35 photographers of Magnum Photos give advice amatours
• 35 Magnum Photos photographers give advice to budding amateurs
Fascinated by photographer Bill Reeves (Bill Reeves), who was lucky enough to learn from masters such as Eli Reed (Eli Reed) and Paolo Pellegrin (Paolo Pellegrin), told the publication of the blog world-renowned agency Magnum Photos, which provides advice to young svetopistsam.
The material was collected together hundredth Alec (Alec Soth), author of several great photo projects, such as "Sleeping by the Missisippi" ( "Sleeping in Mississippi"), filmed on camera pavilion 8x10 format.
This is what Bill said about Alec:
"Alec is a list of what photographs. Among them - a very familiar objects, such as suitcases, and more countries, in particular, unusually tall people. This list, he is attached to the wheel of a car, so, if you see anything out of it, do not forget to take a picture. And if he meets the necessary fotopersonazha, he starts talking to him, and from that conversation determines the object for his next shot. Likewise Alec once did a person photograph involved in the creation of models of planes, and then - a portrait of a prostitute. How can there be a connection between them? Her nails were painted on the planes. After that he went to photograph the childhood home of Charles Lindbergh (Charles Lindberg), and then - a place where young adults spent Johnny Cash (Johnny Cash), and so on. ".
I believe that these tips from photographers Magnum Photos - invaluable discovery, so I decided to share them, to impart knowledge and a love of photography.
Buy a good pair of walking shoes and ... fall in love. Alec Acres (Alec Soth)
Try all: photojournalism, fashion, portrait, nude - anything. You do not know what genre of photography is right for you until you try. During one summer vacation (in college), I took a job at the newly returning to the faith Product photographer. All day we were shooting socks and listen to religious radio wave. Then I came to the conclusion that I am not a photographer or studio, or a believer. The following year, I got a job in a small edition of a newspaper and was surprised when I realized for myself, I like to take pictures of the assignment. It is important - fun. You have to enjoy the process and what you shoot. If you're bored or you do not like the subject, it will certainly be noticeable in the picture. If deep down you love to take pictures of the kittens - do it. Alex Madzholi (Alex Majoli)
I would recommend to read a lot of literature and as little to look at the work of other photographers as possible. Work every day, even without a job or money, disciplined work for themselves, not for the sake of publishers or awards. And to cooperate with people, not necessarily with the photographers, and with those you admire. The main thing - to learn how to join! Alex Webb (Alex Webb)
Photograph because you love and have to do this, and the main reward for you will be the process of shooting. Other awards - recognition, financial rewards - come only to a few and very short-lived. And even if you are famous, will certainly be times when you will be deprived of attention or permanent income, and most of all - both. Of course, there are still other ways to earn a living ... Turn your photo into the hobby, not a career. Alessandra Sanguinetti (Alessandra Sanguinetti)
I myself do not mind to take advantage of good advice ... The first thing that comes to mind - the catch phrase of Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan): "Have a light head and keep it with a light bulb" ( "Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb "). Gilden Bruce (Bruce Gilden)
My advice - take photos of who you are! Carl de Keyzer (Carl De Keyzer)
Fully dedicated to her at least 5 years, and then decide whether you have a vocation. So many talented people give up at the very beginning. Big black hole that opens in front of them when they leave the cozy walls of the institution or university - the main killer of future talent. Christopher Anderson (Christopher Anderson)
Forget about the profession itself, "photographer." To get started just be them, and perhaps the profession will come to you later. Do not pursue in order to become insolvent due to the camera. Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix) not chosen profession professional musician before he learned to play the guitar. He loved music, creating something beautiful, and it later became his profession. Larry Towell (Larry Towell), for example, was not a "professional" photographer until, until I got famous. Catching a photo through the power, you can be, and make it his profession. But concentrating mainly on the career, you will make a lousy pictures that you care about. Chris Steele-Perkins (Chris Steele-Perkins)
Constantine Manos (Constantine Manos):
1. Never assume that the photo - it's easy. She, like poetry - it is easy to compose a pair of rhymed phrases, but it's not enough for a good poem.
2. Study the picture, look at the achievements of other people, but for educational purposes, do not try to be like them in terms of photography.
3. Capture the things that are really interesting and care about you, not what you have to shoot.
4. Take pictures as you see fit, and not as it should.
5. Be open to criticism, it can be useful, but stick to your core values.
6. Study and Theory - are helpful, but most of you are learning in the process. Take lots of pictures, be dissatisfied with them and continue to shoot, practice their skills and go out into the world to interact.
Be careful not to take photos, which show just how something looks. Your way of matching elements in the frame, shows that no one has seen before, and continue to see. And remember to catch the moment makes the image even more unique over time. Attend seminars photographers whose work you like, but first learn about them, to make sure that they are as good teachers, as well as photographers. Shoot good photos - easily. Make very good shots - it is difficult. Take great photos - almost impossible. David Alan Harvey (David Alan Harvey)
You must have that "to say." In this you have to be very honest with yourself. Think about the history, politics, science, literature, music, cinema and anthropology. What is the impact of these disciplines at each other? What drives a man? Today, when everyone is able to make an excellent, from a technical point of view, a photo with a mobile phone, you need to be "author". All the matter in the authorship, and only in it. Many young photographers tell me they want to become a photographer to "travel the world" or "win a name for themselves." In my opinion, it is wrong answers. All this - only the surrounding circumstances, or perhaps even disadvantages of profession photographer. Without having clear ideas, thoughts, feelings, and that it would be possible, "literally" add "discussion", a modern photographer simply get lost in a sea of mediocrity. Today, photography is a language. And, as in every language, the knowledge of how to pronounce and write grammatically correctly folded "offer" it is a must. And more importantly - advanced novice photographers to be "masters of visual words" with a pronounced didactic or esoteric imperative. To be a poet and not a simple "writer". I say easier - find your own close to your heart project. Put themselves in front of a "job", which would like to get from someone else. I ask you to remember that only you and no one else, are able to control your destiny. Believe it, know about it and tell yourself that. Donovan Wylie (Donovan Wylie)
Never stop to enjoy the pictures. Try but not "look" of the image, and always be open, unbiased and let you motivated all that in any way touches. Work to achieve a goal - whether it's a book or an exhibition, and more importantly - to work hard to find their own voice, and the object approach. Recognize that your work more than you talk about themselves than about the fact that you are showing to them; try to achieve this balance, without having to shoot their own feet!
In other words - try to transmit their own experience in the collective. It can be done and I think that the main search in any form of art (read the book by Michael Schmidt (Michael Schmidt) "Waffenruhe" ( "The Truce")) is to study the works of the great photographers. Start at the beginning - the early American, French and German photo-artist, then carefully examine the work of artists who have used the photo in the '60s, for example, Edward Ruscha (Ed Ruscha), etc. Do not give yourself pogruznut in theory, but at the same time. respect it. Read what they wrote about photographer Robert Adams (Robert Adams), in general, "absorb" it all, and you'll learn a lot.
Read literature, especially early Russian, French and American advanced (Irish and, in particular, Joyce); travel literature as an art form is similar to the picture with regard to the description and representation of reality. Do not rely on style for the sake of style, if you have your subject, you can use other people's styles, if you will. Or vice versa - if you remove that and the other, develop the style, manner of execution, inherent only to you, and eventually you will achieve both of them, you will find your own voice, but it takes time. Carefully read the book "How You Look at It" ( "As you look at it") are important considerations in it to help you. Always try to be honest with yourself ... For example, if you are more interested in the idea to be a photographer, what the picture itself, then think about the career of the actor ... If you really love photography, do not throw it. Realize and enjoy the fact that the picture - this is a unique means of expression. Respect and work within it, and you'll go far. David Hearn (David Hurn)
Do not become a photographer, is it - what you "should" do. This choice can hardly be called easy. If you become a photographer, you have to walk a lot, so buy a good shoe. Dennis Stock (Dennis Stock)
Young photographers need to study diligently to their work and do not count on a steady income from photography. They should follow their inspiration, take time to find those who point to their concerns, large or small. In photography it is important, first of all - to make a clear image. Eli Reed (Eli Reed)
Stop talking about the theory when taking the camera in your hands, and do not ponder too long image. Drop your own "I", and allow the photos to find you the most. Watch the world go around you like a river, and be aware that pictures taken of you can become part of the collective history of the times in which you live. Erwitt Elliott (Elliott Erwitt)
Learn the craft (which is not very difficult). Carefully review the work of photographers and artists of the past classics. Watch movies and learn from them. Find a place where you could get a "commercial" photographer. By "commercial" means - to work on the other, creating a product to order. But most of all, do not expose your personal fototvorchestvo as a separate hobby. If you are very diligent, it can justify itself and produce a result. Sarfati Lys (Lise Sarfati)
Many read and create your own world. Learn how to build and create a photo series. Do not admire other works. Try to use something innovative or just be yourself. Frank Martin (Martine Franck)
My advice to photographers - out "in the field" and shoot. But also, if you are a student, graduate from school, learn as many languages as possible, go to the movies, read books, visit museums, to expand their horizons. Gruyere Harry (Harry Gruyaert)
Be yourself, do not copy anyone. Hiroji Kyubota (Hiroji Kubota)
Study the works of such great photographers as Henri Cartier-Bresson (Henri Cartier-Bresson) and André Kertész (Andre Kertesz). Try to travel to different parts of the globe to understand how diverse world in which we live. John Vink (John Vink)
Do not stop doubting yourself (this will make you less confident). Push, scrape, dig - deeper. And if it no longer brings you pleasure - stop ... But the most important thing - to show respect to those who are photographing ... Jonas Bendiksen (Jonas Bendiksen)
Reset from the rock - in a figurative sense. Photo - is the language. Think about what you want to say with it. What is interesting to you? What questions you want to ask? Then proceed, "rush" to talk about it, using the photo. Dedicate this topic the main part of your work. Larry Towell (Larry Towell)
Be yourself and look outside yourself. Mark Power (Mark Power)
Although today "become photographers 'wish many more people than in the turbulent' 80s, but the possibility also increased significantly. Fortunately, gone are the days when the sales order, or even a photo in the newspaper could prevent the chance to be represented in the gallery. However, it is clear that a large number of "good shots" is not enough - Today the important ideas and work plan. If you have something to say, and even better - you have a new way to say this, then chances are open to you. I feel that photo again refers to the real problem. For some time it seemed that it exists in a variety for its own sake, and although it is as long as it was even interesting, true vocation pictures - in the other. Understand this, please read the rich and remarkable history of our habitat. Be proud of it, the fact that she is and what she is capable. Do not try to reinvent the wheel. Be inspired. Try and recreate, so to speak (because no one can). Locate the object that you love - what you touch, awakens your true emotions. Then be patient. Martin Parr (Martin Parr)
Find what you are really expensive, and elegantly doing your way through this attachment through photography, then potentially you get a great project. Michael Subotsky (Mikhael Subotzky)
Go in the same project for a long time. Keep working on it at many stages of learning, even if it is felt that he had already finished. This is the only way to go through what I believe is the next important lessons to learn to tell a story through pictures and how to combine the images in the series. Olivia Arthur (Olivia Arthur)
My main advice for young photographers who have just graduated from college - to get away from these "centers" of photography, such as London and New York. In these places, so many photographers touting their portfolio that they will eventually compete for orders, which do not really want to do that any way to make ends meet. Such an environment is not conducive to any whose work (at least most of the time ...). My advice - do what you really want before they will be bound by anything ... Do not risking the very beginning, you will be much more difficult to start again to do it later. Paolo Pellegrin (Paolo Pellegrin)
I believe that photography, like many other things in life - this is an accurate representation of who you are at this point: every time composing a picture and the shutter, you give voice to your thoughts and beliefs about the world around you. So besides having the obvious patience (Photo - sophisticated means of expression, the voice, which needs time to develop), as well as perseverance and mandatory restraint when dealing with others, I would recommend working on yourself to become more mature and informed person more aware and involved citizen. This will lead to a deeper and more complex understanding of the world around you, and ultimately - to more meaningful photos. Patrick Zachmann (Patrick Zachmann)
You must fight for something, to be a photographer! But seriously, my advice to young people - to go to the exhibition, watching photo books and try to create a personal project, for which, in their opinion, they have a unique approach because it is near the subject and the need to express and understand its essence. The photo must do something for me, as in the case of Diane Arbus (Diane Arbus), with himself and others through me unconscious (referring to the psychoanalytic approach). I will answer to the third question, because it is associated with the above me: "Why did you become a photographer?". I became a photographer because I have no memory. It took me a long time to realize that through personal research (books, "The investigation of identity or a Jew in search of his memory", "Chile. Memory Road", "my father's memory," and so on. N.) I was looking for "missing" picture. When you create a book, "The investigation of identity", I learned that my aunt, my father's sister, who was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp, kept at home a picture of my grandparents were deported and murdered in Auschwitz, which my father never showed us. Thanks to the photos I saw the parents of my father, whom I never knew. That's what I like about photography. It helps me to understand myself and the past through the prism of the present. Peter Marlow (Peter Marlow)
Be yourself, get up early and do not try too much, since all that needs to appear to come without any effort; Learn to trust your instincts and do not think very much about what others think, or about the process. Work hard, but happy. Steve Mc Curry (Steve McCurry)
If you want to be a photographer, you have to take pictures. If you look at the work of photographers who admire, you will see that at first they found a certain place or object, and then began to dig deeper into it and the result is engraved something special. It requires a lot of dedication, enthusiasm and work. Stewart Franklin (Stuart Franklin)
Follow your heart and never give up. Susan Meyselas (Susan Meiselas)
Dive headlong into business and follow your instincts and trust your inquisitiveness. Tomas Dvorak (Thomas Dworzak)
Try to live intensely - at home, abroad ... it does not matter which. There must be passion, fervor. And when ye shall know the basics, forget about the photos. Hepker Thomas (Thomas Hoepker)
Avoid any photography schools and Photo courses. Most of them will give you an idea of the sublime ideas and bend your mind, forcing to think in the same direction. Find your own way to the photos later you will not be asked whether you have a degree. Visit as many museums as possible. Seen images (drawings, paintings, prints or photographs) will stay with you for the rest of your life. They will help you to determine for themselves the good shots later. Suppress the foolish ambition to become a "great" wizard. Being a good photographer - quite difficult. Trent Parke (Trent Parke)