“Eric Meola talks about his photography, his passion for color, and how he approaches the challenge of making authentic photographs when working in indigenous cultures.”
View 12 Great Photographs By Eric Meola here.
Find out more about Eric Meola here.
Read our conversation here.
View 12 Great Photographs Collections here.
Read more in The Essential Collection Of Photographers’ Quotes.
View more in The Essential Collection Of Photographers Videos.
Photographer Eric Meola and I share our insights on the creative process in this three-part conversation. In the third installment we discuss the role of chance and surprise in creativity.
EM: In describing how he wrote “Like a Rolling Stone,” Bob Dylan said that he found himself writing what he called “this long piece of vomit, 20 pages long.”
“And out of it,” he recalled, “I took ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and made it as a single. And I’d never written anything like that before and it suddenly came to me.”
If nothing else, Dylan has always been incredibly prolific. “Practice, practice, practice,” says Bruce Springsteen. And then one day there’s your father’s image “Galaxy Apple.” Is that part of what process is about … the yin and yang between chaos and discipline?
JP: Process is how you get there. It doesn’t just happen. And it unfolds through time. The final results may have come quickly, but it took a long time for Dylan to get into the specific state of flow that would produce his song. The same is true for everyone, including photographers.
This reminds me of a time when I introduced a friend of mine to my father. He said, “Oh, you’re that photographer. Gosh I’d like to have your career. All those 1/125ths of a second. What’s that add up to? A 20-minute career?”
Dylan’s statement, “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now,” seems related to Picasso’s “It takes a long time to grow young.”
EM: And Dylan as a teenager in Hibbing, Minnesota, used to listen all night to Hank Williams and Little Richard on the radio—it was all part of the “process” of gearing up for “Bringin’ It All Back Home.”
You mention using a Spirograph as a child to make circles, ellipses and various radiating designs. And some of these patterns continue to show up in your latest imagery. How important is a sense of wonder to photography, or any art form?
JP: How important is a sense of wonder to a life well lived? I think it’s essential. Keeping our sense of wonder alive and well increases our openness, curiosity, sensitivity, perception, playfulness, passion, pleasure, and many other positive benefits. This is related to keeping our inner child or the childlike (not childish) aspects of ourselves active and vibrant.
EM: We’ve discussed chaos versus discipline in art. What about a happy accident—serendipity? What role does “chance” play in process? In the film Pollock, Ed Harris shows Jackson Pollock stumbling onto the process for his drip paintings. Do you ever look at something you’ve done or have been thinking about and suddenly make a leap to a concept that had not occurred to you before? I’m also thinking of Kubrick’s famous visual metaphor early in 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the ape throws a bone that morphs into a rotating space station.
JP: There are two questions here. My answer to both is yes …
Read my conversation with Eric Meola about Eric Meola here.
Photographer Eric Meola and I share our insights on the creative process in this three-part conversation. In the second installment, we share our influences from photography to poetry. I also discuss my fascination with and the influence of quotes.
EM: How long have you collected quotes? You seem to have hundreds if not thousands at your site.
JP: At an early age, I started noticing that most of us use quotes in our daily conversation and even in our internal dialogs. I really want to know what’s influencing my thinking and why. Sometimes we know who to attribute them to, sometimes we don’t, and sometimes they really are unattributable or anonymous. Often we paraphrase them, less frequently we use them precisely. I still marvel at people who can quote paragraphs and even pages, word for word. I haven’t learned that skill. Currently, I’m limited to a few phrases. But that’s OK. I prefer quotes that are short and sweet. Like haiku poetry, short quotes can almost instantaneously create a powerful impression with just a few words. These highly distilled packets are both impactful and memorable.
Often the idea behind the quote is linked with its author. Proper attribution is important. It’s good form to give credit where credit is due. It helps you understand what, when, and why something has been said. It helps you clarify sources, including yourself.
Sometimes these ideas become so common that sources are forgotten and we hear them paraphrased. Have ideas like this been repeated so frequently that they’ve become a part of the fabric of our minds? More recently, I’ve also become interested in how these ideas echo through the ages. Here’s one example. “We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.” Is this Confucius, The Talmud, or Anais Nin? Do we default to the earliest source? Or are there some ideas that are pan-cultural or even inevitable?
There are so many great books to read that I figure no book is worth reading if I’m not interested in making marks in the margins; one mark indicates a quote I want to be able to retrieve.
I used to collect my favorite quotes in folders filled with photocopies. Now I collect them digitally. Sharing quotes in social networks has further stimulated my activity—it’s interesting to see who reacts to what and how, and even what people don’t react to. You can find more quotes, almost daily, in my Twitter and Facebook feeds.
I wish I had a photographic memory. I’d love to remember them all—precisely.
EM: What are some of your favorite quotes?
JP: “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” That’s from Marcel Proust.
“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” — Rumi
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Here’s a link to a fuller set of my favorite quotes.
And here’s a link to a set of your favorite quotes.
Also, here’s a link to sets of other photographer’s favorite quotes.
A Japanese proverb says, “When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.” I think of the quotes we remember as the mental company we keep.
Read more of Part 2 here.
Read Part 1 here.
Read my interview of Eric here.
Photographer Eric Meola and I share our insights on the creative process in this three-part conversation. In the first installment, I share the influences of my parents and meetings with many remarkable men and women including Eliot Porter, Ansel Adams, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Then we discuss the power of words.
“Words can be powerful tools. Think of all the things you can do with words. Generate ideas. Clarify a response. Determine a goal. Frame a question. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses. Make comparisons and contrasts. Identify an influence. Select an approach. Test a theory. Explore alternatives. Identify what’s missing. Solve a problem. Advocate. Motivate. Evaluate. Find a new direction.
No matter what discipline you’re in, why wouldn’t you use these powerful tools we call words? Try not using them! Can you? So why not use them well and unlock as much of their power as you can?
Many linguists have explored how language influences thought, going almost as far as saying language is thought. Benjamin Whorf said, “Language is not simply a reporting device for experience but a framework for it.” If a culture has a lot of words for something, it indicates those people have a highly developed relationship with it. If a culture doesn’t have a word for something, it indicates either a very different relationship to a subject or a blind spot. Certain tribes in the Amazon jungle have many words for green, but none for blue. The Inuit have dozens of words for snow. We currently have too few words for photography. (At best, we amend the word photography with other words—photojournalism and photo illustration.) Look at all the words we have for various kinds of writing: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, prose, journalism, journaling, interview, biography, autobiography, screenplay, short story, novel, trilogy, epic, lyric, etc, etc, etc. The photographic community and culture at large would do well to repurpose many words drawn from our literary traditions and use them in our visual traditions.
The question is not, “Should I manipulate a photograph?” Since the invention of photography, all kinds of things have been done to photographs. The question is, “What happens when I do or don’t manipulate a photograph?”
Limited language wastes time and results in less productive debates and diverts attention away from more productive discussions. One of the fundamental things I’m trying to address through my work is complicated by limited language. Our culture often talks about people versus nature; we use words like “us” and “it.” We draw lines and take sides. Our current use of language psychologically distances us. This makes it harder to describe people as parts of nature. If we enter that mindset, we think about ourselves and act in our world differently.”
Read the rest of Part I here.
Read Part II here.
Read my interview of Eric here.
After a whirlwind tour of Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina and Torres Del Paine, Chile, Seth Resnick, Eric Meola, Arthur Meyerson and I are finally on our way home from our recent Antarctica voyage. (Check my Google+ , Twitter, or Facebook streams for a collection of quotes on travel and home.)
We’re all still dreaming of Antarctica. Whether for the first time (Arthur and Eric) or for the fourth time (Seth and I) Antarctica touched us all very deeply. We all had unique experiences. We all made compelling images in our own unique ways. And we were able to share the experience together. And yet, no matter how hard we try to put those experiences into words, something about the place defies description. Antarctica is a profoundly mysterious place. Antarctica is so exotic that when you’re there you often feels like you’ve visited another planet.
Here are a few quick thoughts from each of us.
“I saw deeper shades of blue than I’ve ever seen before. And I was able to get closer to it and find more dramatic angles than ever before. Every time we go back there are new surprises to discover.” – Seth Resnick
“Antarctica was the fulfillment of a life time dream … the magical mystery tour. The light, the landscape, the color blue – otherworldly. I have never experienced anything like this before. I felt as though I was on another planet.” – Arthur Meyerson
“What impressed me most about Antarctica was the silence. I’ve never been anywhere as spiritual. Most places are spiritual because of their religion. This was a place that is spiritual because of its natural beauty. I sensed that everyone around me felt the same way. Although photographers become mesmerized by their subjects, for the first time I sensed that the spirituality of the place affected them very deeply. All of us were absorbing the beauty around us.” – Eric Meola
“Antarctica is never the same twice. It’s like a mirage that never fades. It seems simultaneously eternal and ephemeral. It’s as if spirit took shape – and when you got there you get to touch it, immerse yourself in it, and take it into you. You cannot go to Antarctica and return unchanged.” – John Paul Caponigro
Digital Photo Destinations is planning a new Antarctica workshop voyage for 2013.
Sign up for our pre announce list to be among the first to hear about it.
Email jpc@digitalphotodestinations.
Find out more about Antarctica here.
Eric Meola provides quick candid answers to 20 questions.
What’s the most useful photographic mantra?
Never stop looking.
What’s the thing you most hope to accomplish?
Making someone else excited about photography.
If you had to do it all over again, what would you change?
I’d shoot a lot more – a LOT more.
Read the rest of his answers here.
Find out more about Eric Meola here.
Visit Eric Meola’s blog Seeing In Color here.
Find out about our workshops in Antarctica and Greenland here.
Read more Photographers On Photography here.
Read more Photographer’s Q&A’s here.
Digital Photo Destinations announces a new workshop exploring the highlights of Torres Del Paine, Patagonia, South America.
4 world-class photographers guide this adventure. Leaders John Paul Caponigro and Seth Resnick will be accompanied by Eric Meola and Arthur Meyerson.
Experience sunset on the Perito Moreno Glacier, the coast of Lake Argentino, Brazo Rico and the Iceberg Channel and all that is just on day 1.
We will also have a full day boat tour in Los Glaciares National Park where we will see the North wall of the Perito Moreno Glacier, the Upsala Glacier, Spegazzini Glacier and Los Tempanos (Icebergs) Channel.
Additional photography sessions include the Grey Glacier, Big Fall, Nordenskjold Lake and Paine River Fall with spectacular views of French Valley, Paine Grande Massif and The Horns and a trip to visit the Blue Lagoon with absolutely magical color.
One of the highlights of this trip will be several trips trekking on glaciers.
Visit Digital Photo Destinations for more information.
It’s over half full now. Only 12 spots are left.
Sign up now!
Contact Paul.Schuster@quarkexpeditions.com
Email jpc@johnpaulcaponigro.com for advance notice on future Digital Photo Destinations events.
Seth Resnick and Jamie Spritzer, the Co-Founders of D65 announce their new book, D65’s Lightroom Workbook, Workflow, Not Workslow in Lightroom 3. D-65’s workflow is accomplished by using Adobe Lightroom. D65’s Lightroom Workbook, Workflow Not Workslow details everything you ever wanted or needed to know about the five modules in Lightroom, including setting up preferences for optimal results and organizing catalogs. Included is an entire chapter which details the D-65 legendary workflow; an advanced, yet simple workflow from capture through editing, tweaking, processing and exporting. The book also covers many digital concepts such as color space, shooting raw, file naming and archiving. D-65 was one of the first and foremost companies teaching Lightroom workflow, and the incredibly successful program has taught thousands of photographers worldwide. Seth Resnick and Jamie Spritzer are the perfect guides to lead you through the maze of technical problems and practical challenges that stand between you and a seamless digital workflow with Lightroom at the core.
• The essential guide to setting up an efficient workflow with Photoshop Lightroom from two of the industry’s most respected photography trainers
• Insider tips and tricks explain not only how to use Lightroom but also how best to work pre-capture to ensure you get the best out of Lightroom post-capture
• Over 500 pages packed with essential advice and stunning images to illustrate and inspire, Seth and Jamie explain technical concepts with ease in a way only pro trainers can–buy the book and see why their workshops sell out in a flash!
“Seth and Jamie have laid the chapters out in a quick read style that follows Lightroom’s architecture from beginning to end. And you can fit their guidelines to your own style of shooting and your own way of organizing your digital image archive. It doesn’t matter how expensive your camera is, or how many megapixels are on its sensor, because this book gives you the knowledge and the discipline to make the most of the tremendous possibilities of digital photography.” – Eric Meola, Photographer
“No one knows more about keywording than Seth and Jamie. As an English major and a writer, I thought I knew a thing or two about words, but I learn new words and new ways to use words all the time from Seth and Jamie. What’s that mean to you? It means if you learn to use words like they do, everyone will be able to find your pictures easily – including you.” – John Paul Caponigro
Get your copy here today!
Find more of the best Photoshop and Lightroom books here.