in making the photograph, what were you trying to say, was it a success? If you made your print, were there any particular challenges involved?

This is not a discussion focused on gear — the idea is to share insights, get constructive feedback, learn a few things, relax and make new friends!

Well, if this sounds interesting and fun, how about joining me in beautiful downtown Doylestown, PA, in the heart of scenic Bucks County, and we will get together over a cup of coffee.

Photographers of all levels are welcome.

I think a total of 3-4 people is the right size. Bring only a couple of prints to discuss. Obviously the prints should be Black and White and should be film based!

The first get together will be on Sunday, February 21st, 3:00-4:30 at the Zen Den coffee shop, located on ‪20 Donaldson Street, Doylestown, PA 18901.

Email or call me at 215-348-9171 if you are interested. First come first serve!

I look forward to meeting you!